Human Impact Project

Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported 21 immigrant deaths in its detention centers during fiscal year 2025. Only fiscal year 2004 with 28 deaths was higher. The deaths occurred during President Trump's expanded mass deportation campaign and increased detention efforts. Detention facility expansion and recruitment standards for agents have been factors in system operations.

Masuma Khan, a 64-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant living in Altadena, was detained by ICE on October 6, 2025, during a routine check-in appointment. Years earlier, Khan fell victim to a scam by a Bengali man who created a false identity for her, filed a fraudulent asylum application, and created a fake passport. Khan now faces deportation based on a 1999 removal order from an immigration judge, despite having worked with multiple attorneys to resolve her case.

Documents Allege a Federal Agent at Portland ICE Threatened to Shoot an Ambulance Driver

Debbie Brockman, a WGN News creative services employee, was detained by Border Patrol agents near Lincoln and Foster avenues on Chicago's North Side. According to Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, agents claimed Brockman threw an object at them during lawful enforcement duties. Federal agents rammed their van into her car before detaining her. She was subsequently released with no charges filed.

Dana Briggs, a 70-year-old veteran, was pushed to the ground and arrested by federal agents outside an ICE facility in Broadview while protesting. Briggs was charged with assaulting a federal officer, which he denied in court.

A video circulating on social media shows DHS agents arresting a woman outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles on October 4, 2025. The woman was arrested after she allegedly blocked a federal facility entrance and refused to comply with officers' orders. The woman's clothing became disheveled during the arrest. A witness account suggested the woman had pulled over to ask for directions.

ICE agents deployed tear gas, pepper balls, and other chemical munitions against protesters and journalists outside a detention facility in Broadview, Illinois, a suburb near Chicago, on October 4, 2025. Federal agents attacked legal observers, journalists wearing press credentials, and lawful protesters, with chemical munitions also affecting nearby residents not participating in the demonstration. Local officials including congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh and Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss were arrested during the protest. Lawsuits were filed by journalists and demonstrators alleging excessive force and interference with First Amendment activities.

Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old U.S. citizen, was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in Brighton Park on Saturday morning during an incident where she and Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz allegedly followed federal agents in their vehicles. Body camera footage, according to Martinez's attorney, appears to show an agent telling her to "do something" before shooting her. Both Martinez and Ruiz were released pending trial despite being charged with felony assault of a federal officer.

U.S. Border Patrol agents shot a woman on Chicago's Southwest Side in Brighton Park. Federal agents claimed they were rammed by vehicles and boxed in. The shooting led to protests with approximately 100 demonstrators. Federal agents deployed tear gas and pepper balls during the protests. The woman was treated and discharged from the hospital. At least one U.S. citizen was detained during the incident.

New video footage from May 9, 2025 reveals details surrounding the federal arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka at Delaney Hall, a migrant detention center. Rep. LaMonica McIver and House colleagues had arrived for an unannounced visit when the arrest occurred. McIver was subsequently indicted for allegedly impeding the arrest and assaulting federal officers; she has pleaded not guilty.

Mario Guevara, a Salvadoran journalist, was deported to El Salvador on October 3, 2025, after spending over three months in ICE custody. He was arrested on June 14 while live-streaming a "No Kings" protest in the Atlanta area and was transferred to ICE detention shortly after. The Bureau of Immigration Appeals closed his case on September 19, ordering his removal. A Georgia immigration judge had ordered his release on bond in July and the ACLU filed legal challenges.

Huabing Xie, an immigrant from China, died in custody at the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico after suffering a seizure on Friday. Staff administered CPR and used a defibrillator, but Xie was pronounced dead at El Centro Regional Medical Center. This is the second ICE custody death in California in two weeks. Immigrants' rights groups have called for a full investigation.

The Trump administration is offering $2,500 to unaccompanied migrant children age 14 and older if they voluntarily return to their home countries. The Department of Homeland Security characterized the program as "strictly voluntary" and aimed at helping children reunite with families. Immigrant advocates characterized the program as "cash bribes for kids."

Spanish-language journalist Mario Guevara was arrested by police on June 14, 2025, while covering a protest in DeKalb County, Georgia, and charged with obstructing police, unlawful assembly, and improperly entering a roadway. After a judge granted him bond, ICE placed a 48-hour hold on him despite his work authorization and pending green card application. Guevara spent 110 days in ICE custody, including 22 hours daily in solitary confinement, before being deported to El Salvador. A federal judge questioned the legality of his detention. His attorneys argued it violated his constitutional rights to free speech and due process. The government claimed broad discretion to detain him as a deportable immigrant. Guevara stated he was targeted for his journalistic work documenting immigration raids rather than for any criminal activity.

