Human Impact Project

Kwadwo, a 57-year-old respiratory therapist who has lived in Daly City for eight years, was arrested by a plainclothes ICE agent at his gate at San Francisco International Airport while waiting to board a domestic flight to visit his cousin in Dallas, who was recovering from a stroke. After clearing security, he was surrounded by officers who chained his feet, waist, and hands in the arrivals area near baggage claim in front of other travelers, before he was taken to a federal immigration building downtown and then transported through Stockton to the Golden State Annex detention center outside Bakersfield, where he has been held for more than two months. Kwadwo fled religious persecution as a Christian in Ghana at age 28, was granted asylum in South Africa, later earned a master's degree in respiratory care in the U.S., and was earning more than $166,000 a year supporting his family, including his son's graduate studies. His detention stems from an expired student visa; his green card application was rejected in June 2024, his first appeal was denied, and a second appeal filed in May 2025 remains pending. He filed a habeas corpus petition on his own behalf, but a judge denied his bond citing flight risk, and he is appealing while continuing to challenge his detention in immigration court. His son said the arrest has been a major financial and emotional stressor for the family, noting, "It feels like they're just trying to find people to fill up prisons."

Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan man who entered the U.S. legally through the CBP One program in 2024 and worked as an Austin DoorDash driver while pursuing a pending asylum claim with a valid work permit, was shot by an ICE agent during a September 20, 2026 traffic stop in North Austin. Federal prosecutors allege he struck an agent with his car's side mirror and led officers on a high-speed chase before trying to strike an agent with his car, prompting the shooting; he has been charged with assaulting, resisting, interfering and impeding a federal officer, facing up to 20 years in prison. Garcés Pérez disputes this account, saying an unmarked ICE vehicle rammed and spun his car before he was shot through the back window. He was released from Dell Seton Medical Center with the bullet still lodged near his spine and a fractured clavicle, then transferred to the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall. His attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said he missed an immigration hearing due to notice sent to an old address and appeared in court 'clearly very confused and distraught' and in pain without medication, and filed a lawsuit seeking to stop his removal. U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, who visited him, described him as 'in very rough shape' and in a wheelchair, with a specialist warning surgery is needed to avoid losing feeling on his left side. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and Reps. Casar and Joaquin Castro have called for an independent investigation, release of body camera footage, and his release for medical care.

Lianyong Wei, a 51-year-old Chinese national who had lived in Saipan since entering the U.S. in 2019 on a two-week parole authorization, died in ICE custody at the Northern Mariana Islands Department of Corrections. Local police had arrested Wei on August 21, 2026, on criminal charges including an alleged attack on a family and assault with a dangerous weapon, and he was transferred to ICE custody the next day to face removal proceedings. He was found dead with a bedsheet tied to his bunk and around his neck, with reports differing on whether he was discovered unresponsive during a routine morning check less than a day after entering custody or two days later; resuscitation efforts at a hospital failed. It remains unclear whether he received a required medical intake screening. Corrections Commissioner Anthony Torres extended condolences to Wei's family and said the department is reviewing its procedures. His cause of death remains under investigation, and the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles has demanded a thorough inquiry, noting he is at least the fifth Chinese national to die in ICE or Border Patrol custody since March 2025. His death has been recorded among dozens of detainee deaths reported by ICE since 2025.

Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban migrant and father of four who suffered from asthma, bipolar disorder and anxiety, died on January 3, 2026, at Camp East Montana, an ICE detention facility at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, following a physical altercation with guards. Fellow detainee Antonio Frometa Ascón, who knew Campos from their time together at Guantánamo, said he watched guards beat and handcuff Campos as he begged for his inhaler before he was taken away and never returned; other witnesses heard him scream 'I can't breathe!' and 'You're suffocating me,' with his last words reportedly being 'I cannot breathe, may God bless me.' The El Paso County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide from asphyxia due to neck and torso compression, citing hemorrhages and abrasions on his chest and knees. DHS maintains Campos was attempting to harm himself and that guards were trying to save his life, while ICE's account of the incident changed multiple times. A federal GAO report found the facility's contractor failed to provide required use-of-force and death reports and that evidence was missing or destroyed. No one has been charged, and an ICE internal investigation is on hold pending an FBI criminal investigation. His death was among 37 detainee deaths in ICE custody reported since last fall, the deadliest year on record for the agency.

Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center and a U.S. citizen, was fatally shot by federal agents on January 24, 2026, while peacefully observing and filming a protest against Operation Metro Surge immigration enforcement in Minneapolis. Witnesses and bystander video showed agents shoving him, spraying him with a chemical agent, and beating him with a metal canister before an agent removed a gun from his hip holster and shot him ten times; footage contradicted federal authorities' initial claims of self-defense. Although Pretti was a legal firearm owner with a carry permit, he did not brandish a weapon or attack agents. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and other officials rejected the federal government's characterization of the shooting. Pretti's death, along with that of fellow protester Renee Good weeks earlier, was among at least 14 shooting incidents during the enforcement surge and led to the removal of ICE commander Gregory Bovino, the resignation of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, deployment of 'border czar' Tom Homan to Minnesota, and congressional scrutiny of use-of-force policies.

Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, mother of three, poet, and legal observer, was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on January 7, 2026, while monitoring an immigration enforcement operation on Portland Avenue in south Minneapolis. Good had blocked the street with her Honda Pilot to warn neighbors of ICE's presence when Ross fired three shots as her car turned away from officers. Her wife, Becca, said they were simply warning neighbors. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and President Trump called her actions 'domestic terrorism,' but video evidence, a New York Times analysis, Human Rights Watch, and an independent autopsy found she posed no imminent threat. Protesters gathered at the ICE Field Office in St. Paul the following day, where agents responded with pepper balls, mace, and tear gas. Good's death, alongside that of fellow protester Alex Pretti, contributed to a shift in the administration's public enforcement approach; the administration blocked a federal criminal investigation, Noem was later fired, hundreds of federal agents were withdrawn from Minnesota, and Good's family filed a federal tort claim with her case presented at an Inter-American Commission on Human Rights hearing.

Three workers from Guatemala at Chile & Chili's Taqueria in Tallahassee, Florida were detained during an ICE raid on September 25 while reportedly finalizing their immigration paperwork. Security footage showed the workers fleeing before officers apprehended and handcuffed some of them, including a woman, and took them to a vehicle. The remaining staff, described as immigrants legally residing in the U.S., quit out of fear afterward, prompting the owner to close the Tennessee Street location citing safety concerns. The owner started a GoFundMe that raised nearly $13,000 to help the detained workers' families with living expenses. The Tallahassee Immigrant Rights Alliance and other local organizers planned a rally to protest the raid at the business location.

Mark Louis Santiago Mabasa, son of slain Filipino radio broadcaster Percy Lapid, was detained by US immigration authorities in Los Angeles, California. He is currently being held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, according to the ICE Online Detainee Locator System. His uncle, Roy Mabasa, confirmed the arrest but said the family has not yet received details about the reason for it. The family had been in the process of seeking political asylum in the United States after Lapid was ambushed and killed in the Philippines in October 2022.

ICE conducted a three-day operation called 'Operation Safe Community - Kansas' from September 22-24, 2026, arresting 104 people across Dodge City, Garden City, Liberal, Hutchinson, Larned, and other southwest Kansas communities without advance notice to local officials. Liberal Vice Mayor Janeth Vazquez witnessed agents detain a mother with a baby in her car, prompting a community volunteer to arrange for a family member to retrieve the child. Immigrant rights advocates said families of some detainees reported no criminal records, while the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Kansas named five arrestees with convictions including homicide, kidnapping, and sexual assault, and rejected claims the operation amounted to discriminatory 'sweeps.' Residents also reported dangerous driving by agents and racial profiling of U.S. citizens. The operation caused widespread fear, with 120 students absent from one elementary school, businesses closing for the week, and workers missing shifts at meat plants including National Beef and Cargill. Officials did not release a full roster of those arrested or disclose their detention locations.

