Since Donald Trump took the office of the president immigration enforcement has been expanded the likes of which has never been seen in the US. The biggest problem associated with this, in addition to the billions of dollars now being spent on enforcement and detention of undocumented people, are the wrongful arrests being made of legal residents and even US citizens. Veuer’s Tony Spit has the details.
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00:00Since Donald Trump took office, immigration enforcement has been expanded, the likes of
00:04which has never been seen in the U.S. before. The biggest problem associated with this,
00:08in addition to the billions of dollars now being spent on enforcement and detention of
00:12undocumented people, are the wrongful arrests being made. Those include non-citizens with
00:17legal status and even U.S. citizens, such as Georgia-born Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez.
00:23Lopez Gomez was arrested in Florida and wrongly charged as an unauthorized alien,
00:27despite having a valid birth certificate. A judge acknowledged his U.S. citizenship,
00:32but he was still placed in ICE detention before being released. And that was only after public
00:36outcry. The case has sparked debate over whether U.S. citizens should carry proof of citizenship,
00:41despite not being legally required to. With Sarah Hussain, a senior staff attorney at the
00:46Electronic Frontier Foundation, saying, quote, this isn't something that should have to happen,
00:51because the case law is very clear about that. But the practical reality on the ground is that
00:55it seems like the Department of Homeland Security and all of their subcomponents,
00:59like ICE and Customs and Border Protection, may not necessarily be following the case law at the
01:04moment. Between 2018 and 2024, ICE arrested 80 U.S. citizens, 13 of which were detained in 2024.