Human Impact Project

Two Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a VA nurse and observer, in Minneapolis. Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino was reassigned to El Centro, California following several high-profile incidents.

Enrique Lozano, an ice cream vendor who has lived in Los Angeles for over 20 years, was detained by ICE agents on June 23, 2025, while working on Culver Boulevard. He was held for approximately four months before being released and granted a green card through his wife's sponsorship. Following his release, Lozano has returned home and resumed his business operations. The local community mobilized support for his family, raising nearly $76,000 through a GoFundMe campaign, while a local company donated a new cart to help him restart his ice cream business.

A junior at Benito Juarez High School in Chicago was detained by federal agents on October 23, 2025, while on his way to school in the Little Village neighborhood. The student, who city leaders identified as a U.S. citizen, was zip-tied and taken into custody after federal agents conducted immigration enforcement operations at a shopping center at 26th and Whipple. He was released back to his family at approximately 3 p.m. that day. A second student was injured during the same operation but was not detained.

During a second day of federal immigration enforcement operations in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood in October 2025, agents led by Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino detained at least five people, including two Benito Juarez Community Academy students and a U.S. citizen. Protesters and city officials said the students were beaten and assaulted by officers, with one left with blood on his face; a teacher said she realized one student was missing only when taking attendance. When residents gathered to oppose the sweeps, agents in camouflage and gas masks deployed tear gas and pepper spray, with video showing Bovino tossing a canister into the crowd despite a court order restricting such force. Additional arrests, including two staff members of a local alderman, occurred in Little Village and suburban Cicero, and a federal judge ordered Bovino to testify and appear at a status hearing.

Rev. Jorge Bautista, a United Church of Christ pastor, was shot in the face with a pepper round by an ICE agent during an October 23 prayer vigil at Coast Guard Island in Alameda, California. The vigil was organized by the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity to protest ICE operations in the Bay Area. Bautista approached an agent to help deescalate the situation, saying "We come in peace," but was immediately shot with no warning. He received medical treatment and recovered after several days of burning eyes and headaches.

Detainees at the Richwood immigration detention facility in Louisiana report persistent hunger despite ICE and facility operator LaSalle Corrections claiming meals meet nutritional standards. Women describe small portions of processed, often expired foods that are undercooked, burned, or barely edible, with inadequate nutrition and lack of fresh produce. The facility switched to a lower-cost food distributor in 2025 as the detained population increased, and inspectors found the facility failed to post menus meeting required nutritional standards. Advocates and detainees, including former detainee Camila Muñoz, report deteriorating food quality and quantity, while ICE and LaSalle maintain compliance with national detention standards despite insufficient oversight of actual meals served versus certified menus.

Gabriel García Avilés, 56, a Mexican immigrant who had lived in the United States for over 30 years and held a work permit, was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol on October 14, 2025, during a roving operation in Costa Mesa, California. He was transferred to ICE custody and moved to Adelanto ICE Processing Center on October 15. Avilés was subsequently hospitalized at Victor Valley Global Medical Center in critical condition. He died on October 23, 2025. ICE and hospital staff attributed his death to cardiac arrest resulting from suspected alcohol withdrawal symptoms. His family reported poor communication from detention staff, concerning hospital conditions, and observed physical injuries on Avilés including dried blood, cuts, broken teeth, and bruising. His family requested that medical staff cease resuscitation attempts.

ICE agents engaged in an hours-long standoff with Honduran immigrant William Hernandez outside his home in Avondale, Arizona, following a car incident. ICE claims Hernandez rammed an agent's vehicle, while witnesses and his wife report that ICE agents rammed his car. Hernandez, who has lived in the U.S. for a decade with no criminal record, was detained along with his uncle Abel Ochoa and another family member Marcos Ochoa.

A driver in a blue GMC pickup truck allegedly attempted to ram a Customs and Border Protection vehicle carrying federal immigration agents in Cicero on Wednesday morning. The truck instead struck a gray Toyota Corolla at an intersection. No injuries were reported, and the driver was taken into federal custody.

Illinois State Representative Hoan Huynh, a Vietnamese refugee and congressional candidate, said he was surrounded by Customs and Border Patrol agents near Montrose and Kimball avenues in Albany Park on Chicago's Northwest Side while conducting community outreach to inform residents of their rights amid ICE enforcement activity. Huynh said six agents surrounded his vehicle and one pointed a gun at him, threatening to break his car windows, before lowering the weapon once he began recording. A DHS official said Huynh was stopped twice for stalking law enforcement and attempting to interfere with operations. The encounter occurred around the same time federal agents reportedly detained a vendor employee outside a school in Rogers Park.

