A new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy permits Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to enter homes without judicial warrants based on administrative warrants, if there is an order to remove someone from the country. This policy change, briefed to officers in Los Angeles, has sparked legal challenges, with critics arguing it violates the Fourth Amendment. The policy, outlined in a May 2025 memo, allows for arrests of individuals subject to removal orders in their residences. The ACLU and other civil rights groups are raising concerns about the potential for overreach and abuse.
A Department of Homeland Security ( DHS ) official traveled to Los Angeles in June to brief officers on a new immigration enforcement policy, according to two administration officials who spoke to NBC News. This briefing preceded an immigration enforcement action, signaling the implementation of a controversial directive. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers subsequently began forcibly entering homes without judicial warrants last summer, as confirmed by the officials.
The core of this policy allows officers to rely on an administrative warrant to enter homes if there is an existing order to remove an individual from the country. Administrative warrants, as opposed to warrants signed by a judge or magistrate, represent a lower legal standard for making arrests and generally permit officers and agents to enter homes, sparking significant legal and ethical debates.\The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Immigrants’ Rights Project attorney, Spencer Amdur, has strongly criticized this policy, stating that it “flatly violates the Fourth Amendment.” This amendment safeguards individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. Amdur further added that the policy is “part of a consistent pattern of trying to disregard clear legal limits on their authority.” Although officials did not specify the number of homes that have been entered under this new policy, they did reveal that the May memo outlining the directive was a follow-up to a March 2025 opinion issued by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the General Counsel. However, it is crucial to recognize that DHS legal opinions do not hold the same weight as settled law. Charlie Wall, who was recently appointed as acting deputy director of ICE, has been tasked with the responsibility of implementing the new policy. The DHS spokeswoman, Tricia McLaughlin, confirmed that the policy is currently in active use but refrained from disclosing specifics about the locations or frequency of home entries. McLaughlin stated, “In every case that DHS uses an administrative warrant to enter a residence, an illegal alien has already had their full due process.” The May 12, 2025 memo, allegedly authored by acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, was shared with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., by two whistleblowers.\The memo details the shift in procedure, indicating that detaining individuals “in their residences” solely on the basis of administrative warrants represents a departure from past practices. The memo clarifies that although the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had not previously utilized administrative warrants alone to arrest aliens subject to final orders of removal, the DHS Office of General Counsel has now determined that the U.S. Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and related immigration regulations do not explicitly prohibit this practice. According to the memo, agents are authorized to “arrest and detain” aliens subject to final removal orders issued by immigration judges, the Board of Immigration Appeals, or U.S. district or magistrate judges, within their places of residence. The memo also includes guidelines that agents should generally avoid entering a residence before 6 a.m. or after 10 p.m. and should only utilize “a necessary and reasonable amount of force” to gain entry. The issue has attracted political attention, with President Donald Trump acknowledging that federal agents “make mistakes sometimes” in the enforcement of immigration policies, this statement coming after a period of intense public scrutiny, including violent confrontations and the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good. The escalating use of administrative warrants for home entries is likely to continue to be a subject of intense legal and ethical scrutiny, raising questions about individual rights, governmental overreach, and the interpretation of existing laws concerning immigration enforcement
Immigration DHS ICE Administrative Warrants Fourth Amendment Home Entry
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