FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Hector Fong | [email protected]  

Bethany Khan | [email protected]

Viridiana Vidal | [email protected] 

Las Vegas, NV – After last week’s ICE operation across Las Vegas, the Nevada Immigrant Coalition (NIC) demands answers from elected officials in Nevada and is calling attention to the lasting trauma, economic impact, and family separation caused by the Trump Administration’s anti-immigrant and mass deportation agenda. While the surge in ICE activity appears to have subsided in Nevada, but still continues across the country, the Nevada Immigrant Coalition reminds the community to stay vigilant, know and assert your rights, be resilient, and continue to look out for each other. 

The Nevada Immigrant Coalition (NIC), led by the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN), Culinary Union, and Make the Road Nevada, with support from over 20 statewide partners mobilized immediately in response to last week’s surge in ICE activity in Nevada.

In the weeks leading up to and during the enforcement actions, NIC partners, including ACLU Nevada, organized nearly 50 Know Your Rights trainings and Make the Road Nevada hosted 3 Family Preparedness Sessions. NIC maintained strong communications and digital strategy, resulting in a 68% increase in social media followers and with posts online reaching 475,000 views, 8,000 shares, and 4,700 likes across platforms.

NIC held 3 press conferences and media availabilities, securing over $10 million in earned media and 114 mentions across local TV, online news, radio/podcast – sharing critical Know Your Rights information, ICE activity confirmations, and community updates in English and Spanish.

Over the past two months, over 15,000 Know Your Rights cards in English, Spanish, Amharic, and Chinese were distributed by NIC at small businesses and throughout the community. NIC also actively confirmed ICE activity through firsthand reports, social media monitoring, outreach from impacted families, and legal triage with attorney partners, including UNLV’s Immigration Clinic.

Last week, the Nevada Immigrant Coalition (NIC) received reports and has been able to confirm numerous instances of ICE activity, including at the following locations:

SUNDAY: 

*4/13: ICE enforcement at residence (Nellis & Stewart) 

MONDAY: 

*4/14: A local business (Sunset and Decatur) 

TUESDAY: 

*4/15: Valley View & Sahara

*4/15: Bonanza & 10th Street

*4/15: ICE enforcement at residence

WEDNESDAY: 

*4/16: Freedom Park

*4/16: La Favorita Market (Twain & Palos Verdes)

THURSDAY: 

*4/17: ICE enforcement at residence (Eastern & Bonanza)

*4/17: Indoor Swapmeet (Eastern & Owens)

*4/17: Galleria & Gibson

*4/17: ICE detention conducted before school drop off 

*4/17: ICE detention conducted after school pick up

As the exact number of Nevadans detained remains unclear, NIC demands answers from ICE, Governor Joe Lombardo, and Sheriff Kevin McMahill about how many members of our community have been separated from their families and loved ones.

“The uptick in community reported ICE enforcement sightings sends a clear message: families are living in fear, businesses can’t fully operate, and there is no word from officials if those detained were denied due process as we’ve seen with immigrants like Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The Trump Administration’s attacks on working families goes beyond immigration. It’s part of a broader, coordinated effort by this administration to silence dissent – criminalizing advocacy, threatening nonprofits, and targeting communities that dare to stand up and fight for a better future and those who speak out. An attack on immigrants is an attack on all of us,” said Laura Martin, Executive Director at the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada and member of the Nevada Immigrant Coalition (NIC). “From the Las Vegas Strip to the Tesla Gigafactory in Reno, immigrants help power Nevada’s economy, contributing billions to our state each year. Immigrant workers are here to stay. We are organizing and we will continue to fight for our families, our neighbors, and our future.”

“The cost of deportation is not only economic, but deeply personal, and it impacts every Nevadan, not just immigrants,” said Leo Murrieta, Executive Director at Make the Road Nevada and member of the Nevada Immigrant Coalition (NIC). “When long-settled, hard-working, and tax-paying workers are torn from their families by ICE, entire communities feel the consequences. Families across Southern Nevada are now grappling with unpaid rent and mortgages, missing work shifts and paychecks, possibly having cars repossessed, and untold trauma as children were separated from their parents. Deportations don’t make us safer: They divert resources away from education, health care, and public safety, and force more families to depend on the very state services we all rely on. The Nevada Immigrant Coalition continues to stand with immigrant communities and calls for real solutions – not fear and detention. Immigrant workers are essential to Nevada’s future – and we are not going anywhere.”

Immigrant workers pay taxes, fund public services, strengthen our economy, are loved community members, and are essential to Nevada’s workforce. According to FWD.us analysis, immigrants make up 24% of Nevada’s labor force and contribute an estimated $20.2 billion to the Nevada economy annually.

The Nevada Immigrant Coalition (NIC) urges the community to know and assert their rights. All Nevadans, regardless of immigration status, have rights and deserve due process.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS:

If ICE stops you . . .

*You have the right to remain silent. You do not have to answer any questions regarding your immigration status, where you were born, or how you entered the United States.

*Do not physically resist a government official, and do not run away.

*If you have any valid immigration documents, show them to the ICE officers.

If ICE comes to your home . . .

*You have the right to not open the door.

*You may remain silent and not answer any questions.

*You have the right to refuse any official wishing to enter without a warrant. A warrant must be shown to you and must have your correct name and address on it.

If ICE takes you into custody . . .

*Ask to speak with an attorney.

*Do not sign any document that you do not understand. Even if the ICE officers are persistent and want to pressure you, do not sign.

*Request to see the immigration judge. In most cases, you may be able to ask for bail in order to be released from custody.

*You have the right to request to contact your country’s consulate for help.

*If you have minor children, let the officers know that you are the parent or primary caregiver. 

*ICE may “exercise discretion” and let you go.

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ABOUT THE NEVADA IMMIGRANT COALITION: 

The Nevada Immigrant Coalition (NIC), founded in 2006, ensures immigrant, refugee, and new American voices are heard at a local, state, and federal level to advocate for humane and fair immigration policies. The Nevada Immigrant Coalition focuses on strengthening a network that provides services, resources, and deportation defense to immigrants and refugees across the state while strategically organizing around issues that are important to all Nevadans. We believe in working towards a Nevada that welcomes, respects, and protects everyone regardless of their immigration status.

Follow the Nevada Immigrant Coalition (NIC) *on Instagram and Twitter (X).