As you meander around Los Angeles these days, you may be likely to run into Solidarity Signs stuck to the doors or windows of some of your favorite businesses and restaurants.
Solidarity Signs are the cornerstone of a grassroots program launched by the Immigrant Legal Resource Council (ILRC) called Know Your Rights Solidarity.
The signs are free to download online for businesses, including restaurants, libraries, clinics, community centers, and schools, to let their customers, neighbors, and passersby know that it supports and openly welcomes all members of its community. Furthermore, the signs emphasize that the business has the legal right to deny entry to its private areas to anyone, including ICE, as long as its agents don't have a judicial warrant.
They also inform the public as to what everybody's legal rights are, regardless of immigration status.
In essence, Solidarity Signs establish that the business is safe for customers and staff who may be targeted, harassed, and unfairly or illegally treated by the current administration of the U.S. Government.
That they will be treated with respect by all who work there or own the business, who plan to deny ICE entry, keeping its agents out and away from endangering or threatening its clientele.
The signs come in your choice of orange or blue, with an illustration of a crossed-out alligator in a blue uniform with a butterfly on its snout, and are available in both Spanish and English.
On one side is printed:
Everyone Is Welcome Here *Except ICE*. We Have The Right to Deny I.C.E. Access To Private Areas Without A Judicial Warrant. We Assert Our Constitutional Rights—Which Apply To Everyone In This Country, Regardless Of Immigration Status—In This Establishment.
Members Of Our Community Are Safe Here. Any Form of Harassment Of Guests Or Staff Will Not Be Tolerated.
Tenemos El Derecho De Negarle A I.C.E. El Aceso Areas Privadas Sin Una Orden Judicial. Afirmamos Nuestros Derechos Constitucionales—Que Se Aplican A Todos En Este País, Independientemente De Su Estatus Migratorio—En Este Establecimiento.
Los Miembros De Nuestra Comunidad Estan Seguros Aqui. No Toleraremos Ningun Tipo De Acoso Contra Nuestros Visitantes O Nuestro Personal.
On the other side of the sign is a breakdown of five of everybody's crucial rights, beginning with your right to remain silent and ending on your right to film ICE and police in public.
Not only do the signs offer practical advice on one's right and secure one's sense of safety, they show solidarity against the illegal actions of the administration as it does away with due process and ignores our rights.
If you are interested in adding one of the Solidarity Signs to your business, simply go to this page of ILRC's website, where you'll find them free to download or print out, double-sided, and cut them to fit.
Displaying this sign could make a major difference, both to potential customers and pedestrians who currently feel targeted and unsafe in our society, while sending a message to your community on where your business stands.
