The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has authorized immigration agents to enter the homes of certain noncitizens and make arrests without the kind of warrant mandated by the Fourth Amendment.
A secret Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo authorized agents “to forcibly enter into certain people’s homes without a judicial warrant, consent or an emergency,” according to a whistleblower report of the memo, both of which were obtained by the Associated Press.
The memo from acting ICE Director Todd Lyons instructs agents instead to rely on administrative warrants to force their way into people’s homes during immigration raids.
“It appears that the acting ICE director has authorized the very conduct that DHS in 2025 legal training materials (citing Supreme Court precedent) has called ‘the chief evil against which the wording of the Fourth Amendment is directed’ — ‘physical entry of the home’ without consent or a proper warrant,” according to two whistleblowers represented by Whistleblower Aid.
Judicial warrants are signed court orders enabling law enforcement to conduct searches, confiscate property and enter residences and other private spaces. Obtaining warrants from a judge usually requires authorities to demonstrate probable cause that a suspect or wanted criminal is on the premises.
But ICE agents have been cleared to use administrative warrants signed only by an agency official, Whistleblower Aid explained. “In fact, our client at DHS understands that instructors...
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