Human Impact Project

Juliana Soares, an advocate with Greater Danbury United for Immigrants, was physically assaulted by ICE agents while protesting at Danbury Superior Courthouse on August 14, 2025. Soares stated that an ICE agent walked into her, shoved her into a group of armed agents, and another agent pushed her so forcefully she nearly fell. She was also screamed at loudly by another agent, causing her ear to ring. Soares was threatened with pepper spray and arrest during the incident.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained Juan Jose Martinez Cortes, a Mexican national, outside Linda Vista Elementary School in San Diego on Thursday while he was waiting to pick up his child, minutes before school dismissal. School district officials expressed frustration over the arrest occurring near school grounds. This was the second ICE arrest outside an elementary school in the San Diego area within two weeks.

Michel Tshimankinda, a pastor at Restoration Church of Maine in South Portland, was released on bond after spending 16 days in ICE custody following his August 13 detention. Tshimankinda, who arrived in 2016 on a tourist visa from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, says he applied for asylum while his visa was still active and has been awaiting a decision. He has returned to lead his church while his asylum case is pending. ICE states he overstayed his visa by nine years, while Tshimankinda maintains his asylum application was filed before the visa expired.

Antonia Aguilar Maldonado, a mother of two U.S. citizen children, was released from ICE custody on August 13 following a federal judge's order. She had been detained on July 17 while on her way to work despite having no criminal record and an active asylum application. Aguilar Maldonado came to the U.S. in 2016 as a 17-year-old unaccompanied minor without legal status.

ICE agents detained six people at a home on 79th Avenue near Hillside Street in East Oakland on August 12, 2025, including a 17-year-old minor and someone with a severe disability. According to Nikolas De Bremaeker, immigrants' rights managing attorney at Centro Legal, no arrest warrants were issued for any of the detainees. The minor was initially held in a hotel before being transferred to the San Francisco ICE Field Office, where all six remain detained. De Bremaeker stated he pressed ICE on the illegality of detaining a child under these circumstances. Centro Legal and the Alameda County Immigration Legal Education Partnership's rapid response hotline are providing legal support to the detainees. This was the first confirmed ICE sighting in Oakland verified by the county's rapid response hotline.

Federal Protective Service officers arrested more than a dozen protesters outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles during Occupy ICE demonstrations that began in early July. The protesters maintained an encampment and stated they were being targeted for exercising First Amendment rights, while federal officials cited charges including assaulting officers and vandalism. The ACLU filed a lawsuit alleging excessive force and violations of protesters' constitutional rights during the demonstrations. The arrests occurred during the ongoing demonstrations.

A U.S. Marine Corps veteran named Daryn Herzberg alleges he was battered and assaulted by Department of Homeland Security personnel outside an ICE facility in South Portland on two separate occasions in August 2025. According to video evidence and his attorney's account, federal employees tackled him to the ground, with one incident involving an officer grabbing him by the hair and slamming his face into the ground multiple times. Herzberg's legal team plans to sue the federal government, citing injuries including a concussion, abrasions, and bruising.

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking ICE from holding immigrants at a Manhattan facility (26 Federal Plaza) unless conditions are improved, including providing sleeping mats, hygiene products, and legal access. The facility had been holding detainees on floors without beds, limiting meals to two per day, and denying access to basic necessities and legal representation.

J-M-L, a 57-year-old father from Guatemala, was detained by ICE on August 12, 2025, when he and his son arrived at the Eugene Federal Building for an administrative check-in. Both were transported to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington. J-M-L had previously entered the United States without authorization on multiple occasions and was considered subject to a final removal order since 2007. The family had been living in Lebanon, Oregon since 2019.

S-M-J, a 19-year-old with a disability from Guatemala, arrived at the Eugene Federal Building on August 12, 2025, for an administrative check-in and was detained by ICE along with his father. An ICE officer presented him with options to sign a voluntary departure order or receive a notice to appear, which U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai characterized as "coercive conduct." The judge's ruling ensured the voluntary departure order would not be enforced. S-M-J had lived in Lebanon, Oregon since 2019 and was a high school graduate.

