Senator Richard Blumenthal and Representative Robert Garcia have launched a bicameral investigation into the growing number of U.S. citizens being detained by federal immigration agents, citing disturbing reports of unconstitutional arrests, excessive force, and racial profiling by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents.​​

In a letter dated October 20, 2025, addressed to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the Democratic lawmakers requested detailed information about the detention of U.S. citizens since President Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025. The letter references a ProPublica investigation revealing that more than 170 U.S. citizens have been detained by federal immigration agents in the first nine months of Trump’s second administration.​​

The congressional letter highlights numerous cases where U.S. citizens faced extended detention periods without access to legal counsel or the ability to contact family members. George Retes, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq, was held by ICE for three days without being permitted to make a phone call or see an attorney following his arrest during a July raid at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, California. Retes was working as a security guard when federal agents surrounded him, pushed him to the ground, and knelt on his back and neck, making it difficult for him to breathe.​​

Andrea Velez, another U.S. citizen detained in downtown Los Angeles, was held in ICE custody for two days and reportedly deprived of water for 24 hours. Despite providing her driver’s license and health insurance card proving her citizenship, Velez said agents did not believe her and processed her into a detention facility.​​​

According to ProPublica’s investigation, at least two dozen U.S. citizens have been held for more than a day without being able to phone lawyers or loved ones.

The lawmakers’ letter describes troubling incidents where federal immigration agents dismissed valid identification documents as fraudulent, even when U.S. citizens presented government-issued proof of citizenship. Leo Venegas, a U.S. citizen and construction worker in Alabama, was detained by ICE agents twice in workplace raids despite having his REAL ID driver’s license—an identity card available only to U.S. citizens and legal residents—on his person both times. Agents reportedly dismissed his identification as fake during both encounters.​​

Maria Greeley, a U.S. citizen born in Illinois, was detained by ICE in Chicago for hours despite having her passport on her person. The agents did not believe her passport was authentic because they determined that Greeley, who is Latina, did not “look like” someone with the last name Greeley.

Blumenthal and Garcia’s letter notes that the pattern of U.S. citizen arrests coincides with an alarming increase in racial profiling, particularly of Latinos, which has been well documented in Los Angeles. The Cato Institute reported in August that one in five ICE arrests are Latinos on the streets with no criminal past or removal order.​​

The congressional inquiry follows a September Supreme Court decision in Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo, in which Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote a concurring opinion stating that citizens shouldn’t be concerned about immigration sweeps because “if the officers learn the individual they stopped is a U.S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, they promptly let the individual go.” However, the lawmakers argue this assertion is contradicted by the experiences of numerous U.S. citizens who have faced extended detentions.

The letter references a military-style raid in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood, where federal immigration agents landed a helicopter on an apartment building in the early morning hours and detained numerous U.S. citizens. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker accused federal agents of separating children from their parents and detaining U.S. citizens in zip-ties for hours during the September 30 operation.

ProPublica’s analysis found that approximately 130 U.S. citizens were arrested for allegedly assaulting or impeding officers—charges that were often dismissed or never filed. The investigation revealed nearly 50 instances where charges were never filed or cases were dismissed.​​

After George Retes wrote an op-ed about his three-day detention without charges, DHS accused him of assault, an allegation he strongly denies. Federal prosecutors ultimately declined to file charges against him.

The lawmakers are requesting that DHS provide by November 3, 2025:

• The total number of U.S. citizens detained by CBP, ICE, or any DHS component agency since January 20, 2025
• A list of all U.S. citizens detained for more than 24 hours, including length of detention, location, and rationale for arrest
• Detailed descriptions of training ICE and CBP agents receive concerning citizenship determination, recognition of counterfeit identity documents, and use of force
• All records related to detention of U.S. citizens and complaints received about DHS treatment of citizens
• All policies and procedures regarding steps agents must take to identify whether detained individuals are U.S. citizens​

Representative Robert Garcia announced that the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold its first hearing on the matter in Los Angeles, though a specific date has not been set. Garcia stated the committee would investigate “every single brutal misconduct” that immigration authorities have committed in Los Angeles and across the country.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass joined Garcia at a press conference on October 20, stating that the arrests of American citizens mean that no one in the country is safe. “This can happen to anyone, to all of us, at any period of time,” Bass said.​

The Department of Homeland Security has denied accusations of wrongdoing, with spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin stating that agents “do not racially profile or target Americans” and that “we don’t arrest US citizens for immigration enforcement.”