Human Impact Project

ICE's average daily detention population declined 12% from January to March, driven largely by a 21% drop in detentions of people without criminal records. The decline follows backlash to a Minneapolis-area enforcement operation in which federal agents killed two American citizens, and a subsequent shake-up in Department of Homeland Security leadership that has signaled a shift toward focusing on detaining immigrants with criminal records.

A New Jersey pastor who was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in March was released from an ICE detention center after approximately 3 weeks in custody.

Two demonstrators were arrested on suspicion of felony vandalism and conspiracy to commit a crime after police say they painted "ICE Out" on a Modesto street during a protest outside Doctors Medical Center hospital on Tuesday evening. The protest was organized in response to an ICE shooting incident in nearby Patterson.

Data obtained by KDKA Investigates shows ICE arrests in the Pittsburgh area jumped from 448 in the final year of the Biden administration to 1,425 in 2025, a 218% increase. The data reveals that approximately two-thirds of detainees have no criminal record, contradicting the Trump administration's stated focus on targeting immigrants with serious crimes. Immigration advocates express concern about enforcement tactics and their impact on immigrant communities.

The Trump administration's no-bond detention policy for immigrants has resulted in over 800 habeas corpus petitions filed in New Mexico federal courts since July. Criminal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office have been assigned to defend the detention policy, a departure from typical civil division representation. Detainees argue that detention without individual bond hearings violates due process rights, though the 10th Circuit has not yet ruled on the matter.

Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol commander who became the public face of the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement operations, announced his retirement. Bovino led high-profile crackdowns in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minnesota that resulted in thousands of arrests and drew criticism for aggressive tactics including vehicle searches, chemical agents, and raids. His operations are linked to deaths of U.S. citizens and widespread demonstrations.

The Justice Department has dismantled a 60-year-old Recognition and Accreditation program that authorized non-attorneys to provide affordable legal representation to low-income immigrants. Senior attorneys operating the program were abruptly reassigned, leaving only two support staff without legal authority to process accreditation applications. The program currently accredits over 2,600 non-attorneys across 900 organizations, primarily faith-based groups like Catholic Charities and Jewish Family Services.

San Diego County's Immigrant Legal Defense Program, which provides free legal counsel to detained immigrants and unaccompanied minors, faces significant funding gaps as costs are expected to reach $13.4-$18 million annually while the budget remains at $5 million. The increased demand is driven by a nearly 200% increase in detention levels at the Otay Mesa Detention Center under the Trump administration. Without additional funding from philanthropic and state sources, the program may be unable to maintain current service levels.

The Trump administration has reshaped the Board of Immigration Appeals by reducing its size by nearly half and stacking it with presidential appointees. The board's decisions backed Department of Homeland Security lawyers in 97% of publicly posted cases, significantly narrowing due process and relief from deportation available for immigrants. The board has made it harder for immigrants to obtain bond, easier to deport migrants to third countries, and has published a record 70 precedent-setting decisions.

During a government shutdown, ICE officers were deployed to 13 airports nationwide, causing long lines and prompting protests. Immigration officials are facing allegations of inhumane detention conditions, including forcing sedation of a hospital patient and violating guidelines for pregnant women. Multiple investigations and court filings document poor conditions at detention centers in San Francisco, Minnesota, Texas, San Diego, and Colorado.

Women detained at Baker County Detention Center in Florida have shared a video describing poor living conditions while awaiting immigration processing. They allege inadequate access to hygiene supplies, broken clothing, moldy food, and substandard bedding including mattresses made of insulation. One woman claims to have been transferred through over 30 facilities in a month and often slept on floors.

California's Senate Public Safety Committee advanced Senate Bill 941, which would limit price markups on goods sold in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility commissaries to a maximum of 35% above vendor cost. The bill addresses exploitative pricing practices by private vendors, with items like soap marked up 75% and canned tuna by 300%. Supporters argue the measure protects detained immigrants and their families from predatory pricing during vulnerable circumstances.

