Human Impact Project

A federal lawsuit filed by Public Counsel, CHIRLA, Immigrant Defenders Law Center, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP challenges conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, alleging denied medical care, inadequate nutrition, unsanitary conditions, and retaliation against detainees who speak out. The lawsuit names four plaintiffs and references at least two deaths in custody, including that of Ismael Ayala-Uribe in September 2025. Detainees report untreated infections, denied seizure medication, disease outbreaks, and insufficient food and water.

A congresswoman faced criminal charges for visiting ICE detainees at a detention facility. The incident involved Congress members demanding the release of detainees, including Newark mayor Ras Baraka. The article examines the criminalization of congressional oversight of immigration detention practices.

Texas state Rep. Ray Lopez has formally invoked a state House rule to compel a public hearing into the March 15, 2025 fatal shooting of Ruben Ray Martinez, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen from San Antonio, by a federal immigration agent on South Padre Island. Authorities claim Martinez intentionally ran over an agent before being shot, and the Department of Homeland Security has said a Homeland Security Investigations agent fired "defensive shots." The agent's involvement became publicly known nearly a year later, through internal ICE records obtained by watchdog group American Oversight via a Freedom of Information Act request. Lopez, vice chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Public Safety and Veterans Affairs, is using a newly enacted rule to require Chairman Cole Hefner to schedule the hearing.

Iván Guzmán, head cook at El Cubano To Go restaurant in Shoreline, Washington, was detained by ICE agents on Aurora Avenue North on January 25 while driving his 2-year-old son to daycare. The toddler was left alone in the vehicle, surrounded by armed agents, for roughly 30 to 40 minutes. Community volunteers arrived at the scene to document the incident and support the child until a family friend picked him up and took him to Guzmán's workplace; the child is now with his mother. Guzmán was subsequently deported to Mexico, his country of birth. Restaurant owner Verónica Castañeda described him as 'my right hand, a hardworking man, dedicated to his family.' A GoFundMe campaign was launched to raise funds for legal assistance, childcare, and food.

ICE agents detained a man after removing him from his vehicle near Route 175 and Tamar Drive in Columbia on Saturday morning, January 25, 2026. According to reports, agents forcibly broke the vehicle's windows before taking the driver into custody. Howard County Police responded to the incident, and neither ICE nor DHS immediately provided details about the driver's identity or reason for detention. The incident is part of reported escalating ICE enforcement activity in Howard County.

An ICE enforcement action in Minneapolis resulted in tear gas being released near a family vehicle containing six children. A local couple reported the incident, including concerns about officer conduct and the presence of minors during the enforcement operation.

Federal immigration agents conducted a raid at a Home Depot in Downey, California on a Saturday, with video showing agents leaving as people ran through the area. Local authorities did not specify whether anyone was detained or why the store was targeted.

Mirian, a legally present resident of the United States who recently graduated from college, was followed by ICE from Westbrook to Scarborough, Maine. She was ordered to pull over during a traffic stop and was subsequently detained by ICE. Her family is seeking community support for her release.

A protester was arrested outside an Orlando ICE facility during a rally against mass deportation after placing their hand on a vehicle at the facility's entrance. Witnesses reported law enforcement tackled and arrested the protester. The demonstration was related to concerns over ICE's authority to enter homes without judicial warrants.

Francoise Makuiza, a 32-year-old asylum seeker, was arrested by ICE on Friday morning while leaving for work at an assisted living facility in Portland. According to her attorney, Makuiza has no criminal history in Maine, has lived there for over 12 years, is the mother of a U.S. citizen, and was previously granted refugee status by Colombia after fleeing genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Her detention is part of an ICE enforcement surge that has resulted in more than 200 arrests in Maine, including asylum seekers complying with immigration officials and immigrants married to U.S. citizens.

Texas Monthly taco editor José R. Ralat was pulled over three times while on assignment in West Texas, including once by ICE agents near Presidio. Ralat noted that he and his driver are both Hispanic and that all the officers who stopped them were also Hispanic.

David Courvelle, a former contract detention officer at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a Nicaraguan woman detainee while she was in federal custody. Between May and July 2025, Courvelle engaged in multiple sexual encounters with the detainee inside the facility, including in a janitorial closet, and enlisted other detainees to act as lookouts. He also smuggled gifts into the facility to maintain the relationship. The case was uncovered after investigators obtained recordings of phone calls between Courvelle and the detainee, prompting his resignation. Courvelle pleaded guilty in federal court and faces up to 15 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.

