The Trump administration secretly permitted immigration agents to enter homes without a warrant for over a month, according to a leaked internal memo obtained by USA Today.
The memo, issued by Attorney General Pam Bondi on March 14, instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to break into the residences of suspected members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua without obtaining prior judicial approval. It stated that standard warrant procedures could be bypassed because they might not be “realistic or effective in swiftly identifying and removing alien enemies.”
“Given the dynamic nature of enforcement operations, officers in the field are authorized to apprehend aliens upon a reasonable belief that the individual meets all four requirements to be validated as an alien enemy,” the document read. It further granted agents permission to enter a suspect’s home without a warrant when obtaining one would be impractical.
Attached to the memo was an “Alien Enemy Validation Guide,” which outlined a point system to determine whether someone is affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang and thus eligible for deportation.
The day after the memo’s issuance, more than 200 Venezuelans were deported to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), including Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was reportedly wrongfully deported.
These actions followed President Donald Trump’s March 15 proclamation invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act—a wartime-era law that permits the arrest and deportation of “alien enemies” during periods of war or invasion. Trump’s proclamation specified that all Venezuelan citizens aged 14 or older, affiliated with Tren de Aragua, who are not naturalized or lawful permanent U.S. residents, could be apprehended and deported.
“I further find and declare that all such members of TdA are a danger to the public peace or safety of the United States,” Trump’s statement added.
However, reports have since emerged that the administration has been detaining and deporting individuals who are neither Venezuelan nor criminally affiliated, raising significant legal concerns.
In response, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other advocacy organizations filed lawsuits earlier this month to halt deportations under the Alien Enemies Act. ACLU lead counsel Lee Gelernt criticized the administration’s approach, stating it violates the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.
“The administration’s unprecedented use of a wartime authority during peacetime was already troubling,” Gelernt said. “Now we learn that ICE agents were authorized to ignore basic constitutional protections by entering homes without judicial warrants.”
Legal experts argue that invoking the Alien Enemies Act in this context is questionable, as it requires an official state of war, invasion, or predatory incursion—conditions not currently present with Venezuela.
The memo surfaced through the nonprofit organization Property of the People, which advocates for government transparency.
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