ProPublica: “We found that more than 170 US Citizens have been held by immigration agents. They’ve been kicked, dragged, and detained for days.”

On October 16, 2025, ProPublica reported that more than 170 U.S. citizens have been detained by immigration agents since the beginning of the second Trump Administration. The article notes that the U.S. government does not keep track of the number of U.S. citizens who are arrested or detained by immigration agents, so ProPublica started its own count by conducting research in lawsuits, court records, local media, and social media. ProPublica notes that a separate 130 U.S. citizens have been arrested for allegedly interfering in immigration enforcement actions or for assaulting agents. 

The 170 detained U.S. citizens in ProPublica’s reporting include: 20 children, two of which had cancer; three pregnant women, one of whom “had already had the door of her home blown off while [DHS] Secretary Kristi Noem watched.”  

Read ProPublica’s article here.