ICE Cops are Invading Homes Without Court Warrants

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cops — often masked, out of uniform, and intent on quickly escalating the force they initiate while yelling out orders and curses — have been demonstrating over the past few months the danger of police directed to menace and suppress instead of to serve and protect.

A Wednesday Associated Press article by Rebecca Santana details one of the tactics employed by ICE cops in their rampage — storming into homes without judge-signed warrants authorizing that they may enter and for what particular purposes. The US Constitution was supposed to restrain such home invasions in the nation that rose post-revolution from the colonies that had been subjected to British soldiers operating under general warrant powers. Strict requirements were imposed in the Fourth Amendment in regard to searches and seizures. ICE, though, is bypassing that restraint in its current home invasion practices.

 “Federal immigration officers are asserting sweeping power to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judge’s warrant, according to an internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo obtained by The Associated Press, marking a sharp reversal of longstanding guidance meant to respect constitutional limits on government searches,” wrote Santana to begin hear article. ICE cops, Santana related, are just acting under supposed authority from “administrative warrants” ICE creates for itself.

This change by ICE strips away some protection for Americans’ homes from invasion by government agents. Santana explained:

For years, immigrant advocates, legal aid groups and local governments have urged people not to open their doors to immigration agents unless they are shown a warrant signed by a judge. That guidance is rooted in Supreme Court rulings that generally prohibit law enforcement from entering a home without judicial approval. The ICE directive directly undercuts that advice at a time when arrests are accelerating under the administration’s immigration crackdown.

The Constitution and homes are under attack from the US government’s immigration cops. Significant restraint should be imposed on these cops to prevent further harm. A good place to start is with rescinding the ICE memorandum asserting expanded authority to forcibly enter people’s homes.