Trump Pauses Warrantless Home Entries After Fatal Shootings

President Donald Trump has called for a softer approach to his mass deportation campaign following the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens during federal operations in Minneapolis in January 2026. The incident followed the partial implementation of a controversial master plan aimed at deporting 1 million people in the president's first year. This plan, supported by former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott, proposed a National Incident Command Center to coordinate agencies and allow agents to enter homes without judicial warrants.

The strategy sparked a fierce internal conflict in February 2025 between Scott and then-acting ICE director Caleb Vitello. Vitello opposed the warrantless entries, arguing they risked the wrongful detention of U.S. citizens. After a heated meeting where Scott reportedly pounded a table in anger, Vitello was reassigned and replaced by Todd Lyons, who subsequently authorized residential detentions based on administrative warrants.

Following the Minneapolis fatalities, current DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin paused the practice of entering homes without judicial warrants and halted the purchase of warehouses for mass detention. Despite these policy shifts, the administration reports that 570,000 people have been deported to date.