Irma was detained by ICE on October 21, 2025, during a routine immigration appointment in Santa Ana, California. Her citizenship case was denied and she was taken into custody immediately. She was scheduled to be deported to Mexico on October 22, 2025, leaving behind her four children and life in the United States.

ICE and federal agents conducted an enforcement operation on Canal Street in Manhattan on October 22, 2025, detaining nine undocumented immigrants who were street vendors. Federal authorities characterized the operation as targeting counterfeit goods trafficking and stated the detainees had criminal histories including forgery, drug possession, drug trafficking, robbery, and assault. The raid came days after a right-wing media figure posted a video about the area. Civil rights attorneys characterized it as a pretextual show of force using profiling tactics. During the operation, two men initially detained were released after identifying themselves as U.S. citizens. The detainees were moved to Delaney Hall in New York. Hundreds of New Yorkers protested the raid, with five protesters arrested during the confrontation.

A Venezuelan family seeking asylum in the United States self-deported after the father and 20-year-old son Anderson Contreras-Hernandez were detained by ICE. The family had fled Venezuela due to gang extortion and sought better medical care for two sons with sickle cell disease. After months in detention and legal proceedings, the family chose to return to Venezuela.

In Berwyn, Illinois, Lesly Guevara, who is pregnant, honked her car horn to warn community members of nearby ICE agents conducting an enforcement operation. She was driving with her fiancé and their 10-month-old son to pick up groceries when she said a Jeep blocked her vehicle. An agent approached her car with his gun raised, and she said she believed she was about to be killed, asking him, 'You're really gonna shoot a pregnant woman?' A DHS spokesperson said video showed her 'aggressively barreling toward law enforcement while speeding and honking her horn,' calling it a 'threatening and aggressive act,' and said the agent acted to protect himself with restraint. Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez said the confrontation could have ended badly, noting officers are trained to view being boxed in as life-threatening.

Four U.S. citizens were arrested and held at 26 Federal Plaza for nearly 24 hours without any federal charges during a joint ICE enforcement operation on Canal Street in Manhattan's Chinatown on October 21, 2025. The operation, described by ICE as targeting criminal activity related to counterfeit goods, also resulted in the detention of nine undocumented immigrants. The families of the arrested citizens filed missing persons reports with the NYPD before the four Americans were released approximately 30 minutes after Congressman Dan Goldman held a press conference about the arrests.

ICE agents were conducting operations in Santa Ana near Birch Street and Andrew Place early in the morning. Community watchers and legal observers responded to monitor the incident. An ICE agent pepper sprayed the area despite no one being near, and later remotely disabled a legal observer's vehicle engine while stopped at a red light on Main Street and Edinger Avenue.

Zia S., a 36-year-old Afghan immigrant who served as a U.S. military interpreter, was detained by ICE on July 16, 2025, during a routine USCIS appointment in East Hartford, Connecticut, for biometric processing related to a Green Card application. Despite having lawful parole status until October 2026, no criminal convictions, and approval for humanitarian parole due to Taliban threats, he was moved to a detention facility in Plymouth, Massachusetts. A federal judge issued a 72-hour stay to prevent his deportation, and after nearly three months in custody, a second immigration judge ordered his release on a $15,000 bond on October 9, 2025. The government's subsequent motion to reverse the release was rejected on October 21, 2025. Zia was reunited with his wife and five children in Connecticut. His son Rihan was also detained by ICE in Plymouth during this period.

An employee of a Chicago Public Schools vendor was taken into custody by federal immigration agents outside Decatur Classical School on the Far North Side. School officials stated no students witnessed the incident and emphasized that CPS will not cooperate with federal agents without a criminal judicial warrant.

2 hurt, including a US Marshal, after an ICE agent’s weapon discharged in LA immigration operation

Yassine Halhoul, a 21-year-old University of Arizona aerospace engineering student from Morocco, was detained by Homeland Security Investigations on October 21, 2025, due to a clerical visa issue. He spent approximately one month in ICE detention at Florence Correctional Center and Eloy Detention Center, where he reported poor conditions including inadequate food, interference with sleep, and frequent cell counts. After a GoFundMe campaign raised $18,500 for bail and legal expenses, Halhoul was released on November 13, 2025, with an ankle monitor.