[HN Gopher] Google DeepMind Staffers Ask Leaders to Keep Them 'P...
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       Google DeepMind Staffers Ask Leaders to Keep Them 'Physically Safe'
       from ICE
        
       Author : jaredwiener
       Score  : 57 points
       Date   : 2026-01-27 18:33 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.wired.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.wired.com)
        
       | dpc050505 wrote:
       | https://archive.is/GYoyc to get around the paywall
        
       | im3w1l wrote:
       | > Google's head of security and risk operations responded to [a
       | message about an incident] to clarify what had happened. They
       | noted that an "officer arrived at reception without notice" and
       | that the agent was "not granted entry because they did not have a
       | warrant and promptly left."
       | 
       | This seems like a very reasonable way to handle it.
       | 
       | Edit: Disclosure: I'm not an American.
        
         | pavel_lishin wrote:
         | Telling the police to come back with a warrant sometimes works,
         | and sometimes doesn't.
         | 
         | And these guys aren't the police.
        
           | motbus3 wrote:
           | Why did he go there without a warranty in the first place?
           | Was he following someone who entered the building? Would that
           | be weird similar to the weird mustached guy from the 40s?
        
             | Refreeze5224 wrote:
             | ICE has been going around without judicial, as opposed to
             | administrative, warrants, relying on threats and coercion
             | to be let in and to arrest people. That's what this
             | probably is.
        
               | moralestapia wrote:
               | The story doesn't make sense, tbh ...
               | 
               | One single guy. What was he supposed to do after they let
               | him in? Just start asking people about their legal
               | status? I doubt Google has many illegal immigrants
               | working there ... I doubt there's even one.
               | 
               | Then this guy finds them, allegedly, does he just arrests
               | them and take them out the building? All by himself? With
               | all the cameras and phones on the planet recording it?
               | Inside Google, from all places?
               | 
               | It just doesn't make sense.
               | 
               | From the article:
               | 
               | >Google's top brass--including CEO Sundar Pichai and
               | DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis--have remained silent on
               | Pretti's killing even inside the company, sources say.
               | 
               | Why would they, though?
        
               | xp84 wrote:
               | I agree, I don't need to hear my CEO's opinions on
               | whatever controversy is big today. Run the company, focus
               | on that.
        
               | pavel_lishin wrote:
               | I'd like to hear my CEO say that he won't allow goons
               | into the building to drag me away to a concentration
               | camp.
        
               | moralestapia wrote:
               | There's not much a CEO can do about that ... (nor it
               | should).
        
               | pavel_lishin wrote:
               | But consider: they're all really fucking stupid.
        
           | amanaplanacanal wrote:
           | The thing is, they are required to have a warrant, but I
           | don't believe they are required to show you the warrant. In
           | which case what exactly should they do?
        
             | throw_away_8080 wrote:
             | Not a lawyer, but I think this is common knowledge: They
             | are required to not only show it but provide a copy of the
             | warrant on request. Furthermore the warrants are scoped, if
             | the warrant specifies searching for firearms and the search
             | your hard drive it can't be used in court unless you
             | verbally allow it. Don't resist, but don't consent.
        
         | mullingitover wrote:
         | There was a recent secret internal ICE memo stating that they
         | determined they were free to essentially engage in
         | unconstitutional home invasions[1]. If they decided to batter
         | down the doors at Google there is nothing stopping them.
         | 
         | The only thing keeping them in check is the courts, and that
         | practically operates in geologic timeframes compared to the
         | rate they are breaking laws.
         | 
         | [1] https://apnews.com/article/ice-arrests-warrants-
         | minneapolis-...
        
           | mc32 wrote:
           | That's where they will use an "administrative warrant" to
           | arrest someone with a final order of removal.
           | 
           | So not citizens' houses but one where someone is in the
           | country illegally with a final order of removal.
        
             | tekla wrote:
             | Despite the word "warrant" being present, an
             | "administrative warrant" does not allow law enforcement to
             | enter private property.
             | 
             | If they find a illegal immigrant on public streets, they
             | can be detained, but still cannot enter a private residence
             | (even if occupied by an illegal immigrant) as it would
             | violate the 4th amendment.
        
