Human Impact Project

An unnamed Iranian man in his 40s, who participated in the "Women, Life, Freedom" protests against mandatory hijab laws, fled Iran in 2024 with his wife and another couple. He arrived at the U.S. border later that year; his pregnant wife was released on parole but he remained in ICE custody. On September 30, 2025, despite his resistance and pleas that he would be killed if returned, he was placed in a restraint jacket and forcibly deported on a flight from Alexandria, Louisiana. After the plane arrived in Tehran, ICE handed over his belongings—including his cell phone and communications with his lawyer—to Iranian authorities. The man, who is Kurdish, fled over 300 miles west to Iraqi Kurdistan that first night. His wife and newborn child, who remain in Kentucky, have not seen him since.

An immigrant from Peru was arrested by ICE officers during an asylum hearing at 26 Federal Plaza. The arrest occurred on September 30, 2025, and was documented by journalists present at the facility. The incident escalated when ICE officers shoved and injured multiple journalists who were lawfully documenting the detention.

A cameraman was thrown to the ground and injured by ICE officers at 26 Federal Plaza while documenting the arrest of an immigrant at an asylum hearing. The cameraman was transported on a stretcher by emergency responders as part of the same incident in which multiple journalists were assaulted by federal agents.

A journalist working for a Turkish media outlet was injured and hospitalized after being thrown to the ground by ICE officers at 26 Federal Plaza during the arrest of an immigrant at an asylum hearing. The journalist was transported on a stretcher with a neck brace and remained on the ground for approximately half an hour before emergency responders arrived. FDNY was called at around 10:30 a.m. for a report of injury and transported one person to the hospital.

Broadview Police Chief Thomas Mills announced three criminal investigations into ICE operations at a detention facility in his village, citing repeated exposure of his officers to tear gas deployed by federal agents. Mills and Mayor Katrina Thompson criticized ICE's use of tear gas, pepper spray, and mace during protests at the Broadview Processing Center, stating the chemicals created dangerous conditions for residents and first responders exercising their First Amendment rights.

Photojournalist Olga Fedorova was shoved to the floor by ICE officers at 26 Federal Plaza while documenting the arrest of an immigrant at an asylum hearing. Fedorova, who was lawfully present in the public elevator, was pushed away from the elevator by federal agents. She disputes DHS claims that officers gave warnings before shoving, stating there was no warning and shoving followed immediately.

Miguel Angel Garcia-Hernandez, a 32-year-old Mexican immigrant and father of four with another child on the way, was shot on September 24, 2025, when a gunman opened fire at a Dallas ICE facility's controlled entrance. Garcia-Hernandez, who had lived in the U.S. since age 13 and worked as a painter, was in ICE custody after being arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence on August 8. He died from his injuries on September 30. His widow, Stephany Gauffeny, stated that he was the sole provider for their family and that they had just purchased their first home together.

Josselyn, a California State University, Northridge "Bridge to the Future" scholar double majoring in Psychology and Sociology, was detained by ICE during an immigration hearing on September 30. Her brother was also taken into custody in the same incident. Josselyn has lived in the United States since 2015, graduated with honors from Canoga Park High School, and was named West Valley Boys and Girls Club Youth of the Year in 2025. She volunteers in her community at produce distributions, animal shelters, and cultural events, and supporters describe her as intelligent and compassionate. She is scheduled to be transferred out of state, and community members are raising funds for her legal defense and to support her mother, who is undergoing medical treatment.

Davona Williams, a 42-year-old Manchester resident originally from Jamaica, was detained by ICE on August 25, 2025, while bringing her child home to Torrey Knoll in Manchester Center. Williams, who worked as a health aide in Vermont, was held under a prior removal order from 2013. She was initially held at Chittenden County Regional Correctional Facility before being transferred to ICE's North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan on September 1. Williams has no criminal record, three children ranging from 18 months to 15 years old, and had been living in Vermont for nearly two decades while pursuing legal status. On September 30, 2025, Detroit Immigration Court Judge Mark J. Jebson granted her a $7,500 bond, finding her neither a danger to the community nor a flight risk, citing her strong community ties. Her attorney, Christopher Worth, plans to file a motion to move the case to Chelmsford Immigration Court in Massachusetts and continue seeking legal relief. Community members, including the Rutland Area NAACP and local officials, organized support efforts; a GoFundMe campaign raised $25,265 to cover bond costs, transportation, and family expenses during her detention. A judge also approved a stay of deportation, and a motion to reopen her prior removal order is pending before the Boston Immigration Court.

L. Vural Elibol, a chief cameraman and videographer for Turkey's Anadolu Agency, was seriously injured when an ICE agent shoved him to the floor in a hallway outside immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan while he was documenting enforcement activity. Elibol hit his head on the floor near an elevator bank and remained unconscious for 35 to 40 minutes. Paramedics placed a neck brace on him and transported him by stretcher to a hospital, where he was treated for a possible concussion and kept for observation. Two other journalists—Dean Moses, a police bureau chief for amNewYork, and freelance photographer Olga Fedorova—were also grabbed and shoved by agents during the same incident but were not seriously injured. Eyewitnesses reported that ICE agents had been pursuing an immigrant into an elevator when Elibol was attacked while attempting to film the confrontation.

