ICE Director Declares They Can Detain People Without Probable Cause—Based on Appearance Alone
In a startling televised interview, former Acting ICE Director Tom Homan claimed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers do not need probable cause to detain individuals—and that a person’s physical appearance alone can justify an encounter.
“They don’t need probable cause,” Homan said on Fox & Friends. “Border Patrol and ICE officers can walk up to someone, detain them briefly, and question them based on how they look, where they are, and how they’re acting.”
— [Fox News, July 2025]
The remark quickly drew intense scrutiny from legal experts and lawmakers alike, who accused Homan of endorsing racial profiling and undermining constitutional protections.
🚨 Legal Experts Push Back: “This Violates the Fourth Amendment”
Homan’s claim seems to contradict long-standing rulings from U.S. courts. The Fourth Amendment protects Americans from unreasonable searches and seizures, requiring reasonable suspicion or probable cause for law enforcement detentions.
Civil rights attorneys point to two landmark decisions:
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U.S. v. Brignoni-Ponce (1975): The Supreme Court ruled that Mexican appearance alone was not enough to justify a stop.
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U.S. v. Montero-Camargo (2000): The Ninth Circuit Court emphasized that relying solely on Latino appearance is unconstitutional.
“There must be more than just skin color or where someone is standing,” said civil rights attorney Ana Rodriguez. “That’s not how American law works.”
🧾 Federal Judge Blocks Racial Profiling in California
Adding legal weight to the criticism, a federal judge in Los Angeles recently issued a permanent injunction banning ICE and Border Patrol from using race or appearance alone as a justification for detaining individuals in the state.
Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong concluded that ICE’s pattern of stops amounted to unconstitutional racial profiling, violating both federal and state laws.
“People were being stopped simply for being Latino in certain neighborhoods,” she wrote in the court’s opinion.
— [San Francisco Chronicle, June 2025]
🔥 Political Reactions: “This Is an Open Admission of Profiling”
Democratic lawmakers slammed Homan’s remarks, calling them a “disturbing admission.”
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Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY): “ICE cannot legally detain people just because of how they look. What Homan said is a flat-out lie.”
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Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY): “They’re admitting to systemic racial profiling on national television. This should alarm every American.”
Meanwhile, conservative circles appear split. Some defended Homan, arguing that immigration enforcement requires broad discretion at the border. Others cautioned that framing immigration law this way risks alienating Latino voters and undermining constitutional values.
✅ The Bottom Line
Tom Homan’s statement reignited the national debate over immigration enforcement and constitutional rights. While some defend aggressive tactics to secure the border, courts continue to reaffirm that racial appearance alone is not—and should never be—a lawful reason to detain someone in the United States.
As litigation continues and political tensions rise, one thing is clear: the American legal system is drawing a hard line between “border security” and “racial profiling.”
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