A new memo from Immigration and Customs Enforcement reportedly allows federal officers to forcibly enter a person's home to make arrest without a judicial warrant.
The memo, which was reported by the Associated Press and other national outlets, would appear to contradict the advice that legal advocates have been giving to immigrant communities and others in Maine, that they should not open their doors unless shown a warrant signed by a judge.
When asked about the memo during a press conference at Portland City Hall Thursday, Maine U.S. Sen. Angus King leaned on the podium and grabbed the microphone by hand.
"It's blatantly unconstitutional," he said.
The Fourth Amendment, King said, protects a person's right to be secure in their homes.
"And it's very important that the Fourth Amendment uses the word 'people,'" he said. "It doesn't use the word 'citizen.'"
During her own press conference Thursday morning, Gov. Janet Mills also denounced the reported memo and
"It's a basic premise of our Bill of Rights," she said. "Its words couldn't be plainer: You've got to a judicial warrant before you enter somebody's home."
King said he hasn't seen the memo himself. He broadly questioned the mission of ICE operations in Maine and called on federal officials to share more details about the apparent criminal history of those who are being targeted.
"What I have been hearing is there is terrorizing of American citizens going on. But it's by ICE, not by the people that they are arresting, who are allegedly the worst of the worst," King said.
Specifically, King said he's looking for more information about whether those who have been detained have been charged or convicted of a crime, or whether they're seeking a legal path to citizenship.
