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
It is the size of a credit card, comes in 19 languages and is in the pockets and purses of millions of immigrants.
The red card, as it is known by its bearers, lists a collection of practical tips and legal rights for immigrants who might find themselves targeted by federal agents.
Though the card has been around for almost two decades, interest in it has exploded over the last month amid a wave of anti-immigrant edicts from President Trump during his first days back in the White House. The nonprofit Immigrant Legal Resource Center has received orders from across the country for several million cards, a demand its printing contractor has rushed to meet.
Eliseo, a carpet installer in Northern California, keeps one in his wallet and another in his truck’s glove compartment. His wife, Maria, stores hers in the sleeve on the back of her cellphone. Their 13-year-old son, a U.S. citizen, has distributed them to classmates.
“You show agents the card,” said Eliseo, a father of three who has been in the United States for decades. “It does the talking.”
Like other undocumented immigrants interviewed for this article, he spoke on the condition that he be identified by only his first name.