Human Impact Project

Wisteguens Jean Quely Charles, a Haitian national who had lived in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status since 2013, was arrested by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in Mattapan, Massachusetts on January 22, 2025. Video of the arrest, in which he shouted profanities and declared 'Biden forever' while resisting deportation, went viral. DHS said his TPS had been terminated by USCIS in 2022 after he accumulated 17 criminal convictions, including assault, weapons, and drug offenses, and alleged gang membership. He spent roughly 19 months in federal custody while his case proceeded before an immigration judge issued a final removal order in November 2025. ICE deported Charles to Haiti on September 10, 2026, via a flight from Louisiana.

A man was detained by ICE, according to a GoFundMe campaign started by his cousin, Ashley Zuniga. He has a young daughter he is trying to get home to. The family says this is the fifth time a family member has been detained by ICE, and funds raised will go toward paying for a lawyer and other needs related to his detention.

Gustavo Barrera Reyes was also arrested by ICE officers in Seaside around the same time as another local resident. According to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, Barrera Reyes entered the United States without authorization in 2014 and now faces removal proceedings.

Martin Anguiano, 63, a longtime Clatsop County resident who has owned and operated Guadalajara Taco Shop in Seaside for 23 years, was arrested by ICE officers on Sept. 10 while picking up supplies at a Safeway. Officers cited a 1993 removal order tied to a decades-old drug possession arrest, after which Anguiano was previously deported and later returned to the country. His wife, Michelle, said she is struggling to understand what happened and described him as a hardworking father, grandfather and husband well known throughout the community. Anguiano is currently held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, where his family says conditions are poor, and a GoFundMe campaign started by his daughter has raised more than $14,000 to help pay bills and legal fees.

The petitioner is currently held at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. He filed an ex parte application seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent the Department of Homeland Security from transferring him to another detention facility. The federal court denied the motion, finding that he failed to meet the procedural and substantive requirements for ex parte relief under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65. The court also held that it lacked jurisdiction to enjoin DHS from transferring him under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii), citing precedent that ICE has authority to determine detention locations and transfer individuals between facilities. The case has been placed on an expedited schedule for further resolution. The document does not specify the petitioner's nationality, family circumstances, employment, or the circumstances of his initial detention.

James Mervil and Josselene Polidor were arrested by ICE agents near John Marshall Elementary School in the Chollas Creek neighborhood of San Diego minutes after dropping off their 2- and 5-year-old children. Witnesses said officers boxed in the family's car, and the mother ran barefoot into a nearby home under construction, where she was handcuffed while pleading with workers for help and explaining her daughter attended the nearby school. Construction workers reported that an officer unholstered his gun and threatened pepper spray when a supervisor tried to intervene, and that the officer entered the home without the owner's permission. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the arrests, stating the parents had overstayed their visas. San Diego Unified School District confirmed both parents were taken into ICE custody, said the children were not present and were doing well, and arranged for a family friend to pick them up, while also condemning ICE arrests near its campuses. Local elected officials, including Rep. Scott Peters and Mayor Todd Gloria, condemned the arrests, saying such actions traumatize children and families.

Juan Gerardo Alatorre Martinez, 46, a Mexican national who has lived in the U.S. for more than 25 years, was detained by ICE agents as he arrived for his shift at a gas station in Conway, Washington. Neighbors and coworkers described him as a beloved figure in town, sometimes calling him the 'unofficial mayor,' noting he paid taxes, kept his immigration paperwork in order, and had spent years helping others in the community. Martinez had been pursuing lawful permanent residency through a petition filed decades ago by his U.S. citizen brother and says he does not want to self-deport. His attorney said the original ICE report indicated agents were searching for someone connected to a car Martinez was driving, though DHS said the arrest was part of targeted enforcement citing civil violations including driving without a license. While held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Martinez has described unsanitary conditions, medical neglect, and witnessing another detainee injure himself, as community members have raised over $20,000 for his legal defense.

