Human Impact Project

Federal and state lawmakers toured the newly constructed Alligator Alcatraz detention facility in Florida's Everglades on July 12-13, 2025. The facility, built in eight days on an isolated airstrip, houses nearly 1,000 detainees with plans to expand to 4,000 capacity. Democratic lawmakers reported seeing detainees in cages with harsh conditions including extreme heat, insects, and inadequate sanitation facilities, while Republican officials characterized the facility as clean and well-functioning. The tour followed earlier Democratic attempts to visit the remote facility.

Mamadou Fadel Cherif, 56, was arrested by ICE on July 13 as he left his home in West Oak Lane. Cherif had been granted Withholding of Removal nearly 20 years ago after fleeing Guinea, where he was jailed by the government for protesting the 1998 presidential election. He has no criminal record, works legally in the United States as a dining services employee at La Salle College High School and as an Uber driver, holds a Social Security number and driver's license, and is the primary financial support for his wife (a green card holder) and four American-born sons, including a Marines reservist. His employer described him as "an extremely hard worker" whom students and staff love. While Withholding of Removal bars deportation to Guinea, ICE can attempt deportation to a third country; his attorney filed a federal court petition seeking his immediate release, arguing there is no likelihood of third-country deportation and he has been denied due process.

Rami Othmane, a 36-year-old Tunisian man and green card applicant married to a U.S. citizen, was arrested by ICE agents on July 13 while driving to the supermarket. He was held for 13 days at the downtown L.A. ICE facility (B-18) despite a settlement requiring detainees be held no more than 12 hours. Conditions included an open toilet, concrete floor sleeping, malnutrition, and extreme cold temperatures while he suffered from a brain tumor. After his transfer to an Arizona detention center and 13 additional days there, he was released on bail with an ankle monitor.

Jonathan Jarquín, a 17-year-old, was detained by ICE on July 12 while on his way to church with another minor, Emely Suaza. Suaza was released to her father, but Jarquín's mother says she has been unable to locate her son since. She says she only receives vague text messages about sponsorship from an unknown number, and that the attorney she hired has stopped responding despite being paid. She said she is afraid to come forward publicly to search for him out of fear she could be detained herself, and added she would rather have her son sent back to his home country than remain in uncertainty about his detention.

Lee Stinton, a 45-year-old Irish hairstylist from Northern Ireland who had lived in Key West since 2018, was detained by ICE on June 12 after being stopped for a traffic violation on his e-bike. During the stop, an ICE officer told him "You look Mexican" before taking him into custody. Stinton had valid work authorization and a pending green card application through VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) protection after his previous marriage ended in domestic violence charges. An ICE officer also threatened to detain Stinton's partner, DeVaun Davis, a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier and U.S. citizen, after seeing his photo on Stinton's phone. At Krome Detention Center near Miami, Stinton was held in severely overcrowded conditions—a cell designed for 10 people held approximately 100 men on a concrete floor with one toilet—denied vegan food despite being vegan, given limited access to showers and medications, and experienced obstacles contacting a lawyer. During his detention, Stinton was taken to a hospital where subdermal piercings were surgically removed without his consent while he was shackled to a bed. He also witnessed a detainee die after not receiving heart medication. Stinton is a valued community member with no criminal record who had been paying taxes since 2019; a local petition for his release drew over 1,500 signatures. After approximately one month in detention, Stinton was deported to London on July 12 and returned to Northern Ireland, where he has since engaged in therapy and part-time work. His case drew international attention with coverage in the BBC, Belfast Telegraph, and other outlets.

Tenzin, a 29-year-old Tibetan refugee originally from Nepal, arrived at Newark airport on July 12 and was detained after attempting to cross into Canada. He spent over six months in ICE detention in Batavia, NY, where his asylum case was dismissed by a judge due to an interpreter's illness, then targeted for deportation to Uganda under the Trump administration's pretermission policy. His attorney successfully intervened to have him deported to Canada instead, where he arrived on February 19.

U.S. Border Patrol agents raided Don Chilaquiles food stand in La Puente on December 3, 2025, detaining three workers. Video footage shows agents seizing a cash box from the stand and placing it in an unmarked vehicle. One worker fled to a nearby firetruck during the operation, and an accident occurred between an agent's vehicle and another car at the scene.

Federal ICE agents raided Glass House Farms facilities in Camarillo and Carpinteria, California on July 11, detaining dozens of farmworkers. Hundreds of community members gathered to protest, and federal agents deployed tear gas and smoke grenades on the crowd, injuring at least one city council member. Judith Ramos, a 22-year-old certified nurse assistant, was sprayed with tear gas when she arrived at the farm to support her father, a farmworker at the facility, and learned he had been detained. Rep. Salud Carbajal was denied entry when he attempted to conduct congressional oversight of the raid. National Guard troops in military vehicles also responded to the scene. ICE agents conducted a heavily armed raid on Glass House Farms cannabis facilities in Camarillo and Carpinteria on July 10, 2025, detaining 361 adults and 14 minors. A 56-year-old farm worker died after falling 30 feet from a greenhouse roof. Three men—undocumented farm worker Santiago, security guard George Retes (an Iraq veteran), and professor John Caravello—were arrested during the operation; Caravello was arrested after throwing back a teargas canister at agents.

