Caitlin Dickerson

really coming to grips right now with that misalignment we talked about between who Trump promised he was going to arrest and deport and who's actually being pursued.

And even before these violent and deadly incidents, the public was turning away from support for this policy as it became clear who was actually being deported.

Congress also has the ability to control that.

Congress can tell ICE,

Hmm.

Yes, with an asterisk next to it.

I mean, it's easy to forget that the law and legal precedent is a living thing.

Sure.

So historically – and this all stems from the fact that ICE is enforcing civil law.

Living in the United States without authorization is a civil infraction.

It's not a criminal infraction.

And so as a result of that, ICE agents have always had less legal authority than a police officer.

But you're right, this new memo, this new interpretation by ICE lawyers of the law –

seems to determine that actually we were wrong all along, that the law does allow ICE officers to enter people's homes without warrants.

So that seems to be what they're arguing is legal as of right now.

Now, the reporting around that memo, I think, suggests that even ICE is unsure whether this is a dubious interpretation of the law because they're not handing out the memo.

Normally, when a new memo comes down, it goes out in an email to everybody who works for this agency.

What the reporting suggests is that this memo has only been shown to people in person.

They're handed a piece of paper.

They're allowed to read the memo.