With a Canva account and a surge of ambition, freshman Diane Kim decided one day to begin her own individual passion project — a project dedicated to giving out the Know Your Rights red cards.
Kim created the cards on Canva and printed around 500 red cards to distribute across campus, starting with the Birnkrant Residential College.
“I went on every single floor of Birnkrant, especially because they have living, learning communities … and a lot of students of color I know live there,” the philosophy, politics and law student said.
The project grew and Kim started allocating red cards to members of the University Student Government committee as student resources and to kids attending USC’s Troy Camp where she works.
The red cards, “tarjetas rojas” in Spanish, are used to help individuals assert their rights and protect themselves from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The cards, which have been recently provided to LAUSD students as a result of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration approach, are starting to make a prominent appearance on the USC campus.
On the cards is a guide of what to do and what not to do if approached by an immigration agent, such as not opening the door if an agent comes to your home and not signing any documents without a lawyer present. The cards can be downloaded for free from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center website.
Heydy Vasquez, a junior studying legal studies, says it’s essential that people are aware of their constitutional rights.
“It’s really important, especially in an area where the predominant people here are also immigrants,” Vasquez said. “It’s a large black and brown neighborhood. So I want to make sure that every person here is protected as much as possible.”
The university also now has an Undocumented Trojan Success Assembly, which was given the greenlight for incorporation in December 2024.
Vasquez, who is also a senator for USG, implemented the red cards early in her student government career. Inspired by her Los Angeles high school’s usage of the cards, Vasquez advocated for their uses in the Student Union, including the First Generation Success Center, which ordered around 1,000 pre-made red cards. Now, the cards are more in demand than ever.
“I put these out when … there were not a lot of fears within the immigrant community. And now they’re going out really fast,” Vasquez said.
The fear over ICE raids was heightened after a document leaked in early February warning of an incoming “large scale” immigration enforcement action in the Los Angeles Area. It’s uncertain when these raids could occur, causing organizations like CLUE Justice to be on high alert and to take the extra steps to protect their community.
Immigration Program Director Guillermo Torres of CLUE Justice, a faith-based advocacy group, said that protecting immigrants is their “number one priority.” The organization has been going to congregations to distribute red cards and has been working on a Know Your Rights training initiative to educate the community.
When it comes to individuals who want to give out red cards themselves, Torres advises people to proceed with sensitivity and to work alongside nonprofit and religious groups. Churches have been historically known for being safe havens for immigrants and Torres wants to remind people that the God he believes in is one that is for justice, not for hate.
“Remember that God is with the poor, with the immigrant,” Torres said. “It’s not a crime. It’s not a sin to migrate to another country. What is a sin and what is a crime is the indifference to the humanity of another person? That’s the crime.”
Kim and Vasquez have now joined forces to work on their own project regarding the red cards. Currently, the red cards students can get on campus are only written in English and Spanish. Kim and Vasquez are working to make an expansion and have cards written in other languages spoken on campus, such as Hindi or Chinese. They said they want to keep every community in mind while also straying away from the stereotype that all Latinos are immigrants.
Despite this, Kim and Vasquez are in agreement that this issue doesn’t just affect undocumented immigrants, it affects everyone and that people should have more empathy.
“The people you work with in your community are being affected by this, and your friends are probably affected by this too,” Kim said. She continued to say if you’re in a position of privilege, you should do everything to help out the people around you.
“These are people that you’re doing class presentations with. These are people who you’re sitting beside,” Vasquez said. “Don’t move with hate, and make sure that you’re keeping in mind that these people are also USC students, just like how you are.”