Human Impact Project

Jeyli Salguero, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen, was asleep at her family's Minneapolis-area home in January 2026 when armed federal agents broke through the front door searching for her brother, who did not live there. Salguero said she told agents she was a citizen with the right to record, after which they seized her phone; she and her mother were released about half an hour later. Her father, who held temporary protected status, and her undocumented sister were detained in the raid, leaving the family's door broken and exposed to winter weather. Her sister was later deported to El Salvador, while her father was eventually released from detention. Salguero is now one of several plaintiffs, represented by Protect Democracy, the ACLU of Minnesota and Dorsey & Whitney, suing the federal government over a DHS memo allowing ICE agents to enter homes using administrative rather than judicial warrants. The lawsuit is part of broader legal challenges to immigration enforcement activity in Minneapolis.

Baldemar Gutierrez, a 15-year-old U.S. citizen with significant hearing loss, speech delays, and developmental disabilities, was pulled from a car and handcuffed at gunpoint by masked federal agents outside Arleta High School in Los Angeles on August 11, 2025, while his mother, Andreina Mejia, was nearby enrolling his sister in school. Agents showed a photo of a Salvadoran national suspected of gang ties, mistaking Baldemar for him, and released him only after he repeatedly stated his name and citizenship during the roughly seven-minute encounter. Mejia, a San Fernando Valley resident of more than 20 years, said she intervened to protect her son and that an agent told him the mistake would make an 'exciting story to tell' his friends; she said he has since felt harassed and unsafe. School officials said agents left bullets at the scene, prompting increased school police patrols. The family's attorneys filed a $1 million claim against DHS, CBP, Border Patrol and ICE alleging racial profiling, false arrest, false imprisonment, and assault and battery; DHS denied racial profiling, calling it a case of mistaken identity. The case has been cited as part of a broader pattern of more than 500 U.S. citizens detained by ICE, despite DHS statements that ICE does not restrain or zip-tie children.

Orville Etoria, a 62-year-old Jamaican man with legal U.S. permanent residence, was deported to Eswatini in July 2025 despite having completed his prison sentence and complied with ICE supervision requirements. After his 2021 release, he lived in New York, earned a master's degree in theology, worked at a men's shelter, and regularly reported to ICE. When ICE asked him to obtain a Jamaican passport, he complied but was instead sent to Eswatini rather than Jamaica, leaving his family without knowledge of his whereabouts for days and his attorneys unable to reach him. Jamaican officials said the country does not refuse repatriation of its nationals. In a later deposition, Etoria described being held in extreme isolation for two and a half weeks at Matsapha Correctional Complex, a maximum-security prison, barred from outside contact and confined to his cell except for meals, saying guards treated detainees 'as if we were violent, even though we had done nothing wrong.'

Dulce Consuelo Diaz Morales, a 22-year-old mother born in Laurel, Maryland, was detained by ICE near her Baltimore home on December 14, 2025. Her attorney described the stop as a 'Kavanaugh Stop,' linking it to a 2023 CBP encounter in Arizona where she was recorded claiming Mexican citizenship. Despite her family and attorneys presenting a Maryland birth certificate, hospital birth records, and fingerprints, DHS maintained she was not a citizen and pursued removal proceedings. A federal judge blocked her deportation days after her arrest, but she remained in custody for 25 days, transferred five times through facilities in Louisiana, Texas, and New Jersey, missing Christmas with her 5-year-old son. She was released on January 7, 2026 with an ankle monitor and reunited with her son. Her attorneys maintained the documentation clearly established her citizenship. On June 17, 2026, DHS dismissed her deportation case after confirming her birth in Maryland, and she obtained a U.S. passport. Her case was cited among more than 500 U.S. citizens reported detained by ICE nationally.

Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen born in Cairo, Georgia, who grew up speaking the Indigenous Maya language Tzotzil after moving to Mexico as an infant and returning to the U.S. four years ago, was arrested by Florida Highway Patrol on April 16, 2025 after being stopped for speeding while riding as a passenger with two men carrying Guatemalan IDs. He was charged under Florida's Senate Bill 4C, a state law criminalizing unauthorized entry that had been temporarily blocked by court order, despite presenting a Georgia ID. He was held at Leon County Jail on an ICE detainer without food, even after his mother, Sebastiana Gomez-Perez, and a community advocate presented his birth certificate and Social Security card. A Leon County judge confirmed his citizenship and found no probable cause for his detention but said she lacked jurisdiction to order his release because ICE had requested a 48-hour hold. After roughly 30 hours in custody, he was released and reunited with his mother amid a crowd of protesters outside the jail, following public advocacy from civil rights advocates, journalists, and elected officials. His case was later cited among more than 500 U.S. citizens reported detained by ICE.

Jackie Cordova, a 51-year-old U.S. citizen and longtime Santa Ana community member, said federal agents surrounded her while she was conducting her routine early-morning ICE watch outside the federal building, then chased and tackled her, breaking a tooth and leaving her bloodied. Cordova said agents maced her, pinned her against a wall, fingerprinted her, and detained her from about 5 a.m. until 9:45 a.m. before releasing her without clear charges. DHS later called her a 'known agitator' and said she had struck ICE vehicles with a metal object and thrown rocks earlier in the week, an account Cordova disputed as 'an outright lie.' Community members described Cordova as a mentor to local youth and an organizer of community events, and about 20 people protested her arrest outside the federal building afterward.

Daniel's father was detained by ICE and is being deported, leaving Daniel suddenly responsible for household expenses including rent, electric bills, and car insurance for their trailer home. Daniel, who depended on his father financially, is now job hunting while grieving the sudden loss of his father from daily life and is considering leaving school to avoid losing their home. A GoFundMe campaign was launched by his sister to help him stay current on rent and bills during the crisis.

