Human Impact Project

A U.S. citizen was detained along with two people of unknown legal status by masked ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations agents near Marts Donuts on W. El Norte Parkway in Escondido on April 25 around 7:40 a.m. The man, a passenger in a truck with his in-laws on their way to breakfast, said agents boxed in the vehicle, broke the driver's side window, and handcuffed him, leaving marks on his wrists. He said he was held for about 30 minutes and driven without a seatbelt to Rancho Bernardo, during which an agent accused him of being from Guatemala before he was released.

The Argentine wife of an active-duty Coast Guardsman assigned to the cutter Mohawk was arrested by Homeland Security Investigations at Naval Air Station Key West. The couple had married in early 2025 and were seeking access to on-base family housing when a routine security screening flagged her immigration status. Officials said her work visa had expired around 2017 and she had been marked for removal several years earlier. Naval Criminal Investigative Service personnel contacted HSI, and agents entered the base housing to take her into custody. Her current detention status remains unclear, though officials believe she is still being held.

Detained immigrants at Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino County, which holds about 2,000 people, continue to report contaminated drinking water, with vector control experts identifying the worm-like creatures as drain fly larvae. The claims follow a federal judge's order weeks earlier requiring major changes at the facility, including 24-hour access to clean drinking water. Detainees, including one identified as Carlitos Ricardo Parias, have documented the contamination on video to show family members, saying they fear retaliation if they report it to staff. Some detainees say they strain water through clothing, boil it, or buy bottled water from the commissary, and several reported illness and vomiting they attribute to the water; the facility has previously faced complaints about murky water and improperly cooked food.

ICE arrested a Dominican national in Providence on April 24 after he became combative during an attempted arrest. Officers deployed a taser when he allegedly attempted to grab an officer's belt. The man was brought to Rhode Island Hospital, where about 85 protesters gathered. His attorney reported being denied access to his client despite having legal representation documentation.

Amilcar Lisser-Posadas, a 29-year-old Honduran national and former DACA recipient with two U.S. citizen daughters, was apprehended in Shelby County, Tennessee in March 2025 for driving with an expired license and transferred to ICE custody. He was moved between multiple detention facilities over four weeks and filed a legal request citing fear of persecution in Honduras, which received no response. At Alexandria Staging Facility, he was detained for approximately 12 days in overcrowded conditions with inadequate sanitation, food, and medical care—arriving sick with chest congestion, fever, and ear infection but receiving no medication until the final two days. On April 23, 2025, he was deported to Honduras on GlobalX charter flights despite his pending legal request. He was later apprehended again at the southern border in May 2025 attempting to reunite with his family and is now facing deportation again from a federal prison.

Rosmery Alvarado, 42, a Kansas resident born in Guatemala, was arrested by ICE agents immediately after completing a spousal green card interview at the USCIS office in Kansas City on April 23, 2025. She is now facing deportation to Guatemala and is being held in detention, despite her family believing her petition had been approved. The arrest occurred after ICE agents waited for her husband to step out of the interview room before detaining and handcuffing her.

Unaccompanied migrant children, including a 4-year-old girl, are appearing in immigration court proceedings without legal representation after the Trump administration terminated a $200 million federal contract funding legal services for minors. Data shows nearly all children without attorneys are deported, compared to 23% of those with representation.

A family of six asylum seekers from southwestern Africa — parents Josefina and José and their four children, ages 13, 10, 5 and 11 months — were held in a single windowless cell at a CBP facility in Blaine, Washington for about a month starting in April 2025, according to an ACLU complaint. Josefina, who was five months into a high-risk pregnancy, was hospitalized twice during the detention after CBP staff allegedly kept her in unsafe conditions despite hospital warnings, and she suffered pregnancy complications. The children reportedly went weeks without mental stimulation or physical activity, and the 13-year-old was allegedly handcuffed when taken to shower. The ACLU of Washington filed a federal claim seeking $15 million in damages from the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection, one of 54 such claims filed nationwide in July under the Federal Tort Claims Act.

Daniela, known as Ari on social media, was detained by ICE agents on April 22 while attending her scheduled monthly immigration check-in appointment. Her family and friends have launched a fundraising campaign to cover legal fees and support efforts to secure her release.

