Human Impact Project

Nine anti-ICE protesters were tried for their roles in a July 4, 2025 demonstration outside an ICE detention facility in Prairieland, Texas. Eight defendants were convicted of material support for terrorism charges, with prosecutors arguing that wearing black bloc clothing assisted in the shooting of a police officer by protester Benjamin Song. Song was convicted of attempted murder for shooting the officer in the neck and faces up to life in prison, while other defendants face up to 15 years on the terrorism charges.

Juan Antonio, who had lived in the United States for 36 years, was detained by ICE on July 4th while on his way to work. He is the father of three adult children, grandfather of two, and husband to his wife—all U.S. citizens. His daughter Denise describes him as "the heart of our family" who "always put our family first, working tirelessly" to care for them. His detention and threatened deportation have left his family facing financial instability and deep concern for his health while detained. The family is working with lawyers to secure his immediate release.

N.M.Z., a 6-year-old Honduran boy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, was arrested by ICE agents along with his mother and 9-year-old sister in the hallway outside a Los Angeles courthouse on May 29, 2025, following an asylum hearing. The family was held for one month at Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, where the boy missed a scheduled medical appointment and developed concerning symptoms including easy bruising, bone pain, and loss of appetite. After attorneys from Columbia Law School and the Texas Civil Rights Project filed a lawsuit, ICE released the family without a court order, transferring them to a shelter in South Texas before flying them to Los Angeles on July 2, 2025, where they were reunited with relatives. The Department of Homeland Security said the boy had been examined multiple times in custody and denied any medical neglect, while attorneys said public pressure played a significant role in the family's release. Upon return to California, the child developed severe trauma symptoms, including hiding under the bed when strangers passed apartment windows, sobbing and screaming if forced outside, and remaining terrified of anyone in uniform eight months after release.

Chih-Ming "Petey" Feng, a Taiwanese national and longtime line cook at high-profile Dallas restaurants including Bullion, Georgie, Quarter Acre, Carte Blanche, CBD Provisions and Charlie Palmer, was detained during a November 6, 2025 immigration check-in for overstaying his visa since 2010 and a 2023 DWI misdemeanor. After more than 130 days in ICE custody, he was deported to Taiwan and is now in Kaohsiung, where his parents live and his mother and sister are being treated for cancer. During his detention, Dallas restaurant consultant Leslie Brenner and others in the local restaurant community helped secure legal representation, funds and support for him.

A 36-year-old Salvadoran mother was detained by ICE agents on July 3 outside her home in Sherman Oaks and hospitalized at Glendale Memorial Hospital after a medical emergency during her arrest. Her family said ICE did not identify themselves or present a warrant, and she said officers twisted her arms, threw her to the ground and mocked her as she vomited. Detention officers have since maintained a presence in the hospital's lobby, prompting a July 7 community press conference attended by elected officials, hospital workers and advocates who called the presence intimidating. State Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, who met with the family and the hospital's CEO, announced she is co-authoring Senate Bill 81, which would require a judicial warrant before immigration officials can access nonpublic areas of medical facilities.

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell issued guidance on June 27 requiring officers responding to suspected federal immigration enforcement to request a supervisor, verify the credentials of the lead agent, and record the verification on body-worn camera. Officers may detain or arrest anyone found to be impersonating a federal agent, a policy shift discussed after the arrest of a man in Huntington Park accused of posing as an immigration agent. LAPD said it has fielded at least seven 911 calls reporting kidnappings that turned out to be ICE operations, and McDonnell emphasized that LAPD does not participate in immigration enforcement under state law. State Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez has separately introduced the “No Vigilantes Act” to bar bounty hunters from immigration enforcement and require visible identification by agents.

Text messages obtained by the ACLU show ICE agents in Long Beach, California discussing efforts to identify a woman using facial-recognition technology after she allegedly commented on TikTok admitting she was undocumented. One agent asked a colleague to run facial recognition off the woman's profile picture, questioning whether it was "good enough to facial rec," while sharing that she had described herself as "not a criminal and just hard working." The second agent replied there was "No match," though the exchange included the first agent mocking the woman's post and using an anti-Latino slur. Immigration attorney Víctor Nieblas has since publicly confirmed that immigration authorities are using facial recognition applications to investigate people, saying the agency is deploying significant resources toward such technology.

Ward Sakeik, a 22-year-old stateless Palestinian woman married to a U.S. citizen, was released from ICE detention on July 2, 2025, after being detained for nearly five months starting in February when she returned from her honeymoon. Sakeik, who has lived in the U.S. since age 8, was arrested at St. Thomas Airport in the U.S. Virgin Islands while under an order of supervision and with a green card application pending. The government attempted to deport her twice, including once while a federal court order was in place, before releasing her.

In North Palm Beach, Florida, an 18-year-old U.S. citizen pulled over in a traffic stop was told by an officer: 'You don't have any rights here. You are a Migo, brother.' He was taken into custody despite his mother, who was also a passenger, reportedly telling officers that he was a U.S. citizen and showing them a picture of his Social Security card. Florida Highway Patrol and Border Patrol agents had stopped a van with him, his mother, and two other workers, one of whom was tased and each put in a chokehold.

