ProPublica documents 506 citizens detained during the immigration crackdown

ProPublica’s October 6 investigation identifies 506 US citizens detained between January 2025 and September 2026. More than 100 were held after agents questioned their citizenship. More than 300 were accused of assaulting or obstructing officers; fewer than half of that group faced federal charges, and many cases were dropped or dismissed.

The database includes at least 70 children and teenagers, 63 citizens detained while recording, and 36 held for a day or longer without contact with family or a lawyer. These categories can overlap.

Reporters required at least two sources to include an incident, drawing on court records, government statements, local reporting and other evidence. The count excludes border and airport cases, arrests under judicial warrants, and encounters involving force without detention. It is a documented minimum, not an official census or a finding that every detention was unlawful. Specific DHS responses accompany detailed cases.

The contribution is accountability through inspectable records: readers can examine individual incidents and the reporting behind them, rather than relying on either a sweeping government denial or an undifferentiated headline total.