Kenis Alberto López, a Nicaraguan man, was detained in Minnesota and held in U.S. immigration detention for about eight months before being deported to the Central African Republic on August 28, along with two other Nicaraguans, Luis Carlos Mendoza Santamaría and Isaac Cruz. López says ICE officers shot him with rubber bullets, injuring him, then bound, hooded, and dragged him before tying him to a stretcher to force him onto the deportation flight from a Texas airport, which carried about 100 deportees from various countries. He says he has no criminal record and had received a deportation stay in 2024, though DHS told Noticias Telemundo he had re-entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was later released under the Biden administration before his removal. López says he cannot return to Nicaragua due to danger there, and he and the other two men are now confined under police custody in a housing complex in Bangui alongside roughly 40 other migrants, facing severe mobility restrictions and limited access to water and electricity. ICE has not responded to the allegations of mistreatment.

Chang Yeon Cho, 71, a Gardena, California resident known as 'Auntie Jo' who ran a clothing alteration business with her husband Jongs Soo Kim, was detained by ICE in June during her permanent residency interview despite having no criminal convictions. Her detention reportedly stemmed from an old, uncharged arrest linked to a dispute with a customer over unpaid alteration fees. Cho, who speaks Korean and Portuguese but not English after years living in Brazil, was physically restrained on her first night in custody following a communication breakdown, then collapsed and was hospitalized for eight days; the Korean consulate attributed this to low blood pressure and vomiting caused by stress and unfamiliar food. She is held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, where her bond request was denied on August 25 and she received a final order of removal. The Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles has visited her multiple times, and a GoFundMe campaign has raised over $20,000 toward a $24,000 goal for her legal expenses.

ICE officers detained a mother and father near John Marshall Elementary School in San Diego's Chollas Creek neighborhood shortly after morning drop-off. Witnesses say officers boxed in the couple's Toyota Prius at an intersection, prompting the pair to flee on foot into a nearby house under construction, where the woman pleaded with workers for help, saying her daughter attends the school. A construction worker said the ICE officer unholstered his gun and drew pepper spray after the crew tried to intervene. San Diego Unified confirmed the parents' 2- and 5-year-old children attend a school program and were picked up by a family friend after both parents were taken into ICE custody.

Diego Mauricio Ospina Sanchez, a 41-year-old Colombian man, was detained by plainclothes ICE agents at an Alaska Airlines departure gate at Portland International Airport while preparing to fly home to New Jersey with his boyfriend, Kewin. Ospina Sanchez had entered the U.S. legally in October 2024, later overstayed his visa and sought asylum, but said he never received notice of his first immigration court hearing, resulting in an August 2026 deportation order. He was held at a detention center in Tacoma, where he reported poor sleep, poor appetite, psychological distress, weight loss, and received medication for an underlying medical condition, before being transferred to a facility in El Paso, Texas. Kewin, left alone at the airport, contacted a local immigrant rights hotline, received help from community members, and said he fears deportation could interrupt his boyfriend's medical treatment. The Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition said it was the first known immigration arrest this year at the airport, amid a reported spike in ICE arrests targeting travelers with expired visas.

Wilfredo Giron, a construction worker and father, was taken into ICE custody after someone posing as a potential client contacted him about a job, luring him into an encounter that resulted in his detention. He has been held for more than two weeks, leaving behind his wife, Rachel, who is pregnant, and their 2-year-old son. The family is raising funds for immigration attorney fees, legal filings, and a potential bond to secure his release while his case continues.

Marta was detained by ICE after attending a routine biometrics appointment at the USCIS center in Gardena, California. She was seated in a room when she was seen on video being taken away by immigration officers. Her nephew Victor started a fundraiser to help cover her bills and provide family stability, noting she may lose the job she worked hard to get while she remains detained.

