Human Impact Project

An undocumented landscaper known as Esdras was detained during a May 2 traffic stop by Florida Highway Patrol and Border Patrol agents while driving to a landscaping job with his coworkers. Video footage shows officers pulling him out of the van by his leg and neck, forcing him to the ground while he was rigidly resisting, and tasering him twice in the stomach despite no indication of a threat. He spasmed and fell crying to the pavement. Esdras was transferred to the Krome Detention Center in Miami and faces deportation proceedings, though he has been released on bail.

Kenny Laynez, an 18-year-old U.S. citizen born in West Palm Beach, was detained for six hours by Florida Highway Patrol and Border Patrol agents on May 2 after being stopped while driving to a landscaping job with his mother and two undocumented coworkers. Video footage captured officers using physical force against Laynez, twisting his arms and pushing him face-down to the pavement, while tasering one of his coworkers twice. An officer told Laynez, "You have no rights here. You are a 'Migo,' brother," after Laynez asserted his citizenship. Laynez was eventually released from a Riviera Beach federal facility after agents confirmed his citizenship status, but was charged with misdemeanor obstruction without violence and entered a pretrial diversion program.

Over a dozen U.S. citizens have been caught up in the Trump administration's immigration enforcement crackdown, according to interviews, court records and news reports. Attorneys, civil rights advocates and immigration scholars have stated that citizens face vulnerability in a system with faster processing and fewer procedural safeguards.

In Arizona, a woman watering her flowers spoke with two men who said they were from Tucson Electric Power and were looking for a resident who wanted a 'free estimate.' She watched as they entered her neighbor's yard. Noticing one had a badge under his shirt, she suspected they were immigration agents and ran to warn her neighbor, a Honduran man who had lived in the community for more than a decade, before he let them into his home.

After a Guatemalan woman gave birth at Tucson Medical Center in Arizona while in Border Patrol custody, she was told she faced immediate deportation and would have to decide whether to take her U.S.-citizen newborn daughter with her. Agents stationed at the hospital refused to let her attorney access her so that she could sign a G-28 form. After public pressure and intervention from local officials and counsel, the mother and baby were released into the care of a nonprofit in Phoenix.

An evangelical pastor, construction business owner, and father of five U.S.-citizen children was detained at a routine ICE check-in in Florida despite having a stay of removal and years of regular reporting. He was deported to Guatemala weeks later.

A Mexican national who has lived in Tucson for nearly 15 years was detained by immigration agents outside St. Joseph's Hospital while leaving with a cousin who had sought emergency care there. His wife said hospital staff had repeatedly questioned the cousin about his Social Security number and legal status before agents arrived in an unmarked vehicle. The man is being held at the Florence Correctional Center with a hearing scheduled for May 15. His wife and two stepdaughters, ages 11 and 16, said they are devastated by his arrest and fear he could be deported to Mexico.

ICE agents conducted a search warrant raid at an Oklahoma City residence as part of a human smuggling investigation. The warrant named suspects who no longer lived at the property. Agents forcibly removed a U.S. citizen mother and her three daughters, seized their phones, laptops, and cash savings, and ordered them outside in the rain. Homeland Security later acknowledged the family were not the intended targets of the investigation.

The Trump administration has expanded immigration detention by moving hundreds of immigrants to federal prisons run by the Bureau of Prisons, including facilities in Atlanta, Miami, Philadelphia, Berlin, and Leavenworth, where detainees report moldy food, overcrowding, denial of legal access, and being cut off from attorneys and families. At Miami's Federal Detention Center, detainees, their lawyers and relatives describe cockroach infestations, broken toilets overflowing with waste, extreme heat, and medical complaints being ignored, conditions corroborated by a prison employee. ICE data show an average daily population of 460 at the Miami facility as of early April, with numbers rising after detainees were relocated there following fires near the Krome detention center. The Bureau of Prisons said it was addressing air conditioning issues, while families say many detainees had already completed sentences for past convictions before entering immigration custody.

A 25-year-old Australian woman and former New South Wales police officer was detained by U.S. border officials at Honolulu's airport in May 2025 while visiting her husband, a U.S. Army lieutenant stationed on Oahu. It was her third visit since their December 2024 wedding. During secondary inspection, officers questioned her about her tattoos and the legitimacy of her marriage, then subjected her to fingerprinting, a DNA swab, and a strip and body cavity search before holding her overnight and deporting her to Australia.

