Human Impact Project

A Mexican citizen who has resided in the United States since 1995 has been detained at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center since November 2025. She is the mother of three U.S. citizen children and has no criminal history. She was denied bond during immigration proceedings based on alleged flight risk, and the court denied her motion for temporary restraining order seeking release.

Carlos Guerra Leon, an 18-year-old recent high school graduate from Spring Valley, New York, was arrested without a warrant by federal officers on August 9, 2025, and transferred to Jackson Correctional Facility in Louisiana despite holding approved Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) and deferred action status that protected him from deportation under the Biden administration. He came to the U.S. from Guatemala at age 10 after experiencing abandonment and neglect, and had built a stable life attending school and working legally in New York. The National Immigration Project, ACLU of Louisiana, and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights filed a federal habeas petition challenging his detention. After nearly three months in custody over 1,000 miles from home, Federal Judge Terry Doughty issued a temporary restraining order on October 31 ruling Guerra Leon's detention unlawful and that his release "serves the public interest by ensuring that the Government adheres to its own laws." Despite the court order, ICE officials at the Louisiana facility initially refused to release him, claiming to have "no knowledge" of the ruling and forcing an emergency motion before he was finally released and returned home to New York.

Ronald was arrested in November 2025 during what he believed was a routine appointment at the Centennial ICE field office. He had previously been arrested and released in spring 2024. His arrest and subsequent detention left his wife Cecilia as the sole breadwinner for three children, contributing to the family's financial collapse and eventual decision to self-deport.

Ronald, a Venezuelan immigrant, was arrested at what he believed was a routine appointment at the Centennial ICE field office in November 2025, two days before Thanksgiving. His arrest left his wife Cecilia pregnant and his three sons without a primary breadwinner, contributing to the family's financial collapse and eventual self-deportation decision.

An undocumented immigrant and his family, including three U.S. citizen children, hid in their apartment during a police response to a violent crime in Memphis, fearing ICE enforcement. The family remained on the floor in the dark for about 10 minutes, worried that police would knock on doors searching for suspects and potentially take the father into custody.

L.H., an Indigenous Quechua woman, fled Peru in 2021 with her minor son Y.V. after years of severe gender- and race-based domestic violence, including kidnapping, stalking, and a knife assault by her ex-partner. After settling in California and applying for asylum, DHS moved at a November 2025 hearing to pretermit her applications and seek their removal to Honduras under an Asylum Cooperative Agreement.

Beatriz Pastrana Candela, who was pregnant when arrested by ICE agents in November 2025, was held at Eloy Detention Center in Arizona where medical and corrections staff repeatedly dismissed her claims of pregnancy. She subsequently miscarried while in detention. Her case is part of a documented pattern of inadequate medical care for pregnant individuals in ICE detention facilities.

A Guatemalan immigrant who lived in Providence for 20 years was detained by ICE in November 2025 and transferred without warning to a New Hampshire facility ten days later, separated from his lawyer and family. During the overnight transfer in a cramped van, he was handcuffed tightly enough to draw blood and exposed to winter cold. He was ultimately released on bond in late December. Immigration lawyers report that rapid transfers between facilities increasingly deny detainees access to legal counsel, with 12% of detainees experiencing at least four transfers in 2025.

Hanne Engan, a Norwegian national, was arrested by ICE officers at her green card interview in November 2025 after her student visa expired and detained at Otay Mesa Detention Center for approximately one week. Medical experts told inewsource that the care she received for her Type 1 diabetes was at times substandard and potentially life-threatening. An inewsource investigation of court records and interviews with 10 former detainees identified dozens of migrants who described chronic conditions, deteriorating health, or inadequate care at the facility.

Federal immigration agents, including ICE and Border Patrol personnel, deployed tear gas and other riot control weapons against protesters during enforcement operations in Chicago and Illinois beginning in September 2025. On October 14, 2025, Border Patrol agents pursued a vehicle on Chicago's East Side, using a precision immobilization technique (PIT maneuver) to stop it at the intersection of 105th and Avenue N, resulting in a collision. Two undocumented immigrants fled on foot and were arrested. When residents gathered to protest the operation, federal agents deployed tear gas, exposing 13 Chicago police officers to the gas. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on October 9 limiting crowd-control tactics, but subsequent court filings alleged violations occurring almost daily. An analysis of 28 protest events found seven instances of riot control weapons use without apparent threats and 19 instances of excessive force.

A CBP agent was recorded on video on October 31, 2025, repeatedly striking a man in the head while the man was pinned down on the street near Oakton and Asbury in Evanston. Witnesses reported the man saying he could not breathe during the assault. DHS stated agents were responding to a vehicle crash involving a red vehicle and a hostile crowd that surrounded the agents' vehicle. Three citizens were arrested during the incident.

