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PHOENIX — Immigrant-rights advocates are giving a key piece of advice to help illegal immigrants avoid deportation — remain silent.

The advice is being given out at monthly forums organized by at least three pro-immigrant community groups. The forums, which attract hundreds, are held to tell immigrants what the laws are, what their rights are and to combat racial profiling.

Immigrants who attend are given pamphlets called, "En boca cerrada, no entran moscas," a popular Spanish phrase that means "Flies can't enter a closed mouth."

"Silence is the most important right. Remain silent," says the four-page pamphlet, which is published by Somos America, Radio Campesina and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

The pamphlet says that under the law, it's the job of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to prove that someone is not legally in the country. The pamphlet includes a card that can be handed over in case of arrest by an immigration officer.

It says, "I am asserting my constitutional right to remain silent. I will only tell you my name. I will not answer any other questions. I demand my right to be represented by an attorney (and) to make a telephone call."

Magdalena Schwartz, a Mesa pastor who is heavily involved in the immigrant community, said she has heard from at least five people who were stopped by police in the last month and remained silent when questioned about their immigration status.

"All they got was a ticket," she said. "It's preventing people from being deported because they know their rights now and they remain silent."

Critics say the advice to remain silent amounts to helping people who have broken the law.

"It shows blatant contempt for the rule of law in this country and … for local police working with federal authorities to clean up this mess," said Chris Simcox, president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a civilian border-watch group.

Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a legal group in Washington, D.C., that advocates enforcement by police of federal immigration laws, said he doesn't like the community groups' approach, even though he agrees it's within their rights.