Human Impact Project

Derlis Snaider Chusin Toaquiza, a 19-year-old 11th grader from Ecuador at Grover Cleveland High School in Queens, was detained by ICE on June 4, 2025, during a scheduled immigration court hearing. He was initially held at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City in severely overcrowded conditions—confined in a room so crowded he could not lie down and forced to sleep sitting up with approximately two dozen other people. Over two days of detention at that facility, he was given only two meals total. He was then moved to a gymnasium inside the facility that was equally overcrowded with no beds, blankets, or access to basic necessities. After six weeks in a Texas detention facility, the Envision Freedom Fund posted his $20,000 bond, and he was released on July 18, 2025, to reunite with his family.

Leonardo José Colmenares Solórzano, a 31-year-old former youth soccer coach from Venezuela, was detained by CBP agents at a scheduled border appointment in October 2024 after they photographed his tattoos. Internal DHS data showed he had no criminal history and no U.S. or foreign convictions or charges. He was deported to CECOT prison in El Salvador on March 15, 2025, under the Alien Enemies Act as part of a group of 238 Venezuelan deportees labeled as terrorists and gang members despite DHS data showing most had no U.S. criminal convictions. While incarcerated, Colmenares reported being tortured—guards stomped on his hands, poured filthy water in his ears, and threatened beatings. He was returned to Venezuela on July 18, 2025, as part of a prisoner swap.

In mid-July, ICE agents conducted a series of raids in Passaic, New Jersey, arresting dozens of residents including José Efraín Chajón Raxón, a Guatemalan national. He was transferred to the Delaney Hall detention facility and died less than four days later after a medical emergency, becoming the second person to die at the facility within a month. At least 75 people, including one U.S. citizen, were arrested by ICE in Passaic that month, with arrests spiking 4,200% compared to the previous year.

Gerson Josué Santamaría Turcios, a 23-year-old Honduran immigrant and Rhinebeck High School graduate, was arrested by ICE on July 18 as he returned home from work. He owns a local lawn care, maintenance and landscaping business in Rhinebeck and has lived in the community for years, attending high school there and building long-term employment relationships with local residents. A Manhattan judge denied his request for a temporary restraining order to pause his deportation on July 23, though the order expires July 30, giving supporters an additional week to pursue legal options. Community members including his former employers, high school teachers, and classmates have rallied behind him, raising over $60,000 for his legal defense through a grassroots fundraiser organized by Jenny Friedberg, who has employed him regularly for five years.

More than 230 Venezuelan men held in U.S. immigration custody were expelled to El Salvador in March 2024 by the Trump administration and detained for four months in a maximum security terrorism prison where they alleged torture. A lawsuit filed in federal court accuses aviation companies CSI Aviation and GlobalX of violating civil rights and deliberately transporting the men despite a federal judge's order to return the flights and knowledge they would likely be tortured. The suit claims the private contractors worked in concert with the U.S. government in flagrant violation of U.S. and international law.

U.S. Border Patrol agents conducted an enforcement operation at a Home Depot parking lot in south Sacramento on July 17, detaining 11 undocumented immigrants and a U.S. citizen identified as Jose Castillo. Castillo, an immigration watch volunteer documenting the operation, was detained after agents alleged he damaged a vehicle tire during a brief chase in the parking lot; he was later released. A total of 11 people were arrested during the raid, which Border Patrol stated was a message that the federal government can enforce immigration law anywhere in California.

Jose Manuel Castillo Jr., a U.S. citizen and volunteer with immigrant advocacy group NorCal Resist, was charged with depredation of government property after allegedly puncturing a Border Patrol vehicle tire during an ICE raid at a Home Depot on July 17. According to the DOJ, Castillo was seen walking toward a Border Patrol SUV and agents heard a pop and hissing noise before finding the tire slashed; a pocketknife found on him matched the hole's width. Castillo's attorney and the advocacy group dispute the charges, claiming he was merely documenting arrests and was not obstructing operations.

Elvis Garcia, 18, a Key West High School senior and wrestler, was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on December 2 while driving to school on U.S. 1 and has since been deported to Honduras. Garcia had been on Temporary Protective Status with his mother and was working to pay for an immigration attorney while pursuing legal status. His deportation occurred after TPS for Honduras ended on September 8, 2025, removing his previous protection from deportation.

Zia S., 35, an Afghan immigrant and father of five who served as a translator for U.S. troops for five years, was detained by ICE agents on Wednesday outside a USCIS office in East Hartford while submitting biometric information for his green card application. Zia, his wife, and children fled Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in 2021, fearing retribution for his work with U.S. forces. The family arrived legally in the U.S. in October 2024 on humanitarian parole and "boarding foils" from the U.S. embassy in Islamabad, and all seven family members had approved Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applications granting them a pathway to permanent residency. ICE transported Zia to a detention facility in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and issued an expedited removal order claiming he did not enter the country legally—a claim his attorney, Lauren Cundick Petersen, disputes. Petersen said Zia told her he feared returning to Afghanistan, where he faced death threats for his service to U.S. forces; according to No One Left Behind nonprofit, more than 300 Afghan translators and their family members were killed between 2014 and 2021.

Juana McIntosh, a Guatemalan national and spouse of a U.S. Air Force member, was detained by ICE during a green card interview appointment at a USCIS office in Atlanta while her husband was deployed overseas. She had been granted Parole in Place as a military spouse and was in the process of adjusting her status when she was taken into custody based on a previous removal order from 2012.

