'Mind-boggling': DHS official ripped for saying wrongfully arrested US citizen claimed not to be a citizen

Department of Homeland Security (DHS)'s Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin faced criticism on social media after stating that a United States citizen, who was wrongfully arrested by border authorities in Arizona earlier this month, was subjected to action because he had claimed not to be a U.S. citizen.

"The narrative being pushed about Jose Hermosillo is false. On April 8, Hermosillo approached Border Patrol in Tucson and stated he had entered the U.S. illegally through Nogales. He said he wanted to turn himself in and completed a sworn statement identifying as a Mexican citizen who had entered unlawfully," McLaughlin wrote on the social platform X on Monday.

"He was processed and appeared in court on April 11. Afterward, he was held by the U.S. Marshals in Florence, AZ. A few days later, his family presented documents showing U.S. citizenship. The charges were dismissed, and he was released to his family. This arrest was the direct result of Hermosillo’s own actions and statements," she continued.

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Reacting to McLaughlin's post, political podcaster and former Obama advisor, Jon Favreau said, "Yeah, U.S. citizens love to tell Border Patrol they’re here illegally so they can spend ten days in detention. It’s just a fun prank."

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said the DHS's justification was "mind-boggling."

"Mind-boggling that DHS's official position on this case is genuinely that a US citizen dad from Albuquerque visiting family in Tucson went up to a Border Patrol agent and said "Hi, I'm a Mexican man who entered here illegally, please deport me." Do they think we are dumb?" he wrote on X.

Matt Van Swol, a former nuclear scientist for the U.S. Energy Department, said, "I'm baffled why anyone would give a sworn statement, willingly to Border Patrol, saying they were in fact NOT a US Citizen. What could possibly be the explanation for why someone would do that?"

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A social media user wrote, "Ok Tricia, this defies reason. Why would a US citizen claim to not be a citizen? Why is it so difficult for this administration to admit they sometimes make mistakes?"

According to court documents and media reports, immigration authorities held a U.S. citizen in Arizona for close to 10 days. As initially reported by the NPR affiliate Arizona Public Media, 19-year-old Jose Hermosillo, a resident of New Mexico who was visiting Arizona, was apprehended by border patrol agents in Nogales, a city located about an hour south of Tucson near the Mexico border.

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