A 21-year-old man with physical and developmental disabilities, who is nearly deaf and has limited English proficiency, was arrested by ICE on August 12 during a raid in Oakland and is now detained at the Northwest ICE Detention Center in Tacoma. Advocates and attorneys report he cannot understand his legal proceedings and is isolated from those who can communicate with him. ICE is detaining an individual with disabilities at a detention center.

Two men were arrested by ICE agents inside a Stamford courthouse on August 11, 2025, around 11:15 a.m. Federal officers in military-style vests entered the building, forced open a bathroom door, and removed the men in handcuffs. Witnesses reported the use of pepper spray and described the operation as aggressive and disruptive to court proceedings. The arrests occurred after President Trump's administration reversed a federal policy that had prohibited immigration enforcement in courthouses.

A 15-year-old disabled U.S. citizen was detained by ICE and Border Patrol agents outside Arleta High School on August 11, 2025, in what federal authorities claim was a case of mistaken identity. The family alleges the detention amounted to unconstitutional racial profiling and has filed a $1 million damage claim against the Trump administration. Federal agents drew weapons on the boy and handcuffed him before his mother convinced them they had the wrong person.

Federal immigration enforcement officers arrested two undocumented immigrants inside the Stamford courthouse on August 11, 2025, forcibly entering a bathroom and breaking a door panel during the encounter. The arrest, which followed the Trump administration's reversal of a federal courthouse enforcement policy, sparked public outcry and led 21 Connecticut state senators to request in September that the state's highest court issue orders prohibiting arrests without judicial warrants in or near courthouses, citing concerns that facilities are being used as "mouse traps" rather than centers for justice.

Joselyn Chipantiza Sisalema, a 20-year-old Ecuadorean public school student, was arrested inside immigration court and held at ICE's 10th-floor processing facility at 26 Federal Plaza for 10 days between June 24 and July 4, 2025. She menstruated for five of those days without access to sanitary pads; guards distributed only two pads for all women in the overcrowded cell, forcing her to remain in blood-stained clothing. She was recently freed following a federal judge's order. Her sworn affidavit is part of a lawsuit filed by immigration rights groups against ICE seeking to improve conditions at the facility, which detainees describe as severely overcrowded with limited food, water, hygiene access, and no bathing facilities.

Felipe Agustin Zamacona was arrested last Thursday in Wheeling and detained at the Broadview ICE facility in overcrowded conditions. He testified in federal court that he had to wake someone up who was sleeping beside the toilet in order to use it. He is still in federal custody. His testimony is part of a class-action lawsuit seeking to improve conditions at the facility.

Hugo Elias Sanchez Trillos, a Colombian construction worker, was arrested in late June after ICE raided his home looking for someone else. He was held at 26 Federal Plaza for nearly three weeks (with a three-day break at Nassau County jail between June 26 and July 14), wearing the same clothes and never bathing. He lost nearly 20 pounds due to limited food access, receiving only two meals daily served cold in plastic bags. His sworn affidavit is part of a lawsuit seeking to improve conditions at the facility.

Geovani Maradiaga Ochoa, a Honduran immigrant who lived in the Bronx for 20 years with a U.S. citizen wife and daughter, was arrested at an ICE check-in and detained at 26 Federal Plaza for six days without access to shower or toothbrush. He stated he felt mistreated during detention. His sworn affidavit is part of a lawsuit by Make the Road New York, the NYCLU, and ACLU seeking to improve conditions at the facility.

Florida officials are refusing to confirm whether COVID-19 or other infectious diseases are spreading at Alligator Alcatraz, a new immigration detention center. A Venezuelan detainee recently collapsed with respiratory symptoms and was hospitalized, while relatives of other detainees report widespread illness at the facility. A former corrections officer also reported contracting COVID-19 shortly after starting work at the center.

