Premium Signal Alert: ICE “home entry” memo + federal judge pushback (Minnesota)

Author’s Note: This Signal Alert has been delivered to all subscribers so everyone can see exactly what these look like in real time.

Normally, Signal Alerts are a paid-subscriber feature…part of the value you get with paid status: fast…focused updates…the key context that matters…and clear next-step orientation without the noise.

If you’re reading this as a free subscriber…consider this a live sample of the kind of timely…high-signal coverage paid subscribers receive as part of their membership.

Premium Signal Alert: ICE “home entry” memo + federal judge pushback (Minnesota)

What happened

• A leaked internal ICE memo (dated May 12, 2025, signed by Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons) says agents may forcibly enter a residence to arrest someone with a final order of removal using only an administrative warrant (Form I-205)…not a judge-signed judicial warrant.

• A U.S. District Judge in Minnesota (Jeffrey Bryan) ruled ICE agents violated the Fourth Amendment when they entered a man’s home without consent and without a judge-signed warrant…a fact pattern closely resembling the memo’s guidance.

• Separately…a federal judge in DC (Jia Cobb) temporarily allowed DHS to require advance notice from lawmakers seeking to inspect ICE facilities (ongoing fight over detention oversight).

What it means

• Operational escalation risk: If agents follow the memo broadly, “home arrests” may become more aggressive…and more legally contested…fast.

• Legal conflict is now explicit: A federal judge has already said this kind of entry (no consent + no judicial warrant) violates the Constitution…fuel for injunctions… suppression arguments…and damages claims.

• Your “know-your-rights” materials need updating: Many communities have been taught a clear bright line (“only a judicial warrant lets them enter”). Reporting now shows ICE is training around a different theory…so people need crisp guidance on what to ask for and how to document.

10-minute checklist

1. Update your go-to line: “I do not consent to entry. Do you have a judge-signed warrant?”

2. Make a 60-second household plan: who answers, who records, who calls a lawyer/rapid-response number (do not interfere physically).

3. Print/park a one-pager by the door (English/Spanish if useful): consent refusal + warrant request + “speak through the door.”

4. Tell your closest network (3 people) that this memo exists and a judge has already ruled forced entry without a judicial warrant unconstitutional.

5. Push oversight today: contact your House member + senators urging public disclosure of the memo and a clear prohibition on forced entry absent a judicial warrant.

(Not legal advice; just practical steps to reduce panic and improve documentation.)

Copy/paste script (send to your Rep/Senators)

Subject: Urgent oversight: ICE memo claiming power to force entry into homes without judicial warrants

Hi [Office/Rep/Senator Name] —
Reporting indicates ICE is relying on an internal memo that claims agents may forcibly enter homes using only administrative warrants, without a judge-signed warrant. A federal judge in Minnesota has already ruled a similar forced-entry arrest violated the Fourth Amendment.

Please act immediately:

1. Demand DHS/ICE publish the memo and all related legal guidance/training materials;

2. Require DHS to prohibit forced home entry absent a judicial warrant (except true emergencies already recognized by law);

3. Open oversight hearings and request IG review;

4. Require body-worn camera use and evidence preservation for residential enforcement actions;

5. Protect whistleblowers who disclosed this policy.

This is a fast-moving civil liberties issue affecting citizens and non-citizens alike. Please respond with what steps your office is taking this week.
—[Your name, city]

#HoldFast

Back soon…with today’s newsletter article.

-Jack

Jack Hopkins