Krzysztof Klim, originally from Poland and now a U.S. citizen, was briefly detained and handcuffed by Border Patrol agents on October 31, 2025, outside a home in Chicago's Edison Park neighborhood while they verified his identification. He was later released.

Two U.S. citizen plumbers working on a property on Harding Avenue in Skokie were approached and questioned by federal agents during immigration enforcement operations on October 31, 2025. Witnesses reported agents profiled and requested identification documents from the workers, though no detentions occurred. The homeowner, who hired the workers, stated the agents had no constitutional authority to conduct such stops and expressed concern about the targeting of American citizens.

A man, Jose Garcia-Sorto, was shot by an ICE agent near I-17 and Dove Valley Road in Phoenix on Wednesday morning. The ICE agent fired two shots at Garcia-Sorto's vehicle after he allegedly attempted to speed away following an initial traffic stop. Garcia-Sorto's wife reports being unable to obtain information from authorities about his condition, and states he is hospitalized under a different name.

Three U.S. citizens were arrested following a crash and confrontation during a federal immigration enforcement operation at the intersection of Asbury and Oakton in Evanston on October 31, 2025. A red vehicle rear-ended a federal agent vehicle; witnesses reported agents braked suddenly while the government stated agents were attempting a U-turn. During the confrontation, pepper spray was deployed and community members who intervened were also arrested. The three arrested individuals' identities and specific charges remain unclear.

Arthur Berto, a 13-year-old asylum-seeking boy from Brazil, was arrested by Everett, Massachusetts police on suspicion of making a violent threat at school. After his mother arrived to pick him up from the police station, ICE took him to a detention facility without informing her of his location or what would happen to him. According to the police chief, this was the first occurrence of this type in Everett.

Edgar Ruiz, a U.S. citizen born in Chicago, was tased in the face by ICE agents outside a 7-Eleven in Des Plaines on October 31, 2025. He was detained for approximately two hours before being released and hospitalized. His undocumented father remained in ICE custody following the incident. Edgar Ruiz, a U.S. citizen born in Chicago, was tased in the face by ICE agents outside a 7-Eleven store in Des Plaines on September 16, 2025, during an operation targeting his undocumented father. Ruiz attempted to hold his vehicle's door closed when agents arrived, and was tased when the agent tried to open it. He was detained for approximately two hours at a facility in Lombard before being released and taken to a hospital for medical attention. His father, Rigoberto Ruiz, who has lived in the United States for 30 years, remained in ICE custody.

Luisa Rodriguez, a Mexican national who immigrated to the U.S. over 30 years ago and worked in courts, was detained by ICE agents on September 28, 2025, at Camp Pendleton's gate while visiting her pregnant daughter, a newly enlisted U.S. Marine. Rodriguez and her husband Esteban Rios were initially released with ankle monitors but were taken back into custody at a subsequent ICE check-in appointment. Rodriguez was held at Otay Mesa Detention Center for nearly three weeks before being released on October 30. Her husband was deported to Tijuana on October 31. The family has pending green card applications and no criminal history.

Monica, an Ecuadorian child care worker seeking asylum, was pushed to the ground and shoved into a wall by an ICE agent outside an immigration court in New York City on September 25, 2025, during her husband Ruben's arrest. The incident was captured on video and spread on social media. Monica feared Ruben's deportation would be a death sentence. The ICE officer was temporarily removed from duty following the video evidence, but was reinstated days later despite DHS condemnation of the conduct as unacceptable and political calls for felony charges. The officer has a history of aggressive behavior at the same location. In late October, a federal court ordered Ruben's release, finding he had been detained without explanation while his partner and two young children were present. The family of four has since been reunited, though their asylum cases remain pending.

Fernando Jaramillo Solano, a 45-year-old Colombian national seeking asylum, and his two children, Jana Michel Jaramillo Patiño (12) and Kewin Daniel Patiño Bustamante (15), were detained by ICE agents on October 27, 2025, while being driven to school near a mobile home park in Durango, Colorado. The family had lived in Colorado for over 18 months, possessed valid documentation showing an active asylum process since December 2024, a work permit request, and no criminal record. ICE officials stated during federal court proceedings that Jaramillo Solano was not their intended target. Hundreds of protesters gathered at the ICE field office in Durango on October 28 to demand their release. During the demonstration, ICE agents in tactical gear pepper-sprayed and fired rubber bullets at peaceful protesters. Protester Franci Stagi, 57, was knocked to the ground and subjected to a chokehold by an unidentified officer, and protester Drew Collie, 22, was sprayed at close range and struck twice with rubber bullets, sustaining bruises. Local Durango police attempted to intervene to secure the children's release and conduct a welfare check but were denied entry by federal agents. The father was transferred to a detention facility in Dilley, Texas, while the children were held at an ICE facility in southern Texas. Immigration officials later granted the family voluntary departure and stated ICE would facilitate their return to Colombia. The City of Durango requested assistance from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation regarding agent conduct, which formally declined.