Red Cards

 Last week, St. Mark's staff spent several hours printing “Red Cards.” We were asked by a school board member to print 1,000 of them and they work best if they are printed on cardstock, a firm and long-lasting kind of paper that takes a lot of time to duplicate and cut. There were some challenges with the template we received that we did not anticipate, but St. Mark's staff are determined folk and were anxious to fulfill the request to produce these cards. The red cards contain information about the constitutional rights of both citizens and non-citizens. We were asked to produce Spanish cards, based on the persons they were intended for. The cards are available in many languages and in English they read: 

You have constitutional rights

• DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR if an immigration agent is knocking on the door.

• DO NOT ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS from an immigration agent if they try to talk to you. You have the right to remain silent.

• DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING without first speaking to a lawyer. You have the right to speak with a lawyer.

• If you are outside of your home, ask the agent if you are free to leave and if they say yes, leave calmly.

• GIVE THIS CARD TO THE AGENT. If you are inside of your home, show the card through the window or slide it under the door.

The message on the other side of the card that one is giving to an agent reads: 

“I do not wish to speak with you, answer your questions, or sign or hand you any documents based on my 5th Amendment rights under the United States Constitution. I do not give you permission to enter my home based on my 4th Amendment rights under the United States Constitution unless you have a warrant to enter, signed by a judge or magistrate with my name on it that you slide under the door. I do not give you permission to search any of my belongings based on my 4th Amendment rights. I choose to exercise my constitutional rights.” 

Your staff did marvelous work last week in making these cards. Now I want to ask you to do two things. First, please read the information on this card from the perspective of someone who may feel the need to keep a copy of it in their wallet or by their front door. At the least, read it as an ally, who appreciates the meaning of the phrase, “constitutional rights.” 

Second, you may want to have one of these cards for yourself. In addition, I want you to imagine someone in your life who may want to have this card in their wallet or by their front door. You can order the template or some pre-made cards themselves here. 

I don’t know how you feel about immigration policy or the enforcement thereof. For the faith community, our political opinions are less relevant than our call to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly. Likewise, Border Patrol agents swear their loyalty to the constitution, not partisan politics. For immigration agents, then, these cards do not represent defiance. They simply enable someone to exercise the rights that the constitution ensures both citizens and non-citizens alike.

Where these cards are ineffective are when vigilantes feel empowered to take matter into their own hands or when neighbors look askance at someone whom they feel “doesn’t belong” here. Where they are ineffective are in the constant microaggressions that people often exercise against others, based on ethnicity, color, or language. I once heard that when a white person speaks more than one language, we consider them educated and sophisticated, but when a brown person speaks more than one language, it marks them as an immigrant. These cards cannot cure the malady of prejudice; only repentance and transformation can do so. Inviting others to repent and be transformed is also part of our call.  

Still, I encourage you to ensure that anyone in your life who may feel threatened by the immigration policies and rhetoric of the day has one of these cards. It’s the least we can do.

Mark of St. Mark