Human Impact Project

A year after federal agents launched mass immigration raids across Los Angeles in June 2025, arrests in the region have increased roughly sevenfold compared with the same period the previous year, as agencies shifted resources from the border to local neighborhoods. One worker, Giovanni, was detained for six months at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center after being taken from the car wash where he had worked for years, while his wife and school-age children waited at home not knowing if he would be deported. Advocates say the raids have affected daily life, work and community safety efforts among Latino and immigrant families.

Paigelynne Gonyea, a poll worker in Syracuse, New York, said two ICE officers visited her at a polling site on June 23, 2026, during state primaries to question her about a January social media post naming Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis during anti-ICE demonstrations. The officers presented a written notice from ICE's Office of Professional Responsibility alleging she may have violated laws against publicly posting officers' personal information; Gonyea again refused to sign it, saying doing so would be an admission of guilt. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, Lauren Bis, said Gonyea committed a federal crime by posting Ross's address online and that she would be investigated for doxing, while another poll worker, Sheilia Milledge, recorded the encounter on video. Court documents have indicated ICE's OPR investigated 131 cases of alleged doxing and threats against its employees between January 2025 and March 2026.

A 20-year-old Ecuadorian woman was detained at 26 Federal Plaza immediately after her first immigration hearing on June 24, where a judge had scheduled her next court date for March 2026. She was held for nine days without charge, without access to an attorney, and without a bed—sleeping on the floor alongside at least 70 other detainees—while lights stayed on, heat was unbearable, and food was minimal, often just cookies thrown into the cell. On July 4 she was transferred to the Richwood Detention Facility in Louisiana before a New York judge could review a habeas corpus petition filed on her behalf, and she was later released from ICE custody following a federal judge's order. She had fled threats and stalking in Ecuador before joining her family in New York in 2024 after crossing into the U.S. at El Paso, and said: "A human being doesn't deserve to be treated that way. They had us in there like animals."

Roberto Chilavert Olmedo was held at 26 Federal Plaza for days during the summer 2025 surge in ICE arrests. In written testimony presented to the federal court, he described the experience as a nightmare, stating: "My time at 26 Federal Plaza still haunts me. It is a nightmare and I cannot believe that human beings can be treated like that in a place like the United States."

Reyes's husband, an undocumented construction worker, was detained last June when Florida Highway Patrol stopped his car over a plastic cover obscuring his license plate. He was charged with unlawful alteration of vehicle registration and driving without a license, then transferred to ICE custody and held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego. Reyes, who had been a stay-at-home mother of two children (ages eight and twelve), began working as a babysitter and selling homemade food to support the family and pay for her husband's legal fees, which totaled approximately $13,000. The family nearly faced eviction before relatives contributed $5,000 in back rent. After about one year in detention, an immigration judge granted her husband bond of approximately $1,500 in July 2026. A non-profit group outside the detention center and El Pueblo Unido provided additional funds for his plane ticket home. He arrived in Sarasota in the middle of the night, and for the first time in a year, reunited with his children. The family continues to fight his deportation case amid mixed emotions of relief and uncertainty.

Ramiro G., a 33-year-old man from Ecuador living in Buffalo, New York, was walking to work when he noticed an unmarked van trailing him. He texted his wife: 'Don't come outside, I think ICE is here.' When the van turned on its lights, masked officers asked for identification. Because he was undocumented, he had nothing to show and was arrested. He was handcuffed and taken to Buffalo (Batavia) Service Processing Center before being transferred to Camp East Montana.

Alonso C., a 72-year-old Cuban man who had lived in the United States for over 46 years and had a valid work permit, was playing dominos outside a bodega in Miami when masked agents without visible name tags approached looking for a man called 'El Flaco.' Although Alonso said he did not know the person and produced his work permit, agents handcuffed and arrested him. 'They didn't have a warrant, they didn't even show their faces. They didn't care that I had my permit,' he said. He was taken to Krome North Service Processing Center and eventually transferred to Camp East Montana.

Jesús, a 10-year employee at Westchester Hand Wash and primary breadwinner for his family, was arrested during ICE raids in Los Angeles in June 2025 and detained in El Paso. Immigration agents pressured him to sign documents without his glasses, and he unknowingly waived his right to remain in the U.S. He was deported to Mexico, leaving behind his wife Noémi and their four U.S. citizen children—Dhelainy (16), Esther (15), Angel (11), and Gabriel (6)—in Inglewood. The family has submitted a green card petition, but the application is backlogged and could take six years or longer to process, leaving the family separated as the children continue their education and activities in California.

