President Trump’s Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced at a press conference in Gary, Indiana that ICE agents arrested 223 undocumented immigrants in the Hoosier State, as part of the DHS’s “Operation Midway Blitz,” which targets undocumented commercial truck drivers in Chicago and surrounding areas.
When asked if any U.S. citizens were arrested, the former South Dakota Governor said: “No American citizens have been arrested or detained. We focus on those who are here illegally. And anything you would hear or report that would be different than that is simply not true and false reporting.”
Noem’s assertion addressed the Indiana operation, which ICE executed with the cooperation of the Indiana State Police.
Taking aim at ICE activity nationally, which by all accounts has swept up some American citizens while casting a wide net, CNN’s Jake Tapper refuted Noem’s statement on social media, but cited a California case: “This is false. One example is US veteran George Reyes, Jr,” Tapper wrote, and provided a link to his interview with Reyes.
This is false. One example is US veteran George Reyes Jrhttps://t.co/iUtvvQpnfZ https://t.co/7LznnJChur
— Jake Tapper
(@jaketapper) October 30, 2025
Note: Reyes, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen and U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq, said in July he was tear-gassed and wrongly detained during an ICE raid in Camarillo, California, which he was trying to pass while on his way to work.
He said of the ICE agents: “They dragged me out of the car, threw me on the ground, one kneeling on my neck and another one kneeling on my back.” Reyes was detained for three days in a detention center in Los Angeles and said he wasn’t allowed to call his family or to shower.
The Department of Homeland Security accused Reyes of assault during the ICE raid.
Reyes told Tapper that the agency’s claim is “crazy…because there’s so much footage and so much evidence of what they did,” and accused DHS of “painting me as a villain” with “false accusations and to spread them is crazy.” Reyes added, “I complied with everything they said. I was never aggressive.”
Reyes told CBS News: “I want change to happen. And I want everyone there that day and did anything wrong to be held accountable.”
DHS said it dropped the charges against Reyes but that the U.S. Attorney General’s Office is reviewing his case. Reyes said he planned to sue the Trump administration claiming his rights as a U.S. citizen were violated.