For much of last year, Trump administration officials insisted that no Americans were caught up in the government’s immigration dragnet.
ProPublica and many others repeatedly documented that is not true: Americans have even been kicked, dragged and detained for days by immigration agents.
On Tuesday, House and Senate Democrats are spotlighting a particularly troubling part of the crackdown: the American children who have been collateral damage in the deportation campaign.
The forum the lawmakers are holding is part of an ongoing congressional investigation prompted by ProPublica’s report last fall that more than 170 U.S. citizens have been detained by immigration agents for some amount of time. That included Americans who have been handcuffed, held at gunpoint or simply prevented from leaving their location.
As of last October, more than 20 of those citizens were children, ranging from toddlers to teens. A toddler, a preschooler and a 7-year-old — all citizens — were deported despite their documented parents claiming they wanted to keep the children in the U.S.
In response to questions, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Lauren Bis said in a statement that Immigration and Customs Enforcement “does NOT deport United States citizens or separate families,”
American children held along with their families will be sharing their stories at Tuesday’s forum. That includes two families whose accounts were featured in ProPublica investigations.
Eighteen-year-old Fernando Hernández García, who is using a pseudonym to protect the safety of his family in Mexico, is speaking on behalf of his 11-year-old sister. Both siblings are citizens.
Last year, the family was driving to Houston to get emergency treatment for the girl, who was recovering from brain cancer. Border Patrol agents ignored a hospital letter that the family had used previously to go through checkpoints. This time, agents held the family until they were deported the next day to Mexico. With few other options, the American children went with their parents — except for Hernández García, who had not been detained and stayed to earn money and send medicine home.
The family’s lawyers say they have not been able to access the care they need for their daughter in Mexico, and they have applied for humanitarian parole to return. Customs and Border Protection previously told ProPublica the family’s account was inaccurate but declined to provide specifics.
Also speaking is 16-year-old Arnoldo Bazan. As ProPublica detailed earlier this year, Bazan was tackled and choked by immigration agents who were chasing his undocumented father in Houston.
Bystanders filmed the teen screaming that he was a minor and a U.S. citizen. After agents knelt on his neck and put him in a choke hold, then they handcuffed him.
Bazan told ProPublica that when he was in a choke hold, “I felt like I was seeing the light.” He said he’s now speaking up — including on Capitol Hill — to help keep others from going through the same. “I don’t think nobody’s safe anymore.”
DHS said in its statement that Bazan elbowed an officer in the face as he was detained, which the teen denies. The agency’s spokesperson added that any allegations that agents assaulted Bazan “are FALSE.”
It’s unclear exactly how many American kids have been held. The government doesn’t disclose how many Americans are detained, even briefly, during immigration enforcement.
Former immigration officials told ProPublica that it used to be rare to encounter, let alone hold, American children for any amount of time. While the officials couldn’t recall a specific policy prohibiting it, they said past administrations just didn’t prioritize arresting families during immigration enforcement in the interior of the country. (A ProPublica investigation published Monday found that in his second term, President Donald Trump has deported mothers of U.S. children at four times the rate Biden did.)
In a report shared with ProPublica, the minority staff from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform compiled 128 cases of children — a mix of citizens and noncitizens — who were injured, left unattended or otherwise put at risk by enforcement operations conducted by Department of Homeland Security agents.
The review found that citizen children caught up in immigration operations were also exposed to chemical agents, were placed in restraints or required medical attention, and some were held at gunpoint, were left unattended when agents detained their parents, or were present when agents smashed car windows or rammed their vehicles.
“The impact of all of these practices on children — the physical injuries but also the trauma — is really horrific,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told ProPublica.
Several other citizen teens and mothers of U.S. citizens who were detained by immigration agents will be delivering testimony at the forum.
Anabel Romero, an Idaho mother, recalled how she was detained with three of her children during a multiagency raid at an Idaho racetrack. The stated target of the raid was illegal gambling, but it ended with more than 100 people in ICE custody.
Officers pointed guns at Romero’s 14-year-old, SueHey Tello, and at her 8-year-old and 6-year-old. Tello said they dragged her from the truck and eventually zip-tied her, leaving bruises and marks.
Asked about the raid and agents’ conduct, DHS said, “ICE does not zip tie or handcuff children.” (Romero and Tello do not know which agency’s officers zip-tied them.)
Tello told ProPublica she was petrified and particularly worried for her younger siblings. “My little sister’s crying, my little brother’s scared,” Tello recalled. “I don’t know what to do. [I was] looking for any familiar face.”
Romero noted that the Trump administration has often said its immigration dragnet is keeping kids safe by going after predators and criminals. “They say they’re doing this to protect children,” recalled Romero. “But they hurt my children.”
