ICE “treated children with reckless disregard for their safety and wellbeing.”
A Senate Democratic investigation, prompted by ProPublica reporting, has found that immigration agents have repeatedly detained, mistreated, and used excessive force against U.S. citizens — directly contradicting DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's claim that "no American citizens have been arrested or detained." The report, based on interviews with nearly two dozen Americans, documents agents dragging people from cars, pointing guns at children as young as 6, zip-tying a 14-year-old girl, threatening to "blow heads off," denying medical care, and holding citizens for days without access to lawyers or family members. One Idaho-born citizen, Anabel Romero, described a chaotic raid at a rural racetrack where agents wouldn't let parents get diapers or food for their children. ProPublica has documented more than 170 Americans detained this year, including nearly 20 American children, and the issue has grown more urgent after the Supreme Court issued an order allowing immigration agents in the Los Angeles area to stop civilians without clear cause — with Justice Kavanaugh's reassurance that citizens would be "promptly" released now contradicted by accounts of citizens held for up to four days.