On the morning of September 9th, two family members—an aunt's husband and her son-in-law—were detained by ICE agents outside their home as they left for work. The men had lived in the U.S. for nearly 13 years and have three children between them, one of whom was born in the U.S. They were taken to the Buffalo detention center, where they were pressured into signing voluntary departure forms, and were later transferred to a facility in Louisiana. One of the men has heart problems requiring five medications nightly, and one reported experiencing abuse in custody; family members say they are unsure if he is receiving needed medical care. ICE confiscated the men's passports, leaving the family without a way to relocate, and the wives have had only brief phone calls with the detained men since their arrest.

The petitioner is a citizen of Nepal who entered the United States without authorization roughly four years before this order. In August 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained him under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) pending his removal proceedings. He filed a habeas corpus petition seeking immediate release or, alternatively, a bond hearing. The court held that binding Fifth Circuit precedent forecloses his statutory argument, as § 1225(b)(2)(A) mandates detention without bond for unadmitted individuals like him throughout removal proceedings. The court also rejected his due process claims, finding both that a precedential stay order forecloses such claims and that, independently, his detention does not violate procedural or substantive due process. The court further noted that any prior release on recognizance under a different statute does not exempt him from mandatory detention here. His Fourth Amendment argument was likewise rejected. The court denied the habeas petition and all pending motions as moot.

Tareq Zakarneh, a 44-year-old Palestinian man who lived in Portland and Vancouver, Washington for more than a decade, has been in ICE detention since May 2024, mostly at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma. He said ICE agents beat him and broke his teeth, restraining him on the floor for four hours without access to water or a bathroom after he refused to board a Sept. 9 deportation flight to the West Bank via Israel. Zakarneh said his hand and shoulder swelled and went numb, and he received only ibuprofen for his injuries. He moved to the U.S. on a student visa in 2013 to attend Portland State University and later married a U.S. citizen, but lost his legal status after a divorce in 2017, with an immigration court finding the marriage was not entered in good faith. Advocates and Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden have raised concerns about his treatment and the danger he could face if deported amid escalating violence in the West Bank.

A man was arrested by ICE agents alongside Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers near 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Miami Beach. According to a witness account, two unmarked vehicles and a Florida Fish & Wildlife truck were used in the operation, and children were reportedly present as a school crossing guard had to stop traffic during the arrest. The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission has a 287(g) agreement with ICE authorizing its officers to conduct immigration arrests.

Marianela Pujol and Nelson José Díaz, a Venezuelan couple originally from Ciudad Ojeda, Zulia, were detained by ICE agents on the night of Sunday, September 6, while stopped at a Wawa charging station on 87th Avenue in Doral, Florida, to recharge their electric vehicle. The couple, who work as insurance agents, entered the U.S. legally in 2021 on a visa and have a still-pending asylum application. Their 21-year-old daughter, Daniela Pujol, said an officer told her mother there was no specific infraction but that she was being taken into custody because of the pending asylum case, leaving Daniela alone in the country. Family members said the couple has no criminal record, and Daniela has sought legal representation, appealed to a local council member and advocacy organizations, and started a GoFundMe campaign to cover legal defense costs.

Ernestina Pavlovsky, a 33-year-old Argentine personal trainer who lived in Aspen, Colorado for 13 years, was detained by plainclothes ICE agents at Miami International Airport on August 1 while returning from visiting family. She was held for several days in Miramar/Pompano Beach, Florida, where her partner said constant lighting felt like 'a torture chamber,' before being shackled at the wrists, waist and ankles and driven overnight to the CoreCivic-run Laredo Processing Center in Texas. She has no criminal record, had entered the U.S. on a tourist visa, and had a stalled application to regularize her status after a divorce from a U.S. citizen. She and her family described conditions at the Laredo facility including rats, cockroaches, ants, mold, contaminated water, restricted bottled-water access, and sleep deprivation from overnight guard patrols. A judge initially denied her bond over flight-risk concerns, but at a September 1 hearing granted her request for voluntary departure. She remains in ICE custody in Texas awaiting a flight back to Argentina, and supporters have raised roughly $50,000 through a GoFundMe campaign for her legal costs.

