Dick Durbin asks why citizens were detained in immigration raids
US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem recently claimed that no US citizens were caught in the Trump administration’s immigration raids.
But that’s wrong, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said in a six-page letter to Noem that demands answers about the department’s detention of U.S. citizens and cites a Chicago Tribune article.
“The disturbing reality is that many American citizens have been caught in the Trump administration’s indiscriminate and violent immigration dragnet across the country,” Durbin wrote. “Masked and armed agents aggressively arrested American citizens; pushed them into unmarked vehicles; tazed them, beat them, and shot pepper balls at them; and, in some cases, wrongfully detained them in immigration detention centers for days or even weeks. »
A DHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Durbin’s letter cites a Tribune report about María Greeley, a Latina who had just finished working a double shift at the Beach Bar on Ohio Street in October when she said she was surrounded by three federal agents who grabbed her, forced her hands behind her back and tied her up.
Greeley, who was born at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center and was adopted, carries a copy of her passport in case she encounters federal agents.
During the meeting, Greeley said they told her she “didn’t look like” Greeley.
“They said it wasn’t real, they kept telling me that I’m lying, that I’m a liar,” Greeley recalled. “I told them to look in the rest of my wallet, I have my credit cards, my insurance.”
Durbin’s letter also cites a Tribune article about Dayanne Figueroa, a woman who was going to get coffee before heading to work when she encountered heavily armed and masked federal agents making arrests on a residential street.
As Figueroa attempted to cross the 1600 block of West Hubbard Street in the West Town neighborhood on October 10, an unmarked vehicle driven by federal agents collided with Figueroa’s car as she attempted to speed away from a hostile crowd.
Seconds after the crash, the officers abruptly stopped their vehicle and got out with guns drawn, pointing at Figueroa, a U.S. citizen. The officers then forced open her door and pulled her out of the vehicle by her legs without identifying themselves, presenting a warrant or informing her that she was under arrest.
As bystanders shouted: “You hit her! We have it on video!” the officers ignored the crowd and forced Figueroa into a red minivan and drove away.
Durbin disputed Noem’s assertion regarding U.S. citizens, citing news reports and his own office, which he said documented “the reported detention of at least 40 U.S. citizens in Illinois alone between late August and early November 2025.”
He criticized the administration for its approach to immigration enforcement and for its lies.
“Despite the fact that federal immigration agents are illegally arresting citizens as part of enforcement actions, and even though most Americans believe President Trump’s immigration crackdown has gone ‘too far,’ the Trump administration is doubling down on its designed-for-social-media methods,” Durbin wrote. “In response to criticism, DHS officials have often deflected or issued defensive, misleading, or blatantly false statements. »
Durbin concluded his letter by requesting records showing the total number of U.S. citizens arrested during immigration enforcement activities since Jan. 20, associated body camera footage, complaints of wrongful arrests, and documents related to their training and record-keeping practices, among other matters. He requested a response by December 16.
