ICE Policy Shift Authorizes Forced Home Entry Without Judicial Warrants
Washington, Thursday, 22 January 2026.
A disclosed memo empowers ICE agents to forcibly enter private homes using only agency-issued administrative warrants, effectively bypassing judicial oversight and reversing established constitutional protocols.
A Reversal of Constitutional Protocols
The directive, signed by Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons on May 12, 2025, marks a stark departure from previous agency guidelines that respected Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures [1][2]. Historically, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protocols dictated that officers could not rely solely on administrative warrants—which are signed by agency officials rather than a judge—to enter private residences without consent [2]. However, the newly surfaced memo explicitly authorizes officers to use the “necessary and reasonable amount of force” to enter a residence if the subject has a final order of removal and denies entry [2]. This operational shift allows agents to bypass the judicial review process typically required to obtain a warrant for entering a private home, a standard legal experts and rights groups argue is a fundamental constitutional safeguard [2][3].
Operational Parameters and Administration Defense
According to the whistleblower complaint filed by Whistleblower Aid, the memo instructs officers to conduct these forced-entry operations between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., requiring them to knock and identify themselves before breaching a property [2]. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has defended the policy, with spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin stating that the individuals targeted have already received “full due process” and a final removal order from an immigration judge [1][2]. McLaughlin asserted that the DHS Office of the General Counsel determined that the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Constitution do not prohibit the use of administrative warrants for this purpose, despite the agency historically avoiding the practice due to constitutional concerns [1][2]. The Trump administration has continued to aggressively expand immigration enforcement, with the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” signed in 2025 allocating unprecedented funding to the agency [4].
Legal Fallout and Escalating Tensions
The implementation of this policy has already resulted in visible confrontations. On January 11, 2026, Associated Press reporters witnessed ICE agents in Minneapolis using an administrative warrant to ram through the door of a Liberian man’s home [1]. This aggressive posture comes amidst heightened tensions in Minneapolis, following the January 7, 2026, fatal shooting of motorist Renee Nicole Good by an ICE officer, an event the city’s mayor described as “reckless” [4]. Whistleblower Aid has characterized the new directive as a “flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment,” noting that while the memo was not widely shared, it is currently being used to train new officers [1][2]. With the agency attempting to hire 10,000 new employees in 2026—a significant increase from its workforce of over 21,800 in 2025—critics fear the combination of inexperienced agents and expanded powers will lead to further constitutional conflicts [4].