Human Impact Project

Jose Hernandez Alvarez, a man from El Salvador, was pulled over by Florida Highway Patrol Trooper John Petrofsky in Lake Worth Beach for driving with dark window tint. After the trooper contacted federal immigration authorities, Petrofsky arrested Alvarez, whom he said lacked legal status, and jailed him for driving with an expired license. Petrofsky identified Alvarez as "white" on official forms. WLRN reviewed 107 traffic cases involving Petrofsky in Palm Beach County and found he did not identify a single "Hispanic" driver during an 11-month period, raising questions about accurate race and ethnicity reporting that could hinder independent monitoring of alleged racial profiling.

Victor Acurio Suárez, a 52-year-old Ecuadorian man with developmental disabilities living in Seaford, Delaware, has been detained at an ICE facility in Pennsylvania for three months following his arrest in a Lowe's parking lot. Governor Matt Meyer called for his immediate release and asylum. Suárez has no criminal history and has a credible fear of gang violence if deported to Ecuador.

Young children were left unattended on the side of the road after ICE agents detained their parents and an older sibling during an enforcement action in Cicero, Illinois.

Ismael Ayala-Uribe, a 39-year-old Mexican national and former DACA recipient, died on September 22, 2025, at Victor Valley Global Medical Center while in ICE custody. Ayala-Uribe was arrested by ICE/Border Patrol agents on August 17, 2025, during an enforcement operation at a car wash in Fountain Valley and transferred to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center five days later. During his approximately five-week detention, he reported severe pain from an infected abscess along with other symptoms including cough, fever, and shaking. On September 18, medical staff at the facility responded to his complaints with only Tylenol. On September 21, after developing complications, he was transferred to Victor Valley Global Medical Center. He was found unresponsive at 1:48 a.m. on September 22 and declared dead at 2:32 a.m. from cardiac arrest arising from septic shock. His family was not notified of his hospitalization until after his death. He is the 14th person to die in ICE custody since the start of 2025.

Marwan Marouf, a community leader in North Texas who has served the Muslim community for 30 years, was arrested by ICE on September 22, 2025, the same day his green card application was denied. He was transferred to Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson. His green card application denial relied on allegations from over a decade ago. The Muslim Legal Fund of America is challenging the denial in immigration and federal court.

Harjit Kaur, a 73-year-old Sikh woman who had lived legally in the United States for 33-34 years with no criminal record, was detained by ICE on September 8, 2025, following a routine check-in. During her 15-day detention at facilities in Bakersfield and Georgia, Kaur reported being denied basic hygiene supplies, vegetarian meals consistent with her Sikh faith, and water to take with her medication, and was forced to sleep on detention cell floors. She had filed multiple unsuccessful asylum applications and appeals, including to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. On September 22, Kaur was deported to India without advance notice to her family and without being allowed to return home or say goodbye, despite her attorney's requests for release with monitoring or commercial flight accompaniment given her age and medical conditions.

The Department of Homeland Security subpoenaed activist Sherman Austin and social media accounts associated with Stop ICE, a crowdsourced alert network documenting immigration enforcement activities, after they posted a video of a Border Patrol agent in February 2025. DHS alleged the post constituted doxing and violated officer safety protocols. Austin and civil liberties lawyers representing him argue the information was publicly available and that the post is protected speech under the First Amendment.

A 26-year-old San Jose woman learned of her pregnancy and miscarriage in a Central California immigrant detention facility.

A San Diego family's parents were ordered removed to Mexico on September 22, 2025, after an eight-year legal battle that began with their detention in May 2017. The parents worked as a paletero and had lived in the community for nearly thirty years. Their adult children have organized a fundraiser to support their parents' transition to Mexico.

Ismael Ayala-Uribe, a 39-year-old Mexican national and former DACA recipient, died while held at an ICE facility in Adelanto, California on September 21, 2025. His death was the 15th officially reported by ICE since January 2025. The death occurred amid a broader spike in ICE detainee mortality under the Trump administration, with at least 16 deaths recorded in nine months compared to 26 deaths over the entire four-year Biden administration.

