Human Impact Project

Svetlana Romanova, a 59-year-old Russian who fled to protest the Ukraine war, has been detained for approximately eight months at CoreCivic Houston Processing Center. She reports inadequate medical care, significant weight loss, and suicidal ideation that was dismissed by staff. An immigration judge ruled against her asylum claim in April; she has appealed, citing risk to her life if returned to Russia.

Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, a long-term Arizona resident who had lived in the United States since age 14, was deported to Mexico by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials following a 2008 conviction for criminal impersonation related to using a false Social Security number to obtain employment. Her deportation occurred shortly after President Trump signed an executive order on January 25, 2017, expanding deportation priorities to include immigrants charged with crimes. Garcia de Rayos was taken to Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, where she was reunited with her two teenage children, Jackie (14) and Angel (16), who had been living in Mesa, Arizona.

Luis Hipolito, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen, was arrested by ICE agents conducting street sweeps in downtown Los Angeles after interfering with their detention of street vendors near Main and 9th streets. Video footage shows agents pepper-spraying Hipolito at close range, then tackling and restraining him for over two minutes as he struggled to breathe. After being restrained, Hipolito convulsed and his legs buckled. He was charged with assault on a federal officer and released on $10,000 bond. A federal judge ordered his release at a Thursday hearing.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted enforcement operations at the Chesterfield County courthouse, resulting in the arrest of undocumented immigrants. Activists and community members gathered to protest the arrests at the courthouse.

Fernando Diaz, 23, was arrested in Huntington Park after police found a loaded firearm, official-looking Homeland Security and CBP documents, and other law enforcement paraphernalia in his vehicle. Diaz denies claims that he told officers he was a former Border Patrol agent, though police continue investigating whether he was impersonating a federal officer.

On June 27, 2025, a Border Patrol agent initiated a vehicle stop on a white Chevy Tahoe near the Rio Grande. The driver failed to yield and drove the vehicle into the Rio Grande River. The driver was observed struggling in the water but subsequently lost sight. A body was recovered from the river approximately seven miles downstream later that morning and identified as the vehicle driver.

ICE agents detained Selena Vanessa Hernández Ramírez, a 25-year-old taco vendor from El Salvador, on June 23 while she was working in front of a Home Depot in Ladera Heights, Los Angeles. According to witnesses and video footage, the agents had covered faces and did not display visible identification or arrest warrants. Hernández Ramírez resisted by holding onto a tree before being forcibly taken to an unmarked vehicle, and agents used tear gas to disperse witnesses who intervened and demanded identification. One witness, Aleca Le Blanc, said she repeatedly asked the agents to identify themselves and show a warrant but was ignored, and said agents threw tear gas canisters at the small group of bystanders.

Miguel Silvestre, a U.S. citizen born in Stockton, California, says he has been deported four times since 1999 despite holding a valid birth certificate proving his citizenship. In 2025, ICE issued an expedited removal order against him, even though a 2004 court order had already confirmed his U.S. citizenship status. After the San Francisco Chronicle reported his account, including his emotional distress upon learning of the recent deportation notice, the Department of Homeland Security stated Silvestre has no active immigration case and is not subject to ICE enforcement action. DHS maintains that in 1999 Silvestre had claimed to be a Mexican citizen with no legal status.

Isidro Perez, a 75-year-old Cuban man who arrived in the U.S. in 1966, died on June 26, 2025 after 21 days in ICE custody at Krome North Service Processing Center in Miami-Dade County. He was arrested on June 5 during a law enforcement operation in Key Largo and charged with inadmissibility under the Immigration and Nationality Act, based in part on prior drug convictions from 1981 and 1984. On June 17, he was admitted to Larkin Community Hospital with unstable angina and chest pain with EKG changes; he was discharged on June 25. On June 26 at approximately 7 p.m., he reported chest pains while in the Medical Housing Unit at Krome. Miami Dade Rescue responded with life-sustaining interventions including CPR and defibrillator shock, and he was transported to HCA Kendall Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:42 p.m. His cause of death is under investigation, with medical reviewers suspecting acute myocardial infarction. He is the fifth person to die in ICE custody in Florida since January 2025.

Fernando Eduardo Artese, 63, a dual Italian-Argentinian citizen working as a security camera technician, was stopped during a routine traffic stop on June 25, 2025, while driving with his family in a camper van. Officers discovered an outstanding warrant for failure to appear in court for a driving violation. Artese had been living legally in the US since 2018 under the Visa Waiver Program and was planning to self-deport and relocate to Argentina with his family. He was detained and transferred to the ICE facility known as "Alligator Alcatraz" in the Florida Everglades, where his family reports he has been denied information about his case and access to legal representation.

A mother named Marisol and her 11-year-old daughter hid in their Minnesota home for two months to avoid ICE raids, surviving on donated food. When provisions ran out, the mother ventured out to purchase food for her daughter and was detained by ICE agents. The daughter, now being cared for by an activist, has a pending asylum case and is advocating for her mother's release.

