Archival evidence for work in progress on ICE et al.

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WhistleblowerAid.org Clients Disclose Hidden DHS Policy That Encourages ICE Agents to Break into Homes without Warrants 

Whistleblowers Reveal the Directive was Rolled out in Secret and Briefed Verbally to Prevent Oversight

Washington, D.C., January 21, 2026 – Two anonymous WhistleblowerAid.org clients have come forward to the U.S. Senate with evidence that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has authorized – and even trained – Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to forcibly enter homes without consent or a judicial warrant.  The whistleblowers assert that this is a flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment. This disclosure is particularly timely and relevant given recent news reports of ICE officers breaking into homes, including those of U.S. citizens, without a judicial warrant and forcibly removing the residents.

The disclosure, submitted by WhistleblowerAid.org to the U.S. Senate, focuses on a secretive memo issued by Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons on May 12, 2025. That memo authorizes ICE agents to rely on a Form I-205, an administrative warrant of removal/deportation to forcibly enter someone’s home. This “policy” flies in the face of longstanding federal law enforcement training material and policies, all rooted in constitutional assessments. In other words: the Form I-205 does not authorize ICE agents to enter a home. Training new recruits, many of whom have zero prior law enforcement training or experience, to seemingly disregard the Fourth Amendment, should be of grave concern to everyone. 

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal said today:

“Every American should be terrified by this secret ICE policy authorizing its agents to kick down your door and storm into your home. It is a legally and morally abhorrent policy that exemplifies the kinds of dangerous, disgraceful abuses America is seeing in real time. In our democracy, with vanishingly rare exceptions, the government is barred from breaking into your home without a judge giving a green light. Government agents have no right to ransack your bedroom or terrorize your kids on a whim or personal desire. I am deeply grateful to brave whistleblowers who have come forward and put the rights of their fellow Americans first.”

“My Republican colleagues who claim to value personal rights against government overreach now have an opportunity and obligation to prove that rhetoric is real. They must hold hearings and join me in demanding the Trump Administration answer for this lawless policy.”

“No court has ever found that ICE agents have such legal authority to enter homes without a judicial warrant,” said Whistleblower Aid Senior Vice President and Special Counsel David Kligerman. “This administration’s secretive policy advocates conduct that the Supreme Court has described as ‘the chief evil against which the wording of the Fourth Amendment is directed’ – that is the warrantless physical entry of a home.’ This is precisely what the Fourth Amendment was created to prevent.”  

What is particularly concerning is that while the memo is labelled “All-Hands”, it was allegedly not widely distributed. Instead, the disclosure claims that the memo was rolled out in a secretive manner in which some agents were verbally briefed while others were allowed to view it but not keep a copy. It was reportedly clear that anyone who openly spoke out against this new directive would be fired. 

Kligerman continued, “If ICE believes that this policy is consistent with the law, why not publicize it? Perhaps they’ve hidden it precisely because it cannot withstand legal scrutiny.  Policies which impact fundamental constitutional rights, particularly one which the Supreme Court has called the greatest of equals among the Bill of Rights, should be discussed openly with the American people. It cannot be undone by hidden policy memos.” 

The disclosure comes as ICE expands large-scale enforcement operations nationwide, raising the risk that these warrantless home entries will increase the likelihood that agents will enter the wrong home or residences of U.S. citizens. In a recent case, a federal district court judge in Minnesota ruled that ICE violated the “Fourth Amendment” when it “forcibly entered” the home to arrest someone subject to a final order of removal “without his consent and without a judicial warrant.” 

« Bloomberg: Senate Democrats to Hold Shadow Hearing With HUD Whistleblowers

 Whistleblower Doc (hard to obtain without opress verification; here are sections:)

 

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Report government and corporate lawbreaking.Without breaking the law.—ANONYMOUS WHISTLEBLOWER DISCLOSURE—January 7, 2026Via emailRe: Secretive DHS memo authorizes ICE to illegally enter homes without a judicialwarrant in violation of the Fourth Amendment1. Whistleblower Aid represents two anonymous United States GovernmentOfficials disclosing a secretive – and seemingly unconstitutional – policydirective. This policy directive authorizes Immigration and Customs Enforcement(“ICE”) Agents to enter homes and residences without consent, in order toconduct arrests and removals without a warrant issued by a federal judge.12. Given that we are keeping the whistleblowers’ identities anonymous evenfrom oversight investigators, our objective is to provide as much information aspossible for investigators to locate and gather evidence in order to initiate aformal investigation, while balancing our client’s concerns and need foranonymity. Accordingly, if there are any questions following your review of thisdisclosure, please contact the undersigned so that the requested informationcan be timely provided, to the extent possible.1 Exhibit 1, Memorandum from Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons on Utilizing Form I-205, Warrant ofRemoval (May 12, 2025).Whistleblower Aid is a U.S. tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization, EIN 26-4716045.https://WhistleblowerAid.orgContact via SecureDrop over Tor: http://whistlebloweraid.securedrop.tor.onion - via Signal App: +1 201-773-13711REDACTED FOR CONGRESS

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Report government and corporate lawbreaking.Without breaking the law.3. Although the undersigned have prepared this disclosure, our clients havereviewed its contents and the positions espoused herein should be consideredas their own. Thus, where a factual statement is asserted and does not include acitation to a supporting document, the source is one of our anonymous clients.The Gravamen of the Disclosure4. The gravamen of the disclosure is as follows:a. By memorandum dated May 12, 2025 (“the May 12 Memo”),Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons authorizes ICE agents to forcibly enterinto certain people’s homes without a judicial warrant, consent, or anemergency.b. Specifically, in the May 12 Memo, the Acting ICE Directorauthorized ICE Agents to rely on Form I-205 (which is not a judicialwarrant) to enter the residence of an alien subject to a final order ofdeportation, without consent, including by “a necessary and reasonableamount of force.”2c. While addressed to “All ICE Personnel,” in practice the May 12Memo has not been formally distributed to all personnel. Instead, the May12 Memo has been provided to select DHS officials who are then directedto verbally brief the new policy for action. Those supervisors then showthe Memo to some employees, like our clients, and direct them to readthe Memo and return it to the supervisor.d. A Form I-205, which DHS has called an “Warrant ofRemoval/Deportation” is drafted and signed by an ICE official. Basedupon the final administrative order of deportation typically issued by animmigration judge,3 the purpose of the Form I-205 is to authorize ICEAgents to detain and remove these individuals. These arrests have alwaysbeen limited to public places because the Form I-205 has not beenconsidered a warrant issued by a “neutral and detached magistrate.” Onlya warrant issued by a “neutral and detached magistrate” (e.g., a judicial3 8 C.F.R § 1241.32; 8 C.F.R § 241.2.2 Exhibit 1, Memorandum from Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons on Utilizing Form I-205, Warrant ofRemoval (May 12, 2025).— ANONYMOUS WHISTLEBLOWER DISCLOSURE —2REDACTED FOR CONGRESS

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