Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino looks on as he stands with members of his convoy, days after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, at a gas station in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, U.S., January 13, 2026. REUTERS/Tim Evans
Former Homeland Security Secretary Deborah Fleischer cautioned that under President Donald Trump's leadership, the government is trying to change laws on the spot.
Speaking to CNN on Friday, Fleischer was asked about the administration's use of an "administrative warrant" to access or arrest people they suspect are immigrants. An administrative warrant is not the same as a judicial warrant, which is granted by a court and based on probable cause, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote.
"An administrative warrant, used by agencies like ICE for civil immigration matters, is issued internally by officials (not a judge), permits arrests for removability, but does not grant entry into a home without consent, requiring a separate judicial warrant for home entry," the report said.
Fleischer said that while she was at the Department of Homeland Security, "that would nothave happened."
She noted that if something like that did happen, then it would have landed agents in disciplinary proceedings.
"The Constitutionis clear. ICE training was veryclear that this would be aconstitutional violation," she said. "They are trying to change the law, under our, you know, in front of our faces."