August 12, 2025 - WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Monday, Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), along with Representatives Lou Correa (D-Calif.-46) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.-10), led 45 Congressional Democrats in urging Department of Homeland Security offices to launch an investigation into the Department’s stops, arrests, detentions, and deportations of U.S. citizens.

Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy makes clear that by law, “ICE cannot assert its civil immigration enforcement authority to arrest and/or detain a U.S. citizen.” Yet, in recent high-profile cases, including in Los Angeles, ICE has arrested U.S. citizens, even appearing to use violent physical force. ICE has also detained citizens in immigration detention facilities, sometimes for over a week.

ICE has even deported U.S. citizens, including children, along with their undocumented parents, reportedly against the families’ wishes, stoking widespread fear among American families, particularly in Latino and Native American communities. DHS’ detention and deportation of American children has forced them to miss months of school or lose access to lifesaving cancer treatments and medications.

“Sweeping enforcement operations by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents — particularly within Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — threaten the safety, due process, and civil liberties of Americans around the country,” wrote the lawmakers.

“When immigration agents arrest Americans without sufficient cause or simply because they are near an enforcement action, detain them without access to counsel, or ignore proof of citizenship, DHS fails in its core duty to protect the public and undermines trust in its operations,” continued the lawmakers.

Agents are also failing to attempt to verify citizenship and ignoring citizens’ offers to show proof of citizenship, even though ICE policy directs them to “handle these matters with the utmost care and highest priority.”

ICE’s erroneous enforcement actions against U.S. citizens are not new, and have long been acknowledged by the agency. But under the second Trump Administration, this rare practice is becoming more frequent. Experts warn that “citizens are becoming increasingly vulnerable in a system moving faster and operating with fewer safeguards.” The number of impacted citizens may continue to grow, as ICE engages in indiscriminate raids to triple arrest numbers to meet an arbitrary 3,000 daily quota while gutting due process — including by firing immigration judges, inappropriately expanding expedited removal, and misusing the Alien Enemies Act. ICE has reminded field offices to update citizenship data in agency databases, but it is unclear whether agents are complying with that directive.

The lawmakers asked the agency to provide, by September 5, 2025, clarity on its policies and guidelines related to the arrests or detentions of U.S. citizens, along with: data on stops, arrests, detentions, and deportations of citizens this year; information about how agents are trained to verify citizenship status; and any ongoing reviews or investigations of wrongful detentions of citizens.

In addition to Padilla, Warren, Kelly, Correa, and Goldman, the letter was also signed by U.S. Senators Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), as well as Representatives Becca Balint (D-Vt.-AL), Donald S. Beyer Jr. (D-Va.-08), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.-14), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.-04), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.-03), Veronica Escobar (D-Texas-16), Greg Casar (D-Texas-35), Judy Chu (D-Calif.-28), Yvette Clark (D-N.Y.-09), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas-37), Laura Friedman (D-Calif.-30), Jesús G. “Chuy” García (D-Ill.-04), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas-29), Al Green (D-Texas-09), Val Hoyle (D-Ore.-04), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.-02), Jonathan L. Jackson (D-Ill.-01), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.-04), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.-17), Timothy M. Kennedy (D-N.Y.-26), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.-08), Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.-02), Sarah McBride (D-Del.-AL), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.-06), Dave Min (D-Calif.-47), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.-AL), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.-03), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.-09), Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.-12), Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.-10), Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.-14), Dina Titus (D-Nev.-01), Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.-13), Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.-20), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.-15), Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.-07), Nikema Williams (D-Ga.-05), and Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.-24), also signed the letter.

Senator Padilla has been a leading voice in opposition to President Trump’s cruel and indiscriminate mass deportation agenda, including his unprecedented militarization of Los Angeles with the deployment of National Guard troops and active-duty U.S. Marines in response to overwhelmingly peaceful protests. He recently introduced the VISIBLE Act to require immigration enforcement officers to display clearly visible identification during public-facing enforcement actions. Last week, Padilla joined The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to call out the Trump Administration’s cruel, unpopular mass deportations.

In June, he led the entire Senate Democratic Caucus in demanding that President Trump immediately withdraw all military forces from Los Angeles and cease all threats to deploy the National Guard or active-duty service members to American cities. Padilla also recently placed a hold on Trump’s nominee to serve as vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, Lieutenant General Thomas Carden, until the Trump Administration releases all remaining U.S. military forces from their unjustified deployment to Los Angeles.

