Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed that no U.S. citizens have been “arrested or detained” under President Donald Trump’s increased immigration crackdown — though media reports indicate otherwise.

“We focus on those who are here illegally,” Noem said during a press briefing in Gary, Indiana. “And anything you would hear or report that would be different than that is simply not true and false reporting.”

Noem took questions from reporters about “Operation Midway Blitz” as she touted more than 3,000 total arrests in efforts involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Border Patrol agents. Launched last month, the operations targeted the Chicago area — despite fierce pushback from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. Noem also denied a request from Pritzker to halt ICE operations in and around the city on Halloween.

Critics were quick to grill Noem over her claim on social media — with many pointing to outlets that have found the opposite.

“This is a truly insane lie to tell and more evidence that there’s absolutely no reason to trust anything we’re told by @DHSgov,” Jon Favreau, a co-host of the “Pod Save America” podcast, wrote on X.

In a separate post, Jon Cooper, a previous Long Island campaign chair for former President Barack Obama, asked, “Why does Noem blatantly LIE like this, when she knows her lies can be so easily disproven?”

In April, The Washington Post revealed that over a dozen U.S. citizens have been caught in the immigration clampdown, citing several interviews, court records and news reports.

Earlier this month, ProPublica found that more than 170 cases of citizens who were detained at raids and protests over the course of the year. The outlet discovered that some were dragged, beaten, tased and shot by agents, with around two dozen Americans saying they were held for over a day in custody without being able to contact lawyers or loved ones.

Meanwhile, a U.S. citizen who was arrested twice at work by ICE agents is asking to expand his lawsuit to a class action case, AL.com reported Thursday.

The scope of arrests, however, remains unknown given the Department of Homeland Security does not release data on the detainment or removal of U.S. citizens from the country. According to a 2021 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, ICE data indicates that agents arrested 674, detained 121 and removed 70 potential U.S. citizens from the United States from fiscal year 2015 through March 2020.

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