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A May 2025 internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement document shows that the agency told officers and agents they can forcibly enter homes of people subject to deportation without a warrant signed by a judge. The memo, dated May 12 and which reads that it is from ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons, was shared with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., by two whistleblowers. It says that ICE agents are allowed to forcibly enter the home of a person using an administrative warrant if a judge has issued a “final order of removal.” Administrative warrants permit officers and agents to make arrests and are different from judicial warrants, which a judge or magistrate signs allowing entry into a home. Lyons notes in the document that detaining people “in their residences” based solely on administrative warrants is a change from past procedures. “Although the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not historically relied on administrative warrants alone to arrest aliens subject to final orders of removal in their place of residence, the DHS Office of General Counsel has recently determined that the U.S. Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the immigration regulations do not prohibit relying on administrative warrants for this purpose,” the memo reads. The memo says that agents may “arrest and detain aliens” in their place of residence who are subject to a final order of removal issued by an immigration judge, the Board of Immigration Appeals, or a U.S. district or magistrate judge. The memo says under general guidelines that officers and agents using a method called Form I-205 must “knock and announce” and that “in announcing, officers and agents must state their identity and purpose.” The Associated Press first reported on the document Wednesday. Immigration 8 hours ago Court lifts restrictions on immigration officers' tactics in Minnesota Trump administration Jan 20 Trump's ICE force is sweeping America. Billions in his tax and spending cuts bill are paying for it Minnesota Jan 20 U.S. citizen says ICE took him from his Minnesota home in his underwear after warrantless search Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that immigrants in the country illegally who are served administrative warrants or I-205’s, which are removal or deportation warrants, “have had full due process and a final order of removal from an immigration judge.” “The officers issuing these administrative warrants also have found probable cause,” McLaughlin said. “For decades, the Supreme Court and Congress have recognized the propriety of administrative warrants in cases of immigration enforcement.” The group Whistleblower Aid, which is representing the whistleblowers who shared the memo with Congress, said, “This ‘policy’ flies in the face of longstanding federal law enforcement training material and policies, all rooted in constitutional assessments.” “In other words: the Form I-205 does not authorize ICE agents to enter a home,” the group said in a statement. “Training new recruits, many of whom have zero prior law enforcement training or experience, to seemingly disregard the Fourth Amendment, should be of grave concern to everyone.” Blumenthal said in a statement that the memo was “allegedly not widely distributed” despite being labeled “all-hands.” A copy of the memo shared with Congress is addressed to “All ICE Personnel.” “Instead, the disclosure claims that the memo was rolled out in a secretive manner in which some agents were verbally briefed while others were allowed to view it but not keep a copy,” Blumenthal said. “It was reportedly clear that anyone who openly spoke out against this new directive would be fired.” The memo is dated less than five months into the second term of President Donald Trump, who campaigned on mass deportations. Immigration crackdowns by the Trump administration against several Democrat-run cities have sparked protests and unrest,…

A former Uvalde police officer was acquitted Wednesday of charges that he failed in his duties to confront the gunman at Robb Elementary during the critical first minutes of one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. Jurors deliberated for more than seven hours before finding Adrian Gonzales, 52, not guilty in the first trial over the hesitant law enforcement response to the 2022 attack, in which a teenage gunman killed 19 fourth-graders and two teachers. Had he been convicted, he faced up two years in prison on more than two dozen charges of child abandonment and endangerment. Gonzales appeared to fight back tears and hugged his lawyers after the verdict was read in a courtroom in Corpus Christi, hundreds of miles from Uvalde, where his legal team said a fair trial would not have been possible. “Thank you for the jury for considering all the evidence,” Gonzales told reporters. Asked if he wanted to say anything to the families, he declined. Several family members of the victims sat in silence in the courtroom, some crying or wiping away tears. “Faith is fractured, but you never lose faith,” said Jesse Rizo, whose 9-year-old niece Jackie Cazares was killed. He said he was frustrated by the verdict and hopes the state will press ahead with the trial of former Uvalde schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo, the only other officer who has been charged over the police response. “Those children in the cemetery can’t speak for themselves,” Rizo said. Jurors declined to speak to reporters while leaving. Arredondo’s trial has not yet been set. Paul Looney, his attorney, told The Associated Press that he believes the verdict will result in prosecutors dropping the case against his client. “These people have been vilified, and it’s horrible what’s been done to them. These guys didn’t do anything wrong,” Looney said. A rare trial ends in acquittal The nearly three-week trial was an unusual case in the U.S. of an officer facing criminal charges on accusations of failing to stop a crime and protect lives. The proceedings included emotional testimony from teachers who were shot and survived. Prosecutors argued that Gonzales abandoned his training and did nothing to stop or interrupt the teenage gunman before he entered the school. “We’re expected to act differently when talking about a child that can’t defend themselves,” special prosecutor Bill Turner said during closing arguments Wednesday. “If you have a duty to act, you can’t stand by while a child is in imminent danger.” At least 370 law enforcement officers rushed to the school, where 77 minutes passed before a tactical team finally entered the classroom to confront and kill the gunman. Gonzales was one of just two officers indicted, angering some victim’s relatives who said they wanted more to be held accountable. Gonzales was charged with 29 counts of child abandonment and endangerment — each count representing the 19 students who were killed and 10 others who were injured. Jurors talked about ‘gaps’ in case, lawyer says During the trial jurors heard a medical examiner describe the fatal wounds to the children, some of whom were shot more than a dozen times. Several parents told of sending their children to school for an awards ceremony and the panic that ensued as the attack unfolded. Gonzales’ lawyers said he arrived upon a chaotic scene of rifle shots echoing on school grounds and never saw the gunman before the attacker went inside the school. They also insisted that three other officers who arrived seconds later had a better chance to stop the gunman. “He was the lowest man on the totem pole. They thought he was easy pickings,” Nico LaHood, one of Gonzales’ attorneys, said of prosecutors after the acquittal. Uvalde School Shooting Aug 12, 2025 ‘My kids are in there, bro … please.' Uvalde releases video, records of slow police response Uvalde School Shooting Jun 27, 2024 Former Uvalde school district police chief charged with child endangerment after…

