Fact Check: Is Ilhan Omar’s claim of ICE disappearing US citizens true?
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Amid the protest against President Donald Trump’s immigration polices following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar has come up with a claim that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is disappearing US citizens. The claim has prompted a response from DHS. Let us see the truth behind the claim.
Claim: ICE is disappearing US citizens
Earlier this month, while attending an anti-ICE protest along with fellow Democratic Reps. Angie Craig and Kelly Morrison, Omar accused the federal agency under Trump of 'disappearing' people, including US citizens.
The congresswoman also claimed this 'is a brand new policy' which 'hasn’t happened before.'
“When people are disappeared in the darkness, American democracy dies, and every single person in this country needs to understand that they are not only disappearing people who have committed crimes, but also undocumented."
"They are disappearing U.S. citizens,” Omar told reporters three days after an ICE officer fatally shot Renee Good inher district.
Fact Check: Claim refuted, DHS debunks Ilhan Omar's remark
The Department of Homeland Security sharply reacted, debunking Omar’s remark.
“ICE does not ‘disappear’ people. This is a ridiculous lie that the media is peddling to demonize ICE law enforcement, who are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the DCNF, referring to statistics her agency cited in a press release on January 8.
“ICE does NOT arrest or deport U.S. citizens,” McLaughlin continued. “If a US citizen is arrested, it is because they have obstructed or assaulted law enforcement. Every day, the men and women of ICE put their lives on the line to protect and defend the lives of American citizens. This violence against ICE must end.”
Moreover, there is also no evidence supporting Omar's claim of disappearing US citizens. If her claims were true, it would have been widely covered by prominent news media outlets.
DHS confronts the claim of disappearing US citizens
The DHS previously confronted the narrative that ICE is deporting US citizens in a press release in April 2025.
“The media has FALSELY claimed that ICE is deporting US citizen children of illegal aliens. This is false,” the agency said in the release, referring to reporting by legacy media outlets that month. “In both cases, the mother was determined to take her children with her back to Honduras.”
The same month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called headlines stating the Trump administration was deporting US citizen children 'misleading.'
