Mike Johnson Says Judicial Warrants for ICE Would ‘Take Decades’ Amid Constitutional Fight
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not need a separate judicial warrant to arrest immigrants who are evading enforcement, drawing fire from Democrats and civil liberties advocates pushing for more constitutional safeguards.
Johnson told reporters that administrative warrants, including those signed by immigration judges, provide sufficient authority to apprehend people who have violated immigration law and then hide in private residences, and that adding an extra judicial warrant requirement would be unworkable.
His remarks come as Democrats are demanding new immigration enforcement reforms, including explicit requirements for judicial warrants before federal agents enter homes, and tying those reforms to negotiations over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
The debate centers on internal ICE policy that allows officers to use administrative warrants — not warrants signed by federal judges — to enter homes, a point critics say raises serious Fourth Amendment concerns. A federal lawsuit was filed challenging the legality of home entries without judicial oversight, arguing the practice undermines constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.
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Johnson said that Democrats calling for judicial warrants are effectively opposing immigration enforcement and that requiring judges to sign warrants for every case would take decades given current judicial resources.
Civil liberties advocates counter that administrative warrants do not provide the same neutral judicial review as warrants signed by federal magistrates and that the Constitution requires independent oversight before home entry.
The dispute is unfolding amid ongoing negotiations in Congress over DHS funding, with some lawmakers threatening to withhold long-term support unless tighter warrant requirements are adopted.
House Republicans are expected to continue resisting stricter judicial warrant mandates, arguing that current authorities already provide legal cover for ICE operations. What happens next may determine whether broader immigration enforcement reforms gain traction or falter in the coming budget talks.
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