State Senate Democrats are facing calls to take away State Sen. Doug McCrory’s leadership roles after an audit raised more questions about his influence over how Hartford-area nonprofits dispersed grant funds. The audit, released Tuesday by the Department of Economic and Community Development, said McCrory instructed the Blue Hill Civic Association on how to distribute funding to other Hartford-area nonprofits. Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Connecticut) told reporters in Hartford on Wednesday that he thinks McCrory should step down from his leadership roles, including as chairman of the Education Committee, or that leaders should remove him from those roles. “I leave a lot of that up to the Senate, but if it’s me, I think he should step back,” he said. Read More: State releases forensic audit of Blue Hills Civic Association following loss of $300,000 McCrory didn’t respond to a request for comment, but he told NBC Connecticut last week that he plans to seek re-election despite an ongoing FBI investigation. His caucus leaders said they plan to discuss McCrory’s status in meetings, but they stood by him on Wednesday. “There is nothing in evidence right now that would indicate that there is anything that would suggest that there has been a criminal offense,” Sen. Martin Looney (D-President Pro Tem) said. Republicans also called for McCrory to be stripped of his position.  “I hope they (Senate Democrats) finally step up and stop waiting for the results of convictions and criminal investigations before they actually do what’s right by the taxpayers of the state of Connecticut,” Rep. Vincent Candelora, (R-Minority Leader), said.   Lamont ordered an audit of Blue Hills after the organization notified DECD last year that it had lost $300,000 to wire fraud. Blue Hills didn’t notify DECD until months after the loss.   In documents obtained by NBC Connecticut under the Freedom of Information Act, officials with Blue Hills said they notified McCrory, and he told them not to tell anyone else. The audit found “pervasive governance failures, systemic internal control weaknesses, and patterns of conduct that strongly suggest potential fraud and misappropriation of public funds.”    CliftonLarsonAllen, hired to conduct the audit, also stated that BHCA routinely disbursed funds to subrecipients without legal agreements, projected budgets, or documented compliance checks.   BHCA was found to lack transparency and to have significant discrepancies in reported expenses that went “unchallenged.”  The audit also alleged McCrory was heavily involved in how BHCA utilized state funding.   “Available documentation and email correspondence indicate that funding allocations were largely determined by Senator McCrory, with BHCA executing disbursements without consistent adherence to required procedures such as obtaining signed MOUs or projected budgets prior to payment,” the audit said. “The prevalence of backdated MOUs, missing agreements, and passthrough arrangements lacking transparency further underscores significant governance and compliance deficiencies within BHCA. These practices raise concerns about BHCA’s accountability, proper oversight, and adherence to legislative grant requirements.” The FBI has been investigating how Hartford-area nonprofits have been using grant funding, including subpoenas that name McCrory multiple times. The subpoenas asked the state for records that, among other information, reference a possible personal relationship between McCrory and Sonsera Cicero, owner of the nonprofit consulting firm Society of Human Engagement and Business Alignment.   Speaking with NBC Connecticut last week, McCrory downplayed that relationship.  “I’m not here to talk about my relationships with people. I have relationships with all people in my community,” he said on Jan. 13. “I’ve been in this community for 59 years.”  …

The Brown University campus is full once again after a winter break that started on a tragic note. “It doesn’t quite feel normal, but definitely it does feel like home,” said Sam Marcus, a sophomore from Storrs. “What’s really hard was knowing that coming back to Brown would be day one after it was frozen in place,” said Michael Citarella, a junior from Trumbull. In December, police say Claudio Neves Valente opened fire in the campus’s engineering building, taking the lives of two students, and injuring nine. We spoke with Citarella and Marcus last month, who told us about their experience in respective ten-hour lockdowns in the dining hall and a dorm room while the shooting unfolded. With students back Wednesday, the memorial outside of the Barus and Holley building has grown. As the semester begins, students are even offering each other free hugs for support. “What’s really nice is that there’s this community, but then there’s also the space for everyone to process things and deal with them in their own way and whatever is best for each person,” said Marcus. In the wake of the shooting, Brown says the number of officers on every shift has increased, that police are conducting frequent patrols, and they’ve added new panic buttons, blue lights, and cameras. “I’ve seen security guards at a few buildings that are normally more open, or people go to, and there’s just added police cars around campus, but in general, campus feels like it did, which I was hoping it would be. People want normalcy,” Citarella said. The shooting is considered a seminal event to the city, according to Mayor Brett Smiley. “This will be something that we talk about for decades to come. And it will change how we think about physical security in some buildings,” Smiley said. The students tell us professors are reminding them of their healing resources and are starting classes with moment of silence. “We can’t let something like this define us, because if we let it define us, then they kind of get what they wanted,” said Marcus. “We are going to be okay. And we are going to keep fighting forward with this,” Citarella said. Citarella is the co-lead for the Brown University chapter of Students Demand Action, the anti-gun violence organization chapter at Brown. He says their first meeting since the shooting is Wednesday night