Trump agency's 'gross distortion' of law reveals a 'hidden agenda' for ICE: legal expert

A Donald Trump administration agency has been misstating the law in a way that could cause someone to fail the bar exam, but it's for a reason, according to one legal expert who says a hidden agenda has been uncovered.

Legal analyst Ryan Goodman over the weekend took apart the Department of Homeland Security's recent comments about "reasonable suspicion" in connection with immigration matters. Goodman says a DHS official misstated the law about reasonable suspicion in order to justify Kristi Noem's comments about Americans carrying around their proof of immigration to present to ICE agents.

Goodman began by highlighting comments by Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin on CNN. McLaughlin tried to provide backup to Noem, who said, "There may be individuals surrounding that criminal that we may be asking who they are."

According to Goodman, the word "criminal" is "doing a lot of work," since letting your visitation permission lapse isn't a crime and crossing the border without permission is only a misdemeanor. Goodman said the DHS is "grossly distorting" the law on reasonable suspicion to accomplish their "hidden agenda."

"That's outlandish" that being in the vicinity of an ICE operation could be reasonable suspicion that they aren't in the country legally, according to Goodman. Pointing to McLaughlin's comments about the Supreme Court, Goodman said, "There's no such thing" as the case she had described.

"Here's the part that's hidden here. Reasonable suspicion for what? Reasonable suspicion to do what?" he asked, noting they are talking about making arrests. "The sleight of hand is that's actually where her sentence ends. Her next suspicion is not about reasonable suspicion."

He added, "If that were an individual's answer on the bar exam, they would fail that question. And if they answered other questions on the bar exam the same way, they would fail the bar exam."

He also said, for an arrest, authorities need "probable cause," which has higher standards.