Human Impact Project

Maria Santay, a U.S. citizen and community observer, livestreamed her detainment by federal immigration agents at an El Monte gas station on February 1, 2026. Agents surrounded her vehicle and broke her car window with a hammer while she recorded on Instagram. She was detained and released Friday evening with charges including resisting arrest.

Anti-ICE protesters held demonstrations across Southern California on January 30-31, 2026, including marches through Los Angeles, rallies at City Hall, and actions outside the Metropolitan Detention Center. Clashes erupted when protesters blocked access points and threw objects at federal agents. Authorities deployed chemical irritants and issued dispersal orders. Eight people were arrested Friday and dozens more on Saturday on charges including assault on officers, vandalism, and failure to disperse. The protests were part of a nationwide action following fatal shootings by federal officers in Minneapolis.

A three-year-old girl named Lily was separated from her family at the border and detained in an immigrant children's shelter in South Texas for over five months. Her father, a legal permanent resident, attempted to reunify with her during her detention. After her attorney at ProBAR filed a habeas petition in federal district court on February 18, she was released two days later and reunified with her father on February 21.

CNN correspondent Veronica Miracle was struck with pepper spray while reporting live on a protest at an ICE facility in Los Angeles. Protesters overtook the property and pushed Department of Homeland Security officers back inside the building. Miracle choked and coughed on camera due to the chemical irritant but continued reporting on the incident.

Thousands of protesters marched to an ICE facility in South Portland on Saturday as part of a "Labor Against ICE" rally organized by local unions. Federal agents deployed tear gas, pepper balls, rubber bullets, and flash-bang grenades after some protesters approached the building's security gate. The protest coincided with a march honoring Alex Pretti, an intensive-care nurse fatally shot by Border Patrol officers in Minneapolis.

Olga Perez, a 47-year-old Mayan language translator, was deported to Guatemala in July 2026 following a June 3 immigration court ruling, separating her from her four U.S.-born children in Florida. Perez had been detained since November 2025 after a traffic stop and had no criminal record. Her deportation leaves a gap in language services across Florida courts, schools, and hospitals, while her eldest daughter has taken over the family landscaping business to support her three younger siblings.

Keith Porter Jr., 43, a Black father of two daughters, was shot and killed by an off-duty ICE agent on New Year's Eve outside his apartment complex in Northridge, Los Angeles. Friends and family described Porter as a devoted father and jack of all trades who worked as a waiter, tow truck driver, and Home Depot employee. He was close to his mother, Franceola Armstrong, and known for being compassionate and funny. Porter had recently obtained a firearm safety certificate and was proud to own a gun legally. He was firing a gun into the air to celebrate the new year when he was shot three times by the off-duty agent. Witnesses told Porter's attorney they never heard the officer identify himself as law enforcement and heard demands to "put down the rifle" followed by three shots. His mother spoke at a Los Angeles City Council meeting, saying: "He was on his way back. He didn't even get to pop the champagne. He didn't get to say goodbye. I just want to touch my baby one last time, kiss his face and hold him." Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and family lawyer Jamal Tooson urged California's attorney general to conduct an independent investigation. The Los Angeles County district attorney's office is reviewing the killing to determine if the use of force constitutes a crime.

Victor Manuel Diaz, a 36-year-old Nicaraguan man and father of two, was arrested by ICE in Minneapolis on January 6, 2026, during Operation Metro Surge and transferred to Camp East Montana detention facility in El Paso, Texas. He died by suicide on January 14, 2026, by hanging with a bed sheet, eight days after his arrest. Diaz had entered the U.S. illegally in 2024, was released on parole, and was working at a Twin Cities restaurant when detained. Staff placed him in a medical holding room instead of a suicide-resistant cell and left him unattended for intervals exceeding the required 15-minute checks. Vision panels that had been requested months earlier were not installed, preventing staff from observing the room. A GAO report released in June 2026 found the facility lacked adequate supervision and monitoring systems, with over 1,600 detainees housed in steel-framed tent-like structures, insufficient surveillance cameras, and inadequate medical care. Diaz was at least the third death at Camp East Montana. His family attorney is considering a wrongful death claim.

ICE detained a husband in Tacoma and coerced him to sign self-deportation papers while threatening to apprehend his wife and children within four days. In response to the threats, the entire family voluntarily returned to Venezuela.

On January 23, 2026, ICE agents conducted traffic stops in Eagle County, Colorado, detaining nine people. After the vehicles were abandoned, family members retrieved them and discovered ace of spades cards printed with ICE Denver Field Office contact information left inside at least two vehicles. Immigrant rights groups, including Voices Unidas, characterized the cards as referencing a Vietnam War-era racist practice. Federal officials offered an alternative explanation that the cards may reference the ace of spades as the trump card in the card game Spades. The Department of Homeland Security announced an investigation into the ICE agents' conduct.

