Human Impact Project

Roxanne, a 32-year-old transgender woman from Mexico, crossed the Texas border in January 2024 seeking protection from discrimination and violence. She was detained by ICE in Eugene and spent a month in detention. She testified in federal court on August 8, 2025, describing her experiences of physical, sexual, and psychological violence in her home country. U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken found her testimony credible and ruled for her release through a habeas corpus petition, criticizing ICE's written statements as containing "serious inaccuracies."

ICE agents arrested Kyungjin Yu, a South Korean immigrant, outside Camarena Elementary School in Chula Vista on the morning of August 6, 2025, during school drop-off. Yu's two children, who attend the school, were in her white Tesla at the time of the arrest; her ex-husband was called to take custody of them. ICE said Yu had overstayed her visa, which expired in 2017, and that an immigration judge had ordered her deported in absentia in July 2022. Officials said the arrest was made off school property. Yu is being held at Otay Mesa Detention Center.

ICE officers tackled and detained two protesters outside San Francisco's ICE field office on August 8, 2025, during an hourslong standoff; after officers fired pepperballs under a garage door, both protesters were released by 7 p.m. that evening. One of the protesters, Caleb Alexander Ranney, was later charged in December with two misdemeanors, assaulting a federal officer and destroying government property, related to the incident. His trial is scheduled to begin with jury selection, though the presiding judge is weighing a defense motion citing alleged government mishandling of evidence, following earlier rulings that agents unconstitutionally searched Ranney's backpack and that items taken from it were lost or destroyed.

Monsy Hernández, a DACA recipient who arrived in South Carolina as a child, self-deported at age 19 in 2017 after her mother was detained by ICE. Now living in Germany, she founded Onward, an organization supporting undocumented immigrants considering voluntary departure. The organization's membership increased during Trump administration deportation efforts.

Sabrina Medina, a 28-year-old pregnant U.S. citizen and mother of four, has been repeatedly detained by ICE agents searching for her undocumented husband, Jorge. On June 12, 2025, ICE conducted a heavily armed raid on her Huntington Park home, with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem present, arriving in about a half-dozen tactical vehicles and showing Medina a warrant with her husband's incorrect first name; agents removed Medina and her children during a room-by-room search but left empty-handed. Medina says ICE agents have since tracked her down four times, including an August 7 arrest while she was leaving a pregnancy clinic, during which she experienced abdominal pain. She said the August arrest stemmed from a 12-year-old shoplifting warrant. Medina expressed fear about her family's financial future and said she and her children would likely join her husband in Mexico if he is deported.

ICE agents conducted a search warrant operation on February 2, 2026, at a residential property in the 600 block of North Rural Drive in Monterey Park, California, approximately 0.1 miles from Mark Keppel High School. Multiple migrants were taken into custody, with the operation occurring early in the morning. The Monterey Park city government confirmed the federal enforcement action but noted that local police did not participate, consistent with California state law and local policy prohibiting municipal involvement in immigration enforcement.

Valeria Pacheco, a 21-year-old UNLV honors psychology student and president of the Español Club, was detained by ICE on Aug. 7 after landing in Denver to visit a friend before the fall semester. She had no criminal record, a valid Social Security number, work authorization, and a pending immigration case, but was held for 35 days at the Aurora ICE Processing Center. Her family and friends organized a GoFundMe that raised $8,866 to support legal fees, and an immigration judge granted her a bond hearing allowing her to return home on Sept. 10, though her legal case remains ongoing.

Leyla Navarrete, a Nicaraguan asylum seeker who has lived in Indiana for about three years and holds a work permit and Social Security number, was detained by ICE on August 7, 2025, during a scheduled check-in in Indianapolis, which triggered an expedited removal order. After a credible-fear interview found no credible fear and an immigration judge ruled he lacked jurisdiction over her bond request—though he said he would have set it at the lowest statutory amount—she remained held at the Grayson County Detention Center while eight months pregnant. On November 26, 2025, a federal judge in the Western District of Kentucky granted her habeas corpus petition, rejected the government's jurisdictional objections, and ordered her immediate release.

Florida's Alligator Alcatraz, a detention facility built in the Everglades by Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration and opened July 2, 2025, houses detainees in chain-link cages within tents on an abandoned airstrip. Detainees reported severe conditions including non-functioning toilets, fecal flooding, contaminated food with worms or maggots, extreme temperatures, lack of showers and hygiene supplies, denied medical care, and limited access to lawyers and phone contact. On July 7, one detainee was transported by ambulance to a hospital. The facility has been touted by the Trump administration as a model for mass deportation, while government officials disputed detainee accounts and denied media access. Legal challenges questioning the facility's jurisdiction and conditions have been filed, with over 250 detainees reported to have no criminal convictions or charges.

