GAO confirms ICE deported U.S. citizens due to systemic failures — and the agency still doesn’t know how many more it’s wrongly targeting

Between 2015 and 2020, ICE deported at least 70 people who were U.S. citizens, according to the GAO. That’s not just a bureaucratic mistake — it’s a constitutional violation.

U.S. citizens cannot be deported under civil immigration law. Yet GAO found that ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) lack the records to even know how many people they may have deported in error.

In total, the watchdog found that ICE arrested 674 potential U.S. citizens, detained 121, and deported 70 — all of whom may have been legally untouchable by immigration enforcement.

And the actual number could be much higher.

    • reddig33@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      4 days ago

      Depends on if you have family, and if they can get help from someone like the ACLU. Making the arrestor or person who ordered the arrest personally responsible is the only way this is going to stop. If they fear being thrown in jail themselves, or bankrupted for a false arrest, things might change.