César David Miranda Pinedo, a Venezuelan father with a pending asylum case, was detained by ICE agents in South Florida on August 25 while returning from the pharmacy with medication for his 6-year-old daughter, who had been treated at a hospital the night before for a severe ear infection. His wife, Paola Álvarez, said he texted her 'ICE detained me' and left the medication and their car at Central Park before being taken into custody. Miranda Pinedo entered the U.S. legally in 2018 and had waited about eight years for a decision on his asylum application. He was transferred to the Krome Detention Center, and his attorney filed a habeas corpus petition arguing he should not be held without a formal charging document. His wife, whose own immigration status is also pending, said she has prepared a legal power of attorney for their two daughters in case she too is detained. Immigrant rights organizations in South Florida are calling for prosecutorial discretion so he can continue his immigration case while free to care for his daughter.

Pierre Damas Bel, a 20-year-old Haitian immigrant and honor student who had just begun studying at Wright State University after being recruited to play soccer, died after being struck by a tractor-trailer on Interstate 70 near Springfield, Ohio, in what his family describes as suicide. Bel hoped to study neuroscience and had a pending asylum claim with a hearing scheduled for October. His father said his son felt 'treated like an animal' after ICE fitted him with a GPS ankle monitor, and in a July Instagram post Bel wrote that wearing the device brought him 'shame and humiliation' he never imagined experiencing. His death followed intensified ICE enforcement against Haitians in Springfield after many lost Temporary Protected Status, including the detention of two Haitian pastors, Adrien and Dumano, who had lived in the U.S. for over a decade and supported the community. The migrant-rights group Amica filed a lawsuit in June over the administration's expanded use of GPS monitors, which were being worn by about 50,000 people at the time. Haitian families in Springfield reportedly remain afraid to leave their homes as deportation flights to Haiti continue.

Jihoon Yang, a golf instructor from Lewisville, Texas, was detained by ICE agents while attending a marriage-based green card interview at a USCIS office in Irving. His wife, Jennifer Oh, said two agents entered mid-interview without presenting a warrant and verbally told him he was being arrested for failing to comply with a deportation order. ICE said Yang had received an in absentia removal order after missing a court hearing, but his family disputes ever being notified of that hearing. Yang is currently held at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, and his family has retained a new attorney while the South Korean consulate looks into the case.

The petitioner is being held in immigration detention at the Midwest Regional Reception Center in Kansas under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), which allows for discretionary release on bond. In an earlier habeas case, the court ruled on June 3, 2026 that his detention was governed by this discretionary bond statute and ordered the government to provide him a bond hearing before an immigration judge. That immigration judge subsequently denied his request for release on bond. He has now filed a new habeas petition arguing that changed circumstances entitle him to a second bond hearing under federal regulations, and he states he is simultaneously requesting such a hearing from the immigration court. He is separately appealing his removal order to the Board of Immigration Appeals but is not challenging that order or the immigration judge's initial bond denial in this petition. The court found he had not yet shown any violation of federal law, since the government has not denied his pending request for a second hearing. The judge ordered him to show cause by September 25, 2026 why the petition should not be denied, noting the case could become moot if the second hearing is granted or could proceed if the request is denied or ignored.

The petitioner was detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC) when ICE officers informed him on September 8, 2026, that he was going to be removed from the United States. He filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus along with an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order seeking to block his removal until the court could rule on his habeas petition. The court entered its standard scheduling order requiring the government to provide at least 48 hours' notice (72 hours if over a weekend or holiday) before transferring or removing him. The court denied the TRO motion as moot, finding that the scheduling order's notice requirement adequately protected him from imminent removal, and noted that ICE represented it was aware of and would comply with the notice requirement. The court also struck the petitioner's unauthorized reply brief filed in violation of local rules.

