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Americans Are Now a Target in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown

March 23, 2026·26 min·2 clips

The Journal found that American citizens are now a target in Trump's immigration crackdown, with many never charged.

The Journal is the Wall Street Journal's flagship daily podcast, hosted by Jessica Mendoza. This episode centres on an investigation by reporter Hannah Critchfield into the Trump administration's assertion that assaults on federal immigration officers have increased by 300 to 500 percent in the past year. Critchfield's team approached the claims systematically: they catalogued more than 100,000 posts on X from accounts linked to government agencies and senior officials, identified individuals named or shown in those posts, and then tracked each case through the court system. They also reviewed more than 200 videos associated with assault allegations — body camera footage and bystander social media recordings — finding that many of the videos cast doubt on whether the alleged assaults occurred as described. The episode focuses on the case of Sydney Laurie Reed, a 44-year-old veterinary assistant and US citizen who went to a DC jail to document an immigration enforcement action and was grabbed by an ICE agent after attempting to move to a better recording position. She was handcuffed and arrested for interfering with an operation. Her phone continued recording audio after her arrest, capturing her identifying herself as a US citizen. Reed was accused of assault but not ultimately convicted. Critchfield notes that of the 181 US citizens accused of assaulting federal officers, close to half were never charged with assault at all, and none had been convicted at trial. The investigation also identifies a pattern of DHS — the agency created to protect Americans — being turned against US citizens who observe or document immigration operations. The Journal provides a link to a full visual investigation in the show notes, synthesising the video evidence alongside the legal outcomes.

As heard by us

A pointed Journal investigation tracks how immigration enforcement messaging is landing on U.S. citizens accused of assaulting officers.

The Journal. takes a hard look at how Trump's immigration crackdown is being sold to the public, and at who gets pulled into that message. Reporter Hannah Critchfield explains how officials have cited rising assaults on federal officers, then follows DHS and ICE posts that named…

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You want a reported look at how DHS and ICE rhetoric lands on real people.

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