Lafayette man printing cards to educate on immigrant rights despite ICE threat of arrest for impeding with raids

DENVER (KDVR) — In the wake of the head of ICE hinting at possible arrests for impeding any raids, one Colorado man is working to inform immigrants of their rights.

Lafayette resident Alex Borrell is an immigrant himself.

“I actually came to the country in 1996," he said.

He moved to Florida from Argentina with his mom when he was only six years old. Decades later, he’s a legal American citizen here in Colorado like any other, with football memorabilia and Grateful Dead posters in the living room.

“I feel blessed to be here," said Borrell.

The citizenship process took 16 years, a long period in which he felt scared of being sent home just like many do today. His experience pushed him to create what he calls red cards, printed-out cards sharing immigrant rights with people who need them.

“The right that you don’t have to answer any questions without a lawyer, the rights that you don’t have to open the door for anybody without a warrant, that they need a judicial warrant," said Borrell. "So pretty much the basic rights that all, not only just United States citizens, but anybody that relies in the United States has.”

Just this week, ICE director, Tom Homan, expressed frustration in a Fox News interview with people he said are impeding ICE raids.

“We’re not going to tolerate it anymore. This is not a game," said Homan.

Going so far as to say that he’s looking into prosecution for people who may provide information to undocumented citizens.

“That’s why I’m working very close, starting this morning, with the Department of Justice," said Homan. "Where do they cross that line of impediment? So they may find themselves in a pair of handcuffs very soon.”

Borrell said the comments don’t worry him.

“It doesn’t concern me more than, honestly, angers me," he said.

He isn’t prepared to slow down on the already 30,000 cards he’s printed.

“If you have uneducated people it’s a whole lot easier to tell somebody, like, hey you’re here illegally, get in that car," said Borrell, hoping to provide help to people in situations like he once was. “I’m going to show up in the biggest force that I can to make sure that everybody is educated."

Borrell is printing those cards in several different languages, including Spanish, English, Russian, Chinese and Vietnamese because he said that it isn’t just the Hispanic community in fear of deportation.

Borrell has a GoFundMe set up to help print even more cards.