Law by memo? (We want to, therefore we can?)

https://www.bespacific.com/immigration-officers-assert-sweeping-power-to-enter-homes-without-a-judges-warrant/

Immigration officers assert sweeping power to enter homes without a judge’s warrant

“AP 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. The memo authorizes ICE officers to use force to enter a residence based solely on a more narrow administrative warrant to arrest someone with a final order of removal, a move that advocates say collides with Fourth Amendment protections and upends years of advice given to immigrant communities. The shift comes as the Trump administration dramatically expands immigration arrests nationwide, deploying thousands of officers under a mass deportation campaign that is already reshaping enforcement tactics in cities such as Minneapolis. 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 memo itself has not been widely shared within the agency, according to a whistleblower complaint, but its contents have been used to train new ICE officers who are being deployed into cities and towns to implement the president’s immigration crackdown. New ICE hires and those still in training are being told to follow the memo’s guidance instead of written training materials that actually contradict the memo, according to the whistleblower disclosure. It is unclear how broadly the directive has been applied in immigration enforcement operations. The Associated Press witnessed ICE officers ramming through the front door of the home of a Liberian man, Garrison Gibson, with a deportation order from 2023 in Minneapolis on Jan. 11, wearing heavy tactical gear and with their rifles drawn. Documents reviewed by The AP revealed that the agents only had an administrative warrant — meaning there was no judge who authorized the raid on private property. The change is almost certain to meet legal challenges and stiff criticism from advocacy groups and immigrant-friendly state and local governments that have spent years successfully urging people not to open their doors unless ICE shows them a warrant signed by a judge. The Associated Press obtained the memo and whistleblower complaint from an official in Congress, who shared it on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive documents. The AP verified the authenticity of the accounts in the complaint.

The memo, signed by the acting director of ICE, Todd Lyons, and dated May 12, 2025, says: “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 the 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…”

Might be interesting to include an order for disclosure of the search terms the FBI was using…

https://pogowasright.org/judge-prevents-feds-from-going-through-reporters-materials-seized-by-fbi/

Judge prevents feds from going through reporter’s materials seized by FBI

Sydney Haulenbeek reports:

 A magistrate judge on Wednesday blocked the government from examining data that it seized from a Washington Post reporter last week.

In a two-page order, Magistrate Judge William B. Porter granted the Post’s request for a standstill order, halting the federal government from reviewing any of the materials they seized from the property of Post reporter Hannah Natanson last week.

The government must preserve the documents that it collected during its search, Porter wrote, but not review them. The judge also scheduled an oral argument for early February.

Natanson, who covers President Donald Trump’s reshaping of the government, had her home searched by FBI agents early morning last Wednesday. The agents, who had a search warrant, seized a phone she used for work, two laptops — one of which was owned by the Post — a recorder, a hard drive and a Garmin watch.

Read more at Courthouse News.