Human Impact Project

A man appeared in court in Lebanon, Tennessee for a routine traffic violation when ICE agents in plain clothes detained him without showing identification. His U.S. citizen daughter intervened and was injured in the process. The man was taken away in a white van, and his family reports lacking clear answers about his whereabouts or status. Five people were detained by ICE after appearing in Robertson County General Sessions Court on November 19 to answer summons for misdemeanor traffic violations. All five had pleaded guilty to traffic offenses and paid their fines before being escorted to a private room and subsequently removed from the courthouse in handcuffs and leg shackles by masked ICE agents. The detainees, including Yanim Lopez and Aurora Leao, both originally from Mexico, were transferred to detention facilities in Knoxville and later Louisiana. ICE arrested 6,251 people in Tennessee between January 20 and October 15, 2025, with arrest rates rising throughout the year. Attorneys report that immigrants following legal requirements—including routine ICE check-ins—are now being detained and deported, a shift from previous practice. The article documents cases where immigrants with no criminal records are detained at check-ins, judges in some counties are contacting ICE, and immigration holds prevent bonded release, leaving immigrants in jail for months before court appearances.

Federal agents detained nine people in the Raleigh area during a U.S. Border Patrol immigration enforcement sweep, including 23-year-old Fatima Issela Velasquez-Antonio of Wendell, who had no criminal record and came to the U.S. from Honduras at age 14. The detainees were held at New Hanover County jail before being transferred to an undisclosed location, with ICE providing no information to jail officials about their whereabouts or next steps.

Paramjit Singh, a native of India who entered the U.S. without inspection in 2004, was re-detained by ICE at a New York office during a scheduled check-in on November 18, 2025. Singh had been previously detained, placed in removal proceedings, and released, with an asylum application pending since 2024. The court ordered respondents to provide Singh with a bond hearing within seven days or release him.

Community organizers and immigration attorneys report an uptick in detainments at the Dallas ICE Field Office during routine check-in appointments. Multiple immigrants, including those with pending asylum cases and proper documentation, have been detained during check-in appointments.

Border Patrol agents broke a car window and arrested two U.S. citizens in Charlotte during Operation Charlotte Web. The women were arrested after allegedly honking their horn to alert others of the agents' presence in the area. Both women were later released from custody that day and charged with a federal charge for allegedly impeding a federal officer.

An NYPD sergeant named Atickul Islam was charged with posing as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field director and ordering a victim and their family to report to an ICE facility by April 15. Islam pleaded not guilty to personation of a federal officer and was released on an unsecured $25,000 bond. The NYPD suspended him without pay and seized his badge and service weapon.

Transgender immigrant Britania Uriostegui Rios was deported to Mexico on November 11, 2024, despite a judge's order blocking her removal due to torture risk. ICE and Department of Justice officials acknowledged the deportation was improper and made in violation of the immigration judge's March order concluding she was likely to face torture in her home country. Uriostegui Rios was deported without medications, identification, money, or a cell phone and went into hiding in Mexico. As of November 2025, the Trump administration was working to bring her back to the U.S. from Tijuana while seeking an alternative country for deportation. Uriostegui Rios filed suit seeking forced release from custody upon her return.

A man in a white truck impersonated an ICE agent by displaying a fake badge and clipboard while harassing an Uber driver and passenger near USC in Los Angeles. The man yelled racist slurs, spat at the vehicle multiple times, and chased them for several blocks before fleeing. The incident lasted approximately 20 minutes and was reported to 911 and the Newton Community Police Station.

Border Patrol arrested a 23-year-old woman named Fatima Issela Velasquez-Antonio in Raleigh, North Carolina. The arrested woman is a high school graduate and homeowner with two traffic violations on her record.

Manuel Ndongala, an asylum seeker from Angola, was detained by ICE on November 18, 2025, during what he expected to be a routine check-in at the Scarborough, Maine ICE office. His car was left in the office parking lot and was towed under Maine's abandoned vehicle law while he was detained for over 80 days. The incident prompted Maine's Secretary of State to temporarily adjust the state's process for transferring ownership of abandoned vehicles to better protect detained immigrants.

Border Patrol detained Moises Benitez Diaz, a 27-year-old Raleigh construction contractor, on November 18 during Operation Charlotte's Web. His wife Esmeralda Escobar, who is 8 months pregnant, is now managing the family business while he is held at a Georgia facility. Despite DHS claiming he was a criminal convicted of felony larceny, court records show his charges were dismissed and he completed a misdemeanor diversion agreement.