On August 13, 2025, DHS agents deployed tear gas and fired less-lethal bullets from the roof of an ICE facility at 4310 S Macadam Ave in Portland, targeting civilians peacefully demonstrating on the public sidewalk. A U.S. military veteran was violently attacked from behind, assaulted, and pinned to the ground while being exposed to tear gas for approximately two minutes by three DHS agents.

On Friday, October 2, 2025, federal immigration agents handcuffed Alderman Jessie Fuentes of the 26th Ward at Humboldt Park Hospital while she was confronting them about an arrest. Fuentes asked agents if they had a signed warrant before being handcuffed and led outside the hospital. Agents were at the hospital pursuing a person who had been injured and brought for medical care. The incident occurred during broader immigration enforcement operations across Chicago that included tear gas deployment and multiple arrests, including at least one U.S. citizen. Mayor Brandon Johnson stated that elected officials have a First Amendment right to document ICE actions and inform constituents of their rights. Governor Pritzker called for an investigation into treatment of children during a separate federal raid in South Shore.

On October 3, 2025, the Department of Veterans Affairs abruptly terminated its agreement with ICE to process medical reimbursement claims for detainees, leaving thousands without access to vital medications and treatments including dialysis, prenatal care, and chemotherapy. Despite ICE signing replacement no-bid contracts on October 25, the new systems are not yet functioning, leaving detainees without clear access to necessary medical care. Class action lawsuits filed in California and Illinois describe detainees being denied insulin, heart medications, cancer treatment, and other critical medical care since the termination.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted multiple enforcement operations in Chicago, deploying tear gas and smoke bombs during raids. In one incident at Funston Elementary School, tear gas released in a nearby parking lot during a grocery store raid spread into the school building, exposing students including first-graders to the chemical agent. A separate operation at 51st and Damen on October 3rd resulted in video footage showing federal agents threatening a community member and throwing a smoke bomb onto a vehicle, with one person detained. ICE has conducted multiple enforcement operations in Chicago during this period, including residential raids and the detention of individuals.

Five asylum seekers from Colombia, Guatemala, China, and Nicaragua were arrested by DHS agents immediately after exiting immigration court hearings at the San Francisco Immigration Court on October 2, 2025. All had pending asylum applications and were previously released under supervision with no criminal history. The federal court granted a temporary restraining order requiring their immediate release and prohibiting re-detention without a hearing.

A CNN review found two dozen incidents of people posing as ICE officers in 2025. These incidents have included kidnapping, robbery, and sexual assault. Experts noted that ICE agents' use of masks and plain clothes during operations may be a factor. Only one case has resulted in federal charges, compared to roughly half of such cases in previous administrations.

Mario Guevara, a Spanish-language reporter and Salvadoran national, was arrested by local police while covering an anti-Trump protest in June 2025. ICE picked him up from DeKalb County Jail and detained him for over 100 days, much of it in solitary confinement at a South Georgia detention center, before deporting him in October 2025.

A Northwest Arkansas man was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement following a traffic stop. According to his attorney, the man is a U.S. citizen. He has since been released and returned home.

This entry contains personal commentary and social media content rather than a factual incident summary and cannot be converted to a neutral summary format.

Leonardo Garcia Venegas, a U.S.-born citizen, was detained by ICE agents on two separate occasions at construction sites in recent months. His attorney disputes the government's claim that he interfered with agents, stating he was violently tackled and detained despite showing his Real ID both times. The lawsuit alleges ICE violated Fourth Amendment protections and that officers targeted Latino workers based on racial assumptions.

A federal agent sprayed mace at a woman protester standing in front of him outside the Portland ICE facility. The incident was captured on video and occurred amid ongoing demonstrations against federal immigration enforcement. Portland Police liaisons were seen collecting video from witnesses, though the PPB stated they lack authority to investigate federal officers operating within the scope of their employment.

According to a CNN investigation, two dozen incidents in 2025 involved people impersonating ICE officers. These incidents include political intimidation of immigrants and criminal acts including kidnapping, robbery, assault, and rape.

