ACLU Report: 155 U.S. Citizens Detained or Targeted by Immigration Agents

Reviewing more than 1,200 enforcement incidents across eight states, the ACLU identified 155 U.S. citizens — including 18 Indigenous people — who were detained, targeted for enforcement, or subjected to law enforcement misconduct, alongside 30 legal permanent residents or green card applicants and 10 DACA recipients. Among the cases: 22-year-old Dulce Consuelo Díaz Morales, born in Laurel, Maryland, was pulled over 11 days before Christmas and detained even as her sister shouted “She was born here!” Her lawyers submitted government-created records proving her U.S. birth to the very government that had arrested her, plus an expert report from Johns Hopkins authenticating the documents. She spent 25 days in custody and was transferred five times across four states, speaking to counsel only twice. ICE closed her case in May 2026 — but “without prejudice,” preserving the power to reopen removal proceedings. As her attorneys warned, the case sends a chilling signal: “You are only legal until the government says otherwise.”