Tuesday, September 15, 2026

County Launches ‘Know Your Rights’ Campaign for Youth in Pasadena, Altadena and Across L.A. County

[photo credit: LA County]

A new toolkit tells young people what to do at a protest, during a walkout, and when stopped by police, school security or immigration agents

Los Angeles County launched a countywide campaign Monday giving young people in Pasadena, Altadena and across the county a guide to their rights during protests, walkouts and encounters with law enforcement or immigration agents.

The campaign, called “LA Youth: Know Your Rights,” was announced by the county’s Department of Youth Development. Its centerpiece is a youth-facing toolkit covering three areas: protesting safely and understanding First Amendment rights; what to do if stopped by police, school security or federal immigration agents; and legal protections, emergency planning and local resources for undocumented and mixed-status youth and families, according to the department’s announcement.

The department’s own site invites young people to learn about their civic engagement rights and how to take action safely, and points them to legal support and emergency contacts. Its resource page lists the county Office of Immigrant Affairs, the American Civil Liberties Union, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the California Attorney General’s Office, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Central American Resource Center, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and Comunidades Indígenas en Liderazgo, along with Public Counsel’s Immigrants’ Rights Project at 213-385-2977 ext. 296 and an immigration court hotline at 1-800-898-7180.

The department said the campaign grew out of a July 2025 motion by Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn titled “Empowering Youth Through Know Your Rights Education for Civic Engagement.” County records show the department presented on that work to a county commission in November 2025.

Before the public launch, the department said, it ran five direct-engagement workshops across all county regions during the summer of 2026, training 144 young people on their constitutional rights during protests, walkouts and law enforcement encounters. The department said the workshops were run with the Public Defender’s Office, the Alternate Public Defender’s Office and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, and that its own service providers were trained so the material could be folded into existing programming.

Department Director David J. Carroll said in the announcement that the agency’s mission is to move away from punishment-centered systems and invest in “care, opportunity, and youth-led empowerment.” Public Defender Ricardo Garcia, Alternate Public Defender Erika Anzoategui and Kathia Garcia, the coalition’s youth programs manager, were also quoted in the announcement supporting the effort.

Locally, the ground has been prepared. The City of Pasadena’s immigration resources page already directs residents to Know Your Rights cards in more than 39 languages through the county Office of Immigrant Affairs and to legal clinics listed by that office and the immigrant rights coalition. The city has declared it will not enforce federal immigration laws, adopted an Immigration Enforcement Protection Resolution on Feb. 23, 2026, and launched a $100,000 Pasadena Emergency Assistance Fund with the California Community Foundation for families affected by federal immigration enforcement.

Pasadena Unified’s policies date to a December 2016 resolution that barred immigration agents from district property without a warrant, required superintendent approval before access and barred employees from asking about or sharing immigration status unless compelled by law. The district later created a webpage at pusd.us/immigrationresources with family preparedness plan templates in English and Spanish, and worked with local nonprofits and faith leaders on an effort called Hopeful Horizons that includes know-your-rights training and rapid response networks.

The immigrant rights coalition’s community education staff conduct know-your-rights presentations in community spaces, schools, libraries and other public places.

Need to know: The toolkit and the county’s legal and immigrant support resources are posted at dyd.lacounty.gov/kyr.