Human Impact Project

A Guardian investigation found that ICE has been holding people in small, secretive rooms inside field offices and federal buildings for days or weeks. After ICE issued a June memo allowing up to three-day holds, data showed average detention times increased by nearly 600% at some locations, with cases of people held for months. Legal groups are challenging these practices, citing lack of oversight, denial of legal counsel access, and poor conditions.

U.S. citizen Leo Garcia Venegas was detained twice by ICE agents during workplace raids in southern Alabama in 2025, despite presenting valid REAL ID credentials. The article documents multiple cases of U.S. citizens wrongfully detained during ICE's mass arrest operations, including a 16-year-old in Houston and over 170 cases found by ProPublica where agents held citizens without warrant or proper cause.

The Trump administration implemented a zero-tolerance policy in spring and summer 2018 that separated approximately 3,000 children from their parents at the southern border. Children were sent to shelters thousands of miles away with no contact with parents, and the government lacked a centralized database to facilitate reunifications. Years later, some children remained unreunited with their parents due to chaotic record-keeping and implementation failures.

A federal judge ordered Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino to appear in court daily to report use-of-force incidents by his agents during immigration enforcement operations in Chicago. Allegations have been made that agents deployed tear gas in neighborhoods and used force against residents and reporters, including an incident involving tear gas near children preparing for a Halloween parade.

At least 3,000 jailed immigrants have not been located in federal records during Operation Midway Blitz, a seven-week immigration crackdown in Chicago, according to human rights attorneys and organizations. Immigration agents and border patrol officers have detained more than 3,000 allegedly undocumented immigrants. Attorneys have stated that some may have been deported or accepted voluntary departure.

Immigration advocates report that congresspeople were denied access to a San Diego immigration detention facility on October 20th and 27th despite providing advance notice. ICE initially required 7 days notice instead of the legally required 48 hours, then cited the government shutdown as reason for denial despite arrests continuing during the shutdown. The post highlights that San Diego ranks 4th nationally for courthouse arrests while ranking 19th for immigration court activity.

The Department of Homeland Security has sent $5,000 fines to unaccompanied immigrant teenagers ages 14-17 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for unauthorized entry into the United States. Roughly 10 teenagers in New York and at least one in Michigan have received the fines while in federal custody. The fines carry consequences including collection litigation and impacts on immigration cases.

A 16-year-old Ecuadorian student, Joel Camas, was arrested by ICE agents during a routine check-in appointment in Lower Manhattan on Thursday while attending Gotham Collaborative High School in the Bronx. Despite being granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status in April—a legal protection designed for vulnerable minors—Camas was detained by immigration authorities.

The Trump administration is deploying National Guard troops to cities in response to immigration enforcement operations. Federal agents have been conducting immigration raids and enforcement operations in San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, and Portland. Courts in Illinois and Oregon have issued orders blocking or restricting National Guard deployments, while the administration warns state officials against interfering with federal immigration enforcement.

At least 20 deaths have been recorded among people in ICE custody in 2025. This coincides with ICE holding nearly 60,000 people in detention and ramping up arrests and hiring. Former agency officials have stated that overcrowding, reduced oversight, staffing shortages for medical teams, and arrests of individuals with unknown medical conditions could result in additional deaths.

The Texas Civil Rights Project is challenging the detention of two Iranian nationals, Shahrokh Rahimi (53) and Argam Nazarian (27), who were arrested in June following U.S. military strikes against Iran. Rahimi was arrested at his home in San Antonio where he had lived for over two decades; Nazarian was arrested in Los Angeles and transferred to El Paso. Both had previously been released on bond or parole and had pending asylum cases based on fear of Christian persecution. The organization claims they are being illegally detained without bond under a new Trump administration policy.

At least 30 human beings have died in ICE custody so far in 2025. A couple, Lucía Pedro Juan and Francisco Gaspar Cristóbal Andrés, were separated during fingerprinting at an ICE field office in Fort Bliss, El Paso, with agents warning them not to communicate. Despite the orders, Pedro Juan broke away to embrace and encourage her husband.

Over a dozen pregnant women have reported experiencing medical neglect, mistreatment, and substandard care while detained by ICE, including cases of miscarriage while shackled and solitary confinement. Advocates documented their experiences and sent a letter to ICE officials and Senate committees requesting the agency identify and release all pregnant detainees and refrain from detaining pregnant, postpartum, or nursing individuals.

Immigrants detained at the Aurora detention facility in Colorado have been requesting deportation for months, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement has kept them detained with no clear timeline for release. The cases highlight how a new ICE policy has made many immigrants ineligible for release while their cases proceed, contradicting the Trump administration's stated mass deportation goals.

LULAC and advocates documented accounts from pregnant women in ICE custody, including reports of shackling during transport, solitary confinement, denial of prenatal vitamins, inadequate food, delayed medical care, and lack of interpretation services. The advocates sent a letter to Congress regarding these detention conditions.

Democrats in Congress announced a joint investigation into immigration agents' detention of U.S. citizens following a ProPublica investigation that found over 170 Americans have been held by immigration officials this year. The investigation will examine how citizens, particularly Latinos, have been detained based on citizenship questions and will include a hearing in Los Angeles. The detentions have included cases where citizens were dragged, beaten, and held without access to phones or lawyers.