George and Esmeralda Doilez, U.S. citizens from Brawley, were stopped by Border Patrol agents in an unmarked vehicle while exploring the Jacumba area on their way to a dental appointment. The stop was conducted based on U-turns and a reported smuggling event. Agents found legally purchased cannabis. After approximately 30 minutes, they were released with a warning.

Jaime Alanís Garcia, a 56-year-old farmworker at Glass House Farms, died from blunt-force head and neck injuries sustained during a July 10 ICE immigration raid. His wife and daughter filed wrongful death claims against ICE alleging agents used excessive force including rubber bullets, tear gas, and stun guns, causing Alanís to fall 30 feet from a cannabis greenhouse roof. The family is seeking $47 million in damages per claim and answers about what transpired during the operation that resulted in 361 arrests.

US Border Patrol agents conducted a raid outside a Home Depot in Los Angeles's Westlake neighborhood using an unmarked yellow Penske rental truck, with masked officers jumping out and arresting 16 people from Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The operation, called 'Operation Trojan Horse,' occurred despite a federal court order prohibiting indiscriminate raids in the region due to evidence of racial profiling and targeting based on appearance, language, and location. Penske said it was not informed its truck would be used in the operation and did not authorize it, citing a policy against transporting people in vehicle cargo areas. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass's office said it is gathering information and considering legal options, calling the use of rental trucks in raids 'un-American.'

A former corrections officer at a detention facility in Florida described conditions including hundreds of detainees held in cages with no sunlight, backed-up toilets, and minimal shower access. The officer, who worked at the facility for about a week in July 2025, stated that detainees had no clocks, limited access to showers, and endured water leaks and mosquito infestations. She was subsequently fired after catching COVID and claims she was never paid for her work.

A Trump-appointed federal judge ordered Florida officials to produce legal agreements justifying their authority to detain approximately 1,000 migrants at the detention camp in the Everglades by Thursday. Civil rights groups allege detainees are being held without formal charges, denied access to legal counsel, and stripped of bond hearings, with some held beyond the legal 14-day limit. The state and federal governments lack clarity on jurisdiction and legal custody over the facility.

Yeonsoo Go, a 21-year-old Scarsdale High School graduate and Purdue University student, was arrested by ICE outside a federal courthouse in New York on July 31, 2025, after attending a routine visa hearing that reportedly went well, with a judge granting her a late August hearing date. ICE claimed her R-2 religious worker visa had expired over two years earlier, but her attorney confirmed it remained valid through December 2025 and that she was in the process of converting to a student visa. Go was initially held without access to legal counsel at a Manhattan facility before being transferred to an ICE detention center in Louisiana. Her mother is an Episcopal church pastor in Scarsdale. Go was released on August 5 after five days in detention.

On August 5, 2025, the second day of the school year, ICE agents detained two people just outside the fence line of Southwest Elementary School in the Roosevelt School District in south Phoenix, Arizona. The detentions occurred as kindergarten through eighth-grade students were arriving for class, with ICE vehicles parked just off school grounds. After detaining one student's guardian, a federal agent was seen escorting the child to the school's entry gate. Following the incident, some parents in the community kept their children home from school or considered doing so.

Luis Manuel Rivas Velásquez collapsed at Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz" detention center and was hospitalized. Detainees reported inadequate medical response and chaos at the facility. He is now being held in El Paso Enhanced Hardened Facility with reportedly deteriorating health conditions.

Paola Clouatre, a 25-year-old Mexican-born mother of two and wife of Marine Corps veteran Adrian Clouatre, was arrested by ICE agents on May 27, 2025 at a USCIS office in New Orleans following her permanent residence status interview, reportedly while breastfeeding her three-month-old baby. She was detained based on a 2018 final removal order she was unaware of, stemming from a missed immigration hearing by her mother. Adrian cared for their two young children while seeking to overturn the order through an emergency motion, and Senator John Kennedy's office also advocated for her case. Clouatre spent two months in ICE's detention center in Monroe, Louisiana before an immigration judge granted her motion to reopen her case. She was released on August 5, 2025 while her legal process continues.

Sheikh Fouad Saeed Abdulkadir, a 46-year-old green card holder and Imam from Eritrea, died at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center on December 14, 2025, after spending 215 days in ICE custody. The Council on American Islamic Relations stated his death was related to detention system issues regarding medical care, transparency, and conditions.

Patricia Balbuena Soto, a mother of three who had lived in New Jersey for approximately 30 years since age 19, was arrested on July 24, 2025, by Atlantic City Police on charges including criminal mischief and property damage. She was transferred to ICE custody on July 25, 2025, and deported to Mexico on August 5, 2025. According to DHS, Balbuena Soto had been previously removed from the country four times and illegally reentered a fifth time, which constituted a felony. Her 17-year-old daughter told Newsweek she felt alone after the separation and was forced to navigate daily life without her parent.