On August 13, 2025, DHS agents deployed tear gas and fired less-lethal bullets from the roof of an ICE facility at 4310 S Macadam Ave in Portland, targeting civilians peacefully demonstrating on the public sidewalk. A U.S. military veteran was violently attacked from behind, assaulted, and pinned to the ground while being exposed to tear gas for approximately two minutes by three DHS agents. On January 31, 2026, federal agents deployed tear gas on a densely packed crowd of peaceful anti-ICE protesters during a labor union-led rally and march near the ICE facility. The crowd included children, elderly people, and pets who marched from Elizabeth Caruthers Park before being trapped in lingering tear gas plumes. Agents used tear gas again on February 3. The ACLU of Oregon filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of five plaintiffs: Jack Dickinson (known as "the Portland chicken"), Laurie Eckman (84), Richard Eckman, Mason Lake, and Hugo Rios. Laurie Eckman was shot in the head with a crowd control munition without warning; her husband was tear-gassed and had a munition fired at his walker. Dickinson was repeatedly assaulted and bombarded with chemical munitions. Independent journalists Lake and Rios were shot with pepper balls, tear-gassed, had lights pointed at them to interfere with recording, and Lake was sprayed with bear mace. U.S. District Judge Michael Simon issued a temporary restraining order on February 3 pausing tear gas or crowd control munitions use on non-violent protesters and journalists unless targeting a specific imminent threat. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed an amicus brief supporting the lawsuit.

Wilfredo Romero Urbana, who entered the United States in 2004 and has continuously resided here since, was detained by ICE on January 30, 2026. The petitioner has no criminal record. The federal court ordered his immediate release, finding he could not be detained under section 1225(b) but only under section 1226(a), and enjoined ICE from re-detaining him without a pre-detention hearing.

Yoandry Rafael Garcia Gali was re-detained on January 30, 2026, after previously being 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 a neutral arbiter when re-detaining someone who had been previously released. The court ordered Garcia Gali's immediate release with the same conditions he had prior to detention.

Anti-ICE demonstrations at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles turned confrontational on January 30, 2026, with protesters throwing objects at federal agents. Dozens of arrests were made over the weekend as demonstrations expanded to City Hall. The protests were part of a nationwide call to end funding for ICE.

Jose Flores, 47, was arrested during an ICE operation in Oakmont. The arrest occurred while Flores was preparing for work with his wife Harriett and their 8-year-old daughter Lily. The operation disrupted the family's morning routine.

The police chief of St. Peter intervened with federal agents to prevent the detention of a local resident who was observing ICE enforcement actions. This intervention by local police in Minnesota occurred during ICE and border patrol operations in the state.

Wilmer Menjivar, an employee at Viper Auto Body with no criminal record, was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in West Valley City, Utah. Menjivar believed he was being followed by unmarked vehicles as he arrived at work and ran into the locked auto body shop. CBP agents then broke through the glass door, entered the business, and detained him. His wife, Lilly, said Menjivar believes he may have been profiled based on his appearance, his low-rider truck, and skin color. Menjivar plans to return to El Salvador, and his wife and three U.S. citizen children plan to move with him to keep the family together.

Maryna Ishchenko, a Ukrainian asylum seeker from eastern Ukraine, was detained by ICE during a routine check-in appointment at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. She had previously been detained at the U.S.-Mexico border when she and her U.S. citizen husband, Asael Ramirez, presented her asylum case, but was released after he agreed to sponsor her. Despite being married to a U.S. citizen and complying with all required check-ins, she was detained again. She is experiencing abdominal medical issues exacerbated by anxiety and fear while in detention. Her husband has spent $15,000 on her case and is seeking a habeas corpus petition for her release.

Elena, a Venezuelan asylum seeker with a pending case and work authorization, gave birth prematurely in early January and was forced to remain at her infant daughter's hospital bedside for 13 days due to fear of encountering ICE agents during travel to and from the facility. While recovering from a C-section, she had little rest, coordinated rides from trusted community members for frequent follow-up appointments, and moved her own care to telehealth. Her husband was unable to work during this period; he later traveled to Wisconsin for two weeks to work as a rideshare driver to pay rent and afford groceries. The family continues to shelter in place and lives in fear of detention despite Elena's open asylum case and work authorization, having witnessed others with similar immigration status being detained.

