Human Impact Project

Anabella Gyasi, 38, a pregnant Ghanaian woman, and her 4-year-old son who has a physical abnormality affecting his hands arrived at Dulles International Airport on valid tourist visas to seek medical care for her son at Akron Children's Hospital in Ohio. At customs, she disclosed a fear of returning to Ghana because of persecution she faced for her son's disability. CBP officers took them into custody as asylum seekers after she stated under oath that she did not intend to return to Ghana, which led officials to nullify her tourist visa. Gyasi, who was about four months pregnant, was held in a windowless room at the airport with her son for more than a week without adequate food or medical care. She was twice transported to a hospital for treatment. DHS denied her care was inadequate. The ACLU of Virginia filed an emergency petition, and Judge Leonie Brinkema called the detention a "terrible situation," saying Gyasi should not spend another night at the airport. A Justice Department attorney said immigration authorities were prepared to deport Gyasi and her son back to Ghana that night. CBP had interviewed her and judged she did not have a "credible fear" of returning. The judge ordered the government to confirm her departure and ruled the petition moot. Gyasi and her son were deported to Ghana.

Idaho State Police transferred 30 immigrants from state prisons and county jails to ICE custody for deportation following completion of their criminal sentences as part of Operation No Return, a state program utilizing the 287(g) partnership between Idaho law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. Officials stated the individuals had been convicted of crimes including child sexual abuse, drug trafficking, assault, and DUI. The transfer brings the cumulative total of people moved through the operation to 130.

Jose Pineda, a Salvadoran man with Temporary Protected Status working as a landscaper in East Boston, was stopped by ICE officers while on his way to work. Despite presenting valid Social Security and work authorization cards, agents refused to accept his documents and detained him for nearly two days in an overcrowded holding cell at the ICE Boston Field Office with approximately 50 other people where conditions were poor—he could not sit or sleep and received minimal food and water. His $600 in rent savings was not returned. The detention caused him frequent headaches, anxiety, memory loss, and worsened gastritis. His absence from work resulted in a demotion from lead foreman to assistant. He now experiences recurring nightmares and sleeps separately from his wife out of fear of harming her. He has filed a tort claim against the federal government.

Aliya Rahman, a Bangladeshi American U.S. citizen with autism and traumatic brain injury, was detained by ICE agents in Minneapolis on her way to a doctor's appointment during Operation Metro Surge. At the intersection of 34th Street and Park Avenue, agents smashed her passenger side window and violently pulled her from her car despite her calling out that she was disabled. Four agents carried her handcuffed in a hogtied position before placing her in an SUV and transporting her to the Whipple Federal Building. At the facility, her requests for medical care were denied for more than an hour until she lost consciousness and was transported to the emergency room. She was released without charge and never cited, and subsequently filed formal complaints alleging violations of her First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights, as well as human rights breaches, and pursued a tort claim for damages from unlawful detention and detention conditions.

A Mexican man was arrested by Border Patrol agents outside his apartment in Winooski after agents tracked him near his home for months during the summer. The case illustrates Border Patrol's expanded interior enforcement operations in Vermont, going beyond traditional border patrol duties.

Two Guatemalan women were arrested and deported after an ICE agent positioned an unmarked cruiser outside a large apartment building in Colchester where the agency had previously located undocumented seasonal workers. The agent ran checks on out-of-state license plates in the parking lot, eventually leading to their identification and deportation.

Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center and a U.S. citizen, was fatally shot by federal agents on January 24, 2026, during a protest against Operation Metro Surge immigration enforcement in Minneapolis. Pretti was peacefully observing and filming agents when they shoved him, sprayed him with a chemical agent, and beat him with a metal canister before shooting him ten times. Multiple witnesses and bystander video contradicted federal authorities' initial claims of self-defense; footage showed Pretti on the ground holding a mobile phone, and showed an agent removing a gun from his hip holster before the shooting began. Although Pretti was a legal firearm owner with a carry permit, he did not brandish a weapon or attack agents. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and other state and local officials rejected the federal government's characterization of the shooting. Pretti's death was one of at least 14 shooting incidents involving agents during the enforcement surge and prompted resignations and removals of ICE commander Gregory Bovino and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, along with congressional scrutiny over use of force, training, and body camera protocols.

Victor Cruz, a 56-year-old handyman from Portland, Oregon, was arrested without a warrant by ICE agents and held for 24 days at the Tacoma detention center. An immigration judge granted him a bond hearing and he was released in October 2025. He won his immigration case in February 2026.

Border Patrol's Targeting Unit, Homeland Security Investigations, and ICE conducted a targeted operation at a home in El Paso on May 26, 2026, and arrested two individuals alleged to be members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal organization designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Both were found to be in the country without authorization and are scheduled for removal. Authorities have not released the identities of the suspects or additional details about the operation. The arrests are part of a broader multi-state federal enforcement campaign against alleged Tren de Aragua members announced by the Department of Justice in early May.

Diego Hernandez Garcia, a 24-year-old construction worker who had lived in the U.S. since age 13, was detained by ICE on December 11, 2025, during a raid at a Hardin Valley construction site in Knoxville. Hernandez Garcia had been granted protective status in 2022 and had an approved I-360 petition for lawful permanent status. His attorney claimed he had valid work authorization at the time of detention and that ICE revoked his deferred status only after taking him into custody. A federal judge denied his habeas corpus petition and lifted a stay on a 2016 removal order, ruling the government was not constitutionally obligated to provide due process before terminating his deferred action status. Hernandez Garcia was subsequently deported to El Salvador.

