"Forced Entry Without Warrant Possible"... US Department of Homeland Security Expands ICE Authority

Authority Expanded Through Unofficial Document Last Summer
Targeting Individuals with Final Deportation Orders
ICE Attempts Forced Entry Under New Guidelines

EPA Yonhap News

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is exercising new authority to forcibly enter the residences of individuals targeted for arrest without a warrant, sparking controversy.

On January 21 (local time), Bloomberg reported that last summer, lawyers from ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) drafted an unofficial document expanding ICE agents' authority to forcibly enter homes. The targets for forced entry are immigrants who have received final deportation orders.

According to The Wall Street Journal, this means that forced entry may now be possible with only an administrative warrant showing 'probable cause' to believe that an individual is unlawfully present in the country.

The Associated Press reported that ICE is training its agents under the new guidelines based on this unofficial document. After the unofficial document was drafted, ICE reportedly launched a pilot program in Minnesota.

An administrative warrant is a document stating the grounds for ICE's arrest. Under the Fourth Amendment, which requires a judicial warrant for searches and seizures, there was previously no legal basis for forced entry into homes with only an administrative warrant. Bloomberg noted that the Department of Homeland Security and ICE have not released the new guidelines, apparently due to concerns over potential legal challenges.

Trisha McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, stated, "Due process has been followed, and those subject to the new guidelines (forced entry) are individuals who have received final deportation orders from an immigration judge."