ICE Allegedly Built Cells For Americans, While Trump Suggests Revoking Citizenship of US-Born Protesters

Rep. James Walkinshaw has alleged that the United States' immigration enforcement agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, built detention cells that could be used for US citizens, months after President Donald Trump publicly suggested curbing or revoking citizenship for US‑born citizens. Commenters on social media say the claim may seem plausible following the killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, a case that has sparked national controversy and protests over immigration enforcement tactics. Federal immigration officials have also toured a large warehouse in south Kansas City, Missouri, as a potential site for a new detention facility capable of housing thousands of people, drawing local backlash and political debate.

Is Kansas Detention Facility for American Citizens

Jackson County's chairman said Department of Homeland Security officials examined the building as a possible location for an ICE detention centre, but nothing has been officially confirmed about cells for citizens, and no large‑scale raids or arrests of US citizens in the area have been verified by local law enforcement. The warehouse tour and the possibility of expanding ICE capacity are real, but they pertain to immigration detention of people without lawful status, not the detention of citizens because of their nationality.

ICE issued a statement saying facilities would not be mere warehouses but would meet 'regular detention standards', signalling that facilities are intended for immigration detention under federal law. Local real‑estate owners of the Kansas City site said negotiations over the property are complete, but they did not disclose whether the building was sold or what its intended future use will be.

Jackson County Chairman Manny Abarca said officials told him they were considering the site for a facility with about 7,500 beds. However, many feel that with several important issues being hid from the public, like the Epstein Files, the true purpose of the cell may not be entirely for illegal immigrants at all. This sentiment came after Trump had made statements suggesting he wants to take a hard line on citizenship

Trump Wants to Revoke US‑Born Americans' Citizenship

Trump previously said that he was 'giving serious consideration' to revoking actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell's US citizenship, saying she was not 'in the best interests of our Great Country' and describing her as a 'Threat to Humanity'.

O'Donnell, who was born in New York and later moved to Ireland, has been a vocal critic of Trump's policies and his administration. For critics, this means the US President is threatening a U.S.-born American's citizenship for protesting against him.

However, legal analysts were quick to point out that a president cannot revoke the citizenship of someone born in the United States, regardless of personal or political disagreements, because the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to anyone born on American soil. Courts have repeatedly upheld this principle, and constitutional scholars agree that involuntary loss of citizenship for a native‑born American is impermissible under current law.

Naturalised US Citizens Can Still Lose Citizenship

While Trump's suggestion about O'Donnell cannot be carried out under the Constitution, his administration is taking significant steps to expand denaturalization, the legal process by which a person who became a US citizen through naturalization can have that citizenship revoked. This is also supported by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), which directs attorneys to 'prioritize and maximally pursue' denaturalization proceedings in all cases permitted by law and backed by evidence. Those proceedings can target individuals who allegedly acquired citizenship through fraud, concealment of material facts, or other serious violations during the naturalisation process.

Can ICE Place Naturalised US Citizens in Cells?

Regardless, ICE only has the authority under federal law to arrest and detain non‑citizens suspected of immigration violations. ICE cannot lawfully place citizens into immigration detention facilities, though officials can detain citizens for criminal offences and process them through the criminal justice system, not immigration removal.