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The Trump administration's crackdown on immigrants is fueling conversations around the country about law enforcement tactics and the rights of immigrants and those accused of violating laws. It has also stirred a conversation in Black communities, where organizers say it's a reminder that they have long been targets of aggressive policing. From member station GBH, Paul Singer has the story of a Boston-based effort to remind Black people of their rights when confronted by law enforcement.
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PAUL SINGER, BYLINE: Ron Bell walks into a bookstore in a mostly Black neighborhood in Boston.
RON BELL: I got something for you.
SINGER: Bell runs a grassroots organization called Dunk the Vote, focusing on voting rights and civic engagement. But as social media fills with videos showing federal agents arresting immigrants off the streets, he wants Black communities to remember that they are at risk as well.
BELL: I got some complimentary copies of the know-your-rights guide.
SINGER: Since February, he's been handing out passport-sized guides called "The Black Book" in churches, barbershops and restaurants.
BELL: I'm feeling a lot of traction, man. It's gotten to a point - I'm integrating it into everything I do.
SINGER: The book provides basic information on the right to remain silent, to ask to see a warrant, or to ask an officer to identify themselves. There's also contact information for the ACLU and other civil rights organizations.
BELL: I just - I carry them around with me now, I mean, because people are calling me. Ron, you got any more of them "Black Books"?
SINGER: So far, he says, he's given away about 2,000 of them in Boston-area neighborhoods, at events and to other community organizations that have asked for them. Black civil rights organizations around the country say they are getting similar requests.
JERIKA RICHARDSON: There are a number of know-your-rights trainings that are happening across the country.
SINGER: Jerika Richardson is the senior vice president for equitable justice and strategic initiatives at the National Urban League.
RICHARDSON: The division that I lead has been contacted by a number of our affiliates asking for guides, asking to support or participate in video production so that they can share this broad and wide.
SINGER: Richardson says it's not just Latinos that are at risk of arrest. The Black community is also vulnerable.
RICHARDSON: Within the Black community, we have a huge Afro Latino population. We have an Afro Caribbean population. We have an African population. All of these communities are going to be subject to some of the same challenges.
SINGER: Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, like some Democratic officials elsewhere, has issued a know your rights guide outlining what federal agents can and cannot do, but she admits that's hard to enforce.
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ANDREA CAMPBELL: It's still very hard to hold the federal administration and ICE officials accountable for the activity we are currently seeing in Massachusetts.
SINGER: Black activists say it's a problem they've had with police accountability for generations. The Boston Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Since 2003, the NAACP has produced a guide called "The 411 On The Five-O." It's much like Ron Bell's "Black Book," listing the rights a person has when confronted by police.
WISDOM COLE: This is a situation that has been going on for the entire history of the organization.
SINGER: That's Wisdom Cole, the NAACP's senior national advocacy director. He says the immigration crackdown is an opportunity for communities of color to unite.
COLE: I think this is really an issue of solidarity and ensuring that we recognize that if they come for one of us, they come for all of us.
SINGER: Ron Bell, the Boston organizer, says he's preparing Black men if someone comes for them.
BELL: What normally happens to Black men or Black boys, you learn these things once you get arrested. Then you find out, wow, I didn't know I had rights.
SINGER: With that, he steps into another diner to hand out more "Black Books."
BELL: Good. I got this for you, man. It's a know-your-rights guide.
SINGER: For NPR News, I'm Paul Singer in Boston. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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