Mi nombre es Ernesto y estoy recaudando fondos para ayudar a mi papá, Julio Ernesto Chavez Linares, quien fue detenido por inmigración mientras trabajaba el dia 11 de septiembre en un car wash que se llama 100 % hand Wash en Los Angeles California . Él es salvadoreño, nació el 13 de enero de 1983, y siempre ha sido el pilar de nuestra familia, especialmente para mi hermana menor de 12 años. La ausencia de mi papá ha sido muy difícil para nosotros, ya que él se encargaba de la vida diaria de mi hermana, su educación y el bienestar del hogar.

A 26-year-old San Jose asylum-seeker miscarried while detained at Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield after being denied immediate medical care for severe bleeding and cramping; she was shackled during hospital transport and required a blood transfusion. According to migrant rights advocates, her case may reflect a broader pattern, with evidence suggesting ICE is not following required protocols for pregnant and postpartum detainees, who are being held in unprecedented numbers without adequate medical care and food.

Congressional candidates Mayor Daniel Biss, Kat Abughazaleh, and Bushra Amiwala were teargassed by ICE agents during a protest at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois. Abughazaleh reported being thrown to the ground, and multiple protesters were struck with pepper balls and teargassed. ICE agents allegedly attempted to run over a peaceful protester with a van and detained at least one protester at the facility.

Paramjit Singh, a green card holder who has lived in the U.S. for more than 30 years and operates a business in Fort Wayne, was detained by ICE and DHS on July 30 at O'Hare. He was held incommunicado for five days before being hospitalized. His family learned of his location when a hospital bill arrived. He remains held at Boone County Jail in Kentucky. According to records, Singh is being detained for a 25-year-old infraction related to a payphone.

Federal immigration agents conducted an operation on Chicago's Southeast Side near 105th Street and Avenue N, pursuing and deliberately ramming a vehicle that resulted in a crash. Two occupants were arrested on allegations of being in the U.S. without legal status. When dozens of neighbors gathered to protest the aggressive enforcement tactics, federal agents deployed tear gas, pepper balls, and smoke grenades as crowd control measures. The response affected residents, children, and at least 13 Chicago police officers, with at least four protesters detained during the incident.

Federal ICE agents used tear gas and pepper balls to disperse approximately 100 protesters outside a Chicago ICE detention facility during a demonstration against immigration enforcement operations. Protesters included a pastor and two Democratic congressional candidates. The protest aimed to block government vehicles from entering the facility. At least three arrests resulted and there were clashes between federal agents and demonstrators. A DHS official defended the ICE officer's use of pepper balls against the pastor.

Federal immigration agents intimidated two women who were documenting their activity on the west side this morning near Grand and Kostner. In a video posted to social media, they say agents boxed their car in a parking lot and surrounded it—but the women themselves never exited their vehicle. Agents threatened the women with arrest, and shined a flashlight into their vehicle.

Gustavo, a detainee at California City ICE Detention Facility speaking from inside the facility, reported inadequate medical attention and expressed concern that CoreCivic staff are not providing proper care because they assume all detainees will be deported. He stated that medical staff appear unwilling to spend money on medication, assuming detainees will "just gonna get sent to Mexico."

Karam, a detainee with a chronic stomach ulcer, was transferred from Mesa Verde ICE facility to the California City ICE Detention Facility in late August 2025. Despite informing intake staff of his ulcer, prescribed liquid diet, and daily medications, he received no medication during his first 24 hours and subsequently received wrong pills infrequently. As his health declined, he began a hunger strike on September 18th. By September 22nd he was vomiting blood; he fainted the next day, triggering a medical emergency. Staff conditioned his medication on ending the strike. After ending the strike, he was told to "go back" to his country for medical care and has not received proper treatment. Three months later, his condition has worsened with mouth ulcers, continued blood vomiting, and blood in stool. He has gone on three additional hunger strikes since September.

NYC Comptroller Brad Lander and 10 state lawmakers were arrested during a civil disobedience protest inside 26 Federal Plaza where ICE maintains holding cells for recently detained immigrants. Federal prosecutors offered to drop obstruction charges if the officials avoided arrest in federal buildings for six months, but Lander rejected the deal while the lawmakers accepted. Lander stated the protest was to draw attention to detention conditions at the ICE facility.

