Human Impact Project

Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan man who entered the U.S. legally in 2024 through CBP One and had lived in Austin for about two years working as a DoorDash driver, was shot in the back by an ICE agent during a vehicle stop near Research Boulevard. He disputes DHS's account that he fled on foot, saying he never left his car, and no body camera footage of the encounter exists. He was discharged from Dell Seton Medical Center about four hours after being shot, still with a bullet lodged near his spine, and transferred roughly 140 miles away to the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall. His attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, says he has been denied timely surgery, given only over-the-counter pain relievers despite a fractured clavicle and partial paralysis, held in isolation, and denied consistent access to counsel; Rep. Greg Casar, who visited him, said he could lose feeling on his left side without surgery. After speaking to reporters, detention staff reportedly confiscated his communication tablet and moved him to solitary confinement. His legal team filed a federal habeas petition seeking his release and applied for a visa citing his status as a victim of violent crime, while Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and Reps. Casar and Joaquin Castro called for an independent investigation and release of body camera footage; DHS said it would investigate through Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI.

Masked ICE agents conducted an enforcement sweep along Speedwell Avenue in Morristown, chasing a man from the Lincoln Apartments toward a firehouse while a school bus of elementary students watched agents transfer handcuffed detainees between vehicles. Father Duberney Villamizar, a local priest, cut short Mass to witness the operation and said four to six individuals, including a car wash employee, were detained, with one released after producing legal documents. During the operation, a passing vehicle struck the open door of an ICE SUV in front of the school bus, which the priest said caused children to scream; DHS blamed a distracted driver and said no ICE officers were injured. Residents and officials questioned whether a Morris County Sheriff's officer had cooperated with ICE, which would violate New Jersey's Immigrant Trust Directive. DHS later identified three men detained: Noe Izara Rivera and Marco Vinicio Remache-Damian, who will face due process in deportation proceedings, and Cesar Armando Chilotillo, a previously deported individual who will remain in ICE custody pending removal. The arrests were part of a series of Morristown ICE sweeps that have unsettled Hispanic neighborhoods and prompted protests since January.

Adam Abdullah, a 31-year-old Somali auto mechanic and asylum seeker living in St. Paul with a pending asylum application, work permit and Social Security number, was arrested by masked federal agents on Dec. 12, 2025 during 'Operation Metro Surge.' Despite regularly attending ICE check-ins and having no criminal record beyond two parking tickets, he was moved between detention facilities in Minnesota, Kentucky and Louisiana over roughly nine months before being flown, shackled, toward Somalia but instead held at Guantánamo Bay's Camp Six alongside seven other Somali detainees, several also arrested in the Twin Cities. His attorney, Marc Prokosch, said calls with him were limited to five to ten minutes and possibly not confidential. Abdullah began a hunger strike over lack of information, after which he says guards beat him and placed him in a freezing solitary confinement cell; while detained, his mother died, and he says authorities denied him an international call and a request for voluntary departure to attend to her. The ACLU sued the federal government, arguing it lacks legal authority to detain immigrants overseas, and a judge allowed the case to proceed with a hearing set for October 14. Abdullah was deported to Somalia alongside eight other men, and his attorney said ICE also stopped publishing detainee location data.

Bryan Omar Sánchez, a Honduran man who had lived in Colorado for about a decade working as a gardener, truck driver, and pressure-washing business owner, was detained by ICE at his home on May 13 and moved through detention centers in Texas and Arizona. Despite a 2020 Convention Against Torture protection barring his return to Honduras and a pending asylum claim, he was placed on a nearly 22-hour flight to the Central African Republic on July 29 without his consent; one officer reportedly mocked him, asking 'Hey, Honduras, why are you going to Africa?' while Sánchez protested, 'Africa? I can't go to Africa.' Once in Bangui, he described being held in a shelter with restricted movement, facing language barriers and limited access to services, prompting Honduras' National Human Rights Commissioner (Conadeh) to demand urgent consular assistance and verification of his well-being. While detained, Sánchez represented himself in filings with Colorado's federal court, arguing he should not have been removed to a country he had never visited. U.S. District Judge Regina M. Rodríguez ruled that ICE violated his due process rights by giving him no notice or opportunity to challenge the removal, and ordered the government to return him to Colorado and release him without conditions such as GPS monitoring.

Luis Silas, a 58-year-old Mexican migrant, was detained by ICE agents in February 2026 while shopping for wood to build a bookcase for his wife near 43rd Avenue and Camelback Road in Phoenix; agents appeared to have identified him through his car's license plates and addressed him by name. Silas said officers threw him to the ground during the arrest, injuring his arm, and he was taken to the same ICE Central Avenue processing office where Ramón Barraza had been held, where he received only a single bean burrito every six hours for three days and one chance to shower. His son, Isaac Luis-Azamar, witnessed the arrest, intervened believing an agent was about to hit his father, and was himself arrested and accused of assaulting an ICE officer.

