Amid the tensions with federal immigration officers, you may have had this question: If you are a U.S. citizen, are you legally required to comply with the orders of an ICE agent? These immigration officers are not general law enforcement officers, after all.
Scripps News Denver's Shannon Ogden spoke with Ian Farrell, professor of law at Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver, to get some answers for you. According to Farrell, the short answer is no. If you are not interfering with the work of immigration officers, by and large, you are not legally required to follow their orders.
An important distinction to make here is that being legally correct and being safe are not the same thing. If there is a confrontation with a federal immigration officer, experts will advise you to follow orders. The heat of the moment is not the time to argue the law.
Here is Shannon's full interview with Prof. Farrell:
