From American Immigration Council, This Week in Immigration <[email protected]>
Subject Secret ICE Policy Threatens Everyone 
Date February 1, 2026 2:02 PM
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Latest Analysis
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[[link removed]] [[link removed]] ICE’s Secret Policy to Forcibly Enter Homes Without a Judicial Warrant Threatens All Americans [[link removed]]
A newly revealed internal memo shows that ICE is claiming authority to forcibly enter homes without a judicial warrant, relying instead on internal paperwork signed by agency supervisors. This quiet policy shift breaks with long-standing Fourth Amendment protections and threatens the basic principle that a person’s home is shielded from warrantless government intrusion.
These Three LGBTQ Iranians Came to the U.S. to Seek Asylum – Two of Them Could be Deported to a Country Where Their Sexuality is Punishable by Death [[link removed]]
Three LGBTQ Iranians came to our southern border together a year ago, seeking asylum. They fled Iran together and arrived to the United States at the same time. Their cases were intertwined—they were witnesses to each other’s persecution. Today, one of these people has been granted asylum. The other two are languishing in detention over a year later. How could three cases that are so similar end so differently?
Amicus Briefs Argue Overbroad Application of Mandatory Detention Results in Cruel, Arbitrary, and Unnecessary Detention [[link removed]]
This week, the American Immigration Council filed an amicus brief in multiple federal courts describing how the government is using an obscure immigration rule to lock people up automatically, without even a chance to ask a judge for release. Under this approach, people can be detained for months or years while their cases are pending, even if they’ve lived in the U.S. for a long time. The brief argues that courts should stop this practice and reaffirm a basic principle: detention should be rare, individualized, and never the default.
Facts You Should Know
This week, immigration enforcement returned to the center of the congressional debate, as lawmakers voted on 2026 spending bills that would fund much of the federal government through the rest of the fiscal year. Heightened tensions around immigration enforcement, including recent events in Minneapolis, fueled intense disagreement over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, underscoring how contested these issues remain.
Key to the debate is a basic question about the role of states and cities in immigration enforcement. As our fact sheet explains, jurisdictions that adopt so-called “sanctuary” policies do so to promote public safety and economic stability by fostering trust between communities and local officials. “Sanctuary” does not mean hiding people from law enforcement or shielding anyone from deportation or prosecution: it simply sets clear limits on how local resources are used.
Read more: Sanctuary Policies: An Overview [[link removed]]
Across the Nation
A new practical guide for building belonging in communities, the Belonging Handbook offers evidence-based insights and tools to help leaders, advocates, and everyday people understand and strengthen belonging in their communities. Drawing on our Belonging Barometer research, which shows many Americans feel lonely or excluded in their daily lives, the handbook lays out actionable ideas for fostering connection and inclusion so that more people feel welcomed, valued, and able to thrive.
Read more: The Belonging Handbook [[link removed]]
Quote of the Week
“The funding Congress provided in the ‘one big beautiful bill’ has given [ICE] the ability to become arguably the largest law enforcement [agency] in the entire federal government...” [In Minnesota] ICE has already picked up at least a hundred asylum-seekers and “taken them down to detention centers in Texas” where they are “interrogated about their status. It’s not anything we’ve seen before, and it has sent shockwaves through the refugee community.”
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow [[link removed]]
Further Reading
Bloomberg: ICE Begins Buying ‘Mega’ Warehouse Detention Centers Across US [[link removed]]
Houston Chronicle: Texas houses the country's only immigrant family detention centers. Here's what to know [[link removed]]
Reuters: Can ICE agents be prosecuted for Minneapolis shootings? [[link removed]]
The Advocate: Trump administration is potentially sending two gay men to their death by preparing to deport them to Iran [[link removed]]
Cosmopolitan: All the Celebrities Who Have Spoken Out Against Rising ICE Raids [[link removed]]
Your support fuels this work
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