Human Impact Project

Hanover Park police officer Radule Bojovic, a Montenegrin citizen, was detained by ICE on October 15, 2025, as part of Operation Midway Blitz after overstaying his B2 tourist visa by approximately 10 years—he was supposed to leave in March 2015 but remained in the country unlawfully while serving as a sworn officer with firearm access. He was released on bond on October 31 after federal authorities did not contest the release, and returned to full duty shortly after. Village officials stated Bojovic was legally authorized to work and carry a firearm at the time of hire with no criminal history.

A long-time employee of Hojas Tea House was detained Tuesday morning while taking out the trash at its Wilmington location, according to a post the concept shared on its Instagram account. According to the post, Eloy was part of Hojas Tea House for 12 years.

Four U.S. citizen cemetery workers at Concordia Cemetery were arrested and subjected to pepper balls and pepper spray during an ICE operation that crossed onto private property. The workers were detained for hours before being released without charges. Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins made statements regarding the operation and requested its termination.

US Border Patrol agents pursued a vehicle driven by a person in the country illegally and used a precision immobilization technique that caused the vehicle to crash into other cars on Chicago's far southeast side. The incident led to a confrontation with federal agents at the scene.

Maria Greeley, a 44-year-old U.S. citizen and Chicago resident born at Illinois Masonic Hospital, was detained by three masked federal agents outside the Beach Bar on Ohio Street after finishing a double shift in early October 2025. The agents restrained her with zip ties and questioned her for approximately one hour, challenging the authenticity of her passport and telling her she "doesn't look like" her last name Greeley, despite her carrying documentation proving her citizenship. After about an hour, the agents released her. Following the incident, Greeley reported experiencing psychological distress and said she felt compelled to "lay low."

Warren King, a 19-year-old U.S. citizen born and raised in Chicago, was tackled and arrested by federal immigration agents at a Walgreens store on the East Side during an operation targeting undocumented immigrants. King was shopping with friends and family when agents swarmed the store; he was arrested despite repeatedly telling agents he was a U.S. citizen and legally in the country. He was held for hours before being released without charges, left with physical and mental injuries from the takedown.

Border Patrol agents pursued a vehicle for 18 minutes through Chicago's East Side neighborhood on October 14, 2025, ignoring supervisor orders to stop the chase. The vehicle crashed after agents blew a tire, not from an authorized immobilization technique as DHS claimed. Following the crash, an agent pointed his weapon at bystanders in a nearby Walgreens, claiming they charged at him despite video evidence contradicting this account.

ICE and Border Patrol agents threatened to arrest a Chicago cyclist who was following and recording them. The incident was captured on video and shared by a Chicago Tribune journalist. Community members intervened with whistles, which appeared to cause the agents to back away from the cyclist.

Five people were detained during a raid on September 13, 2025 at 9:55 AM in Long Beach at 577 E Wardlow Rd. The detained individuals included migrants, citizens, and legal residents. Carwash owners and construction site operators were advised to install protective fencing around their work sites and properties.

Leo Cruz Silva, a 34-year-old Mexican national, died by suicide on October 4, 2025, in Ste. Genevieve County Jail while in ICE custody. Arrested on September 30 for public intoxication in Festus, Missouri, Silva was transferred to ICE custody on October 1 for reinstatement of a prior removal order. During his first days in custody, he experienced acute mental distress, including auditory and visual hallucinations, paranoia, and attempts to leave his cell. On October 3, jail staff observed him hiding under his bed, and a medical provider ordered antipsychotic medications, though treatment was not immediately scheduled. On October 4 at approximately 3:20 p.m., jail employees found him with a sheet tied around his neck. Staff removed the ligature and began CPR; he was pronounced dead at 3:47 p.m. Silva had entered the U.S. without documents and had been deported twice between 2010 and 2025 before re-entering. His death was the second reported suicide in ICE custody in Missouri in 2025. On October 13, about 50 community members gathered for a vigil organized by Abide in Love Ste. Genevieve. The DHS Office of Inspector General and ICE Office of Professional Responsibility are reviewing the case, examining intake screenings, wellness checks, medical response timing, and compliance with detention protocols.

Fidel Rivera, an undocumented immigrant who worked in construction in North Carolina for over 20 years, self-deported to Mexico on October 13, 2025, to avoid potential immigration detention. His family, including his U.S. citizen wife and two daughters, are spending the holidays separated as Rivera must remain in Mexico for at least 10 years before he can reapply for legal status.