Senate and House Republican leaders announced an agreement to reopen the Department of Homeland Security through September 30, resurrecting a bipartisan deal previously rejected by President Trump. The plan would omit funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, with those agencies to be paid from previously appropriated funds. Democrats have demanded restrictions on federal immigration agents' conduct following the killing of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis by immigration officers.

Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation unanimously adopted a new rule requiring people seeking professional licenses, including electricians and dog breeders, to prove legal immigration status. The rule implements a 1996 federal law but allows exceptions for those granted asylum, admitted as refugees, or recognized as human trafficking victims. The change takes effect May 1 and has prompted concerns about economic impact and pushing workers into unlicensed work.

The Trump administration's crackdown on student visas has resulted in cancellations affecting some of Africa's best and brightest students. The policy has separated at least one Iranian couple, with the wife on a student visa unable to reunite with her husband due to the travel ban.

The Colibrí Center for Human Rights' DNA database, which helped identify remains of missing migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border for a decade, has been inaccessible since fall 2024. The nonprofit's website has gone dark and communications ceased, leaving families like that of Irma Carrillo Nevares without hope of identifying their missing relatives. Arizona moved to dissolve the organization in December 2025 due to unfiled paperwork.

Six Guatemalan workers were detained by ICE agents at a home in Cambridge, Maryland, after the homeowner allegedly called immigration authorities on them while they were fixing her roof. The incident was livestreamed by coworker Bryan Polanco, a Dominican national with permanent residency, who accused the homeowner of calling ICE and handing agents a ladder to reach the workers. According to reports, the homeowner owed the workers $10,000 and allegedly threatened to call ICE again if they returned to finish the job.

ICE agents in San Diego arrested David Antonio Aviles Perez, 35, a MS-13 gang member wanted in El Salvador for murder. Perez was first arrested in Monterey, California in 2023 on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly swinging a machete at a man, but was released under California's sanctuary law. He is being held pending removal to El Salvador.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced arrests and detentions of several undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes including arson, drug trafficking, robbery, and burglary. ICE stated that approximately 70% of those arrested had been charged with or convicted of crimes in the United States. The enforcement operations involved individuals from Honduras, Colombia, Mexico, and Cambodia, with convictions recorded in Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, and New York.

In early 2025, the second Trump administration began detaining immigrant families and children. By April 2025, the Dilley Immigration Processing Center became the sole active family detention center in the United States. More than 5,600 people, including parents, children, toddlers, and newborn babies, have been imprisoned at Dilley between April 2025 and February 2026.

Omar Salazar, an SMU graduate and Dallas community leader, was detained by ICE at the Bluebonnet Detention Facility in August after a traffic stop. He has been held for seven months without a decision on his immigration case, despite a final hearing on February 11. His legal team attributes delays to immigration case backlogs, overworked judges, and policy shifts from the Trump administration.

Despite a lapse in federal funding, ICE officers are continuing deportation operations nationwide and have been deployed to assist understaffed TSA at airports in major cities including New York, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta, and New Orleans. DHS officials stated that ICE arrested multiple individuals with criminal convictions over the weekend, including gang members, sex offenders, and drug traffickers, while maintaining airport security presence.

A 25-year-old man jumped a fence at Santa Barbara Main Jail to evade ICE agents who were attempting to apprehend him. He was injured during the fence jump and was found hiding between storage containers in the jail's secured perimeter. He was transported to a hospital and cited for trespassing.

A total of 17 arrests across multiple Galveston County communities resulted in immigration holds over a one-week period. The arrests were made in League City, Friendswood, Galveston, Hitchcock, Bacliff, Tiki Island, and Texas City, with charges including driving while intoxicated, assault, theft, drug possession, and evading arrest. Law enforcement agencies coordinated with federal immigration authorities when individuals booked into local jails were flagged for potential immigration enforcement action.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency operates a network of 170 unofficial detention sites called "hold rooms" across the country, located in warehouses, strip malls, office parks, and ICE substations. Federal data obtained via the Freedom of Information Act shows over 140,000 detainees were held in these facilities between January and October 2025, with thousands of violations of the 72-hour limit on detention length, including children and elderly individuals.

