Kristi Noem Drops Cryptic Announcement on U.S. Citizenship as ICE Ramps Up Raids

January 18, 2026 Sharon Banks

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem firmly defended the practice of federal agents questioning U.S. citizens about their citizenship status during immigration enforcement operations, insisting the tactic is both routine and essential for officer safety.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Thursday, Noem addressed mounting public concern over reports of ICE and border agents stopping individuals—many of them American citizens and demanding proof of citizenship amid the administration’s aggressive nationwide deportation campaign.

“In every situation, we are doing targeted enforcement,” Noem stated. “If we are on a target and doing an operation, there may be individuals surrounding that criminal that we may be asking who they are and why they’re there and having them validate their identity. That’s what we’ve always done in asking people who they are so that we know who’s in those surroundings.”

Noem added that if agents determine someone is breaking the law, they will be detained “until we’ve run that processing.” She did not address specific allegations of citizens being stopped without probable cause, nor did she explain how agents distinguish between citizens and non-citizens during rapid field encounters.

Escalating ICE Operations

The secretary’s comments come as ICE operations have dramatically intensified under Trump’s mass deportation agenda. Thousands of federal officers have been deployed across the country, with particular focus on cities like Minneapolis following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old U.S. citizen Renee Nicole Good by an untrained ICE agent.

Additional incidents have fueled widespread outrage and accusations of excessive force, profiling, and intimidation: On January 3, a Texas detainee died in ICE custody; a medical examiner is expected to rule the death a homicide. On January 9, a 21-year-old anti-ICE protester was permanently blinded after being shot at close range with non-lethal ammunition, according to his aunt, who alleged agents mocked him afterward.

Also, on January 14, a Venezuelan man was shot in the leg during a struggle with ICE officers. On Thursday, January 15, ICE agents arrested three staff members from a Mexican restaurant in Willmar, Minnesota, hours after dining there, prompting community accusations of deliberate surveillance and intimidation.

Video footage of agents clashing with protesters, crashing into vehicles, conducting home raids, and forcibly extracting individuals—including a widely shared video of agents dragging a disabled woman from her car has spread rapidly on social media.

President Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota to deploy military forces against anti-ICE demonstrations, further escalating tensions.

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Data Raises Alarms Over Scope and Impact

Data obtained by the University of California, Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project—released through a lawsuit against ICE reveals that nearly 75,000 people arrested in the first nine months of Trump’s second term had no criminal record. For those with prior convictions, the data does not distinguish between minor offenses and violent crimes.

ProPublica identified more than 170 cases in the same period where U.S. citizens were detained during raids or protests, often without clear justification or immediate access to proof of citizenship.

The heavy federal presence has created widespread fear in immigrant and mixed-status communities. Many residents are avoiding public spaces, workplaces, schools, and even medical appointments.

Local leaders and civil rights organizations have accused ICE of operating in a manner that terrorizes entire neighborhoods, regardless of immigration status.

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Prominent Criticism from Joe Rogan

Even former Trump endorser Joe Rogan has voiced sharp criticism. On the January 13 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience—one of the most popular podcasts in the world. Rogan said most people support law enforcement arresting criminals, but many now believe ICE is “operating illegally.”

“Those same people that believe that might also believe that once someone is here, they should be able to stay in this country and ICE is operating illegally and we shouldn’t have militarized groups of people roaming the streets just showing up with masks on, snatching people up, some of them U.S. citizens, and shipping them to countries they didn’t even come from,” Rogan stated.

He drew a provocative historical comparison: “Are we really going to be the Gestapo? ‘Where’s your papers?’ Is that what we’ve come to?”

Rogan’s remarks reflect growing unease among some conservatives and independents over the scope, intensity, and apparent lack of restraint in the administration’s enforcement actions.

Noem and DHS officials have consistently defended the operations as targeted, lawful, and necessary for national security and immigration enforcement.

The department has not addressed specific allegations of U.S. citizens being questioned or detained without cause, nor has it released data on how frequently such stops occur.

As protests spread, legal challenges mount, and public opinion shifts, the question of how far federal agents can go in demanding proof of citizenship—and what happens when citizens cannot immediately comply—has become central to the national debate over immigration policy, civil liberties, and the rule of law.

With midterm elections approaching and growing bipartisan unease over the scale of enforcement, the administration faces increasing pressure to justify its tactics.

For communities across the country, Noem’s assertion that “that’s what we’ve always done” is no longer sufficient. The question now is whether the law, the courts, and the American public will agree.

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The full scope of these operations—and their long-term impact on civil society remains under intense scrutiny. What began as targeted immigration enforcement has increasingly been perceived by many as a broad-based campaign of intimidation and control.

The coming weeks will likely determine whether the administration adjusts course or doubles down in the face of mounting opposition.