Human Impact Project

Six people were detained by federal agents outside two homeless shelters in the Chicago area in separate incidents.

In Naperville, Illinois, five roofers working on a home were detained by armed, masked agents. 'My neighbors witnessed two agents chasing one guy down the street in a residential area, guns drawn,' the homeowner, Bobby Fischer, said. 'A roofer running for his life.'

In Hyattsville, Maryland, federal agents pinned a man in a busy intersection, pressing against his neck, when one agent dropped his gun. After scrambling to retrieve it, the agent turned the weapon toward the crowd of bystanders. A second agent later drew his weapon and moved toward bystanders.

Martin G., a 66-year-old Cuban man and testicular cancer survivor who has had a partial lung removal, was detained at Camp East Montana from September 2025. Despite daily written and verbal requests, he was never taken to see medical staff during his months of detention. His conditions worsened — he experienced severe headaches, trouble breathing, low oxygen levels, and lightheadedness. 'I'm scared that I will die here,' he said. When he engaged in a hunger strike to bring attention to his medical needs, guards tried to force him to eat on at least three occasions and then placed him in solitary confinement for seven days as punishment. His wife said: 'I pray for my husband's health every day. I pray that he will live and that I will be able to hug him again.'

Ramiro G., a 45-year-old Cuban man detained at Camp East Montana, was twice subjected to attempted forced expulsion to Mexico. On September 22, 2025, he was woken at midnight, chained, and bused with about 15 mostly Cuban men to the border. Guards told them to cross into Mexico. Ramiro refused, saying he was Cuban, had no ties to Mexico, and had previously been kidnapped by a cartel there. Some men crossed; Ramiro and three others refused and were returned. On December 15, guards tried again, this time telling him he was being transferred to another facility. When he overheard guards mention the Santa Teresa port of entry, a guard admitted the transfer was being carried out 'in secret.' He began shaking uncontrollably. Other detainees banged on doors in protest until he was returned to his cell. Guards had told him: 'Your country won't take you; leave now or we'll lock you up for life.'

Sebastian R., a 26-year-old man from Oaxaca, Mexico, who had lived and studied in New York for six years, was detained by ICE in September 2025 and flown to Camp East Montana. 'I cried the entire time because I always dreamed that I would travel on a plane,' he said. 'I was handcuffed, hands and feet, with chains around my waist. The cuffs were so tight they left marks on my body. I couldn't move and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I felt like I was being kidnapped. My brother had no idea where I was. I could not call him until a week after I got to El Paso.'

Ernesto Diaz, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen, was walking down Archer Avenue on Chicago's Southwest Side in late September when masked federal agents grabbed him, slammed him against a vehicle, and handcuffed him. Agents ripped out his earbuds and threatened to tase him when he moved. After about five minutes of questioning and inspecting his ID and Social Security card, agents threw his wallet on the ground and drove away. Diaz believes he was targeted based on his race and ethnicity during Operation Midway Blitz.

The Trump administration attempted to repatriate 76 Guatemalan children from U.S. government custody in overnight operations. Children were woken from their beds and reported crying and vomiting. A federal judge temporarily blocked the removals after attorneys argued the government violated U.S. law protecting unaccompanied minors from deportation without due process. The children were returned to shelters after being placed on planes. Declarations indicated many had not requested to return and stated they feared danger if sent back to Guatemala.

Two carwasheros were detained from car washes in Orange County. Their families and legal advocates fought to secure bonds, with Cuberto's bond set at $2,500 and Rodolfo's at $2,000. The post appeals for help reaching fundraising goals to release these individuals.

Leidy Tatiana Mafla-Martinez, a Colombian immigrant and TikTok influencer living in Los Angeles, was arrested by ICE agents while livestreaming from her car. Federal agents detained her and the incident was recorded by bystanders. The Department of Homeland Security stated that Mafla-Martinez had entered the country in 2022 and was convicted of driving under the influence in Los Angeles. A government vehicle was also reportedly towed during the incident.

Lorena Pineda, a 27-year-old Salvadoran mother of two, was arrested by ICE agents on June 19, 2025, while five months pregnant at a food stand in California. Despite ICE policy prohibiting detention of pregnant women for administrative violations, an agent told her he would not release her. She was transferred through multiple detention facilities—Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Atlanta, Alexandria, and finally South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana—where she was held for over 3.5 months separated from her young children by 1,500 miles. At the facility, she was housed with at least 20 other pregnant women and witnessed multiple miscarriages, including a woman carrying twins. She received inadequate prenatal care, poor nutrition, and was unable to contact her family for the first month. After three months, she signed papers for voluntary self-deportation to El Salvador with a departure date extended to March due to her full-term pregnancy.