ICE continues to detain pregnant, postpartum, and nursing immigrants despite a Biden-era federal policy restricting such detention except in extreme circumstances. The cases documented include a nine-month pregnant U.S. citizen detained, a Colombian immigrant who miscarried in custody, and a nursing mother from El Salvador held without proper accommodations. Congress allowed reporting requirements on these detentions to lapse in March 2025, making it impossible to quantify how many pregnant immigrants are currently in ICE custody.

Nayra Guzmán, a 22-year-old Mexican immigrant, was detained by ICE 15 days after giving birth via C-section while her newborn daughter remained in the NICU. She was held at the Broadview Processing Center for approximately 34 hours without adequate medical care, food, water, or a breast pump, despite her postpartum recovery needs and Type 1 diabetes. The Trump administration reversed previous DHS policies that restricted detention of recently postpartum immigrants.

A Washington Post analysis found that ICE detention centers experience an average of 29 days of dangerous heat per year, compared to 18 days in federal, state, and county prisons. The analysis, based on internal ICE planning documents, shows that planned expansions of detention capacity will increase this figure to 35 dangerous heat days annually. Many detainees report malfunctioning air conditioning and inadequate cooling systems.

A Mexican immigrant and widowed father of four was detained at Broadview Processing Center for four days in poor conditions and reportedly coerced into signing a voluntary departure form while unaware he had an emergency hearing scheduled. Voluntary departures have increased 21-fold during the first nine months of 2025.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser held a community meeting where residents and protesters pressed her on the D.C. police department's involvement with federal immigration authorities. Bowser pledged to work on separating D.C. police from working alongside ICE and other federal immigration enforcement agencies.

The Trump administration has reduced funding for legal services, mental health care, and other support required under a court settlement meant to reunite families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border during the first Trump presidency, according to the ACLU. At least four families have been deported, and the DOJ has challenged court orders related to the settlement. The settlement required support for separated families.

An Instagram post from the House Oversight Committee states that Andrea is one of over 170 U.S. citizens who have been detained by ICE. The post indicates these detentions should not have occurred and calls for accountability from Kristi Noem and the Trump Administration.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers use a full-body restraint device called the WRAP during deportations.

ICE is operating deportation flights out of Mesa Gateway Airport to African countries, with a 16-seater jet making multiple trips. The flights are part of third-country deportation efforts where migrants—including those not from Africa—are being deported to African nations. Individual flights cost up to $10,000, with charter companies receiving contracts worth tens to hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Trump administration is resuming use of Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia to detain immigrants. A 2022 Senate investigation found that female detainees experienced excessive, invasive, and often unnecessary gynecological procedures without proper informed consent. The Biden administration had halted immigrant detentions at the facility in 2021.

The Trump administration has stopped publishing semiannual reports on pregnant, postpartum, and lactating women in ICE detention. Multiple experts and advocates report increases in pregnant detainees held in ICE facilities with inadequate medical care, nutrition, and hygiene. Cases documented include pregnant women denied prenatal visits, adequate meals, and proper medical treatment while detained at ICE facilities.

Law enforcement officers clashed with protesters outside an ICE detention facility in suburban Chicago on October 10. State police used batons and arrested three anti-ICE protesters who were demonstrating outside the facility. The incident occurred as protesters chanted slogans while officers confronted them with force.

A federal judge in Chicago ruled that ICE illegally arrested 22 people without warrants in violation of a 2022 consent decree during enforcement operations in January 2025. The judge extended the consent decree and ordered ICE to reimburse bond payments and lift release conditions for those arrested. ICE has escalated enforcement operations in Chicago, including the detention of a family at Millennium Park in September.

U.S. citizens, including Latinos, were detained during Trump's immigration enforcement operations in the Chicago area. Detainees reported being assaulted by officers who questioned them about their birthplace. The incident occurred when Diego Rosales was stopped by ICE agents while waiting for a school bus in Waukegan.

The Trump administration laid off hundreds of civil rights oversight staff at the Department of Homeland Security, including employees from the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman and Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. The staff cuts coincide with a major expansion of ICE detention capacity. Former workers stated that this results in insufficient oversight of detention conditions.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported 21 immigrant deaths in its detention centers during fiscal year 2025. Only fiscal year 2004 with 28 deaths was higher. The deaths occurred during President Trump's expanded mass deportation campaign and increased detention efforts. Detention facility expansion and recruitment standards for agents have been factors in system operations.

The Trump administration is offering $2,500 to unaccompanied migrant children age 14 and older if they voluntarily return to their home countries. The Department of Homeland Security characterized the program as "strictly voluntary" and aimed at helping children reunite with families. Immigrant advocates characterized the program as "cash bribes for kids."

On October 3, 2025, the Department of Veterans Affairs abruptly terminated its agreement with ICE to process medical reimbursement claims for detainees, leaving thousands without access to vital medications and treatments including dialysis, prenatal care, and chemotherapy. Despite ICE signing replacement no-bid contracts on October 25, the new systems are not yet functioning, leaving detainees without clear access to necessary medical care. Class action lawsuits filed in California and Illinois describe detainees being denied insulin, heart medications, cancer treatment, and other critical medical care since the termination.

A CNN review found two dozen incidents of people posing as ICE officers in 2025. These incidents have included kidnapping, robbery, and sexual assault. Experts noted that ICE agents' use of masks and plain clothes during operations may be a factor. Only one case has resulted in federal charges, compared to roughly half of such cases in previous administrations.

According to a CNN investigation, two dozen incidents in 2025 involved people impersonating ICE officers. These incidents include political intimidation of immigrants and criminal acts including kidnapping, robbery, assault, and rape.