Human Impact Project

Yader Cortez Andino, a Nicaraguan immigrant with a pending asylum claim and a green card application based on his marriage to U.S. citizen Jennifer Cortez, was ordered released from ICE detention at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building on Oct. 2 after a federal judge ruled his June 30 warrantless arrest illegal. ICE agents returned his belongings and signed his release papers but led him out a back door, where plainclothes agents immediately re-arrested him, telling him the judge's order was wrong. His wife Jennifer said she and the couple's three children had prepared balloons and banners to welcome him home. Cortez's green card was approved while he was held, and after the judge found ICE had violated its release order, he was ultimately released on Oct. 5.

Maycon Eleazar De Jesus Barrios, a Guatemalan national, was taken into custody by ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston office on Oct. 2 during a targeted enforcement operation in Marlborough. ICE described him as being in the country without legal status and said his criminal history includes an arrest for assault and battery on a family or household member. The agency announced the arrest in connection with Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

A North African man, identified only as A.S. out of fear of being detained again, said he was pressured to self-deport while held at the Plymouth, Massachusetts ICE detention facility last winter. He said officials repeatedly suggested he could instead be sent to Uganda, a country with a third-country removal agreement with the U.S. that he had never visited and whose language he did not speak. He was eventually released from detention to his family in southeastern Massachusetts.

A 26-year-old refugee known only as Adam, who fled forced military conscription, was granted protection from removal by a US immigration judge but was secretly deported to Equatorial Guinea in November 2025 under a third-country removal deal. He has been confined alone in a hotel room under armed guard for nearly a year, and was recently handcuffed and beaten by security officers who warned him not to speak out.

A U.S. citizen was injured when an ICE agent punched him during a work van stop in Naples Manor, Florida, after community members arrived to document and protest the stop. Graphic images shared with the Naples Daily News and The News-Press show an ICE agent pointing a gun toward bystanders during the encounter. June Sanson, a legal observer with the Rapid Response Alliance for Immigrant Safety and Empowerment, said the agent involved had previously pointed his weapon at her during an unrelated encounter in Immokalee. The advocacy group has planned a protest in Naples on Oct. 2 in response to the incident. ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ho-Yin Mo, a field representative for California Assemblymember Catherine Stefani who assists Chinese American constituents with healthcare, childcare, and food support, was detained by ICE on September 17, 2026, at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas while traveling to visit the Muhammad Ali Museum. Mo, originally from Hong Kong, lawfully entered the U.S. in January 2020; DHS said he overstayed after failing to depart in May 2020, though attorneys argued he was likely protected from deportation under Deferred Enforced Departure for Hong Kong residents. Stefani described Mo as 'a selfless public servant and a valued, legal employee of the California state Legislature,' and nearly every San Francisco City Hall politician and many state legislators called for his release. Mo, a former KTSF TV anchor and reporter who also worked on Mayor London Breed's 2024 re-election campaign, was held at the Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump before being released on bond after 15 days in custody. Stefani traveled to Las Vegas to greet him upon release, and Mo thanked her, his lawyer, and supporters, saying he was eager to return to work.

A Guatemalan man working a landscaping job for Tommy Builders near Everett Community College was pulled from a work truck by six to eight masked ICE agents in tactical vests on a Monday morning in north Everett. Homeowner Jennifer Gordon recorded video showing the man shouting for help in English and Spanish, saying 'They don't have a warrant' and 'I can't breathe' as agents leaned over him; a second man working with him fled the scene. Gordon said the agents wore no badges or identification, used unmarked vehicles, refused to show a warrant when asked, and later photographed her house and address, which she said felt intimidating. ICE declined to confirm his identity, but DHS later said he had a criminal history and had been issued a final removal order in 2003 that was reinstated in 2011 and 2016 after alleged unauthorized reentry, and said officers used lawful, minimum-necessary force after he refused commands. A neighbor said an agent claimed the man was wanted over a murder allegation in his home country, which ICE did not confirm.

Gerardo Sanchez Lopez (also reported as Chavez Lopez), a longtime Clatsop County resident who came to the United States as a teenager and owns and operates multiple businesses in the area, was detained by ICE officers on June 7 while agents were searching for another man, Marco Antonio Mendoza-Cesar, who was also detained that day. ICE officers moved Sanchez Lopez between vehicles at the Port of Astoria's Pier 1 before transporting him to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington. The use of port property by ICE prompted complaints to the Oregon Department of Justice over a potential violation of the state's sanctuary laws, though the Port of Astoria said staff faced a difficult situation and did the right thing by allowing agents access. Sanchez Lopez has since been released and returned home to Clatsop County, though a person close to him said he will need to check in with immigration again in several months.

