ProPublica has taken a deep dive into allegations of ICE official detaining U.S. citizens and found 500+ Americans have been arrested or detained by mistake.
The government *still* isn’t tracking how often immigration agents detain U.S. citizens.
We are.
500+ Americans have been handcuffed, held at gunpoint or held against their will in Trump’s second term.
Our tally is almost certainly an undercount.
THREAD ⬇️ https://t.co/V3S1NPAe6O
— ProPublica (@propublica) October 6, 2026
From ProPublica:
The Trump administration says none of this is happening. “DHS is NOT arresting U.S. citizens by mistake.” “There are no ‘indiscriminate’ stops.” Allegations of “racial profiling are disgusting, reckless and categorically FALSE.” “The pattern is NOT of law enforcement using force.” “ICE does not zip tie or restrain children.”
But that is precisely what is happening, and at a far larger scale than previously reported.
We know because we have once again done what the government hasn’t:
We have tallied and cataloged every case we can find of an immigration agent holding a citizen during the current administration. More than 500 cases. That includes:
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- More than a hundred Americans held after agents questioned their citizenship. Nearly all were people of color.
- At least 70 American children and teens detained, some of whom were handcuffed.
- Of the more than 300 Americans we tracked as detained for allegedly assaulting or obstructing agents, we found fewer than half were actually charged in federal court, and many of those cases were dropped or dismissed.
- At least 63 Americans detained while recording.
- 36 Americans held for at least a day without being able to contact a lawyer or their family.
- Roughly a dozen citizens deported, mostly children.
Collectively, these cases show that as the administration has relentlessly pursued immigrants, federal agents have run roughshod over the constitutional rights of citizens too.
ProPublica admits their report is an “undercount” as they only included the people they could identify. Hit this link for many specific cases.
3/ 100+ Americans have been held after agents questioned their citizenship.
Nearly all of them were people of color. They say they were profiled — detained because of their skin color, accents or jobs.
“ICE isn’t looking for criminals. They’re looking for Latinos,” one said. https://t.co/juPDcEpRnG
— ProPublica (@propublica) October 6, 2026
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