ICE officials can assert greater powers to enter homes without a judge’s warrant, the internal memo said.
Federal immigration officials are being given broad powers to forcibly enter people’s homes without a warrant, according to an internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) memo obtained by The Associated Press.
The order was unveiled as the Trump administration prepares to tighten immigration enforcement in Maine, part of an increase in immigration detention across the country. Thousands of police officers have been deployed under a mass deportation campaign that is already reshaping law enforcement strategies in cities like Minneapolis.
For years, immigration lawyers, legal aid organizations 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 based on Supreme Court decisions that generally bar law enforcement from entering a home without a court warrant. ICE’s order directly curtails that advice at a time when arrests are soaring under the administration’s immigration enforcement framework.
The Associated Press obtained the memo and the complaint to a congressional official, who shared the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive documents. The AP verified the authenticity of the accounts in the complaint.
The memo contradicts the training material
The memo itself was not widely shared within the agency, according to the whistleblower’s complaint, but its content was used to train new ICE officers who were deployed in cities and towns to carry out the campaign of US President Donald Trump.
New ICE recruits and trainees were told to follow the memo’s guidance instead of written training materials that conflicted with the memo, according to the release of the report.
It is unclear how widely the order has been used in immigration enforcement operations.
The memo, signed by ICE acting director Todd Lyons and dated May 12, 2025, states: “While the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not historically relied on executive orders alone to detain aliens subject to final removal orders, the DHS Office of the National Council, the DHS Office of National Law Enforcement has determined that the regulations of immigration does not preclude reliance on administrative warrants for this purpose.”
The memo does not specify how that decision was made and what its legal consequences would be.
When asked about the memo, Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press that everyone served with a warrant already has “due process and a final order of removal.”
He said the police issued those warrants and found the reason for the arrest of the person. He said the Supreme Court and Congress “have recognized the validity of executive orders in immigration enforcement cases,” without elaborating.
McLaughlin did not respond to questions about whether ICE officials entered a person’s home since the memo was issued only subject to an administrative warrant and if so, how often.
US President Donald Trump has threatened on social media to invoke the Sedition Act, allowing him to send in the military as anti-ICE protests continue in Minneapolis. The act would allow military and National Guard soldiers to perform law enforcement duties normally performed by local police.
ICE is now targeting Maine
The Trump administration is now moving toward its mass deportation campaign in Maine, a state with few illegal US citizens but a significant presence of African refugees in its major cities.
The Department of Homeland Security has named the operation “Catch of the Day,” an obvious play on Maine’s seafood industry.
Reports of increased immigration arrests have sparked fear in the immigrant communities of Portland and Lewiston and prompted backlash from Gov. Janet Mills and other Democrats, including refusing to help immigration agents hide the ownership of their vehicles by issuing secret plates.
“We have not revoked existing plates but we have temporarily suspended the issuance of new plates. We want to ensure that Maine plates will not be used for illegal purposes,” said Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, adding that this decision shows her disgust with the tactics of immigration police in other areas.
Citizens have formed networks to warn neighbors of the presence of ICE agents and deliver food to immigrants’ homes. Portland’s superintendent said the school district is developing an online learning program for its students, more than half of whom are white. Many businesses have posted signs saying ICE agents are not welcome.
Portland Mayor Mark Dion said Wednesday that members of his community see the presence of immigration officers in the city as “unexpected and a threat to their families.”
“Although we respect the law, we challenge the need for military action,” Dion said at a press conference where he was joined by other local officials.
“This council does not separate from our immigrant communities, we stand with them.
ICE did not respond to a request for comment on the agency’s plans in Maine, where enforcement began Tuesday, according to Homeland Security.
“We launched Operation Catch of the Day to deal with the worst illegal neighborhood criminals in the state. On the first day of operations, we arrested immigrants convicted of aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and endangering the welfare of a child,” McLaughlin said in a statement.
A message seeking comment from US Customs and Border Protection was not immediately returned.
Court lifts limits on ICE tactics in Minnesota
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, an appeals court stayed a ruling blocking the tactics of Minnesota immigration officials.
The 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals was urged to stay the judge’s decision to bar police from using tear gas and other measures against peaceful protesters while authorities pursue an appeal. Operation Metro Surge, an immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, began in early December.
The order ordered last week by US District Judge Kate Menendez harms “the ability of officers to defend themselves and protect the public in the most dangerous situations,” state attorneys said.
On Friday, a federal judge in Minnesota placed limits on the methods law enforcement can use in the face of protests in Minneapolis over the Trump administration’s deployment of immigration services.
Minnesota remains the focus of Homeland Security’s immigration sweeps. State and local officials who opposed the effort were presented to a grand jury on Tuesday with records that may reveal they were trying to block the law’s implementation.
Mother of three Renee Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer in her car in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.