Sandra, an asylum seeker from South America, was arrested by ICE during a routine check-in appointment at the agency's San Francisco field office on July 11, 2025, and has been held in a detention center awaiting updates on her pending asylum case. She met her husband Roberto online in 2017 and undertook a months-long journey through Central America and the Darien Gap to reunite with him in San Francisco, where they married in early 2025. Sandra was taking English classes at City College and the couple was planning to start a family when she was detained. Roberto, who recently obtained legal status and received a promotion at work, was present during the appointment. Sandra continues to wait for her first court date, with her attorney fighting for her pending asylum application while she remains in detention.

Barbara Stone, a 71-year-old U.S. citizen, was handcuffed and detained by ICE agents outside of a San Diego immigration court hearing. Stone reported that she was affected by the incident.

According to a social media post, Border Patrol allegedly illegally arrested a U.S. citizen. The family reportedly does not know the whereabouts of the arrested individual. The incident was shared on Instagram with a video documenting the situation.

Jackie Merlos, an undocumented immigrant mother from Honduras with a pending U-visa, was detained by CBP agents on June 28, 2025, at Peace Arch Park near the U.S.-Canada border during a family picnic. Merlos, a well-regarded local business owner who had lived in Portland, Oregon for decades, was held in a CBP facility for 12 days. An ICE agent then called Merlos' friend Mimi Lettunich, demanding she immediately pick up Merlos' four U.S. citizen children—9-year-old triplets and a 7-year-old—or they would be placed in foster care. Lettunich, who had not cared for young children in years and had a full-time job, took the children into her home. Federal authorities attempted to deport Merlos without proper documentation or due process, but a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the children's removal. As of July 2025, Merlos remained in ICE custody at a facility in Tacoma, Washington, separated from her children and facing formal removal proceedings.

Edgar, a 36-year-old DACA recipient who arrived in the U.S. from Mexico as a 13-year-old in 2001, was detained following a warrant for missing a court date related to driving with a suspended license. He was arrested, held briefly at Orange County jail, then transferred to the Florida Everglades detention center dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" in early June 2025. Edgar is the father of three U.S. citizens with no criminal record and maintains valid DACA status through regular renewals, with a current work permit. His employer submitted a letter supporting him, and his attorney Josephine Arroyo has petitioned ICE to grant him bond. When arrested, Edgar informed officers of his active DACA status but was told by ICE that DACA had been canceled. His family expressed concern for his safety, citing detention conditions including 24-hour lighting, poor food, mosquitoes, inconsistent air conditioning, and a non-functional toilet system. Neither Edgar nor his attorney understands the legal basis for his continued detention, and the timeline for resolving his bond petition remains unclear.

Vanessa Valdez, a Ventura-based attorney and legal observer, was shot six times with rubber bullets and exposed to tear gas during a raid at Glass House Farms in July 2025, despite identifying herself as a legal observer. The raid, conducted by ICE and Border Patrol agents, resulted in more than 360 arrests at farm sites in Carpinteria and Camarillo, northwest of Los Angeles. Valdez reported severe pain, sleep disruption for three weeks, inability to see, and crawled on all fours to escape. She has filed a tort claim against the federal government seeking compensation for hospital visits, lost wages during recovery, anxiety medication, and mental health treatment.

Mitch Lillie, a volunteer with grassroots organization VC Defense, was at the Glass House Farms facility in Camarillo when federal agents raided the site on July 10, 2025. Lillie was shot in the temple with a rubber bullet during the operation. He witnessed workers trapped in the facility and family members distraught on their phones.

NBC6 reviewed dozens of 911 calls made from April through June 2025 from family members and employees at Krome Detention Center requesting medical assistance for detainees. The calls document cases of unresponsive detainees, chest pains, blood coughing, and other serious health conditions where facility staff allegedly did not provide adequate medical response. A recent report found detainees were held beyond the 12-hour limit and some did not receive required medical and mental health screenings upon arrival.

Two federal ICE agents arrested 27-year-old Jack Randmaa and pepper sprayed 80-year-old attorney Doug Hayes during a chaotic scene in downtown Santa Barbara. Randmaa, a volunteer ICE observer, was allegedly arrested after approaching an ICE vehicle on Carrillo Street, with agents accusing him of slashing a tire, though his father claims the charges are false.

Nicolle Orozco Forero, her husband Juan Sebastian Moreno Acosta, and their two sons were detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas in June 2025 after arriving for a routine ICE check-in appointment. The family, who had been living in Seattle for two years, were separated by gender during their three-week detention. Their son Juan David, who had a serious kidney condition requiring medical treatment including a recommended biopsy, was denied adequate medical care by ICE officials. Despite legal efforts and community mobilization including support from U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro, the family was eventually deported.

A deaf Mongolian man, identified by the pseudonym Avirmed to protect his family from retaliation, has spent more than four months at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego without access to anyone who understands Mongolian Sign Language, according to his attorney Alegría De La Cruz of the Disability Rights Legal Center. Avirmed entered the U.S. in February 2025 seeking asylum after a 2020 assault in Mongolia left him deaf with a traumatic brain injury causing seizures and memory loss; his attorneys say he gave border officials a letter explaining his disability and asylum request, which Customs and Border Protection agents refused to accept. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw ordered officials to provide him a Mongolian Sign Language interpreter and to redo his mental health and credible-fear assessments. His attorney said he has effectively been isolated because no one has been able to communicate with him in his sign language throughout his detention and legal proceedings.

Immigrants detained at ICE holding rooms at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan have complained of inhumane conditions including cramped quarters, inadequate food, inability to bathe or change clothes, and sleeping on concrete floors. Some detainees reported stays lasting up to 10 days in what were previously temporary processing areas, with allegations of insufficient medical care and limited communication with family and lawyers.