The Daily Populous Sunday April 12nd, 2026 night edition
Authored by the-independent.com and submitted by FreeChickenDinner

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice

A U.S. citizen has been deported to Mexico despite telling arresting officers that he had proof of citizenship at home, according to a new report.

According to Univision’s Lidia Terrazas, 25-year-old Denver-born Brian Morales was threatened with either deportation or prison time following a traffic stop in Texas by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents.

This is the latest in a string of incidents involving U.S. citizens and Department of Homeland Security agents during the first 18 months of Trump’s second term in office. In addition several American children have been deported alongside their parents, including a child undergoing cancer treatment in the U.S.

Meanwhile, three U.S. citizens have been killed by federal immigration officers this year.

open image in gallery DHS agents reportedly refused to see citizenship documentation and deported a U.S. citizen ( Getty )

A spokesperson for DHS contested Morales’ story, telling The Independent, “CBP did NOT arrest a U.S. citizen. On April 3, U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Rocksprings, Texas Station interviewed Bryan Jose Morales-Garcia after he was encountered by Gillespie County Sheriff’s deputies near Fredericksburg. Agents determined Morales-Garcia was illegally in the U.S. through record checks. Morales-Garcia also admitted he is a Mexican national and he entered the country illegally. He was subsequently removed to Mexico on April 7.”

“This is exactly what we’ve been warning about for years as the anti-immigrant rhetoric and legislation has heated up,” Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro told Univision.

“ICE is often ignoring people when they say ‘hey I am a U.S. citizen here’s the proof. It’s because they want people gone.”

In a video posted on Instagram, Terrazas reported that Morales, who does not speak English, was born in the U.S. but was taken to Mexico by his parents as a toddler.

He said he came back to the U.S. as an adult, crossing the border legally using his birth certificate. He was in the process of obtaining his Real ID.

When he was pulled over with his construction crew by CBP, he did not have ID on him, but told officers that he could get his Social Security number, birth certificate, and medical records from home to prove his case. However, officers did not believe him and deported him on April 7th.

open image in gallery As the agency's activities intensify under Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda, opposition to ICE has emerged across the nation. ( AFP via Getty Images )

According to Terrazas, Morales told three different agents about his citizenship status, but instead of listening to him or looking at his documentation, they threatened him with five years in prison for fraud.

He told Terrazas that he became so afraid of prison time, and of being unable to see his daughter, that he signed voluntary removal papers and told the officers “what they wanted to hear.”

He was then not told where in Mexico he was being deported to, and when he arrived, he realized it was a place he had never been to before. According to Morales, his boss was also placed into ICE custody, despite being a U.S. citizen with proof of citizenship at home.

open image in gallery Representative Joaquin Castro told the press that this arrest is “exactly what we’ve been warning about for years” ( Alex Gilliam/FWD.us )

Rep. Castro likened the stop to “a kind of racial profiling.” Saying, “They’re not just targeting undocumented Latinos, they’re often targeting any Latino and some U.S. citizens are going to get caught up in that.”

Political ethicist Norman Ornstein surmised on X “Sue the s*** out of them and fire everyone who refused to look at his documents.”

This latest DHS incident comes shortly at the start of Markwayne Mullin‘s tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security following on from the scandal ridden reign of his presesscor, Kristi Noem.

wanderingpeddlar on April 11st, 2026 at 11:45 UTC »

Wow, didn't a whole bunch of MAGA around here say no Americans were being deported?

What happened guys? This is like more then 15 now. And Trump is still behind the numbers Biden was deporting by treating people with dignity and respecting their human rights. And the Child molester in Chief is still spending three times or more for less people deported.

So what happened guys? Guys? Hello?

FreeChickenDinner on April 11st, 2026 at 11:41 UTC »

> “This is exactly what we’ve been warning about for years as the anti-immigrant rhetoric and legislation has heated up,” Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro told Univision.

> “ICE is often ignoring people when they say ‘hey I am a U.S. citizen here’s the proof. It’s because they want people gone.”

> In a video posted on Instagram, Terrazas reported that Morales, who does not speak English, was born in the U.S. but was taken to Mexico by his parents as a toddler.

> He said he came back to the U.S. as an adult, crossing the border legally using his birth certificate. He was in the process of obtaining his Real ID.

> When he was pulled over with his construction crew by CBP, he did not have ID on him, but told officers that he could get his Social Security number, birth certificate, and medical records from home to prove his case. However, officers did not believe him and deported him on April 7th.

This is a terrible story of abuse by the Feds.

Brian Morales was born in Denver. He was taken back to Mexico as a toddler. He moved back to U.S. as an adult. DHS wouldn't allow him to get his papers from home. DHS gave him two options: voluntary deportation or 5 years in prison for fraud. He chose deportation, because he wanted to raise his 5-year-old daughter.

simic947 on April 11st, 2026 at 11:37 UTC »

We should deport the ICE agents instead.