ICE conducted a workplace raid at a mushroom farm in Chester County, Pennsylvania, resulting in the arrest of approximately a dozen workers. The incident appeared to be the first major workplace raid in the region's mushroom industry since the 1990s and signaled an intensified enforcement effort targeting undocumented immigrants. The raid prompted heightened anxiety among immigrant workers in the area.

ICE conducted a targeted enforcement operation in the Green Drive area of Cleveland, Tennessee that resulted in the arrest of eight undocumented immigrants at a gas station on May 22, 2026. The operation targeted a specific individual with a history of DUI convictions and prior deportations; several people attempted to flee as agents approached. On May 26, ICE released the identities and backgrounds of those arrested, noting that some were apprehended as collateral arrests during the operation. Three of those arrested accepted Incentivized Voluntary Departure, while the remaining five remained in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

At least 20 detainees at Desert View Annex (Adelanto ICE Processing Center) in Adelanto, California, launched a hunger strike in mid-May 2026 to protest inadequate health care, food portions, unsafe conditions, and demand bond reform and accountability. The facility, operated by the GEO Group, experienced four deaths between September 2025 and March 2026. A lawyer with the National Day Labor Organization described the hunger strike as a last resort when other options have been exhausted. One detainee's wife spoke publicly about the inhumane treatment at the facility. The facility's population increased dramatically from 424 detainees in 2023 to 2,087 in 2025.

Dolores Bustamante Romero, a 54-year-old apple picker and farmworker advocate from Wayne County, New York, was detained by ICE on April 22, 2026, during a mandatory check-in appointment at the Buffalo office without notice that her supervised release was being revoked. A Mexican national who fled gender violence in 2003 and arrived in the U.S. seeking asylum, Bustamante has lived in upstate New York since 2012 and was a well-known advocate for migrant farmworkers and member of Alianza Agricola. She was instrumental in securing New York's Green Light Law and an executive order banning State Police from inquiring about immigration status. She had no criminal record and had attended four previous check-in appointments without incident while enrolled in an alternatives-to-detention program under the Biden administration. U.S. District Judge Meredith Vacca ordered ICE to return her to Western New York and held an evidentiary hearing on May 26, 2026, to review whether ICE violated her due process rights by detaining her without proper notice.

Marimar Martínez, a 30-year-old U.S. citizen and teaching assistant, was shot by Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum on October 4, 2025, in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood during Operation Midway Blitz, sustaining seven wounds from five shots. Federal prosecutors alleged she and Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz followed agents' vehicles and that she rammed an agent's car, leading to felony assault charges and the government labeling her a 'domestic terrorist.' Martínez's attorney disputed the account, citing body camera footage of an agent telling her to 'do something' before shooting, and arguing agents themselves caused the collision. She and Ruiz were released pending trial, and prosecutors later dismissed all charges after text messages surfaced showing Exum bragging, 'I fired 5 shots and she had 7 holes.' A federal judge ruled that agents' use of force against citizens in the incident 'shocks the conscience.' Martínez has since filed a tort claim against the federal government seeking damages.

On October 1, 2025, federal agents from Border Patrol, FBI, and ATF conducted a predawn military-style raid on a five-story apartment building at 7500 S. South Shore Drive in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood around 1 a.m. as part of "Operation Midway Blitz." Agents rappelled from helicopters, kicked down doors, and threw flash bang grenades, resulting in 37 arrests and the detention of dozens of people, including children placed in zip-ties and without clothing. Four of the detained children are U.S. citizens with undocumented parents, and U.S. citizens were also detained for hours during the operation. Residents reported missing belongings and property damage throughout the building. By May 2026, seventeen of those detained filed tort claims collectively seeking approximately $85 million in damages for their treatment during the raid.

Marvin Suazo, 43, self-deported to Honduras on May 25, 2026, after ICE agents raided his workplace and deported six of his employees earlier in the year. Suazo had lived in the U.S. undocumented since 2014 following a prior deportation, and chose to leave rather than risk arrest. His wife Maribel and daughters, including 23-year-old Samantha and 11-year-old Zhoe, both hold permanent residency or U.S. citizenship and remained in the country. Before his departure, the family took a final trip together along the East Coast, including a stop in Miami, following Samantha's graduation from Yale University. Suazo said goodbye to his daughters at the Miami airport before boarding his flight.

U.S. Senator Andy Kim, a Democrat representing New Jersey, was pepper-sprayed by federal ICE agents on Monday while attempting to de-escalate a confrontation between protesters and law enforcement outside Delaney Hall immigration detention facility in Newark. Kim had entered the facility to observe conditions firsthand and emerged to find ICE agents deploying an armored vehicle as a barricade. He positioned himself between ICE agents and protesters to prevent violence, but ICE officers deployed pepper spray and pepper balls on the crowd. Kim reported that his eyes and throat were still burning hours later. The incident occurred amid ongoing protests against detention conditions at the facility, where detainees reported poor food, lack of medical care, and non-functioning air conditioning.

An ICE enforcement operation targeting the Dover family occurred in a New Jersey residential neighborhood. The Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center documented the incident and issued a statement condemning what they characterize as a violent enforcement action that separated families and created fear in immigrant communities.

J.R., a 35-year-old Colombian with valid work authorization and an ankle monitor through ICE's Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, attended what he believed was a routine monitor maintenance appointment. ICE officers detained him instead, confiscating his ID and work permit. He was held overnight at the Aurora detention center despite having a pending appeal of his asylum case and was released the following day with assistance from Casa de Paz.