The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee is asking the Trump administration to do some explaining about U.S. citizens who were caught up in recent immigration enforcement actions.
Following up on a report by NBC News, Rep. Jamie Raskin, House Judiciary Committee ranking member, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a subcommittee ranking member, asked for an accounting of immigration enforcement actions since Jan. 20 involving U.S. citizens.
The request was made in a letter signed by Raskin, D-Md., and Jayapal, D-Wash., whose subcommittee oversees immigration. It was sent Tuesday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Caleb Vitello, Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director. A copy of the letter was first provided to NBC News.
“If you’re not out looking for criminals based on crimes committed, but undocumented immigrants based on their looks, you’re going to sweep up a lot of innocent people, including innocent citizens,” Raskin said in a statement to NBC News. “We’ve already seen cases of racial and ethnic profiling leading to the unlawful detention of U.S. citizens. That’s why I’m demanding answers about some of these profoundly troubling stories we’ve heard about citizens being targeted, detained and questioned.”
The lawmakers noted that per a 2015 ICE policy regarding investigation of U.S. citizens, “ICE cannot assert its civil immigration enforcement authority to arrest and/or detain a U.S. citizen.” And ICE officers and agents and attorneys have to handle the interactions with the “utmost care and highest priority,” the letter stated.
“This principle is essential to prevent the escalating government assault on immigrants from becoming a steamroller that crushes the rights of American citizens,” the lawmakers’ letter said.
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News on Tuesday.
The recent cases have led to complaints that some people are being racially profiled, targeted by ICE because of their race or skin color.
Late last month, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said Navajo citizens who live off-reservation had complained of being questioned about their identity by ICE officers. Nygren spoke about the complaints in a radio address.
A business owner in New Jersey where ICE conducted a raid said one of his employees who is a veteran and from Puerto Rico was made to show officers his identification. NBC News attempts to reach the veteran were unsuccessful. Employees who answered phone calls to the owner’s business Tuesday said he’s declining media interviews.
Although it was not mentioned in the letter, the Mescalero Apache Tribe in New Mexico announced one of its members was approached by an ICE agent who spoke in Spanish. The Mescalero Apache member speaks English and told the ICE agent that. The ICE agent then asked for his passport, the tribe said in its announcement.
ICE did not respond to questions from NBC News last week about detaining the Navajo citizens and the veteran.
The lawmakers’ letter also cited a January Telemundo Puerto Rico report that a toddler, his mother and grandmother in Milwaukee were detained and sent to a detention center. ICE has since said the report was false.
The letter asks ICE and DHS to provide by 5 p.m. on Feb. 18 the total number of U.S. citizens detained; the name and age of detained U.S. citizens; where and for how long they were detained; whether any had a criminal record and what the crimes were, if any; and the name of each agency involved in the enforcement action.
The lawmakers also ask whether ICE’s policy regarding encounters with U.S. citizens is still in effect, and if not, what policies or procedures it has in place. They also ask if there have been any updates to policies and procedures since last month’s incidents.
Concerns over ICE confrontations with U.S. citizens have led to congressional inquiries in previous administrations. A report issued by the Government Accountability Office during the Biden administration found that from Oct. 1, 2015, to March 2020, ICE arrested 674 potential U.S. citizens, detained 121 and removed 70. The report noted that ICE at the time had conflicting policies on questioning U.S. citizens and did not track its encounters with U.S. citizens well.
