Human Impact Project

Federal agents conducted an ICE raid at La Catedral Arena horse track in Wilder on Sunday, resulting in 105 undocumented people being arrested. The operation involved approximately 200 agents from multiple federal and local agencies and was connected to an FBI investigation into illegal gambling, with four people arrested on gambling charges. Witnesses reported chaotic scenes with children separated from parents in custody during the operation.

An Oak Park civil litigation attorney was arrested by ICE agents outside his child's elementary school on Monday morning. The attorney was detained after following an ICE van and honking his horn and blowing a whistle, which he said was to identify the unmarked vehicle. He was charged with impeding federal agents and held for approximately one hour before being released near the school.

A Mexican immigrant father of five, who has lived and worked in the U.S. for two decades without a criminal record, was detained during an Oct. 19 ICE raid on a horse track near Wilder, Idaho, that swept up more than 100 people. He has since been held in Wyoming's Uinta and Sweetwater county jails, and his attorney is petitioning a federal judge for his release or a bond hearing while his immigration case proceeds. His daughter, a U.S. citizen who witnessed the raid while caring for her baby, said her father 'works his butt off' for the family and that her younger siblings, ages 15 and 11, were handcuffed with zip ties for hours and traumatized by the operation. A federal judge has since ordered the government to provide the man a bond hearing within seven days or release him.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers from about 10 agencies swept La Catedral Arena horse track in Wilder, Idaho, in October, zip-tying roughly 400 attendees, including children, during what the FBI called an illegal gambling investigation covered by a warrant for only five suspects. Ultimately 105 undocumented immigrants were taken into ICE custody, while a group of Idahoans, including U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, sued alleging officers used racial epithets and withheld water, food, bathroom access and medical care; lead plaintiff Juana Rodriguez said she was zip-tied for nearly four hours and unable to hold her 3-year-old son. Records show the Nampa Police Department spent about $24,000 and the Caldwell Police Department spent $11,300 in officer wages that day, with Caldwell's chief saying he felt 'very bad' that children were separated from parents. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill later ordered 16 detainees released after rejecting the government's bid to expand mandatory detention and awarded roughly $87,000 in attorneys' fees to two law firms suing over the raid. Four protesters arrested at the scene were charged with misdemeanor resisting and obstructing officers, with most charges later dropped; ICE, the FBI and local agencies have since filed motions seeking dismissal of the lawsuit. Attorney Nikki Ramirez-Smith said, 'If the government's going to illegally detain them, and we have to fight that ... we're all going to pay for it.'

Ruperto Vicens Marquez, head chef at Emilio's Kitchen in Atlantic Highlands, was detained by ICE on October 19, 2025. According to ICE, Marquez is from Mexico and has a final removal order, though his lawyer disputes this claim and states he has a pending merits hearing scheduled for 2028. Marquez has valid work authorization through 2029 according to Atlantic Highlands Mayor Lori Hohenleitner, and his wife and three children remain in the U.S. A protest was held in support of Marquez, and a GoFundMe campaign has raised $85,000 to cover legal fees.

Miguel Barreno López, a 39-year-old Spanish citizen, was arrested by ICE on October 18, 2025, during a traffic stop near Chicago after his tourist visa expired. An immigration judge approved his voluntary departure to Spain on November 17, 2025. Despite this approval, Barreno remained detained at Kenton County Detention Center in Kentucky for six months with no communication from ICE regarding his departure status or case updates. He was eventually deported to Spain in May 2026 and banned from re-entering the U.S. for ten years.

A 57-year-old Mexican father of four was detained at Broadview Processing Center for four days in severely overcrowded conditions before signing a voluntary departure form, unaware his attorney had secured an emergency hearing that could have allowed him to stay. He was deported to Mexico the following day after waiving his right to appeal. The case illustrates concerns among immigration attorneys that voluntary departures may not be truly voluntary, with immigrants reporting coercion due to language barriers and lack of legal knowledge.

A 42-year-old San Francisco tenant from Russia who fled political persecution remains in federal immigration custody at California City Detention Center while facing eviction for alleged nonpayment of rent. The Eviction Defense Collaborative has taken on his legal representation ahead of his Monday eviction trial at McAllister Street court, preventing an automatic no-show eviction. His landlord's legal firm has refused to reschedule the hearing despite awareness of his detention, and ICE has not responded to requests about allowing virtual court appearance.

Kevin Larson, a 68-year-old Canadian retiree with no criminal record, was stopped at the Blue Water Bridge on October 18, 2025, while attempting to enter Michigan to attend a No Kings protest against Trump's policies. After three hours of questioning, fingerprinting, a phone search, and a DNA cheek swab collected under threat of jail time, Larson was denied entry and returned to Canada. Border agents told him he was turned away due to the nature of his planned protest activity.

David Huerta, president of SEIU California, was arrested while protesting a federal immigration raid at an apparel business in downtown Los Angeles. Federal agents pushed him to the ground, causing his head to hit the curb, then sprayed him with a chemical irritant, handcuffed him, and took him to a hospital before transferring him to a federal detention center. Prosecutors initially charged him with felony conspiracy to impede a federal officer. The charge was later reduced to a misdemeanor, and the case was ultimately dismissed with prejudice in July. Huerta said the 15-month legal ordeal caused him significant psychological stress, strained his marriage, and led him to begin therapy.