Maribel Lopez, a Guatemalan mother of three who fled years of abuse in her home country, was detained in early September 2025 when federal agents raided the nutrition-bar factory where she worked in Central New York. Although her pending asylum appeal should have protected her from removal, she was deported to Guatemala within four days of the raid. Her 2-year-old son, Jorge, remained in the U.S. in the care of his two older siblings, who are barely adults themselves. Her case was profiled by The New York Times as part of a growing pattern of rapid deportations that bypass pending legal claims.

A 19-year-old man identified only as ELA was deported to El Salvador this week while detained at a Louisiana immigration facility awaiting a psychological evaluation for his asylum case, according to his attorneys. It was the second time this year he was removed from the U.S. in violation of court orders protecting a class of young asylum seekers who sued in 2019 for the right to have their claims heard while remaining in the country. He had previously been deported earlier this year but was returned to the Louisiana detention center after attorneys confirmed his class membership. A federal judge ordered the government to explain the removal and how it plans to rectify the error, and the Justice Department said it only learned of his removal after being alerted by class attorneys.

ICE agents detained two men during a traffic stop near Hudson Avenue and South Street in Peekskill on September 1, then moved the men and their vehicles into the parking lots of two nearby restaurants, NY Firehouse Grille and Taormina Trattoria. One man was handcuffed and the other was placed in shackles before being taken away in unmarked vehicles. Restaurant owners said they were not informed in advance and only learned the vehicles belonged to ICE after nearly having them towed. ICE did not respond to requests for comment on why the men were detained, and Peekskill police said federal agents did not share the men's names, charges, or other details with the department.

Asif Amin Cheema, 64, was detained by federal immigration agents three minutes from his home in Addison, Illinois, during the early days of Operation Midway Blitz. Despite having no criminal record, he was arrested over a removal order tied to a missed court date, which the family says their former immigration lawyer never told them about. He spent nearly three months detained at the Clay County Jail in Indiana, losing 30 pounds and experiencing health complications, before being deported to Pakistan on New Year's Day after more than 30 years living in the United States. His youngest son, 19-year-old Nooran Amin, left college responsibilities behind to run the family's Best Sub #2 sandwich shop in Humboldt Park, learning the business from an employee the family calls 'Uncle' while trying to keep his father's legacy alive.

D.A., a political activist who was violently attacked in Nigeria and is married to a U.S. citizen, was granted protection from removal to Nigeria based on likely persecution or torture. ICE nevertheless deported him without paperwork to Ghana on a military cargo plane in the middle of the night, alongside a dozen other West African men and women. In Ghana he was detained in a camp under terrible conditions for more than two weeks, with limited phone access to call his wife, before Ghanaian authorities deported him to Togo.

Laura Murillo, a 55-year-old immigrant from Mexico and mother of two, was arrested by ICE in September 2025 while operating her tamale vending stand near Home Depot on 47th Street and Western Avenue during Operation Midway Blitz. She spent six months in federal immigration detention before being released in March 2026 following a court order rather than deportation. Murillo's tamale business, which she had operated for years, allowed her to support her daughters Génesis and Daniela and provide flexible work to other women in her community. Since her release, she says she is in the process of obtaining legal status and is rebuilding her life with a focus on her family, faith, and a slower pace rather than the constant work that previously defined her.

Jessica Chodor was tackled and assaulted by a Memphis Safe Task Force officer while attempting to film a traffic stop. She was held down on the ground, threatened with a taser, and arrested on a charge of "resisting official detention," which was later dropped. The incident left her fearful of continuing to document task force operations; she now avoids filming unless other observers are present. Chodor is a plaintiff in an ACLU lawsuit challenging the task force's pattern of intimidation and retaliation against community observers.

Hunter Demster, who runs a soup kitchen in Memphis, has faced sustained intimidation and retaliation from officers with the Memphis Safe Task Force while attempting to document immigration enforcement operations. Demster has been taunted by officers, had bright lights shined at him, been followed in his car, and had an officer swerve toward him in a parking lot, missing him by inches. Agents sometimes sit in vehicles outside his house. Demster and other community observers have filed an ACLU lawsuit alleging that task force agents—including DHS officers, other law enforcement agencies, and National Guard—are engaged in a pattern of intimidation and retaliation that violates First Amendment rights to record police.

Sergio Ayala Mejia, a 36-year-old who arrived in the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor fleeing MS-13 gang pressure in Guatemala, was detained by ICE in September 2025 while dropping off his sister at work, separated from his newborn daughter Ailany and two other children. He was deported to Guatemala without a court hearing despite a pending appeal to reopen his case—the same day an immigration judge granted his motion to reopen and rescinded his 2007 deportation order. After four months in Guatemala, he was brought back to the U.S. on humanitarian parole in December 2025 but re-detained in New York for three additional months before being released on bond in March 2026. Ayala Mejia now fears driving and worries about the lasting impact on his children, including his 3-year-old son who developed anxiety during his absence.