César Cepeda Gomez (also referred to as Cesar Augusto Cepeda Gomez), a Venezuelan asylum seeker who delivered for Walmart in Bloomington, was detained by ICE agents in a Walmart parking lot alongside a coworker on September 1, 2026. Cepeda Gomez entered the U.S. legally through a CBP One appointment, held valid work authorization, and had an asylum hearing scheduled for October; he lives in Bloomington with his partner and her child. He was transported to the GEO Group-run North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, where he remained held for weeks. His attorney said he has been working, paying taxes, and has no criminal history. A federal court ruled ICE could not continue holding him without a chance to seek release, after which an immigration judge granted him a $10,000 bond, with Cepeda Gomez awaiting payment as of early October.

On June 7, 2026, ICE agents conducted an operation at the Port of Astoria's Pier 1, detaining two men. As vehicles left the scene, Astoria resident Stefanie Collar, who had been observing the agents, approached one vehicle at a nearby red light, pressing her body against it because she believed an officer was preparing to pepper-spray her. An officer rolled down his window and sprayed her as the vehicle drove past, and two additional vehicles following also sprayed her. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said officers had been 'swarmed by a group of 20 rioters,' but video footage reviewed by KMUN and witness accounts showed only a few people on a nearby sidewalk, contradicting that account. An ICE officer separately called local police to report that agents used pepper spray after being swarmed.

Carlos Moreno, a legally blind and hard-of-hearing asylum seeker from Venezuela, was detained by ICE agents in March 2026 as he and his wife, Wendys Martinez, left a Schuylkill County courthouse after paying a $277 noise citation for playing music at their Pottsville home. He was transferred through a York processing facility and Moshannon Valley Processing Center before being held for nearly six months at Cambria County Prison, about 200 miles from his family, where he says staff failed to keep his hearing aids charged, never repaired his broken cane, and did not provide promised translation services, leaving him reliant on other detainees and largely confined to his cell. Moreno said the conditions led him to abandon his asylum appeal; after the deadline passed, Martinez gave birth to their son alone on the Fourth of July while their four other children cared for themselves at home. Cambria County, which has earned more than $1.5 million detaining immigrants under a federal agreement, later transferred Moreno to facilities in Louisiana and then Texas to await deportation to Venezuela. The county's warden said Moreno received adequate care but declined to provide details, citing privacy and security procedures. A GoFundMe campaign has raised money for the family's legal fees, rent and groceries.

Assim Alkhawaja, a 53-year-old asylum seeker of Palestinian heritage raised in Saudi Arabia, was detained by ICE while dropping off Lyft passengers at a Camp Pendleton gate despite holding a work permit valid through 2030 and having no criminal history. He moved to Oceanside about two years ago to pursue graduate studies in human rights and holds a doctorate from the University of San Francisco. His sister Arwa, a U.S. citizen, said he presented his driver's license and work permit at the gate before being told to pull over and detained, then held for about eight days at Otay Mesa Detention Center. An immigration judge found he posed no danger to the community and was not a flight risk, ordering his release on $10,000 bond with a GPS ankle monitor and near-weekly check-ins. Before his arrest, he had sold his businesses in the Middle East to open Sands Coffee Roasters, which was nearly ready to open, and community fundraising has since supported him. Attorneys say he is among dozens of rideshare and delivery drivers detained at the base's gates under a 2025 pilot program in which military police call ICE on non-citizen drivers. His next immigration hearing is scheduled for October.

Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian national with legal work authorization, was fatally shot on July 13, 2026 by ICE officer David Brouillette during a mistaken traffic stop near a laundromat in Biddeford, Maine. He was driving to an early-morning DoorDash delivery shift and also worked as a veterinary clinic cleaner when agents conducting surveillance for someone else with a final removal order rammed his vehicle and fired five shots through the windshield, striking him in the head, as his 3-year-old daughter witnessed the shooting. DHS claimed the vehicle tried to flee, a claim disputed by witnesses, and officials later confirmed he was not the intended target. His partner, Karolina Rojas, described him as 'a hard worker devoted to his family' who 'always dreamed big' for their daughter, while a neighbor called him 'a good person,' quiet and dedicated. Relatives say the officer who shot him has a history of serious mental health struggles dating to childhood. He was the 11th person fatally shot by federal immigration officials during Trump's second term. Hundreds protested in Biddeford, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin briefly paused ICE traffic stops before Trump reversed the decision, the FBI declined to open a civil rights investigation, and the Maine Attorney General's Office and DHS Office of Inspector General opened inquiries. Senator Angus King, Governor Janet Mills, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, and Congressman Bennie Thompson called for independent investigations, his family sought to repatriate his body to Colombia, and community ICE-watch groups across Maine ramped up efforts to monitor ICE vehicles amid an intensified enforcement campaign known as Operation Catch of the Day.

