On December 9, 2025, the halls of Congress resounded with stories that, just a few years ago, might have seemed unthinkable to many Americans. U.S. citizens—some veterans, some community advocates, all with deep roots in their neighborhoods—testified before the Senate and House about being detained by federal immigration authorities during raids and operations this year. Their accounts, harrowing and deeply personal, have ignited a fierce debate over the reach of immigration enforcement and the rights of American citizens.
George Retes, an Army veteran from Southern California, shared his ordeal with lawmakers. “I identified myself as a U.S. citizen and a veteran, but that didn’t matter,” he said, his voice wavering as he described being arrested at an immigration raid in Camarillo while simply showing up for work. Retes recounted being detained naked in a hospital gown on suicide watch from Friday morning until his release, with no charges ever filed. “My family had no idea where I was. I was released without explanation and without a single charge,” he told the forum, as reported by KABC.
Dayanne Figueroa of Chicago gave equally distressing testimony. She described being pepper sprayed and denied medical treatment, even though she was recovering from two recent kidney surgeries. “I repeatedly told them that I was recovering from two recent kidney surgeries. No one took it seriously until I began to pee blood,” she recalled. Figueroa’s experience, along with others, was included in a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report titled Unchecked Authority: Examining The Trump Administration’s Extrajudicial Immigration Detentions of U.S. Citizens, which denounced federal immigration authorities for unconstitutional detentions, physical assaults, and denial of medical care.
Andrea Velez from Los Angeles highlighted the indignities of detention, stating, “I was unable to access drinking water without first purchasing a cup. I was thirsty.” Such accounts, according to the report, are not isolated. In October 2025, ProPublica found that about 130 citizens had been arrested at raids and protests, including roughly a dozen elected officials. The accusations ranged from interfering with officers to assault, yet many cases were later dropped.
Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) and Congressman Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) hosted the December 9 forum, demanding accountability from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. “This report ought to shock America’s conscience,” said Blumenthal. Garcia was even more direct: “[Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem] should be ashamed. She should resign.” Both lawmakers have sent letters to Noem demanding information and records on the arrests of U.S. citizens by immigration authorities—efforts that, as of yet, have not yielded answers.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has consistently denied that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests U.S. citizens, despite mounting reports to the contrary. According to KABC, repeated inquiries from the press regarding the number of U.S. citizens detained by immigration authorities have gone unanswered. “The point is not to look backward but forward. What can we do together to ensure this never happens again?” Retes asked lawmakers, reflecting a sentiment that is gaining traction among both citizens and their representatives.
Meanwhile, another controversy erupted in December 2025 when Al Otro Lado, an immigration advocacy group, filed a Freedom of Information Act request after discovering what appeared to be a hidden “watch list” of immigration attorneys on an ICE government website. The list, which was quickly removed after its discovery, contained the names of numerous lawyers—overwhelmingly Latino, Asian, or with African-sounding names. Arlene Amarante, an attorney from Tennessee, discovered her own name on the list while confirming representation for a client. “I quickly realized I was looking at a list of lawyers. I looked for my own name, found my name and it seemed like I wasn’t the intended audience,” Amarante told Border Report.
Amarante and others expressed alarm at the apparent targeting of attorneys of color. “Why does the list exist? Whether it’s an innocent incursion or something that is more intentional or nefarious, we need to get to the bottom of it. It’s troubling because there’s a pattern of threats by the administration—the implication by the government is that offering support to a client is the harm in itself and the names on the list sort of seems to support that,” she said.
Al Otro Lado alleges that the database raises “grave concerns of political targeting and professional intimidation at a time when the administration is openly escalating its attacks on immigrant advocates.” The group’s legal director, Cassandra Lopez, warned, “Once again, our staff and colleagues appear on a government watch list simply for doing our jobs—defending the constitutional right to seek asylum and holding the government accountable in court. The pattern is unmistakable and deeply alarming.” ICE has not responded to questions about the list’s purpose or existence.
The climate of suspicion and fear has not been limited to the coasts. In Minnesota, multiple U.S. citizens across the Twin Cities reported being detained by ICE, prompting Governor Tim Walz to call on DHS to review the incidents in a December 10 letter. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O’Hara publicly raised concerns as well. One of the most publicized cases involves Mubashir, a Somali American U.S. citizen with no criminal record, who was detained by ICE on December 9. Cell phone video shows agents confronting and handcuffing him before he was held for several hours and released.
“All I did was step outside as a Somali American, and I just got chased by a masked person,” Mubashir told KSTP Eyewitness News. “I can’t even get food without being tackled and put in a chokehold.” Mayor Frey condemned the incident, stating, “They deserve the same rights as every other American because they are American citizens. They’ve got the full support of this city government behind them.”
The legal landscape, however, complicates matters. Immigration attorney Gloria Contreras Edin explained that a September 2025 Supreme Court ruling allows ICE agents to consider race, ethnicity, and accents during immigration stops. “So unfortunately, when someone’s skin color alludes that this person may be from another country, then an ICE officer can confront the individual,” she said. Edin advised citizens to carry a copy of their passport and noted that ICE can face consequences for unlawful arrests, though the burden often falls on individuals to prove their citizenship during such encounters.
Adding to the tension, a March 2025 White House memo titled “Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court” accused immigration attorneys of “unscrupulous” conduct and directed the Attorney General to seek sanctions against those challenging government policy. “There is no obvious legitimate reason for ICE to be compiling what appears to be a covert roster of immigration lawyers,” said Andrew Fels, staff attorney for Al Otro Lado, who called on ICE to explain the watch list’s purpose and reveal the policies behind its creation.
With DHS and ICE largely silent on these issues, the debate over immigration enforcement and civil liberties is intensifying. Lawmakers, advocates, and ordinary citizens are demanding answers and accountability, even as some worry that history may be repeating itself in the form of political targeting and erosion of constitutional rights. The testimonies from December’s congressional forum underscore a growing sense of urgency—a call to ensure that, in the pursuit of security, the rights of citizens are not cast aside.