A man named Orlin was taken into ICE custody for the second time after his family's dog discovered human remains at a home in Center Point, Alabama. His wife, Paulina Mejia, is now caring for their young daughter alone while managing their remodeling business. The couple had been cooperating with law enforcement in the investigation when ICE detained Orlin and transferred him to a detention facility in Louisiana.

Alejandra Juarez, a Colombian national who lived undocumented in Florida for 20 years, was deported to Mexico, leaving behind her 16-year-old U.S. citizen daughter Pamela and her husband Temo, a naturalized U.S. citizen and former Marine. Her deportation was initiated following a 2013 traffic stop that exposed her undocumented status. A 2001 citizenship petition was rejected after she was accused of making a false statement during an asylum claim in 1998. Juarez chose to self-deport rather than face forcible removal, settling in Merida in the Yucatan with plans for her younger daughter Estela to join her. Temo remained in Florida to care for Pamela and maintain their roofing business.

Sarah Shaw, a New Zealand national working for Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families, and her 6-year-old son Isaac were detained by ICE at the U.S.-Canada border after attempting to re-enter the United States. Shaw had crossed into Canada to drop off her two older children but lacked proper advance parole documentation for re-entry, though her son had valid travel documents. Both are being held at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas.

A 15-year-old Manhattan high school student, Roger Iza, was arrested by ICE at a check-in appointment on August 9, 2025, along with his father. The pair were transported to private hotels in Louisiana and Texas where they were held incommunicado without access to phones or the internet, prevented from contacting lawyers or the outside world. They were deported to Ecuador on August 14, 2025, after just five days of detention in hotels rather than standard ICE detention facilities.

ICE served search warrants at agricultural firms including Christensen Farms in Minnesota and Nebraska, and in Las Vegas. The 15-month investigation targeted companies allegedly knowingly hiring undocumented workers. Criminal warrants were issued for 17 individuals in a conspiracy involving fraud and money laundering. 133 workers were administratively arrested.

Roxanne, a 32-year-old transgender woman from Mexico, crossed the Texas border in January 2024 seeking protection from discrimination and violence. She was detained by ICE in Eugene and spent a month in detention. She testified in federal court on August 8, 2025, describing her experiences of physical, sexual, and psychological violence in her home country. U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken found her testimony credible and ruled for her release through a habeas corpus petition, criticizing ICE's written statements as containing "serious inaccuracies."

Benjamin Marcelo Guerrero-Cruz, a Reseda Charter High School student preparing for his senior year, was detained by federal agents on August 8, 2025, while walking his dog in Van Nuys. He was held at a Los Angeles detention center before being transferred to Arizona on August 26. An immigration judge granted him bond on November 17, and he was released and reunited with his family just before Thanksgiving after months in ICE custody.

Immigration agents arrested Kyungjin Yu, a South Korean immigrant, outside Camarena Elementary School in Chula Vista on Wednesday morning for overstaying her visa, which expired in 2017. Yu's children were in the car at the time of the arrest, though her ex-husband was called to take custody of them. She is being held at Otay Mesa Detention Center.

ICE officers tackled and detained two protesters outside San Francisco's ICE field office on August 8, 2025. After a standoff lasting nearly a day, ICE agents allegedly fired pepperballs under a garage door and then emerged to forcibly detain the two protesters, bringing them into federal custody. Both protesters were released by 7 p.m. that evening.

Monsy Hernández, a DACA recipient who arrived in South Carolina as a child, self-deported at age 19 in 2017 after her mother was detained by ICE. Now living in Germany, she founded Onward, an organization supporting undocumented immigrants considering voluntary departure. The organization's membership increased during Trump administration deportation efforts.

Sabrina Medina, a 28-year-old pregnant U.S. citizen, was arrested by ICE agents on August 7, 2025, while leaving a pregnancy clinic. Medina claims agents are using her as bait to locate her undocumented husband and that she was arrested for an outstanding warrant from 12 years ago for shoplifting. She says agents have tracked her down four times since a June 12 raid on her home and that she experienced abdominal pain during the arrest.

