AP: Immigration officers assert sweeping power to enter homes without a judge’s warrant, memo says

AP: Immigration officers assert sweeping power to enter homes without a judge’s warrant, memo says by Rebecca Santana:

Federal immigration officers are asserting sweeping power to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judge’s warrant, according to an internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo obtained by The Associated Press, marking a sharp reversal of longstanding guidance meant to respect constitutional limits on government searches.

The memo authorizes ICE officers to use force to enter a residence based solely on a more narrow administrative warrant to arrest someone with a final order of removal, a move that advocates say collides with Fourth Amendment protections and upends years of advice given to immigrant communities.

In addition, the memo is “eyes only” and the officers aren’t allowed to have it, just read it.

The gravamen of the disclosure is as follows:

a. By memorandum dated May 12, 2025 (“the May 12 Memo”), Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons authorizes ICE agents to forcibly enteri nto certain people’s homes without a judicial warrant, consent, or an emergency.

b. Specifically, in the May 12 Memo, the Acting ICE Director authorized ICE Agents to rely on Form I-205 (which is not a judicial warrant) to enter the residence of an alien subject to a final order of deportation, without consent, including by “a necessary and reasonable amount of force.”

c. While addressed to “All ICE Personnel,” in practice the May 12 Memo has not been formally distributed to all personnel. Instead, the May 12 Memo has been provided to select DHS officials who are then directed to verbally brief the new policy for action. Those supervisors then show the Memo to some employees, like our clients, and direct them to read the Memo and return it to the supervisor.

d. A Form I-205, which DHS has called a “Warrant of Removal/Deportation” is drafted and signed by an ICE official. Based upon the final administrative order of deportation typically issued by an immigration judge, the purpose of the Form I-205 is to authorize ICE Agents to detain and remove these individuals. These arrests have always been limited to public places because the Form I-205 has not been considered a warrant issued by a “neutral and detached magistrate.” Only a warrant issued by a judicial officer would authorize ICE Agents to enter or search nonpublic areas such as an alien’s residence.

e. 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.

f. Based upon information and belief, newly hired ICE Agents – many of whom do not have a law enforcement background – are now being directed to rely solely on Form I-205 to enter a home without consent to conduct arrests. In fact, our client at DHS understands that instructors at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center are directed to verbally train all new ICE Agents to follow this policy while disregarding written course material instructing the opposite. Potentially, scores of ICE Agents will be emboldened to unlawfully enter private residences, which include the private residences of U.S. citizens.