Can ICE Enter My House Without Consent?

Judicial Warrants

You have probably recently seen on the news Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents forcefully breaking into people’s homes claiming they have a warrant to arrest someone who is subject to an order of removal due to their immigration status. However, the problem is that this is strictly forbidden by the Fourth Amendment, which requires a “judicial” warrant to legally enter a home to make an arrest.  That is, a warrant that’s been approved by an actual judge or “judicial officer.” A judicial arrest warrant, based on probable cause, implicitly carries with it the limited authority to enter a home in which the suspect lives when there is reason to believe the suspect is inside.

Immigration-Administrative Warrants

To be clear, immigration-administrative warrants to remove a person from the country are approved by an “immigration judge.” But, because the immigration system is civil and not criminal, immigration judges actually work for the executive branch, not the judiciary. The standard view has always been that administrative warrants can’t authorize home entry because they’re executive branch orders, and the executive branch can’t be in charge of deciding whether to give itself a warrant.

It appears that ICE is now trying to unilaterally change the law by claiming that these immigration warrants also gives ICE the right to break into people’s homes in order to arrest someone (see here for more on this). However, one federal district court has already shot down this absurd argument, holding that ICE violated both federal regulations and the Fourth Amendment when agents forcibly entered the person’s home without consent or a judicial warrant. Specifically, the judge stated that the “arrest violated the Fourth Amendment,” and that ICE agents forcibly entered the person’ home without his consent and without a judicial warrant. Read more about this case.

If an ICE agent (or any law enforcement officer) is asking to enter your house without a judicial warrant, you have the constitutional right to deny them access! Whether it’s a criminal case or a personal injury matter, at Nobles & Yanez, we are always here ready to fight for your rights.