Human Impact Project

Flor Ivet Vargas-Loya, a DACA recipient and mother of two U.S. citizen children ages 17 and 19, was handcuffed and detained by ICE on Christmas Eve while shopping at a T.J. Maxx in Phoenix's West Valley. She and her husband operate the El Taco Loko restaurant and a food truck in Laveen, and she is the sole provider for her children following her husband's deportation. At the time of her arrest, she was awaiting a delayed DACA renewal, had no new criminal charges, and was wearing an ankle monitor after being released on bond following about a month in immigration detention earlier in the year. Her attorney said she had been fully complying with her orders, and she had a court hearing scheduled for 2028. She is being held at the Florence Processing Center. Arizona lawmakers called for her release, with state Sen. Analise Ortiz saying, 'People like Flor and her husband are entrepreneurs who contribute to their community.'

Immigration officials detained two U.S. citizen siblings in a Mission Bay parking lot in late December. The siblings were held in the basement of the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building for most of the day before being released to their father. The family believes the incident was a case of racial profiling and reports that officers used physical force during the arrest.

An Afghan national was released on immigration parole in April 2024. On December 30, 2025, he was re-arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) without notice or explanation. He filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in federal court on April 8, 2026, challenging the re-arrest as a violation of his due process rights and federal regulations governing revocation of release. He requested either immediate release under his prior parole terms or a bond hearing. On April 14, 2026, respondents filed a return stating they did not oppose the petition. The court granted the habeas corpus petition and ordered his release from immigration custody within one business day under the terms of his prior parole notice.

Vilma Palacios, 22, a recent graduate of the LSU Health New Orleans School of Nursing who had accepted a job at Touro Infirmary, was arrested by ICE agents on June 26, 2025, while attempting to get a vehicle inspection sticker in Belle Chasse, Louisiana. Palacios had fled Honduras at age 6, applied for asylum as a child, and had previously been granted a work permit. She has since been held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile for six months, with her case drawing renewed attention in late December 2025.

An immigration detainee who had previously been released on bond or conditional parole was re-detained by immigration authorities on December 29, 2026. He challenged his ongoing immigration detention through a habeas corpus petition, arguing that his re-detention without a pre-deprivation bond hearing violated due process. The court granted his petition and ordered his immediate release with the same conditions he had prior to his December 29 detention.

Seven people were arrested at an ICE Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) check-in office in San Jose on Monday and Tuesday of the week of December 24, 2025, according to the Rapid Response Network (RRN) in Santa Clara County. The arrests occurred inside the office during scheduled check-ins for ICE supervision programs. RRN stated the arrests were not random and encouraged people with upcoming ICE check-in appointments to contact their organization for volunteer accompaniment.

An immigration detainee was arrested on December 29, 2025 for misdemeanor driving under the influence and providing false information to a police officer. He was granted pre-plea diversion with the case set for dismissal in June 2026. Months after his arrest, he reported for his scheduled check-in with ICE, where ICE arrested and detained him. The court granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release.

A Mexican citizen who entered the U.S. in June 1998 with no criminal history was detained by ICE on December 28, 2025, outside her home without any pre-deprivation process or notice, despite not being subject to a final removal order. She has cancer requiring monthly medical monitoring and is the primary financial support for her family. On June 18, 2026, the federal court granted her petition for habeas corpus and ordered her immediate release, finding that her detention without pre-deprivation due process violated the Constitution, and enjoined respondents from re-detaining her without written notice and a pre-deprivation hearing.

Malik Velimetov, 21, born in Turkmenistan but raised in Key West, was taken into custody by US Border Patrol on December 28, 2025, while traveling with his family on US 1 in Marathon. He was detained for a month at Florida's immigration detention center in the Everglades due to his pending asylum case and was released with an electronic monitor. His family, including his parents and 17-year-old sister, were also taken into custody and separated from him.

Arturo Rafael Brito Goncalvez, a 22-year-old Venezuelan pilot, was detained by ICE during a scheduled immigration appointment in Westerville, Ohio. His family claims he entered the country legally in 2023 with valid visas and employment authorization. He is fighting deportation and fears returning to Venezuela due to political persecution.

Marwan Marouf, a North Texas community leader who served the Muslim community for 30 years, was arrested by ICE on September 22, 2025, the same day his green card application was denied based on allegations from over a decade ago. He was transferred to Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson, and the Muslim Legal Fund of America challenged the denial in immigration and federal court. After 60 days in detention, Marouf appeared before Immigration Judge Abdias Tida and accepted deportation rather than continue fighting his case.

