Homeland Security Won't Stop Lying About Who Immigration Enforcers Are Arresting

In case after case, Homeland Security's Public Affairs Office releases incorrect information about arrests carried out by federal immigration officers.

If you've spent any time reading the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) public statements lately, you've probably gotten a strong whiff of what Tennessee Williams once called the "powerful and obnoxious odor of mendacity."

Of course, all governments since time immemorial have lied, but it's been hard not to notice, especially for reporters, the decline in reliable information being released by the federal government, particularly the DHS Office of Public Affairs, which is responsible for distributing public information about the Trump administration's mass deportation program.

"I've been a reporter for over a decade, and I've never had government officials respond to emails in the way that they have since President Trump took power this past January," Gizmodo reporter Matt Novak wrote recently.

I've been pestering federal agencies in Washington, D.C., since 2011 and noticed the same thing. It's not just the tone (such as responding "your mom" to press inquiries), but a willingness to put false information out to the public and never correct it.

When I email DHS for comment about things like the detention of U.S. citizens, I'm given statements contradicted by clear evidence. Worse, these lies attack the reputations of other people, many of them with pending claims of government misconduct.

For example, on October 10, I wrote a brief story on the arrest of Debbie Brockman, a producer at WGN-TV, by Customs and Border Protection officers in Chicago. Video showed officers pinning Brockman to the ground and handcuffing her.

In an emailed statement attributed to DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin, DHS' Public Affairs Office wrote:

U.S. Border Patrol was conducting immigration enforcement operations and when several violent agitators used their vehicles to block in agents in an effort to impede and assault federal officers. In fear of public safety and of law enforcement, officers used their service vehicle to strike a suspect's vehicle and create an opening. As agents were driving, Deborah Brockman, a U.S. citizen, threw objects at Border Patrol's car and she was placed under arrest for assault on a federal law enforcement officer.

However, in bystander videos of the incident, Brockman was already detained in the agents' van when it drove off and struck another vehicle. I emailed DHS twice asking if it wanted to clarify its statement in light of the video, as well as the fact that Brockman was released without charges. DHS did not respond.

Nevertheless, Border Patrol Commander at Large Gregory Bovino posted about the arrest on X a day later, along with a picture of Brockman: "This employee of a local television network decided to take the news cycle to a whole new level by throwing an object at Border Patrol Agents conducting lawful duties. Reporting now shifts to a different narrative; one of assault on a Federal officer…a serious felony."

Attorneys representing Brockman issued a press release disputing the government's account. They "adamantly deny any allegation that she assaulted anyone" and say that Brockman was simply walking to the bus stop when she was "violently assaulted by federal agents."

Brockman's attorneys say she was detained for roughly seven hours before being released. She has not been charged with a crime. DHS did not respond to an additional follow-up for this story.

DHS made similar unfounded statements in the hours after the October 4 shooting of Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old U.S. citizen who was shot several times after allegedly ramming a Border Patrol vehicle. In a statement, DHS claimed that agents were "boxed in by 10 cars" when Martinez's vehicle "rammed" their car. The statement also said Martinez was armed with a "semi-automatic weapon."

"Law enforcement was forced to deploy their weapons and fired defensive shots at an armed US citizen who drove herself to the hospital to get care for wounds," the statement continued.

However, Martinez's lawyer says bodycam footage contradicts the claim that she threatened officers with her vehicle, and told the Chicago Sun-Times that body camera shows that an agent said, "Do something, bitch," before shooting her. Martinez also was taken to the hospital by ambulance, and the criminal complaint against her only mentions two cars, not 10.

The criminal complaint also doesn't mention a gun. FOX 32 Chicago reported that police audio confirmed Martinez had a concealed carry permit for a gun, which remained in her purse throughout the incident.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D–Conn.) sent a letter on October 16 to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem asking for answers about the numerous contradictions between DHS' narrative and the emerging facts about Martinez's shooting.

"When the government misrepresents or lies about events involving the safety and wellbeing of federal law enforcement, it erodes public trust, making their jobs much harder," Murphy wrote.

As Greg Sargent wrote at The New Republic, DHS is poisoning the public information surrounding government violence: "While the criminal justice process might prove illuminating on this incident, DHS may never correct its falsehoods about it or divulge anything to Congress shedding light on what really happened."

This is happening across the country in case after case. On October 1, I reported on a lawsuit filed by Leo Garcia Venegas, a U.S. citizen who was detained twice during construction site raids in Alabama, despite having a valid state ID on him.

When I asked the DHS Public Affairs Office about the lawsuit, it sent a statement attributed to McLaughlin:

Allegations that DHS law enforcement officers engage in "racial profiling" are disgusting, reckless, and categorically FALSE. What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the U.S.—NOT their skin color, race, or ethnicity. Under the fourth amendment of the U.S. Constitution, DHS law enforcement uses "reasonable suspicion" to make arrests. There are no "indiscriminate stops" being made. The Supreme Court recently vindicated us on this question. DHS enforces federal immigration law without fear, favor, or prejudice.

This type of garbage is directly contributing to ICE officers facing a 1000% increase in assaults against them, as well as months of repeated attacks on ICE facilities like the fatal one in Dallas. Race-baiting opportunism in the form of a baseless lawsuit is no better than when it comes from politicians or activists.

I followed up by asking why, then, was Venegas targeted and detained twice if he was a U.S. citizen? What reasonable suspicion did officers have that he was in the country illegally? DHS did not respond.

(I didn't notice at the moment, but DHS' statement is also incorrect as a matter of law. The legal standard for an arrest is probable cause, not reasonable suspicion.) 

ProPublica reported last week that it had found 170 U.S. citizens who had been detained by federal immigration officers since Trump's mass deportation blitz began. Some of them were pepper-sprayed and assaulted, and others were held in detention for days before being released.

The examples go on. After a video of a Chicago-area teenager being violently arrested went viral earlier this month, McLaughlin wrote on X that the video was "from a year ago" and that the agents involved weren't ICE. Both claims were false.

McLaughlin also recently claimed that a 13-year-old boy detained by ICE in Massachusetts was in possession of a knife and gun. However, the town's mayor confirmed during a press conference the next day that "no guns were found" during the boy's arrest.

It matters when the government lies, because a democratic government that destroys the presumption that it's accountable for its actions will soon either stop being democratic or stop being a government.