Human Impact Project

Marcelo Gomes da Silva, an 18-year-old high school student from Brazil who came to the U.S. at age 7, was arrested by ICE agents in May 2025 while driving to practice because his student visa had expired. He was detained for six days in a Burlington ICE facility under poor conditions, including sleeping on concrete floors with no beds or windows. After his release on bond, he was invited by Congressman Seth Moulton to attend the State of the Union as a guest, where he plans to advocate for immigrants.

Homeland Security Investigations agents raided two locations of Buona Forchetta restaurant in San Diego's South Park neighborhood on Friday evening, deploying flash bang grenades and detaining multiple employees. According to the restaurant manager, at least four workers were detained during the operation. Community members gathered outside to protest, and San Diego Police were called to assist with crowd control, though they did not participate in the enforcement action.

Rep. Yassamin Ansari visited the Eloy Detention Center in late May and spoke with over 20 detainees who reported forced outdoor walking until fainting, manipulated air conditioning, and sickness. Ansari requested information from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about the reported conditions.

Martir Garcia Lara, a 9-year-old fourth grader at Torrance Elementary School, and his father were detained by ICE on May 29, 2025, while attending an immigration hearing in downtown Los Angeles. The pair were separated and transferred to a facility in Texas. Federal officials confirmed the boy will be deported to Honduras after an immigration judge's 2022 order and a dismissed appeal in 2023.

A Honduran mother and her two children, ages 6 and 9, were arrested by ICE agents at Los Angeles Immigration Court on May 29, 2025, as they left a courtroom. The 6-year-old boy has leukemia and missed a medical appointment for worsening symptoms. The family was transported to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas and placed in expedited removal proceedings. Their attorneys filed a lawsuit challenging the arrests as violations of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.

ICE agents arrested multiple immigrants at the San Antonio Immigration Court on May 29, 2025, as they appeared for scheduled court hearings. At least one individual, possibly a minor, was detained using a zip tie. The arrests included a family with four children and were witnessed by staff from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.

Federal immigration authorities deported a 9-year-old Torrance Elementary School student and his 50-year-old father to Honduras after they appeared for a routine immigration hearing on May 29, 2025. Both were undocumented, and an immigration judge had ordered their deportation in September 2022, though they remained in the United States and appealed. The boy had attended the school since first grade. The boy stated he was unhappy about separation from his friends and remaining family members in California.

Andry José Hernández Romero, a Venezuelan makeup artist who arrived in the US seeking asylum in August 2024, was deported to El Salvador's Cecot prison in March 2025 under the Alien Enemies Act. He was detained based on tattoos allegedly linking him to the Tren de Aragua gang, which his family and supporters deny, claiming the tattoos relate to a local cultural festival. He remains in the Salvadoran prison without contact with his family, and his case is part of a class-action lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act for deportations.

A Watsonville resident was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials at approximately noon on Tuesday, May 28, 2025, according to Your Allied Rapid Response Santa Cruz County. The advocacy group confirmed the arrest appeared to target one individual rather than being part of a sweep or raid. The detainee is expected to be held until brought to immigration court to determine deportation eligibility.

ICE agents conducted enforcement operations in Washington state that resulted in family separations and deportations. In one incident near Shoreline, agents detained Ivan Guzman during a traffic stop while he was driving his 2-year-old son to daycare, leaving the toddler alone in the vehicle before deporting Guzman to Mexico. In a separate case in Tacoma, ICE detained a husband and coerced him to sign self-deportation papers while threatening to apprehend his wife and children within four days, prompting the entire family to voluntarily return to Venezuela.

Miguel Angel López, a Livermore father deported to Mexico in June 2025, lost a federal court case that could have allowed him to return to the U.S. Judge Trina Thompson ruled against López on a technicality, finding his claim time-barred under the statute of limitations. López was detained by ICE on May 27, 2025, during a routine immigration check-in at the San Francisco ICE office and deported on June 6, 2025, hours before a court order that would have allowed him to stay and fight his case.

