Lyons defends use of administrative warrants to enter homes

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(12 Feb 2026) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: POOL Washington DC - 12 February 2026 1. Cutaway of Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing 2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Richard Blumenthal, (D) Connecticut: "This is not a warrant. It's a permission slip. It's a green light from another ICE agent to go bash down a door, smash into a home, detain and arrest someone without a judge finding probable cause and without any sort of objective, independent finding. Is that correct?" 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Todd Lyons, Acting Director, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): "No, sir. So, I-205 is the arrest warrant, but the I-205 is based on an executable final order issued by an immigration judge from the justice." 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Richard Blumenthal, (D) Connecticut: "And that order is from an immigration judge who is part of the executive branch, not an independent judge, but the, the warrant issued is simply a permission slip. Now, let's be very clear, you were a local police officer?" Todd Lyons: "Yes, sir." Sen. Richard Blumenthal: "To bang down a door, barge into someone's home, if you're the FBI or a local police officer, you need a judicial warrant from a judicial officer, a judge who is going to find or not probable cause, which has a specific meaning under the law. These ICE agents are banging down doors doing the same thing without that kind of judicial warrant. What is so different about ICE that it regards itself as an exception to the Fourth Amendment and the requirement for a judicial warrant is a Fourth Amendment requirement?" 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Todd Lyons, Acting Director, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): "We do... (coughs) We don't Senator, there is case law, US versus Lucas, 2007, which is out of the eighth district of Minnesota, which authorizes the entry of a home to catch a fugitive based on an administrative warrant." 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Richard Blumenthal, (D) Connecticut: "I beg your pardon, sir. It does not abrogate the Fourth Amendment. It does not say that ICE agents or CBP agents can simply bash down doors and barge into people's homes, terrorize their children, detain and arrest people without a judicial warrant. And there is nothing different about what ICE does as compared to the FBI or local police that would justify it. The policy that they're acting under, in fact, is the result of a memo that you issued in May. You're familiar with it?" Todd Lyons: "Yes, sir.: Sen. Richard Blumenthal: "Has your signature?" Lyons: "Yes, sir." Sen. Richard Blumenthal: "Which says, in effect, they don't need judicial warrants. They can act on the basis of the 205 warrant that you've just described, which is administrative. It's not judicial." 7. Cutaway of hearing STORYLINE: The acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement is defending the use of warrants signed just by an ICE officer and not an independent judge to forcibly enter a home to make an arrest. The Associated Press reported last month that ICE was asserting sweeping power through the use of administrative warrants in its enforcement operations. Administrative warrants have historically have not been sufficient to overcome Fourth Amendment protections that guard against illegal searches. Todd Lyons argued there is case law in Minnesota which allows officers to enter a home to catch a fugitive using only an administrative warrant. Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut disputed that. Blumenthal, who compared the ICE administrative warrants to a permission slip, said they aren’t enough to overcome Constitutional protections. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/a786a28b3075446798bf3a37b6ce659b