What did the GAO report specifically say about ICE mistakes involving U.S. citizens, and what years did it cover?

1. What the GAO actually said about mistakes involving U.S. citizens

GAO’s report stated plainly that “available data indicate ICE and CBP took enforcement actions against some U.S. citizens,” and used ICE’s own records to quantify those actions for the period it reviewed ^[1]. The agency concluded that because of inconsistencies in guidance and weaknesses in data systems, ICE “does not know the extent to which its officers are taking enforcement actions against individuals who could be U.S. citizens,” a finding that underpins GAO’s recommendations ^{[2] [1]}.

2. The concrete numbers GAO reported and the time frame it examined

Using ICE data for the timeframe the report analyzed—spanning fiscal year 2015 through 2020 according to GAO and subsequent reporting—GAO reported that ICE arrested 674 potential U.S. citizens, detained 121, and removed 70 during that window ^{[1] [3]}. Multiple news outlets and advocacy groups cite those same counts and explicitly restate the GAO timeframe as 2015–2020, which aligns with GAO’s language that the data covered “the last 5 years” in its review ^{[3] [2]}.

3. Why GAO said the errors happened — policy, training, and data gaps

GAO identified specific failures that could lead to misidentification: ICE policy requires officers to interview people claiming U.S. citizenship in the presence of, or in consultation with, a supervisor, but GAO found training materials that instead tell officers they may end questioning if they believe the person is a citizen without consulting a supervisor—an inconsistency that creates room for error ^{[2] [1]}. GAO also documented that while officers must document citizenship investigations in ICE systems, they are not required to update the citizenship field after determining someone is a U.S. citizen, meaning records can continue to mark someone as non‑citizen and trigger enforcement actions ^[2].

4. GAO’s recommendations and agency accountability

Because of those findings, GAO made recommendations—chiefly that ICE align its training with policy and improve data tracking so encounters involving possible U.S. citizens are properly identified and updated in systems—so the agency can know how frequently such mistakes occur and take corrective steps ^[2]. GAO’s recommendations are framed as fixes to oversight and recordkeeping rather than as determinations about individual cases; the report urges systemic change to prevent further constitutional and procedural violations ^[2].

5. Context, competing estimates, and reporting limits

Advocates and secondary analyses argue the problem is larger than GAO’s counts: independent analyses, including a TRAC data review cited by observers, have reported thousands of instances where U.S. citizens were flagged as potentially removable across earlier periods (2002–2017), illustrating that GAO’s numbers are constrained by the data ICE provided and its chosen analytic window ^[3]. GAO itself notes the inability to fully determine the extent of erroneous enforcement because ICE and CBP do not systematically track or require updating of citizenship determinations in their databases—an explicit limitation of the report ^[2].

6. Bottom line

GAO’s specific finding: between roughly fiscal year 2015 and 2020, ICE’s available data showed 674 arrests, 121 detentions, and 70 removals of potential U.S. citizens, and GAO concluded these outcomes stem from inconsistent guidance and inadequate tracking—leading to two core recommendations to ICE to better align training with policy and to improve recordkeeping so citizenship investigations are properly documented and corrected ^{[1] [2]}.