ICE agents arrested Paola Clouatre, a 25-year-old mother of two and wife of a Marine Corps veteran, at a USCIS office in New Orleans on May 27, 2025, following her permanent residence status interview. She was detained based on a final order of removal issued in 2018 that she was unaware of due to a missed immigration hearing by her mother. Her husband, Adrian Clouatre, is caring for their two young children while seeking to overturn the removal order through an emergency motion.

Paola Clouatre, wife of a service-disabled Marine Corps veteran, was detained by ICE on May 27, 2025, at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in New Orleans during a green card application appointment. She was held at a detention facility in Monroe, Louisiana, due to a missed 2018 immigration hearing and resulting deportation order. She had legally entered the country as a minor seeking asylum with her mother over a decade earlier. Following intervention from U.S. Senator John Kennedy's office, a judge reopened her case and granted a stay of deportation, leading to her release from ICE custody.

Gonzalo Ladron de Guevara, a lawful permanent resident since 2003, was detained by ICE in May 2025 after returning to Chicago from Mexico where he had scattered his mother's ashes. He was held for seven days by CBP for secondary screening before being transferred to ICE custody and charged federally. The detention is linked to a dismissed felony fraud charge from approximately 13 years prior related to prescription fraud.

At least eight people were arrested by ICE agents as they left San Diego's immigration court on Thursday. ICE agents waited in hallways and arrested people after their hearings. The tactic has also occurred in New York City, Miami, and Seattle. Immigration lawyers stated the practice discourages people from attending their court hearings.

A federal judge dismissed trespassing charges against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka related to a standoff at a migrant detention center. The judge stated that the 13-day process from arrest to dismissal was problematic and instructed prosecutors that their duty is to justice and not solely to securing convictions. Baraka had visited Delaney Hall, a facility housing immigrant detainees, as part of an oversight visit with members of Congress. Rep. LaMonica McIver was indicted for allegedly impeding the arrest and assaulting federal officers; she has pleaded not guilty.

A Guatemalan national identified as O.C.G. who was deported to Mexico has been returned to the United States following a federal judge's order. O.C.G. had sought asylum after experiencing violence in Guatemala and during border transit. He is now in ICE custody while his case challenging third-country deportations proceeds through the courts.

Dong Van Nguyen, a 64-year-old Vietnamese refugee who fled to the U.S. in 1980, was detained by ICE on May 21, 2025 during a scheduled check-in appointment at the Burlington ICE office. He was enrolled in the alternatives to detention program. Greater Boston Legal Services filed a habeas corpus motion to challenge his detention. Nguyen now faces deportation to Vietnam after 45 years in the United States.

Sara Lopez Garcia, a 20-year-old student at Suffolk County Community College with a 3.9 GPA, was arrested by ICE agents on May 21 during a raid on her family home in Mastic. She claimed she had special immigrant juvenile legal status and a valid work permit. She was detained for over two months and subsequently deported to Colombia in August.

During an ICE checkpoint in Bon Secour, Alabama staffed by ICE agents, Alabama State Troopers, and Baldwin County Sheriffs, a young person's arm was broken during an attempted detention into an unmarked vehicle. According to witnesses, an officer told him to "pop it back in." The person was released without charges but required hospitalization for the arm injury. A trooper's badge number was recorded at the scene.

A person died after a human smuggling attempt ended in a vehicle chase and river crossing at the Rio Grande near Laredo. After Texas Department of Public Safety troopers attempted to stop a black Tahoe, nine people jumped into the river. One person was rescued, another drowned, and the suspected smuggler fled to Mexico.

On June 11, two asylum seekers who reported for immigration court were detained by ICE in Spokane. A protest ensued where demonstrators blocked an ICE bus and deflated its tires. Military veteran Bajun Mavalwalla II, who participated in the protest, was arrested by FBI agents at his home on July 15.

Two men were detained by ICE agents in Waltham after one agent broke a van window during the encounter on Tuesday. A 16-year-old witness recorded the incident and informed the men of their rights. It remains unclear what charges the men face or the reasons for their arrest.

