Washington DC - Immigrants' rights advocates are urging states and municipalities to take action with a new policy guide as Donald Trump returns to the White House vowing mass detentions and deportations.

"Elected officials at every level cannot waste another minute as Trump and his allies prepare to carry out their cruel promises to unleash some of the most heinous and violent attacks on Black, brown and immigrant communities," Juan Jose Martinez-Guevera, Texas advocacy manager of United We Dream, said in a press release.

"We're calling on our state and local elected leaders to act boldly and swiftly to shore up any and all protections for immigrants, NOW! There is no need to wait for children to be separated from their parents, students to be violently removed from classrooms, patients to be heartlessly taken from their hospital beds."

The Home Is Here Coalition's new state policy guide lays out concrete ways to boost protections for immigrant communities during the second Trump administration.

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Measures that could reduce deportations include:

• Expanding access to valid forms of IDs to undocumented people, including driver's licenses
  
• Banning local law enforcement from collaborating with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
  
• Barring ICE from having a presence in courthouses
  
• Enabling access to universal legal representation

"It's imperative, now more than ever, for elected officials at every level of government to make it clear that immigrants will not be scapegoated and that they will use every tool at their disposal to ensure that they are protected and not subjected to Donald Trump's cruelty," urged Mario Carrillo, campaigns manager at America's Voice.

Ahead of Trump's anticipated attacks, the Home Is Here Coalition stressed the urgent need for Congress to create a pathway to citizenship for over 10 million people without documentation.

In the meantime, the groups proposed additional measures to strengthen communities under assault. These include:

• Expanding access to professional and occupation licensing
  
• Increasing worker protections, including barring employers from releasing employee records to ICE agents or allowing ICE entry to nonpublic places of work without a warrant or court order
  
• Expanding healthcare access to all, regardless of immigration status
  
• Guaranteeing access to higher education
• Extending access to cash assistance and other benefits programs

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"As the dangers of a Trump administration loom over our people, it is crucial for local officials to step up their leadership to protect our immigrant communities," insisted Luba Cortes, lead organizer at Make the Road New York.

"Our communities are an integral part of our country and we must work to advance solutions that ensure respect and dignity for all."