Here are the US citizens caught in Trump’s immigration crackdown

As the Trump administration races to fulfil its promise of mass deportations, over a dozen US citizens have already been swept up in the immigration crackdown.

The cases have alarmed attorneys, civil rights advocates and immigration scholars, who warn that citizens are becoming increasingly vulnerable in a system moving faster and operating with fewer safeguards, The Washington Post previously reported.

Yet the true scope remains unknown because the federal government does not release data on how often U.S. citizens are wrongfully detained or even removed from the country. Since the creation of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2003, investigations have found the agency has detained, removed or issued detainers for thousands of U.S. citizens. A 2011 study estimated that citizens make up roughly 1 to 1.5 percent of all removals.

When reached by The Post, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said: “We don’t have data to provide you on the deportation of U.S. citizens because we don’t deport U.S. citizens.” According to a Government Accountability Office report from 2021, ICE carried out removal operations against at least 65 potential citizens during Trump’s first term.

The Post drew from court records, interviews and news reports to document how U.S. citizens have gotten caught in the immigration dragnet since Trump was inaugurated in January.

Three children, including a cancer patient — Louisiana

Last week, three children who are U.S. citizens - aged 2, 4 and 7 - were removed to Honduras along with their undocumented mothers, according to attorneys and court records. One child, a 4-year-old boy with Stage 4 cancer, was sent without medication or access to his doctors.

Both families were detained at routine immigration check-ins in New Orleans, denied communication with attorneys or family members and placed on a flight to Honduras the following morning, The Post reported.

The 2-year-old girl’s father filed an emergency petition to block her removal, but she was placed on the flight before the court opened. Hours later, a federal judge expressed “strong suspicion” that the government had removed a U.S. citizen without due process, calling the action “illegal and unconstitutional.”

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin denied the children were “deported.”

“We didn’t and don’t deport children,” she said in an email to The Post. “Their mothers chose to take them with them.”

Jose Hermosillo — Arizona

On April 8, Jose Hermosillo, 19, was arrested by Border Patrol agents near Nogales, Arizona, and jailed for nine days. According to court records, agents accused him of entering the country illegally after he reportedly told officers he was a Mexican citizen - a claim his family says he did not understand due to his learning disabilities and illiteracy.

Hermosillo’s girlfriend said he unknowingly signed a sworn affidavit prepared by agents. DHS later defended the arrest, saying it was “a direct result of [Hermosillo’s] own actions and statements.”

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) and Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) called the detention “completely unacceptable” and demanded answers from federal immigration officials. After proof of Hermosillo’s citizenship was provided, prosecutors dropped the charges and he was released from ICE custody.

Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez — Florida

On April 16, Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a 20-year-old citizen, was detained by Florida Highway Patrol during a traffic stop near the Georgia-Florida line, The Post reported. Despite presenting his birth certificate and Social Security card, he was arrested under Florida Senate Bill 4-C - a law targeting unauthorized immigrants in the state, which had been temporarily blocked by a federal court.

Lopez-Gomez, who primarily speaks Tzotzil - a Mayan dialect - was held in Leon County Jail for over 24 hours due to an ICE detainer, even after a judge verified his citizenship and dismissed the charges against him.

A 10-year-old girl and her siblings — Texas

On Feb. 3, a Texas family rushing their 10-year-old daughter - who was being treated for a rare brain tumor - to the hospital was detained at a Border Patrol checkpoint. The parents, who are undocumented but applying for special visas for victims of human trafficking, carried birth certificates for their five U.S.-born children, medical records and letters from doctors and lawyers.

Despite verifying the child’s condition, CBP agents detained the family for six hours, confiscated the girl’s medication and transported them to a detention center, according to a complaint. The next day, agents expelled the entire family to Reynosa, Mexico.

The family has since gone into hiding. The children, all U.S. citizens, have not attended school or received medical care since their removal, according to their attorney, Danny Woodward of the Texas Civil Rights Project.

Julio Noriega — Illinois

On Jan. 31, Julio Noriega, a 54-year-old man born and raised in Chicago, was detained by ICE officers after finishing a job search. According to court filings, officers grabbed him from behind, handcuffed him and placed him in a van with other detainees.

Noriega, who carried his identification documents, said he spent more than 10 hours in ICE custody without food, water or access to a bathroom. After midnight, officers checked his wallet, confirmed his citizenship and released him.

ICE later claimed to have no record of his arrest, according to Mark Fleming of the National Immigrant Justice Center, who is representing Noriega in a lawsuit alleging unlawful detention.

Jensy Machado — Virginia

Jensy Machado, 38, was driving to work with two other men on March 5 when ICE officials stopped him near his home in Manassas, Virginia, and surrounded the car. Machado told NBC 4 Washington that the agents were looking for a man he had never heard of, but who had apparently listed his address somewhere.

Though Machado offered to show the officials his ID, they ordered him out of the car and handcuffed him anyway, he told the news station. The incident prompted Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Virginia) to send a letter to top immigration officials, demanding answers about how ICE ensures U.S. citizens aren’t mistakenly detained.

Jonathan Guerrero — Pennsylvania

In late January, immigration agents raided a Philadelphia car wash where 21-year-old Jonathan Guerrero was working, ProPublica reported.

Agents did not state a reason for the raid or show badges, Guerrero told the outlet. He said he was handcuffed at gunpoint without being given a chance to explain that he was born in Philadelphia. Agents also detained several workers, including Guerrero’s undocumented father. After checking IDs, they confirmed Guerrero’s citizenship and released him.

A military veteran — New Jersey

On Jan. 23, ICE agents raided a seafood business in Newark and detained three employees - including a Puerto Rican military veteran. The agents, Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-New York) wrote in a letter to DHS, did not produce a warrant.

(Puerto Rico is an unincorporated U.S. territory, and its residents have been U.S. citizens by birth since 1917, when Congress passed the Jones-Shafroth Act.)

According to Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, the veteran was taken into custody despite showing the agents a valid military identification. The business’s owner, Luis Janota told WPIX that ICE appeared to be targeting Hispanic employees in the raid.

“It looked to me like they were specifically going after certain kinds of people - not every kind, because they did not ask me for documentation for my American workers, Portuguese workers, or White workers,” Janota said.

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