Human Impact Project

Mario David Coronado Juarez, a 36-year-old Guatemalan construction worker from Tuichilupe village in Comitancillo, San Marcos, died Sunday, Sept. 20, when his vehicle struck a tree and burst into flames in Grand Rapids, Michigan, while fleeing an attempted ICE traffic stop. He had worked in the U.S. for six to seven years to support his wife, two daughters and a son, and was building a house for his family. DHS said ICE officers had been trying to stop him to confirm his identity, mistaking him for a different Guatemalan man they were seeking, and that officers discontinued the pursuit and tried to render aid after the crash. Community members, including volunteer Karla Barberi of Cosecha Grand Rapids, described him as "a hard-working man for the working class" and "an honest man" who "was not a criminal." Grand Rapids Police Chief Joseph Trigg requested that Michigan State Police investigate, citing limited cooperation from federal agencies, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered an independent review. Rep. Hillary Scholten sent a letter to ICE demanding a transparent investigation, and the Guatemalan Consulate is coordinating repatriation of his remains while a GoFundMe and community vigil were organized to help his family, who could not initially afford the trip to begin repatriation proceedings.

Madeline Gallagher, a rapid response team member who had joined the volunteer group a month earlier, was pushed to the ground by a courthouse security staffer during a confrontation between activists and ICE agents at the Meriden courthouse. Other rapid response team members said they witnessed Gallagher briefly lose consciousness after her fall, and she was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. Gallagher said she was motivated to volunteer because "mothers [are] being taken away from their children." The incident occurred as ICE agents detained at least one man at the courthouse, an operation that raised questions about compliance with Connecticut's Trust Act, which limits immigration enforcement at courthouses and bans masked law enforcement.

Nancy Burton, a Meriden resident and member of a rapid response team monitoring ICE activity in Connecticut, was pepper-sprayed by an ICE agent exiting the Meriden courthouse during a confrontation between activists and agents. Burton said she was stepping away from the officer after he demanded she move when he deployed the spray, saying "He wanted to use his pepper spray, he didn't have to." She was treated by an emergency medical technician at the scene. The incident occurred as ICE agents detained at least one man at the courthouse, an operation that raised questions about compliance with Connecticut's Trust Act, which limits immigration enforcement at courthouses and bans masked law enforcement.

Retired Wayne County judge Michael Callahan said a convoy of eight armed ICE officers arrived at his metro Detroit home this summer claiming they only intended to place an ankle tether on his foster son. The officers had no warrant or court order, according to Callahan, even though his foster son, a refugee who had lived in the U.S. for more than seven years, had attended every required ICE check-in, had no criminal record, and worked full-time as a truck driver. Callahan said agents ultimately took his foster son into custody despite these circumstances.

Rapheal Oludemilade Adebowale, a Nigerian national, was arrested by ICE in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, as part of a Department of Homeland Security enforcement operation. Adebowale had been previously convicted of larceny and money laundering in Massachusetts following a jury trial, after a motion to dismiss the indictment against him was denied. DHS also arrested Jawwad Ali Ahmed, a Pakistani national with a prior conviction in Sacramento, California, and Alexandre Esdras Pandolfi-Soares, a Brazilian national with a prior conviction in Salt Lake City, Utah, during the same operation. DHS described the men as priority targets but did not disclose further details about their immigration status, pending court dates, or the specific immigration allegations against them. Adebowale now faces immigration proceedings and possible removal from the United States.

Carlos Josué Marchena Marchena, a 36-year-old Costa Rican national from Guanacaste who worked as a ride service driver and had four children, died on September 18, 2026 after being found unresponsive at Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, Louisiana, where he was later pronounced dead. He had been detained since January and was moved between facilities in several states, with his cousin saying his care had been adequate in Michigan but grew inconsistent after later transfers. His sister, girlfriend, and a detainee in a neighboring cell said he had complained of missed insulin shots, missed meals, spoiled food, and insufficient water, and that in the day before his death he was vomiting, sweating, and turned pale purple; his girlfriend said he called around midnight saying his medication wasn't helping. ICE said his medical care was appropriate, while the fellow detainee said he received only irregular insulin shots and a single pill for his symptoms. Marchena had requested bail and voluntary deportation to Costa Rica, both denied, and friends said he had migrated seeking better opportunities for his children. He is at least the third detainee to die in less than six months at the Louisiana facility and the 58th ICE detainee to die since January 2025; a prior federal inspection had found Winn fell short of medical care and food service standards. A GoFundMe was launched to help return his body to Costa Rica while the family awaits autopsy results.

