Overview
- ProPublica reported more than 170 instances in 2025 in which immigration agents held U.S. citizens during raids or protests, a tally it says is almost certainly incomplete.
- Accounts include allegations of people being dragged, tased, beaten or shot, with about two dozen saying they were held over a day without phone access and at least three detained while pregnant.
- Nearly 20 children were among those held, including two with cancer, and four were kept for weeks with their undocumented mother until a congresswoman intervened.
- The investigation identified more than 50 citizens detained after agents questioned their citizenship, almost all of them Latino, underscoring concerns about racial profiling.
- The government does not track how often citizens are detained, and the reported cases conflict with Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s statement that officers promptly release citizens after brief status checks following a Supreme Court order allowing race to be considered in Los Angeles sweeps.