Full text of the letter is available here and below: 

Dear Inspector General Cuffari, Acting Officer Hemenway, and Director Guy:

We are increasingly concerned by reporting that U.S. citizens are being detained as a result of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions. Sweeping enforcement operations by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents — particularly within Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — threaten the safety, due process, and civil liberties of Americans around the country. We echo other members of Congress who have expressed alarm about the apparent rise in indiscriminate immigration enforcement actions involving U.S. citizens. We write to request that your offices, as DHS’s internal oversight agencies, investigate the Department’s handling of these citizen encounters. 

ICE policy makes clear that, “[a]s a matter of law, ICE cannot assert its civil immigration enforcement authority to arrest and/or detain a U.S. citizen.” However, in recent high-profile cases, ICE has erroneously arrested U.S. citizens, at times appearing to use violent physical force. ICE has also reportedly detained citizens in immigration detention facilities, sometimes for over a week. ICE has even deported U.S. citizens: in multiple cases, ICE has deported U.S. citizen children along with their undocumented parents, reportedly against the families’ wishes. Particularly in Latino and Native American communities, Americans increasingly fear that their citizenship will not protect them from being swept up in DHS’s immigration enforcement activities.

ICE’s policy further directs agents to “carefully and expeditiously investigate” citizenship claims and to “handle these matters with the utmost care and highest priority.” However, in multiple cases, ICE agents have reportedly not attempted to verify citizenship or ignored citizens’ offers to show proof of citizenship.

DHS’s actions can carry serious consequences for U.S. citizens. For example, American children detained and deported by DHS have missed months of school or lost access to urgent cancer treatments and medications.

Enforcement actions against U.S. citizens are not new. For decades, ICE has arrested, detained, and even deported U.S. citizens, a practice that the agency has acknowledged. But under the second Trump administration, this rare practice is becoming more frequent. Experts warn that “citizens are becoming increasingly vulnerable in a system moving faster and operating with fewer safeguards.” The full scope of the problem remains unclear, largely due to ICE’s poor record-keeping practices. As of February 2025, ICE has reminded field offices to update citizenship data in agency databases, but it is unclear whether agents are complying with that directive.

When immigration agents arrest Americans without sufficient cause or simply because they are near an enforcement action, detain them without access to counsel, or ignore proof of citizenship, DHS fails in its core duty to protect the public and undermines trust in its operations. Agency officials must be held accountable, and we ask that your offices — the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL), Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG), and Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman (OIDO) — investigate these encounters and determine whether DHS is violating Americans’ civil rights.

Please address the following questions in your investigation and provide a briefing to our offices about this issue by September 5, 2025:

• We request that DHS produce all policies and guidelines provided to DHS agents performing immigration enforcement functions regarding the arrest or detention of U.S. citizens under the second Trump administration.
  
  
• Does DHS track how many U.S. citizens it stops, arrests, detains, or deports?
  • How many U.S. citizens have been stopped, arrested, detained, or placed in removal proceedings by ICE, CBP, or other DHS agents in 2025? Please provide a breakdown by month, location, reason for enforcement action, outcome, and length of time in ICE custody.

• What specific policies or protocols are in place to prevent the holding, arrest, or detention of U.S. citizens during immigration enforcement operations, and how are those policies enforced in real time?
  
  
• Does DHS require agents to update records once U.S. citizenship is confirmed?
  • If not, why not?
  • If so, how does DHS ensure compliance?
    
    
• How are DHS agents trained to verify when an individual asserts U.S. citizenship?
  • What steps are taken when a detained individual asserts U.S. citizenship, and how quickly is the claim reviewed?
  • What documentation or evidence is considered sufficient to verify citizenship status?
  • How long on average does it take to verify citizenship?
  • What consequences do DHS employees face if they fail to verify assertions of U.S. citizenship in a timely fashion?

• Have your offices reviewed or investigated wrongful detentions of U.S. citizens?
  • If so, what were your findings and recommendations? Have any disciplinary actions resulted?
  • Please specify details of any wrongful detention of U.S. citizens and any disciplinary consequences, as well as any circumstances where alleged wrongful detentions were not investigated or reviewed.
    
    
• What training, if any, do ICE, CBP, and other DHS agents receive regarding the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and others who are lawfully present in the United States — particularly related to due process, unlawful search and seizure, and equal protection under the law?
  
  
• Since January 2025, how many complaints have your offices received alleging racial profiling or other impermissible targeting by DHS agents?
  • Please describe your process for investigating such complaints.
  • How many of those complaints were investigated by OIG, CRCL, and/or OIDO?
  • How many complaints were referred to ICE or CBP for further investigation?
    
    
• Please describe CRCL’s and OIDO’s current capacity to conduct retained investigations or review referred investigations’ findings, including current staffing levels in CRCL’s compliance branch and OIDO. 

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Sincerely,
Source: Senator Alex Padilla