For much of the last year, Trump administration officials have maintained that Americans are not caught up in the government’s immigration network.
ProPublica and many other media outlets have repeatedly documented that this is not true, and that Americans have been kicked, dragged, and even detained for days by immigration officers.
On Tuesday, House and Senate Democrats are focusing on a particularly troubling part of the crackdown: American children who have become collateral damage in the deportation campaign.
The forum that lawmakers are holding is part of an ongoing congressional investigation that stemmed from a ProPublica report last fall that more than 170 Americans were detained by immigration officials for periods of time. These include Americans who were handcuffed, held at gunpoint, or simply prevented from leaving the area.
As of October last year, more than 20 of those people were children ranging from infants to teenagers. The infants, preschoolers, and 7-year-old children, all citizens, were deported even though their parents had documentation that they wanted the children to remain in the United States.
In response to questions, Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Lauren Biss said in a statement that Immigration and Customs Enforcement “does not deport U.S. citizens or separated families.”
American children who were detained along with their families will share their stories at a forum Tuesday. This includes two families whose accounts were featured in ProPublica’s investigation.
Fernando Hernandez Garcia, 18, is speaking on behalf of his 11-year-old sister. Both brothers are citizens.
Last year, the family drove to Houston to receive emergency treatment for a young girl recovering from a brain tumor. Border Patrol agents ignored letters from the hospital the family had previously used to get through the checkpoint. This time, agents detained the family until they were deported to Mexico the next day. With little other choice, the American children went with their parents and were not detained except for Hernandez Garcia, who stayed to earn money and send medicine home.
The family’s lawyer said her daughter was unable to receive the care she needed in Mexico and had applied for humanitarian parole to return home. Customs and Border Protection previously told ProPublica that the family’s testimony was inaccurate, but did not provide further details.
Arnold Bazin, 16, will also be speaking. As ProPublica detailed earlier this year, Bazan was tackled and choked by immigration agents who were chasing her father, who was in the country illegally, in Houston.
A witness filmed the boy yelling that he was a minor and a U.S. citizen. Officers knelt on his neck and put him in a chokehold, then handcuffed him.
Bazin told ProPublica that when he was put in the chokehold, “I felt like I saw a light.” He said he is now speaking out on Capitol Hill to prevent others from going through the same thing. “I don’t think anyone is safe anymore.”
DHS said in a statement that Bazin elbowed the officer in the face while he was being restrained, which the boy denies. A spokesperson for the agency added that any allegations that operatives assaulted Bazin were “false.”
It is unclear exactly how many American children were detained. The government does not say how many Americans are being held in immigration detention, even for short periods of time.
Former immigration officials told ProPublica that in the past, they rarely encountered American children, much less held them for long. Officials could not recall specific policies prohibiting it, but said past administrations simply did not prioritize family arrests during domestic immigration crackdowns. (A ProPublica investigation released Monday found that President Donald Trump is deporting the mothers of American children at four times the rate of Biden during his second term.)
In a report shared with ProPublica, a small group of staff from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform compiled 128 cases of children (a mix of citizens and noncitizens) who were injured, neglected, or otherwise exposed to danger from enforcement operations conducted by Department of Homeland Security personnel.
The investigation found that children of civilians involved in immigration operations were also exposed to chemicals, were detained and required medical attention, were held at gunpoint, were left alone as agents detained their parents, and some were present when agents broke car windows or rammed cars.
“The impact that all of these actions have on children is truly horrific, not just physical injury but trauma,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told ProPublica.
Suhay Tero, 14, and her mother, Annabel Romero, 35, left their home and were detained by federal agents along with two other children in the family during a raid at La Catedral Arena during a community horse racing event in Idaho. ProPublica’s Sarabeth Many
Several other teenagers and mothers of U.S. citizens detained by immigration officials are scheduled to testify at the forum.
Annabelle Romero, an Idaho mother, recalled how she and her three children were detained during a multi-government raid at an Idaho racetrack. The announced raids targeted illegal gambling and resulted in more than 100 people being detained by ICE.
The officers pointed their guns at Romero’s 14-year-old son, Suhay Tero, and her children, ages 8 and 6. Tello said they pulled her out of the truck and eventually tied her up with zip ties, leaving her with bruises and marks.
Asked about the raid and the actions of its agents, DHS said, “ICE does not zip tie or handcuff children.” (Romero and Tello do not know which government agency employees zip-tied them.)
Tello told ProPublica she was shocked and especially worried about her younger brothers. “My sister is crying and my brother is scared,” Tero recalled. “I don’t know what to do. [I was] I’m looking for a familiar face. ”
Romero noted that the Trump administration has frequently said that the migrant dragnet keeps children safe by tracking down predators and criminals. “They say they’re doing this to protect children,” Romero recalled. “But they hurt my children.”