A federal judge found the Trump administration in contempt after it twice deported an asylum-seeker identified in court documents as E.L.A. to El Salvador in violation of three court orders. After his first deportation, E.L.A. voluntarily returned to the U.S. and submitted to immigration custody, but was wrongfully deported a second time to the country where he feared persecution. The case stems from a 2019 class-action lawsuit protecting the asylum rights of immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as unaccompanied minors, and the judge ordered the government to return him and halt any removal until his asylum case is resolved.

A Black U.S. citizen in Evanston, Illinois was tackled and beaten by federal agents believed to be ICE, who mistook him for a fugitive they were pursuing near Dodge Avenue and Howard Street. Video captured by witness Miguel Angel Olivares and another bystander shows agents using rough force, pinning him to the ground and appearing to strike him as he repeatedly stated he was a citizen. He suffered injuries to his head, neck and teeth and was treated at a local hospital, St. Francis. Federal officials said the man refused to identify himself and declined medical assistance, and that he was briefly detained for fingerprinting before being released once agents confirmed he was not their target. Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss confirmed the detention and release, while local police, eyewitnesses, and activist group Sanctuary Evanston disputed DHS's account, calling the incident a 'violent assault.' Evanston police, Illinois authorities, and the FBI are investigating, with body camera footage being preserved and witnesses interviewed.

Catherine came to the United States as an international student ten years ago, building a life and education in Utah. Her family says she was taken into custody on false charges and has been held for six months in a Louisiana ICE detention facility without receiving a trial or hearing. Family members describe her as a daughter, sister, friend, and student, and say she has been separated from her education and community throughout her detention. They are raising money to cover attorney fees, legal filings, transportation, and other costs as they pursue her case.

A Peruvian man identified in court filings as "John Doe," who has judicial protections against deportation to Peru, has been held in ICE custody in Massachusetts since July. After an appeals court struck down the Trump administration's third-country removal policy, a Department of Justice attorney argued the ruling wasn't yet in effect and sought to transfer Doe to another facility to put him on a flight to the Central African Republic. Doe's attorneys, including Mary Holper, obtained an emergency clarification from the appeals court reaffirming the policy was dissolved immediately, and a judge declined to lift the stay barring his removal, though he remains in detention. Flight data showed ICE charter planes continued flying to and landing in African countries used for third-country removals hours after the court's order, raising concerns the government may still be violating the ruling.

Pastor Molis Augustave, 33, a faith leader and immigrant rights organizer with We Are CASA, was deported to Haiti alongside 38 other Haitians despite a pending green card application filed by his U.S.-citizen wife, Omara Boniface Nunez. He was arrested on September 4 after being stopped by local police over a reportedly broken headlight while driving for DoorDash, and was turned over to ICE. At the time of his removal, he had an approved I-130 petition, a pending I-485 green card application, a motion to reopen his case before the Board of Immigration Appeals, and a federal habeas corpus petition in Louisiana. While detained, he led a Bible study group and counseled a fellow detainee who was contemplating suicide. His wife and their two children, Isaac and Sofia, remain in York, where he pastored a congregation.

A man was stopped by ICE agents in a white SUV near the intersection of Acushnet Avenue and Sawyer Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts. According to witnesses, the man gave agents his information and then attempted to leave, prompting four agents to chase him down and tackle him to the ground, where one agent tased him for about 15 seconds. Photos circulated online appear to show the taser pressed to his neck as he lay restrained with his hands behind his back before being placed in a van and taken away. Alicia Lopez Gonzalez, co-director of local advocacy group Mujeres Victoriosas, witnessed the arrest and said the tactics were 'done intentionally to traumatize our community.' Nearby business workers, including a hair salon employee and a taqueria co-owner, said they were frightened and locked their doors as agents passed by.

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order, later followed by a permanent injunction, requiring ICE to improve conditions at its 26 Federal Plaza detention facility in Manhattan. Detainees, including Sergio Alberto Barco Mercado, who filed a complaint after mass arrests at the site, were reportedly held on floors without beds, given only two meals a day, and denied hygiene products and access to legal counsel. The court found that ICE willfully violated prior orders and kept detainees in overcrowded rooms without adequate bedding, hygiene supplies, or proper temperature control. The rulings required ICE to provide sleeping mats, hygiene products, and legal access to those held at the facility.

José Alejandro Aponte, a 65-year-old Cuban man deported from the United States to Villahermosa, Mexico, stayed briefly at the Amparito Shelter and now rents a small room in the city center. When Forbidden Stories spoke with him in spring 2026, he had just been refused residency in Mexico. "I tried to comply with every rule. Now I'm in immigration limbo. I have no papers to go anywhere," he said, adding that he fears losing contact with his family because phone companies now require numbers to be linked to a valid identity document.

