A journalistic investigation has documented the detention of more than 500 U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents during the immigration crackdown of the Donald Trump administration, including minors, individuals recording operations, and citizens who remained for days without being able to communicate with their families or lawyers.
The findings were examined this Wednesday in an interview on the program PBS NewsHour with Nicole Foy, a journalist from ProPublica, conducted after another U.S. citizen reported suffering severe injuries during a detention by immigration agents in California.
The original investigation, published by ProPublica at the beginning of the month, identified 506 American citizens detained by federal agents between January 2025 and September 2026.
The count includes individuals who were handcuffed for a few minutes as well as citizens who spent several days in custody.
It also includes arrests made by various federal agencies involved in immigration operations, so not all cases pertain exclusively to ICE agents.
The new interview with PBS follows the release of images showing the arrest of Ricardo González, an American citizen who was injured during an encounter with immigration agents in Long Beach, California.
The incident occurred on Saturday when González was riding an electric bicycle and encountered a vehicle from ICE without external identification.
The released images show the man subsequently handcuffed and lying face down while shouting that he has a broken arm and is asking for help.
According to PBS, González was later transferred to a hospital, where he received treatment for serious injuries.
ICE stated that the man was arrested for participating in disturbances and causing damage to a government vehicle. The released images do not allow for a determination of whether the agents' vehicle hit him.
California authorities have requested an investigation into the actions of the federal officials involved.
In commenting on the case, Nicole Foy explained that it bears similarities to other incidents documented by ProPublica, in which American citizens ended up detained during protests, unexpected encounters with immigration agents, or interventions that took place in their own neighborhoods.
The journalist noted that the investigators found very different situations. Some individuals were arrested after being accused of interfering with immigration operations or assaulting federal officials.
In certain cases, the accusations led to criminal proceedings. In others, the available testimonies and recordings contradicted the initial statements made by the authorities, or the affected individuals were released without any charges being filed.
Another part of the arrests occurred because the agents questioned the U.S. citizenship of the intercepted individuals, even when they claimed to have been born in the country or had documents that proved their legal status.
Foy mentioned situations recorded at construction sites and other workplaces, where some citizens were questioned for speaking little English or because agents suspected they were in the United States illegally.
The investigation by ProPublica identified more than a hundred Americans detained after immigration officials questioned their citizenship. Almost all of them were people of color, according to the journalistic analysis.
Among the 506 affected individuals, at least 70 children and adolescents were also documented, some of whom were handcuffed or restrained with plastic ties.
Journalists also identified at least 63 citizens detained while recording interventions by agents, along with 36 individuals who remained for a day or more without being able to contact their families or lawyers.
The investigation also documented the expulsion from the country of approximately a dozen American citizens, mostly minors traveling with their immigrant parents, under circumstances that raised controversies regarding family consent and legal protections.
One of the aspects that worried researchers the most was the difficulty families faced in locating individuals held in the immigration detention system.
During the interview with PBS, Foy explained that some citizens were handcuffed for only 15 or 20 minutes, while others were taken to facilities where their family members and legal representatives were unable to immediately ascertain their whereabouts.
The journalist also noted that several of those arrests were accompanied by physical injuries that required medical attention.
The count of 506 cases does not represent an official statistic from the U.S. government. ProPublica created its own database based on court records, videos, social media posts, testimonies, and local news coverage.
The media warns that the actual number could be higher, as there is no complete public record of the times when immigration agents detain U.S. citizens.
For its research, ProPublica considered any situation in which a person did not have the freedom to leave as detention, even if they had not been formally admitted to a custody facility.
The distinction is important because a person can be temporarily detained without any subsequent criminal charges being brought against them.
Regarding the arrests related to alleged assaults or obstruction of officials, ProPublica documented over 300 citizens detained. Less than half were formally charged in federal courts.
Of the 137 cases in which federal charges were brought, approximately half ended with the accusations withdrawn or dismissed, although there were also convictions and ongoing proceedings at the time of the investigation.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has rejected claims that its agents carry out indiscriminate arrests of American citizens and maintains that its operations are conducted through identification and verification procedures.
In response to questions from ProPublica, the agency defended that its interventions are aimed at specific targets and warned that individuals who obstruct agents may face legal consequences, including arrest.
However, former federal officials consulted by journalists expressed concern about the number of citizens detained and the circumstances under which some interventions occurred.
Foy explained to PBS that two former officials with extensive experience in immigration found the images related to the use of force and the reasons given for detaining certain individuals particularly concerning.
One of them, Darius Reeves, who previously led the ICE office in Baltimore, stated to ProPublica that he had never witnessed so many incidents involving U.S. citizens during his career.
The investigation also raises constitutional questions. The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, while the First Amendment safeguards freedom of speech, peaceful protest, and, under certain conditions, the recording of police activities in public spaces.
However, federal agents can detain or arrest U.S. citizens under legally justifiable circumstances, including reasonable suspicions during certain checks and situations where there are sufficient grounds to investigate potential crimes.
The analysis by ProPublica questions whether those conditions were met in numerous documented incidents, particularly when the arrests were related to physical appearance, language, participation in demonstrations, or recording of agents.
The findings have prompted new legislative initiatives. On October 19, ProPublica reported that Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives introduced a proposal to make it easier for citizens wrongfully detained by ICE to sue the federal government.
The initiative arose from the cases documented by the media and aims to expand the possibilities of obtaining judicial remedies when illegal detentions or violations of rights are claimed.
The issue had already prompted previous legislative investigations. In December 2025, an investigation initiated by Senate Democrats examined the testimonies of nearly two dozen American citizens who reported arrests and mistreatment during immigration operations.
Researchers described instances of excessive use of force, difficulties in accessing lawyers, and prolonged detentions despite those affected claiming to be U.S. citizens.
The original investigation by ProPublica had already been published on October 8, when it documented the detention of 506 Americans, including minors, during federal operations between January 2025 and September 2026.
That information included cases that occurred in Florida, including that of a 20-year-old citizen who was held for over 24 hours in jail despite presenting citizenship documents.
She also reported the case of a woman in Key Largo who was detained again while driving a vehicle registered in her immigrant partner's name, and who appears in a video asking for help while claiming to be a U.S. citizen.
In January, immigration attorney Katia Quiroz explained the legal conditions for recording ICE raids and arrests in the United States, and she reminded that documenting interventions in public spaces is generally a protected activity, as long as it does not physically obstruct the work of the agents.
The pressure on the immigration system has also been monitored throughout 2026. By the end of September, an analysis of ICE's new tactics reported that the agency had recorded 50,925 arrests during August, amid operational changes and an increase in immigration interventions in various U.S. cities.
Los operativos de ICE y sus consecuencias para ciudadanos y migrantes siguen generando nuevos desarrollos. Mantente informado en nuestra sección de , donde cubrimos arrestos, deportaciones y cambios en la política migratoria.
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