AP Reports ICE Detained a Mentally Ill Man Whose Mother and Records Say He Is a U.S. Citizen, at Indiana's Speedway Slammer

An Associated Press review reports that immigration authorities have for nearly a year detained and sought to deport a mentally ill man whose mother, lawyers and public records say was born in the United States. DHS disputes that he is a citizen and alleges, without providing evidence, that the birth certificate he used to obtain a U.S. passport, which he held for 15 years, was fraudulent. DHS also denies that ICE detains U.S. citizens. The man’s identity is withheld from this entry; the AP names him.

ICE arrested him on Jan. 5 after a hearing in his removal case, and his lawyers filed a federal petition seeking his release on Aug. 19. He is held at the Indiana prison the White House nicknamed the “Speedway Slammer,” which AP reports has faced complaints about overcrowding and medical neglect and at least two detainee deaths. AP puts the state’s payment at $291 per detainee per day, over three times ICE’s median bed rate. The AP reports that immigration lawyers call a nearly 10-month improper detention rare but not unprecedented.

What is established is AP’s reading of court and public records and the parties’ competing positions; no court has yet ruled on the petition. The per-diem structure is in the same pattern as the county-jail billing in 2026-10-26–new-york-focus-county-jails-billed-ice-20-million-since-early-2025-foia-invoices.