Daniela Joly Serrano Landin, a 24-year-old Colombian asylum seeker married to an active-duty U.S. Army soldier, was arrested by ICE on May 12 after an ankle monitor malfunctioned, despite being granted parole. She was held at the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia and later transferred to El Paso Processing Center. On Wednesday, she was released on a $10,000 bond after a hearing where her attorney argued her case.

Coast Guard agents rescued two migrants who were struggling to swim back to Mexico across the Rio Grande near the Texas border. The migrants had initially made landfall on the U.S. side with a group before attempting to return to Mexico. After rejecting medical assistance, they were taken to the Rio Grande Valley Central Processing Center.

Carlos De La Garza, a 55-year-old Berkeley resident and green card holder, was arrested in December at the end of a routine appointment related to his green card application by ICE officer Nolan De Long, who had been on the job for less than a month. De La Garza was wrongfully detained due to paperwork errors made by De Long. After De La Garza challenged his detention in federal court, government attorneys dropped their opposition to his release upon discovering the case relied on the officer's misrepresentations. De Long apologized for the errors.

Allan Marrero, a non-citizen married to U.S. citizen Matthew Marrero, was detained at a green card interview at 26 Federal Plaza and has not been released. He is currently held at Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark where he reportedly struggles to receive his daily medications and has experienced harassment from other detainees. According to his lawyer, he may be eligible for a marriage-based green card.

Police in Worcester, Massachusetts restrained a 16-year-old girl on May 9, 2025 while ICE agents detained her mother. Video footage documents the incident. The girl was charged with reckless endangerment, disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest.

Viktoriia Bulavina, a Ukrainian immigrant married to a U.S. citizen and applying for permanent residency, was arrested by ICE immediately after a green card interview in downtown San Diego. She was detained for three days in poor conditions, including an open toilet in view of guards, expired food, and denial of medication. Federal immigration officials released her after media coverage and attorney intervention.

A small panga-style boat carrying migrants capsized off Torrey Pines State Beach near San Diego, killing four people including a 14-year-old boy and resulting in a 10-year-old girl missing at sea. The children's father is in a coma and their mother remains hospitalized. Five Mexican citizens have been charged with human smuggling resulting in death and other related crimes.

Two U.S. citizen children, ages 5 and 4, were deported to Mexico after their mother was lured to an immigration processing appointment under false pretenses. The mother, who was told she would be eligible for asylum and a work permit if she appeared for a routine check-in, was instead deported to Reynosa, Mexico along with her three children. The two youngest children are U.S. citizens who were deported without proper legal process or opportunity for informed consent from their mother.

Denisse Parra Vargas, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, was stopped for expired tags in North Austin on Thursday and later instructed to report to a processing center in Pflugerville on Tuesday. When she reported with her three children, ICE arrested all of them. Two of her three children are U.S. citizens. The family was deported to Mexico within 24 hours.

Patricia Vázquez Topete, a DACA recipient who had lived in California for 20 years, self-deported to Mexico in May 2025. She cited legal uncertainty surrounding DACA's future, immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, the inability to travel safely using Advance Parole, and lack of a permanent legal status pathway as factors in her decision. Vázquez Topete sold her belongings and left the U.S. to pursue a master's degree in Spain while reconnecting with family in Mexico.

On May 6, 2025, ICE and HSI agents conducted unannounced visits to multiple Washington, D.C. restaurants as part of a Trump administration immigration enforcement crackdown targeting businesses suspected of employing undocumented workers. Agents requested I-9 employment verification forms and issued inspection notices requiring document production within three business days at establishments including Chef Geoff's and Pupatella. No arrests were made during the sweeps. Restaurant employees, managers, and members of immigrant communities reported anxiety about their legal obligations.

A 21-year-old Colombian woman who was eight months pregnant was deported from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport. She had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in November seeking asylum but was subject to expedited removal. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order to stop the deportation, but the order came approximately three hours after the flight had departed.

