The Trump administration has been secretly allowing immigration agents to break into homes without a warrant for more than a month, according to a leaked internal memo obtained by USA Today.

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The memo, which was issued by Attorney General Pam Bondi on March 14, allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to break into the homes of suspected members of Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang, without a warrant.

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What did the memo reveal?

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It states that ICE can control the “proactive procedures” to obtain a warrant, as they “will not always be realistic or effective in swiftly identifying and removing alien enemies.”

“Given the dynamic nature of enforcement operations, officers in the field are authorised to apprehend aliens upon a reasonable belief that the alien meets all four requirements to be validated as an alien enemy,” it read.

The memo added, “This authority includes entering an alien enemy’s residence to make an [Aliens Enemies Act] apprehension where circumstances render it impracticable to first obtain a signed notice and warrant of apprehension and removal.”

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Along with the memo was a copy of the Alien Enemy Validation Guide attached to it that provides a point system for determining whether a person is part of the Venezuelan gang and subject to removal or not.

The Trump administration deported more than 200 Venezuelans to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Centre, CECOT, the following day. Maryland dad Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongfully deported, was also part of the deportees.

However, this was in accordance with the announcement made by the US President Donald Trump on March 15 that he would be invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. The act allows the arrest and deportation of “alien enemies” from an enemy nation during an invasion or war.

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According to Trump’s proclamation, “all Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older who are members of TdA, are within the United States, and are not actually naturalised or lawful permanent residents of the United States are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies.”

“I further find and declare that all such members of TdA are a danger to the public peace or safety of the United States,” he added.

However, the administration has been detaining and deporting immigrants to El Salvador’s prison who are neither Venezuelan nor have any criminal record.

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Earlier this month, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other groups sued the administration in an attempt to block more deportations under this act.

Is Trump’s immigration crackdown illegal?

According to Lee Gelernt, the ACLU’s lead counsel, told USA Today that the Justice Department has been violating the Fourth Amendment that safeguards people from unreasonable search and seizures by the government. 

“The administration’s unprecedented use of a wartime authority during peacetime was bad enough,” he said. “Now we find out the Justice Department was authorising officers to ignore the most bedrock principle of the Fourth Amendment by authorising officers to enter homes without a judicial warrant.”

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Many have argued that Trump’s crackdown on immigration does not meet the requirements of the Alien Enemies Act, which can only be invoked in case of a “declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government” or an “invasion or predatory incursion … perpetrated, attempted, or threatened” against the country.