Human Impact Project

An Iranian man seeking asylum was detained by ICE agents at his apartment less than a week after U.S.-Israeli military strikes against Iran in late February 2026. The couple had entered the U.S. legally on tourist visas in November 2024, filed for asylum after receiving threats from the Iranian government, and held pending asylum applications with work permits. The husband spent three weeks at the ICE detention facility in California City before an immigration judge granted his release on bond. His pregnant wife was questioned for hours but not arrested due to her pregnancy.

An ICE enforcement action resulted in the detention of a father in Hopkins, Minnesota, in front of his three children at their apartment building. The incident disrupted the family, with his wife Estefany Escobar going to work at a Minnesota hospital an hour after the arrest.

Nearly 50 Democratic members of Congress are demanding answers from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over allegations that the federal government is placing all pregnant unaccompanied migrant girls at a single San Benito, Texas shelter operated by Urban Strategies, where they lack adequate reproductive health care. The placement contradicts agency guidance requiring pregnant minors be placed in states where they can access full reproductive healthcare options, and has drawn objections from health and child welfare officials citing inadequate specialized care for high-risk pregnancies.

Steve Gaines, an English teacher at Harmony School of Innovation in Waco, Texas, was fired in early 2026 after allowing students to use class time to make signs for an ICE protest walkout in February. Anti-ICE advocates held a rally in March calling for his reinstatement, though the school district has not responded to requests for his rehiring.

Farah, a 21-year-old gay woman from Morocco, fled her country in early 2025 after her family attacked her for her sexual orientation and sought asylum in the United States. She was detained for nearly a year while her asylum claim was processed. In August 2025, an immigration judge issued a federal protection order prohibiting her deportation to Morocco due to danger to her life. However, three days before a scheduled hearing on her release, ICE agents detained her and placed her on a flight to Cameroon—a country where homosexuality is criminalized and where she had never lived. After she refused to remain in Cameroon, she was flown to Morocco, where she is now in hiding. She is among dozens of migrants reportedly deported to third countries by the Trump administration despite holding judicial protection orders.

Maria Santay, a U.S. citizen and community observer, livestreamed her detainment by federal immigration agents at an El Monte gas station on February 1, 2026. Agents surrounded her vehicle and broke her car window with a hammer while she recorded on Instagram. She was detained and released Friday evening with charges including resisting arrest.

Anti-ICE protesters held demonstrations across Southern California on January 30-31, 2026, including marches through Los Angeles, rallies at City Hall, and actions outside the Metropolitan Detention Center. Clashes erupted when protesters blocked access points and threw objects at federal agents. Authorities deployed chemical irritants and issued dispersal orders. Eight people were arrested Friday and dozens more on Saturday on charges including assault on officers, vandalism, and failure to disperse. The protests were part of a nationwide action following fatal shootings by federal officers in Minneapolis.

A three-year-old girl named Lily was separated from her family at the border and detained in an immigrant children's shelter in South Texas for over five months. Her father, a legal permanent resident, attempted to reunify with her during her detention. After her attorney at ProBAR filed a habeas petition in federal district court on February 18, she was released two days later and reunified with her father on February 21.

CNN correspondent Veronica Miracle was struck with pepper spray while reporting live on a protest at an ICE facility in Los Angeles. Protesters overtook the property and pushed Department of Homeland Security officers back inside the building. Miracle choked and coughed on camera due to the chemical irritant but continued reporting on the incident.

Thousands of protesters marched to an ICE facility in South Portland on Saturday as part of a "Labor Against ICE" rally organized by local unions. Federal agents deployed tear gas, pepper balls, rubber bullets, and flash-bang grenades after some protesters approached the building's security gate. The protest coincided with a march honoring Alex Pretti, an intensive-care nurse fatally shot by Border Patrol officers in Minneapolis.

Olga Perez, a 47-year-old Mayan language translator, was deported to Guatemala in July 2026 following a June 3 immigration court ruling, separating her from her four U.S.-born children in Florida. Perez had been detained since November 2025 after a traffic stop and had no criminal record. Her deportation leaves a gap in language services across Florida courts, schools, and hospitals, while her eldest daughter has taken over the family landscaping business to support her three younger siblings.

Keith Porter Jr., 43, a Black father of two daughters, was shot and killed by an off-duty ICE agent on New Year's Eve outside his apartment complex in Northridge, Los Angeles. Friends and family described Porter as a devoted father and jack of all trades who worked as a waiter, tow truck driver, and Home Depot employee. He was close to his mother, Franceola Armstrong, and known for being compassionate and funny. Porter had recently obtained a firearm safety certificate and was proud to own a gun legally. He was firing a gun into the air to celebrate the new year when he was shot three times by the off-duty agent. Witnesses told Porter's attorney they never heard the officer identify himself as law enforcement and heard demands to "put down the rifle" followed by three shots. His mother spoke at a Los Angeles City Council meeting, saying: "He was on his way back. He didn't even get to pop the champagne. He didn't get to say goodbye. I just want to touch my baby one last time, kiss his face and hold him." Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and family lawyer Jamal Tooson urged California's attorney general to conduct an independent investigation. The Los Angeles County district attorney's office is reviewing the killing to determine if the use of force constitutes a crime.

ICE detained a husband in Tacoma and coerced him to sign self-deportation papers while threatening to apprehend his wife and children within four days. In response to the threats, the entire family voluntarily returned to Venezuela.

On January 23, 2026, ICE agents conducted traffic stops in Eagle County, Colorado, detaining nine people. After the vehicles were abandoned, family members retrieved them and discovered ace of spades cards printed with ICE Denver Field Office contact information left inside at least two vehicles. Immigrant rights groups, including Voices Unidas, characterized the cards as referencing a Vietnam War-era racist practice. Federal officials offered an alternative explanation that the cards may reference the ace of spades as the trump card in the card game Spades. The Department of Homeland Security announced an investigation into the ICE agents' conduct.

A long-term resident who entered the United States in 2004 and has continuously resided here since was detained by ICE on January 30, 2026. The petitioner has no criminal record. The federal court ordered his immediate release, finding he could not be detained under section 1225(b) but only under section 1226(a), and enjoined ICE from re-detaining him without a pre-detention hearing.

Yoandry Rafael Garcia Gali was re-detained on January 30, 2026, after previously being released on bond or conditional parole. The court found that the government violated due process by failing to provide a pre-deprivation bond hearing before a neutral arbiter when re-detaining someone who had been previously released. The court ordered Garcia Gali's immediate release with the same conditions he had prior to detention.

Anti-ICE demonstrations at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles turned confrontational on January 30, 2026, with protesters throwing objects at federal agents. Dozens of arrests were made over the weekend as demonstrations expanded to City Hall. The protests were part of a nationwide call to end funding for ICE.

Jose Flores, 47, was arrested during an ICE operation in Oakmont. The arrest occurred while Flores was preparing for work with his wife Harriett and their 8-year-old daughter Lily. The operation disrupted the family's morning routine.

The police chief of St. Peter intervened with federal agents to prevent the detention of a local resident who was observing ICE enforcement actions. This intervention by local police in Minnesota occurred during ICE and border patrol operations in the state.

Wilmer Menjivar, an employee at Viper Auto Body with no criminal record, was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in West Valley City, Utah. Menjivar believed he was being followed by unmarked vehicles as he arrived at work and ran into the locked auto body shop. CBP agents then broke through the glass door, entered the business, and detained him. His wife, Lilly, said Menjivar believes he may have been profiled based on his appearance, his low-rider truck, and skin color. Menjivar plans to return to El Salvador, and his wife and three U.S. citizen children plan to move with him to keep the family together.