Ximena Arias-Cristobal, 19, was detained by ICE after being stopped for a traffic infraction on May 5, 2025 in Dalton, Georgia. Her dark gray truck was confused with a black pickup involved in an illegal turn. During a bond hearing on Wednesday, she was granted $1,500 bond and was expected to be released to her family.

Abelardo Avellaneda Delgado, a 68-year-old Mexican-born man who had lived in the U.S. for 40 years, died while being transported from Lowndes County Jail to Stewart detention center on May 5, 2025. The exact cause of death remains under investigation, but the coroner suspected an aortic aneurysm. His family reported he had no prior health conditions but was placed in a wheelchair during his detention and given medications he had never taken before.

ICE agents apprehended a man at a Sinclair gas station in Oxnard, California on May 4, leaving two children in his vehicle. A gas station attendant witnessed the arrest and reported that the children remained in the truck after the father was taken into custody. DHS stated that the man's 19-year-old son took possession of the vehicle and that ICE offered to relocate it, though advocacy groups contend the children were left unattended.

As the Trump administration accelerates deportations, child welfare advocates have stated concerns about potential violations of children's rights. Cases include a 2-year-old kept in U.S. custody after her mother was deported to Venezuela.

During a May 2025 joint THP and ICE operation in Nashville, a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper pulled over a vehicle for a broken light and shared the driver's immigration status with an ICE agent, resulting in the driver's detention and subsequent deportation. The week-long operation resulted in more than 100 arrests, separating families and leaving relatives behind in Nashville. An analysis found that most arrests involved people without criminal records, marking a shift in ICE enforcement patterns.

Kapil Raghu was arrested by Benton police on May 3, 2025, after officers mistook a perfume bottle for an illegal substance during a traffic stop. While in jail awaiting charges, it was discovered his temporary visa had expired, leading to his transfer to an ICE detention facility in Louisiana. After being released after 30 days, Raghu is now in immigration limbo with his work authorization suspended and previous citizenship efforts halted.

An 18-year-old U.S. citizen, Kenny Laynez, was detained for six hours by Florida Highway Patrol and Border Patrol agents after being stopped while driving to a landscaping job near North Palm Beach. Video footage shows agents using physical force and a Taser on Laynez's undocumented coworkers, including his mother's coworkers, despite Laynez asserting his citizenship rights. Laynez was eventually released after agents confirmed his citizenship status, while his undocumented coworkers were transferred to the Krome Detention Center and faced deportation proceedings.

Over a dozen U.S. citizens have been caught up in the Trump administration's immigration enforcement crackdown, according to interviews, court records and news reports. Attorneys, civil rights advocates and immigration scholars have stated that citizens face vulnerability in a system with faster processing and fewer procedural safeguards.

Dylan Lopez Contreras, a 20-year-old Venezuelan student, was detained by ICE on May 1, 2024, after attending a mandatory immigration court hearing in Lower Manhattan and transferred to Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania. An immigration judge denied his asylum claim in September 2024 and ordered his deportation to Venezuela. Contreras was released from ICE custody on March 18, 2025, after nearly 10 months of detention while his legal team pursued an appeal of the deportation order. He is currently applying for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and wearing an ankle monitor while his asylum application remains pending. Dylan Lopez Contreras, a 21-year-old Venezuelan student at ELLIS Preparatory Academy in the Bronx, was arrested by ICE in May 2025 after his asylum hearing in a Manhattan courthouse, becoming the first known NYC public school student detained during Trump's second term. He was held at Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania for approximately 10 months before his release in March 2026. Dylan has returned to school while awaiting a decision on his asylum appeal, subject to an ankle monitor and ICE check-ins.

The Trump administration has expanded immigration detention by moving hundreds of immigrants to federal prisons run by the Bureau of Prisons. Detainees report conditions including moldy food, overcrowding, denial of legal access, being cut off from attorneys and families, and being moved without notice to facilities across the country including Atlanta, Miami, Philadelphia, Berlin, and Leavenworth.