Human Impact Project

ProPublica previously received letters from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, where over 750 families and 370 single adult women were being held in early February, describing missing school and friends, lacking reliable medical care, and feeling scared and depressed. Since then, former detainees, lawyers and advocates report that guards have begun confiscating crayons, drawing paper and children's artwork during room searches, and that detainees have lost access to Gmail and other communication tools in the facility's library. Those interviewed said the restrictions intensified after the Jan. 22 arrival of a 5-year-old detainee sparked protests and congressional visits, and after children's and parents' letters and video calls drew public attention to conditions at the facility. One 7-year-old detainee wrote that he had been held 23 days with his mother and young sister, saying, "I cry a lot I want to get out of here go back to my school."

U.S. Border Patrol agents conducted raids around Bakersfield in Kern County in January 2025, stopping and arresting 78 people, predominantly Latinos and farmworkers, often without reasonable suspicion. Video circulated showing agents slashing the tires of a U.S. citizen gardener on his way to work during the operation. In April 2025, U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston issued an 88-page order finding the agents likely violated constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure, and ordered them to halt such stops and warrantless arrests in California's Eastern District, but Border Patrol continued operations in Los Angeles and Sacramento despite the court order.

A volunteer with Carpinteria Sin Fronteras was pepper-sprayed by an ICE agent on January 14 while observing and recording ICE vehicle stops from a public sidewalk. Video footage shows the agent deploying spray toward the volunteer, who was filming the encounter. The confrontation included a heated verbal exchange in which the agent stated that interfering with enforcement is a felony. No arrest was made, though the agent threatened federal charges against the volunteer.

A 46-year-old woman from Mexico was found dead by humanitarian volunteers near the border wall east of Sásabe, Arizona on Monday morning. Her 15-year-old son ran to volunteers for help, saying his mother had stopped breathing while in a vehicle that had been speeding toward the wall from Mexico. A volunteer who examined her found no visible injuries and said she did not appear to have died from exposure, despite overnight lows of 19 degrees in the area. She remains unidentified, though she was carrying documents indicating she was from Mexico, and the cause of death may take weeks to determine.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection conducted a multi-day enforcement operation in Kern County that resulted in 78 arrests, including farmworkers in the Central Valley. The operation, called Operation Return to Sender, resulted in widespread fear among immigrant families and workers, with many staying home from work and struggling to locate detained relatives. Border Patrol officials stated the operation targeted transnational criminal organizations. Community advocates and elected officials raised concerns about potential racial profiling and the impact on the agricultural industry.

Génesis Ester Gutiérrez Castellanos, a 5-year-old U.S. citizen who misses her cousins, classmates and kindergarten teachers in Austin, Texas, was deported to Honduras with her mother, Karen Guadalupe Gutiérrez Castellanos, after Austin police responding to a early-morning disturbance call found no incident but identified an ICE administrative warrant against the mother issued in 2019, before Génesis was born. ICE arrested both and, according to advocacy group Grassroots Leadership, held them incommunicado at a San Antonio hotel while pressuring them not to disclose their location, preventing attorneys from intervening before they were deported without a hearing. The mother briefly reached her brother by phone on January 7 to say they were about to be removed, and called from Honduras on January 11 to confirm the deportation; she has said she plans to send her daughter back to the U.S. with another relative.

Erika was arrested by ICE agents on January 10 during a traffic stop on County Road 42 in Burnsville, Minnesota, as part of Operation Metro Surge. She was transferred to federal immigration detention in El Paso, Texas. She had no prior removal order and only misdemeanor traffic infractions. She filed for cancellation of removal and is awaiting a second immigration court hearing, remaining detained over five months after her arrest.

Alvaro Arias was detained by ICE on January 10, 2025, while working on a home near the Imperial and Garfield area in Southgate, California. His family is raising funds to cover legal representation and associated case expenses.

Minnesota resident Nicole Cleland, who was observing ICE and CBP activity as a legal observer, was stopped by federal agents on January 10 after following their vehicle. An agent told her they used facial recognition technology to identify her. Three days later, her Global Entry and TSA PreCheck privileges were revoked, which Cleland believes was retaliation for her observation activities.

Lila Romero, 47, a Venezuelan psychologist living in Dallas, Texas, arrived in the U.S. in 2024 on a tourist visa and began applying for asylum. She was arrested during a traffic stop on January 9 after driving a family business vehicle without proper license plates, and was held for about three and a half months at the Bluebonnet detention center in Anson, Texas. While detained, she informally provided therapy to other women, diagnosing high levels of anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia and stress-related physical symptoms such as nervous hives, and she coped with her own confinement by treating the experience as a job. She now works helping immigrants and families affected by detentions and deportations, and has an immigration hearing scheduled for late September.

Ana Cañedo Luna, a business owner and long-term U.S. resident who was brought to the country at age 10, was arrested on January 9 after a traffic stop in Rock Springs, Wyoming, where she holds a valid work permit. She was transferred to the ICE Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, Colorado, where she spent five months and ten days in custody. Cañedo discovered that her previous lawyer had requested a voluntary departure without her knowledge or consent, prompting her to change legal representation. After switching to local attorneys and filing a writ of habeas corpus, she was released on June 19 and reunited with her wife, Gloria Guerra. Cañedo continues to fight her immigration case while dealing with the psychological trauma of her detention and remains fearful of future arrest, saying the experience felt like "psychological torture" and a "never-ending nightmare."

