Human Impact Project

A family was detained by ICE less than two days after a federal court ordered their release, violating the court's directive. The family had been in immigration proceedings when the court issued an order for their freedom, but ICE apprehended them again shortly after, defying the judicial decision.

ICE agents conducting enforcement operations across New York City's five boroughs on July 30-31, 2026 were documented on video pepper-spraying Linda Wolff, a 72-year-old immigrant rights supporter, in Inwood, Manhattan while she filmed them on her cellphone. Wolff, who says her civil rights were violated, has filed a federal tort claim against ICE and plans to pursue a lawsuit under a new New York law allowing people to sue individual ICE officers in state court. She appeared alongside Gov. Kathy Hochul at a press conference this week highlighting the law, which also bars local police from participating in immigration enforcement. An ICE spokesperson said officers used "the minimum amount of force necessary."

An 18-year-old was detained by masked individuals alleged to be federal agents during an operation on the 400 block of West Glenoaks Boulevard in Glendale, California, and forced into an unmarked vehicle. Video of the incident shows the teenager struggling with the agents, calling out in Spanish for help and his mother, and repeatedly stating he did nothing wrong. Bystanders attempted to intervene but were warned they could be arrested for interfering. He is currently being held at the Desert View ICE facility in Adelanto, California, pending removal proceedings, and federal officials say he had previously been encountered by Border Patrol near El Paso, Texas, in January 2024.

Don Graham, 54, a Canadian resident of the United States for over 22 years, was forcibly removed from his work van by federal agents on a Tacoma freeway. According to his daughter Madyson Graham, six black SUVs forced his vehicle off the road, and agents aggressively removed him, shackled him, and transported him to the Tacoma ICE Detention Center. Graham's family—his wife, who is a stay-at-home mother homeschooling their eight-year-old daughter, and his three adult children who are U.S. citizens—are now facing financial hardship as he was their primary income provider. The family is seeking legal representation and hopes to either have him released or, if deported, be able to reunite in Canada.

ICE conducted a targeted operation at a construction site off Franklin Road in Nampa on July 30, 2026, arresting and detaining six undocumented immigrants. DHS stated the individuals will remain in ICE custody pending removal or removal proceedings and will receive full due process.

Mabel, an Oakland resident from Ecuador, was detained by ICE agents at Phoenix airport while waiting for a connecting flight. She had a pending asylum claim and held a valid work permit issued by U.S. immigration authorities. According to her husband Abraham Sanchez, an ICE officer approached the couple with a photo of Mabel on his phone, asked her to confirm her name, and took her away. She spent her first night detained near the airport before being transported to Eloy Detention Center. Her case is part of a broader ICE airport crackdown targeting individuals with expired visas and pending immigration applications.

ICE agents arrested two men in Freeport on East Seaman Avenue early Thursday morning following what witnesses described as a vehicle pursuit. Video and photos show agents forcing a man to the ground and removing two men from a white van. Witnesses reported seeing agents searching the men, placing their belongings in white bags, and handcuffing them. Community advocates report the arrests are part of increased immigration enforcement activity across Long Island, with ICE agents also spotted in Hauppauge and Roosevelt.

A Guatemalan man was arrested by ICE during what his family describes as a violent encounter that left him with a broken nose, missing and chipped teeth, and cuts and bruises on his head and hands. He was Tasered during the arrest and subsequently hospitalized. After being taken into ICE detention, his family reports he has not received proper medical care and struggles to breathe.

Two ICE agents pepper sprayed two community members without provocation near Seaman and Isham Avenue in Upper Manhattan, according to a video posted on social media and stopice.net. The agents approached one community member and sprayed her and another person in the face before walking away, and were not under threat at the time. One of the women, Linda Wolff, a 72-year-old immigrant rights supporter, said she was recording ICE agents making arrests in Inwood when an agent sprayed her with pepper spray. Wolff has since filed a federal tort claim against ICE, represented by civil rights attorney John Burris, while ICE said its officers used the minimum amount of force necessary.

Mariana, a Mexican national, entered an immigration office in Fresno believing she had an appointment to advance her legalization process, but ICE agents arrested her there. She was transferred to California City Detention Center, where she spent a month before being released. She reported extremely cold cell temperatures, inadequate medical care for gastrointestinal problems, poor food quality, and detainees having to help each other with emergencies because medical staff was unavailable. A pregnant detainee she witnessed was only given water for a nosebleed and panic attack. Mariana says the experience left her with physical and psychological scars and describes the facility as feeling like a jail.

