Fact check: How many US citizens have been detained by ICE since 2020?

1. Summary of the results

The analyses reveal a significant gap in publicly available data regarding the specific number of US citizens detained by ICE since 2020. None of the sources examined provide comprehensive statistics on US citizen detentions ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]}.

However, the sources do provide important context about ICE's overall detention operations:

• ICE is currently holding roughly 50,000 people in detention and has booked people into detention roughly 3 million times over the last 10 years ^[3]
• ICE arrests have doubled and the number of people in detention is at an all-time high ^[2]
• The sources document individual cases of US citizens being wrongfully detained, including a 71-year-old US citizen ^[5] and cases resulting in federal court rulings against illegal detention practices ^[6]

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original question assumes that comprehensive data on US citizen detentions by ICE exists and is readily available, but the analyses suggest this may not be the case. Several critical pieces of context are missing:

• ICE's detention system primarily targets non-citizens, which may explain why specific US citizen detention statistics are not prominently tracked or reported ^[1]
• The detention of US citizens appears to be treated as exceptional cases rather than routine operations, as evidenced by individual news reports and court cases rather than systematic data collection ^{[4] [5] [6]}
• ICE's own statistical reporting focuses on enforcement operations against non-citizens, suggesting that US citizen detentions may be classified differently or tracked separately ^[1]

Organizations that benefit from highlighting US citizen detentions include civil liberties groups like the ACLU, which use these cases to challenge ICE's detention practices and advocate for policy reforms ^[6]. Conversely, ICE and immigration enforcement agencies may benefit from not prominently reporting these statistics, as wrongful detentions of citizens could undermine public confidence in their operations.

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question contains an implicit assumption that may be misleading: it presupposes that comprehensive data on US citizen detentions by ICE since 2020 exists and should be readily available. The analyses demonstrate that this assumption is problematic.

The framing of the question could inadvertently spread misinformation by:

• Suggesting that US citizen detentions are a routine, systematically tracked aspect of ICE operations when the evidence indicates they are exceptional cases
• Implying that the absence of specific numbers represents a cover-up or lack of transparency, when it may simply reflect that such detentions are rare enough to be handled as individual incidents rather than statistical categories

The question would be more accurate if reframed to acknowledge the apparent rarity of US citizen detentions and the lack of systematic data collection on this specific issue, as evidenced by the reliance on individual case reports and court proceedings rather than comprehensive statistics ^{[4] [5] [6]}.