Ana Cañedo Luna, co-owner of Don Chingonas food truck and Club Elite nightclub in Rock Springs, was detained by ICE on January 9 following a traffic stop over a license plate registration error, despite holding valid work authorization. She was held for four days at the Sweetwater County Detention Center before being transferred to an ICE facility in Aurora, Colorado, where her case was later moved to the Board of Immigration Appeals in Virginia. After learning her previous attorney had requested a voluntary departure without her consent, Cañedo changed lawyers and fought to reopen her case; she was released after five months and 10 days in custody and reunited with her wife, Gloria Guerra. Cañedo, who came to the United States at age 10, said she has continuously pursued U.S. citizenship over the years.

Genry Ruiz-Guillen, a 29-year-old Honduran man with schizoaffective disorder, was transferred to ICE custody in October 2024 and held at Krome North Service Processing Center. While detained, he experienced seizures, dizziness, fainting spells, confusion, and loss of consciousness. In December he was hospitalized for acute psychosis and subsequently transferred to three Larkin Health System hospitals for psychiatric treatment and treatment of rhabdomyolysis, a life-threatening muscle breakdown condition. He died on January 8, 2025. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner ruled his cause of death as "complications of schizoaffective disorder," but medical experts including a former NYC chief medical examiner questioned this finding, noting mental illness alone cannot be a proper cause of death and citing concern about multiple medications in his system and the unresolved rhabdomyolysis.

Federal immigration officers detained a contractor in a parking lot at General Mills' Chanhassen facility in mid-January, an incident captured in a video shared on social media. General Mills said it asked agents for identification and followed its safety protocols, while the Carver County sheriff's office said it had no record of the arrest. The Department of Homeland Security later said officers pulled over and arrested an individual in the lot who had entered the country in 2023. The incident occurred amid increased ICE activity across Minnesota, with companies including Target and Caribou Coffee also affected and state officials warning of strain on businesses' payrolls.

State Rep. Hoan Huynh said federal Customs and Border Patrol agents stopped him at gunpoint on Chicago's Northwest Side while he was conducting community education about ICE rights. Six agents surrounded his vehicle near Montrose Avenue and Kimball Avenue, with one agent pulling a gun. A DHS official stated Huynh was stalking law enforcement and interfering with operations.

Juan Manuel Arellano Zepeda, a 48-year-old Mexican national and owner of El Fresco restaurant in Bloomington, was detained by ICE on January 6 and held in El Paso, Texas. Arellano Zepeda, who has lived in the U.S. for 25 years and has a pending Visa T application, was initially reported missing by his family after they found his car empty with the driver's side window rolled down. His daughter Laura Janyra Arellano Molina told Newsweek that her father called to say he was being taken to El Paso, and the family later identified him in ICE facility photos posted on social media. The restaurant described Arellano Zepeda as "always characterized by his kindness and respect toward his customers and the public." His family said he has no criminal record and has not had a court hearing as of the article's publication.

A 36-year-old father, Adrián Espinoza De La Cruz, and his 9-year-old daughter were detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Aug. 11 after leaving a United Way of Yellowstone County backpack giveaway in Billings, Montana, and were driven 250 miles to a detention facility in Havre. CBP said agents pulled over a driver at 10:15 a.m. near Overland Avenue; a federal judge later ordered the pair released, finding agents lacked probable cause or a warrant. United Way CEO Andrew Konkel said agents appeared to be staying at a nearby hotel and may have targeted families leaving the event, raising concerns about whether the event was being monitored for enforcement purposes. A second family was detained the next day after attending the same event and was later found to have legal status and released. Following the detentions, United Way warned more than 100 area nonprofits and began developing training on responding to immigration enforcement near community events.

A Brazilian man was caught up in a fight between detainees in the Krome canteen in late January. Staff took him outside and beat him. One guard choked him; when he bit in self-defense, another yanked his arm backwards, causing a serious injury. He was denied a sling and given only basic pain medication for a few days. In late March or early April, he sustained knee injuries during recreation. Despite visible swelling and signs of infection, he was denied timely care. By the time he was hospitalized, staff had to drain fluid from both knees. Hospital staff told him any further delay could have resulted in amputation. He required a wheelchair but was assigned to a top bunk at FDC despite repeated requests to be moved.

Marvin Hernandez Lopez, who entered the U.S. in 2013 and has been living here with family and a business, was detained by ICE while traveling to work last month. He argues ICE is wrongfully holding him under a statute requiring mandatory detention instead of one allowing bond hearings. The court granted a temporary restraining order preventing his transfer outside Florida's Middle District while his habeas petition is pending, but denied his request for immediate release or bond hearing.

In January 2025, agents held a 21-year-old U.S. citizen at gunpoint and handcuffed him during an immigration raid at the Philadelphia car wash where he worked.