Carmen Aracely Pablo Sequen, an asylum-seeker, was detained at the ICE field office at 630 Sansome Street in San Francisco and held in harsh conditions including small, cold rooms with no beds, limited hygiene supplies, and restricted access to counsel. She was held for extended periods—sometimes up to six days—despite the holding cells being designed for stays under 12 hours. The ACLU filed a class-action lawsuit on September 18, 2025, challenging ICE's detention practices and courthouse arrest policies, alleging unconstitutional conditions and violations of due-process protections.

Wesley Powers, a U.S. Navy veteran and U.S. citizen, was shot with chemical agent by ICE agents while protesting at Minnesota's Whipple Detention Center in January 2026. He was detained for 9 hours in an overcrowded cell, had his lawyer calls monitored, and was photographed by agents using personal phones before being released without charges. Powers reports subsequent incidents including vehicles at his home and lost work income.

Ligia Garcia, an asylum-seeker from Colombia with no criminal record, was arrested by ICE on July 31, 2025, after attending her immigration court hearing in San Francisco and detained at the ICE field office at 630 Sansome Street. She was held in harsh conditions including small, cold rooms with no beds, forced to sleep on the floor under bright lights, limited hygiene supplies, and restricted access to counsel after 3 p.m. and on weekends. She was held for extended periods despite the holding cells being designed for stays under 12 hours. On September 18, 2025, the ACLU and immigrant rights lawyers filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Garcia and three other plaintiffs detained at the same facility, challenging ICE's detention practices and courthouse arrest policies and alleging unconstitutional conditions and violations of due-process protections.

Martin Hernandez-Torres, a noncitizen who has lived in the United States for 30 years and has cancer, was arrested Wednesday during a "reasonable fear" interview at the ICE field office at 630 Sansome Street in San Francisco. He was held in harsh conditions including small, cold rooms with no beds, forced to sleep on metal benches or the floor with only thin plastic or foil as blankets, bright lights kept on all night causing sleep deprivation, open toilets, limited hygiene supplies, and restricted access to counsel and medical care. He was held for extended periods—sometimes up to six days—despite the holding cells being designed for stays under 12 hours. The ACLU, alongside the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights and CARECEN, filed a class-action lawsuit on September 18, 2025, on behalf of Hernandez-Torres and three other asylum-seeker plaintiffs, challenging ICE's detention practices and courthouse arrest policies and alleging unconstitutional conditions and violations of due-process protections.

Santos Reyes Banegas, a Honduran man, died on September 18 at the Nassau County Correctional Center on Long Island, New York, where he was held by ICE. During intake at 11:22 a.m. on September 17, a nurse noted he was experiencing alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Two hours later, a doctor evaluated him and prescribed medications for withdrawal but the ICE report does not specify which medications or confirm they were administered. Reyes was found unresponsive in his cell at 6:25 a.m. the next morning and declared dead 20 minutes later. DHS reported the preliminary cause as liver failure complicated by alcoholism. Medical experts noted that timely hospital care could greatly reduce life-threatening risks from alcohol withdrawal.

An 11-year-old U.S. citizen girl recovering from a rare brain tumor was deported to Mexico in February 2025 along with her undocumented parents and siblings after immigration authorities detained them at a checkpoint while the family traveled to Houston for specialized medical treatment. Four of the family's five children are U.S. citizens. Since deportation, the girl's health has deteriorated significantly, with worsening seizures, muscle spasms, and loss of neurological functions. She has received only one MRI scan instead of the recommended quarterly monitoring. The family filed humanitarian parole applications through the Texas Civil Rights Project, but USCIS has not yet responded to their requests to return to the U.S. for continued care.

Amadou Dia, a Senegalese national who entered the US in 2006 and applied for asylum in 2007, was detained without bond on September 17, 2025 for removal after an immigration judge denied his asylum claim in 2012. ICE initially planned to remove him to Gabon, but when that country refused travel documents, they arranged for his removal to Ghana without allowing him to assert fear-based claims about that country. The court granted a temporary restraining order preventing his removal until he receives a fair hearing.

Three women were found not guilty of conspiracy to dox an ICE agent on February 27 after a week-long trial revealed they did not know they were following the agent to his home and never disclosed his address during their livestreamed protest. Two of the women were convicted of stalking, a charge their attorney argues represents an unprecedented application of federal law, as the incident occurred over a single day within an hour and a half rather than involving repeated behavior.

