Block Check-Ins
Know your rights, on my block
One neighbor, the same storefronts, twice a month: making sure owners and staff know their rights if ICE comes to their business.
In fall 2025 I volunteered on a business canvass in Brooklyn. Twelve of us reached 133 businesses in a day, and 120 took materials. But a canvass reaches each door once. Staff turn over, guidance changes, and a flyer ends up in a drawer.
Block Check-Ins is my attempt to keep coming back.
The practice
- Where: the storefronts on and around my block in Williamsburg
- When: twice a month, in the morning before heavy foot traffic
- What: meet owners and managers, share materials on their rights, hear what they need, and come back with answers
- Who: me to begin with, and neighbors as they join
What I bring
- Know Your Rights flyer: double-sided, in English, Spanish, and more
- Warrant flyer: judicial and administrative warrants compared
- Private-area sign: "Private, Employees Only," put up on the visit
- Window sign: "We Stand with Immigrants," for the front door
- Red cards: pocket-size rights cards to pass along
These come from the Signs of Solidarity kit that volunteer groups across New York already use.
Ground rules
- I hand out only content a legal or immigrant rights organization has reviewed.
- I share information and referrals, never legal advice.
- I don't ask about or record anyone's immigration status.
- Anything I redesign is reviewed again before printing.
Read the sources
- NY Attorney General: Dealing with ICE in the workplace
- NILC and NELP: A guide for employers
- NYC Office of Immigrant Affairs: Know your rights with ICE
- Signs of Solidarity quick-start guide
This post is general information, not legal advice. If you need legal help, contact an attorney or the NY Office for New Americans hotline at 1-800-566-7636.
Join a check-in
If you live nearby and want to walk a block with me, or start one on yours, write to me at hello@bytomo.com.