A father was detained by ICE agents around 5:30 a.m. after several ICE vehicles crashed into his car. According to his daughter, agents mistook him for someone else and forced him out of the vehicle despite his compliance. He is described as a hardworking man who supports his wife and children, who now depend on him for financial and emotional support.

Mario Sanchez and Liliana Leon were detained by ICE agents while working in North Miami, Florida, and taken to a holding facility. Both are authorized to work and live in the U.S. and have had a pending asylum case for over 10 years after fleeing government persecution in Venezuela. Their daughter started a fundraiser to cover legal costs, saying the couple is being held in ICE detention indefinitely with no release date.

Sammy Rodriguez, a 22-year resident of North County, California and father of four, was detained by ICE agents while on his way to work. According to the fundraiser organized by his employer's family, agents attempted to pressure him into signing deportation papers in exchange for money, and he went without food for 29 hours. Rodriguez is the sole provider for his family, who are now facing financial hardship while his attorney works to secure his release.

ICE agents detained four customers of La Princesa Real Bakery in Kerman during an early morning operation, which Kerman Mayor Maria Pacheco described as an 'ambush' after the bakery owner's son said ICE followed the customers' van into the parking lot. One of the detained individuals was later released after it was determined he had lawful immigration status, though he was shaken by the encounter. Pacheco confronted the masked agents on camera, and the video was shared widely on social media; community groups monitoring ICE activity in the Fresno area say agents have relied on racial profiling and patrols near sites frequented by immigrant workers rather than targeting individuals with warrants.

Magdaleno Benitez, a grandfather in Fresno, California, was detained by ICE on October 8, 2026, while on his way back from work. He is currently being held at a facility in McFarland, California. His family, who had recently celebrated his wedding, is raising money online to help cover legal fees.

A construction worker's father was detained by ICE agents while working alongside his son at the Riverstone Lennar development in Madera County. The son, who asked not to be identified, described the arrest: "I see my dad; he drops himself on the floor and I see all three ICE agents come get him." He said his father had no criminal record and is being held at the Golden State Annex detention facility in McFarland.

A federal judge in Nevada ordered the release of Cuban national Roberto Miranda Moya, who had been held at the Southern Nevada Detention Center after ICE took him into custody following a local arrest on domestic violence charges. Miranda Moya arrived in the U.S. in 2016 seeking political asylum, and was issued a deportation order to Cuba in March 2026 after his late appeal was dismissed. Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey ruled that the government failed to show his removal to Cuba was reasonably foreseeable, citing the Supreme Court's Zadvydas v. Davis precedent limiting indefinite detention, and ordered his release under supervision with protection against re-detention absent a realistic deportation plan.

Jhon Maykel Correa-Sangucho, a Honduran national, was arrested by ICE agents in Harrison, New Jersey, after officers said he refused repeated commands to exit his vehicle during a traffic stop. Witness video showed two children inside the vehicle crying and clinging to him as agents carried out the arrest. The Harrison mayor and Town Council called the scene 'heartbreaking' and asked the school district to provide counseling to affected students. DHS said Correa-Sangucho remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings, and said a female passenger and a bystander are under investigation for allegedly interfering with the arrest.

Christian Coronado, a father of seven, was detained by ICE agents on his property in Edinburg, Texas. His wife, Anel, told N+ Univision that three of their children witnessed the arrest and said one of the agents struck Christian in the shoulder during the detention. Their 13-year-old daughter learned of her father's detention while at school, after videos of the operation began circulating on social media. "She came home from school and said, 'Where's my dad?'" Anel recounted.

Gilbert Antonio, a 32-year-old lawful permanent resident from El Salvador who has lived in the U.S. since childhood, was stopped by immigration agents near a pharmacy in Mendota and asked to show his papers. Antonio, who makes his living harvesting cantaloupe and watermelons, said he believed he was targeted because he is Latino and avoided detention only because he was carrying his documents at the time. He described Mendota as feeling like a 'ghost town' amid an enforcement surge, saying workers are too afraid to go to their jobs or even pick up their children from school, with only those carrying documentation willing to go outside.

Isaac Gallegos, a 2024 graduate of Orange High School in Orange County, N.C. who came to the U.S. from Honduras with his mother in 2016 after gang members killed relatives there, was detained by ICE agents on October 7, 2026 during what his family described as a routine, annual check-in tied to his pending asylum case in Charlotte. His parents, who were waiting outside, said he never returned and was later transported to a detention facility in Georgia. Gallegos played varsity soccer at Orange High, has no criminal record, has paid taxes, and had worked since age 16, taking on extra hours to support his mother and younger sibling after his father was seriously injured in a car accident. DHS confirmed his arrest and said he will remain in custody pending immigration proceedings. His sister launched a GoFundMe for legal expenses that has raised over $14,000 as the family seeks his release.

Javier Ramirez, who became a U.S. citizen 30 years ago, said he was racially profiled by an ICE agent last year at a Home Depot in Baldwin Park, California. Ramirez works as a street vendor at the site, where he also helps connect day laborers with work trucks and watches out for them amid ongoing immigration enforcement activity. He said his citizenship did not make him feel untouchable, but years of navigating harassment from law enforcement as a street vendor kept him from being afraid during the encounter. Javier said conditions have grown increasingly difficult due to combined pressure from ICE presence and extreme heat, which has reduced pay and worsened conditions for laborers and hurt his own business.

Adela Nohemy Castellanos, who gave birth two months earlier, is detained with her 10-year-old daughter Sofia at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, separated from her husband and three other children. According to her family, Adela cannot tolerate the facility's food, is under significant stress, and is unable to sleep while recovering from childbirth. Her attorneys have filed an appeal of her deportation.