Outside San Francisco's immigration court, federal agents drove a vehicle through a crowd of protesters, with one protester clinging to the car before being flung into the street and nearly run over. Video also shows agents in body armor clashing with demonstrators and using pepper spray before the vehicle left the scene. One protester, who gave her first name as Sorin, said she was cut and bleeding after falling from the vehicle's hood.

A man fluent only in Mam, a Mayan language, muttered to himself and could not answer basic questions, including his home address, during his hearing before Immigration Judge Patrick O'Brien in San Francisco. O'Brien denied a Department of Homeland Security attorney's request to dismiss the case, which could have led to expedited removal, and instead granted a continuance so the man could find a lawyer. Within minutes of leaving the courtroom, he was arrested by ICE agents. His arrest was one of at least three that morning and part of more than 30 arrests by ICE at or near San Francisco's immigration court in recent weeks, including cases where judges had not approved dismissal or removal.

Two Southeast Asian migrants, clients of attorney Tin Thanh Nguyen, were deported to Eswatini in July 2025 and have been held in isolation without legal representation or explanation of charges. Neither the Vietnamese nor Laotian governments have publicly declined repatriation, and the governments have not had direct access to the men. The attorney states his clients wish to return to their home countries. The Trump administration has not explained why they were not repatriated to Vietnam or Laos, claiming such deportations are reserved for individuals their own countries will not accept—a claim the deportees' legal representatives dispute. A human rights lawyer in Eswatini sued authorities alleging the men were being denied legal representation while held in a maximum-security prison.

Alfredo Fuentes and Luz Mary Vasquez Cruz, relatives of a man targeted by ICE, were arrested after ICE agents entered their home without a judicial warrant. The agents threatened to break down the door and pointed guns at the family members, who told agents they had no warrant. Fuentes and Cruz were charged with forcibly assaulting, resisting, or impeding a federal officer.

A Cuban citizen who had been under ICE supervision since 2006 was detained by ICE in July 2025. He was held at Camp 57 in Angola, Louisiana, then transferred to Arizona where he was scheduled for deportation to Mexico. The court granted a temporary restraining order blocking his removal, finding he was denied proper notice and hearing before being deported to a third-party country where he has no connections.

Carmen, a woman who fled domestic violence and obtained a restraining order against her abusive husband, applied for a U-Visa in March 2025 after he was deported. Despite having a pending U-Visa application and valid work authorization, she was detained during a June 2025 immigration check-in and deported in July 2025 along with her 8-year-old son. Upon arrival in her home country, her husband was waiting for her at the airport. She is now controlled by him—he confiscates her passports and phone, forbids her from leaving the house without permission, and she lives in constant fear.

Marvin Isaac Caceres Maradiaga, a Honduran citizen with a 2023 removal order, was surveilled at his Tampa home by ICE agents who suspected his residence. When ICE confronted him, relatives emerged and an altercation began. ICE agents entered the home without a judicial warrant, obtaining only verbal "consent" after threatening to break down the door. Caceres fled but was later apprehended.

Are we in Moscow or Beijing ?Unmarked vans. Masked agents. Beating protesters into the concrete. And for what? For speaking out against ICE. They call it “impeding federal operations.” We call it what it is: kidnapping. All 3 were released with no charges. So why brutalize them in the first place? This is America in 2025. 👀 🎥This video is from July 2025 #usa #abolishice #humanity #abusive #power

Anh Dung Cong Tran, known as "Tony," was deported to Vietnam in July 2025 after living in the U.S. for decades. He came to the U.S. in 1990 through a program for children of American military personnel born in Vietnam. Tran, 56, had a son, Antonio, who served in the U.S. Army as a specialist before being discharged in March 2025 following a serious injury. Tran had been making regular check-ins with immigration authorities following an assault conviction soon after his arrival in the U.S. His son said his father had persuaded him to enlist in the military in 2022.

Army Sgt. Hedar Leonel Turcios Juárez's wife, Cristy Maryori Villafranca Trejo, was detained outside a Walmart near Fort Bliss, Texas in July 2025 after missing an immigration court appearance, with the couple's 6-year-old daughter present. She has since been held at Camp East Montana, a detention facility on Fort Bliss, where Turcios said she developed an infection and went about a week without clean clothing. In August 2026, authorities attempted to deport her but removed her from the flight after a legal appeal was raised; Turcios said neither he nor his lawyer have received updates on her case from immigration officials.

Alexis, a 15-year-old from Chiapas, Mexico, was detained on July 1 when Florida Highway Patrol stopped a vehicle he was traveling in with friends and handed him over to federal authorities. He had no criminal record. The teenager spent three days at Alligator Alcatraz, a controversial temporary detention facility consisting of tents and chain-link pens, housed with adults and handcuffed during transfer. Officers said he misrepresented his age upon arrest because he feared being separated from his group. His father, Ignacio, learned of his detention only after three days when one of Alexis's friends called from the facility. After Ignacio sent a photo of Alexis's birth certificate and authorities confirmed his age, the boy was transferred to a federal shelter for migrant children on July 4. Ignacio, who fled Chiapas in 2018 due to violence, is working to reunite with his son. State officials have said minors are not held at Alligator Alcatraz, though a draft operational plan for the facility included provisions for separating and supervising minors if present.