Human Impact Project

Over a dozen pregnant women have reported experiencing medical neglect, mistreatment, and substandard care while detained by ICE, including cases of miscarriage while shackled and solitary confinement. Advocates documented their experiences and sent a letter to ICE officials and Senate committees requesting the agency identify and release all pregnant detainees and refrain from detaining pregnant, postpartum, or nursing individuals.

A woman identified as Alicia experienced severe abdominal pain, cramping, and vaginal bleeding while in ICE custody. Medical staff performed invasive procedures without consent and she was told she had miscarried, then returned to detention. She was denied follow-up medical care for over two months despite continued bleeding and severe pain. After deportation, she was diagnosed with a serious infection caused by lack of treatment during detention.

Four U.S. citizens were arrested and held for nearly 24 hours without federal charges during an ICE enforcement operation on Canal Street in New York City's Chinatown on Tuesday. The operation also resulted in the detention of nine undocumented immigrants. All four American citizens were released without charges after a congressman's press conference announced the arrests, and their families had filed missing persons reports.

ICE agents were conducting operations in Santa Ana near Birch Street and Andrew Place early in the morning. Community watchers and legal observers responded to monitor the incident. An ICE agent pepper sprayed the area despite no one being near, and later remotely disabled a legal observer's vehicle engine while stopped at a red light on Main Street and Edinger Avenue.

LULAC and advocates documented accounts from pregnant women in ICE custody, including reports of shackling during transport, solitary confinement, denial of prenatal vitamins, inadequate food, delayed medical care, and lack of interpretation services. The advocates sent a letter to Congress regarding these detention conditions.

ICE agents shot 25-year-old U.S. citizen Carlos Jimenez in the Los Angeles area as he attempted to warn officers that children would soon arrive at a school bus stop where they had pulled over a vehicle. Jimenez was shot while trying to leave the scene and reversed his car in panic; a bullet remains lodged in his right shoulder. He was arrested and accused of assaulting an officer, an accusation his legal team denies.

David Cardenas, an NC resident, was detained by ICE during a routine annual check-in appointment in Charlotte. After being hospitalized at Atrium Healthcare in Pineville for serious health issues, clergy visitation was initially denied by ICE and hospital staff. Following a press conference by Rev. Joel Simpson, Cardenas was granted visitation rights and faced potential release pending heart surgery.

Immigrants detained at the Aurora detention facility in Colorado have been requesting deportation for months, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement has kept them detained with no clear timeline for release. The cases highlight how a new ICE policy has made many immigrants ineligible for release while their cases proceed, contradicting the Trump administration's stated mass deportation goals.

ICE detained numerous asylum-seekers and migrants at the San Diego federal courthouse basement after summoning them for routine check-ins between October 9-21, 2025. Detainees reported being held in crowded cells for up to four days in conditions they described as inadequate, including limited bedding, no privacy for bathroom use, cold temperatures, and lack of medical attention. Some were subsequently deported or transferred to other detention facilities without proper legal proceedings.

A pregnant woman in Berwyn, Illinois was confronted by an ICE agent who pointed a gun at her car window while she was honking her horn to alert people to the presence of ICE officers conducting an enforcement operation. The woman, Lesly Guevara, said she was attempting to warn her community about the agents' presence. A DHS spokesperson stated the agent acted to protect himself and showed restraint, and characterized Guevara's actions as aggressive and threatening.

An employee of a Chicago Public Schools vendor was taken into custody by federal immigration agents outside Decatur Classical School on the Far North Side. School officials stated no students witnessed the incident and emphasized that CPS will not cooperate with federal agents without a criminal judicial warrant.

Democrats in Congress announced a joint investigation into immigration agents' detention of U.S. citizens following a ProPublica investigation that found over 170 Americans have been held by immigration officials this year. The investigation will examine how citizens, particularly Latinos, have been detained based on citizenship questions and will include a hearing in Los Angeles. The detentions have included cases where citizens were dragged, beaten, and held without access to phones or lawyers.

Federal immigration officers shot a man in the elbow after he rammed their vehicle during an enforcement operation in Los Angeles. A deputy U.S. Marshal was struck in the hand by a ricochet bullet during the incident. The suspect was apprehended following the encounter.