On September 30, 2025, at least three journalists were physically assaulted by masked ICE agents at 26 Federal Plaza while documenting an apparent arrest on the 12th floor. Dean Moses, police bureau chief for amNewYork, entered a public elevator to photograph ICE agents apprehending a woman when the agents grabbed him by his arms and shoved him out of the elevator. During the same incident, freelance journalist Olga Fedorova of the Associated Press was shoved to the floor by another ICE agent, and L. Vural Elibol of the Anadolu Agency was knocked down hard, striking his head and sustaining serious injuries that required hospitalization and a neck brace. Moses suffered minor pain in his underarms and shoulder but said he remains determined to continue covering proceedings at the courthouse.

Miguel Ángel García Hernández, 31, a Mexican national who immigrated to the U.S. at age 13, died on September 30, 2025, from injuries sustained during a shooting at a Dallas ICE facility on September 24, 2025. He was shot approximately eight times in the shoulder, stomach, tailbone, neck, and urethra while detained. According to witness accounts and his wife's account, García shielded another young detainee with his body when gunfire began, telling the person to get under him for protection. García was married to Stephany Gauffeny, a U.S. citizen, in 2016 and was the sole breadwinner and father of four children with a fifth on the way; the family had recently purchased their first home together. He worked as a painter and contractor and had been pursuing permanent legal status through an I-130 visa petition sponsored by his wife, following legal immigration procedures. His wife said: "My husband Miguel was a good man, a loving father, and the provider for our family. He worked hard every single day to make sure our children had what they needed." García had been detained on August 8, 2025, on a DUI charge; evading arrest charges were later dropped. He was one of three detainees shot; a second detainee from El Salvador also died from his injuries.

On September 30, 2025, ICE and FBI agents conducted an operation at an apartment building at 7500 S. South Shore Drive in Chicago as part of Operation Midway Blitz, detaining approximately 37 people including Venezuelan migrants and at least one U.S. citizen. The operation involved helicopters, snipers, flash-bangs, and agents breaking down doors and zip-tying residents. The federal government has provided no public accounting of how many remain in custody, what happened to children present in the building, or whether any criminal charges were filed related to the raid.

ICE agents, along with CBP, FBI, and ATF personnel, conducted an overnight raid on a South Shore apartment building on September 30, 2025, targeting individuals allegedly associated with Tren de Aragua and involved in drug trafficking, weapons crimes, and immigration violations. The operation resulted in 37 arrests and drew criticism from residents and advocates over tactics that included use of flash bangs, property destruction, and separation of parents from children.

Miguel Ángel García, 31, died after being removed from life support following a shooting attack at an ICE field office in Dallas. García was among detainees in an ICE transport van when a gunman opened fire from a nearby rooftop in an attack federal investigators said was intended to target immigration officers.

West Africans deported from the United States to Ghana under a deportation agreement were subsequently transferred to Togo without proper documentation or identification papers. Between six and ten individuals, including nationals from Nigeria, Liberia, Gambia, and Togo, arrived in Ghana via U.S. military plane in shackles after being detained in U.S. facilities. Despite some having legal protections against deportation, they were transferred across the border to Togo and left on the street. Their lawyers pursued legal cases arguing rights violations, though some legal challenges against Ghana's government were withdrawn.

An ICE officer who was relieved of duties after being captured on video pushing an Ecuadoran woman to the ground outside an immigration court in Manhattan was returned to duty following a preliminary review. The incident occurred when federal agents were attempting to detain the woman's husband, and the officer pushed her to the floor in front of her children and journalists.

Newly released internal ICE emails show the agency coordinated closely with Iranian officials, who requested last-minute additions and changes to deportation lists, as the U.S. sent more than 100 Iranian nationals back to Iran on three charter flights in September and December 2025 and January 2026. Deportees included political activists and religious minorities who feared persecution, and one man reportedly attempted suicide before ICE agents physically forced him onto the plane. The emails, obtained by the National Iranian American Council, show the flights proceeded even as ICE officials acknowledged Iranians were fleeing the country after its 12-day war with the U.S. and Israel, marking a reversal of longstanding U.S. policy that had generally allowed Iranians to remain due to persecution risks.

Santos Edilberto Banegas Reyes, a 42-year-old Honduran construction worker from Hempstead, died on September 18, 2025 after less than 18 hours in ICE custody at Nassau County Correctional Center in East Meadow, New York. He was arrested by ICE Long Island Fugitive Operations on September 17, 2025 and processed at the jail the same day. He was found unresponsive in his cell and pronounced dead at 6:30 a.m. on September 18. Initial reports cited liver failure related to alcoholism complications, but ICE later revised the cause of death to acute alcohol withdrawal. His sister told reporters he had no underlying health conditions and said officials had not contacted the family. His death prompted a protest on September 29, 2025 at the County Executive Building in Mineola, where advocates called for ICE to leave Long Island and demanded abolition of the 287(g) program. His family's attorney alleged a cover-up after ICE missed the federal 90-day deadline to release a death report, and the family requested an independent autopsy and video footage from the jail.

Huabing Xie, a Chinese national, died on September 29, 2025, at El Centro Regional Medical Center after experiencing a seizure while in custody at the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico, California. Xie was initially arrested by Border Patrol near Tecate on December 31, 2023, and released on recognizance. He was re-arrested on September 12, 2025, in Indio and transferred to ICE custody. When he experienced an apparent seizure on September 29, facility staff performed CPR and life-saving measures before transporting him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His death marks at least the 20th death in ICE custody since Trump's inauguration in 2025, prompting calls from immigrant justice groups for an investigation and public release of findings.