Anthony Paredes, an 18-year-old deaf high school senior at Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts in Los Angeles, was chased and tackled to the ground by Department of Homeland Security immigration officers on January 24, 2026, during a peaceful protest outside a federal building in downtown Los Angeles. Multiple bystanders shouted that Paredes was deaf and could not hear the officers' verbal commands, but he was taken into custody without a sign language interpreter provided. While in custody, Paredes' requests to use a restroom were denied. His mother, Guadalupe Diaz, expressed concern about the lack of interpreter access during the encounter. Educators and organizers plan to file a claim and lawsuit against the government and seek to have charges dropped, with a court date scheduled for April 1.

Elvis Tipan-Echeverria, an Ecuadorian citizen, and his 2-year-old daughter were detained by ICE agents in south Minneapolis on January 23, 2026, after agents pursued their vehicle in a targeted enforcement operation. Agents entered the family's driveway without a warrant and broke the vehicle window while the child was inside before transporting both father and daughter to a federal facility. A federal judge issued an order at 8:11 p.m. requiring the child's release by 9:30 p.m., but ICE placed them on a commercial flight to Texas by 8:30 p.m. The child was returned to Minnesota and reunited with her mother on January 24, while her father remains in custody. A federal court order has barred ICE from removing him from Minnesota during ongoing proceedings.

Elvis Tipan-Echeverria, an Ecuadorian citizen, and his 2-year-old daughter were taken into ICE custody on January 23, 2026, during a vehicle encounter at their home in Minneapolis. Despite a federal court order issued that evening requiring the child's immediate release, both were flown to Texas the same night. The toddler, who has lived in Minneapolis since arriving as a newborn and has a pending asylum application, was returned to her mother on January 24. Her father remains in ICE custody. The detention was part of a broader ICE operation in Minnesota that resulted in at least nine children being detained in January 2026, including a 5-year-old detained on his way home from preschool and several other minors ranging from elementary school age to teenagers. Federal judges ordered the return of several other children and parents to Minnesota after they were transferred to a detention center in Texas.

Georgia Savageford, a Minneapolis woman, was arrested by federal immigration officers on January 24, 2026, after being pushed to the ground by an agent. She was then tackled and dragged face-down by three agents, who knelt on her back, twisted her arms and legs, and handcuffed her so tightly she suffered temporary nerve damage and lost feeling in her hands. Savageford was a legal observer monitoring ICE enforcement activities when the incident occurred. She was placed in an ICE holding facility where she was held for 12 hours in a cold cell without adequate access to food, water, or bathroom facilities, then released without being charged. Civil rights attorneys have filed complaints on her behalf as part of an effort to pursue class-action lawsuits over alleged excessive force.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection opened an internal investigation into whether Gregory Bovino, a U.S. Border Patrol commander and architect of Trump's immigration enforcement policies, made disparaging comments about the Jewish faith of U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Daniel N. Rosen. The alleged remarks were made during a January 12 phone call coordinating immigration enforcement operations, where Bovino allegedly complained about Rosen's unavailability due to the Sabbath and made sarcastic comments about Orthodox Jewish people. A Minneapolis pastor was detained by ICE after joining a protest. During his release, officers made remarks about his race, telling him 'You're White' and 'Wouldn't Be Any Fun Anyway.' Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol commander who became the public face of the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement operations, announced his retirement. Bovino led high-profile crackdowns in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minnesota that resulted in thousands of arrests and drew criticism for aggressive tactics including vehicle searches, chemical agents, and raids. His operations are linked to deaths of U.S. citizens and widespread demonstrations.

A protest occurred Saturday at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley when detainees, including many children, demonstrated in solidarity with 5-year-old Liam Ramos who was taken into custody in Minnesota. Attorneys were ordered to leave the facility as approximately 80 percent of detainees poured into open areas chanting "Libertad" (Freedom). Detainees expressed concerns over the child's treatment and the circumstances of his apprehension from a car in his family's driveway.

ICE agents have been leaving cards on the vehicles of undocumented immigrants, often containing messages implying threats of imminent deportation. In Colorado, immigrant rights group Voces Unidas reported that family members discovered customized ace of spades "death cards" bearing the address of the ICE Denver field office after agents detained 10 Latino community members. According to the report, agents used fake police lights to pull over the vehicles, then left them abandoned with doors open, engines running and hazard lights flashing.

Hassan Hamka, a lawful permanent resident, has been held in ICE detention for over six months while his legal case proceeds. His daughter created a petition seeking community support and character testimonials to present to the judge at his trial.