An 11-year-old autistic girl was placed in foster care in Nebraska after her father was picked up by ICE in June 2025. The girl was separated from her parent and placed in the custody of the state.

Christian Cerna, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen from Paramount, California, was arrested by ICE on June 11, 2025, in an operation involving agents ramming his vehicle, detonating flash-bang grenades, and pointing assault rifles at the car while his partner and two young children were inside. The arrest came after Cerna attended a June 7 protest against ICE near a Home Depot in Paramount, where agent Eduardo Mejorado alleged Cerna struck him; Cerna and his lawyers say he swung his hand without making contact, and no injury to the agent was alleged. ICE/DHS filmed the arrest and posted the footage to social media, labeling Cerna a 'violent rioter'; Cerna later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault. A federal judge later described the arrest operation as part of a 'vindictive effort' by officials to 'impose extrajudicial punishment.'

Alberto Perdomo was detained on June 1, 2025, by immigration agents in Riverside while on his way to work. He is currently held at Adelanto Detention Center. Perdomo, the sole provider for his wife and four young children, was taken into custody following a traffic stop. Multiple plaintiffs, including named detainees and immigrant advocacy organizations, filed a class-action lawsuit against DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and other federal officials challenging the detention and recent enforcement sweeps.

Documents revealed in a federal lawsuit show that ICE officers detained up to 100 people at a time in a makeshift facility on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan in 2025, despite the Trump administration denying overcrowding. Internal emails and testimony from ICE officials themselves acknowledged the deteriorating conditions, including detainees lying on cement floors, inadequate food, lack of medical care, and failure to comply with a judge's order limiting occupancy. Detainees including Nuvia Ventura Martinez and Carlos Lopez Benitez testified about days spent in cells designed for only 12-hour stays, with no beds or showers.

A 23-year-old South American woman has been held at Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe for over a year despite an immigration judge's June 2025 ruling that she cannot be deported to her home country due to fear of torture based on her queer identity. The Trump administration has since sought to deport her to the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country where she has no connections, does not speak the language, and where LGBTQIA2S+ individuals face persecution. Her sister reports the woman has experienced physical and psychological decline during her prolonged detention.

Undocumented day laborers who volunteered to clear toxic fire debris in Altadena and Pasadena after the January 2025 Eaton wildfire were arrested in June 2025 ICE sweeps. Workers cleared roads and distributed water to fire victims without pay. ICE enforcement operations targeted job sites, Home Depot parking lots, and street vendors in wildfire-affected and recovery-zone neighborhoods. ICE arrested over 2,200 people in LA in June 2025 alone.

An immigration judge dismissed the deportation case against Narciso Barranco, a Mexican landscaper arrested in Southern California in June 2025 during a Trump administration immigration crackdown. Barranco, who came to the U.S. in the 1990s without legal status, is now eligible for legal permanent residency based on evidence that he is the father of three U.S.-born sons serving in the military. The Department of Homeland Security announced it would appeal the judge's decision.

Victor, a legal resident and father of two in Minneapolis, was detained by ICE in late May despite holding legal resident status. His family sought community support to pay legal fees for his release and cover basic living expenses while he remained in detention.

Homeland Security Investigations agents raided two locations of Buona Forchetta restaurant in San Diego's South Park neighborhood on Friday evening, deploying flash bang grenades and detaining multiple employees. According to the restaurant manager, at least four workers were detained during the operation. Community members gathered outside to protest, and San Diego Police were called to assist with crowd control, though they did not participate in the enforcement action.

Rep. Yassamin Ansari visited the Eloy Detention Center in late May and spoke with over 20 detainees who reported forced outdoor walking until fainting, manipulated air conditioning, and sickness. Ansari requested information from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about the reported conditions.

Yasmir Marquez, a Venezuelan man with a pending asylum claim and work authorization, was detained by ICE agents outside the Richard C. White Federal Building in El Paso immediately after his immigration hearing on May 29, 2025. Agents presented a Department of Justice document stating his notice to appear had been "improvidently issued" and that circumstances had changed, allowing for his removal proceedings to be reinitiated. A friend who witnessed the arrest said agents initially called him by the wrong name before detaining him. Marquez is currently being held at the Otero County Processing Center in Chaparral, New Mexico.

A Honduran mother and her two children, ages 6 and 9, were arrested by ICE agents at Los Angeles Immigration Court on May 29, 2025, as they left a courtroom. The 6-year-old boy has leukemia and missed a medical appointment for worsening symptoms. The family was transported to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas and placed in expedited removal proceedings. Their attorneys filed a lawsuit challenging the arrests as violations of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.