Home abductions by ICE risk a lethal response

Every state assures residents they won't be prosecuted for using deadly force against intruders. Expect bloodshed.

- JOHN ALOYSIUS COGAN JR. AND MIGUEL F. P. DE FIGUEIREDO GUEST CONTRIBUTORS

AGENTS gather outside a house during a raid. Recent tactics are a recipe for a shootout.

(IRFAN KHAN Los Angeles Times)

SINCE THE BEGINNING of President Trump’s second administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has significantly increased its enforcement actions nationwide.

This shift has seen the use of more aggressive and combative tactics by ICE, including entering dwellings by force and without judicial warrants — as instructed by the Trump administration. Ina March memorandum, US. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, relying on the obscure Alien Enemies Act of 1798, asserted that federal agents can enter homes without a judicial warrant.

First: This is preposterous. The Trump administration cannot bypass basic constitutional protections merely by issuing a memorandum.

Second: It’s also reckless. This tactic puts federal agents, residents and bystanders at risk for Wild West-style shootouts, especially because state laws protect residents from prosecution when they use deadly force to defend their homes. To avoid needless bloodshed, these warrantless raids must end now.

ICE often conducts operations without judicial warrants. Immigration enforcement is primarily a civil rather than a criminal matter. For much of its enforcement work, ICE does not need a judicial warrant. The laws that govern ICE give its agents authority to question and briefly detain individuals believed to be in the country illegally. These laws also give ICE the right to arrest someone if the agent believes that person is violating immigration law and is likely to escape before an arrest warrant can be obtained.

Immigration agents have leeway to enter public portions of public buildings without a court order, but not private areas or homes. ICE cannot ignore longstanding judicial warrant requirements when agents want to enter a dwelling.