Cristobal Maltos, a 24-year-old U.S. citizen, was stopped by Border Patrol agents on November 17, 2025, while following a hit-and-run driver and reporting it to police. Agents surrounded his vehicle at an intersection, and when he attempted to move forward, they broke his car windows and removed him from the vehicle, allegedly causing injuries. Maltos was charged with felony assault, resisting arrest, and impeding a federal officer during the enforcement operation dubbed "Charlotte's Web."

ICE agents conducted an enforcement action at a church, arriving without visible identification and detaining individuals. According to accounts, agents chased workers into the woods. The incident resulted in children screaming and women crying.

Joel Camas, a 16-year-old with approved Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, was detained by ICE on October 23 during a routine immigration check-in at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, despite having legal protections and a pending pathway to permanent residency. After nearly a month in federal custody, U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel ordered his immediate release on November 17. His attorneys argue ICE violated federal law and the Constitution by arresting a child with legal status at a routine appointment.

Hanne Daguman, a Norwegian national, was detained by ICE on November 17, 2025, during a USCIS marriage-based green card interview in San Diego after she acknowledged overstaying her student visa. She has type 1 diabetes and no criminal record. Her next court hearing is scheduled for November 24, 2025.

Jahir Torralba Castillo, who had resided in the United States since 2001 with no criminal history and U.S. citizen family members, was detained by immigration authorities in November 2025. He was charged with entering without inspection and denied a bond hearing under Section 1225(b)(2). The federal court granted his habeas petition, finding his detention violated due process, and ordered either immediate release or an individualized bond hearing within 7 days.

Heather Morrow, a 44-year-old Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools bus driver, was arrested on November 16 while protesting at an ICE office on Tyvola Centre Drive. Federal prosecutors charged her with felony assault on a federal officer, claiming she grabbed an agent's shoulders and attempted to jump on his back. Video footage released by Morrow's attorney shows her touching an agent's shoulder before being tackled to the ground.

Miguel Angel Garcia Martinez, a 24-year-old U.S. citizen, was arrested by Border Patrol agents on November 16, 2025, while photographing and documenting their operations in Charlotte to warn immigrants of their locations. He was charged with using his van as a deadly weapon to assault, resist, and impede federal agents after driving away when agents approached his vehicle and attempted to open its door. According to court documents, an agent was injured breaking the van's window during the incident.

On July 4, 2025, roughly a dozen people demonstrated at the Prairieland Detention Center in Texas, and gunfire erupted during a police response with one officer reportedly injured. Nineteen people, including some who allegedly did not participate in the demonstration, were charged with material support for terrorism, rioting, and other federal crimes.

The Chicago Tribune reported on U.S. citizens and green card holders who were questioned or detained by federal immigration agents during Operation Midway Blitz, with multiple individuals alleging they were targeted based on their race and ethnicity. Cases detailed include a 23-year-old U.S. citizen forcibly detained while walking to the CTA, a green card holder held for six hours, and a mentally ill green card holder who was released without transportation after 10 days in custody. Legal experts and state officials condemned the practice as unconstitutional racial profiling in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.

Yoshi Cuenca Villamar, a U.S. citizen and North Carolina native, was pushed to the ground and handcuffed by ICE agents without a warrant while doing landscaping work. He was held in a car before being released. He is suing as part of a group including other U.S. citizens and a visa holder challenging the warrantless arrests in the Charlotte's Web operation.

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrived at an east Charlotte church on Saturday while about 15-20 congregants were doing yard work. Agents detained one man who was outside. His wife and child were inside the church. Church members reported that agents showed no identification and asked no questions before making the arrest.

Christian Elian Mendoza Barragan was re-detained by immigration authorities on November 14, 2026, after previously being released on bond or parole. The court found that the government violated his due process rights by failing to provide a pre-deprivation bond hearing before a neutral arbiter. The court ordered his immediate release with the same conditions he had prior to detention and required the government to provide seven days' notice and a proper hearing before any future re-detention.

In September 2025, federal agents conducted the largest single-site DHS enforcement operation in history at Hyundai's electric vehicle manufacturing facility near Savannah, Georgia, detaining approximately 450-475 people, mostly South Korean nationals. The raid involved six federal law enforcement agencies and local police as part of a criminal investigation into unlawful employment. Most detainees had entered the US with expired visas or visa waivers prohibiting employment; some were employees of South Korean companies visiting on business travel. South Korea's president and foreign minister expressed concern and took government action in response. By November 2025, two months after the raid, some workers had been released and returned to their jobs, with HL-GA Battery Co. resuming construction using a mix of new and returning workers, with production expected to begin in the first half of 2026.

