County to distribute “Know Your Rights” pamphlets at its facilities

The recent immigration crackdown under President Donald Trump has many concerned, including El Paso Commissioners Court, which voted Monday to place “Know Your Rights” pamphlets in County facilities for the undocumented, their families and friends.

Monday’s vote was 5-0, unanimous by Commissioners Court.

County Judge Veronica Escobar said providing “Know Your Rights” pamphlets will be at no cost to the County, because the Mexican Consulate will be providing its existing pamphlets to the County free of charge.

The “Know Your Rights” pamphlets should be available within the next two weeks at several County location, including all County departments, the three County annexes in Far East and Far West El Paso as well as the Lower Valley.

Escobar, concerned about the immigration crackdown, led the effort to get the information out. She said the materials encourage people questioned by authorities to stay calm and not act in any rash manner. It also lets them know how to respond to certain questions and informs them they have a right to an attorney.

Escobar pointed out there are constitutional rights that many, even American citizens, are sometimes unaware of. Other local organizations like churches and Border Network for Human Rights are already making the information available.

“We want to make sure that even folks who are U.S. citizens have access to this information,” Escobar said, “because they may have relatives who are undocumented or they may have neighbors and friends, people they know and care about, that need to have access to this information.”

Again, this is at no cost to the County, although Escobar mentioned the possibility of taking the Mexican Consulate pamphlets and making it into easy to read cards at an estimated cost of $960 for every 2,000 cards. Commissioner Carlos Leon suggested they look for sponsors to pay the costs.

“The materials are kind of large and one of the things we’re going to look at is the cost of smaller ‘Know Your Rights’ materials and something you can put in your wallet,” Escobar said. “But if there’s a cost to that, I love Commissioner Leon’s idea of having sponsorship provide the funding for it.”