2 hurt, including a US Marshal, after an ICE agent’s weapon discharged in LA immigration operation

Yassine Halhoul, a 21-year-old University of Arizona aerospace engineering student from Morocco, was detained by Homeland Security Investigations on October 21, 2025, due to a clerical visa issue. He spent approximately one month in ICE detention at Florence Correctional Center and Eloy Detention Center, where he reported poor conditions including inadequate food, interference with sleep, and frequent cell counts. After a GoFundMe campaign raised $18,500 for bail and legal expenses, Halhoul was released on November 13, 2025, with an ankle monitor.

21-year-old Judas Rivera, who immigrated to Arizona as a child, was detained by ICE agents on October 21, 2025, while traveling to work at Chick-fil-A. ICE initially and erroneously recorded his country of origin as Afghanistan instead of Mexico, a discrepancy only corrected after media inquiry. Rivera is currently held at the Eloy Detention Center awaiting a court hearing scheduled for November 7, 2025, that will determine his deportation status.

As protests continue outside the ICE facility in South Portland, Oregon, residents and local leaders are reporting health impacts from federal agents' use of tear gas and other chemical crowd control munitions. Area residents report symptoms including nausea, headaches, and respiratory issues. State lawmakers have expressed concerns about documented health effects including chemical burns and respiratory failure. Federal agents have deployed tear gas multiple times over recent weeks, with chemicals seeping into nearby apartments and affecting residents regardless of protest participation.

ICE continues to detain pregnant, postpartum, and nursing immigrants despite a Biden-era federal policy restricting such detention except in extreme circumstances. The cases documented include a nine-month pregnant U.S. citizen detained, a Colombian immigrant who miscarried in custody, and a nursing mother from El Salvador held without proper accommodations. Congress allowed reporting requirements on these detentions to lapse in March 2025, making it impossible to quantify how many pregnant immigrants are currently in ICE custody.

Nayra Guzmán, a 22-year-old Mexican immigrant with pending asylum and visa applications, was detained by ICE on October 20, 2025, just 15 days after giving birth via C-section. Her newborn daughter was in the NICU at the time of her arrest. During her approximately 34-hour detention, Guzmán was held in overcrowded conditions without adequate medical care, blankets, or food and water, despite being in severe postpartum pain and developing a breast infection.

Nayra Guzmán, a 22-year-old immigrant from Mexico with a pending asylum petition, was detained by ICE on October 20, 2025, just 15 days after giving birth via C-section while her newborn daughter remained in the NICU. She was held in a crowded detention facility for approximately 34 hours and denied adequate medical care, including access to a breast pump, despite severe postpartum complications. The detention occurred after the Trump administration abandoned prior DHS policies that restricted arrests of recently postpartum, pregnant, or nursing immigrants.

Quinn Haberl, a blind protester, said federal agents at Portland's ICE facility dragged and handcuffed him twice during separate protest incidents. The first incident occurred Tuesday night when agents picked him up and dropped him on the ground. During the second incident on Saturday, agents dragged him across the driveway and held him for about an hour with pressure applied to his back and neck. Haberl was taken to the hospital where doctors documented bruising on his shoulders, hands, and arms.

Federal agents conducted an ICE raid at La Catedral Arena horse track in Wilder on Sunday, resulting in 105 undocumented people being arrested. The operation involved approximately 200 agents from multiple federal and local agencies and was connected to an FBI investigation into illegal gambling, with four people arrested on gambling charges. Witnesses reported chaotic scenes with children separated from parents in custody during the operation.

An Oak Park civil litigation attorney was arrested by ICE agents outside his child's elementary school on Monday morning. The attorney was detained after following an ICE van and honking his horn and blowing a whistle, which he said was to identify the unmarked vehicle. He was charged with impeding federal agents and held for approximately one hour before being released near the school.

Nayra Guzmán, a 22-year-old Mexican immigrant, was arrested by ICE agents 15 days after giving birth via emergency C-section while her daughter remained hospitalized in the NICU. She was detained for approximately 34 hours at the Broadview Processing Center without adequate medical care, food, water, or breast pump access. The Trump administration changed DHS policies that had previously protected recently postpartum immigrants from detention. Guzmán's case is among dozens of documented cases of pregnant and postpartum immigrants detained since January 2025.

Nayra Guzmán, a 22-year-old Mexican immigrant, was detained by ICE 15 days after giving birth via C-section while her newborn daughter remained in the NICU. She was held at the Broadview Processing Center for approximately 34 hours without adequate medical care, food, water, or a breast pump, despite her postpartum recovery needs and Type 1 diabetes. The Trump administration reversed previous DHS policies that restricted detention of recently postpartum immigrants.

