Do federal agents need a warrant for immigration raids? Legal expert answers your questions

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- There is a lot of anxiety amid ongoing immigration raids across the Los Angeles area. There are multiple agencies involved, but what are they legally entitled to do?

Eyewitness News Reporter Carlos Granda spoke with an immigration expert to provide some clarification.

Since the beginning of the month, raids have been happening daily, with federal agents swarming businesses and parking lots. Now, there are a lot of questions about the legality of the arrests. For example, do the federal agents need a warrant?

In one example, video shows federal law enforcement agents conducting a raid at a car wash in Glendale and making arrests. Experts say in some cases, agents don't need warrants.

"So many of the arrests that we're seeing are warrantless arrests. We are seeing federal agents go into public areas and start conversations with people," said Jean Lantz Reisz with the USC Gould School of Immigration Law. "Now, in order to go into a private area, federal agents need a warrant, and that warrant needs to be signed by a judge."

Reisz says agents can come up to anyone and ask questions. You might have to give them your name, and they might ask where you were born and where you live. If you answer their questions, it could be used against you.

"Federal agents are saying, 'I entered into a voluntary conversation, based on this conversation, that created the reasonable suspicion that this person is here in violation of immigration law, and I was able to make an arrest based on what was happening in that conversation, that gave me probable cause,'" Reisz said.

Reisz said you should provide your name, but from there, if they start asking for more information, you can choose to say nothing and ask, "Am I free to leave?" Agents may not be able to do anything further due to Fourth Amendment issues.

Multiple federal agencies have been involved in the raids, including U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and more.

"The entire portfolio of immigration and customs enforcement is open. We no longer turn a blind eye to someone just here in the country illegally," said Todd Lyons, the ICE acting director.

In an interview with Eyewitness News Anchor Marc Brown, Lyons talked about using other agencies in operations.

'We have to look at the situation totally with the resources we have. ICE is one of the smallest law enforcement agencies. We do have cooperation from our other partners," Lyons said.

Reisz says all of the agencies are likely being pulled in because ICE alone does not have the resources to conduct widespread arrests.

"I would say it's not unheard of. It has been done in the past. I wouldn't say that this kind of enforcement actions that we're seeing and these tactics are normal. This is very aggressive. Trying to arrest thousands of people a day is not normal, but using interagency cooperation is normal," Reisz said.

Eyewitness News asked ICE for a statement about all of the different agencies involved, as well as for updated numbers on arrests in Southern California. So far, they have not gotten back to us.