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ICE ordered to stop knock-and-talk tactic for immigration arrests in LA

ICE ordered to stop knock-and-talk tactic for immigration arrests in LA

A federal judge this week ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to stop using so-called knock-and-talk tactics, a method for immigration arrests in which field officers enter a property without a judicial warrant or consent, then arrest undocumented immigrants when they come to the door. In a decision on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II, a George W. Bush appointee, said the practice amounts to “knock-and-arrest” and violates Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. These protections, he noted, include the curtilage around one’s home, such as yards and porches that are part of the property. By entering this curtilage armed with only an administrative arrest warrant — not a judicial one — immigration officers were violating these protections, Wright said. He noted that while officers pretended they only wanted to talk when they knocked, the real purpose was making immigration arrests. Under knock-and-talk, ICE officers typically show up at migrants’ homes in the early morning hours. Agents knock on the door and ask to speak with the undocumented immigrant they seek to arrest.

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