               | dragonwriter wrote:
               | > Despite the word "warrant" being present, an
               | "administrative warrant" does not allow law enforcement
               | to enter private property.
               | 
               | Even an actual judicial arrest warrant doesn't (legally)
               | allow them to enter private party on suspicion that the
               | target might be there. Search is a separate thing from
               | seizure, and you need a judicial _search_ warrant to
               | search a private residence or the non-public areas of a
               | business for a person, no matter what authority you might
               | have to arrest them should you find them.
        
               | mc32 wrote:
               | That makes sense. But that raises a separate unrelated
               | question; how do bailbondsmen seem to be able to take
               | their targets in, are they violating the law or are
               | criminals gullible or something else?
        
               | dragonwriter wrote:
               | Bail agents can usually enter the home of the subject
               | without additional consent due to clauses in the contract
               | of the bail bond, but not (without the owners consent)
               | homes owned by third parties even if the target is
               | present.
               | 
               | Criminals are also frequently gullible.
               | 
               | And bail agents are fairly notorious as a group for
               | having a less than scrupulous attention to legal
               | restrictions.
               | 
               | So, a mix of things, really.
        
               | dbarlett wrote:
               | A single paragraph in _Taylor v. Taintor_ :
               | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_v._Taintor
        
           | stopbulying wrote:
           | "Immigration officers assert sweeping power to enter homes
           | without a judge's warrant, memo says":
           | https://apnews.com/article/ice-arrests-warrants-
           | minneapolis-...
           | 
           | Search and Seizure > United States:
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_and_seizure
           | 
           | Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution: https://e
           | n.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Amendment_to_the_United...
        
       | Ancalagon wrote:
       | Great job Sundar, way to stand on the wrong stage.
        
       | juliusceasar wrote:
       | USA has turned into Iran and Israel. Murdering innocent people
       | and lying about it.
        
         | mc32 wrote:
         | Yah like Ruby Ridge, Phila MOVE, Malheur, etc...
        
         | rambojohnson wrote:
         | 100%
        
       | knowitnone3 wrote:
       | I don't believe Google would is hiring illegal immigrants.
        
         | kingstnap wrote:
         | The two people recently killed in Minneapolis were both US
         | citizens.
        
           | xp84 wrote:
           | True, buuuuut, they were also citizens taking it upon
           | themselves to go and get involved with law enforcement
           | activity, creating a chaotic environment deliberately in
           | order to try to make a political point. Let's stipulate that
           | they had great ethical reasons and good intentions to do this
           | - I don't want to debate that.
           | 
           | But these people allegedly asking for "protection from ICE"
           | at work however are being hyperbolic. Their workplace isn't a
           | place where immigrants are being pursued in the first place,
           | and even if ICE were to come there, they don't have to choose
           | to try to "be a hero" and insert themselves into an arrest
           | that might happen. If they want safety, they can stay at
           | their desks and work. If they're illegally here themselves,
           | they can't expect their employer that they are lying to, to
           | bend over backwards to "protect" them.
           | 
           | Honestly, I think escalating a situation that is _not life-
           | or-death,_ like ICE detaining people they suspect of
           | violating immigration status, to a degree where people can
           | die, is irresponsible. Way more people die from forklift
           | accidents every day than are actually wrongfully deported,
           | yet people are throwing themselves into the path of officers
           | to  "defend" random people they almost definitely know less
           | about than the person arresting them does. So far I haven't
           | heard of ICE hurting any actual immigrants in custody, just
           | "heroes" who think they have a duty to "defend." The only
           | logically consistent position with this categorical "defense"
           | stance would be that borders shouldn't exist.
        
       | simianwords wrote:
       | Its a bit strange why a single newsworthy incident with the ICE
       | has GDM's attention in this manner? There has been no interaction
       | between ICE and Google other than a single agent trying to enter
       | and then leave.
        
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       (page generated 2026-01-27 23:01 UTC)