Warrantless, Militarized, Immune: The Rise of Trump’s ICE Regime
By Mike Withey, Washington SFD Organizing Committee
January 26, 2026
On January 22, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to provide funding to ICE with the support of seven Democrats, cementing ICE as the modern-day Gestapo for the Trump Administration’s policies of “mass deportation” through the militarization of our cities (NBC News, Jan. 22, 2026). Nothing confirms this assessment more than the recently leaked internal ICE memo authorizing warrantless searches of private residences and businesses (NBC News, Jan. 21, 2026). Has the pull of autocracy spread deeply into the federal judiciary, and especially the Supreme Court? This is clearly not impossible. But it would require the courts to repeal the Fourth Amendment.
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects “persons, houses, papers, and effects” from unreasonable searches requiring warrants to be supported by probable cause, as found by a judicial officer. The current ICE policy clearly violates the provision.
And this is just one policy, which is but an adjunct to the other policies and practices of ICE, which are criminal, violate local and state laws, are unconstitutional, and act in violation of international law.
What follows is a preliminary list of abuses that violate these core legal principles.
ProPublica, We Found More Than 40 Cases of Immigration Agents Using Banned Chokeholds and Other Moves That Can Cut Off Breathing (January 13, 2026).
Democracy Now, ICE Arresting U.S. Citizens, Using Banned Chokeholds: Explosive ProPublica Report (January 2026). A discussion about Pro Publica’s report.
People, Renee Good’s Family Releases Independent Autopsy Showing Where She Was Shot: Attorney (January 22, 2026). Discusses the murder of citizen mom Renee Good by ICE officer Jonathan Ross and its presently ongoing cover-up by the FBI, DOJ, and the White House. The family published the results of their independent autopsy.
Center for Human Rights, Gross Human Rights Violations in Washington State: Enforced Disappearance and Refoulement (August 21, 2025). Provides an in-depth review of numerous gross violations of international law against disappearances and refoulement, as well as the due process protections of the constitutions of Washington and the U.S., as documented in the recent Report of the UW Jackson School Center for Human Rights.
Wall Street Journal, How Elite Agents Use High-Risk Military Tactics in Chicago Raids (November 3, 2025). Documents how ICE agents utilized high-risk military-style raid tactics in their raids in Chicago.
Given the backdrop of how ICE operates nationally, it is just a matter of time before our fellow residents are killed or seriously injured by ICE agents throughout the country.
Reminder that ICE officers are: masked, wear little insignia, deploy lethal force when unjustified, use chemical agents without provocation, arrest 5-year-olds, smash protestors' cameras, drag people from vehicles without cause, violate law enforcement policies of not shooting at moving cars, not standing in front of a vehicle, and other standards of care. They are often poorly trained recruits, including from January 6 groups (The Nation, Jan. 27, 2026), who are promised judicial federal immunity from state prosecution, which notoriously promotes human rights abuse and police misconduct (NYT, Jan.15, 2026). In short, Trump’s Gestapo.
His own secret police of immune soldiers in his army against immigrants and citizens. ICE OUT!!
