Human Impact Project

Rosalio Pelayo Salgado, detained by ICE on September 10, called his daughters from the Broadview processing facility to report being held in a room with at least 150 other men. He described officers yelling slurs, food and water being withheld based on behavior, and his anxiety medication being refused. His daughters protested at the facility on September 19, learning he was scheduled to be deported the following day.

A San Diego law firm filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court seeking to stop ICE from arresting asylum seekers at immigration court hearings. The lawsuit argues that courthouse arrests violate constitutional rights and due process and impact the immigration court system. The suit was filed on behalf of two asylum seekers arrested at San Diego's immigration court, both of whom had no criminal records and regularly attended their hearings.

The Department of Homeland Security stated that filming and posting videos of ICE agents constitutes "violence" and threatened to charge people who take videos and photos of agents conducting raids. DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said that "videotaping ICE law enforcement and posting photos and videos of them online is doxxing our agents."

Richard Antonio Goitia, a 37-year-old Venezuelan insurance agent and father of two young daughters, was detained by ICE following a traffic stop on September 9 in the Kissimmee area near Orlando, Florida. According to family members, police contacted immigration agents after asking for his documents, and ICE agents arrived within minutes and arrested him. Goitia has lived in the U.S. for about 11 years, has a pending asylum case, holds a valid work permit, and has no criminal record. His family started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for his legal defense.

Maria, 39, who came to El Paso from Ciudad Juárez on a visitor visa fleeing violence targeting her husband, a Mexican doctor now a naturalized U.S. citizen, was detained on Sept. 9, 2025, immediately after an immigration judge ordered her deportation at a hearing. About seven plainclothes, masked agents handcuffed her outside the courtroom and took her to the El Paso Processing Service Center, where she remained detained through Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. She was released Jan. 20, 2026, with an ankle monitor, and said she and her four U.S.-born children underwent family therapy after the ordeal.

Juan Lopez, a landscaper who had lived and worked in Des Moines for nearly four decades, was pulled over by five unmarked ICE vehicles while driving to work at Iowa Irrigation in Huxley. Agents smashed his truck's windows and removed him from the vehicle while he was on the phone with his partner, Laura Becerra, the mother of his seven children. Lopez is being held at the Polk County Jail under an ICE detainer, one of six Iowa county jails that holds ICE detainees. His daughter, Tiffany Lopez, said the family was "furious" over how he was detained, and advocacy group Escucha Mi Voz Iowa is demanding his release.

Jose Pescador Garcia, a 29+ year resident with no criminal record, was arrested by ICE on September 9, 2025, while traveling home from work. He is a married father of seven children (three biological, four stepchildren) who has paid taxes every year and maintained steady employment. Despite an approved petition and demonstrated good moral character, he has been denied bond twice and remains detained. His family is struggling financially to cover legal fees while his wife tries to support seven children alone.

Federal ICE agents apprehended two people in Maplewood using unmarked cars. According to local officials and advocacy groups, three masked ICE and Border Patrol agents loaded the two arrestees into unmarked, out-of-state vehicles on Prospect Street around 11 a.m. The local police department was not notified of the incident, and the township does not cooperate with ICE.

A woman who had been living legally in the United States for 47 years was detained by ICE over 22 bad checks.

Margarita Avila, a 50-year-old Houston mother, has been held in immigrant detention since March 2025 as the Trump administration seeks to deport her to Belize, a country she fled two decades ago due to threats against her family. She requested asylum more than a decade ago, and her case has remained pending since then. Her husband, José Avila, and their young sons, including 12-year-old Isaac and 10-year-old Jeremiah, have struggled with her absence, including during a Mother's Day church service where the boys had no mother to greet. José said, "It's really hard to see everything my wife is going through. It hurts not being able to be with my wife — and seeing my kids sad — because their mother is always around." Margarita is among tens of thousands of immigrants targeted for deportation under the Trump administration's stated goal of deporting 1 million immigrants annually.

Óscar Rascón Duarte, 58, a Mexican national, died on September 8, 2025, at Banner Desert Medical Center in Arizona while in ICE custody. He suffered from advanced-stage Alzheimer's disease, right kidney cancer, and hepatitis C. Rascón Duarte entered the United States in September 1976 as an undocumented immigrant near Douglas, Arizona. In 2004, while in Arizona Department of Corrections custody, ICE initiated deportation proceedings against him and transferred him to Eloy Detention Center. On January 15, 2025, ICE arranged long-term care for him at a medical facility due to his advanced medical conditions. He remained hospitalized in long-term medical care until his death. ICE stated that the cause of death is under investigation and that the Mexican Embassy was notified of his death. His death was one of 17 Mexican immigrant deaths in ICE custody or during immigration enforcement operations during the Trump administration's mass immigration crackdown, prompting Mexico's government to file complaints and demand investigations.