Three members of an Albany Park family detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents Sunday in Millennium Park are now being held at O’Hare Airport, according to neighbors. Federal agents stopped Noemi Chavez; her husband, Jaime Ramirez; their 8-year-old daughter, Dasha Ramirez; and their 3-year-old son and took them away in a white van during a family outing Sunday at the park. Witnesses saw Dasha Ramirez crying and clutching a doll during the arrests. The incident was caught on video and shared widely on social media. Chavez told the Tribune the family made the outing because Dasha “really wanted to visit Millennium Park.” Dasha and her little brother were playing in the water at the Crown Fountain when federal agents approached their parents, according to the Tribune. Albany Park resident Lauren Rappold said she saw the photos and videos of the family being detained and recognized them immediately. Her son attends Grover Cleveland Elementary School and is in the same third-grade class as Dasha. Rappold shared the information in a Cleveland Elementary moms group and spoke with a neighbor who had been able to get in contact with Chavez via WhatsApp. The neighbor, who asked not to be identified, told Rappold that Chavez and her two children had been taken to O’Hare’s immigration customs enforcement area at Terminal 5. Chavez told the Tribune that federal officers declined to show her a warrant during the arrest. Border Protection did not respond to a request for comment. Rappold brought a bag with fresh clothes, diapers and medicine to O’Hare on Monday morning. Chavez confirmed she got the bag over WhatsApp and said she was told she will be kept at O’Hare until there are enough people to fill a plane to send to a detention center in Texas, Rappold said. ✍️ Full story by @Writtenbymollyd in our link in bio.📸 Provided

A federal immigration raid at La Catedral horse race track in Wilder, Idaho in October 2025 is drawing national attention after Anabel Romero, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, testified before the U.S. Senate about the operation. Romero described agents threatening her family and using force against her children, including zip-tying her 14-year-old daughter. The testimony challenged Trump administration statements that no children were restrained during the raid, and a federal lawsuit has been filed over the operation's impact on Idaho families.

Federal agents with Border Patrol, FBI, and ATF conducted a predawn raid on a South Shore apartment building at 7500 S. South Shore Drive, arresting 37 people. Agents used military tactics including flashbang grenades, drones, and helicopters to enter units, with witnesses reporting residents including children were pulled from apartments without clothing. U.S. citizens were among those detained for hours, and residents reported missing belongings and property damage throughout the building.

Gabriela Lozano Sousa, a Venezuelan national who legally entered the United States through a humanitarian parole program in 2023, has been detained for five months by ICE following a dismissed domestic dispute case. She has lived in the country for two years and married a U.S. citizen. ICE classified her as an "arriving immigrant," making her subject to mandatory detention without bond. Federal courts are divided on the legal justification for her detention. Removal proceedings continue and her family is considering voluntary departure to avoid a ten-year reentry bar.

A Chicago couple was arrested during Operation Midway Blitz just eight days after getting married. The wife was deported to Mexico while the husband remained in detention in Michigan. Despite being named in a federal lawsuit alleging unlawful arrests, a judge ordered the husband's removal to El Salvador.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported 442,637 individuals between October 2024 and September 2025, according to federal data. This represents an increase of approximately 171,000 deportations compared to the previous fiscal year. Nearly 167,000 of those removed had criminal records. The figure falls short of the Trump administration's goal of one million annual deportations. ICE has stated it aims to deport 1 million people in the next fiscal year, though it requested reduced funding for detention and transportation operations.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported 442,637 individuals between October 2024 and September 2025, according to agency reports. This represents an increase of approximately 171,000 deportations compared to the previous fiscal year, encompassing the final months of the Biden administration and the first months of the Trump administration. Nearly 167,000 of those deported had criminal records. The total falls short of President Trump's stated goal of removing one million people annually, though the agency is reportedly preparing for an ambitious removal target in the coming year.

Broadview Police Chief Thomas Mills announced three criminal investigations into ICE operations at a detention facility in his village, citing repeated exposure of his officers to tear gas deployed by federal agents. Mills and Mayor Katrina Thompson criticized ICE's use of tear gas, pepper spray, and mace during protests at the Broadview Processing Center, stating the chemicals created dangerous conditions for residents and first responders exercising their First Amendment rights.

ICE officers shoved journalists to the floor at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City on September 30, 2025, while detaining an immigrant at an asylum hearing. One journalist working for a Turkish media outlet was hospitalized with injuries and transported on a stretcher with a neck brace. This incident occurred less than a week after another viral video showed an ICE officer shoving a woman at the same facility.

On September 24, 2025, a gunman identified as Joshua Jahn opened fire on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas, shooting at a transport van containing detainees at the controlled entrance. The attack killed at least one detainee immediately, with a second detainee, 32-year-old Miguel Angel Garcia-Hernandez, dying from injuries on September 30. Two other detainees were critically wounded in the shooting. Ammunition recovered at the scene bore anti-ICE messaging, prompting the FBI to investigate the incident as targeted violence. The gunman died by suicide after the attack, and no ICE agents were injured.

