Fourth Amendment and Policing

An internal ICE memo dated May 2025 and signed by Acting Director Todd Lyons broadens the agency’s reading of "likely to escape," authorizes agents to rely on administrative (non‑judicial) warrants to enter residences—including use of "necessary and reasonable" force after knocking and identifying themselves during 6 a.m.–10 p.m.—and directs post‑action documentation; reporting and eyewitness accounts show it is being operationalized in places like Minneapolis, where agents have rammed doors and detained people later released, including U.S. citizens. DHS defends the guidance as consistent with the Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act and agency regulations, while whistleblowers, civil‑rights lawyers and members of Congress call it a flagrant Fourth Amendment violation, spurring lawsuits and demands for hearings.