Two homeschooled brothers, Sam (16) and Ben (17) Luhmann, have been patrolling West Chicago and surrounding areas since mid-September to document and monitor federal immigration enforcement activity as part of Operation Midway Blitz. The brothers have had numerous encounters with ICE agents and have been threatened with arrest while documenting their activities.

Francisco Amezquita Diaz, a Mexican citizen who entered the US without inspection in 1988, was taken into ICE custody on November 14, 2025, after his Form I-485 application for permanent residence was denied. He had been living in the United States for 37 years before being detained and placed in removal proceedings. The court is considering his petition for release from mandatory detention.

Samuel Gonzalez Isabel, who had been living in the US for 25 years with three US citizen children, was arrested by ICE agents immediately after a criminal court hearing in November 2025. He had been released without conditions since 2019 following his initial NTA but was re-detained based on a misdemeanor assault plea. The court ordered his immediate release, finding his detention without a pre-detention hearing violated his procedural due process rights.

José Barco, a 39-40-year-old decorated Iraq War veteran who received a Purple Heart after suffering traumatic brain injury in combat, was deported in November 2025 despite serving in the U.S. Army since age 4. After his release from prison in January 2025—following 15 years served for a 2008 shooting conviction—ICE detained him immediately. His 2006 citizenship application while stationed at Fort Carson was lost in the system. Venezuela initially ordered him deported there but refused to accept him at the Honduras border, citing documentation concerns. He was eventually deported to Mexico in November 2025, a country he had never visited, where he is now seeking asylum.

Wilmer Toledo-Martinez, a 28-year-old Vancouver resident married to a U.S. citizen with three American-born children, was detained by ICE on November 14, 2025. According to his attorney and Senator Patty Murray, an ICE agent posed as a construction worker to lure Toledo-Martinez outside, after which another agent released a dog that attacked him on the arms and torso. Toledo-Martinez was hospitalized and received stitches. He was denied medical care while in federal immigration detention at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma.

On November 14, 2025, ICE agents detained Wilmer Toledo-Martinez using an attack dog despite him not resisting arrest or attempting to flee. An ICE agent posed as a construction worker to lure him out of his home, and a second agent released a dog on him, causing serious injuries. Toledo-Martinez was denied medical care for hours following the assault and remains detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center.

Jaime Humberto Vadillo Aranda was re-detained by immigration authorities on November 13, 2025, after having been previously released on bond or conditional parole. The court found that the government violated due process by failing to provide a pre-deprivation bond hearing before re-detaining him. The court ordered his immediate release with the same conditions he had prior to detention.

Josefa Hernandez Bernal, an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela with pending asylum applications, was detained by ICE officers on November 13, 2025, during a routine check-in at the ICE field office in San Francisco. Bernal had been released on an Order of Recognizance after arriving at the border in June 2024 and had complied with all release requirements and court hearings. The court granted a temporary restraining order requiring her immediate release from custody and prohibiting re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing.

ICE agents approached the vehicle of Edith, an enrolled member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate. Edith reported being subjected to physical violence during the encounter and was subsequently released. Edith sustained injuries including a torn rotator cuff, fractured shoulder, three herniated disks, and a ruptured eye requiring surgery.

British journalist and political commentator Sami Hamdi was detained by ICE at San Francisco International Airport on October 26, 2025, after his visa was revoked. Hamdi was on a speaking tour in the United States when detained. He was held in overcrowded detention facilities for 18 days before being released and returning to the UK on November 13. Trump administration officials stated his visa had been revoked, leading to deportation proceedings. Hamdi maintains he was legally in the US on a valid visa at the time of his detention. The Council on American-Islamic Relations reported on the detention.

A 33-year-old Queens woman reported that ICE agents raided her apartment on November 13, 2025 at 5:30 a.m. while searching for her cousin on a criminal arrest warrant. The woman claims agents forced entry, grabbed her by the hair, and pointed guns at her three children when the family attempted to record. ICE stated they knocked for 20 minutes before lawfully entering when no response was received.

A 24-year-old Native American woman from Arizona, Leticia Jacobo, was subject to an ICE detainer issued by Polk County Jail in Des Moines. The detainer was intended for a different person booked at the same time but was erroneously placed on Jacobo's file. Her family provided tribal identification documents, and she was released before being transferred to federal custody.

