New Leaked ICE Memo Asserts Power to Enter Homes Without A Warrant
Posted on February 1, 2026
As reported in AP News, ICE is now instructing agents that they have the legal sanction to enter a home to make an arrest without a judicial warrant. An ICE memo obtained by reporters states that agents need only complete an internal form, asserting that a migrant suspected of being in the country illegally may be present at a private residence, to have the authority to enter the residence and detain the sought-after individual.
Due to its classification as a branch of civil law, immigration law already enjoys a number of exemptions from traditional checks on law enforcement. The so-called “exclusionary principle” states that evidence obtained in a manner that violates the Fourth Amendment must be excluded from prosecution. For instance, if a search pursuant to a criminal investigation was conducted without a search warrant, that evidence would be inadmissible in court. But in immigration law, INS v. Lopez-Mendoza ruled that the exclusionary principles does not apply to immigration law. Restrictions on ICE arrests are also lax compared to agencies enforcing criminal statutes. Another case, Abel v. United States, established that ICE agents need only the agency’s I-205 form to make an arrest in a public place, and not an arrest warrant signed by a judge.
The latest ICE memo featured in the reporting attempts to expand this very same I-205 form to cover arrests on private property. As the article indicates that the contents of this memo are being administered as verbal instructions, rather than delivered in written form to all personnel, this (if accurate) suggests that the agency suspects that this is a controversial arrogation of law enforcement powers. Indeed, the Code of Federal Regulations states that immigration enforcement agents must still secure a judicial warrant to set foot on private property to arrest suspects.
ICE’s moves to supercharge the I-205 administrative warrant are not the first time that immigration enforcement has taken the lead in eroding the Fourth Amendment. Airports and other ports of entry have been exempted from the Fourth Amendment, which is what empowers such bodies as the TSA to make searches and interrogate travelers at its sole discretion. And as CCDBR has noted previously, there is a 100-mile band extending into the interior from the border in which the federal government asserts that there is no right to Fourth Amendment protections.
This new assertion of authority will likely prove a decisive battleground for preserving the integrity of the Fourth Amendment. While it is less sensational than scenes of masked agents roving the streets, it is every bit as dangerous to American liberty.
You can read the full piece from AP News here.
