After President Trump’s Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters at a press conference on October 30 that “there’s no American citizens that have been arrested or detained,” the nonprofit news outlet ProPublica reported that more than 170 U.S. citizens have been detained or arrested by ICE in various operations.
That reporting stirred U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to amplify the ProPublica report and respond to Noem’s reported claim by writing on social media, “This is patently false. The Trump-Noem DHS is detaining American citizens. And they’re doing it during violent, indiscriminate raids and using excessive force. None of us are safer for it.”
Durbin was sharing and commenting on an X post by Senate Judiciary Democrats who went further, calling Noem’s statement a “bold-faced lie.”
This is patently false.
The Trump-Noem DHS is detaining American citizens.
And they’re doing it during violent, indiscriminate raids and using excessive force.
None of us are safer for it. https://t.co/pvv26POSRS
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) December 2, 2025
[NOTE: Noem’s “no American citizens” statement was made at an October press conference in Gary, Indiana and specifically referred to an ICE operation targeting undocumented commercial truck drivers, part of the DHS’s larger “Operation Midway Blitz.” Noem did not appear in this instance to claim that no Americans had been detained in other operations, though DHS has claimed as much in its responses.]
The official X account for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security replied to Durbin: “Stop fear-mongering. ICE does NOT arrest or deport U.S. citizens. If a U.S. citizen is arrested, it is because they have obstructed or assaulted law enforcement. What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the U.S.—NOT their skin color, race, or ethnicity. Secretary Noem has been clear: rioters will not stop us or slow us down.”
Durbin replied: “Public reporting, photos, videos, and harrowing stories show 40 AMERICAN CITIZENS who were arrested and detained in Illinois alone by your department. Your lies might work on President Trump. They won’t on the rest of us.”
ProPublica responded to DHS (with a link to their reporting) and wrote: “We’re the folks who reported the facts you’re now dismissing. So just a reminder: We found 170+ cases of immigration agents detaining U.S. citizens this year. In dozens of cases, charges have never been filed or the cases were dismissed. Among the detained: nearly 20 children, including two with cancer.”
Hi @DHSgov,
We’re the folks who reported the facts you’re now dismissing.
So just a reminder:
We found 170+ cases of immigration agents detaining U.S. citizens this year. In dozens of cases, charges have never been filed or the cases were dismissed.
Among the detained: nearly… https://t.co/vxP1tCQ6bh
— ProPublica (@propublica) December 4, 2025
Note: While DHS continues to claim that it has not detained or arrested any Americans except those who “have obstructed or assaulted law enforcement,” some MAGA supporters are voicing their acceptance of such statistics as reported, essentially making the case that some collateral damage is expected in an operation of substantial size. As one replied to ProPublica’s post, “179 out of 1 million deportations is a rounding error. That’s a 99.99% accuracy rate for ICE.”