To live or to live in fear. Thousands of undocumented immigrants in the United States are being persecuted by the U.S. government because of the interminable anti-immigrant agenda of the current administration.
In 2025, 53.3 million immigrants resided within the U.S.; surging activity with the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has decreased this number by over a million.
ICE has been knocking on the doors of residents in Minneapolis. Do not mistake this for ICE agents going door-to-door. They have the legal authority to do this because of a document called an Administrative Warrant; these warrants are authorized by officials in the Department of Homeland Security.
Different from the judicial warrant typically used to enter one’s home, an administrative warrant allows for the search of a specific individual with a criminal record. Usually this means that the individual they are looking for was going through the process to gain citizenship and the judge denied them.
An example used to understand this can be at school. To enter the main office, students must press the button outside and wait to be let in. When inside, they must state why they are there. The janitor, however, has a key to enter the office when he needs to. In this case the students would be ICE agents without a warrant signed by a judge, and the janitor would be an ICE agent with an administrative warrant or a warrant signed by a judge.
Cases where ICE agents obtain a warrant that is signed by a judge is rare. This is because there is no permissible reason that they have to enter the home of a suspected immigrant without a criminal record.
Do you know what the Fourth Amendment is? Some disregard the Bill of Rights once they learn it for a history quiz, but this bill has become increasingly important in today’s time, especially for immigrants and their children.
The Fourth Amendment protects you from unreasonable searches and seizures. This means that if a police officer stops you, they need a valid reason to do so. Because of the Fourth Amendment, immigrants are safe in their homes. However, many have seen that ICE agents are taking advantage of the immigrants that are looking for work or working food stands.
Mrs. Suarez, the FACE liaison at Middle College High School, shared her belief on who ICE agents could be targeting outside of their homes.
“I have heard that agents are going after street vendors and car wash places to detain potential immigrants…they are racially profiling some, going based on looks and what kind of cars people drive,” Suarez said.
What Mrs. Suarez has heard is likely true because, while outside, ICE agents do not need warrants. The only time an ICE agent needs a warrant is when they want to enter a private property. This means that ICE agents can step foot in public areas, like stores, parks, churches and parking lots.
This has many people wary of who, where, and when ICE will strike next. Especially because their whereabouts are not predictable and most have to rely on organizations, websites and social media for updates.
To those who are in search of assistance or want to assist immigrant families, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights is an organization that has been assisting immigrants since the 1980’s. The instagram account, @flowerinspanish, is led by an entrepreneur named Flor that advocates for immigrant rights and hosts fundraisers to retrieve family members who have been taken.
You have the right to not open the door.
You have the right to leave every question unanswered.
You have the right to refuse to sign any documents.
Know your rights! That is our biggest strength.