Andrea Pedro-Francisco was detained by ICE and transported to a facility in Texas, where she is being held in overcrowded conditions with 60 other people. She requires surgery for a tennis-ball-sized ovary cyst but ICE is refusing to provide appropriate medical care, offering only Tylenol instead of prescribed opioids. She has been living in the U.S. for years while legally seeking political asylum and has no criminal record.

A pregnant woman identified as Marie was detained at an ICE facility and told officials of her pregnancy, but was placed in solitary confinement for days and denied medical care despite repeated requests. She was denied translation services at a medical center and was not informed about medical procedures performed. While detained, she witnessed another woman miscarry and deliver a stillborn baby alone in a facility bathroom.

Between January 1, 2025, and February 16, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security deported 363 pregnant, postpartum, or nursing women, according to data provided to U.S. senators. As of February 16, 2026, 86 detainees were identified as pregnant in ICE custody, including nine in the final trimester, and 16 miscarriages in detention had been recorded by late September 2025. Human Rights Watch and other advocates noted health risks associated with detaining pregnant individuals and identified gaps in medical care.

Hundreds of immigration detainees held in New Mexico facilities have filed petitions in federal court seeking bond hearings and release, challenging a new interpretation of the 1996 Immigration and Nationality Act that denies bond hearings to those who entered at unauthorized points. The detainees, from countries including Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, Afghanistan, and others, include individuals who were arrested without warrants. Federal judges in New Mexico have granted bond hearings in approximately 99% of cases, but detainees must hire attorneys to file the petitions.

During a government shutdown causing TSA staffing shortages and three-hour airport security delays, President Trump announced ICE agent deployments to assist at airports nationwide. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens confirmed ICE agents will deploy to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday to support TSA operations including line management and crowd control, with officials stating the deployment is not intended for immigration enforcement activities.

An undocumented individual with a felony conviction has been sentenced to more than 15 years. No additional details about the nature of the conviction, jurisdiction, or circumstances are provided in the available text.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger ruled that ICE unlawfully detained asylum seeker Andrei Bankevich from Belarus in Muscatine County Jail for over a year and that federal officials violated his due process rights by refusing to release him without a court order.

A federal jury returned a mixed verdict against nine defendants accused of domestic terrorism stemming from a July 4 noise demonstration outside the Prairieland immigrant detention center in Alvarado, Texas. Prosecutors argued the defendants constituted a "North Texas Antifa cell" and all played a role in a nonfatal shooting of a police officer during the protest. The defendants stated the protest was intended to show solidarity with migrants in detention and involved fireworks and vandalism. Eight defendants were convicted on felony charges including providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to use explosives.

Ludovic Mbock, a gay professional gamer living in Maryland, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during a compliance appointment. He faces potential deportation to Cameroon, where same-sex relationships are criminalized.

A New York Times examination of 10 cases and documentation by the ACLU found that pregnant women detained during immigration enforcement were held in detention centers for extended periods—some for up to eight months—in conditions violating DHS guidelines. Women reported inadequate medical care, including denial of prenatal care and shackling during pregnancy and miscarriage. Specific cases documented include Lorena Pineda, a Salvadoran woman detained for over three months while five months pregnant. Conditions at facilities including Stewart Detention Center in Georgia and ICE processing centers in Louisiana included contaminated food and water, and shackling at hands, ankles, and around bellies. Advocacy organizations report that pregnant, postpartum, and nursing mothers continue to be detained despite ICE policy stating they should not be detained for administrative immigration violations except in exceptional circumstances.

This document is the Congressional Justification for U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Fiscal Year 2026 budget request from the Department of Homeland Security. It includes appropriation organization structure, budget comparisons, personnel compensation information, and supplemental budget justification exhibits for CBP operations and support.