ICE agents conducted a search warrant operation on February 2, 2026, at a residential property in the 600 block of North Rural Drive in Monterey Park, California, approximately 0.1 miles from Mark Keppel High School. Multiple migrants were taken into custody, with the operation occurring early in the morning. The Monterey Park city government confirmed the federal enforcement action but noted that local police did not participate, consistent with California state law and local policy prohibiting municipal involvement in immigration enforcement.

Chaofeng Ge, a 32-year-old Chinese man from Queens, was found dead hanging in a shower stall on August 5 at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania. Ge had crossed the U.S. border illegally in November 2023 and worked as a New York City delivery driver. He was convicted of gift card fraud, completed a sentence in Dauphin County Prison in January 2025, and was transferred to ICE detention less than a week before his death. Medical records from his prior incarceration documented a suicide attempt by hanging in January 2025 and diagnoses of depression and bipolar disorder. ICE reported he arrived at the facility without medical records and was placed in general population. According to his brother's lawsuit, Ge was found with a cloth around his neck and his hands and legs bound behind his back. The lawsuit alleges Ge was isolated in custody because no staff members spoke Mandarin and the facility refused to communicate with him or provide mental healthcare. His brother, Yanfeng Ge, filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit and request against ICE demanding answers and transparency about the circumstances of his death and conditions at the facility. The coroner ruled his death a suicide, but the lawsuit challenges this finding.

Leyla Navarrete, a Nicaraguan asylum seeker with a work permit and pending asylum case, was arrested by ICE on August 7, 2025, when she arrived for a routine in-person check-in at the Indianapolis ICE office. She was transferred to the Grayson County Detention Center in Kentucky, where she was held for nearly four months while pregnant. She was eventually released after winning a habeas corpus petition in federal court.

Florida's Alligator Alcatraz, a detention facility built in the Everglades by Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration and opened July 2, 2025, houses detainees in chain-link cages within tents on an abandoned airstrip. Detainees reported severe conditions including non-functioning toilets, fecal flooding, contaminated food with worms or maggots, extreme temperatures, lack of showers and hygiene supplies, denied medical care, and limited access to lawyers and phone contact. On July 7, one detainee was transported by ambulance to a hospital. The facility has been touted by the Trump administration as a model for mass deportation, while government officials disputed detainee accounts and denied media access. Legal challenges questioning the facility's jurisdiction and conditions have been filed, with over 250 detainees reported to have no criminal convictions or charges.

George and Esmeralda Doilez, U.S. citizens from Brawley, were stopped by Border Patrol agents in an unmarked vehicle while exploring the Jacumba area on their way to a dental appointment. The stop was conducted based on U-turns and a reported smuggling event. Agents found legally purchased cannabis. After approximately 30 minutes, they were released with a warning.

Jaime Alanís Garcia, a 56-year-old farmworker at Glass House Farms, died from blunt-force head and neck injuries sustained during a July 10 ICE immigration raid. His wife and daughter filed wrongful death claims against ICE alleging agents used excessive force including rubber bullets, tear gas, and stun guns, causing Alanís to fall 30 feet from a cannabis greenhouse roof. The family is seeking $47 million in damages per claim and answers about what transpired during the operation that resulted in 361 arrests.

ICE agents detained a woman in a white Tesla near Camarena Elementary School in Chula Vista during morning drop-off on August 6, 2025. The woman's two children, who were students at the school, were in the vehicle. According to ICE, an immigration judge had ordered the woman deported in absentia in July 2022, and the arrest was made off school property.

US Border Patrol agents conducted a raid outside a Home Depot in Los Angeles's Westlake neighborhood using an unmarked Penske rental truck, with masked officers jumping out and arresting 16 people. The operation, called 'Operation Trojan Horse,' occurred despite a federal court order prohibiting indiscriminate raids in the region due to evidence of racial profiling and targeting based on appearance, language, and location.

