January 22, 2026
As the war on immigration draws massive backlash and criticism, the memo adds to a laundry list of controversial policies that are just now coming to light.
A new memo is proving why U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents feel they can trespass into people’s homes during their immigration raids.
Dated May 12, a memo from Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons shows officers and agents can forcibly enter homes of people subjected to deportation without signed warrants, NBC News reports. The notice was shared with Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal by two whistleblowers, giving ICE agents the green light to enter a subject’s home with force using an administrative warrant, permitting officers or agents to make arrests, given that a judge has issued a “final order of removal.”
The documents are different from judicial warrants, which judges or magistrates have to sign in order to permit entry into homes. “Although the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not historically relied on administrative warrants alone to arrest aliens subject to final orders of removal in their place of residence, the DHS Office of General Counsel has recently determined that the U.S. Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the immigration regulations do not prohibit relying on administrative warrants for this purpose,” the memo reads, noting that arresting people “in their residences” is a change from past procedures.
ICE agents are instructed to use a method called Form I-205, where they must “knock and announce,” and that “in announcing, officers and agents must state their identity and purpose,” and agents are required to give the people inside enough time to comply. In addition, it gives time restraint suggestions saying agents shouldn’t enter a residence before 6 a.m. or after 10 p.m., and “should only use a necessary and reasonable amount of force” to enter a home.
The group Whistleblower Aid, representing the whistleblowers who shared the memo with the senator, claims, “this ‘policy’ flies in the face of longstanding federal law enforcement training material and policies, all rooted in constitutional assessments.”
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin claims illegal immigrants who are served I-205s “have had full due process and a final order of removal from an immigration judge,” but Blumenthal says otherwise. The senator alleges the memo was not “widely distributed” despite the “all-hands” label. “Instead, the disclosure claims that the memo was rolled out in a secretive manner in which some agents were verbally briefed while others were allowed to view it but not keep a copy,” the Democratic leader wrote in a statement.
“It was reportedly clear that anyone who openly spoke out against this new directive would be fired.”
As the war on immigration is drawing massive backlash and criticism, the memo adds to a laundry list of controversial policies that are just now coming to light.
According to The Guardian, as tensions continue to build in Minnesota following the death of Renee Good, appeals court Judge Katherine Menendez granted agents and officials permission to use pepper-spray on peaceful protestors in addition to arresting them — but temporarily. The victory for the Trump administration comes as Vice President JD Vance is scheduled to make an appearance in Minneapolis to “hold a roundtable with local leaders and community members and will deliver remarks focused on restoring law and order in Minneapolis.”
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