Joe Botello, a U.S. citizen born in Texas, was handcuffed and detained by federal agents during an immigration enforcement operation in Elgin on September 16, 2025. Agents forcibly entered his home, breaking down doors, and placed him in a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol vehicle before releasing him after scanning his driver's license. The operation, part of a larger immigration enforcement blitz in the Chicago area, also resulted in the detention of his roommates.

A 73-year old East Bay grandmother, Harjit Kaur, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials during a routine check-in this week. Today, her family and an expected 200 community members will stage a protest demanding her release.The protest will be held at 5 p.m. today (Friday, Sept. 12) at the intersection of Appian Way and San Pablo Dam Road in El Sobrante (below the El Sobrante Gurdwara).Kaur has lived in the East Bay for more than 30 years. She currently lives in Hercules but worked for two decades at a small business, Sari Palace, in Berkeley and regularly attended the El Sobrante Sikh Gurdwara. She was detained on Monday after ICE asked her to come to the San Francisco office to turn in additional paperwork. On Tuesday she was taken to a detention center in Bakersfield.“It’s just been a total nightmare. I don’t feel like this is real,” Manji Kaur, Harjit Kaur’s daughter-in-law, told Richmondside. Kaur has two -grandsons and three granddaughters.

Roberto Lacoss, a former lawful permanent resident from the Philippines, was arrested by ICE in Pearl, Mississippi on September 16, 2025, following a criminal conviction for statutory rape. After being ordered removed by an immigration judge, Lacoss complied with the deportation order and departed the United States for the Philippines, with ICE deportation officers present to confirm his departure.

ICE agents encountered a 5-year-old autistic girl outside her family's home in Leominster, Massachusetts while attempting to arrest her father, Edward Hip Mejia, a Guatemalan national. After Mejia fled into his house, agents held the child outside. Local police responded and recovered the girl, returning her to her family. Mejia was detained two days later and is currently held at an ICE detention center in Plymouth.

A single father of six U.S. citizen children applied for a special visa but was deported by ICE. The case involved family ties and legal efforts to prevent deportation.

Cristina Osornio, a legal permanent resident and mother of six who has lived in the U.S. since infancy, was stopped by police in Rogers on September 15, 2025, for driving without insurance and with a suspended license. She was arrested on a warrant for missing a court appearance in a misdemeanor domestic violence case and held at Benton County Jail on an ICE hold for four days before being released without explanation. Osornio said the detention was "very scary" and exacerbated her health conditions. Her husband, Edwin Sanchez-Mendoza, was deported to Mexico after a misdemeanor arrest months earlier, leaving the family without their primary breadwinner and forcing them to lose their home.

The government of Ghana announced that 14 West Africans (13 Nigerians and 1 Gambian) who were deported from the US have been sent to their home countries. US lawyers filed a lawsuit arguing the deportations violated immigration protections and that the Trump administration used Ghana as a third country to circumvent US immigration laws.

ICE agents detained at least two Venezuelan men in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood on Monday, including one pulled from his car at 24th and Albany despite claims of legal status. Witnesses say agents hit the car before the man exited, then left his wife and two small children crying in the intersection without providing a warrant or information about his location. The Little Village Community Council, which had distributed whistles during Sunday's Mexican Independence Day parade to alert neighbors of ICE presence, is now working to secure legal representation as detentions increase and fear spreads through the community.

Immigration agents moved a car off the road after breaking its windows and detaining someone on the southwest side. The car was returned to family. Agents abandoned several other vehicles during arrests around Chicago.

Federal immigration agents conducted a raid at a carwash in California. A social media post documented the incident, describing agents detaining workers at the location.

ICE agents raided the Bixby Knolls Car Wash in Long Beach on Saturday, detaining seven workers (four women and three men). The workers, from Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico, had various forms of legal status according to the manager, but agents allegedly confiscated or dismissed their immigration documents. The detained workers have been processed at facilities in Santa Ana, Adelanto, and Los Angeles.

An undocumented father, Silvero Villegas-Gonzalez, was involved in multiple federal immigration enforcement incidents in suburban Chicago. In one incident at a Sam's Club parking lot in Cicero, federal agents pepper-sprayed Villegas-Gonzalez and his 1-year-old daughter at close range, though the U.S. Department of Homeland Security disputed that pepper spray was deployed. Subsequently, Villegas-Gonzalez was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Franklin Park, Illinois during an arrest attempt. DHS stated the agent fired after Villegas-Gonzalez resisted arrest and attempted to drive his car into agents. Villegas-Gonzalez's attorney noted he had no criminal record, only minor traffic violations between 2010 and 2019.