Sarafinah Bukirwa, 31, a Louisville woman from Uganda and founder of the nonprofit Sarafinah Sickle Cell Society, was detained by ICE on July 22, 2026, at Muhammad Ali International Airport while traveling to a sickle cell anemia conference in California. Bukirwa entered the U.S. legally, has a pending asylum claim, and holds valid work authorization. She was hospitalized for a sickle cell crisis the day before her detention and was transferred to Grayson County Detention Center in Leitchfield, Kentucky. Her brother, Isaac Kabunga, said she has not consistently received her prescribed medication, alleging doses were diluted in water and withheld for nearly a week despite her having the medication with her. U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey confirmed she is following proper legal procedures, said she has never been charged with a crime, called for her release, and said her attorney is filing a habeas corpus motion. The Grayson County Jailer maintains she is receiving all prescribed medications.

Darisbell Paola Quintero Morillo, a Venezuelan asylum seeker with a pending case, was detained by ICE on April 23, 2026, while attending a scheduled check-in at the Dallas ICE Field Office, despite complying with immigration requirements. She had entered the U.S. in April 2021 with her husband Gilbert Vicent, fleeing political persecution in Venezuela. She was transferred to Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, where a medical evaluation revealed she was pregnant. While detained, she reported inadequate nutrition, poor food quality, and insufficient medical care, and repeatedly requested attention for pregnancy complications. Her attorney filed a federal court petition and emergency motion for her release on parole, citing her compliance history and lack of criminal record, but the judge denied the motion. She later miscarried while in custody, and after a doctor informed her of the miscarriage at the hospital, ICE officers cuffed her ankles to the hospital bed.

Carlos Iván Mendoza Hernández, a Salvadoran father of a 2-year-old daughter, was shot seven times by ICE agents on April 8, 2026, during a traffic stop on Interstate 5 near Patterson in Stanislaus County, California. Dashcam video and witnesses indicate he reversed away from officers with drawn weapons before driving forward, while ICE claimed he tried to run over agents; acting ICE director Todd Lyons said he was undocumented and an alleged gang member wanted for questioning in a murder in El Salvador. His fiancée Cindy and attorney Patrick Kolasinski disputed the gang claim, saying he had no U.S. criminal history since arriving around 2019-2020 and had reportedly been acquitted of the murder charge, with no active warrant. While hospitalized, FBI agents reportedly accessed his protected medical records without clear authorization, and he was later arrested and held in solitary confinement at California City Detention Center with his gunshot wounds untreated. On June 27, 2026, he was taken from the facility for a medical appointment regarding bullet fragments, and his family received no updates on his whereabouts or safety for hours. Kolasinski criticized ICE's handling of the confrontation, saying a calmer approach should have been used.

Jacob Zapeta-Castro, a Guatemalan national and owner of El Quetzal Bakery in Lake Worth Beach, was detained by ICE agents on July 9, 2026. According to his family and advocates, Zapeta-Castro locked himself and his coworkers inside the business to protect undocumented employees from detention. ICE characterized his actions as fleeing agents. At the time of arrest, Zapeta-Castro held a valid work permit, Social Security number, and driver's license, and had filed for asylum in June 2024 and a withholding of removal petition. Multi-agency law enforcement—including ICE, Florida Highway Patrol, and Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office—surrounded the business with approximately 50 officers while roughly 50 community members protested outside. The standoff lasted hours in extreme heat. He was charged with re-entering the country after deportation and held in ICE detention in Stuart, with his arraignment scheduled for July 29 in federal court in West Palm Beach. His arrest occurred during a four-day ICE operation in Palm Beach County that resulted in 309 total arrests.