Arsalan Saleh Fard (referred to as "Ali" in one account), a 25-year-old Christian convert from Qazvin Province, Iran, fled after being pursued by Iran's intelligence services and the Basij paramilitary force. He struggled to find work because of tattoos, and when a bank refused to hire him over them, he burned one off himself — only to then be rejected for appearing mentally unstable. After crossing the U.S. border to seek asylum, he was expelled to Panama on a military flight in January/February 2025 without an asylum hearing, as part of a group of 299 migrants deported there weeks after President Trump's inauguration. Eighteen months later, he remains stranded in Panama with no clear path to permanent refuge, at times sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Bella Mosselmans, a human rights lawyer who directs the Global Strategic Litigation Council and represents deportees sent to Panama, said such outcomes are an inevitable result of sending migrants to a country with a nonfunctioning asylum system, language barriers, and little access to legal counsel.

Two employees at Charra's and Tequila restaurant in north Bismarck were taken into ICE custody, according to a Facebook post from a person representing the business. The employees were not U.S. citizens but held permanent resident status and valid, unexpired work authorization; one of them was the owner's nephew. The restaurant's owner said the business would close temporarily, adding that staff were "scared" and the team was "in shock" after the arrests.

João Ferreira, 59, a Portuguese national with a green card, was taken into custody early Tuesday morning in Dartmouth while driving to a landscaping job in New Bedford, along with a Brazilian man traveling with him. Ferreira had a 1992 case involving indecent assault and exposure charges that was continued without a finding and later closed, and a 2009 conviction for assault with a dangerous weapon resulting in probation. In 2019, Customs and Border Protection stopped him at Logan Airport and began removal proceedings citing a crime of moral turpitude; he later filed a motion for a new trial arguing he had not been properly informed of his rights, but court records show no resolution to that motion.

Around 4 p.m. Tuesday, five ICE agents in four vehicles arrested two men taken from a vehicle stopped in front of Restaurante y Tortilleria Guatemalteco on Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford. Volunteers from LUCE New Bedford blew whistles and shouted at the agents while a reporter's questions about the arrests went unanswered; the driver identified one of the men only as "Mario Aguilar." Agents blocked further questioning before driving away with the men in custody.

ICE agents stopped a white SUV near the intersection of Acushnet Avenue and Sawyer Street in New Bedford on Tuesday, and a man ran from the vehicle. Four agents chased him down, tackled him to the ground, and one agent tased him for about 15 seconds. Nearby business workers, including a hair salon employee and a taqueria co-owner, said they were frightened and locked their doors as agents passed by.

Masked ICE agents conducted a sweep along Speedwell Avenue in Morristown, chasing a man from the Lincoln Apartments toward a firehouse while a nearby school bus of elementary students watched agents transfer handcuffed detainees between vehicles. Father Duberney Villamizar, a local priest, cut short Mass to witness the operation and said four to six individuals, including a car wash employee, were detained, with one released after producing legal documents. An ICE SUV also collided with a passing car during the operation, and residents and officials raised questions about whether a Morris County Sheriff's officer was seen cooperating with ICE, which would violate New Jersey's Immigrant Trust Directive.

A man doing landscaping work for Tommy Builders was detained by six to eight federal agents near Fifth Street in North Everett on a Monday morning. Video recorded by homeowner Jennifer Gordon shows masked agents in tactical vests reading 'Police' and 'Immigration and Customs Enforcement' pulling the man from a work truck as he shouted for help in English and Spanish, said 'They don't have a warrant,' and said 'I can't breathe' while agents leaned over him. A second man working with him ran from the scene. Gordon said the agents wore no badges or identification and used unmarked vehicles; when she asked to see a warrant, an agent told her, 'I don't have to show it to you,' and later photographed her house and address before leaving, which she said felt intimidating. A neighbor said an agent claimed the man was being arrested over a murder allegation in his home country, but ICE declined to confirm details or release his name, citing privacy concerns.

Yeferson Francisco Sequera Ruiz, a 31-year-old immigrant from Venezuela, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is being held in a Texas detention center. According to immigration, state and federal court records, he has no criminal convictions and is facing deportation.

