Trump's Immigration Agents Detained 506 Citizens, ProPublica Found. His Administration Says DHS Arrests None by Mistake.
Chapter 1 — Citizens Caught in Trump's Campaign
Chapter 2 — Proof of Status Did Not Prevent Detention
Chapter 3 — The Defense and the Court's Limit
1 · Citizens Caught in Trump's Campaign
1.1 — The Administration Denied Mistakes. Citizens Described Them.
1.2 — What 506 Measures
Trump ordered an immigration campaign in the name of protecting Americans. ProPublica counted 506 citizens detained in it and called its list almost certainly an undercount. His administration says DHS arrests no citizens by mistake, but an Alabama citizen described being detained three times despite his REAL ID.
DHS is NOT arresting U.S. citizens by mistake.
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ProPublica counted 506 citizens held against their will, lawfully or not, and called the tally almost certainly an undercount. The overlapping groups include at least 70 children and teenagers, 63 people detained while recording and 36 held at least a day without contact with a lawyer or family. ProPublica also found about 20 citizen children handcuffed or zip-tied, though DHS says ICE does not restrain children.
2 · Proof of Status Did Not Prevent Detention
2.1 — One Citizen, Three Detentions
2.2 — The Wrong Man Went to the Hospital
2.3 — Two Teenagers Recording Agents
Leonardo Garcia Venegas, a Florida-born construction worker, described three immigration detentions in less than a year despite his REAL ID. He said the first cost him nearly two weeks of work. A federal judge found that officers disregarded his ID and kept holding him during the earlier detentions. In the third, he said, agents restrained his arms and legs, released him about 15 minutes after arriving and charged him with nothing.
In Evanston, agents detained a citizen they mistook for a fugitive. He reported head, neck and dental injuries, and local police photographed his injuries at the hospital. Mayor Daniel Biss described the injuries as minor.
KRGV reported that agents detained two 17-year-olds in Alamo, Texas, who said they were American citizens recording an immigration operation. Luis Ochoa said agents pepper-sprayed him and broke his wrist. Alamo police said they were forwarding the teenagers' complaint to DHS's inspector general. KRGV also reported that ICE deported Ochoa's mother after she spoke publicly about his detention, prompting a lawyer's concern about retaliation.
3 · The Defense and the Court's Limit
3.1 — The Power to Stop Someone Has Limits
3.2 — Three Policies Paused, the Case Still Open
Citizens can lawfully be stopped on reasonable suspicion or arrested for crimes, and ProPublica found citizens convicted after enforcement encounters. The Supreme Court gave the administration an interim win over immigration stops in Los Angeles. In a preliminary ruling, an Alabama judge rejected the factual support for the government's defense of Garcia Venegas's earlier stops.
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On September 21, 2026, Judge Beaverstock temporarily blocked three DHS policies concerning construction workers. The policies allowed entry into private worksites without a warrant or consent, detention without specific suspicion of unlawful immigration status, and continued detention despite evidence of citizenship or lawful presence. The lawsuit continued as of October 10. Ignoring proof of lawful presence and detaining the wrong person is an abuse of immigration power.
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Full Source Index
Primary Sources
- [1]Leonardo Garcia Venegas, second declaration, ECF 76-1, with motion ECF 76, Garcia Venegas v. Homan, No. 1:25-cv-00397-JB-N (S.D. Ala. May 4, 2026) · filed declaration and accompanying motion
- [2]
- [4]
- [5]
- [6]Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, public post (September 20, 2026) · mayor's public statement
- [11]Supreme Court, Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo, No. 25A169, stay order and opinions (September 8, 2025) · Supreme Court order, concurrence and dissent
- [13]CourtListener/RECAP, Venegas v. Homan, No. 1:25-cv-00397 (S.D. Ala.), descending docket, updated October 10, 2026; last known filing October 9 · court docket entries mirrored from PACER/RECAP
Secondary Sources
- [3]Nicole Foy and colleagues, ProPublica, Federal Agents Have Detained More Than 500 American Citizens in Trump's Immigration Crackdown (October 6, 2026), incident catalog and methodology · original investigative reporting and newsroom dataset
- [7]Matthew Eadie, Evanston Now, Audio recording of 911 call in ICE incident released (October 4, 2026) · original reporting on FOIA-obtained police records and recordings
- [8]Ryan Ottignon, The Daily Northwestern, EPD records identify ICE agent Esteban Rivas in late September detainment of US citizen (October 6, 2026) · original reporting on police report and body-camera footage
- [9]Melissa Brandi, KRGV, Justice must be served: Family outraged after viral video shows ICE detaining 17-year-old in Alamo (September 16, 2026) · local reporting, interviews, video description and reproduced DHS statement
- [10]Jose De Leon III, KRGV, Mother of teen detained in viral Alamo ICE arrest video deported (September 21, 2026) · local reporting and reproduced ICE statement
- [12]Matthew Eadie, Evanston Now, DHS says Sunday incident was due to man not identifying himself (September 22, 2026) · original reporting reproducing DHS's emailed statement