An Iranian woman in her early 30s who fled Iran after converting to Christianity was detained by ICE and ultimately deported to the Central African Republic, a country she had never visited and that the U.S. government warns citizens to avoid due to violent crime and civil war. She entered the U.S. without authorization at the southern border in 2024 and had settled in Atlanta before being held at Stewart Detention Center in South Georgia. Speaking to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution after learning of the planned deportation, she said, "I just started shaking. I was just so scared. I don't have anyone (over) there. I don't know the language, or anything." She was deported only three days after her arrest, one of the few Iranian nationals removed since fighting between the U.S. and Iran began, as deportations of Iranians have otherwise nearly halted because Iran and other countries have been unwilling to issue travel documents.

Elder Chavez Carranza, an 18-year-old junior at Asbury High School in Albertville, Alabama, was detained by ICE on December 30, 2025, after a state trooper stopped him for speeding and driving without a license and contacted immigration officials. Chavez Carranza, originally from Copan, Honduras, fled violence and poverty and entered the U.S. at age 14, later being granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, though a separate deferred-action and green card application remains unresolved. He is held at Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana, where he says he has lacked adequate food and dental care, works as a painter earning $1 per day, and shares a room with 54 other men. His sister and legal guardian, Maryuri Chavez Carranza, a former teacher, said he calls her daily and misses his teachers, friends, senior year activities, and the birth of his nephew. By September 2026 he had spent more than 200 days in detention, as advocates including Angela Del Valle organized vigils across three states and raised concerns about conditions at Winn, where two detainees had died in less than two months.

ICE agents arrested Emilio Osorio-Osorio, a Guatemalan national, in Baltimore. The agency described him as having a criminal history including homicide and assault. Osorio-Osorio will remain in ICE custody while removal proceedings move forward.

A Venezuelan man identified only as Y was stopped by immigration officers at Phoenix Sky Harbor airport, who he said would not tell him why he was being arrested or accept his proof of a judicial order expressly prohibiting his deportation to Venezuela. Four days later he was placed on a deportation flight to Venezuela, but was deboarded just before takeoff after ICE officers admitted they may have made a mistake.

Aminata Seck, 26, a Kentucky State University graduate student, senior, and women's basketball player from Dakar, Senegal, was detained by federal officers at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on Aug. 7, 2026, while preparing to travel with her team to a tournament in New York. Seck entered the U.S. on a student visa in 2019; her attorney, Sadiqa Reynolds, said she may have missed a visa deadline while recovering from back surgery and never received notice of a September 2025 hearing that led to an in absentia removal order issued Sept. 8, 2025. Reynolds said Seck has been moved among at least four detention facilities, has an ACL injury and torn Achilles requiring surgery, and received inconsistent medical care, including only ibuprofen at times, while DHS said she was referred to a hospital on Sept. 21 for knee pain. Attorney Hishem Alsalman said Seck has also experienced seizures. By Sept. 23, Seck was found hospitalized and appearing sedated, with hospital staff denying her attorneys phone or visitor access; her attorneys filed a motion to reopen her case in Memphis Immigration Court and a habeas corpus petition with an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order in federal court in Kentucky, prompting Chief U.S. District Judge David J. Hale to order the government to respond by Sept. 28. Kentucky State coach Amani Williams and Rep. Morgan McGarvey have both publicly supported Seck, with Reynolds saying the coach has treated her like a mother would her own child, and McGarvey stating, 'The Trump administration's cruelty knows no bounds but we will never let this become normal and we won't stop fighting for her.'

