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cyberaxyesterday at 7:38 PM3 repliesview on HN

DHS/ICE is in a weird constitutional spot. Most immigration violations in the US are _civil_ violations. So the Fourth Amendment is less applicable. It's also why detained immigrants don't automatically get the right to be represented by a lawyer.

ICE/DHS technically are just acting as marshals, merely ensuring that defendants appear at court proceedings and then enforcing court decisions (deportations).


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epiccolemanyesterday at 9:03 PM

It's not really that the 4th amendment is less applicable, it's that the procedural protections are lower in civil proceedings.

I think it's a pretty big undersell to describe ICE as "marshals" too - they've got plenty of discretion in how they prioritize targeted people and who they detain. They are not just a neutral party executing court orders.

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ImPostingOnHNyesterday at 11:05 PM

They're actually abducting people from court proceedings (and other scheduled official proceedings) and violating court decisions.

wormiusyesterday at 10:58 PM

[flagged]

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