A car fleeing from U.S. Border Patrol agents crashed on West Paisano Drive in El Paso, killing two migrants from Guatemala and Mexico. The 2011 Infiniti G37 lost control on a curve, hit a curb and flipped after the driver attempted to flee following a border crossing. Four other passengers were injured in the rollover crash.

A 15-year-old boy with autism and special needs, Emmanuel González Garcia, went missing on October 4, 2025, after wandering away from his mother Maria García's fruit stand in Houston. Houston Police Department located him the next day but did not connect him with the existing missing person report due to a name discrepancy (Manuel vs. Emmanuel). HPD contacted ICE and transferred the boy to federal immigration custody. García was without knowledge of her son's whereabouts for nearly a week until an immigration attorney intervened. The teen is now in Office of Refugee Resettlement custody and is facing emergency appendix surgery. An investigation into the Houston Police Department's procedures was initiated following the incident.

Rev. ELaura James Reid, a 49-year-old pastor of Coleman Chapel CME Church and lifelong Memphian, was pulled over on October 10, 2025, by a man in camouflage fatigues driving an unmarked SUV with a matte army green finish as she left a church unity summit at an East Memphis hotel. The officer claimed she looked lost or was "driving unsure," though she had properly stopped at a stop sign and signaled her turn. When Reid questioned whether it was normal for National Guard members to ask for licenses, the officer told her to have a nice day and let her go. She was not arrested or ticketed.

Drumgoon Dairy, a 6,500-cow operation near Lake Norden co-owned by Rodney and Dorothy Elliott, lost 38 of its roughly 50 employees after a federal Department of Homeland Security audit at the end of May 2025. The department said the workers had inaccurate, outdated, or incomplete documentation of citizenship or work authorization; one employee left after his visa expired and another resigned. Many of the affected workers had been with the dairy for years, some nearly two decades, helping build its operation since it began relying on immigrant labor in 2006. The farm, which had never been audited in its history, was left with 16 employees after the terminations.

A federal judge in Illinois issued a temporary restraining order blocking federal agents from using tear gas, pepper balls, and excessive force against protesters demonstrating outside an ICE detention facility near Chicago. The order was prompted by video of Reverend David Black, a Presbyterian pastor in clerical garb, being repeatedly struck with pepper balls and chemical spray while peacefully praying during a protest at the Broadview facility.

Francisco Miranda, a U.S. citizen born in California, was arrested by ICE agents outside his workplace in Milwaukie, Oregon. Miranda repeatedly told agents he was born in California, but they questioned his claim and detained him anyway. He managed to record part of the arrest before agents confiscated his cellphone. His attorney, Michael Fuller, called the arrest an illegal abduction. Miranda appears to be the first known U.S. citizen arrested by ICE in Oregon this year.

Two women were arrested by ICE agents in front of an elementary school near the University of Illinois at Chicago campus on the West Side. DHS accused the women of stalking an ICE vehicle and attempting to impede a targeted operation. Officers forcibly removed one woman from her car, and the incident was recorded on video.

Debbie Brockman, a creative services employee at Chicago's WGN-TV and a U.S.-born citizen, was detained by Border Patrol agents on a Friday near Lincoln and Foster avenues while walking to catch a bus to work. Agents rammed their van into a car before detaining her, and she was held in federal custody for about seven hours before being released the same day with no charges filed. Her attorneys say she was "violently detained" and deny she assaulted anyone, while Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said agents claimed she threw a metal object at them; DHS said agents struck a vehicle blocking their path amid "violent agitators." Bystanders described the arrest as violent, and her lawyers say she plans to pursue legal action. Her arrest came amid a federal judge's temporary restraining order barring DHS agents from arresting journalists without probable cause.

On October 10, 2025, Tontitown police pulled over a work van and, after issuing only a traffic warning to the driver, called ICE to the scene; officers fingerprinted and detained the van's occupants roadside for about an hour awaiting ICE's arrival. Five of the six passengers, including 18-year-old Guatemalan woman Vicky Ramirez, were booked into Washington County Detention Center and transferred to federal custody; Ramirez was later sent to a detention facility in Louisiana and deported to Guatemala. Bodycam footage obtained via a public records request showed Officer Darrin Bentley telling a colleague "we're going to ID everybody" before opening the van's sliding door and asking all passengers for identification, then telling another officer he had "a truck full" before calling ICE. The stop was one of at least 13 identified traffic stops—ten ending in warnings and three in citations, mostly involving work vans or trucks—that led to the federal detention of 20 people in Washington County before Tontitown Police Department formally signed a 287(g) agreement with ICE in June 2026.