CNN’s Elie Honig Torpedoes Trump DHS Chief Noem Over Demanding Papers — By Citing Trump-Appointed Justice

CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig torpedoed Trump Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over requiring papers on demand — citing Trump-appointed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Noem held a gaggle with reporters on the White House driveway Thursday morning, during which she defended the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations amid widespread protest.

On Thursday’s edition of CNN’s The Situation Room, anchor Pamela Brown asked Honig about Noem’s suggestiono that even US citizens should be prepared to show proof of citizenship.

Honig refuted Noem by quoting Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion from a September case:

PAMELA BROWN: She also said that in every encounter ICE agents have done exactly what they should do under the law and that these are targeted operations and that everything is done correctly. And she was asked, I believe it was by NBC’s Peter Alexander, if when these ICE agents go up to protesters and ask for their papers, whether that is considered a targeted operation and whether people should be bringing their papers with them and their ID.

And she said, yes, U.S. Citizens should be prepared to provide proof.

So I want to bring in Elie Honig to get some more context and perspective on what we just heard from the DHS secretary.

You know, Elie, we were just talking about yesterday, protected First Amendment activity. And so I wonder what you make of the D.H.S. Secretary’s claim there that when these ICE agents go up to protesters and ask for their papers, that that is all above board and that Americans should bring their papers with them to no proof.

ELIE HONIG: Well Pam, that’s wrong. It’s illegal and it’s unconstitutional to require people to show their citizenship papers without some other basis to make a stop.

So let me be clear. In order to stop somebody, detain them, question them for immigration purposes, an officer has to have reasonable suspicion.

Now that’s a fairly low bar. It’s lower than the bar that a law enforcement agent would need to make stop or questioning for criminal purposes, but it’s still a bar. It’s not nothing.

In fact, just a few months ago in September of 2025, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote a concurring opinion in a Supreme Court case when he reiterated that, yes, immigration agents do have to have reasonable suspicion to stop somebody, to detain them even briefly, and to question them.

So what you cannot do is just go arbitrarily up to people or set up a checkpoint or go door to door and say, hey, you need to prove to us that you’re a U.S. Citizen.

The immigration officer needs to have some reasonable suspicion, articulable, meaning something you can explain in words to a court, why did you stop this person?

And Justice Kavanaugh gave immigration officers very broad latitude to do that, but even he reconfirmed just a few months ago that there is a bar.

You have to show reasonable suspicion. You cannot just arbitrarily approach people and make them prove that they are in fact here legally.

Watch above via CNN’s The Situation Room.