Citizens Must Practice Noncompliance Too.
Let’s imagine two people standing outside a gas station.
One is a white woman with a Social Security card and a U.S. passport. The other is a man with brown skin and a Spanish accent. Both are approached by ICE agents conducting a so-called “routine enforcement action.”
Both know their rights.
Both calmly ask, “Am I being detained?”
Both refuse to answer questions about their immigration status.
Both decline to show ID.
But only one walks away.
The white woman is waved off. She records the interaction, posts it on Instagram, and is called brave. The brown-skinned man is questioned more aggressively. His accent becomes suspicious. His calmness is interpreted as defiance. Within minutes, he’s handcuffed and on his way to detention, even if he was born here.
That is the difference race makes. That is the difference whiteness makes.
And it is why white citizens must speak up, refuse compliance, and normalize resistance.
Because racial profiling is not hypothetical.
The head of Border Patrol just said, on record, that physical appearance can justify detaining someone to question their immigration status. In plain English, that means brown skin and an accent can now be treated as “reasonable suspicion.”
Let’s be honest, this isn’t just about undocumented immigrants.
A white undocumented person is far less likely to end up in a detention center than a brown U.S. citizen.
I recently watched a video of a white male U.S. citizen being stopped at what was likely an unconstitutional immigration checkpoint. He refused to answer whether he was an immigrant. He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t escalate. He simply asserted his rights. He had the relevant laws printed out and read them aloud to the officer detaining him.
In the comments, white people kept asking, “Why doesn’t he just answer?” and “He could be on his way if he just said yes!”
But that’s not the point.
He should never have been asked in the first place.
That man was not refusing to answer out of pride or arrogance. He was using his privilege to model noncompliance for the people who might not know their rights, who might not feel safe asserting them, or who wouldn’t be believed even if they did.
He was willing to risk his time, his comfort, his freedom, and even his safety, to push back against unlawful detainment because it is safer for him to do so. That’s what solidarity looks like. That’s what resistance looks like. And that’s what more white citizens need to be doing.
Immigration Enforcement Relies on Fear, Silence, and Isolation
ICE doesn’t just rely on power. It relies on the assumption that most people will stay quiet, comply out of fear or ignorance, or will look the other way. It’s a system that survives by targeting the vulnerable while hoping everyone else keeps their head down.
And too often, that’s exactly what happens.
We tell immigrants to “know your rights,” but we don’t tell citizens to use theirs. We ask the most at-risk people to resist while everyone else stands by.
That needs to change.
Start by learning your rights. Because undocumented immigrants have the same constitutional protections as citizens when stopped by law enforcement.
The difference is not in the rights themselves, but in the consequences when those rights are violated. For an immigrant, a routine stop can lead to detention or deportation, even if no crime has been committed. Even if they are here legally.
That’s why it matters so much that the rest of us, sorry but especially white citizens, use our voices, our bodies, and our legal protections to push back. When we normalize noncompliance, we help protect those who face the greatest risk.
Then start dismantling your own internalized white supremacy. I’m still uncovering and unlearning mine every day. I keep trying to show up, knowing I’ll make mistakes and get called out, sometimes not gently. But I take a breath and let the discomfort shape me instead of shut me down.
That is the work. One changed mind. One changed heart. Starting with our own.
Noncompliance Is a Tool, But Only If Everyone Uses It
The Constitution protects everyone on U.S. soil, not just citizens. But how those rights play out in practice depends on power, perception, and pressure.
When a brown-skinned immigrant refuses to answer ICE’s questions, they’re seen as suspicious, uncooperative, or dangerous. They might be tackled, detained, or worse.
When a white citizen does the same? They’re often let go. They’re treated as informed, entitled to their privacy, or simply annoying.
That discrepancy is exactly why white citizens must refuse.
Because the only way to normalize resistance is for everyone, especially those with privilege and legal protection, to do it loudly, calmly, and in public.
“But I’m innocent. I have nothing to hide. Why wouldn’t I cooperate?”
Because that’s exactly why you must practice noncompliance.
If you are innocent, you are safer asserting your rights. You are less likely to face violent escalation, arrest, or deportation. That safety is not universal. It’s a form of privilege. And with that privilege comes responsibility.
Noncompliance is not just about protecting yourself. It’s about setting a precedent. It’s about slowing down a system that relies on quick compliance and quiet fear.
When those with the least to lose stand firm, they make space for those with the most to lose to survive.
We don’t stay silent because we’re guilty.
We stay silent because we are free.
And we use that freedom to make others safer.
What Noncompliance Looks Like
(This should not be construed as legal advice. Please consult an attorney.)
The only things that should come out of your mouth when you’re stopped are:
• I am not answering any questions without my lawyer
• I do not consent to any searches
• Am I free to leave
• On what grounds am I being detained
Say it calmly. Even say it friendly! But say it repeatedly. Say it on camera.
Scripts help when you panic. Think of this like a broken record. No matter what question they ask, repeat:
“I am not answering any questions without my lawyer. I do not consent to a search. Am I free to leave?”
If they say you are not free to leave, follow up with:
“On what grounds am I being detained?”
Then stop talking.
Do not explain.
Do not argue.
Do not become agitated or emotional.
Just repeat your script.
If you are not being detained, walk away.
If you are, continue to assert your rights and ask for a lawyer.
Film the interaction.
If you are stopped on the street, at work, or in your neighborhood, you are not required to show ID or answer questions unless you are being lawfully detained. You have the right to walk away.
If you are pulled over while driving, you must show your license, registration, and proof of insurance, but you do not have to answer any other questions.
If ICE or Border Patrol stops you at a checkpoint or in a vehicle, you are not required to answer questions about your immigration status or show ID unless they have reasonable suspicion or you are under arrest.
Why This Responsibility Falls on White Citizens Too
Because if white people only use their rights when they’re in trouble, those rights mean nothing.
Because allyship isn’t passive.
Because real solidarity is risky and necessary.
If only immigrants and BIPOC communities resist, the system adapts. But if white citizens start asking the same questions, refusing to show ID, recording the same interactions, and posting them publicly, ICE loses its ability to operate unnoticed and unchallenged.
We need to build a culture of active noncompliance, not just personal awareness.
What You Can Do Today
- Learn your rights. Don’t just share the ACLU card, memorize it.
- Practice responses with friends. Teach your kids how to assert themselves.
- Film and post interactions when it’s safe to do so.
- Show up for court support, community defense networks, and mutual aid funds.
- If you are white or a citizen, use your privilege as a shield for others, not as a pass to stay uninvolved.
ICE thrives in silence. It thrives in parking lots and farm fields where no one watches. It thrives on the assumption that white people will stay quiet, mind their business, and let it happen.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
If enough of us say no, calmly, firmly, and together, we can turn the tide.
Because the Constitution doesn’t only exist when it’s convenient.
And justice doesn’t only apply to people with papers.
It is our moral obligation as human beings to leverage our privilege.
It is our responsibility as Americans to fix what we have allowed to be broken.
It is our obligation as white people to put an end to white supremacy.
This cannot be dismantled from the outside. It has to come from within. One changed mind. One changed heart. One brave act of resistance at a time.