Oscar Rascon Duarte, a 58-year-old Mexican national, died on September 8, 2025, while in ICE custody at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, Arizona, where he had been hospitalized for an extended period. According to ICE, Rascon Duarte had advanced-stage Alzheimer's disease, right kidney cancer, and hepatitis C. On January 15, 2025, ICE arranged long-term care for him at Promise Hospital in Mesa. ICE stated that the cause of death was under investigation and notified the Mexican Embassy of his death.

Leodegario Martínez Barradas, a flower vendor, was arrested by federal immigration agents in Chicago's Archer Heights neighborhood on September 7, 2025, during the launch of Trump's "Operation Midway Blitz" immigration enforcement operation. He was deported to Mexico within days. The Trump administration claims the operation targets criminal immigrants. Barradas had no known violent criminal record.

Jesus Munoz-Gutierrez, a Mexican migrant who had been ordered deported to Mexico by an immigration judge in 2005, was instead placed on a deportation flight to South Sudan in July 2025 as part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Immigration officials said he had recently been identified as a member of a criminal organization. He was one of eight men deported to South Sudan on July 5 after a legal battle, and a federal judge ruled the flight violated a court order requiring migrants be given a meaningful opportunity to object to their removal. Mexico later accepted his return after receiving assurances he would not face torture or inhumane treatment, and he was repatriated to Mexico.

Hilda Gloria Yanez-Zavala, who came to the U.S. from El Salvador three years ago and was granted asylum, was detained during an immigration raid at a factory in Cato where she worked legally. She was separated from her two sons and held in detention for a month before deciding to self-deport. Her two sons remained in America.

Jorge, an Ecuadorian national, was detained by ICE agents at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan on September 6, 2025, while his eight-month pregnant wife Jessica waited outside. Three days later, their daughter was born, and Jorge was deported to Ecuador without meeting her. Jorge had fled Ecuador after his brother was killed by gang members and faced continued danger there. He was attempting to resolve his immigration status after marrying Jessica, a U.S. citizen who had become a citizen in 2023, and was wearing an ankle monitor when arrested during a required court appearance. Jessica, now caring for their newborn daughter Maite Cristina, their 9-year-old son Dylan from her previous marriage, and Jorge's daughters from a prior relationship, faces financial hardship and fears for Jorge's safety in Ecuador. They are waiting for an I-130 family petition to be approved to reunite.

Orville Etoria, a 62-year-old Jamaican man with legal permanent residence in the U.S., was deported to Eswatini in July 2025 despite serving his sentence and complying with ICE supervision orders. After his release from prison in 2021, he lived in New York, obtained a master's degree in theology, and worked at a men's shelter while reporting regularly to ICE. When ICE requested he obtain a Jamaican passport earlier in 2025, he complied, but was instead sent to Eswatini rather than Jamaica. His family did not know his whereabouts for several days, and his attorneys report they have been unable to contact him and fear for his safety. Jamaican officials stated their country does not refuse repatriation of its nationals.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers conducted a raid at a construction site near CIA headquarters in Virginia. Construction workers fleeing the raid attempted to scale fences surrounding the CIA complex during the morning commute. ICE did not notify the CIA in advance of the operation. No workers breached security or posed a threat to the facility.

Eight migrants from Burma, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, Mexico, and South Sudan were detained in a converted shipping container at a U.S. military base in Djibouti for more than six weeks while awaiting appeals filed by their lawyers. On July 5, 2025, they were deported to South Sudan. ICE agents transporting them described the living conditions as 'outrageous.' Mexican citizen Jesús Muñoz was subsequently repatriated to Mexico in early September, and South Sudanese citizen Peter Domach was released. Six other deportees' whereabouts remain unknown, with lawyers suggesting they may be imprisoned at the Blue House, South Sudan's National Security Services headquarters. The South Sudan government stated it would guarantee their safety but refused to disclose their location or eventual fate.

Federal ICE agents raided Nutrition Bar Confectioners, a family-owned nutrition bar manufacturer in Cato, New York, on September 4, 2025, detaining 57 workers. The raid separated nursing mothers from infants under one year old and affected elementary school-aged children whose parents were detained. Five of the 57 detainees were criminally charged with unauthorized re-entry after prior deportation, while the remaining 52 faced deportation proceedings. Governor Kathy Hochul visited the facility and expressed concern that detaining parents put at least a dozen children at risk of returning from school to an empty house.