ICE takes holistic view of agents’ ability to make warrantless immigration-related arrests

The highest official of Immigration and Customs Enforcement made clear to federal agents in a new memo that they can make quick decisions to arrest suspected illegal immigrants without a warrant under certain conditions.

The memo tabled by the government federal court Friday in a case in Minnesota, broadens ICE’s view on warrantless arrests. Acting Director Todd Lyons suggested that the agency had previously misinterpreted the law.

When ICE agents make civil immigration arrests, they are required to obtain an administrative warrant, which ICE supervisors sign to confirm that probable cause exists to make the arrest.

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But the law has an exception that allows ICE agents to make an arrest without a warrant if they believe the person is “likely to escape” before a warrant is obtained.

Lyons wrote in the memo that an “alien is ‘likely to escape’ if an immigration officer determines that he or she is unlikely to be located at the scene of the encounter or in another clearly identifiable location once an administrative warrant is obtained.”

ICE had previously interpreted the term “likely to escape” to mean “flight risk,” which Lyons said was an inappropriate view of the law. A flight risk describes a person who might not show up for a future hearing, but Lyons said ICE agents who make “on-the-spot determinations” in the field don’t necessarily have enough information to know if someone is a flight risk before arresting them.

The memo said officers should document on a government form, as soon as possible after the arrest, the factors they considered when arresting a person without a warrant.

DHS Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to Fox News Digital that the memo was “nothing new.”

“It’s just a reminder to officers to be [keeping] detailed records of their arrests,” she said, adding that “authorities under USC 1357 and, of course, reasonable suspicion are protected by the U.S. Constitution.”

Some critics, however, found the rating alarming. The senator Jeff MerkleyD-Ore., said it was “another advance in Trump’s fascist agenda,” alleging on X that the administration wanted “the warrantless arrest of almost anyone, at any time.”

THE New York Times was first reported in the memo. Claire Trickler-McNulty, a former senior advisor to ICE, told the outlet that the new definition was “an extremely broad interpretation of the term ‘escape’.”

“It would basically cover anyone they want to arrest without a warrant, which would make the general principle that a warrant is ever obtained useless,” she said.

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The memo comes as the Trump administration pursues an aggressive deportation program, which has attracted mixed reactionsaccording to a survey. Some observe that the efforts have significantly reduced illegal immigration, while others are alarmed by incidents that appear violent or have ended in tragedy, including two recent killings of U.S. citizens in Minnesota at the hands of immigration authorities.

ICE deportations have been challenged in courts across the country, and the Trump administration has seen, according to a Policy analysis, hundreds of dismissals by district court judges.

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A federal judge in Washington, Washington blocked the administration from making arrests without immigration warrants without first making individualized assessments about the likelihood that a target would escape. Judge Beryl Howell, an Obama appointee, said the immigrant rights group that filed the suit was correct in alleging that the Trump administration’s policy was “stop first, ask questions later.”

“The defendants adopted a policy of making arrests using deficient standards both under the law [Immigration and Nationality Act] and well-established constitutional principles,” Howell wrote.