Renatho Kemsley Casseus, a Haitian national believed to be a San Diego City College student, was arrested by ICE agents near campus after unmarked vehicles stopped his car at 16th Street and C Street. A second student riding in the vehicle fled on foot onto campus grounds, and agents ended their pursuit after realizing they had entered college property. DHS said Casseus entered the U.S. through El Paso, Texas in May 2023 and was released into the country under the Biden administration, and that his case will be heard by an immigration judge. San Diego City College said it was providing counseling and legal services to students and employees following the arrest.

Natalie Holmes, 51, a Jamaican national and ordained pastor, says she was deported to Equatorial Guinea in June while her habeas corpus petition challenging her removal was still pending. Holmes says she and other deportees were dragged from their rooms at gunpoint, handcuffed, assaulted and threatened by armed guards at the decommissioned Hotel Bamy in Malabo, where she remains detained and fears for her life. Witnesses and video footage from the broader deportation program show police in Equatorial Guinea pointing firearms at migrants deported there from the United States. Deportees held at the Malabo hotel, including Holmes, have complained of inadequate medical care, denial of legal assistance, and severe psychological distress.

Federal agents returned to the area of the Geisinger Medical Center construction project on September 8, beginning arrests around 6 a.m., according to immigrant-rights advocates. The Centre County Rapid Response Network said eight people were detained in this second operation, following the earlier September 2 arrests connected to the same construction project. Some detainees were held at Clinton County Jail, and advocates linked the arrests to a broader workplace enforcement surge.

ICE agents in unmarked vehicles boxed in a car near San Diego City College on September 8, 2026, and arrested the driver, identified as Renatho Kemsley Casseus. A passenger fled onto campus grounds, and agents pursued him before retreating after realizing they had entered college property. The San Diego Community College District said both individuals were City College students, though a DHS spokesperson disputed that Casseus was a student, saying he entered the U.S. without authorization through El Paso, Texas, in May 2023. District Chancellor Greg Smith denounced the incident, and officials said City College, SDCCD, and campus police do not cooperate with ICE enforcement. The college offered counseling and legal support to affected students, who organized a rally in response, and elected leaders condemned the arrest.

Immigrant construction workers from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and other countries were detained by ICE on September 2 as they left a job site for an $880 million, 11-story expansion at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pennsylvania. The workers were employed by contractors Whiting-Turner and EwingCole; witnesses described drones monitoring the site, unmarked SUVs circling for weeks beforehand, and workers being pulled over at highway checkpoints and blocks from the hospital campus. Local police in Mahoning Township and Danville Borough, both part of ICE's 287(g) program, assisted in the operation. Advocates from the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition and Centre County Rapid Response Network said at least 41 workers were detained initially, with about eight to nine more arrested when ICE returned on September 8, bringing the total to nearly 50, some held at Clinton County Jail. ICE and local police disputed the scale, saying only about 10 people were arrested. Geisinger said the enforcement activity did not occur on its property, and one worker described the operation as a 'manhunt,' saying coworkers are now terrified to return to work.

Peta-Gaye Chambers, 35, who came to the United States from Jamaica as a child, had been granted 'withholding of removal' by a U.S. immigration judge in 2013 after he found she would face persecution in Jamaica. Despite that protection, ICE deported her to Equatorial Guinea in June without notice. Chambers says she and other deportees were dragged from their rooms at gunpoint, handcuffed, assaulted and threatened by armed guards at the decommissioned Hotel Bamy in Malabo, where she remains held.