A man was detained by ICE at a Home Depot location in Orange County. He was admitted to Orange County Global Medical Center. He is a stroke patient who has had six prior strokes and takes multiple medications.

The first state-funded Prairie Thunder saturation patrol resulted in 44 felony drug arrests in Sioux Falls. Federal inmates including ICE detainees had to be moved from Minnehaha County Jail to other facilities to make room. U.S. Marshals and ICE transported 35 people to other regional facilities.

Silverio Villegas González, a 38-year-old line cook from Mexico, was fatally shot by an ICE agent on September 12, 2025, during a traffic stop in Franklin Park, Illinois, shortly after dropping off a child at daycare. ICE agents targeted him for an alleged history of reckless driving and positioned their vehicle to block his car. According to federal authorities, Villegas González attempted to flee and struck an agent with his vehicle, prompting the agent to shoot him in the neck. The agent reported serious injuries and claimed to have fired in fear for his life, though local police video later showed the agent walking and describing his injuries as "nothing major." Policing experts criticized the tactical approach as violating standard urban policing protocols, noting the agent reached into the vehicle—a violation of traffic stop safety procedures—and that shooting at a moving vehicle on a public roadway created an uncontrolled hazard. Family members and civil organizations called for an investigation into the use of force. The shooting remains under investigation.

ICE agents shot and killed Silverio Villegas González, a 38-year-old Mexican citizen, during a traffic stop in Franklin Park near Chicago. The Department of Homeland Security claimed Villegas González drove his car at officers, but witness videos and security footage show he was driving away from agents when shot. He was pronounced dead at Loyola Hospital after his vehicle crashed into a semitruck.

Ruperto, a Mexican roofing contractor who lived and worked in Oklahoma for 28 years, was stopped by Oklahoma Highway Patrol after his truck blew a tire and overturned on an interstate in Oklahoma City. Troopers, working under ICE's 287(g) program, detained him despite having insurance and deported him to Mexico. His U.S. citizen daughter Karen, a college student majoring in elementary education, and her older brother were forced to leave school and work to support the family and pay the mortgage. Ruperto was transported through multiple facilities in Oklahoma, Tulsa, and Cushing before deportation, and agreed to voluntary removal rather than continue fighting through the legal system. He cannot reapply for reentry for 10 years.

Omar Salazar, a Dallas community leader and SMU graduate, was detained by ICE for seven months following a traffic stop in Lubbock in August 2025 where he presented a Mexican ID and lacked a valid U.S. driver's license. After losing his immigration case, he was ordered deported to Mexico with 60 days to voluntarily depart. Salazar was brought to the U.S. as a minor at age 11, did not qualify for asylum, and missed DACA eligibility by a few months.

Silverio Villegas Gonzalez was shot and killed by an ICE agent during a traffic stop in Franklin Park on September 12, 2025. The agent claimed Villegas Gonzalez attempted to run him over. Video evidence contradicts this account. Following his death, Idaho authorities took custody of his two young sons. His family is fighting to reunite with the children and demanding an investigation into the fatal shooting.

On September 12, 2025, an ICE officer fatally shot Silverio Villegas González, a Mexican immigrant, during a traffic stop. Body camera footage shows the injured officer telling police his injuries were "nothing major," including a knee injury and hand lacerations. Federal officials stated he was "seriously injured" and dragged by González's vehicle.

On September 12, ICE officers attempted to arrest Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, a 38-year-old Mexican immigrant, during a traffic stop in Franklin Park, Illinois. After the officers approached his vehicle, Villegas-Gonzalez reversed and then drove forward; an officer fired two shots, striking him in the neck. The vehicle crashed approximately 170 feet away, and Villegas-Gonzalez was pronounced dead at a hospital. Video analysis found no evidence of contact between the vehicle and an officer. An officer sustained injuries including a knee injury and hand lacerations.

ICE agents detained Willian Gimenez in Little Village on September 12 while he entered a barbershop with his wife. ICE refused to disclose his location and denied his attorneys access to him. Gimenez is a plaintiff in a lawsuit against Home Depot and off-duty Chicago police for targeting immigrant day laborers.