Justice Department Wants to Barge Into Homes of Alleged Immigrant Gang Members Without a Warrant

Mar 15, 2025

The Trump administration has been using fake “wartime” powers to crack down on immigration, and a recently revealed Justice Department memo shows how brazenly they have thrown out every protection against state power guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution.

USA Today has the scoop:

Trump administration officials directed law enforcement nationwide to pursue suspected gang members into their homes, in some cases without any sort of warrant, according to a copy of the directive exclusively obtained by USA Today.
The directive, issued March 14 by Attorney General Pam Bondi, provides the first public view of the specific implementation of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act invoked to deport migrants accused of being members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. …
It purports to grant authority for police to enter a suspected “Alien Enemy’s residence” if “circumstances render it impracticable” to first obtain a warrant. …
Lee Gelernt, the ACLU's lead counsel in the challenges to uses of the Alien Enemies Act, said the DOJ directives run counter to the constitution’s protection from unreasonable search and seizure.

The Trump administration is already violating the Fifth and 14th Amendments (due process), the Sixth (jury trial), and the Eighth (cruel and unusual punishment). So it's no surprise that they are also throwing out the Fourth Amendment’s protection against warrantless searches.

The Executive Watch is a project of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, and its flagship publication The UnPopulist, to track in an ongoing way the abuses of the power of the American presidency. It sorts these abuses into five categories: Personal Grift, Political Corruption, Presidential Retribution, Power Consolidation, and Policy Illegality. Click the category of interest to get an overview of all the abuses under it.

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