DHS Repeatedly Makes False Claims About Individuals It Encounters, NPR Reports

Federal Immigration Agents Under Scrutiny as Administration’s Claims Come Under Fire

In early October, Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago teacher and American citizen, was following federal immigration agents through her neighborhood, honking and shouting “la migra” to warn residents. After her car made contact with a Border Patrol vehicle—who initiated the contact remains disputed—Martinez began driving away when a Border Patrol agent fired five shots at her.

The Department of Homeland Security swiftly characterized Martinez as having “rammed” the Border Patrol vehicle. “This woman—who, by the way, is a Montessori school teacher with no criminal history—she’s now, all of a sudden, a ‘domestic terrorist,'” her attorney, Chris Parente, told NPR. “This is before there’s any investigation done.”

Federal prosecutors eventually dropped all charges against Martinez, who survived the shooting. Yet a DHS press release labeling her a “domestic terrorist”—complete with her name and mug shot—remains online, alongside social media posts from high-ranking Trump administration officials depicting her as a criminal who attacked law enforcement.

This incident reflects a broader pattern within the administration, which has repeatedly made unproven or incorrect claims when describing immigrants targeted for deportation, U.S. citizens arrested during immigration protests, and even bystanders who happened to be near enforcement operations.

The administration’s rapid characterizations of Americans Alex Pretti and Renee Macklin Good as “domestic terrorists” after both were fatally shot by federal agents has drawn particular scrutiny. In Pretti’s case, Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller called the 37-year-old ICU nurse a “would-be assassin” on social media. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed Pretti was “brandishing” a weapon, though video evidence showed his handgun remained holstered.

“It seems to me that they are not writing these statements with the intention of ever supporting them in court, but just to try and convince officers and their voter base,” said Greg Jackson, an attorney representing clients who were shot at by federal immigration agents in Southern California.

The administration’s messaging extends beyond the recent shootings. In numerous instances, officials have publicly accused individuals of violently attacking federal immigration agents or impeding operations, only for criminal charges to be later dropped or never filed.

George Retes, a U.S. citizen detained by federal immigration officers in July while driving to his security job at a cannabis farm, was pepper-sprayed, had his window smashed, and was dragged from his car. Though never criminally charged, DHS repeatedly accused him on social media of becoming “violent” and assaulting officers.

“It’s a complete lie. The proof is all there,” Retes told NPR in October. “There’s helicopter footage. They never charged me. Even though they sent out a tweet telling everyone that I assaulted agents and they paint me as a criminal, they never pursued charges.”

Anya Bidwell, a lawyer at the nonprofit Institute for Justice representing Retes in a pending lawsuit, suggests federal officials feel emboldened to make false accusations because they’re protected by immunity in many cases. “Fundamentally, they know that it’s not going to be that often where they actually would have to show up in court and defend their statements,” she said.

The administration has justified its aggressive immigration enforcement by claiming it targets dangerous criminals. However, a recent study by the Deportation Data Project found that while deportations from the country’s interior have quadrupled, this increase comes largely from removing immigrants without criminal records.

An NPR review found that DHS and ICE social media accounts posted about more than 2,000 foreign-born individuals targeted for immigration enforcement in the administration’s first year—averaging five posts daily featuring photos, names, ages, nationalities and alleged crimes.

“People are being told to fear violent criminals in their midst,” said Brendan Nyhan, a Dartmouth College professor who studies political misinformation. “They’re being shown seemingly scary pictures of criminals from vulnerable outgroups and told that they’re being kept safe by dragging those people away. And that messaging is being used to obscure the fact that the majority of the people being grabbed have no record of violent conduct at all.”

The pattern extends to courtrooms, where federal judges in dozens of cases have admonished officials for providing false, contradictory or unreliable statements. In November, a federal judge in Chicago accused Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino of “outright lying” in his court testimony.

“There are armed masked men in the streets acting as paramilitary agents of the state being directed to grab people up on behalf of false claims, and the government is lying about what happens before, during and afterward,” Nyhan said. “Every American should be worried about that, because if they can lie about this, what else could they lie about? And if it’s your family member who gets killed, what recourse do you have?”