Fact check: HOW MANY US CITIZENS HAVE BEEN DEPORTED BY ICE

1. Summary of the results

The analyses reveal that no specific number of US citizens deported by ICE is provided in any of the sources examined. Instead, the sources focus on individual cases and systemic issues regarding wrongful detentions and deportations.

Key documented cases include:

• Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a US citizen detained by ICE for nearly 48 hours in Florida ^[1]
• Jose Hermosillo, a 19-year-old US citizen detained for nearly 10 days in Tucson, Arizona ^[1]
• Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native with legal US status who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador due to an "administrative error" admitted by ICE ^{[2] [3] [4]}
• Three US citizen children who were deported with their mothers, according to families' lawyers ^[5]

One case involving a 2-year-old US citizen was disputed, with DHS claiming the mother chose to bring her child when she was removed to Honduras, leading to a dropped ACLU lawsuit ^[6].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original question assumes deportations of US citizens occur but lacks crucial context about the systematic nature of the problem. According to the analyses, the number of US citizens detained, arrested, and deported has increased under the Trump administration ^[7].

Critical missing context includes:

• ICE has been "ignoring citizenship claims and failing to verify documentation" leading to wrongful detentions and deportations ^[7]
• There are concerns about "erosion of due process rights" and the Trump administration's efforts to "obstruct the truth about wrongful deportations" ^[1]
• Lawyers argue that mothers were not given a fair opportunity to decide whether their children should stay in the US ^[5]

Alternative viewpoint: The Department of Homeland Security disputes some claims, arguing that in at least one case, the parent voluntarily chose to take their US citizen child when being removed ^[6].

Who benefits from different narratives:

• Immigration advocacy groups and civil rights organizations like the ACLU benefit from highlighting systematic failures to build support for immigration reform
• Government agencies like ICE and DHS benefit from minimizing the scope of wrongful deportations to maintain operational credibility and avoid accountability measures

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question contains an implicit assumption that US citizens are being deported in measurable numbers, but the evidence shows this is primarily a problem of wrongful detention rather than systematic deportation. Most documented cases involve detention followed by release or administrative errors that were later acknowledged ^{[1] [3] [4]}.

The framing may be misleading because:

• It suggests routine deportation of citizens when the evidence points to administrative errors and due process failures
• It seeks a specific number when the real issue appears to be lack of proper verification procedures and inadequate protection of citizenship rights during immigration enforcement
• The question doesn't acknowledge the distinction between wrongful detention (which appears more common) and actual deportation of US citizens

The absence of concrete deportation numbers in official sources suggests either poor record-keeping or that actual deportations of verified US citizens are relatively rare compared to wrongful detentions.