You do not have to open the door. Stay calm and speak through it. An ICE "administrative warrant" (Form I-200 or I-205) does not allow agents to enter your home. Only a judicial warrant — signed by a judge, with your correct name and address — does.

Your visa depends on your employer — but your rights don't. Federal law protects H-1B workers in ways many employers hope you never learn:

• You must be paid the wage in your LCA — always. "Benching" you without pay between projects is illegal, even if you signed something agreeing to it.
• Your passport belongs to you. No employer may confiscate or hold your passport or immigration documents. That can constitute a serious federal offense.
• Laid off? You have a grace period. You generally have up to 60 days (or until your I-94 expires, whichever is shorter) to find a new sponsor, change status, or depart — you are not "illegal" the day you're terminated.
• Your H-1B is portable. You can begin working for a new employer as soon as they properly file a transfer petition — you don't have to wait for approval.
• Fired early? They owe you a ticket home. If your employer terminates you before your petition ends, they're liable for reasonable return transportation costs.
• You can't be billed for the government's H-1B fees. An employer can never pass the H-1B training fee to you, and can't use "penalties" to stop you from leaving in ways that drop your pay below the required wage.
• Retaliation is illegal. Firing, threatening, or blacklisting you for reporting violations is itself a violation.

What you do in the first hours determines whether your case can ever be acted on. Six steps:

1. Get safe first. If there's any threat of violence, call 911. Your safety comes before documentation.
2. Write everything down immediately. Memory fades within hours. Date, time, exact location, exact words said, descriptions of the people involved.
3. Capture evidence. Photos of injuries or damage. For online hate: full-page screenshots showing the URL, username, and timestamp — before it gets deleted.
4. Get witnesses. Names and phone numbers before they leave. A single witness can transform a case.
5. Report it — three places. Local police (ask for the report number), the FBI at tips.fbi.gov or 1-800-CALL-FBI, and IAAC's Stop Indian Hate tracker so the incident is counted, not erased.
6. Get support. You don't have to handle this alone — IAAC connects community members with attorneys, journalists, and advocacy organizations. See Resources.

• Stopped by police: you have the right to remain silent — say so out loud. You can ask "Am I free to go?" If yes, calmly leave. You never have to consent to a search of yourself or your car; say "I do not consent to a search."
• At work: harassment about your accent, religion, food, or origin can create an illegal hostile work environment. Report it in writing (email creates a record) to HR — that written trail is what makes cases winnable.
• Denied service or housing: discrimination in housing, restaurants, and stores based on race, religion, or national origin is illegal. For housing, file at hud.gov/fairhousing.
• Harassed online: don't engage. Screenshot with URLs and timestamps, report to the platform, and log it with IAAC's tracker — the Indian Hate Network research documents coordinated accounts.