On Wednesday, a whistleblower group published an internal memo issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorizing its agents to break into homes using only internal “administrative” warrants, in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
The exposure of the secret directive reveals the extent to which the Trump administration is erecting a police state and attempting to abolish fundamental democratic rights. These measures, which are today directed largely against immigrant workers and their families, are aimed ultimately against the entire working class.
The whistleblower complaint contains a copy of the internal memorandum dated May 12, 2025 and signed by Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons. It instructs ICE officers that they may enter private residences, including by force, based solely on a civil “administrative” warrant, without the consent of the occupants and without a warrant issued by a judge.
The memo was quietly circulated inside ICE and only came to light this week when two Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials submitted it to the whistleblower organization Whistleblower Aid and to Congress.
Lyons writes that although DHS “has not historically relied on administrative warrants alone to arrest aliens subject to final orders of removal in their place of residence,” the DHS Office of General Counsel has “recently determined that the US Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the immigration regulations do not prohibit relying on...
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