A newly disclosed ICE memo broadens officers’ authority to make warrantless arrests by expanding the situations in which agents can argue that seeking a warrant could allow a suspect to flee.
The guidance is intended to give ICE greater flexibility to detain unauthorized immigrants encountered during operations who were not the original targets, a practice known as “collateral arrests.” They typically involve immigrants who were accused of immigration violations but had little to no serious criminal history.
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Issued by acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and first reported by The New York Times, the memo clarifies how existing immigration law — which generally requires administrative warrants signed by ICE supervisors — should be applied in the field. It broadens the interpretation of whether a person is “likely to escape,” the current basis for a warrantless arrest.
“An alien is ‘likely to escape’ if an immigration officer determines he or she is unlikely to be located at the scene of the encounter or another clearly identifiable location once an administrative warrant is obtained,” Lyons wrote in his memo.
