Human Impact Project

Alma Bowman, a 59-year-old Macon resident, was detained by ICE on March 26, 2025, during a routine check-in and held at Stewart Detention Center for 243 days until her release in late November 2025. Bowman claims U.S. citizenship as the daughter of an American Navy serviceman and was born in the Philippines. ICE asserted she was in the country illegally. This was her second detention; she had previously been held for three years (2017-2020) at Irwin County Detention Center following criminal convictions deemed deportable offenses. During her detention, Bowman reported inadequate medical care and overcrowded conditions. Her attorney argued the prolonged detainment violated her constitutional rights, and her citizenship status remained legally disputed throughout her custody.

A person warned their community that ICE agents were staging outside houses and then parked at a trolley station to observe. When ICE agents returned to the station, they attempted to detain the person, who fled because the agents were masked and refused to identify themselves. The person claims to be an American citizen and states that other people were also detained at the scene.

Leticia Jacobo, a 24-year-old Native American woman, was jailed in Iowa for a traffic infraction and faced potential transfer to an ICE Detention Center for deportation. Indigenous rights groups intervened to prevent her deportation.

San Diego Humane Society has taken in 18 pets from 11 owners since June 2025, operating at 173% capacity. Animals including Tita, a 4-year-old Chihuahua whose owners were deported, and Cata, a pit bull mix found in Mira Mesa after her owner's deportation, are among those left behind. The county Department of Animal Services has also received pets from deported individuals.

Joel Andre, a 16-year-old Deering High School student from Congo and a well-known member of Portland's Kennedy Park pickup soccer community, was detained with his family by Customs and Border Protection on November 12, 2025, at the Champlain Port of Entry after they attempted to seek asylum in Canada. The family had entered the U.S. without authorization in 2022, received a deportation order in February 2025, and had their appeal dismissed in October before being transferred to a family detention facility in Dilley, Texas. Attorney Todd Pomerleau secured the release of Joel and two family members after a federal appeals court paused their deportation while the asylum case continues, though his sister remains in detention. Joel returned to Portland and resumed playing in the Kennedy Park soccer league, where friends and teammates had raised money for his family's legal fees, and his school district and congregation mobilized support during his detention.

Abdellatif (Latif) Hafraoui, a 60-year-old Moroccan immigrant who had lived in the U.S. for nearly 40 years and worked about 18 years as a Manhattan building concierge, was detained by ICE agents at Newark Liberty International Airport in August 2025 as he and his American wife, Sandra, prepared to leave for a Florida vacation. He was held 108 days, mostly at Delaney Hall in New Jersey but also at facilities in Louisiana and Arizona, based on a 16-year-old deportation order issued in absentia after a notice was sent to the wrong address and his lawyer failed to inform him of a hearing. Hafraoui said he was pressured to accept deportation, placed in solitary confinement for 10 days after refusing to sign documents or board a flight, and witnessed guards abuse other detainees; he said agents later falsely claimed a ticket to Morocco had been purchased and attempted to put him on a deportation flight to Qatar even after a judge voided the original order. U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez's office intervened to help locate him during the transfers and advocate for his return to New Jersey. He paid a $15,000 bond and was released the day before Thanksgiving, though the government kept his passport, and he must wear an ankle monitor and report regularly to authorities while his green card application remains pending; he has not returned to work, and Sandra said legal costs have depleted the couple's savings and that he seemed traumatized after visits.

A 26-year-old St. Paul man is federally charged with assaulting an ICE agent after allegedly ramming his car into the agent's vehicle on Nov. 25 while fleeing an immigration arrest at a St. Paul home. According to a federal affidavit, agents had come to arrest another man living there when he fled in his car, struck the agent's vehicle, then returned to the home and ran inside. He has since pleaded not guilty and was released from jail. The raid drew demonstrators who threw rocks and bricks, and St. Paul police responded with chemical irritants and projectiles, injuring several photojournalists.

Two 16-year-old Venezuelan cousins were detained by ICE agents during a raid on their Detroit home in late November 2025. The teens arrived in the U.S. in 2023 and were formally seeking asylum with valid work permits. Both were students at Western International High School, where a teacher described one cousin as an excellent student eager to learn English. One cousin worked at Chili's. During the raid, agents also detained two of the teens' parents while searching for a different individual. All four family members were transferred to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Texas, hundreds of miles from their support network. Both teens had pending asylum cases scheduled for immigration court. Community members, students, and advocates held a rally at Clark Park calling for their immediate release.

Josue Rodriguez Perez, a Cuban immigrant who fled Cuba with his father in 1993 and held legal U.S. residency, was detained by ICE at a federal office in Miami in July while trying to renew his work permit. He spent 40 days in the Natrona County jail in Wyoming and was later deported in September to Mexico, a country where he has no ties. Rodriguez, a commercial truck driver with a valid U.S. work permit, is now sharing an apartment in Cancun with other deported Cubans, unable to be with his wife and family or see his brother, who is battling advanced cancer. He had lost his legal residency years earlier following a felony conviction tied to a car accident and subsequent addiction, but had since married, rebuilt his life, and worked as a truck driver.