Michael P.R., a non-citizen who entered the U.S. without lawful admission in December 2021, was detained by ICE on January 30, 2026 after appearing at a scheduled appointment in Los Angeles. He had previously missed an immigration court hearing on January 12, 2026, resulting in a removal order. The court granted his habeas petition and ordered he receive a bond hearing within seven days or be released.

Bradford County commissioners voted 3-2 to move forward with a proposal to convert the Douglas Warehouse in Starke into a 3,000-bed ICE detention center. The decision allows Sabot Consulting to present design plans to ICE for approval. A protest challenging the proposed facility is scheduled for Saturday at 209 S. Temple Ave. in Starke.

Bob Peck, a U.S. citizen, filed a notice of claim seeking $7.5 million in damages against ICE after agents threatened to arrest him for observing and filming their enforcement activities. The filing documents an incident on January 22 where masked agents confronted Peck while he was following their vehicle and told him he would be arrested if he continued. The case is among multiple reports of ICE agents intimidating observers, including threats to add them to watchlists and agents driving to observers' homes.

ICE agent Christian Castro was charged with four counts of assault and falsely reporting a crime in the January 14 shooting of Venezuelan immigrant Julio Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis. Video evidence contradicted Castro's claim that Sosa-Celis was attacking him, and prosecutors dropped assault charges against Sosa-Celis. Castro is the second federal agent charged in connection with Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration's immigration-enforcement mission in Minnesota.

Francisco Chan Reyes, a 25-year-old U.S. resident with lawful status, was detained by ICE agents during a traffic stop on the west side of San Antonio on January 26, 2026, while returning home from a market with three cousins. Video shows agents breaking his car window, pepper-spraying him, and holding him facedown on the pavement without identifying themselves. Despite Reyes showing agents his Texas driver's license and work permit, they initially refused to accept these documents and told his wife he was in the country illegally. After approximately four hours in custody, including DNA swabbing and fingerprint processing, fingerprints confirmed his lawful presence and he was released. He sustained a head injury and pepper-spray burns. His three cousins were deported to Mexico the following day. Immigration attorney Marlyn Moreno noted that a Texas driver's license should have been sufficient proof of lawful presence, as the state only issues them to people who demonstrate citizenship or lawful presence. He and his wife plan legal action.

Two Azerbaijani men, Fazal and Alikhan, who immigrated legally to the U.S. and were married in Charlotte, were detained by ICE after a routine immigration appointment in January. Alikhan was moved to Stewart Detention Center in Georgia where he became ill and received inadequate medical care until a U.S. Senator intervened. Unable to face prolonged detention, Alikhan announced in February he would self-deport rather than continue fighting his case, with Fazal planning to follow.

Approximately 50 Cuban nationals detained by ICE accepted deportation believing they would return to Havana. Their plane landed at Guantánamo Naval Base instead. The men have been at the U.S. military facility since before Christmas. Due to Cuba's restrictions on flights from the base to the island's interior, U.S. authorities must transfer them back to U.S. territory before handing them over to Cuban authorities, extending their detention for weeks.

Sithy Yi, a Cambodian Genocide survivor who arrived in the U.S. in 1981, was released from ICE detention following a federal judge's order. Yi was detained at a routine immigration check-in in Santa Ana on January 8 and held at the Adelanto Detention Facility for almost two months.

Dmytro Kulyk, 39, a Ukrainian who legally entered the U.S. under the Uniting 4 Ukraine program, was detained by ICE agents in a Walmart parking lot in Maple Grove, Minnesota on January 1st. He is currently held in Kandiyohi County Jail in Willmar, Minnesota, awaiting his fate while his re-parole application remains pending. His wife and daughter's applications were approved. Kulyk's attorney suggested his re-parole application may have been intentionally delayed to provide grounds for deportation.

A mother was detained by ICE after going outside to warm her car. She was able to contact someone to inform them that her children would be left alone as a result of her detention.

Maher Tarabishi was detained by ICE in October 2024 during a routine check-in at the Dallas Field Office. His son Wael, 30, who has Pompe disease and requires round-the-clock care, was hospitalized twice following his father's arrest. Wael died on January 23, 2026. Despite ICE detention standards allowing for emergency-supervised release to attend funerals and the family's humanitarian requests citing Maher's 14 years of compliance with supervised release requirements, immigration officials denied his request to attend his son's burial.