A Washington Post analysis found that ICE detention centers experience an average of 29 days of dangerous heat per year, compared to 18 days in federal, state, and county prisons. The analysis, based on internal ICE planning documents, shows that planned expansions of detention capacity will increase this figure to 35 dangerous heat days annually. Many detainees report malfunctioning air conditioning and inadequate cooling systems.

Multiple pregnant women have been detained by ICE and face deportation. Leonela Liliana Gomez Hernandez, a 27-year-old in her eighth month of pregnancy, was detained while traveling to a prenatal appointment in Los Angeles and deported to Nicaragua within days. Cecil Elvir-Quinonez, a 25-year-old Honduran mother of two American-born children, was detained on January 1, 2026, and transferred to a Louisiana facility where she experienced heavy bleeding and cramps and received one emergency room visit for medical attention.

Immigrant detainees at ICE detention facilities in Louisiana report going hungry and being served poor quality, processed foods that are often expired or undercooked. The Richwood facility, which holds nearly 750 women, has seen changes in food quality as detainee populations increase and the facility switched to a lower-cost food distributor. ICE officials claim detainees receive proper meals meeting nutritional standards. Advocates say the conditions involve underfeeding.

Ruperto Vicens Marquez, head chef at Emilio's Kitchen in Atlantic Highlands, was detained by ICE on October 19, 2025. According to ICE, Marquez is from Mexico and has a final removal order, though his lawyer disputes this claim and states he has a pending merits hearing scheduled for 2028. Marquez has valid work authorization through 2029 according to Atlantic Highlands Mayor Lori Hohenleitner, and his wife and three children remain in the U.S. A protest was held in support of Marquez, and a GoFundMe campaign has raised $85,000 to cover legal fees.

A Mexican immigrant and widowed father of four was detained at Broadview Processing Center for four days in poor conditions and reportedly coerced into signing a voluntary departure form while unaware he had an emergency hearing scheduled. Voluntary departures have increased 21-fold during the first nine months of 2025.

A 42-year-old San Francisco tenant from Russia who fled political persecution is in federal immigration custody and faces eviction by his landlord due to his inability to appear in court. He is scheduled to lose his housing on Monday at a McCallister Street eviction hearing. ICE has not responded to requests about whether they would allow the man to appear virtually.

David Huerta, a Southern California labor union leader, had his felony obstruction charge reduced to a misdemeanor following his arrest while protesting an immigration raid. Court records show the charge reduction was approved.

Portland Police Commander Franz Schoening testified in federal court that on October 18, federal officers accidentally escalated a No Kings protest at an ICE facility when one officer misfired a tear gas launcher, sending a canister onto the roof where other federal officers were stationed. The officers on the roof mistook the friendly fire for an attack by protesters and retaliated by firing tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd, injuring local law enforcement in the process.

A Pennsylvania man exonerated after spending over 40 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit was immediately taken into ICE custody upon his release, with authorities seeking to deport him to India based on a 1988 deportation order. Subu Vedam, who moved to the US at nine months old, was cleared of the 1980 murder charge earlier this month, but ICE cited his old drug conviction and deportation order as grounds for detention. His family and lawyers are fighting the deportation, arguing that Vedam has virtually no ties to India, had applied for US citizenship before his arrest, and demonstrated decades of good behavior in prison where he earned three degrees and mentored fellow inmates.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser held a community meeting where residents and protesters pressed her on the D.C. police department's involvement with federal immigration authorities. Bowser pledged to work on separating D.C. police from working alongside ICE and other federal immigration enforcement agencies.

The Trump administration has reduced funding for legal services, mental health care, and other support required under a court settlement meant to reunite families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border during the first Trump presidency, according to the ACLU. At least four families have been deported, and the DOJ has challenged court orders related to the settlement. The settlement required support for separated families.

Alexa Ramírez was deported to Mexico in October 2025 after being arrested during Operation Midway Blitz, while her husband Alexander Villeda remains detained in Michigan. The couple was arrested eight days after getting married at the Swap-O-Rama market in Chicago. Ramírez is in her hometown in Oaxaca and Villeda is fighting his immigration case from detention in Michigan.