Humberto García, a Cuban national deported to Mexico after living 35 years in the United States, tried to travel through the mountains near Tapachula to avoid migration checkpoints. He was approached by three armed attackers who robbed him and shot him twice in the torso; he stumbled for nearly an hour before reaching a road where authorities took him to a hospital. After three days recovering, with no organ damage from the bullets, he had no choice but to return to Tapachula, where he said he was left with nothing to eat and nowhere to sleep.

Nathan 'Nate' Samudzi, a delivery driver in Yankton, South Dakota, originally from Zimbabwe, was detained by ICE for a second time this year after reporting to the agency's Sioux Falls sub-field office, where he believed he might receive eased monitoring conditions. He was quickly transferred to a detention center and then to Minneapolis for a deportation flight, but a federal judge granted an emergency Temporary Restraining Order about 30 minutes before the flight was scheduled to depart, halting his removal. Samudzi, who holds a valid work permit and had begun the citizenship process, had been under strict GPS monitoring since a prior detention in St. Louis in February; his wife, a local school teacher, said he complied with every condition. ICE says he has been subject to a final removal order since 2006 due to a drug conviction. His legal team filed an emergency habeas corpus petition citing fear of persecution or torture if returned to Zimbabwe, a country he has not lived in since age four, and he is currently held at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Fort Snelling, Minnesota, while friends, family, and South Dakota's congressional delegation seek updates on his case.

Mario David Coronado Juarez, a 36-year-old Guatemalan construction worker from Tuichilupe village in Comitancillo, San Marcos, died Sunday, Sept. 20, when his vehicle struck a tree and burst into flames in Grand Rapids, Michigan, while fleeing an attempted ICE traffic stop. He had worked in the U.S. for six to seven years to support his wife, two daughters and a son, and was building a house for his family. DHS said ICE officers had been trying to stop him to confirm his identity, mistaking him for a different Guatemalan man they were seeking, and that officers discontinued the pursuit and tried to render aid after the crash. Community members, including volunteer Karla Barberi of Cosecha Grand Rapids, described him as "a hard-working man for the working class" and "an honest man" who "was not a criminal." Grand Rapids Police Chief Joseph Trigg requested that Michigan State Police investigate, citing limited cooperation from federal agencies, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered an independent review. Rep. Hillary Scholten sent a letter to ICE demanding a transparent investigation, and the Guatemalan Consulate is coordinating repatriation of his remains while a GoFundMe and community vigil were organized to help his family, who could not initially afford the trip to begin repatriation proceedings.

Madeline Gallagher, a rapid response team member who had joined the volunteer group a month earlier, was pushed to the ground by a courthouse security staffer during a confrontation between activists and ICE agents at the Meriden courthouse. Other rapid response team members said they witnessed Gallagher briefly lose consciousness after her fall, and she was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. Gallagher said she was motivated to volunteer because "mothers [are] being taken away from their children." The incident occurred as ICE agents detained at least one man at the courthouse, an operation that raised questions about compliance with Connecticut's Trust Act, which limits immigration enforcement at courthouses and bans masked law enforcement.

Nancy Burton, a Meriden resident and member of a rapid response team monitoring ICE activity in Connecticut, was pepper-sprayed by an ICE agent exiting the Meriden courthouse during a confrontation between activists and agents. Burton said she was stepping away from the officer after he demanded she move when he deployed the spray, saying "He wanted to use his pepper spray, he didn't have to." She was treated by an emergency medical technician at the scene. The incident occurred as ICE agents detained at least one man at the courthouse, an operation that raised questions about compliance with Connecticut's Trust Act, which limits immigration enforcement at courthouses and bans masked law enforcement.

Retired Wayne County judge Michael Callahan said a convoy of eight armed ICE officers arrived at his metro Detroit home this summer claiming they only intended to place an ankle tether on his foster son. The officers had no warrant or court order, according to Callahan, even though his foster son, a refugee who had lived in the U.S. for more than seven years, had attended every required ICE check-in, had no criminal record, and worked full-time as a truck driver. Callahan said agents ultimately took his foster son into custody despite these circumstances.

A multi-day ICE enforcement operation across New Bedford, Fall River, and Dartmouth, Massachusetts, detained at least 40 people in what community leaders called one of the largest such operations in recent months. Among those detained was Miguel Ixcuna-Ixcuna, a Guatemalan immigrant who has lived in the U.S. about 12 years and works as a fruit and vegetable packer in Plymouth; he was pulled from his car during a traffic stop while his partner and two young daughters watched. Agents also detained fish plant workers, mechanics, landscapers, roofers, and others heading to jobs, church, or school, including several people stopped at Cumberland Farms gas stations and possibly two Fall River students, and chased, tackled, and tased one fleeing man. Immigration attorneys said agents appeared to be racial profiling rather than targeting specific individuals, and one attorney said detainees at the Burlington facility were pressured to sign self-deportation paperwork without legal advice. Governor Maura Healey and Mayor Jon Mitchell criticized ICE for failing to notify local police, employers, or families, and attorneys with the Habeas Project of New England filed 25 habeas petitions, resulting in federal court stay orders keeping detainees in-state.