Malena Chacón Santos, a 24-year-old Cuban woman who entered the U.S. legally in November 2024 through the CBP One app and applied for asylum, was detained by ICE in November 2025 after voluntarily attending a routine immigration supervision appointment in Dallas. She was transferred to the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, Texas, more than 175 miles from home, where she has remained for nearly 10 months. In February 2025, she married Juan Carlos Alvarez, a U.S. Army veteran who lives with disabilities including depression, anxiety and arthritis, and became stepmother to his three children. Alvarez drives three hours every Sunday to visit her, and the couple speaks by phone daily. Her attorney filed a federal habeas corpus petition in May 2026, which a judge denied with prejudice on August 4. Chacón Santos says she has no criminal convictions and is still awaiting a decision on her case.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested four people during a targeted enforcement operation in Moab, Utah. ICE said two were Mexican nationals with final removal orders or prior voluntary departures who had re-entered the country, while the other two were Turkish nationals described as being in the country without authorization, with no further details provided on their cases. ICE did not disclose where the four are being held, which part of the agency conducted the operation, or whether any had criminal convictions. Grand County Sheriff Jamison Wiggins said he was not notified in advance, and both his office and Moab Police said they did not assist with or participate in the operation, though officers did respond to a 911 call during a traffic stop where an ICE arrest occurred. The Moab Valley Multicultural Center activated its emergency protocol, offering free rides and information to residents concerned about the ICE presence, and confirmed ICE left the county alongside the Grand County Sheriff's Office, though it could not independently verify how many people were taken.

More than a dozen people were booked into the Burleigh Morton Detention Center after ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents carried out enforcement activity in the Bismarck-Mandan area beginning Sept. 21. Of the 13 individuals, ranging in age from 19 to 58, nine had addresses in Bismarck, one had an address in St. Cloud, Minnesota, and three had unknown or unlisted addresses. The Burleigh County Sheriff's Department said it was contacted by HSI ahead of the operation and assigned a liaison, while local Bismarck police said they were not asked to assist.

At least two dozen immigrants were detained by ICE agents in roadside stops and workplace encounters across New Bedford, Dartmouth, and Fall River, Massachusetts over Monday and Tuesday, according to immigrant advocacy groups. Advocates said people were picked up while getting gas, buying sandwiches at Market Basket, dropping off spouses at work, and at a Dartmouth Mall restaurant, with most of those detained from Ecuador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Gov. Maura Healey said many of those arrested had lived in the state for years with families, including a father with several children at home, including a 1-month-old baby, and an 8-year-old boy left waiting at school when his father was detained; New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell said at least eight of those detained had no criminal records beyond minor motor vehicle violations, and attorneys with the Habeas Project have filed petitions to contest the detentions and prevent transfers out of state.

A U.S. citizen in Evanston, Illinois was tackled and injured by federal agents believed to be ICE, who mistakenly thought he matched a fugitive they were pursuing near Dodge Avenue and Howard Street. Video of the encounter shows agents using rough force, pinning him to the ground and appearing to strike him as he repeatedly stated he was a citizen. Witness Miguel Angel Olivares, who filmed the incident, and another witness on break from a nearby restaurant described the agents as rough with him. He suffered injuries to his head, neck and teeth and was treated at a local hospital, St. Francis. Federal officials said the man refused to identify himself and declined medical assistance from agents, and he was detained for fingerprinting before being released once agents confirmed he was not their target. Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss confirmed the brief detention and release, and activist group Sanctuary Evanston called the incident a 'violent assault.' Evanston police, Illinois authorities and the FBI are investigating, with body camera footage being preserved and witnesses interviewed.

Jorge (a pseudonym), a Guatemalan man who fled gang extortion threats and joined family in San Diego, was arrested by ICE during a raid on his construction worksite after working there for five months. He spent three months in detention, much of it in frigid holding cells where he slept on bare concrete with only a foil sheet, and developed bronchitis after officers allegedly made cells colder in retaliation for complaints; staff denied him hospital care. He said he signed English-language deportation papers he could not read after being threatened with years in federal detention, later learning the signing carried a 10-year reentry bar, and described being shackled during his deportation flight to Guatemala.