Ihsanullah Garay, a 38-year-old Afghan asylum seeker with stage II brain cancer, was detained by ICE in Methuen on September 14 after a chance encounter revealed his student visa had expired. Despite having work authorization through 2029, no criminal record, and an ongoing asylum claim, Garay was arrested and subsequently transferred to a detention facility in Georgia, preventing him from attending critical medical appointments at Boston Medical Center. His condition has deteriorated significantly in custody, and he now requires a wheelchair and experiences daily seizures.

Leo Martinez, a volunteer with VC Defensa, was arrested by federal agents after a collision involving an ICE vehicle on October 16, 2025. Video evidence showed an ICE Jeep ramming Martinez's Nissan truck. Martinez was released the same day at a federal facility in Los Angeles, and the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to pursue charges.

The ACLU of Colorado and immigrant advocates filed a lawsuit against three Trump immigration officials alleging indiscriminate ICE arrests in Colorado that violate federal law. The lawsuit represents four detained individuals, including a 19-year-old University of Utah student arrested after a traffic stop, and alleges that immigration officials are making arrests without probable cause or flight risk determinations, and making assumptions about citizenship status based on accent and skin color.

Robby Roadsteamer, a comedian and activist, was shot with pepper-spray balls by ICE officers on a rooftop and then detained at an ICE facility in Portland, Oregon while dressed as a giraffe and singing modified protest songs. He was cited for failing to comply with orders and trespassing, and plans to sue ICE and the Department of Homeland Security.

ICE agents and an immigrant rights activist named Leo Martinez disputed who rammed whose vehicle during an enforcement operation near 8th and A streets in Oxnard. ICE agents told police that Martinez's truck rammed their vehicle, but activist group VC Defensa released video footage claiming federal agents intentionally struck Martinez's truck. Martinez was arrested and later released with pending charges.

Eduardo Aguilar, a 23-year-old undocumented immigrant from Mexico, was federally charged for making threats against ICE agents on social media. Aguilar allegedly posted in Spanish calling for armed individuals and offering money for each ICE agent killed. He appeared before a federal judge in Dallas who ordered him held in federal custody pending trial.

Queer and trans immigrants detained at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center alleged they were forced into an unsanctioned work program performing hard manual labor for minimal pay, and sexually harassed and assaulted by an assistant warden named Manuel Reyes between 2023 and 2025. Detainees reported facing medical neglect, retaliation for reporting abuse, and having their complaints systematically ignored by ICE officials. Four detainees filed administrative complaints under the Federal Tort Claims Act, and civil rights complaints were submitted to DHS oversight bodies by RFK Human Rights, the ACLU of Louisiana, and the National Immigration Project.

An ICE raid at a car wash in Hamden, Connecticut occurred on [date if available]. Local officials reported on the operation.

Juan Barbosa Gomez, a 60-year-old Mexican national with a valid work visa and clean criminal record, was arrested by ICE officers on October 15 in Portland, Oregon. His family claims the arrest was wrongful and says he has lived and worked legally in the U.S. for over 30 years. Since his arrest, Barbosa has been transferred between multiple detention facilities across three states and does not appear on ICE's online detainee locator, leaving his family unable to locate him or mount a legal defense.

Melissa Tran, a Vietnamese refugee and Maryland mother of five who legally immigrated in 1993, was detained by ICE for over five months following a routine check-in due to a non-violent theft conviction from 2001. After a federal judge ordered her release, finding the detention unnecessary, Tran was freed and required to wear an ankle monitor while reporting to ICE authorities. She described harsh detention conditions including poor hygiene facilities and being transported shackled across multiple states, though she now faces potential deportation despite her two decades of clean immigration status.

An Instagram post from the House Oversight Committee states that Andrea is one of over 170 U.S. citizens who have been detained by ICE. The post indicates these detentions should not have occurred and calls for accountability from Kristi Noem and the Trump Administration.

Recent ICE enforcement actions in the Chicago area included Facebook suspending a community sighting group used to warn residents of ICE activity near schools and businesses, which Facebook cited a Trump administration request as the reason for. Reports include a man being detained without proper documentation and ICE agents pursuing individuals onto private property despite homeowner objections.

A 15-year-old U.S. citizen was detained by Customs and Border Patrol agents on Chicago's East Side after federal agents deployed tear gas at a crash scene. According to his attorneys, the teen was slammed to the ground, zip-tied, and held in a garage for five hours without being booked, read his rights, or allowed to contact his mother. DHS stated the teen was arrested for allegedly throwing an egg at an agent, taken to an FBI field office where he admitted to the action, and released without charges.