Jose Mejia Hernandez, a 45-year-old Mexican immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for 18 years, was walking to work along Columbia Pike in Arlington, Virginia on August 11 when plainclothes ICE agents in an unmarked vehicle approached him without identifying themselves. He fled, was struck by a vehicle, and was shocked with a stun gun before losing consciousness, waking hours later at George Washington University Hospital with two black eyes, facial lacerations, brain swelling, and a subarachnoid brain bleed. He was hospitalized for several days with ICE officers stationed in his room, returned for an MRI on August 14 due to worsening symptoms, and was later fitted with an ankle monitor he says delayed further medical testing. His attorneys, Denisse Gastélum, Carlos Jurado and Margaret Hellerstein, say he now struggles to eat, sleep, speak normally, or work, and have filed a police report seeking criminal charges against the officers and driver, notified federal agencies of intent to sue under the Federal Tort Claims Act, and are pursuing a U visa on his behalf. DHS disputes his account, saying officers used necessary force after he attempted to flee, and cites a prior voluntary return to Mexico and a 2020 public intoxication conviction. He has been placed in deportation proceedings with a hearing scheduled for September 14. Virginia officials including Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Reps. Don Beyer, Suhas Subramanyam and James Walkinshaw have criticized the circumstances of his arrest, and Arlington County Police have opened an investigation. Separately, the Arlington County Board approved $50,000 in emergency grants, distributed through Arlington Thrive, to support families whose primary wage earner was detained during a broader ICE enforcement surge that led to roughly 1,300 arrests across the D.C. area in August.

A Maryland Heights, Missouri man who was commended for his service as a translator for the U.S. Army during the war in Afghanistan was arrested by ICE officers. He is being held in a Ste. Genevieve County prison.

Ramon Avilez-Frias and Maria Del Pilar Moreno-Loredo, longtime employees of Cisco's, Austin's oldest Tex-Mex restaurant, were detained by ICE on September 7 at 6 a.m. as they arrived for work. Both are described as hardworking, tax-paying people with no criminal records who are parents and spouses. A GoFundMe campaign was started to help their families cover legal costs and daily expenses while they remain in ICE custody.

A man referred to as 'John' was detained by ICE after his car was stopped on his way home from work in California, and was forced to agree to self-deport to Mexico within a week of his arrest rather than remain in an ICE detention facility. He was held without legal representation or access to his medication, and his family did not know his whereabouts for three days. John came to California from Mexico 30 years ago, worked in construction, and supported his wife and three children, none of whom had legal status despite having no criminal record. A GoFundMe campaign was launched by a family friend to support John's health and new start in Mexico and to help his family, who remain in the U.S. struggling emotionally and financially.

At the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, operated by GEO Group, detainees have filed more than 3,500 complaints describing contaminated food with worms and metal, foul water, black mold, denied medical care, and reports of staff abuse and sexual assault. Mergensana Amar, a 40-year-old asylum seeker, died by suicide in November 2018 after nearly 11 months in custody, and Charles Leo Daniel was found dead in March 2024 after more than three years combined in solitary confinement; University of Washington researchers documented at least six suicide attempts between January and March 2024. A former GEO kitchen supervisor testified the company budgeted only 97 cents per detainee per meal. GEO Group repeatedly denied Washington state health inspectors access to the facility, prompting Governor Bob Ferguson and Attorney General Nick Brown to file suit seeking a court order compelling entry; a federal judge ordered access in July 2026. A federal jury separately found GEO violated Washington's minimum-wage law, ordering $17.3 million in payments to more than 10,000 formerly detained workers. An ICE spokesperson disputed the complaints, saying the state failed to follow proper procedures and that the facility maintains high standards of care. Immigrant rights group La Resistencia has organized hunger strikes, vigils, and protests for over a decade demanding the facility's closure.

Ibrahim Topkaya, a 33-year-old medical doctor from Turkey working as a bioengineering researcher studying diabetes at Upstate Medical University, was detained by U.S. immigration officials after a GPS error rerouted him toward the Canadian border while he was returning from a trip to Niagara Falls with his visiting mother. Canadian border patrol turned him around with documentation confirming he never entered Canada, but U.S. officials detained him upon his return, and he is now held at the Batavia federal detention facility. His friend Omar Alsafadi said Topkaya has an approved asylum case, active work authorization, and a Social Security number, and described him as a well-respected researcher who has authored numerous medical papers. The Department of Homeland Security said Topkaya overstayed his authorized status after legally entering the country in June 2023. Topkaya has requested research materials to continue his work while detained, and his mother, visiting from Turkey for the first time in three years, has extended her stay while awaiting updates on his case.