Darren Eichler, a U.S. citizen working at Concordia Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois, was pepper-balled and detained by immigration agents on October 7, 2025, after he and coworker Daniel Greer moved to help a man wading in the nearby Des Plaines River, not realizing the man was fleeing agents, and may have thought he was suicidal. When the men refused agents access to a locked gate and began filming, agents cut the padlock with bolt cutters, sprayed them with chemical agents, and tackled or arrested them. Eichler said his face felt like it was on fire and he developed chest pains and breathing difficulty, pleading for about an hour before agents took him to Rush Oak Park Hospital, where he remained handcuffed until a nurse intervened; agents held his phone and wallet until the next day. Neither Eichler nor Greer was charged, but both say they required follow-up medical care and counseling. In 2026, Eichler filed a Federal Tort Claims Act claim, reportedly seeking $1 million, as part of a coordinated ACLU-led effort involving 54 to 56 people across 17 states. "My story is not just about what happened to me," Eichler said. "It's about the kind of country we choose to be. No one should lose their dignity the moment they come face to face with those who hold power."

Dr. Norma Bowe, a grandmother, registered nurse, and public health professor at Kean University, was assaulted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents outside Delaney Hall while running a mobile health clinic for people visiting detained loved ones. The ACLU of New Jersey filed a Federal Tort Claims Act claim against the federal government on her behalf, part of a coordinated nationwide effort covering 54 claims across 17 states and Washington, D.C. "I was violently attacked by ICE agents while I was trying to provide medical care for people visiting their loved ones in Delaney Hall," Bowe said, adding that ICE agents are acting with impunity.

In a smuggled video from the 1,000-bed South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, run by GEO Group, detained women describe abuse, medical neglect and family separation. Larina says ICE separated her from her five-month-old daughter after she called police during a domestic violence incident and was arrested instead of her husband; she says she has been ordered deported but has remained detained for three months. Other mothers at the facility say they do not know where their children were taken after being separated, and one Cuban woman remained detained even after winning her case because the Department of Homeland Security appealed. Kelly, a Venezuelan woman with one failing kidney, says the facility denies her testing, medication and specialist care, leaving her with painful urination and fluid retention, unsuitable frozen food and no clean water; other women describe a miscarriage, pregnancy without adequate care, an amputation, and say one detainee was placed in solitary confinement after recording video while others faced hitting and threats for speaking out.

The petitioner was detained by immigration authorities and, according to the government's return, was arrested on July 29, 2026 pursuant to a Warrant of Removal (Form I-205). He filed a pro se habeas corpus petition arguing that his detention is governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), that he was not shown a warrant bearing his name at the time of arrest, and that his continued detention without an individualized bond hearing violates due process. He sought immediate release or, alternatively, a bond hearing. The government acknowledged he is subject to detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a). The court declined to order immediate release but found a bond hearing to be the appropriate remedy. The court granted the petition and ordered respondents to arrange a bond hearing before an immigration court within seven days, and denied his motion for a temporary restraining order as moot.

Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego, 51, a Mexican citizen who has lived in the U.S. since 1998, was riding as a passenger in a van driven by his boss, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, when an ICE officer fatally shot Salgado Araujo during a traffic stop in Houston's Magnolia Park neighborhood on July 7, 2026. Rojas Pliego has no criminal record and is in a common-law marriage with a U.S. citizen, with whom he has several children and stepchildren. He was detained without an individualized bond hearing at the Montgomery ICE Processing Center in Conroe, and in a sworn statement disputed ICE's account of the shooting, calling it "a lie." U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison ruled that his continued detention violated his due process rights and ordered his release, which occurred on July 29, 2026. Rojas Pliego has a pending U visa application as a crime victim and now wears an ankle monitor while his removal case proceeds.

Alberto Enriquez, a Mexican immigrant with longtime ties to Catholic parishes in Denver and Gillette, Wyoming, was arrested by ICE in Tampa, Florida, after traveling there for what he believed was an appointment to secure Military Parole in Place based on his daughter Bettsaida's service in the U.S. Navy. His wife, Karina Gonzalez, and daughter Karibett say he was led to believe the appointment would grant him legal status, but he was instead taken into custody and is now held at Baker County Detention Center in Sanderson, Florida. Married for 29 years with seven children, four still living at home, Enriquez had previously volunteered extensively at St. Cajetan's Catholic Church in Denver and later helped launch a Hispanic ministry at St. Matthew's Catholic Community in Wyoming. His family says his decades-old domestic violence conviction, which he pleaded guilty to under difficult circumstances, is now being used to justify his removal, and they are struggling to find an attorney licensed in the jurisdiction where he is being held before what they fear is a fast track to deportation.