Daniel Flores Martinez was detained by ICE agents on Mother's Day 2025 after federal officers in unmarked cars surrounded his vehicle as he, his wife Kenia Guerrero, their three children (ages 3, 12 and 14) and his mother-in-law drove to church. Agents, who never identified themselves or their agency, broke the car window, dragged Flores Martinez out, and slammed him to the ground while his children screamed; Guerrero, who along with her children is a U.S. citizen, was restrained against the vehicle when she tried to intervene. Flores Martinez and Guerrero have since filed a federal lawsuit against ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, alleging the agents used illegal "smash and grab" tactics in violation of constitutional protections.

Sen Miao Lin, a 67-year-old Chinese man, was detained at Delaney Hall ICE detention center where he repeatedly asked for but never received medication for his Type 2 diabetes and hypertension for nearly a month. At one point during his detention, he collapsed, lost consciousness, and was rushed to the emergency room. His attorney filed a federal lawsuit alleging this medical neglect in May 2025. His case is one of over 70 lawsuits filed by detainees at Delaney Hall alleging medical neglect and deficiencies at the facility.

A man was detained by ICE in February 2026 during a scheduled check-in and deported to Laos in early May, leaving his wife and five sons, ages 3 to 17, in South St. Paul without their primary financial provider. ICE agents blocked his wife's car while she was driving to work on Feb. 4, telling her they would arrest him the next morning; she negotiated the extra day so the family could say goodbye before his deportation. The family has since relocated and relied on extended family support to manage the financial hardship resulting from his removal.

ICE agents detained Clemente Chilel Ramírez at his Phoenix apartment on April 29th after he returned from work, with his three children present during the operation. According to ICE, Ramírez had a deportation order issued in 2024 for illegally re-entering the United States after being expelled in 2016. Agents used a battering ram to enter the apartment, which ICE stated they had a search warrant for. Ramírez has no criminal record.

Cristian Ivan Ceballos Vega was arrested on felony voyeurism and misdemeanor criminal trespass charges after allegedly entering a family's property and engaging in sexually gratifying conduct while looking into their home where minors were present. ICE confirmed he is not lawfully in the United States. The arrest resulted from a joint effort by Ferris DPS, Texas DPS, U.S. Marshals Service, and ICE.

Refugio Ramirez Ovando, 43, was arrested in May 2025 while on his way to work at a construction concrete company in Grand Junction. ICE detained him for three months, and an agent later admitted the arrest was a mistake made in an effort to find someone else. The ACLU filed a lawsuit on his behalf challenging the arrest and detention.

Luis Fernando Cabrera, an 18-year-old senior at Northeast Early College High School in Austin, was released from ICE custody on May 20, 2026, after being detained on May 1 while driving home from his job at Popeyes. A federal judge ordered his release and barred the Department of Homeland Security from deporting him while his ongoing asylum case is processed. Cabrera will be able to attend his high school graduation.

After months in ICE detention in Tacoma, Rakesh Rakesh volunteered to self-deport to India but was mistakenly placed on a flight to Sitka, Alaska instead of New York. Alaska Airlines staff assisted him with meals, lodging, and rebooking at no charge. Upon his return to Seattle, ICE re-detained him at the Northwest ICE Processing Center for an additional 16 days before completing his deportation, prompting him to conduct a hunger strike to protest the situation.

ICE officers arrested dozens of delivery and rideshare drivers at the gates of Camp Pendleton military base in California as part of an "interagency security initiative" launched in May 2025. Many of those detained had temporary permission to work in the U.S. and were employed by apps like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and GrubHub. Federal judges have repeatedly found the detentions violated due process, yet the base and ICE continue the practice.

19-year-old Javier Salazar, a Venezuelan who came to the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor in 2022, was arrested in Maryland and detained by ICE on suspicion of gang membership based on a photo showing what may have been a toy water pistol. A Supreme Court intervention blocked his deportation to El Salvador hours before he was to be removed. His legal battle continues as the Trump administration seeks to expedite his removal.