Ramiro Santiago Pacheco Martinez, a 53-year-old day laborer, was detained by ICE/Border Patrol on November 13, 2025, while at a bus stop in Pomona, California. He has been held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center for over two months and has no criminal record. He has serious health conditions including congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, and diabetes. According to community members, faith leaders, and advocates, he was denied heart medication for two weeks in custody and required emergency heart surgery while detained. On January 21, 2026, the community gathered to demand his release, and organizers plan to present a resolution to the Pomona City Council regarding his case and immigration enforcement.

A U.S. citizen, Carlos Jimenez, was shot by an ICE agent on October 30 in Ontario during an enforcement action. ICE stated Jimenez attempted to ram officers with his vehicle. Jimenez's attorney states Jimenez was attempting to alert officers about a nearby school bus stop and was leaving the scene when shot in the shoulder.

A U.S. congresswoman reported that detainees at Camp East Montana, the largest U.S. migrant detention facility in El Paso, face foul-tasting water, rotten food, and inadequate healthcare. The $1.2 billion tent facility is designed to house up to 5,000 detainees. The congresswoman stated conditions at the facility are dangerous and inhumane, while the Department of Homeland Security denied these allegations.

A Congolese mother and her three teenage children were detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on November 12 at the Champlain Port of Entry in New York after being denied asylum in Canada. The family, who entered the U.S. without authorization in 2022, was transferred to a family detention facility in Texas. One of the children, 16-year-old Joel Andre, is a student at Deering High School and a prominent member of Portland's soccer community.

Norberto Ambrosio, owner of Just Peachy market in Encinitas, was called to immigration court after his deportation case was reopened in October, more than a decade after it was administratively closed in 2013. Ambrosio, who came to the U.S. from Mexico in 1990 at age 16 and has no criminal record, has filed to fight his deportation. Community members rallied in support at his hearing on November 25, with the next court date scheduled for May 19.

A man was forcibly removed from a car by federal immigration officers near West 157th Street and Broadway in Washington Heights on Wednesday morning around 8:15 a.m. The officers, including some appearing to be Homeland Security Investigations agents, placed the man into an unmarked black SUV. No immediate information was available about the person's identity or the reason for the detention.

Giorgi Gvedashvili, a Georgian citizen who entered the U.S. in 2022 and filed an asylum application, was detained by ICE in November 2025 during a routine check-in. He had originally been released on his own recognizance after being apprehended by Border Patrol. The federal court ruled his detention unlawful and ordered his immediate release, finding he did not meet the criteria for mandatory detention under immigration law.

ICE began arresting people at green card interviews in San Diego starting November 12, 2025, including spouses of military members and veterans. The arrests occurred during final interview steps in the legal green card process. One case involved Chanidaphon Sopimpa, a Thai national and wife of retired Marine staff sergeant Samuel Shasteen, who was arrested and detained at Otay Mesa Detention Center during her interview.

Seven people detained by ICE filed a class-action lawsuit against the Trump administration on November 12, 2025, alleging severe medical neglect, punitive conditions, and inadequate accommodations at the California City Detention Facility. The plaintiffs describe denied medical care, solitary confinement for minor infractions, lack of disability accommodations, and inhumane living conditions at the privately-owned facility operated by CoreCivic.

Beginning in November 2025, ICE agents have detained spouses of U.S. citizens at USCIS offices immediately following marriage-based green card interviews. The arrests have occurred at multiple field offices including San Diego, Cleveland, New York City, and Utah, affecting applicants with visa overstays. Many detainees had no criminal history and were approved for their green cards, yet remained in ICE custody facing prolonged immigration court proceedings.

An Instagram post reports ICE agents forcibly placing a person into a van at 7:50 AM near 148th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 16th Street. The person was reportedly pleading for help in Spanish while being detained. Bystanders observed the incident but did not intervene or identify the individual.

Rafael Veraza and his 1-year-old daughter were allegedly pepper-sprayed by ICE agents in a Chicago suburb while the family was going grocery shopping. The incident occurred last week, and the family held a news conference to discuss the alleged use of force. The Department of Homeland Security has disputed the allegation.

A high school student and mariachi musician describes two separate immigration raids on his family occurring four months apart. The article details the student's experience and documents the effects of federal immigration enforcement on young people of color across the United States.

Susan Paola Leo Huayan was detained by ICE on November 9, 2025, while in custody at Utah County Jail after her B-2 visitor visa expired in June 2022. She had entered the U.S. on December 10, 2021, with a valid visa. After six months in ICE detention without a bond hearing, the federal court found a due process violation and ordered her immediate release.