Ricardo Aparecido Barbosa da Cunha, a Brazilian immigrant who had lived in the U.S. for about 20 years, ran a small construction business in Massachusetts with his wife and their two U.S.-citizen children. He had a pending asylum application, valid work authorization, and no criminal record. ICE arrested him on September 26, 2025, while he was driving to work after a traffic stop in Norwood, Massachusetts. Under a Trump administration policy classifying him as an 'applicant for admission' subject to mandatory detention, an immigration judge initially denied him a bond hearing, but after he filed a habeas petition, a federal court ordered one, and he was released on bond in October 2025 after being found no danger or flight risk. The government appealed, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the release in April 2026, joining most federal appeals courts in rejecting the administration's detention policy as potentially 'the broadest mass-detention-without-bond mandate in our nation's history.' On October 1, 2026, the Supreme Court agreed to review the policy, with advocacy groups warning the outcome could affect thousands to millions of detained immigrants nationwide.

Darline Jean Baptiste, a 33-year-old Haitian woman, was arrested by ICE in Springfield, Ohio on Aug. 14 while returning home from work during what the agency called a "targeted alien enforcement operation," and has since been held at the Butler County Jail. She entered the U.S. through a Florida airport in November 2023 under a humanitarian parole program, financially supports two children in Haiti, and said she fled her homeland due to daily threats of violence. An immigration judge denied her a bond hearing, ruling he lacked jurisdiction because she was considered an "arriving alien," and later withdrew her bond request entirely. On September 23, 2026, she filed a federal habeas corpus petition in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, naming the warden of Butler County Corrections Center as respondent, supported by exhibits including her I-94, employment authorization document, an employer letter, and letters of support. In her court declaration, she said she is not a flight risk or danger to the community and committed to attending all future immigration court hearings if released. The government's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss her petition, and her attorneys filed a response in opposition on October 1, 2026.

Ivan, 27, a construction worker from Guatemala who has lived in Minnesota since 2019 with no criminal record beyond minor traffic violations, was arrested on September 11 after ICE agents ran his work vehicle's plates at a Columbia Heights gas station and followed him to a Menards parking lot. A federal judge later granted his habeas petition, but when he arrived at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis for release, five federal agents were already waiting and took him into custody at Freeborn County Jail. "I didn't even make it to see the sun," Ivan told MPR News by phone from the jail, speaking in Spanish. His attorney, Steven Appelget, had argued agents lacked probable cause or a warrant for the initial arrest.

A man was detained after being chased on foot across three lanes of Interstate 5 in Des Moines, Washington, in an arrest that a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said was most likely carried out by ICE. Video of the incident, showing the man tackled by two vested officers and walked to an unmarked vehicle with flashing lights, was posted to a community site that tracks ICE activity. Washington State Patrol and the King County sheriff's office confirmed they were not involved in the arrest.

Federal agents used high-flying drones to track Abel Ávila Martínez, 48, of Buena Park, California, as he left his home before dawn Thursday, then surrounded his vehicle with about 20 Homeland Security Investigations agents in tactical gear as he prepared to drive away. Ávila Martínez, a Mexican national previously removed from the U.S. in 1999, surrendered with his hands raised after agents blasted him with searchlights and pointed weapons at him. He is charged with using fake Social Security numbers to fraudulently obtain credit, racking up at least $15,964 in debt, including a purchase at Guitar Center, and had filed for bankruptcy last year in an attempt to discharge the debt. He was one of at least four people arrested in a wider operation targeting alleged Social Security fraud schemes totaling over $140,000, which also included Walter Anastacio Castellanos-Pérez, José Alfredo Chávez-Cabello, and Verónica Espinosa-Cortés; a fifth suspect evaded capture and remains at large.

Edgar Vásquez Silva, a DACA recipient born in Mexico who moved to Mississippi with his family at age 3, lost his job as a deputy assistant with the Stone County Sheriff's Office after five years there. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety's Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training (BLEOST) removed his certification because the board requires U.S. citizenship, even though his work focused on transport and jail supervision without carrying a weapon or making arrests. Vásquez Silva said the sheriff told him he tried everything he could to keep him employed, and Vásquez Silva, who said he supports President Trump, expressed hope of asking him for a path to legal residency.

The brother of Zolia Virgen Verduzco, who had lived in the United States for 45 years, was detained and deported to Mexico despite having legal counsel and ongoing documentation processes underway, according to Verduzco. She said her family had paid thousands of dollars in legal fees to try to keep him in the country. Verduzco shared her brother's story while attending a community rally in Tallahassee supporting other detained immigrants.