Allan Marrero, originally from the Cayman Islands, has been detained by ICE for 113 days following a marriage-based green card interview at Federal Plaza in New York City on November 24, 2025. His husband Matthew Marrero and advocates including clergy and legal counsel have been working to secure his release.

Vahid Abedini, an assistant professor of Iranian Studies at the University of Oklahoma's College of International Studies, was detained by ICE at Will Rogers International Airport while preparing to board a flight to a Middle East Studies Association conference in Washington, D.C. Abedini holds an H-1B visa for specialty occupation employment. He was held for three days before being released, and federal authorities characterized the detention as standard questioning, though colleagues said he was asked very few questions. After his release, Abedini described the experience as deeply distressing on LinkedIn, thanking colleagues at the University of Oklahoma, the Middle East Studies Association, and the broader Iran studies and political science community for their support. He has remained fearful of retaliation and has limited his public comments about the incident.

Christian Jimenez, 17, a U.S. citizen and high school senior in Oregon, was stopped and detained by ICE officers on November 21, 2025, during his lunch break while driving his father's car. Officers broke the driver's side window despite Jimenez telling them he was a U.S. citizen. He was held at ICE's Portland facility for nearly seven hours before being released and now faces charges of interference or obstruction of investigation. DHS claimed the teenager violently attacked officers with his vehicle, but his family and immigrant-justice groups disputed this account. Jimenez was one of four U.S. citizens detained by ICE in the Portland area that week, prompting a 300-student walkout and community protests over ICE enforcement tactics near schools.

Matthew Marrero and his husband Allan Dabrio Marrero attended a green card interview at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan on November 24, 2025. Allan was detained by ICE after it was discovered he had missed an immigration court hearing in December 2022 and had a deportation order against him, which neither he nor Matthew knew about. Matthew says they were told Allan could leave the facility but were then handed over to ICE agents, and he had only 30 seconds to say goodbye before they were separated. Allan has since been transferred to Delaney Hall ICE Detention Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Thi Dua Vang and her family found asylum in the U.S. in 2023 and she applied for her green card, which is awaiting final approval. ICE agents showed up at her doorstep, which Vang believed to be a mistake given her pending legal status.

Edwin Josue Padilla Molina, who entered the U.S. in 2013 as a 14-year-old and has lived continuously in Central Islip for twelve years, was detained by ICE on November 23, 2025 while driving his pregnant partner and mother-in-law. A federal judge granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release, finding that his detention without an individualized custody determination violated federal law and constitutional due process rights. The court rejected the government's argument that he was subject to mandatory detention, ruling instead that he was entitled to a bond hearing.

Christian Jimenez, a 17-year-old U.S. citizen and McMinnville High School senior, was detained by ICE agents off school grounds during his lunch period on November 21, 2025. Agents broke his car window and transported him to an ICE facility in South Portland despite his assertions of citizenship, which his family confirmed; ICE alleged he followed and obstructed federal agents in a vehicle and faced potential federal prosecution for impeding law enforcement. He was released later that day. The detention was part of ICE sweeps in Yamhill County that week resulting in at least 7 total detentions, including at least 4 U.S. citizens. McMinnville School District Superintendent Kourtney Ferrua said the district had not previously experienced ICE activity and was working to support students' emotional needs. Students nearby witnessed the detention, and a protest was held in response.

Genesis Valadez, owner of Las Pollitas food truck, captured footage on her business cameras of a federal raid on an unauthorized nightclub near Basse Road and San Pedro Avenue in San Antonio. The operation on November 17, 2025, involved 14 state, local, and federal agencies and resulted in the arrest of more than 150 people, including 27 alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang. Video from Valadez's cameras shows federal agents using flash bangs and smoke bombs, zip-tying detainees, and intentionally destroying a neighbor's surveillance camera. The raid also resulted in the seizure of three guns, cocaine, and approximately $35,000 in cash. Valadez and other lawful business owners operating food trucks in the area were forced to relocate due to community fear following the operation.

Mor Ba, a 19-year-old asylum seeker from Senegal, was detained by ICE on the morning before Thanksgiving while entering his car to go to work. Ba, who had no criminal record and was months away from his asylum hearing, was taken to the North Lake Processing Center in northwest Michigan. His aunt, Seydi Sarr, a Detroit-based immigrant rights advocate, learned of his detention when he called her from the ICE office and eventually posted a $10,000 bond for his release in January.

Isaias Eduardo Soto Elias, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen, was detained by ICE Border Patrol agents in Yamhill County after allegedly following and obstructing the agents in a vehicle on Friday. He was transported to the ERO Portland office for investigation and federal prosecution for impeding federal law enforcement officers. DHS stated the detentions occurred during ICE sweeps in the county that resulted in at least seven other arrests.

Christian Jimenez, 17, a U.S. citizen and high school senior, was detained by ICE officers while driving off school grounds during lunch break in McMinnville. An officer broke the car's driver's side window and detained Jimenez despite him stating he was a U.S. citizen. He was transported to an ICE facility in South Portland and released shortly before 7 p.m. Authorities are attempting to charge his brother with obstruction of investigation.