Human Impact Project

Illinois State Representative Hoan Huynh, a Vietnamese refugee and congressional candidate, reported an encounter with federal agents on October 22, 2025, near Montrose and Kimball avenues in Albany Park on Chicago's Northwest Side. Huynh stated he was in the area to warn residents of their rights following ICE enforcement activity when Customs and Border Patrol agents surrounded his vehicle. According to Huynh, an agent pointed a gun at him and threatened to break his car windows before lowering the weapon when he began recording. DHS stated Huynh was stopped twice for stalking law enforcement and attempting to interfere with operations. The incident also occurred amid reports of a vendor employee being detained by federal agents outside a Rogers Park school.

Irma was detained by ICE on October 21, 2025, during a routine immigration appointment in Santa Ana, California. Her citizenship case was denied and she was taken into custody immediately. She was scheduled to be deported to Mexico on October 22, 2025, leaving behind her four children and life in the United States.

ICE and federal agents conducted an enforcement operation on Canal Street in Manhattan on October 22, 2025, detaining nine undocumented immigrants who were street vendors. Federal authorities characterized the operation as targeting counterfeit goods trafficking and stated the detainees had criminal histories including forgery, drug possession, drug trafficking, robbery, and assault. The raid came days after a right-wing media figure posted a video about the area. Civil rights attorneys characterized it as a pretextual show of force using profiling tactics. During the operation, two men initially detained were released after identifying themselves as U.S. citizens. The detainees were moved to Delaney Hall in New York. Hundreds of New Yorkers protested the raid, with five protesters arrested during the confrontation.

A Venezuelan family seeking asylum in the United States self-deported after the father and 20-year-old son Anderson Contreras-Hernandez were detained by ICE. The family had fled Venezuela due to gang extortion and sought better medical care for two sons with sickle cell disease. After months in detention and legal proceedings, the family chose to return to Venezuela.

A woman identified as Alicia experienced severe abdominal pain, cramping, and vaginal bleeding while in ICE custody. Medical staff performed invasive procedures without consent and she was told she had miscarried, then returned to detention. She was denied follow-up medical care for over two months despite continued bleeding and severe pain. After deportation, she was diagnosed with a serious infection caused by lack of treatment during detention.

Four U.S. citizens were arrested and held at 26 Federal Plaza for nearly 24 hours without any federal charges during a joint ICE enforcement operation on Canal Street in Manhattan's Chinatown on October 21, 2025. The operation, described by ICE as targeting criminal activity related to counterfeit goods, also resulted in the detention of nine undocumented immigrants. The families of the arrested citizens filed missing persons reports with the NYPD before the four Americans were released approximately 30 minutes after Congressman Dan Goldman held a press conference about the arrests.

ICE agents were conducting operations in Santa Ana near Birch Street and Andrew Place early in the morning. Community watchers and legal observers responded to monitor the incident. An ICE agent pepper sprayed the area despite no one being near, and later remotely disabled a legal observer's vehicle engine while stopped at a red light on Main Street and Edinger Avenue.

Nayra Guzmán, a 22-year-old Mexican immigrant with pending asylum and visa applications, was detained by ICE in late October 2025 while traveling to a hospital to breastfeed her newborn daughter, who was in the NICU following birth complications. Guzmán had given birth via C-section approximately 15 days prior and was experiencing severe postpartum pain and a breast infection at the time of arrest. She was held at the Broadview ICE facility alongside her brother and mother, despite all three presenting valid work permits and documents showing they had been in the U.S. since 2022 after fleeing cartel violence in Mexico. During her approximately 34–36 hour detention, Guzmán was held in overcrowded conditions without adequate medical care, blankets, food, or water. A federal judge ordered the release of Guzmán and her family members, preventing their scheduled transfer to detention facilities in other states.

Zia S., a 36-year-old Afghan immigrant who served as a U.S. military interpreter, was detained by ICE on July 16, 2025, during a routine USCIS appointment in East Hartford, Connecticut, for biometric processing related to a Green Card application. Despite having lawful parole status until October 2026, no criminal convictions, and approval for humanitarian parole due to Taliban threats, he was moved to a detention facility in Plymouth, Massachusetts. A federal judge issued a 72-hour stay to prevent his deportation, and after nearly three months in custody, a second immigration judge ordered his release on a $15,000 bond on October 9, 2025. The government's subsequent motion to reverse the release was rejected on October 21, 2025. Zia was reunited with his wife and five children in Connecticut. His son Rihan was also detained by ICE in Plymouth during this period.

