ICE Can Now Enter Homes Without a Judge’s Warrant — and That’s a Big Deal — Visa Lawyer Blog

An internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy memorandum provides new insights into how immigration enforcement works inside people’s homes.

According to the memorandum, as early as May 2025, ICE told officers and agents they could break into people’s homes without a judicial warrant, as long as they had an administrative warrant and the person inside had a final deportation order.

The detention of people inside their residences, based solely on administrative warrants, marks a concerning shift in policy.

For years, legal experts have said the rule is simple: don’t open the door unless agents show a judge-signed warrant. The Fourth Amendment is clear—your home is protected from unreasonable searches and seizures. Typically, law enforcement can only enter with a judge’s approval, your permission, or in rare emergencies.

But this new policy says administrative warrants are enough. ICE officers are instructed to knock, identify themselves, and state their purpose. If someone refuses, according to the memo, agents can use “necessary and reasonable force” to enter.

The Department of Homeland Security says this is legal because “immigrants in the country illegally who are served administrative warrants or I-205s, (removal or deportation warrants), have had full due process and a final order of removal from an immigration judge.” But it removes a key constitutional safeguard and could lead to serious abuse.

This change comes as ICE enforcement ramps up across the country. As the policy becomes more widely known, legal battles are expected in the coming months over whether administrative warrants should ever replace a judge’s approval.

According to data released by UC Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project, between January 20 and October 15, 2025, ICE made roughly 220,000 arrests, and about 75,000 of those people had no criminal record.

With hundreds of thousands arrested and tens of thousands having no criminal record, the real question becomes, how far will ICE go before it crosses the line?

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