Under federal immigration policy in effect since January 20, 2025, ICE is targeting every noncitizen who can legally be removed from the United States. Executive Order 14159 directs the “total and efficient enforcement” of immigration law against all inadmissible and removable noncitizens and ended the earlier system that limited enforcement to a few priority categories.1Federal Register. Protecting the American People Against Invasion ICE still puts its heaviest resources on people with criminal records, national security flags, and outstanding removal orders, but no one without lawful status is formally off-limits.
The End of Tiered Priorities
From 2021 through early 2025, ICE officers worked from a three-tier priority list: national security threats, public safety risks, and recent border crossers. They also weighed mitigating factors like length of residence, family ties, and military service before pursuing someone. That framework was revoked on January 20, 2025. The current order instructs agencies to “employ all lawful means to ensure the faithful execution of the immigration laws of the United States against all inadmissible and removable aliens.”1Federal Register. Protecting the American People Against Invasion
The practical effect: ICE still decides where to spend its time, but no policy tells officers to leave someone alone because they have lived here for decades or have U.S. citizen children. If you are present without authorization or have overstayed a visa, you can be arrested, detained, and placed in removal proceedings.
Criminal Charges and the Laken Riley Act
People with criminal histories draw the most aggressive enforcement. ICE’s stated operational mission centers on “individuals who present the greatest risk to national security, public safety or border security.”2U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE’s Mission Aggravated felonies, drug trafficking, gang involvement, and violent offenses have long triggered enforcement. The Laken Riley Act, signed on January 29, 2025, widened that net considerably.
The law requires DHS to detain any noncitizen who is unlawfully present and has been charged with, arrested for, convicted of, or admits to burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, assault of a law enforcement officer, or any crime that causes death or serious bodily injury.3Congress.gov. S.5 – Laken Riley Act 119th Congress (2025-2026) A charge or arrest is enough. No conviction is required. That is a sharp break from prior detention mandates, which generally required at least a conviction or a formal finding of removability.
These individuals fall under mandatory detention at 8 U.S.C. 1226(c), meaning ICE must take custody and generally cannot release them on bond.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S. Code 1226 – Apprehension and Detention of Aliens If you are undocumented and picked up on a shoplifting charge, ICE can lodge a detainer and take you into custody when the local jail releases you.
National Security and Gang Enforcement
Suspected terrorists, spies, and members of transnational criminal organizations get the highest enforcement intensity. Executive Order 14159 established Homeland Security Task Forces in every state to dismantle “criminal cartels, foreign gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.”5The White House. Protecting the American People Against Invasion ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations division now treats immigration enforcement for illegal entry and unlawful presence as a primary mission. Operations against MS-13 and similar groups remain a central public-safety focus.6U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Ensuring Public Safety
People With Final Removal Orders
Noncitizens ordered removed by an immigration judge who have not left the country are a core target. Executive Order 14159 tells the ICE Director to prioritize “the successful enforcement of final orders of removal,”1Federal Register. Protecting the American People Against Invasion and Fugitive Operations teams work these cases actively.
Many of these orders were entered in absentia, meaning the person did not appear in immigration court. Under 8 U.S.C. 1229a, a motion to reopen an in absentia order must generally be filed within 180 days when it rests on exceptional circumstances such as serious illness or being a victim of domestic violence. When the basis is lack of proper notice, there is no time limit.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1229a – Removal Proceedings You are allowed only one motion to reopen, so accuracy matters.
A person with a final order can also file Form I-246, a request for a stay of removal, directly with ICE. The filing fee is $155, and the decision is entirely discretionary: the field office director can deny it for any reason, including a criminal record or a flight-risk determination.8U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Application for a Stay of Deportation or Removal (ICE Form I-246) Under current policy, these approvals have become significantly harder to obtain.
Recent Border Crossers and Expired Lawful Status
People who recently crossed the border without authorization remain a high operational focus. ICE coordinates with Customs and Border Protection to locate people who were released pending proceedings and those who evaded detection entirely. Recent unauthorized entry is treated as a standalone reason for enforcement.
Lawful arrival does not immunize you if that status has expired or been revoked. This includes people who entered on parole programs or through scheduled port-of-entry appointments. The question for ICE is whether you are currently removable, not how you first came in.
