SAN ANTONIO – A viral video showing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers entering a San Antonio home has reignited public questions about what people, citizens and noncitizens alike, must do during an encounter with immigration authorities, and what agents are allowed to do under the Constitution.
The video, which has been viewed more than 3 million times online, shows a San Antonio family confronting ICE officers after they entered their home without what the family described as a warrant.
ICE said its officers were searching for a person that the agency described as a violent criminal.
Civil liberties advocates say the Constitution generally requires more than an officer’s request to search a residence.
“Under the Fourth Amendment, ICE must have a warrant signed by a judge to enter your home,” said Osvaldo Grimaldo of the ACLU of Texas.
Grimaldo said residents can clearly state that they do not consent to a search while avoiding any actions that could be interpreted as interference. If officers enter anyway, he said, documenting what happens can be important.
“The minute you are documenting, and you’re not consenting to this search, you’re upholding the rights that you have as an individual in this country,” Grimaldo said.
The Fourth Amendment protects people against “unreasonable searches and seizures,” said David Crockett, a political science professor at Trinity University. He described it as the constitutional safeguard that secures people in their “persons, houses, papers and effects.”
Those protections largely extend to noncitizens inside the United States, experts say, though rules can change at the border and at ports of entry such as airports.
The ACLU notes that certain searches may be legal at airports and other ports of entry, and federal policy also recognizes a 100-mile “extended border” zone where Border Patrol agents can conduct some searches if specific criteria are met.
According to the ACLU, about two-thirds of people in the United States live within 100 miles of an international border. San Antonio sits just outside that zone, though it includes major cities such as Houston, Los Angeles and New York.
Grimaldo urged people who may encounter ICE to be prepared, stay calm and prioritize safety.
“Don’t obstruct, don’t interfere, because your safety comes first,” he said.
Read also: