Human Impact Project

Angela Mata Mendoza, a 10-year employee at an Escondido supermarket married to a U.S. citizen with four U.S. citizen children, was arrested by ICE on January 27, 2025, during her early morning shift and detained at Otay Mesa Detention Center. She was under a court order of supervision (similar to bond) and had never missed a mandatory ICE check-in. Her lawyer, Kerry Yianilos, used habeas corpus protections to challenge her unlawful detention and secure her release, highlighting the importance of these constitutional protections amid the Trump administration's consideration of eliminating them for undocumented immigrants.

ICE detained two parents, Reinaldo Chirino from Venezuela and Kris Estefany Pineda-Torregrosa from Colombia, after school drop-off on January 27, leaving their two young children (ages 12 and 4) in the care of a family friend. The couple had entered the country legally in 2022 under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans but lost their legal status when the Trump administration revoked TPS protections. They are being held at Otay Mesa Detention Center pending removal proceedings.

Wilson Velásquez, a Honduran asylum seeker, was detained by ICE agents in the parking lot of Iglesia Fuente de Vida in Norcross, Georgia, while attending Sunday service with his wife, Kenia Colindres, and their three children. Velásquez had fled gang violence in Honduras with his family in 2022, was awaiting a future asylum court date, held a work permit, and worked six days a week at a tire shop. He wore a GPS ankle monitor that began buzzing as ICE agents called his phone before agents apprehended him and placed him in a law enforcement vehicle in front of his wife.

Abel Orozco, a 47-year-old who has lived in suburban Chicago for 30 years and owns a tree-cutting business, was arrested by ICE on January 26 while driving home from picking up tamales for his family. According to his attorney, Orozco has no criminal record and arrived in the U.S. in the late 1990s under a legal work petition, though he was given a removal order in 2004 after visiting his father in Mexico. ICE officers apprehended him without a warrant, searching for his oldest son who shares the same name. Orozco has been detained in Kentucky for nearly six months facing expedited deportation. His family has missed mortgage payments and his younger son struggles to maintain his father's business while his wife fights breast cancer. Orozco is among 22 detainees alleging that immigration agents violated federal law and a 2022 settlement by arresting them without proper warrants or proof of flight risk, with a motion filed challenging the legality of the arrests.

Pavlo Mykolayovych Zinkevych, a 37-year-old Ukrainian man with lawful status under the Uniting for Ukraine program, was arrested by Frisco Police on January 26, 2025, for a minor traffic violation and suspected DWI. Despite holding valid legal status, a valid I-94, and a pending Temporary Protected Status application, ICE detained him for over three months and threatened deportation to war-torn Ukraine. An immigration judge stated she believed Zinkevych should not be detained, but lacks jurisdiction to order his release, while DHS maintains authority over his case and has remained unresponsive to legal requests.

A 37-year-old Raleigh man was arrested after allegedly kidnapping and raping a woman at a Motel 6 while impersonating an ICE agent and threatening to deport her if she did not have sex with him. The suspect, Carl Thomas Bennett, showed a fake business card with a badge and is facing charges including kidnapping, second-degree rape, and impersonating a law enforcement officer.

Brazil's government responded after 88 of its nationals arrived in the country handcuffed following their deportation from the United States. The Brazilian government called the treatment degrading and a flagrant disregard for fundamental rights and demanded an explanation from Washington. Colombia announced it would not allow US deportation flights to land in the country, turning away military aircraft carrying deported migrants.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers pulled over a father traveling with his children in Douglasville, Georgia. Officers instructed the father to contact his wife, and the family initially believed he was the target of enforcement action. However, when the wife arrived at the scene, authorities detained her instead.

Arlit Maria Martinez-Carrada, a Mexican national, was detained by ICE on January 3 while on her way to work in Wicomico County. Her son Kevin died from cancer just days later on January 5, but an immigration judge initially denied her release, deeming her a flight risk. After a federal judge approved her release on January 26 with a $12,000 bond, Martinez-Carrada returned to Salisbury with an ankle bracelet monitor.

Brazilian migrants deported from the United States arrived at Belo Horizonte International Airport on January 25, 2025, reporting abuse, threats, and degrading treatment by U.S. immigration agents during their deportation flight. The deportees reported they were handcuffed for 50 hours without air conditioning, subjected to poor conditions, and opened an emergency door to alert Brazilian authorities. The Brazilian government requested explanations from the Trump administration regarding the treatment of the passengers.

Minneapolis rapper Nur-D was arrested by federal agents on January 24 while participating in protests. The arrest occurred following the shooting death of Alex Pretti by U.S. Border Patrol agents. Nur-D says he was hit by a projectile, thrown to the ground, and arrested for allegedly assaulting a federal officer. He is pursuing legal action against the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, and U.S. Border Patrol.

ICE agents raided Ocean Seafood Depot at Adams and Delancey streets in Newark, New Jersey, on January 23, 2025, detaining both undocumented workers and U.S. citizens. The business owner said about a dozen agents entered without a warrant or court order around 11 a.m., demanded employee identification, and took three people into custody. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said one detainee was a U.S. military veteran whose military documentation was questioned by agents, and he denounced the raid as a violation of Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure. Rep. LaMonica McIver called for answers from the Department of Homeland Security about how the agency detained citizens and a veteran without a warrant. ICE confirmed the operation occurred and acknowledged U.S. citizens may have been detained during the enforcement action.

On January 23, 2025, ICE agents detained Giovanni Duran, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, during a traffic stop in Echo Park, Los Angeles, while his wife Loreal and their children were present. Duran had lived in the U.S. for nearly four decades. According to ICE, Duran entered the country illegally before 2001 and had prior convictions for sex with a minor in 2012 and DUI in 2014, with a deportation order issued in 2014. He is currently held at Adelanto detention facility awaiting deportation.

Luis Fernando Chulca Chiluisa, Maria Velasco Hurtado, and their two children were detained by ICE agents on January 22, 2025. Velasco was detained on her way to work; Chiluisa and the children were detained at their home afterward. All four had active asylum applications and no known criminal records. A habeas petition was filed the same morning, and a judge ordered the government to show cause for detention by January 26. Despite a court order keeping the family in Minnesota, they were initially sent to Texas. Following a contempt motion filed by their attorneys, the family was returned to Minnesota.

Marlon Parris, 45, a two-tour U.S. Army veteran from Trinidad and Tobago, has been detained by ICE since January 22 and is facing deportation proceedings despite holding a green card for nearly 30 years. Parris served his country on two deployments and has had no arrests since his release from a nonviolent drug offense conviction in 2016, when ICE issued him a no-interest letter stating he would not be deported. In 2023, a customs agent questioned the letter and revoked his green card when he returned from vacation abroad; he was subsequently classified as an arriving noncitizen and denied bond eligibility. His wife, Tanisha Hartwell-Parris, and his attorney, Douglas Kouffie, say the family was in active communication with the government and had already attended ICE and court hearings before his sudden January detention.

Jose Barco, 39, is a decorated U.S. Army veteran who deployed twice to Iraq, received a Purple Heart after a 2004 explosion caused traumatic brain injury, and was honorably discharged in 2008. In April 2008, while struggling with untreated TBI symptoms and PTSD, Barco shot into a crowd of teenagers in Colorado Springs, injuring a pregnant 19-year-old; he was sentenced to 52 years and spent 15 years in prison as a model inmate. Released on parole on January 21, 2025, he was immediately detained by ICE. His commanding officer confirmed Barco's 2006 citizenship application was completed and eligible but was lost in processing. On his release from prison, Barco was transferred to immigration detention and ordered deported to Venezuela in February 2025. When deported, Venezuelan authorities refused to accept him, citing doubts about his birth certificate and lack of family ties, and he was returned to U.S. detention. His wife Tia, supporters including his former Army medic, and veteran advocacy organizations are seeking intervention.

Daniel Oquendo, 33, crossed the U.S.-Mexico border on January 20, 2025, and was apprehended in San Diego. He was placed on a U.S. military C-130 flight with handcuffs as part of a planned deportation to Colombia, but Colombian President Gustavo Petro blocked the landing of two military flights carrying about 200 deportees in early January, objecting to their treatment and the use of military aircraft. After being turned around mid-flight and spending a night in El Paso, Oquendo was finally repatriated to Colombia on a civilian aircraft sent by the Colombian government on January 28.

On January 20, 2025, armed men impersonating ICE agents broke into a home in Greensboro, North Carolina, where they assaulted a Mexican immigrant family at gunpoint. A hooded assailant kicked down the victim's bedroom door shouting "ICE! ICE!" before the perpetrators struck one family member's forehead with a gun butt and demanded cash while threatening a baby. The victim realized the intrusion was a robbery rather than an actual federal enforcement action. The case remains unsolved. This incident exemplifies a documented surge in ICE impersonation crimes, with at least 31 cases reported in 2025 alone—nearly six times the decade-long annual average—with 38 percent involving physical violence including armed robbery, assault, and kidnapping.

D.E., a 44-year-old Mexican national, was detained by ICE without a warrant just two blocks from his home in Long Branch, NJ, interrupting chemotherapy scheduled to begin the same week for a brain tumor he has had for 12 years. He was initially held at Delaney Hall in Newark before being transferred to the California City Detention Center, where a CoreCivic guard was more than five hours late delivering his twice-daily seizure medication, Keppra, leading to a severe nighttime seizure. D.E. said he jammed his arm between his bed frame and the wall to keep himself from falling into the nearby toilet during the episode, and later filed a written medical grievance requesting a cancer specialist that went largely unaddressed. His case was cited in a broader review finding that the immigration detention grievance system, meant to allow detainees to report medical neglect and abuse, has collapsed amid the dismantling of federal oversight offices.

An Iranian national entered the United States on January 19, 2025, seeking asylum based on political and religious persecution. After an immigration judge denied his asylum application on May 6, 2025, he was granted withholding of removal and placed in mandatory post-final-removal-order detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1231. After 431 days in federal immigration custody, he filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the lawfulness of his prolonged detention, arguing removal was not significantly likely in the foreseeable future. On July 30, 2026, he voluntarily dismissed his petition after his asylum application was granted upon reconsideration by the immigration court.