ICE's Dallas field office conducted a summer-long enforcement operation around Lake Lewisville, Texas, running from June 27 through Labor Day weekend, resulting in 121 arrests. The operation was carried out with state and local partners, including the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, U.S. Marshals Service and Lewisville Police Department, allowing local agencies to focus on boating safety enforcement while also supporting investigations into an alleged illegal livery operation on the lake. Officials said those arrested were unlawfully present foreign nationals, many with prior criminal records including assault, theft, burglary, DWI, evading arrest, family violence, criminal mischief and sexual assault of a child, and that two were alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang. During one arrest, officers said they found a 13-year-old girl in a vehicle with Diego Gomez Hernandez, 22, a Mexican national; her legal guardian was contacted and Lewisville police opened a follow-up investigation under Texas law.

Three undocumented brothers from Honduras, who shared an apartment in New Bedford and worked in construction and as laborers, were detained by ICE agents while doing their family's weekly grocery run at a Market Basket. Their sister-in-law Maria said federal vehicles surrounded the men as they arrived, and agents were 'pretty aggressive' toward the brother who was driving, twisting his arm behind his back. The family says none of the three have criminal records, and one had lived in the U.S. for 14 years. Maria described the brothers as 'hardworking and very kind' men who doted on their baby niece, and said their elderly mother has been especially distressed by the detentions. The brothers are being held at Plymouth's ICE detention center.

Deng Dhieu Kuach Deng, a 19-year-old freshman basketball player at Southern Connecticut State University from Aweil, South Sudan, was detained by ICE agents on September 4, 2026 while attempting to board a domestic flight at Tweed New Haven Airport to visit his girlfriend in North Carolina. A witness described the arresting officers as 'very aggressive.' Deng had a pending asylum application with a valid Employment Authorization Document and no criminal history; attorneys Glenn Formica and Steven Strom filed a habeas corpus petition alleging an officer falsely claimed he had violated Temporary Protected Status he never held, and that his Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights were violated. He was held at the Wyatt Detention Facility in Rhode Island, which Formica described as involving 'hyper stress' conditions including sleeping on cement floors with foil blankets and broken toilets. Following advocacy from attorneys, university community members, and New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker, Deng was released on September 16. Sen. Richard Blumenthal called the detention unnecessary and illegal and sought an investigation into the regional ICE field office; SCSU said it remained in contact with him and was assisting where appropriate.

Brian José Morales García, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen born in Denver who holds dual Mexican citizenship and does not speak English, was deported to Mexico after being pulled over near Fredericksburg, Texas while riding with a construction crew to his job installing air conditioners. Officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety and Gillespie County Sheriff's Office, working under 287(g) partnerships with ICE, refused his offer to retrieve his Social Security card and birth certificate from his Austin home, and he was held five days before signing removal paperwork out of fear of prolonged detention. He spent about four months living with relatives in Mexico, where he enjoyed watching soccer including Liga MX, before his attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, secured an agreement with the federal government allowing him to return to Austin after submitting proof of his citizenship. DHS maintained it had not arrested a citizen, while Morales continues to pursue a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging racial profiling.

Carol Williams Black was detained by ICE for roughly seven months as part of a legal dispute over bond hearings for noncitizens with criminal records fighting deportation. His case became moot after he received a final order of removal and permanently left the United States, prompting the Supreme Court to focus its review on a different detainee's case.

D.C., a 62-year-old Dominican citizen who entered the U.S. without authorization, has been held by ICE since September 2025 after completing a state prison sentence tied to a 1998 drug conviction, along with earlier convictions for possessing a forged instrument, a domestic assault, and criminal contempt. A district court ordered that he receive a bond hearing under Second Circuit precedent requiring hearings when mandatory detention becomes 'unreasonably prolonged,' but denied his request for immediate release. The Trump administration is now asking the Supreme Court to review the case, known as Genalo v. D.C., to decide whether the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that he poses a flight risk or danger to remain in custody.