Has ICE been arresting citizens as well?
Executive summary
Reporting and investigations show that immigration agents have, in multiple recent operations, detained or arrested U.S. citizens — a pattern documented in news investigations and challenged by DHS statements denying it (ProPublica/NBC/Poynter coverage summarized in sources). A ProPublica investigation is cited across outlets as documenting roughly 170 citizen detentions since the start of the administration’s second term, while DHS and ICE publicly assert that citizens are not targeted and that any citizen arrests are for non‑immigration crimes [1] [2] [3].
1. What the record shows: documented citizen detentions
Multiple news investigations and fact‑checks report that U.S. citizens have been detained or arrested by immigration agents during recent enforcement sweeps; a widely cited ProPublica count — reported in outlets summarized by PolitiFact and Poynter — documented roughly 170 cases of citizens detained by federal immigration officers during 2025 operations [3] [1]. Local reporting from cities such as Chicago and New York also recounts specific incidents of citizens held or questioned during large operations and protests [4] [3].
2. Government response: categorical denial and narrow exceptions
The Department of Homeland Security and ICE have issued firm denials that they “arrest or deport U.S. citizens,” and frame any citizen arrests as unrelated to immigration status — for example, for obstructing or assaulting officers during protests — and say agents are trained to ask status questions before detention (DHS statement responding to reporting) [2]. That institutional position conflicts with investigative reporting that documents citizen detentions in immigration operations [2] [1].
3. Why wrongful or collateral detentions happen, according to experts and lawyers
Legal and advocacy sources say wrongful citizen detentions typically stem from database errors, biographical collisions (shared names/DOB), outdated records, algorithmic false positives, or mistreated administrative detainers treated like criminal warrants; some immigration lawyers and reports identify those mechanics as recurring causes in 2025 incidents [5]. Those explanations appear repeatedly in legal commentary and in the lawsuits referenced by press outlets [5] [1].
4. Scope and limits of the data: what investigators found and what ICE publishes
ICE’s public dashboards report large totals of arrests, detentions and removals but focus on non‑citizen enforcement metrics and do not provide an official tally of U.S. citizens stopped, detained or placed in removal proceedings; congressional and advocacy requests have pressed DHS for such data [6] [7]. Independent data projects and newsrooms have therefore relied on reporting, lawsuits and Freedom‑of‑Information disclosures to estimate citizen impacts [8] [9] [1].
5. Political context: enforcement surge and partisan dispute
The uptick in ICE arrests under the current administration is documented by multiple outlets — arrest rates rose sharply and the agency has set sweeping arrest goals — and that surge underlies tensions between federal officials who tout aggressive enforcement and local leaders and civil‑liberties advocates who warn of overreach and wrongful detentions [8] [9] [7]. Congressional Democrats and state/local officials have called for investigations into citizens’ detentions; DHS has pushed back publicly, framing some reporting as false [7] [2].
6. High‑profile local incidents that shaped the narrative
Operations in Chicago and other cities produced prominent allegations and lawsuits alleging that citizens were detained or held for hours; fact‑checkers and newsrooms compiled multiple such incidents and used them to question DHS’s blanket denials [3] [1]. Protests and clashes around ICE operations — for instance in New York City — also produced arrests by local police and added to public confusion about which agency arrested which people [4].
7. Competing narratives and why both matter
Advocates and press investigators present documented cases, legal filings and a ProPublica count to argue systemic problems; DHS/ICE counter with policy statements asserting agents do not target citizens and that any citizen arrests are criminal matters or the result of due‑diligence questions [1] [2]. Both claims are present in the record: independent reporting documents citizen detentions, while official communications deny immigrant‑status‑based targeting of citizens [1] [2].
8. What’s missing and what to watch next
Available sources do not mention an ICE‑published official count of U.S. citizens stopped, arrested, detained or placed in removal proceedings for 2025; congressional demands and media investigations are pushing DHS for transparent numbers and procedural explanations [7] [6]. Watch for DHS responses to congressional inquiries, court filings from plaintiffs alleging wrongful detentions, and follow‑up data releases from journalists and data projects that continue to track ICE’s arrests [7] [8].
Limitations: this summary relies solely on the supplied reporting and public statements. Where sources conflict — investigatory counts versus DHS denials — I have reported both positions and cited them directly [1] [2].