ICE issued an internal memo on January 29, 2026, expanding the agency's authority for warrantless arrests of suspected undocumented immigrants. Acting Director Todd M. Lyons reinterpreted a federal law to change the standard from whether individuals are unlikely to appear for immigration hearings to whether they are unlikely to remain at the scene of an encounter. The policy shift allows lower-level ICE agents greater discretion to conduct broad sweeps without supervisor approval, amid the Trump administration's intensified immigration enforcement nationwide.