Frank Rondel
A May 12 internal memo from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reveals that officers and agents may forcibly enter the homes of individuals subject to deportation without judicial warrants if a “final order of removal” has been issued, reports customreceipt.com via NBC. The document, authored by ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons and shared with Senator Richard Blumenthal, outlines the agency’s reliance on administrative warrants, which differ from judicial warrants in that they allow arrests without prior court approval. According to the memo, this approach represents a departure from previous ICE protocols, permitting the agency to detain individuals at their residences under final removal orders.
The memo specifies that ICE agents may make arrests at the homes of those subject to final orders of removal issued by immigration judges, the Board of Immigration Appeals, or U.S. district and magistrate judges. Administrative warrants, referred to as Form I-205 in the memo, require officers to “knock and announce” their presence, state their identity and purpose, and allow residents sufficient time to comply with the order. The guidance also advises that entries generally should not occur before 6 a.m. or after 10 p.m. and that only the “necessary and reasonable amount of force” should be used.
The Department of Homeland Security has confirmed that individuals served with administrative warrants have undergone full due process and have a final removal order from an immigration judge. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin emphasized that officers issuing these warrants have established probable cause, and noted that administrative warrants have long been recognized as valid instruments for immigration enforcement.
Whistleblower Aid, representing the two ICE employees who shared the memo with Congress, criticized the policy, asserting that it contradicts established federal law enforcement guidelines and raises Fourth Amendment concerns. The group stated that Form I-205 does not authorize officers to forcibly enter homes and highlighted that new ICE recruits, many without prior law enforcement experience, were being trained in accordance with this directive.
Senator Blumenthal said the memo, while marked “all-hands,” was reportedly not widely distributed and was shared selectively with personnel, some verbally briefed and others allowed to view it temporarily without retaining copies. He added that the policy threatens constitutional protections by permitting home entries without judicial oversight and warned that employees raising objections risked termination.
The ICE memo clarifies that Form I-205 is not a search warrant and is intended solely for immigration arrests at a subject’s residence. Data indicate that from January 20, 2025, to October 15, 2025, ICE arrested approximately 220,000 individuals, including roughly 75,000 with no criminal records. The memo’s release comes amid heightened immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, which has previously conducted crackdowns in Democrat-led cities, including Minneapolis, where protests erupted after an ICE-related fatality on January 7, 2025.
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