Federal agents arrested a teacher at a Chicago daycare in front of parents and children; the educator had a work permit and can be heard telling authorities she had papers. In a separate incident in Los Angeles, federal immigration agents arrested a U.S. citizen during a Home Depot raid and drove away with his 1-year-old daughter still in the vehicle; the child and her grandmother are both U.S. citizens.

A native and citizen of India entered the United States without inspection on December 25, 2023 and was detained by ICE on December 26, 2025. He was issued a Notice to Appear charging him as a noncitizen present in the US who has not been admitted or paroled, and was transferred to the Torrance County Detention Center in Estancia, New Mexico. The court granted his habeas petition in part and ordered that he receive a bond hearing within seven days.

Rey David Velasco Rodriguez was arrested by ICE agents in a Williston parking lot on December 26 after agents determined he matched a physical description of someone they were investigating. Fingerprint records showed he had been issued an expedited removal notice in September 2024 and was found unlawfully in the U.S. for a third time in over a year. Federal Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle ordered his detention pending a probable cause hearing scheduled for January 12, 2026.

Jose Argueta, a 37-year-old Maryland resident, was detained by ICE for about a month after reporting his stolen vehicle to police. According to his attorney, D.C. police coordinated with federal immigration agents, calling Argueta to the Fifth District police station to pick up his recovered car, where he was then taken into ICE custody. The arrangement is alleged to have violated D.C.'s Sanctuary Values Act, which restricts local police cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Argueta spent Christmas in an immigrant detention center. The incident is under investigation by D.C. police internal affairs and the Office of Police Complaints.

ICE agents detained a pregnant woman at Karmel Mall in South Minneapolis, holding her face-down on the ground while handcuffed. Witnesses reported that she was unable to breathe during the detention and shouted that she was pregnant. Bystanders protested the incident, with dozens of neighbors gathering at the scene and pelting agents with snowballs. Video of the encounter circulated on social media documenting the use of force during the detention.

An unconfirmed ICE sighting was reported on July 3, 2025 in Anaheim, California. According to the alert, ICE agents in a white van were observed circling a Target parking lot and a nearby Quick Quack car wash, with reports indicating they picked up several people. The agents were reported to be moving southbound along Euclid Street toward a 7-Eleven gas station.

Tiago Alexandre Sousa-Martins, a 30-year-old Portuguese immigrant who arrived in the U.S. at age 13 and became a licensed general contractor and homeowner in Baltimore, was shot multiple times by ICE agents during a targeted enforcement operation in Glen Burnie, Maryland, on Christmas Eve while driving to an electrical job. Agents said they fired after Sousa-Martins allegedly tried to run them over; his van then crashed into a tree. Anne Arundel County Police later contradicted DHS's account, saying one person DHS identified as a passenger in the van was actually already in ICE custody in a separate vehicle at the time of the shooting. Sousa-Martins was hospitalized for about two weeks with spine, lung and thigh injuries before being detained at facilities in Maryland and Virginia, where his attorneys said ICE denied him prescribed medication and physical therapy. He had applied for a visa for trafficking survivors, citing abuse by his father, and was protected from deportation under a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling. After pleading guilty to damaging government property and being sentenced to time served, a federal judge granted his habeas petition and ordered his release after nearly nine months in custody, reuniting him with his partner and two young sons. "Today, I can finally say I am free," he said, while advocacy group We Are CASA said it continues seeking accountability from ICE.

Óscar José Araujo-Mejía, a 21-year-old from El Salvador who had lived in the U.S. for four years and worked at McDonald's, was seriously injured after ICE agents pursued his vehicle through Glen Burnie, Maryland. A relative who witnessed the chase said agents in unmarked vehicles rammed his car and beat him while pulling him from the vehicle, while ICE and DHS said agents fired after Araujo-Mejía failed to stop and drove into several ICE vehicles, nearly striking an agent before crashing between two buildings. He suffered a head wound requiring 29 stitches, fractures to his vertebrae and skull, and was later listed in fair condition at a Maryland trauma center. A passenger from Portugal was also injured in the crash. His family said hospital policy prevented them from visiting him or receiving updates on his condition, and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore criticized ICE's enforcement tactics in the state following the incident.

A man with valid asylum status, no criminal history, and a valid work permit was detained by ICE agents in a Walmart parking lot in Yakima, Washington on Christmas Eve while placing groceries in his vehicle. Yeimi Ortiz, a volunteer with the Yakima Immigrant Response Network, witnessed and filmed the arrest. The incident occurred as part of a pattern of federal enforcement actions in the Yakima area during the Christmas holiday period, prompting Ortiz and local activists to hold a boycott protest of Walmart on December 28, alleging the corporation's cooperation with immigration authorities.