Leonardo 'Leo' Garcia Venegas, a 25-year-old U.S.-born citizen of Mexican descent working construction in Baldwin County, Alabama, was detained by immigration agents multiple times beginning in May 2025 despite presenting a valid Alabama REAL ID. In the first incident, armed agents raided a Foley construction site, tackled his undocumented brother, and held Garcia Venegas handcuffed for over an hour after he began filming and asserted his citizenship; his brother was later deported. Weeks later, agents detained him again at another job site, again dismissing his ID as fake despite him also providing his Social Security card. In a third encounter, officers followed him home, pulled him from his vehicle, tackled him, and shackled him. Never charged with a crime, Garcia Venegas testified before Congress saying 'I don't feel free,' and filed a federal lawsuit with the Institute for Justice against DHS officials, including Tom Homan and Kristi Noem, alleging Fourth Amendment violations, assault, battery, and false arrest. A federal judge in the Southern District of Alabama denied the government's motion to dismiss and temporarily halted warrantless construction-site raids, a ruling Garcia Venegas called 'a huge blow to lawless enforcement practices.'

A Senegalese woman deported to Ghana under a third-country removal arrangement was sent, along with other detainees, to a remote military camp with little electricity or outside contact after Ghanaian officials reacted angrily to viral video of another deportee being forcibly removed. Fearing she would be returned to Senegal, she attempted suicide by drinking bleach and was hospitalized before being deported back to Senegal anyway.

Gisèle, who fled fighting between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, was deported by US authorities to Cameroon under a third-country removal agreement. Suffering from a thyroid condition, she was never able to obtain her medication at the Yaoundé migrant shelter despite repeated requests, and after five months there she abandoned plans to seek asylum in Cameroon and agreed to be sent back to the DR Congo out of concern her health would worsen.

Isatou, a pseudonym for a woman from Guinea who migrated to the U.S. to escape a forced marriage, was removed to Ghana as a third-country destination and subsequently sent back to Guinea, her country of origin. Months after her removal, she said she has had to hide out of fear of encountering her family. "I don’t go out anymore, I’m scared of coming across my family," she said. "They ruined my life."

A crowd gathered at the scene of the ICE shooting in Austin throughout the afternoon, and officers fired pepper ball-like projectiles at the crowd after some demonstrators threw rocks and water bottles at law enforcement while people were leaving the area. A 14-year-old boy was among those affected by the chemical agent, according to his father, who spoke to Austin police. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson called for an independent investigation into the earlier shooting, citing the chaos it caused in the city.

Javier Rueda, a Venezuelan immigrant, has been held in ICE custody in Oklahoma for approximately seven months. His family says an immigration judge approved his asylum request after a nine-hour hearing, but the government has appealed the decision, keeping him detained. A bond of $20,000 has been set, and his family is seeking donations to pay it within a required deadline, warning that without the funds he could remain detained for several more months awaiting the appeal.

Ahmed Soliman, a gay man in his early 30s who fled Egypt as a child and grew up in Phoenix and Tucson, had won a judge's ruling protecting him from deportation to Egypt over fears of persecution based on his sexuality and family history. Despite this ruling and a pending habeas petition, ICE transferred him from Arizona to Louisiana and deported him in April 2026 to a decommissioned hotel in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, under a $7.5 million third-country removal deal that has sent at least 66 people there since November 2025. After guards confiscated detainees' phones, police pointed rifles at Soliman and forced him to his knees when he tried to film officers and the forced removal of other detainees to Ethiopia. Amnesty International reported he was bound and beaten by police upon arrival. After speaking to journalists, including the American Prospect, about conditions at the facility, he was arrested on accusations of damaging property, then blindfolded, beaten, and pushed down a staircase before being transferred to a prison in Malabo. He and another detainee from Eritrea have since been missing for more than a week, with his attorneys unable to confirm charges against him or his location and fearing for his life, believing the arrest was retaliation for speaking to the media.

Leonardo Sánchez, a Cuban migrant with a large abdominal hernia and a pending operation, was deported to Equatorial Guinea and is being held at the Hotel Bamy in Malabo. His mother, Caridad, said from Miami that she has not heard from him in a week because authorities took away detainees' phones to prevent them from speaking with the press. "What they're doing is criminal; the treatment is unfair," she said.

Carlos Rodríguez, a Cuban migrant, was one of five deportees who refused to leave the ICE deportation plane upon landing, saying they did not feel safe; he says officers carried him off the aircraft and beat him while he was handcuffed. He and three other Cubans, along with a Brazilian, had been told by authorities that if they stayed calm they would be returned to the United States, but the plane instead delivered them to Equatorial Guinea. "This is human trafficking, they trafficked us on a plane," he told EL PAÍS.