Approximately 10 days after the South Sudan deportation, five migrants from Jamaica, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, and Yemen were deported to Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). The deportees were sent to Matsapha Correctional Center, the country's main maximum-security prison. Jamaican national Orville Etoria was able to return to his country at the end of September, but four others remain detained without charge and without permission to receive visitors. According to lawyers, the U.S.-Eswatini agreement provided for the transfer of 160 deportees in exchange for $5.1 million. One detainee, Cuban national Roberto Mosquera, remains imprisoned in the country where he never committed a crime and has no family or friends.

ICE confirmed an active investigation at Trail King Industries, a trailer manufacturer employing about 500 people at its Mitchell headquarters and 770 total across plants in Mitchell, Yankton, and West Fargo, North Dakota. Tips surfaced about agents being seen at the facility. The company's VP of Human Resources declined to comment.

ICE raided four Colt Grill restaurant locations in Yavapai County, Arizona in mid-July 2025, detaining 28 undocumented workers on immigration violations. Restaurant owners Robert and Brenda Clouston and two undocumented employees, Luis Pedro Rogel-Jaimes and Iris Romero-Molina, were accused by federal prosecutors of smuggling undocumented workers from Mexico, paying below minimum wage, withholding overtime compensation, and creating a fake cleaning business to conceal payments. The raids resulted in approximately 200 job losses and closure of two locations; the owners' trial was scheduled for June 2, 2026 in federal court in Phoenix.

On June 11, a former president of the Spokane City Council sent out an alert over social media. Two men, in the county legally and seeking asylum, had reported for an appearance in immigration court there. They were then detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly known as ICE, at a Department of Homeland Security office in Spokane. The former council member, Ben Stuckart, urged followers to disrupt that enforcement. Among those responding to the call that day was Bajun Mavalwalla II, a Petaluma native and military veteran who had relocated to Washington. The resulting demonstration became confrontational. Protesters blocked an ICE bus as the agency attempted to transport the two detainees to Tacoma for immigration hearings, deflating the vehicle’s tires. Several people were arrested. Mavalwalla was not one of them. But a month later, on July 15, he got a knock at the door of his Spokane home at 6 a.m. Ten FBI agents were on hand to take him into custody.

Ingrid Ayón, 23, grew up in Cottonwood, Arizona since she was 4 months old, speaks English fluently, and graduated from Mingus Union High School. Despite being undocumented and ineligible for DACA after President Trump attempted to kill the program during his first term, she worked two jobs to support herself and her family. On July 15, 2025, ICE raided Colt Grill restaurant where she worked, targeting the owners for allegedly smuggling and exploiting undocumented workers. During the raid, ICE officers used pepper spray to force workers out of hiding; Ayón was questioned, arrested, and detained for months at multiple facilities including Florence ICE processing center and Eloy Detention Center, where she reported harsh conditions including overcrowding, extreme cold, and a rash that went untreated. She was ultimately deported to Mexico, separated from her three U.S. citizen brothers and her family in the United States.

Mahdi Khanbabazadeh, a 38-year-old Iranian chiropractor, was detained by ICE on July 15, 2025, while dropping his child off at Guidepost Montessori School in Beaverton, Oregon. Video footage shows Khanbabazadeh pleading with ICE agents to allow his child to exit the car before his arrest. After he stopped cooperating, ICE officers broke his car window to take him into custody. Khanbabazadeh entered the U.S. on a student visa; ICE claims he overstayed it, while his family states he is married to a U.S. citizen and has already applied and interviewed for a green card. He is currently held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington. His detention occurred as part of a broader surge in ICE arrests of Iranian immigrants under the Trump administration.

On July 15, 2025, federal agents raided four Colt Grill BBQ and Spirits restaurants in Yavapai County, Arizona, and a location in Foley, Alabama, arresting 28 undocumented workers on immigration violations. Restaurant owners Robert and Brenda Clouston, both 61, were arrested along with two undocumented immigrants, Luis Pedro Rogel-Jaimes, 33, and Iris Romero-Molina, 29. According to a May 27 federal indictment, the four defendants conspired to transport and harbor undocumented workers from Mexico, operating a fake cleaning business as a staffing front to conceal payments. The workers were paid below minimum wage without overtime compensation, and the defendants avoided proper employment taxes. Approximately 200 employees lost their jobs when the restaurants closed. The investigation spanned three years.

Derlis Snaider Chusin Toaquiza, a 19-year-old Ecuadorian asylum-seeker and 11th grader at Grover Cleveland High School in Queens, was detained by ICE on June 4 at a scheduled immigration court appearance in Texas. An immigration judge granted him release on bond, and the Envision Freedom Fund posted a $20,000 bond to secure his release. Chusin reunited with his family on Friday after a month in detention, with his legal team arguing that ICE violated his due process rights. His asylum case remains pending.

On July 15, 2025, ICE agents arrested two men in a Walworth County, Wisconsin courtroom during traffic court proceedings. Court Commissioner Peter Navis demanded to see a warrant from sheriff's deputies before allowing the arrest, citing lack of lawful authority and a court order requiring warrants be presented before detention. Following the incident, three county judges confronted Navis over his handling of the arrests, told him he had misstated their position, and gave him an ultimatum to resign or be fired. Navis subsequently resigned.

Federal authorities conducted immigration enforcement raids on Glass House Farms facilities in Southern California between July 10-14, 2025, resulting in over 360 arrests. Jonathan Anthony Caravello, a California State University Channel Islands math lecturer, was arrested during the July 10 raid in Camarillo and charged with allegedly throwing a tear gas canister at law enforcement, though some accounts indicate he was attempting to dislodge a canister stuck under a wheelchair. Caravello was released on a $15,000 bond with arraignment scheduled for August 1. During the broader enforcement operations, one farmworker died after falling from a greenhouse roof.