ICE agents conducted an enforcement operation outside a Home Depot in Pomona, Los Angeles County on the morning of April 22, 2025, detaining between 10 and 20 day laborers who were waiting for work. The operation initially targeted one individual with an active arrest warrant and resulted in the detention of additional undocumented migrants. Three of the men, identified as Jesus Domingo Ros, Edwin Juarez and Johnny Garcia, were later transferred to ICE custody and held at a detention facility in Calexico. On May 6, community activists and immigration rights advocates held a rally outside Pomona City Hall demanding fair bond hearings and due process for the three men, coinciding with a scheduled court hearing in their cases.

Brandon Gonzalez has lived in Arizona since infancy. His family came to the United States from Mexico in 1999. On July 14, Gonzalez was detained by immigration enforcement.

Josue Coreas-Chavek, 29, from El Salvador, was arrested by ICE Buffalo on April 18, 2025, immediately after his release from Wyoming Correctional Facility. He had been sentenced in January 2025 to three years of incarceration and five years of supervised release for second-degree attempted robbery, conspiracy, and criminal facilitation. He faces additional pending charges including robbery, kidnapping, assault, coercion, unlawful imprisonment, and grand larceny, and is in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

Carlos, a Venezuelan national with approved Temporary Protected Status, was detained by ICE in February despite having valid TPS. He describes detention conditions as prison-like, with expensive phone calls and inadequate medical care. Nearly 48,000 people are currently in ICE custody, the highest number since 2019, as advocates demand releases and an end to mass detention expansion.

Manny, an 18-year-old U.S. citizen from North Carolina, was detained by masked armed ICE agents on November 19, 2025, while sleeping in his work truck. He was later interviewed by The Hometown Holler.

Jose Hermosillo, a 19-year-old U.S. citizen from Albuquerque, was detained by Border Patrol agents near Nogales, Arizona, on April 8 after approaching an officer for help during a medical emergency. He was held for 10 days at Florence Correctional Center on suspicion of illegally entering the country, despite being a U.S. citizen. The Department of Homeland Security claimed Hermosillo said he had crossed the border without authorization and was a Mexican citizen, but Hermosillo disputes this, saying he cannot read and did not understand the document he signed. His family searched for him and ultimately provided his birth certificate and social security card to officials. A magistrate judge dismissed the case on April 17, and Hermosillo was released that night.

Two hundred migrants, including 80 children from Afghanistan, Russia, Armenia, Iran, China and other Asian countries, were deported from the United States on two flights and detained at Costa Rica's CATEM immigration detention center in February 2025. Many were separated from family members still in the U.S., not informed of their deportation destination, and experienced abuse and rights violations in U.S. detention before being sent to Costa Rica.

Nhon Ngoc Nguyen, a 55-year-old Vietnamese man, died on April 16, 2025, after 52 days in ICE custody at El Paso Service Processing Center in Texas. Medical reviewers attributed his death to end-stage dementia and acute-on-chronic respiratory failure. He had a Do Not Resuscitate order in place. His death was one of seven reported in ICE custody during the first three months of Trump's presidency.

A Houstonian who fled Honduras due to threats related to his sexual orientation was detained by ICE. Political groups have spoken out against the detention.

Armando Reyes Rodriguez, a 42-year-old Honduran national seeking asylum, was detained by ICE on Monday, April 16, 2025, after being called to an ICE office in Blue Ash, Ohio for what he was told would be a routine appointment to have his ankle monitor removed. Rodriguez arrived at the office accompanied by his church's assistant pastor. Instead of the removal, he was detained by ICE officers and transferred to Butler County Jail, which holds ICE detainees. Rodriguez was in full compliance with ICE requirements and is married with two young children (ages 8 and 3) who remain in Ohio. His family's asylum application from Honduras is pending. West Charleston Church of the Brethren, where Rodriguez is a member, organized multiple protests against his detention and called for his release, urging elected officials and Butler County commissioners to intervene.

The Nevada Immigrant Coalition reported increased ICE enforcement activity across southern Nevada, leading to the closure of Broadacres Swap Meet, one of North Las Vegas's largest employers. Immigration advocates documented plainclothes ICE officers operating in unmarked vehicles across major Las Vegas areas, with over 30 people detained during earlier enforcement operations. The coalition urged community members to know their rights and develop family preparedness plans amid ongoing immigration enforcement activity.