Demonstrators have repeatedly clashed with federal agents outside the ICE detention facility in Broadview, Illinois, over several consecutive weeks, protesting detention conditions and showing support for detainees. On September 19, 2025, protesters blocking the facility's driveway were pepper-sprayed, including directly in the face, and an ICE vehicle struck at least one protester who sustained minor injuries; a witnessing attorney described agents as pushing protesters in an 'aggressive and violent manner.' On September 26, agents used pepper balls, tear gas, and baton rounds against more than 100 protesters, taking 11 into custody, with five later facing federal charges. On October 4, agents again deployed tear gas, pepper balls, and other chemical munitions against protesters, journalists, and legal observers, with chemical agents also affecting nearby residents; congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh and Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss were arrested. Broadview's mayor sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security citing dangers to residents from chemical agents and blocked emergency access, while lawsuits were filed alleging excessive force and First Amendment violations.

A 34-year-old Venezuelan man known only as JCCV, who lives in The Dalles, Oregon with his family and had a pending immigration application, testified he was detained by ICE agents who mistakenly believed he was his brother and never checked his identification. He was transported to a detention facility in Portland and held for multiple days, during which agents pressured him to sign a voluntary self-deportation document written in English, a language he cannot read, without explaining what it meant. His testimony was part of a federal court hearing examining whether ICE has continued making warrantless arrests in Oregon despite a February injunction requiring warrants and flight-risk assessments before arrests.

Carlos Felipe Jaramillo Grajales, a 55-year-old Colombian national living in Jacksonville, Florida, was sentenced to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to aggravated identity theft, passport fraud, falsely claiming a Social Security number, and falsely claiming U.S. citizenship. Court records show he began using a stolen U.S. citizen's identity in 2003 to obtain a Florida driver's license and a U.S. passport, later registering to vote in 2010 by claiming to be a naturalized citizen and casting ballots in multiple elections, including the 2020 presidential race in Duval County. While using the assumed identity, he married a woman who was unaware he was not actually a U.S. citizen; she later naturalized based on the marriage, and the couple divorced in 2020. He returned to Colombia, reentered the U.S. under his real name via a fiancé visa sponsored by his ex-wife, and the couple remarried in June 2025. A federal court entered a judicial order for his removal to Colombia following his prison term. The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations in Jacksonville, along with the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service and the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General.

Raúl Suárez Herrero, a 59-year-old Cuban man who moved to the U.S. at age 12 and lived there for nearly five decades, was detained by ICE during a routine annual check-in in July 2025. He was held at the 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention facility in the Florida Everglades, where he says guards locked him in a metal cage roughly the size of a phone booth for more than 15 hours after he prayed aloud for a fellow detainee having a seizure. Suárez said he was kicked hard enough to bruise his leg, denied food and medical care, and left unable to lie down while fearing snakes and mosquitoes entering the cage, an experience he described as leaving him psychologically 'shattered.' A former truck driver who built a business with his brother, a U.S. citizen who died of COVID in 2021, Suárez was deported to Mexico in February 2026 after a federal judge's deadline for his release or removal passed. A DHS inspector general report later confirmed the facility used such small cages, calling the practice 'highly unconventional,' though DHS disputes claims that conditions were inhumane.

Jefferson, a Venezuelan asylum seeker and father of two, has spent months detained at the Don Hutto detention center in Texas, separated from his wife and children. Speaking with his wife by video call, he described the facility's living conditions and lack of access to healthcare. A local pastor who meets weekly with families of detainees said roughly one in four families in her congregation has had a loved one arrested and deported.

Walto Deshommes, a Haitian father, was detained by ICE agents just outside a North Park Head Start daycare in San Diego moments after walking his 2-year-old daughter into her classroom. A family advocate said the arrest occurred off school grounds, and Deshommes managed to throw his car keys and ID to daycare staff as he was taken into custody. Staff at the center, operated by the Neighborhood House Association, followed emergency procedures to hand the toddler off to a designated contact. Deshommes and his partner, Suze, had been living in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status until the Trump administration ended TPS for Haitians in July following a Supreme Court ruling; both have pending asylum cases with an upcoming immigration court date. Suze said she remains committed to appearing at that court date despite facing the process without Deshommes. A family advocate said the arrest reflects a recent trend of ICE targeting Haitians who have fallen out of status but still have pending cases.