Thousands of protesters, including union members and families with children, marched to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in South Portland on Saturday to oppose immigration enforcement. Federal agents deployed tear gas, pepper balls, rubber bullets, and flash-bang grenades against the crowd, including children, after some protesters crossed onto the building's property. Portland City Councilor Mitch Green was tear-gassed and called for the abolition of ICE and DHS and prosecution of federal agents. Protester Malena Marvin, also tear-gassed, stated "This is like the big moral question of our time. Are we gonna let secret police kill people right in front of us?" and credited organized labor for the large turnout. Former OregonLive reporter Erin Hoover Barnett described the scene as terrifying, witnessing parents frantically tending to children in strollers and people on motorized carts struggling to escape the gas. Portland Mayor Keith Wilson characterized the demonstration as peaceful and called for ICE to leave the city, saying federal agents had "lost all legitimacy" through their use of violence.

A 31-year-old man was detained by ICE on January 29, 2026, during a traffic stop at a Home Depot parking lot while assisting his father with a home project. During the arrest, he shielded his father from being struck by agents. The government pressed charges against him, alleging he assaulted an officer. On July 16, 2026, a jury found him not guilty after he rejected a plea deal to fight the charges. He has lived in the United States for 22 years since being brought as a child, has three children, no criminal record, and has worked steadily. He now faces deportation proceedings.

A 57-year-old father was detained by ICE on January 29, 2026, during a traffic stop at a Home Depot parking lot while out with his son to purchase materials for a home project. ICE agents ran plates and targeted the father's truck. During the stop, agents pushed the father down, causing him to dislocate his shoulder when he fell. He had no criminal record. The father was deported two days later on Monday, February 2, 2026.

Carlos Chavez, a taco vendor and congregant at North Hills United Methodist Church in Los Angeles who helps with children's ministries, was detained by ICE agents on January 29 during a raid on the church grounds. The raid occurred while the church was conducting a food distribution ministry and hosting an event for mothers and children in the garden. According to church officials, agents forced their way onto the property despite being asked not to enter, carrying weapons and wearing masks, disrupting childcare and after-school programs and forcing attendees to shelter in a secure room for more than four hours. Chavez requested medical treatment for a respiratory illness while in detention, but his request was denied. He was subsequently deported to Mexico after signing a self-deportation order. The raid followed a 2025 policy change that rescinded the long-standing federal "sensitive locations" policy protecting houses of worship, and religious organizations have filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the policy.

ICE agents with guns approached a Korean bakery in Minneapolis, pointing weapons through the glass door at employees. A manager hid Korean immigrant coworkers in freezers during the encounter. Agents allegedly stated they did not need or care about a warrant. After an employee called 911, local police arrived and the ICE agents left the scene.

A Salem woman who is a U.S. citizen was pulled from her vehicle by federal law enforcement officers on January 29, 2026. After being boxed in by unmarked vehicles, agents broke her car window and pulled her to the ground. She suffered a concussion, torn rotator cuff, and bruised ribs.

NPR reporter Adrian Florido witnessed federal immigration agents arrest Jesús González, an undocumented fruit vendor he had been buying from for seven years in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. González was apprehended at his fruit cart stand and subsequently deported to Tijuana, Mexico after agreeing to be removed rather than face detention.

Federal immigration agents detained Thao Xiong, a community organizer and volunteer food shelf delivery driver, in the parking lot of the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center in St. Paul on city-owned property. The detainment occurred despite objections from community center staff and legal observers, and Xiong's U.S. citizenship or immigration status remained unclear. The incident occurred during Operation Metro Surge, which brought approximately 3,000 federal agents to Minnesota for immigration enforcement.

ICE agents detained multiple parents near a school bus drop-off spot in Ypsilanti while students were arriving or departing for school. Local school officials and the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office confirmed the detentions occurred near bus stops, though not on school property itself. The superintendent stated the school district does not voluntarily cooperate with ICE and described the circumstances as distressing.

Gaston Longines Garcia, a Mexican national who entered the United States without inspection in 1998 and has lived in the country for approximately 28 years, was arrested on January 28, 2026, in St. Joseph County on drunken driving charges. ICE issued a detainer and an administrative warrant commanding his detention pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226. Garcia was taken into ICE custody on February 24, 2026, and removal proceedings were initiated. On March 11, an immigration judge denied his request for release on bond, finding she lacked jurisdiction. Garcia remained detained at the Clay County Jail without a bond hearing. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the lawfulness of his continued detention. On April 23, 2026, a federal district court granted his petition, finding that his detention without a bond hearing violates the Immigration and Nationality Act. The court ordered respondents to either afford Garcia a bond hearing before an immigration judge consistent with 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) and pertinent regulations, or release him from detention within seven days.

