In recent days, I have been inundated by reporters seeking insight on two subjects I have written about extensively: ICE “administrative warrants”, used to arrest aliens who are removable from the United States; and the “due process” aliens are accorded after they are taken into custody. Both concepts are best understood by looking to the past.
The Fourth Amendment
The place to start in understanding ICE arrests, both with warrants and without, is the text of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
That may make it seem like a warrant is required anytime any government official seeks to make an arrest or execute a search, but they aren’t always required under the Fourth Amendment according to legal precedent.
In its 2006 opinion in Brigham City v. Stuart, the Supreme Court explained that “the ultimate touchstone of the Fourth Amendment is ‘reasonableness’”, and therefore certain government actions with Fourth Amendment implications have been found to satisfy legal standards even without a warrant.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member