Matilde Garduño, who has sold tamales from the same Los Angeles street corner for 13 years, says she was grabbed and restrained by immigration agents while packing up her cart after being warned that federal vehicles were nearby. She says agents held her by the arms and torso as she struggled to breathe, eventually collapsing and losing consciousness on the ground. Garduño, who has diabetes and high blood pressure, was taken to a hospital where she received oxygen and underwent heart surgery the next day to clear blocked arteries. She said the experience left her with lasting emotional trauma, including nightmares and an inability to leave her home in the days that followed.

Ernesto Manuel-Andres, an 18-year-old from Guatemala, was detained by ICE on June 4, 2025, just weeks after graduating from Teranga Academy, a learning center for immigrant and refugee youth. He holds Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and Deferred Action, giving him legal status to reside in the U.S. After nearly three weeks in an ICE detention center in Louisiana, Manuel-Andres was unexpectedly released on June 24 when the Department of Homeland Security failed to meet paperwork deadlines for an appeal of his $1,500 bond. The Bowling Green community organized vigils and protests demanding his release, and celebrated his homecoming on June 25 with family, friends, and educators. Teranga Academy principal Kristi Costellow said, "All I can say is that I'm thankful to be in Bowling Green, Ky, where we live in a community where people will see something that's wrong and they will keep at it until it's made right."

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested two women outside the Los Angeles Airport Courthouse on Tuesday after they appeared for a hearing in a local criminal case involving organized retail theft charges. The agents waited in the courtroom and detained the defendants without advance notice to the court, defense attorneys, or prosecutors.

ICE's Fugitive Operations Team arrested 44 people in a five-day operation across central Nebraska — 25 in Lexington, 12 in Grand Island, 2 in Broken Bow, and one each in Cozad, Gibbon, Hastings, Kearney, and North Platte. Twenty-eight were fugitives, 16 were immigration violators encountered during targeted arrests, and 10 had prior criminal convictions.

Katherin Guillen-Acosta was arrested in Durham County on June 24, 2025, for failing to appear in court on two 2022 traffic misdemeanors, and a magistrate set her bond at $1,000 while also beginning a process to refer her to ICE, even though her charges did not require referral under North Carolina's new law. After her bond was posted, ICE took her into custody, and she has described poor conditions at the detention center, including inadequate food and mistreatment. Speaking from the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia, she said, "The criminals are outside, and the innocent are inside." An investigation found Durham County magistrates and judges have repeatedly referred people facing low-level charges to ICE this year when not required to, with at least four such cases resulting in detention. Her brother, Wildin Guillen-Acosta, was previously detained by ICE a decade earlier while a high school student and held at the same facility.

Emerson Colindres, a 19-year-old high school graduate and soccer player from Cincinnati, was detained by ICE on June 4, 2025, during a routine check-in appointment at an Intensive Supervision Appearance Program facility in Blue Ash, Ohio. Colindres arrived in the U.S. from Honduras at age 8 with his family after they fled gang violence and sought asylum. His asylum case and appeal were denied in 2023, with a final removal order issued. Despite having no criminal record and regularly checking in with ICE as required, he was deported to Honduras on June 17. After learning of her son's deportation, his mother Ada Bell Baquedano Amador—who had been ordered to wear an ankle monitor in April 2025—obtained passports and plane tickets. On June 24, Baquedano Amador and Colindres' sister self-deported to Honduras to reunite with him. The detention sparked protests from his soccer teammates and community members.

Kay Southisone was detained by ICE on June 24, 2025, during a routine immigration check-in in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was transferred to a detention center in Baldwin, Michigan, where he remains while ICE pursues his deportation to Laos, a country he has not visited since age 8. His family is seeking funds for legal representation and a stay of removal.

Johnny Noviello, a 49-year-old Canadian lawful permanent resident who had lived in Florida for nearly four decades, died on June 23, 2025, while in ICE custody at the Federal Detention Center Miami. He was arrested by ICE on May 15 in Daytona Beach following a 2023 drug trafficking conviction and was transferred to the Miami facility on May 19 to await removal proceedings. During his roughly five-week detention, Noviello—who had epilepsy, hypertension, and mental health concerns—reported symptoms including dizziness, convulsions, and abnormal vital signs but did not receive adequate medical monitoring or treatment. He was found unresponsive and pronounced dead after emergency response efforts failed. An autopsy determined he died from acute kidney failure caused by calcium oxalate crystal deposits, which six kidney specialists concluded was preventable and treatable through dialysis had symptoms been addressed. A complaint alleges Bureau of Prisons medical staff failed to properly evaluate, document, or create a treatment plan for him. The FBI is investigating his death.

A man was detained by ICE on 10/14/25 in Harbor Gateway (228th & Western) while riding his bike home from the store. He did not have an active deportation order. A family member stated he does not pose a threat to national security. Legal assistance is being sought for his case.