Has ICE abducted or deported legal US citizens?
Executive summary
Available reporting and government reviews show that ICE has in multiple past instances detained and—according to a 2021 Government Accountability Office (GAO) finding—deported U.S. citizens (GAO counted as many as 70 removals between 2015–2020), and recent investigations and journalism document numerous citizen detentions during the 2025 enforcement surge (ProPublica/NPR reporting cites at least 170 citizen arrests or detentions since January 2025) [1] [2]. DHS and ICE strongly deny routinely arresting or deporting citizens and say operations are targeted, creating a factual dispute between watchdogs, journalists, and the agencies [3] [4].
1. The documented baseline: GAO and watchdog tallies
Independent oversight has long warned that mistakes happen: a GAO review found that as many as 70 U.S. citizens were deported between October 2015 and March 2020, and GAO-era counts also flagged hundreds of “potential” citizen encounters—674 flagged as potentially U.S. citizens, with 121 detained—in that review [1]. The American Immigration Council and other legal groups rely on GAO and TRAC analyses to argue that ICE and CBP systems and training gaps allow wrongful detention and removal of citizens [5] [1].
2. Recent surge and journalistic counts: arrests and detentions in 2025
News organizations and nonprofits documented a marked rise in interior enforcement after January 2025. ProPublica and NPR reported that at least 170 U.S. citizens have been arrested or detained by immigration agents since the new enforcement push, and reporters interviewed individuals who say they were held for days before their citizenship was acknowledged [2]. The Guardian’s tracking of the 2025 government shutdown period found ICE arrested many people with legal status, “including citizens,” and documented tens of thousands of arrests and roughly 56,000 deportations during that operational surge—though ICE totals include many non-citizens and the agency’s data do not always identify citizenship reliably [6].
3. ICE and DHS pushback: categorical denials and process claims
The Department of Homeland Security publicly pushed back on reporting it called “false,” asserting ICE “does NOT arrest or deport U.S. citizens” and saying enforcement operations are targeted and include steps to confirm status before prolonged detention or removal [3]. ICE’s statistics pages describe enforcement categories by country of citizenship and say officers are trained to prioritize non-citizens who threaten safety or violate immigration law, but those data depend on accurate front-end identification and agency record-keeping [4].
4. Why errors happen: systems, training, and identification problems
Multiple sources point to structural causes for wrongful detentions/removals: outdated or inconsistent databases, spotty tracking of citizenship investigations, and uneven training for agents when a person claims U.S. citizenship. Legal advocates and congressional offices say that ICE’s record-keeping and guidance have been insufficient and that field compliance with directives to verify citizenship is uncertain [5] [7]. Reporting also documents specific cases—people detained after being misidentified or shown a picture of someone else—that illustrate how these systemic flaws can translate into individual harms [8].
5. Political and operational context: enforcement priorities and consequences
Advocates and some members of Congress argue that the second Trump administration’s push for large-scale, visible enforcement has increased the risk of mistaken arrests of citizens, with lawmakers demanding investigations and legislative fixes after reports of citizen detentions and alleged wrongful removals [7] [9]. Proponents inside DHS frame the tactic as targeted operations against “the worst of the worst” and emphasize national-security and crime-reduction rationales; critics say the playbook is designed to terrorize immigrant communities and produces collateral harm, including to citizens [10] [9].
6. Legal status: can ICE lawfully deport citizens?
By law, U.S. citizens cannot be removed via civil immigration proceedings; nevertheless, reporting and GAO findings establish that deportations of citizens have occurred due to errors. Legal analyses and advocacy outlets summarize the long-standing rule (citizens can’t be deported) while also documenting that administrative and human errors have led to detentions and, in documented cases, wrongful removals—hence the calls for statutory clarifications and accountability mechanisms [1] [11].
7. What remains unclear and next steps for oversight
Key uncertainties remain because ICE and CBP do not consistently track or publicly report verified counts of citizen stops, detentions, or removals; GAO and journalists have had to reconstruct cases from disparate records [5] [1]. Congresspersons and advocacy groups are pressing for investigations, better data collection, and laws to bar any detention or removal of citizens and to sanction agents who act outside authority [7] [12].
Bottom line: multiple government reviews and journalistic investigations document that ICE has mistakenly detained and, in past years, deported U.S. citizens; DHS/ICE officially deny systemic targeting of citizens and emphasize procedures meant to prevent such errors, but watchdogs, journalists, and lawmakers say record-keeping, training, and policy choices have allowed these mistakes and demand reforms [1] [3] [7].