On September 30, 2025, ICE and FBI agents conducted an operation at an apartment building at 7500 S. South Shore Drive in Chicago as part of Operation Midway Blitz, detaining approximately 37 people including Venezuelan migrants and at least one U.S. citizen. The operation involved helicopters, snipers, flash-bangs, and agents breaking down doors and zip-tying residents. The federal government has provided no public accounting of how many remain in custody, what happened to children present in the building, or whether any criminal charges were filed related to the raid.

ICE agents, along with CBP, FBI, and ATF personnel, conducted an overnight raid on a South Shore apartment building on September 30, 2025, targeting individuals allegedly associated with Tren de Aragua and involved in drug trafficking, weapons crimes, and immigration violations. The operation resulted in 37 arrests and drew criticism from residents and advocates over tactics that included use of flash bangs, property destruction, and separation of parents from children.

Miguel Ángel García, 31, died after being removed from life support following a shooting attack at an ICE field office in Dallas. García was among detainees in an ICE transport van when a gunman opened fire from a nearby rooftop in an attack federal investigators said was intended to target immigration officers.

West Africans deported by the United States to Ghana were subsequently sent to Togo without documents or identification papers. Eight to 10 individuals, some of whom had won legal protections preventing their deportation, were sent across the border and left on the street. The deportees, including nationals from Nigeria, Liberia, Gambia, and Togo, are now in hiding without proper documentation.

Hundreds of protesters gathered at an ICE building in Portland following President Trump's announcement of troop deployment to the city. The demonstration featured chants and bucket drumming and was described as raucous but largely free of confrontation.

An ICE officer who was relieved of duties after being captured on video pushing an Ecuadoran woman to the ground outside an immigration court in Manhattan was returned to duty following a preliminary review. The incident occurred when federal agents were attempting to detain the woman's husband, and the officer pushed her to the floor in front of her children and journalists.

Miguel García-Hernández, an undocumented immigrant awaiting intake at an ICE facility in Dallas, was shot on September 24, 2025, when a gunman opened fire outside the facility. He died from his injuries on September 29, leaving behind his wife Stephany Gauffeny and three children. García-Hernández had been in ICE custody following a DUI arrest and was working toward legal status through a Biden administration initiative when the shooting occurred.

Watchdog groups alleged in a court filing that children and families held at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas face prolonged detention beyond legal limits, along with shortages of clean drinking water, chronic sleep deprivation, inadequate medical care, and lack of hygiene products. Legal experts filed accounts describing the facility environment and conditions for detainees.

A mother and two children detained by ICE agents in Millennium Park on September 28 were released from custody on October 2 after a federal judge ordered their protection from deportation while a habeas corpus petition is reviewed. The father, Jaime Ramirez, remains detained in a Texas immigration facility after being transferred from Illinois. The family, originally from Guatemala, has an asylum appointment scheduled for October 2027.

An ICE officer who was relieved of duties after being captured on video pushing an Ecuadoran woman to the ground outside an immigration court in New York City was returned to duty following a preliminary review. The incident occurred during a family separation at 26 Federal Plaza when the woman attempted to prevent her husband's detention. The Department of Homeland Security initially condemned the officer's conduct as unacceptable.

Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez was shot and killed by an ICE officer in Chicago after an unmarked vehicle pulled in front of his car. DHS claimed the officer was "seriously injured" when Villegas-Gonzalez hit and dragged him with his car. Video evidence shows the officer sustained injuries he described as "nothing major."

ICE agents detained multiple immigrant families during weekend operations in Chicago, including three families apprehended at Millennium Park, a shopping center, and a Walmart. The detainees, from Guatemala, Ecuador, and Venezuela, were held at O'Hare International Airport awaiting transfer to Texas detention centers before deportation. Families alleged they were targeted based on their appearance and that agents ignored demands to see warrants.

Ian Andre Roberts, superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, was arrested by ICE on a fugitive warrant for living in the U.S. illegally despite a federal immigration judge's prior removal order. Roberts, a Guyana citizen who entered on an F-1 student visa in 1999, remained in the country after his work authorization expired in 2020. During his arrest, he was found in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash, and a hunting knife, and fled in a school-provided vehicle before being apprehended with state patrol assistance. Roberts has a criminal record with prior weapons charges.

Three women—Cynthia Raygoza, Sandra Carmona Samane, and Ashleigh Brown—have been federally indicted for allegedly following an ICE agent home and publicly disclosing his personal information on social media. On August 28, 2025, the women livestreamed their pursuit of the agent from Downtown Los Angeles to his residence on Instagram, then shouted to neighbors about his identity and posted his address online. Each faces federal charges of conspiracy and disclosing a federal agent's personal information, with sentences of up to five years in prison per count. Raygoza remains at large while her codefendants have been arrested.