Congress Must Halt Gestapo-Style Home Intrusions by ICE

STOP WARRANTLESS HOME ENTRY BY ICE As your constituent, I write to urge you to promptly open a congressional investigation into a recently disclosed ICE memorandum authorizing ICE officers to enter private residences and make arrests based solely on administrative warrants. These are not warrants signed by an impartial judge, and under long-standing Fourth Amendment interpretations, they should not permit forced entry into living quarters. The core issue is whether federal agents may lawfully enter a home without a warrant signed by a neutral magistrate, a protection central to the Fourth Amendment’s guarantee against unreasonable searches and seizures. CONTENTS AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE ICE MEMORANDUM An internal ICE memo dated May 12, 2025, directs officers that if they hold an administrative warrant called Form I-205, they may force their way into the person’s home. Officers are instructed to do so after announcing themselves and giving a chance to comply, even without consent. This represents a significant break from prior guidance that only judicial warrants authorize such entries. The memorandum was publicly reported by The Washington Post in an article titled “ICE memo allows agents to enter homes without judge’s warrant, legal group says,” available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2026/01/22/ice-memo-enter-homes-warrant/ The memo was shared confidentially with select DHS officials and to Congress via whistleblower disclosures. It has been used in training new ICE agents. SERIOUS CONSTITUTIONAL DEFECTS IN THE ICE POLICY Under the Fourth Amendment, law enforcement must obtain a judge-signed warrant to enter a private residence absent exigent circumstances. Legal rights groups and constitutional experts state that administrative warrants do not permit forced home entry. While there are limited exceptions under Supreme Court precedent for exigent circumstances, such as rendering emergency aid or preventing imminent harm, routine immigration arrests are not typically covered by those exceptions. Instead of requiring a judicial warrant issued by a neutral magistrate, this ICE policy relies on agency-issued administrative warrants, substantially weakening constitutional protections inside the home. CONGRESSIONAL ACTIONS REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY This policy permits forced entry into private homes without judicial oversight, eroding a core civil-liberty safeguard. I therefore urge you to take the following congressional actions: (1) Initiate a formal investigation into the ICE memo’s legal basis, implementation, and Fourth Amendment consistency. (2) Hold public hearings with ICE and Department of Homeland Security officials, constitutional law scholars, and civil liberties advocates to shed light on this policy’s constitutional implications. (3) Require ICE to suspend enforcement based on administrative warrants for home entry until Congress can fully assess the constitutional and legal implications. Thank you.