ICE agents conducted an operation in the parking lot of a Home Depot on 43rd Avenue in west Phoenix, detaining about 10 people early Saturday morning, including day laborers waiting for work and some customers exiting the store. Witnesses said agents disguised themselves as day laborers and unhoused people before making arrests, and cell phone video showed men handcuffed and seated beside the road as agents surrounded them. Erika Andiola of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and Clarissa Vela of People First Project said many of those detained did not match the administration's stated focus on people with criminal records, with some detainees having only come to shop. Activists noted ICE Mobile Criminal Apprehension Teams have routinely conducted undercover license-plate-scanning operations at the same location. ICE has not publicly released details about the operation, and protesters and day laborers returned to the store two days later.

A young Venezuelan man, a recent graduate of Orange County Public Schools, was detained by immigration authorities while traveling to start college. His father was also detained around the same time in St. Augustine, Florida. According to the report, the young man never made it to the university.

Ten deportees said officers used force against them after they refused to leave a flight to Liberia, a country several said they had no connection to, according to a New York Times account. Border czar Tom Homan said he doubted the specific allegations but that they would be investigated, while DHS separately called the newspaper's account a hoax. The incident adds to scrutiny over how the government verifies deportees' citizenship or ties before third-country removal flights depart, as the administration expands deals with African nations to accept people who are not their citizens.

Fernando Armando Valdes Perez, a 61-year-old man holding Cuban and Guatemalan citizenship who lived in Kendall, Florida, was arrested at Miami International Airport on July 10 during a joint operation involving ICE, the FBI, and CBP. ICE alleged Valdes had been a Cuban intelligence asset since the mid-1990s, infiltrating Cuban exile and dissident communities, and that he fraudulently obtained lawful permanent resident status by concealing his affiliation with the Cuban government. He was placed in removal proceedings and has since been deported from the United States.

Humberto Castro, a 59-year-old Venezuelan who has lived in Doral, Florida for eight years, was detained by ICE agents while driving to work. His daughter, Arianna Castro, said he holds a work permit valid until 2030 and has a pending asylum application, with no criminal record. He is being held at ICE offices in Miramar while his daughter tries to secure his release on bond. His case comes amid a wave of arrests of Venezuelans in South Florida that prompted two exile organizations to send Congress a report demanding oversight hearings and data on detainees with pending immigration cases.

A Maryland man named Aquino, described by his family as the sole provider for his wife and five children, was taken into ICE custody after being pulled over by police for a broken vehicle light. His family says it remains unclear why he was detained or why he continues to be held. Family friend Kristi Voigt said Aquino has lived in the U.S. for 23 years and called him 'a good man.' A GoFundMe launched to cover legal expenses and household costs raised more than $10,000 from 161 donors within three days.

Five Mexican men were detained by immigration agents overnight during a Labor Day weekend family camping trip at Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, after U.S. Forest Service rangers approached their campsite over a trash complaint and collected identification from the adults. Families say agents shook their tents around midnight, identified themselves as immigration officers, and took the men one by one while most children were asleep. The men remain in ICE custody at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma pending removal proceedings, and their families say the separation has been especially hard on the children, who now ask by phone when their fathers are coming home.

Five men from an extended family were taken into ICE custody during a Labor Day weekend camping trip in Granite Falls, Washington, after individuals who initially presented themselves as park rangers photographed the group's identification under the pretext of a "garbage warning." Around midnight, ICE agents returned, woke the sleeping families by shaking their tents and shouting, and detained the five men, who were the primary financial providers for their households. One of the men who had posed as a park ranger returned armed with a rifle as ICE "backup." The families, which include children ranging from 1 to 14 years old and a pregnant mother, say they were left without income and are now navigating rent, utilities, and legal expenses while raising money to support the five affected households.