An Emanuel County Commissioners' Office employee was arrested after an internal audit discovered unauthorized use of a county credit card for personal purchases. Risa K. Fortner, 48, of Kite, Georgia, was charged with theft by taking after receipts showed items were delivered to her home address. She was booked into the Emanuel County Detention Center.

ICE states that video footage from Broadview Detention Center was lost in a system crash on October 31, one day after the facility was sued on October 30 for allegedly abusing detainees. Two weeks of surveillance footage was reportedly destroyed. Government lawyers stated they lack resources to preserve surveillance footage.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is hearing a Department of Justice appeal challenging a 2024 federal court order that prohibited ICE from arresting immigrants during green card interviews with U.S. citizen spouses. The case stems from a class-action lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of individuals arrested or at risk of arrest during Form I-130 marriage-based adjustment of status interviews. Legal challenges have been filed regarding the arrests.

The Trump administration is planning to deport undocumented migrants to Libya, a country experiencing armed conflict. Libyan officials denied being in talks with the U.S. about the plan. A federal judge blocked any deportations to Libya or Saudi Arabia without due process, ruling that removals without prior notice would violate existing court orders.

ICE arrests have increased in the Pittsburgh area since May 2025. ICE has been tasked with arresting 3,000 immigrants daily nationwide and received an additional $75 billion in funding to increase detention capacity from 40,000 to 100,000. Immigration attorneys report increased demand for legal support.

ICE has stopped paying third-party medical providers for detainee care since October 3, 2025, instructing providers to hold claims until at least April 30, 2026. A Georgia-led Senate investigation has documented cases of alleged medical neglect in ICE facilities. The detained population has surged from fewer than 40,000 in January 2025 to over 73,000 currently. Federal law requires ICE to provide necessary medical care to people in its custody.

ICE outlines its policies and procedures for reporting deaths of detained individuals in its custody. The agency states that detainee health care is a high priority and requires facilities to provide comprehensive medical, dental, and mental health care. Deaths in ICE custody trigger a multilayered investigation protocol including medical reviews, compliance investigations, and reporting to senior management and DHS civil rights offices.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement, tasked with protecting immigrant children, has assisted in immigration enforcement operations under the Trump administration. Federal agents have conducted dozens of visits across the country targeting unaccompanied minors and their sponsors, using welfare checks as a pretext. Current and former staffers report the agency is assisting in enforcement operations.

Estela Ramos Baten was detained during a mandatory immigration check-in and deported to Guatemala with her teenage daughter Nory Sontay Ramos on July 4. Ramos Baten had lived in Los Angeles since 2016 and suffered from liver cirrhosis and high blood pressure. She died nine weeks after deportation from complications of liver cirrhosis. Her teenage daughter remained in Guatemala.

According to ICE data from February, nearly 70% of people held in California's ICE detention centers have no criminal conviction. The figure is consistent with national trends, where 74% of detainees nationwide have no criminal convictions. More than 6,400 people are currently detained in California's facilities. The data shows enforcement has expanded under the Trump administration.

Green card holders have been detained by ICE since 2025, including lawful permanent residents with decades of U.S. residence being detained at airports, courthouses, and during community operations. Cases involve old criminal convictions that previously had no immigration consequences. The National Immigration Law Center stated the current administration is targeting green card holders with past criminal records and political activity.

A report from the International Refugee Assistance Project and Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center examines how climate change contributes to displacement and migration dangers at the U.S.-Mexico border. Based on 26 interviews with displaced individuals from 12 countries conducted in January 2025, the report documents how environmental disasters and extreme weather conditions drive migration decisions and intensify hazards during migration journeys.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection recovered remains of 10,784 migrants from 1988 through 2024 along the U.S.-Mexico border. President Trump's 2025 border policies closed asylum application access at ports of entry. The article examines three main risks migrants face when attempting to cross into the U.S.