A former corrections officer at a detention facility in Florida described conditions including hundreds of detainees held in cages with no sunlight, backed-up toilets, and minimal shower access. The officer, who worked at the facility for about a week in July 2025, stated that detainees had no clocks, limited access to showers, and endured water leaks and mosquito infestations. She was subsequently fired after catching COVID and claims she was never paid for her work.

A Trump-appointed federal judge ordered Florida officials to produce legal agreements justifying their authority to detain approximately 1,000 migrants at the detention camp in the Everglades by Thursday. Civil rights groups allege detainees are being held without formal charges, denied access to legal counsel, and stripped of bond hearings, with some held beyond the legal 14-day limit. The state and federal governments lack clarity on jurisdiction and legal custody over the facility.

Luis Manuel Rivas Velásquez collapsed at Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz" detention center and was hospitalized. Detainees reported inadequate medical response and chaos at the facility. He is now being held in El Paso Enhanced Hardened Facility with reportedly deteriorating health conditions.

Sheikh Fouad Saeed Abdulkadir, a 46-year-old green card holder and Imam from Eritrea, died at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center on December 14, 2025, after spending 215 days in ICE custody. The Council on American Islamic Relations stated his death was related to detention system issues regarding medical care, transparency, and conditions.

Allison Garcia, a 17-year-old U.S. citizen honors student, was left to manage her family's mortgage and finances alone after her mother Patricia Balbuena Soto was arrested by local police on a domestic dispute warrant in July 2025 and subsequently deported to Mexico by ICE in August. Garcia missed 21 school days, dropped two AP classes, and saw her 4.8 GPA decline to 3.5 while working extra shifts to cover household expenses. Her $10,000 college fund was depleted by her mother's legal defense costs.

Two individuals were detained by ICE officers in front of Southwest Elementary School in the Roosevelt School District on August 5, 2025, the second day of the school year. One agent was observed escorting a student to the school's entry gate. Some parents subsequently kept children home or considered doing so.

Paola Clouatre, a Mexican-born woman and wife of a Marine Corps veteran, was detained by ICE on May 27, 2025, while breastfeeding her three-month-old baby during an adjustment of status interview. She spent two months in ICE's detention center in Monroe, Louisiana before being released after her husband and Senator John Kennedy's office advocated for her case. An immigration judge granted her motion to reopen her case and she was released while her legal process continues.

Recently obtained 911 calls from Alligator Alcatraz, an undocumented migrant detention facility in the Florida Everglades, include approximately 70 calls. These calls included requests for emergency medical services for medical incidents with injuries and health concerns, with approximately 30 being accidental calls from staff. The facility has faced lawsuits over conditions. Reports indicate detainees staged a hunger strike to protest conditions, which DHS denied.

Dale Heath, a British-born permanent resident who has lived in the U.S. since age 8, was detained by CBP at Denver International Airport on August 4 while renewing his temporary green card. He was arrested due to marijuana possession convictions from 2001 when he was a teenager in Texas. Heath has been held in ICE detention for weeks, separated from his wife and two children, while awaiting his immigration hearing.

Jose Angel Rodriguez Loa was detained by ICE on August 4, 2025, after a traffic stop on I-10 and Culebra in San Antonio. He was placed in an unmarked black SUV and transferred to an immigration detention facility. His family hired an immigration attorney and is fundraising to cover legal fees, with hopes he may be allowed to stay.

Gonzalo Salas, a painter with 25+ years in the U.S., three American children, a home, and a business, was detained by ICE on August 4, 2025, after taking his seven-year-old son to a dentist appointment. He remains in custody at an ICE facility in Virginia pending a bond hearing on August 28, 2025. His family is raising funds for legal representation to fight his deportation to Mexico.

Federal immigration authorities attempted to quickly deport Mirta Amarilis Co Tupul, a 38-year-old Guatemalan woman who has lived in the U.S. for nearly 30 years, through expedited removal proceedings that bypass immigration court hearings. A federal court granted an emergency request to temporarily pause her deportation while the case proceeds. Her lawyers argue the Trump administration is stretching immigration law to fast-track deportations.