Is America’s Fourth Amendment Now Trapped on Paper?

Chhabed Sathee

Masks. Guns. Tactical gear. Forcing someone to the ground. Dragging people out of their homes. These images are no longer exceptions—they have become the symbols of America’s immigration policy. This is no longer just a policy debate. It is now a constitutional one.

When the Department of Homeland Security claims the authority to enter homes without a judge-signed warrant, it ceases to be merely an immigration operation. It becomes a direct assault on the Fourth Amendment.

In American politics, Democratic midterm campaign ads are now writing themselves. Masked government agents in tactical gear, weapons drawn, pinning someone to the ground or dragging a half-clothed person from a home into the snow. On the other side, protesters who look like ordinary Americans shouting and filming. These images are creating deep voter unease and raising serious constitutional questions.

If Americans were alarmed by images of migrants at the southern border, they are now at least as disturbed—if not more so—by the ongoing violent encounters between federal immigration agents and civilians.

The current focus is Minneapolis. But similar incidents and protest marches are spreading across the country.

Every time a confrontation occurs and social media erupts, the Trump administration and ICE claim—before any investigation—that the agents’ actions were justified. At the same time, character assassination of those involved begins.

But many eyewitnesses and local officials disagree. The videos do not always support the administration’s narrative. It is becoming increasingly difficult for ordinary citizens to determine the truth. And that, politically, is Trump’s greatest problem.

Most troubling of all is that the Department of Homeland Security has begun bypassing the Fourth Amendment’s core protections by using so-called “administrative warrants.” These allow entry into people’s homes based on the signature of an internal agency official, not a judge. The result is a growing risk of mistaken and unlawful home raids.

The administration argues that undocumented immigrants do not have the same rights as citizens. But the truth is: they do have rights, and the scope of those rights has long been debated in American constitutional law. Calling this “law and order” misses the point. When the law avoids a judge’s door, it is not order—it is a shortcut to power.

Undocumented immigrants may not have the same rights as citizens. But the Constitution does not say they have no rights.

Administrative warrants today—what tomorrow?

When people are seen on video lying on the ground, pepper-sprayed, shot—bureaucratic language no longer persuades the public.

This administration won support for taking a hard line at the border. But images of agents storming homes are melting that support away.

Conservatives, in particular, should remember: the Constitution is not only the First and Second Amendments. The Fourth Amendment is equally sacred.

Because the day it becomes normal to break down doors without a judge’s warrant is the day no door remains safe.

Trump’s problem here is perception as much as reality. Even if ICE acts lawfully in some cases, the repeated images of masked, armed agents forcing people to the ground or dragging them away are fueling fear and anger among voters.

While Trump received praise for his border stance, his deportation tactics are politically cornering him. Polls show a majority of Americans disapprove of how ICE is doing its job.

Conservatives should pause here. Government can abuse its power—this has always been one of their core warnings. That is why the Constitution’s Third through Eighth Amendments, especially the Fourth, exist.

The day people deny what they can see with their own eyes is the day power escapes control.

As Democrats move into campaign mode, their message will be simple: which party abandoned the protections of the Fourth Amendment.

Chhabed Sathee: US-based writer, journalist and American political analyst. Editor, Bangla Press.

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