Five men from Mexico were detained around midnight on September 5, 2026, during a family Labor Day weekend camping trip at Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest near Granite Falls, Washington. U.S. Forest Service rangers had visited the campsite earlier over a reported trash complaint, photographing adults' identification, before returning at midnight with ICE agents, who first identified themselves as police before revealing they were immigration officers. Children ages 1 to 14 were present when the men were taken away, and family members said they could not reach a lawyer or the detained men until after the holiday weekend. DHS said the men were transferred to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma pending removal proceedings, citing prior voluntary returns to Mexico, a 2021 driving-related arrest, and unlawful entry among the cases. Washington Governor Bob Ferguson called the detentions cruel and ordered his legal team to investigate the tactics, while U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal demanded answers about whether federal land management staff improperly facilitated civil immigration enforcement.

ICE agents detained Arturo Vasquez, a 48-year-old father with no criminal record, while he was a paying customer getting his family car washed in Culver City, California in June 2025; his teenage son was recorded on video pleading with agents as his father was driven away. In a separate incident in spring 2025, Cuban national Eduardo Nuñez Gonzalez was detained by ICE outside his North Miami home while carrying a bag of household trash to the curb; his family said he had no history of criminal charges. Rather than remain in a New Mexico detention facility for months contesting his case, Nuñez Gonzalez ultimately chose deportation to Spain. Both cases were cited amid a surge in ICE arrests, with Los Angeles-area arrests reaching a rolling average of roughly 100 a day, including a single-day record of 228 arrests on July 11. Data showed Latino immigrants were being arrested at 115 times the rate of other groups.

Jose Antonio Caballero-Nolasco, a 32-year-old Salvadoran national living in the U.S. without legal status, was charged with manslaughter and vehicular homicide after allegedly driving drunk the wrong way on the I-270 Spur in Bethesda/Montgomery County, Maryland, causing a head-on collision. The crash killed 46-year-old Musammat Shamima Begum and her 23-year-old daughter Areebah Jahin, and left an 8-year-old girl in their vehicle with life-threatening injuries. Caballero-Nolasco was treated at a hospital before being transferred to the Montgomery County Detention Center, where he is being held without bond. ICE lodged an immigration detainer asking local officials not to release him, though Montgomery County's sanctuary policies and Maryland's Community Trust Act make it unclear whether the detainer will be honored. His attorney said he is a construction worker who has lived in the U.S. for 10 years and is expecting a child with his girlfriend.

Simranpal Singh, an Indian national who entered the United States through Arizona in June 2022 and was later released by immigration authorities, was arrested by an ICE officer during a commercial vehicle inspection at a weigh station in Newberry, Pennsylvania. At the time of his arrest, Singh had an outstanding warrant for wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy out of the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and he held a commercial driver's license issued by New York State. He is being held in ICE custody pending transfer to the U.S. Marshals Service before facing removal proceedings.

Molis Augustave, a Haitian immigrant pastor in York, Pennsylvania, who also works as a DoorDash driver, was pulled over by West Manchester Township police on September 4, 2026 for a burned-out headlight and expired registration, then turned over to ICE under a local 287(g) partnership. He entered the U.S. legally in 2016 and lost his Temporary Protected Status after the Trump administration ended TPS for Haitians in July 2026. Augustave is married to U.S. citizen Omara Nunez, with whom he has two children ages 9 and 2, and has a pending green card application after his I-130 petition was approved. He was transferred to the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center and moved toward Miami for a scheduled deportation flight to Haiti. His wife said their younger child waits by the door asking for his father. Advocates from We Are CASA and the Haitian Bridge Alliance, including attorney Ama Frimpong and founder Guerline Jozef, describe him as a devoted husband, father, and community pastor with no criminal record who has continued ministering to fellow detainees. His wife and We Are CASA filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court in Louisiana and pursued an appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals, while local pastors and state Sen. Patty Kim held a news conference calling for his release.

Kira Inthisane, who is currently deployed overseas, started a fundraiser after learning her mother had been taken into ICE custody. Kira said she has spent her own resources on legal fees to try to keep her mother from being deported and is seeking donations to continue funding the legal fight.