An Iraqi man showing early signs of dementia was arrested by ICE agents in his front yard after living in the United States for more than 30 years. An immigration judge had ruled he would likely face torture if returned to Iraq, but he was nonetheless held in an Arizona detention facility while officials searched for another country willing to accept him. He was among more than 120 immigrants identified in Arizona who remained detained despite winning protection from removal to their home countries.

Edgar Cabrera Gomez was struck by an ICE agent's patrol vehicle after a traffic stop of a van on the Liberty Expressway in Dougherty County, Georgia. Authorities said all occupants fled the van on foot toward a wooded area, and Gomez fell in the median where he became lodged under the ICE vehicle. His family disputes claims that he was driving, saying he was only injured because agents ran him over while he was running. ICE agents were still searching for the other two occupants of the van.

A Maryland mother, who is undocumented, delayed seeking medical care for her U.S. citizen son's severe asthma attack out of fear of encountering ICE agents on the road. The boy was eventually taken to a local clinic and then medevaced to a Washington, D.C. hospital. A new American Academy of Pediatrics survey found that a large share of pediatricians report families avoiding medical care, public benefits, and school due to immigration enforcement fears.

A Durham family, including children ages 11 and 6, was detained after what advocates described as a routine asylum appointment in Charlotte and deported to Honduras within 72 hours, according to ABC11. The Department of Homeland Security disputed the advocates' account, saying the family had received due process and had no pending asylum claims or immigration applications.

Mamady Camara, 21, fled Guinea after police allegedly beat him during a crackdown on anti-government protesters, leaving him with a lasting scar. He crossed the southern border in 2023, was released to pursue an asylum claim, and built a life in Ypsilanti, Michigan, earning a high school diploma, attending community college, and working as a caregiver for Hal Rothbart, a disabled Navy veteran. In January, ICE agents arrested him when he arrived for a scheduled appointment in Detroit, and he has remained in detention at North Lake Processing Center for nearly nine months despite having no criminal record. An immigration judge denied his release as a flight risk, his asylum claim was later denied, and he is now appealing to the Board of Immigration Appeals while the Rothbart family raises funds for his legal defense.

A 34-year-old Mexican national was detained by ICE agents outside his Flagstaff apartment on East Cortland Boulevard as he was preparing to take his two children to school, according to family spokesperson Maria Castillo Rincon. He was transported to Phoenix shortly after. ICE then called his wife, a 32-year-old Mexican national, and told her that if she did not turn herself in at Phoenix, agents would raid her home; she and her two children, ages 14 and 7, drove to Phoenix and self-deported that same day. The family had sought asylum in the U.S. after fleeing violence in Mexico, but a judge denied their application earlier in the summer and issued a deportation notice; it was the first known ICE enforcement operation in Flagstaff since the agency opened a local field office.

Santiago Merlo, a Colombian man living in California, posted his car for sale on Facebook Marketplace. Months later, a purported buyer using the name "Brian" arranged to meet him to see the vehicle. When Merlo arrived, he says about 10 patrol units with federal agents were waiting, and he was handcuffed and detained. Merlo says he had a valid work permit and a pending asylum application at the time he was later deported to Colombia.

A man from Pakistan in his early 40s was arrested and initially processed and detained in Baltimore in April 2025 before being transferred to a long-term detention facility in central Pennsylvania, where he stayed nearly three months. Over the following year he was moved 17 more times, three of them back to the same Pennsylvania facility, traveling a total of 11,347 miles before he was conditionally released this summer.

Cece Mokua, a 29-year-old pregnant Kenyan asylum applicant living in Spokane with her husband, Humphrey Oyoo, and their 1-year-old son, was detained by ICE agents while attending what she believed was a scheduled asylum interview with USCIS in Tukwila, WA. Officers separated her from her family, handcuffed her, and held her in holding cells before transferring her to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, where she said she experienced contractions and a migraine. She was given only a doctor's note for a bottom bunk and released after roughly 36 hours without explanation, but remains in deportation proceedings with an ankle monitor and a scheduled check-in with ICE in Spokane. Mokua came to the U.S. legally as a teenager fleeing female genital mutilation but later fell out of legal status. Her husband, a home health aide and SEIU union member, said the family was targeted despite having supporters and press present for the interview. Supporters, including the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and Defend Migrants Alliance, said her case reflects a pattern of ICE using USCIS appointments as a pretext for arrests.

