The Department of Homeland Security maintains a firm, recurring stance: allegations that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are arresting and deporting American citizens are false.
In official statements, the agency insists that individuals questioned under “reasonable suspicion” are released immediately upon verification of their citizenship. Yet, a widening gap exists between these administrative assurances and the lived reality of hundreds of people caught in the crosshairs of federal immigration enforcement since President Donald Trump returned to office.
ProPublica has identified more than 500 U.S. citizens who have been detained by immigration agents over the past year.
These are not merely administrative errors or statistical outliers; they are individuals like Ana Michelle Ramirez Sanan, a teenager who watched as agents broke her family’s car windows and tackled her mother, leaving the senior student to grapple with the trauma of a detention that lasted only 30 minutes but upended her final year of high school.
For Andrea Velez, who was detained for two days during a street vendor raid in Los Angeles in June 2025, the reality involved being denied access to a lawyer and being labeled an “alleged U.S. citizen” by masked agents, even after she presented her identification.
The physical and psychological toll of these encounters often lingers long after the release. In Idaho, a massive October 2025 raid at a racetrack resulted in the detention of dozens of U.S. citizens, including children. Anabel Romero, who was present, reported being tackled and zip-tied by unidentified officers who she claims threatened her life.
Her daughter, SueHey Tello, described the terror of having guns pointed at her younger siblings. Despite the Federal Bureau of Investigation and DHS claiming no young children were restrained, the families involved have filed a lawsuit alleging that the raid illegally targeted the Latino community.
The Erosion of Civil Protections
Quentin Williams, a teaching assistant in Minnesota, was detained for several hours after being thrown to the ground and choked during an operation near his school in January.
“They didn't even know what they were doing — just kind of being reckless [with] assault rifles out and pepper-spraying staff after they took me down,” Quentin Williams, a teaching assistant in Minnesota, recalled, and despite federal authorities later issuing a warrant for his arrest—which was eventually dismissed—Williams remains haunted by the proximity of his experience to the deaths of Renee Good and George Floyd.
His case highlights the volatility of these encounters, where the line between “assisting” and “impeding” federal agents becomes a justification for the suspension of due process.
Leonardo Garcia Venegas, a construction worker in Alabama, was detained three separate times while working at job sites. Each time, he presented proof of citizenship, only to have his documents dismissed by agents as fraudulent. His experience led to a judge-ordered temporary halt on specific warrantless raids at construction sites, pending the outcome of his lawsuit against the DHS.
Agency Claims Justify Detentions Despite Reports of Misconduct
The agency’s response to these detentions frequently relies on claims that the citizens involved were obstructing law enforcement or posing a danger to officers.
In the case of Javier Ramirez, whose auto shop was raided in June 2025, agents reportedly boasted about the volume of arrests they were making, disregarding his medical needs while he was held for four days. The agency has denied denying him medication, yet the incident remains a subject of ongoing litigation.
When Chicago Alderperson Jessie Fuentes arrived at a hospital to monitor an ICE operation in October 2025, she was handcuffed despite identifying herself as an official. The DHS later claimed she was cuffed but “NEVER placed under arrest.” Such linguistic gymnastics offer little comfort to those detained, who often find themselves stripped of their freedom without access to counsel or explanation.
While the DHS continues to frame its operations as successes in dismantling illegal activities, the families and individuals who have been zip-tied, shackled, or held at gunpoint face lasting mental health impacts from their encounters.
The records show that for at least 500 people, that question was answered in the most personal, jarring way possible.