A pregnant woman in Berwyn, Illinois was confronted by an ICE agent who pointed a gun at her car window while she was honking her horn to alert people to the presence of ICE officers conducting an enforcement operation. The woman, Lesly Guevara, said she was attempting to warn her community about the agents' presence. A DHS spokesperson stated the agent acted to protect himself and showed restraint, and characterized Guevara's actions as aggressive and threatening.

An employee of a Chicago Public Schools vendor was taken into custody by federal immigration agents outside Decatur Classical School on the Far North Side. School officials stated no students witnessed the incident and emphasized that CPS will not cooperate with federal agents without a criminal judicial warrant.

Federal immigration officers shot a man in the elbow after he rammed their vehicle during an enforcement operation in Los Angeles. A deputy U.S. Marshal was struck in the hand by a ricochet bullet during the incident. The suspect was apprehended following the encounter.

2 hurt, including a US Marshal, after an ICE agent’s weapon discharged in LA immigration operation

Yassine Halhoul, a 21-year-old University of Arizona aerospace engineering student from Morocco, was detained by Homeland Security Investigations on October 21, 2025, due to a clerical visa issue. He spent approximately one month in ICE detention at Florence Correctional Center and Eloy Detention Center, where he reported poor conditions including inadequate food, interference with sleep, and frequent cell counts. After a GoFundMe campaign raised $18,500 for bail and legal expenses, Halhoul was released on November 13, 2025, with an ankle monitor.

21-year-old Judas Rivera, who immigrated to Arizona as a child, was detained by ICE agents on October 21, 2025, while traveling to work at Chick-fil-A. ICE initially and erroneously recorded his country of origin as Afghanistan instead of Mexico, a discrepancy only corrected after media inquiry. Rivera is currently held at the Eloy Detention Center awaiting a court hearing scheduled for November 7, 2025, that will determine his deportation status.

As protests continue outside the ICE facility in South Portland, Oregon, residents and local leaders are reporting health impacts from federal agents' use of tear gas and other chemical crowd control munitions. Area residents report symptoms including nausea, headaches, and respiratory issues. State lawmakers have expressed concerns about documented health effects including chemical burns and respiratory failure. Federal agents have deployed tear gas multiple times over recent weeks, with chemicals seeping into nearby apartments and affecting residents regardless of protest participation.

On October 19-20, 2025, approximately 98 men detained at Farmville Detention Center reported finding worms in their food and refused meals due to health and safety concerns. When detainees reported the contaminated food to staff, they were threatened with loss of commissary access in apparent retaliation. The incident reflects a pattern of dangerous conditions and medical neglect at the facility, which has a documented history of similar food contamination issues and retaliatory disciplinary actions.

ICE and FBI agents conducted a coordinated raid on La Catedral Arena racetrack in Wilder, Idaho on October 19, 2025, detaining 105 immigrants as part of an FBI-led investigation into illegal gambling operations. The operation involved hundreds of law enforcement officers and resulted in family separations, with officers detaining children separately from parents and restraining minors, including at least three people lawfully in the U.S. Witnesses reported the use of rubber bullets against crowds. According to attorneys, at least two immigrants who had overstayed visas were told they could face decades of imprisonment and were denied contact with family or attorneys until they agreed to deportation. Five people, including the track owner, were charged with felony counts related to illegal gambling. Those detained filed habeas corpus petitions challenging their detention.

Quinn Haberl, a blind protester, said federal agents at Portland's ICE facility dragged and handcuffed him twice during separate protest incidents. The first incident occurred Tuesday night when agents picked him up and dropped him on the ground. During the second incident on Saturday, agents dragged him across the driveway and held him for about an hour with pressure applied to his back and neck. Haberl was taken to the hospital where doctors documented bruising on his shoulders, hands, and arms.

Federal agents conducted an ICE raid at La Catedral Arena horse track in Wilder on Sunday, resulting in 105 undocumented people being arrested. The operation involved approximately 200 agents from multiple federal and local agencies and was connected to an FBI investigation into illegal gambling, with four people arrested on gambling charges. Witnesses reported chaotic scenes with children separated from parents in custody during the operation.