How can ICE agents enter my home?

ICE, like all law enforcement, cannot enter your home without a warrant signed by a judge or the consent of an adult who has authority to let them  in the home. ICE rarely has judicial warrants, so they use deception to trick people into letting them into the home or physically force their way in.

• ICE agents often lie and pretend to be police to get consent to enter or to learn the whereabouts of the person they want to arrest.

• Sometimes, they will use force or intimidation to get consent to enter. Even though opening the door a crack is not consent to enter, ICE agents may push the door open and force their way inside.

I’ve heard ICE enters homes without warrants using force or intimidation. How do they do this?

• They might knock loudly or make noise outside of the door so people let them in to avoid attention from neighbors;

• When asked if the agents have a warrant, they threaten to come back with a warrant and “rip the house apart”;

• They push through the door without warning when someone opens it or when the person who opened the door turns their back to the door;

• They show their weapons or have their weapons drawn; or

• They show up a multiple of times to intimidate a loved one into giving the agents the location of the person ICE wants to arrest.