If That's What Dems Want Regarding Future ICE Arrests, They're Bonkers

We’re on the verge of a government shutdown. The Senate isn’t going to pass the House bills quickly enough. Even before the Alex Pretti shooting, it was a long shot that no one would object to unanimous consent, which was key to getting these appropriations through the upper chamber quickly. Now, Democrats all but assured the initial framework is dead, and there might be massive budget negotiations on how to proceed. Meanwhile, a shutdown is coming. The winter storm delayed passage, but now we’re truly cooked. And if this rumor is true regarding what Democrats want for future immigration arrests, they’re hitting the late Marion Barry’s crack pipe. It’s blatantly transparent what they want to do with this new protocol. It’s laughable—Fox News’ Bill Melugin has more:

If reports are true that Dems are demanding judicial warrants for all ICE arrests as part of DHS funding bill, that will take a massive amount of targets off the board for ICE. They would only be able to go after illegal immigrants who have committed a new *federal* crime *after*…
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) January 28, 2026

If reports are true that Dems are demanding judicial warrants for all ICE arrests as part of DHS funding bill, that will take a massive amount of targets off the board for ICE. They would only be able to go after illegal immigrants who have committed a new *federal* crime *after* entering the U.S. illegally.
State & local crimes would not apply. (Feds don’t enforce state & local).
For instance, if an illegal immigrant gets arrested in Minnesota for a DUI crash causing great bodily injury (state crime) and bonds out of jail, ICE would not be able to target him for arrest because there would be no judicial warrant (not a federal crime).
ICE would not be able to target anyone for just being in the U.S. illegally. They would have to wait for a federal crime to be committed, then a federal judge would have to sign off on probable cause for arrest.
It would cripple any hopes of “mass deportations” or widespread immigration enforcement.
Warrants are *not* required for ICE arrests under US law right now. They simply need probable cause that the target is detainable/deportable on immigration grounds and use I-200 and I-205 civil administrative warrants.
The most common judicial warrants ICE uses to target aliens right now is for illegal re-entry (8 USC 1326), a federal felony when a deported alien has re-entered the U.S. after deportation. But again, that is a limited population as most non-citizens haven’t been deported before.
ICE *does* need a judicial warrant to enter homes. Their administrative warrants do not allow them to enter private property. That’s why we often see them waiting for a target to go to or from work when they’re in public.
One ICE contact in a sanctuary city tells me: “If we need a judicial warrant for every arrest, we would maybe have 15 arrests in a year.” (In his city).