ICE agents from the New Orleans field office arrested 13 suspected undocumented immigrants in Marshall County, Alabama, including 10 Haitian nationals and three Guatemalans. The operation, assisted by the Marshall County Sheriff's Office, Albertville Police Department and Guntersville Police Department, marked the first arrests of Haitian nationals in the area since the Trump administration ended Temporary Protected Status for Haiti in July. An ICE spokesperson described the arrests as 'standard daily enforcement,' and Sheriff Phil Sims said the number of arrests was typical for monthly operations, though the presence of Haitian nationals was notable. Marshall County is home to more than 700 Haitians, many drawn by jobs at local chicken plants.

Xavier Jordán, an Ecuadorian businessman accused by Ecuadorian prosecutors of helping plan and finance the 2023 assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Miami. His lawyer said Jordán had applied for asylum in the United States and had a hearing scheduled for May of the following year, arguing he had been legally residing in the country. The lawyer said it was not yet known where Jordán had been taken and ruled out any connection to an Ecuadorian arrest warrant, noting the Interpol red notice against him was not active.

Feride Bardakci, a 26-year-old Turkish national who worked multiple restaurant jobs in Jackson, Wyoming, was intercepted and detained by plainclothes ICE officers at a START bus stop near a Target while traveling between shifts. Officers restrained her with zip ties and drove her away in an SUV; she is now in ICE custody and expected to be transferred to a facility in Aurora, Colorado. DHS said she entered the U.S. legally near Atlanta in June 2023 with authorization to stay until April 2024, but remained after her visa expired, and no criminal record was found in Wyoming or federal courts. Her employer, Teton Tiger General Manager Monica Rozzi, called her 'a friend to all of us' and 'a wonderful person,' and coworkers and community members rallied in support of her. Local officials, including the Teton County Sheriff and Jackson's mayor, criticized ICE for conducting the operation without notifying local law enforcement.

Zach Cosseboom, a 37-year-old UC Santa Barbara employee and U.S. citizen, was pepper-sprayed by a federal immigration agent while volunteering as an observer with immigrant advocacy group SB Resiste at the Santa Barbara County Jail. Cosseboom, a 12-year Santa Barbara resident, was watching ICE agents in the jail's lobby when an agent sprayed him at close range in an incident captured on video, also hitting his wife, Ana Garcia. He was treated at Cottage Health's emergency room afterward and described feeling 'a little helpless' during the incident.

Ydienays Dariana Dominguez, 26, and her six-year-old daughter Zoeh were detained by ICE agents during what the family believed was a routine immigration check-in in Charlotte. Zoeh had just started first grade at Sugar Creek Charter School, and the family had lived in the U.S. for nearly three years while seeking asylum. Their case stemmed from a July 9 virtual immigration hearing that a judge failed to attend, after which Ydienays received a removal order; she believed an advisor was filing an appeal, but it was never submitted. Zoeh's father Anderson, a barber, said an ICE officer initially indicated the pair would be transferred to Texas, but he later learned they had been deported to Venezuela and said he has not been able to reach his wife or daughter since. Advocacy group Siembra NC organized a press conference to seek community support, and State Rep. Julia Greenfield said the family did not receive due process before being removed.

Luis Ochoa and his friend JC, both 17-year-old U.S. citizens, were detained by ICE agents in Alamo, Texas, after stopping to film agents conducting an enforcement action near Santos Livas Elementary School. The teens said they were on their way to submit paperwork to enlist in the Marine Corps when agents pulled Ochoa from his vehicle, breaking his wrist, and pepper-sprayed both teens and struck JC in the face, despite them stating they were U.S. citizens. One agent reportedly told Ochoa, "I don't give a damn... Your parents can't help you now." Ochoa's mother, Teresa Ochoa, said she went roughly eight hours without information about her son and described it as one of the most frightening moments of her life, adding that the ordeal made both teens reconsider plans to enlist. DHS disputed the account, describing the teens as "anti-ICE agitators" who obstructed a lawful vehicle stop and became physically combative, stating two ICE officers suffered minor injuries. The Alamo Police Department forwarded the teens' complaint to the DHS Office of Inspector General for review.