The Fourth Amendment and ICE

The Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution is supposed to protect all of us. But what if it doesn’t?

A case in point is the Fourth Amendment that protects us all from “unreasonable searches and seizures” and requires the government to have judicial warrants specifically “describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

This protection was added to the Constitution in 1791 after citizens had experienced years of abuse under British rule. The British government had routinely sent soldiers to burst into American homes and businesses to harass and terrorize residents.

The Fourth Amendment was designed to prevent that kind of government overreach in the newly independent United States. Today, however, U.S. cities and businesses are finding it necessary to take action to defend our Fourth Amendment rights.

Last year, Carrboro, N.C. became the first town in America to officially declare itself a “Fourth Amendment City.” At the same time, many small businesses in Carrboro have pledged to be “Fourth Amendment Businesses” and to take specific steps to protect employees and customers from federal persecution by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE).

Under the Fourth Amendment, ICE agents cannot constitutionally enter a private area that is not open to the public unless they have a judicial warrant signed by a judge that says “U.S. District Court” or a state court at the top. Despite claims by the Trump administration to the contrary, an administrative warrant from the Department of Homeland Security does not satisfy this constitutional requirement.

Drawing on materials provided at 4thworkplace.org by a local nonprofit organization named Siembra, many businesses in Carrboro have put up signs or even installed locks to make the designation of “private areas” absolutely clear.

Fourth Amendment businesses also are training staff on how to tell the difference between an administrative and a judicial warrant and that they have a legal right to remain silent, to video everything that ICE agents do, and to refuse to talk with ICE without an attorney.

The Fourth Amendment City resolution adopted by the Carrboro Town Council at the urging of Siembra noted that “the threat of unconstitutional seizure by Federal authorities such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement is preventing immigrant households from safely engaging in public life, including pursuing education and employment.”

It added that “non-immigrant Black, Indigenous, and People of Color families are also being unconstitutionally targeted, harassed, and arrested by Federal authorities and law enforcement officers under the guise of immigration enforcement.”

The town council directed city staff to enforce the Fourth Amendment and to “encourage all Town of Carrboro workplaces to join this effort to ensure respect for the Constitution and discourage Federal overreach into local communities.”

“Now is not a time to be quiet about what your values are,” said Cristóbal Palmer, a member of the Carrboro Town Council who grew up in the town and is raising his children there.

Siembra reports that more than 200 businesses in Carrboro and other communities in North Carolina have declared themselves to be Fourth Amendment businesses. The local union of construction and utility line workers also supports the Fourth Amendment campaign.

Invoking Fourth Amendment rights is, of course, just one way to combat ICE harassment. In many cities, residents are not only getting Fourth Amendment training based on Siembra’s materials but also teaming up to monitor and document ICE activity through video and eyewitness observation.

None of these tactics by itself will prevent all abuses of our constitutional rights. But many local residents, businesses, and public officials are doing what they can, recognizing that if those rights can be taken away from some of us, they can be taken away from all of us.

Matt Witt is a writer and photographer in Talent, Oregon.