Trump's Republican Guard

We have been witnessing a surge of incidents in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents break down doors and enter homes to arrest individuals that are believed to be subject to deportation. In several high-profile cases, innocent individuals, including U.S. citizens, have been arrested. Frequently, residents of the home or those detained have said that the ICE agents acted without a proper warrant. This suggests that ICE has been acting without regard to the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. Now, a whistleblower report has revealed that this is no coincidence. Rather, ICE has been training new recruits to follow guidance in a closely held memo that says that an administrative rather than a judicial warrant is sufficient to enter a home, including by force. This guidance is at odds with the Fourth Amendment.

In other recent incidents, ICE has similarly appeared to act as a lawless agency, violating individuals' rights and acting more like an occupying army in a foreign land than a domestic law enforcement organization operating on U.S. soil. It is increasingly clear that ICE is an out-of-control rogue agency that operates in an unlawful manner and routinely violates individuals' legal rights.

On January 11, ICE officers in Minneapolis were witnessed breaking down the front door of the home of Garrison Gibson, a native of Liberia. Gibson was detained due to a deportation order issued in 2023. The Associated Press reviewed documents that showed that the ICE agents only had an administrative warrant, which is a document signed by an immigration official. This is in contrast to a judicial warrant, which is signed by a judge or magistrate. Generally, a judicial warrant is required to enter a home due to Fourth Amendment protections. Gibson was subsequently released on the order of a federal judge. Gibson's removal order was due to a since-expunged minor marijuana conviction. Despite the removal order, the government has allowed Gibson to remain in the country as long as he conducts regular check-ins, a condition with which he has complied. While the administration of cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump would have us believe that ICE is going after the "worst of the worst," they are more often than not detaining those like Gibson for whom there is little to no justification for deportation. Moreover, increasingly, ICE is acting unlawfully in the process.

On January 18, a shocking photograph circulated on social media showing ICE agents leading an elderly man from a home while dressed in nothing but his underpants, a blanket, and Crocs. The temperature was 10 degrees, and there was snow on the ground. It turned out that the man was ChongLy Scott Thao, a Hmong native of Laos who is now a U.S. citizen. That morning, ICE agents had bashed in his front door, terrorized his family, and then grabbed him and dragged him out to a waiting automobile. Thao's family said that the ICE agents displayed no warrant whatsoever, though Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin later implied that ICE had administrative warrants for two other men whom Thao's family knows nothing about. Thao was later returned to his home, presumably after ICE officers realized that they had the wrong guy.

The explanation for these illegal entries was provided yesterday when the Associated Press published a story about leaked whistleblower documents. Whistleblower Aid, a non-profit that works on behalf of whistleblowers, provided documents to Congress on behalf of two anonymous United States Government Officials. According to the documents and the whistleblowers' testimony, DHS has authorized ICE to illegally enter homes without a judicial warrant in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The authorization came in the form of a memorandum dated May 12, 2025, and signed by Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons. The memo says that ICE agents should rely on Form I-205, which is an administrative warrant rather than a judicial warrant, to enter the residences of alien subjects without consent, including the use of "a necessary and reasonable amount of force."

What is extraordinary about this memo, other than its apparent authorization to violate the Constitution, is the lengths to which ICE authorities went to keep it from becoming public. Only a small number of select officials were allowed to see the memo, and those to whom it was provided were instructed to return the memo after reading it. One of the whistleblowers was asked to read the memo while his supervisor observed. Instructors at the ICE training facility were asked to verbally instruct trainees that an I-205 was sufficient to enter a home without consent. This conflicts with the written ICE training documentation that states that a judicial warrant is necessary. The whistleblowers stated that multiple employees had been reassigned after questioning the memo, and an experienced ICE instructor had quit the department rather than teach what was understood to be an unlawful instruction.

As a result of this memo, it is likely that almost all recent ICE recruits have been instructed to violate the Constitution. In addition, several of these unlawful arrests have purposely been conducted in Texas in federal court districts in which judges are known to be sympathetic to the administration's deportation program in case the targeted person attempts to litigate their unlawful arrest. On the other hand, the memo explicitly says that the guidance does not apply to the Central District of California, where a ruling in Kidd v. Mayorkas holds that the Fourth Amendment "requires a judicial warrant to enter a home." Clearly, ICE is aware of the unconstitutional nature of the instructions but is hoping to get away with the unlawful arrests for as long as possible.

The illegal home break-ins are not the only rights violations being conducted by ICE agents. Another disturbing photograph emerged yesterday showing a legal observer being held on the ground by three government agents while a Border Patrol officer sprays pepper spray directly into the observer's face from inches away. A video of the incident shows that the Border Patrol officer just casually walked by and sprayed the person who was being held on the ground. This is completely contrary to how pepper spray should be deployed. The observer being detained was not presenting any sort of threat. The pepper spray was simply used to inflict pain. The Pacific Antifascist Research Collective has identified the Border Patrol Agent as Tyler O'Ryan Gramlin, 32, of Borden, IN. If this identification is correct, Gramlin should be charged in the incident. There have been countless other incidents of the unnecessary and likely illegal deployment of pepper spray and tear gas documented over the past few days.

Also yesterday, local school officials in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, a twin cities suburb, held a press conference saying that four of their students have been detained 

by ICE. One of these cases received considerable media attention because the student in question was a 5-year-old. According to school officials, Liam Ramos was returning home from school when he was seized by ICE. He was brought to the door of his home where he was used as bait to convince his father to come outside. Both Liam and his father were detained and taken away. For almost 24 hours, Liam's family did not know of his whereabouts, but he eventually turned up in a detainment facility in Texas. DHS officials bristle at being called "Nazis," but using 5-year-olds as bait and then sending them to concentration camps certainly would seem to fit the bill. If they don't like the epithet, perhaps DHS should engage in some introspection?

In normal times, it would be shocking to learn that ICE was instructing its agents to violate the Constitution. But, given what we see daily from the agency, it is not at all surprising. ICE and Border Patrol are simply out of control. They have strayed far from their original mission and now are being used to simply intimidate the inhabitants of American towns and cities. ICE and CBP have become little more than Trump's Republican Guard, acknowledging no law but his word. These agencies must be dismantled at the earliest opportunity.