Arrested and Deported U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents: How the Media Lies to Vilify ICE
Dishonest media reports have led the public to believe that during Trump’s second term, U.S. citizens have been deported by ICE, yet those making the claim cannot name a single case or provide one verified example. Much like viral videos of conservatives asking liberals to define what a woman is before engaging in discussions about transgender issues, no one has been able to demonstrate that U.S. citizens have been deported under Trump.
When an attempt is made to prove the claim, the article cited almost always falls into one of three categories.
First, the person in the story is not a U.S. citizen, but the media uses misleading language such as “a Maryland man” or “he feels like he is an American.” In some cases, the individual is a U.S. military veteran who served as a noncitizen. Military service does not automatically confer citizenship. However, media headlines often lead with phrases like “U.S. military veteran deported,” causing readers to assume the person was a citizen.
Second, citizen children who left the United States with their parents at the parents’ request. This is not a deportation. The child is legally allowed to stay in the United States, leave with their parents, or return later.
Third, a very small number of complicated cases involving derivative citizenship. If a parent naturalizes before a child turns 18, the child automatically becomes a citizen. However, the child must still apply for and receive citizenship documentation.
In some cases, individuals are deported years later while claiming citizenship but lacking paperwork. In every case I have examined, there were additional complications, such as the parent naturalizing after the child turned 18. In a few instances, a child was born overseas on a U.S. military base to a noncitizen parent and assumed citizenship applied. U.S. military bases abroad are not considered U.S. soil for birthright citizenship. Only children born to at least one U.S. citizen parent qualify in those circumstances.
If a child is born out of wedlock to a U.S. citizen father and a noncitizen mother abroad, the father must legally acknowledge the child before the child turns 18. If the father naturalizes and lives with the child but never signs an acknowledgment of paternity or marries the mother before the child turns 18, the child never becomes a citizen. Several men in their 40s have been deported under Trump because their parents were not married and their fathers never completed the required documentation decades earlier.
The next major lie is the claim that U.S. citizens have been arrested by ICE. This claim hinges on a deliberate confusion between the definitions of detained and arrested. Media reports frequently cite 2025–2026 data claiming that more than 170 U.S. citizens were detained due to database errors or lack of immediate documentation. ICE arrests noncitizens for immigration violations. ICE does not have the legal authority to arrest U.S. citizens for immigration violations, though ICE agents may arrest U.S. citizens for criminal acts unrelated to immigration.
ICE does detain individuals suspected of being illegal aliens. A detention can last as little as a minute or two while a person provides proof of identity and citizenship, or it can extend for hours or days, particularly if the individual does not cooperate. There have been numerous cases in which U.S. citizens were temporarily detained by ICE, asked for documentation, and then either refused to provide documents or refused to communicate. Once citizenship was verified, they were released. Despite this distinction, media coverage has led readers to believe that U.S. citizens are being arrested by ICE.
Under the Fourth Amendment, ICE must have reasonable suspicion to stop an individual and probable cause to make an arrest. However, if a person matches a profile associated with an enforcement operation, such as being present at a targeted worksite, and refuses to answer questions or provide identification, agents often use that refusal as a basis to prolong detention for status verification.
The Department of Homeland Security has defended these practices by issuing fact sheets, including those released in October 2025, stating that most U.S. citizens appearing in detention statistics were not held for immigration violations. Instead, they were detained or arrested for obstruction or interference. DHS maintains that once a person identifies themselves and databases confirm citizenship, the individual is released.
A frequently cited example is George Retes, a U.S. citizen who was held for several days due to a lack of immediate cooperation. Retes was working as a security guard at a marijuana farm in Camarillo, California, during a large multi-agency raid on July 10, 2025. According to DHS reports, he became violent and refused to comply with law enforcement commands during the operation. He did not immediately present identification that agents considered verifiable on-site and was accused of interfering with the raid. As a result, he was held under an interference-related process for three days. His family was unable to locate him during that period because he was being processed under that designation. He was released only after his legal status was confirmed through secondary database checks and his family provided his birth certificate.
Another claim is that ICE is arresting or deporting Native Americans, but in this instance, the story was fabricated. In mid-January 2026, media outlets and tribal leaders sparked national outrage with claims that ICE had illegally detained four Oglala Sioux members, all U.S. citizens, during a raid on a Minneapolis homeless encampment. The narrative further alleged that DHS was holding the men hostage by refusing to release their identities unless the tribe signed an immigration enforcement agreement.
However, by January 16, Oglala Sioux President Frank Star Comes Out was forced to walk back the claims, admitting the tribe could not verify that any members had actually been encountered by ICE. DHS confirmed it had no record of the arrests and that the alleged detainees did not exist in its databases, revealing that the entire controversy stemmed from a single unverified eyewitness report.
Lastly, there are outraged claims that ICE has no right to detain, arrest, or deport a U.S. permanent resident. In reality, permanent residency is not a guarantee of permanent status. Under U.S. law, a lawful permanent resident can lose that status under several circumstances.
A green card holder becomes deportable upon conviction for certain crimes, including Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude (CIMTs) and aggravated felonies. In such cases, removal can occur regardless of how long the individual has lived in the United States.
Permanent residency can also be lost through abandonment. If an LPR remains outside the United States for an extended period, typically more than six months without a reentry permit, or establishes a primary residence in another country, the government may determine that the individual has abandoned their status.
Fraud is another basis for revocation. If authorities later discover that a green card was obtained through marriage fraud, false statements on an application, or other material misrepresentations, the status can be rescinded, even decades after it was granted.
The media has found numerous ways to spin the truth about deportations in order to stoke anger and, in some cases, violence against ICE. What is even more dishonest is that this anger is often misplaced. ICE does not make decisions on deportations; immigration judges do. ICE does not decide to cancel a green card. That action is taken by a judge through legal proceedings. ICE’s role is to enforce immigration law, yet it is being portrayed as if it independently determines who stays or goes.
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