Everyone Else Who Is Removable
This is where the current policy diverges most sharply from what came before. Under the old priority framework, officers who encountered a noncitizen outside the three priority categories during an operation had limited authority to make “collateral arrests.” That restraint is gone. Unlawful presence is a civil violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and ICE now treats any encounter with a removable noncitizen as an enforcement opportunity.2U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE’s Mission Internal changes have also lowered the threshold for warrantless arrests by field agents. If you are removable and you come to ICE’s attention for any reason, enforcement can follow.
Sensitive Locations No Longer Off-Limits
Schools, hospitals, and houses of worship used to be designated “sensitive” or “protected” areas where ICE generally did not enforce. That designation was rescinded on January 20, 2025. The current DHS memo states it is “not necessary for the head of the agency to create bright line rules regarding where our immigration laws are permitted to be enforced,” and tells officers to use discretion and “common sense.”9Department of Homeland Security. Enforcement Actions in or Near Protected Areas
Courthouses operate under a separate directive dated January 21, 2025. Officers may conduct civil enforcement at courthouses when they have credible information that a targeted person will be present, and arrests near family and small claims courts should generally be avoided unless a field office director authorizes them. Criminal immigration enforcement at courthouses has no such limits.10U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Protected Areas and Courthouse Arrests There is no longer any location where you are formally shielded from immigration enforcement.
What to Do If ICE Approaches You
Constitutional protections apply to everyone on U.S. soil regardless of status. Two rights matter most.
Stay Silent
Under the Fifth Amendment, you do not have to answer questions about where you were born, your immigration status, or where you live. You can say “I choose to remain silent” and ask to speak with a lawyer. Do not lie to a federal officer; false statements create separate criminal exposure and will damage your case. Children have the same right to stay silent and should not be expected to answer questions about their parents.
Know the Warrant in Their Hand
The Fourth Amendment protects everyone, including noncitizens, against warrantless entry into a home. The distinction is between a judicial warrant, signed by a judge after an independent probable-cause review, and an ICE administrative warrant (Form I-200 for arrest, Form I-205 for removal), issued by ICE itself.
Historically, an administrative warrant did not authorize forced entry into a residence. In May 2025, ICE issued an internal memo claiming its agents could enter the homes of people with final removal orders using only an administrative warrant. That policy is being challenged. In January 2026, a federal district judge ruled that a forcible home entry under an administrative warrant violated the Fourth Amendment. The law here is shifting, but the underlying principle holds: if officers show up with only an administrative warrant, you generally have the right to decline entry. A judicial warrant signed by a judge lets them in whether you consent or not.
Options If You Are Facing Removal
Being targeted does not mean removal is inevitable. Several mechanisms can slow or stop the process, and all of them reward moving quickly.
Bond Hearings
If you are detained and not subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. 1226(c), you can ask an immigration judge for a bond hearing. The statutory minimum is $1,500, and judges routinely set bond much higher based on flight risk and danger to the community. People held under the Laken Riley Act for offenses like theft, burglary, or shoplifting are generally ineligible for bond.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S. Code 1226 – Apprehension and Detention of Aliens
Motions to Reopen
If you were ordered removed and think the order was entered unfairly, a motion to reopen may be available. The standard deadline is 90 days from the final order. For in absentia orders missed due to exceptional circumstances, the deadline is 180 days. If you never received notice or were in government custody at the time of the hearing, there is no time limit.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1229a – Removal Proceedings You get one motion, so filing without a lawyer is risky.
Voluntary Departure
Some people can request voluntary departure, which lets you leave at your own expense instead of carrying a formal removal order. Granted before or during proceedings, it gives up to 120 days to leave. Granted at the conclusion of proceedings, the window is 60 days, and you must show good moral character for at least five years, physical presence in the U.S. for at least one year before proceedings began, and the financial means to depart.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S. Code 1229c – Voluntary Departure Missing the deadline triggers a $1,000 to $5,000 civil penalty and a 10-year bar from several forms of relief, including cancellation of removal and adjustment of status.
Getting a Lawyer
Immigration court does not appoint counsel. You have the right to hire an attorney at your own expense, and the complexity of removal defense makes representation close to essential. Fees vary widely by case and location, and figures in the several-thousand-dollar range and up are common. Some nonprofit legal organizations provide free or reduced-cost representation to those who cannot pay. The immigration court should provide a list of pro bono legal service providers in your area at your first hearing.