Wilson Andres Hernandez De Leon, a noncitizen, was detained on January 28, 2026, after previously being released on bond or conditional parole. The petitioner challenged his re-detention through a habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, arguing that the government violated his due process rights by failing to provide a pre-deprivation bond hearing before a neutral arbiter before re-detaining him. The Eastern District of California found that the Due Process Clause requires the government to provide such a hearing before re-detaining a noncitizen who was previously released on bond, conditional parole, or humanitarian parole. The court granted the petitioner's motion for temporary restraining order and petition for writ of habeas corpus, ordering his immediate release with the same conditions he was subject to prior to his January 28, 2026 detention. The court also ordered that if the government seeks to re-detain the petitioner in the future, it must provide at least seven days' notice and hold a pre-deprivation bond hearing before a neutral arbiter.

Multiple protesters were detained and injured during an anti-ICE demonstration at the Eugene Federal Building on January 27, 2026. Federal officers deployed tear gas, pepper balls, and flash-bangs, detaining at least nine demonstrators. Several protesters reported injuries including bruises, hyperextended limbs, and eye injuries sustained during the law enforcement response.

ICE officers conducted an immigration enforcement operation in the Eastside neighborhood of Santa Barbara on January 28, 2026. A masked ICE officer pepper-sprayed a community member who was documenting the activity, an incident captured on video. One person was detained by ICE, though the detention was reportedly unrelated to the pepper-spray incident.

A video shared on Instagram shows a man in New Prague, Minnesota arguing with suspected federal agents who questioned him about his citizenship status. The post's caption characterizes the interaction as racial profiling and harassment.

Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41-year-old Haitian man, died in December 2025 at Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, less than a day after being detained. Brutus suffered a medical emergency and was transported to University Hospital, but an ambulance transporting him was delayed by 5 minutes as officials prioritized allowing a van of new detainees into the facility. A medical examiner determined he died from a pulmonary embolism, though ICE initially described his death as suspected natural causes. His death was one of at least two deaths at the facility that prompted civil rights scrutiny, and one of 23 people to die in ICE custody during the year.

Domingo Tot Quip, a 31-year-old Portland resident from Guatemala and restaurant worker, was arrested at a bus stop in January 2026 during an ICE enforcement operation while heading to work. ICE agents mistakenly identified him as another Guatemalan man with the same first name and birthday who had a final removal order, despite Tot Quip having valid identification documents with him at the time of arrest. He spoke primarily an indigenous Guatemalan language, had no criminal history, and had never interacted with ICE before. A federal judge ordered ICE not to remove him from the country, but Tot Quip was deported to Guatemala one day after the order. His attorney, Kerry Doyle, alleged racial profiling was involved in the misidentification. After months in Guatemala, ICE acknowledged "the gravity of the inadvertent removal" in court records and agreed to return Tot Quip to the U.S. at government expense, with his return to Maine expected in August 2026.

Javier Gimenez Rivero is a high school student from Venezuela living in Orange County with a pending asylum claim and valid U.S. Employment Authorization. He was arrested by the Florida Highway Patrol and held in Orange County Jail for 18 days without criminal charges, a notice to appear, a warrant, a hearing, or written notice of the basis for his detention, according to a federal judge's order. His attorneys, Phillip and Josephine Arroyo, say Rivero is devastated and traumatized. A federal judge ordered his release, stating "In this country, we don't enforce the law by breaking the law," and found numerous constitutional violations in his detention. Rivero now has a hearing scheduled for 2028 to review his asylum claim.

Two former detainees at the Everglades immigration detention center testified in federal court that they were punished for seeking legal advice, including having monitored calls dropped when discussing attorneys and being denied access to pen and paper. One detainee from Haiti alleged he was forced to sign self-deportation papers he did not understand without being able to consult with an attorney first. Civil rights attorneys sought a temporary injunction to ensure detainees receive the same legal access as those in federally-run facilities.

Carlos, a Venezuelan national with withholding of removal and work authorization, was detained on January 28, 2026, during a routine monthly check-in at the Kansas City ICE office where he was required to report under the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program. Despite his judge-approved protection, valid work authorization, clean six-year record, and pending permanent legal status applications with his wife, ICE detained him. After a chaotic series of transfers across Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and Arizona—during which he was held in overcrowded conditions—Carlos was deported to Mexico on a tarmac in Arizona, where he remains separated from his wife and children.

A viral video shows dozens of detainees held in overcrowded conditions at ICE's Baltimore Field Office without adequate beds, bathrooms, or hygiene products, with individuals held for up to 10 days in a short-term processing facility. Maryland lawmakers, including U.S. Senators and Representatives, have been denied or are awaiting permission to visit the facility to observe conditions firsthand. Detainees have reported allegations of beatings and inadequate food and medical care, and the footage has reignited concerns about detention conditions amid an ongoing federal lawsuit alleging constitutional violations.