What Happened: A Congressional investigation conducted today found that immigration officials have frequently detained and abused American citizens, contrary to the Trump administration’s claims.
The Senate Democratic report, inspired by ProPublica’s reporting, included interviews with nearly two dozen Americans.
Citizens told Congressional investigators that immigration agents dragged them from their cars, held them for several days, fabricated claims of assault, routinely used excessive force, and denied them medical care.
The investigation also found that agents “treated the children with reckless disregard for their safety and well-being.”
One citizen recalled federal agents pointing guns at her youngest children, ages 6 and 8, and pulling her 14-year-old daughter from a pickup truck and binding her with zip ties.
The citizen, Annabelle Romero, told investigators that an agent threatened to “blow your head off” during the chaotic attack at a rural Idaho racetrack. Romero also said officials “don’t let people give them diapers or food for their children.”
Romero and his children were born in Idaho.
Five other citizens gave their accounts publicly at the Capitol on Tuesday.
What they’re saying: The citizen report paints a dire picture, the senators behind the report told ProPublica in an interview.
“What struck me most was the brutality and physical violence in all the stories,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-N.C. “This is not acceptable to America. Ordinary Americans should be outraged that their fellow citizens are treated this way.”
Background: ProPublica reported in October that agents had detained more than 170 Americans this year. More than 20 citizens said they were detained for at least a day without contact with lawyers or loved ones. It was also revealed that nearly 20 American children were detained. The four, along with their illegal immigrant mother, were detained for several weeks without access to a lawyer.
Why it matters: The government doesn’t track the number of Americans wrongfully detained by immigration officials. The Trump administration, on the other hand, denied that this was the case. “No U.S. citizens have been arrested or detained,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said last month.
First-hand accounts from residents included in the Congressional Report show that this is not true.
The issue has become even more critical this fall after the Supreme Court issued an interim order allowing Los Angeles-area immigration officials to block civilians from entering the country without a clear reason.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh argued there was no reason for the public to be concerned. “Once our officers learn that the person they have stopped is a U.S. citizen, we will immediately release that person,” Kavanaugh wrote.
A parliamentary investigation found that one citizen had indeed been detained for four days.
Response: In response to ProPublica’s request for comment on this report, DHS again denied targeting Americans. “We do not arrest U.S. citizens for immigration enforcement purposes,” an agency spokesperson wrote.
