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Fact check: Is trump really deporting american citizens
1. Summary of the results
While Trump cannot legally deport U.S. citizens [1] [2], there have been documented cases of American citizens being wrongfully detained by immigration authorities. Government data shows that between October 2015 and March 2020, ICE arrested 674 potential U.S. citizens, detained 121, and removed 70 from the country [3]. At least seven documented cases of U.S. citizen detentions occurred during the Trump administration, though the actual number is likely higher due to limited government transparency on such incidents [4].
2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints
Several important contextual elements need to be considered:
- Legal Framework: Current case law explicitly prohibits the deportation of U.S. citizens, and changing this would require a Supreme Court decision [1]
- Affected Groups: Those wrongfully detained include Native American tribal members and military veterans [3]
- Implementation Challenges: Even during Trump's first term, promised large-scale deportations faced significant legal, logistical, and economic obstacles and did not materialize as threatened [5]
- Border Enforcement: Private security groups and border militia have increased tensions around immigration enforcement [6]
3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement
The question itself suggests deliberate deportation of citizens, which is misleading in several ways:
- While citizens have been detained and even removed, these appear to be errors in the system rather than intentional policy [4] [3]
- Trump's actual deportation plans specifically target undocumented immigrants, not citizens [7]
- The rhetoric around immigration, including Trump's statements about Latin American countries "sending unwanted people" [8], may contribute to confusion about who is being targeted
- The impact on mixed-status families might create the impression that citizens are being deported, when in fact the deportations target non-citizen family members [7]