Portland Police Commander Franz Schoening testified in federal court that on October 18, federal officers accidentally escalated a No Kings protest at an ICE facility when one officer misfired a tear gas launcher, sending a canister onto the roof where other federal officers were stationed. The officers on the roof mistook the friendly fire for an attack by protesters and retaliated by firing tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd, injuring local law enforcement in the process.

A Pennsylvania man exonerated after spending over 40 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit was immediately taken into ICE custody upon his release, with authorities seeking to deport him to India based on a 1988 deportation order. Subu Vedam, who moved to the US at nine months old, was cleared of the 1980 murder charge earlier this month, but ICE cited his old drug conviction and deportation order as grounds for detention. His family and lawyers are fighting the deportation, arguing that Vedam has virtually no ties to India, had applied for US citizenship before his arrest, and demonstrated decades of good behavior in prison where he earned three degrees and mentored fellow inmates.

Alexander Villeda, 30, an El Salvadoran national, was arrested during Operation Midway Blitz at the Swap-O-Rama market in October 2025, eight days after marrying Alexa Ramírez. He is being held at an immigration detention center in Battle Creek, Michigan, fighting his immigration case and hoping to secure release on bond. Villeda arrived in the U.S. on a tourist visa in 2015 and has no criminal record. His wife was deported to Mexico, and he faces pressure to self-deport to El Salvador, which would prevent them from reuniting.

Alexa Ramírez, 38, a Mexican national who had been living and working in Chicago, was arrested during Operation Midway Blitz at the Swap-O-Rama market in October 2025, just eight days after marrying her husband Alexander Villeda. She was held for four days at the Broadview federal immigration processing center, where she signed a form agreeing to self-deport. She was deported to Mexico two days later and is now living on her parents' farm in Oaxaca, unable to reunite with her husband who remains detained in Michigan.

Ali Faqirzada, an Afghan refugee and Bard College student, was detained by ICE following a credible fear interview in his asylum case. He was held for six months before being released and reunited with his family in New Paltz.

Maricruz Andres, 24, and her 3-month-old baby were inside a Gresham apartment when ICE agents repeatedly shouted a name from outside for over an hour. When the family did not come out, armed officers forced their way in, drew rifles as they entered the bedroom where Andres and others had taken refuge, and arrested two men. Andres said the agents displayed no warrant. The incident occurred as ICE enforcement in Oregon has intensified, with reports of agents pulling Latino high school students from a car at gunpoint twice in one day in Hillsboro, arresting construction workers at job sites, and conducting operations in public spaces and businesses.

Chong Leng Vue, 45, a Hmong man who has lived in the United States for 44 years since arriving as an infant, was detained by ICE on October 16 at an immigration office in Atlanta after appearing for a routine appointment in response to a mailed notice. Vue was born stateless in a Thai refugee camp after his family fled persecution in Laos during the Secret War; he has no ties outside the U.S. and is the sole provider for his family of seven, all U.S. citizens. DHS cited his 2004 removal order related to prior assault and firearm convictions. Vue is currently held at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, where his wife reports cold conditions, limited access to showers and hygiene supplies, and difficulty communicating with family and attorneys. His wife said the detention has forced the family to withdraw their children from extracurricular activities and left them struggling financially.

A Cuban national who presented himself at Miami International Airport in December 2022 seeking asylum was placed into immigration custody on October 16, 2025, after completing a criminal sentence in Pennsylvania. He had been charged and convicted of crimes in Florida, Texas, and Pennsylvania, receiving a 163-day to one-year sentence. An immigration judge ordered his removal to Ecuador on December 23, 2025, and the removal order became final on January 23, 2026. The court denied his habeas petition and temporary restraining order, finding his post-removal detention of less than six months presumptively reasonable.

Jude Jasmine Jeannine Allard, 28, and Jenaro-Ernesto Ayala, 43, day-laborer advocates, were arrested by federal Border Patrol at a Home Depot parking lot in Van Nuys on suspicion of interfering with immigration enforcement operations. They are facing additional felony charges for allegedly placing homemade tire spikes to disable law enforcement vehicles. Ayala is a U.S. citizen and outreach coordinator at the Van Nuys Day Labor Center who helps connect workers with resources and jobs. After their arrests, attorneys Cal Soto and Colleen Flynn attempted to meet with the detainees at the Federal Detention Center on Alameda Street in Downtown Los Angeles but were denied access, with federal authorities citing ongoing "processing" and inability to locate where the detainees were being held.

The ACLU of Nevada filed a lawsuit challenging Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's 287(g) partnership with ICE, which allows local officers to hold undocumented immigrants for transfer to federal agents. The case centers on Sergio Morais-Hechavarria, a 36-year-old man arrested in August who pleaded guilty to attempted possession of a stolen vehicle. After completing his criminal sentence, a judge ordered his release to an inpatient treatment facility, but Metro detained him on an ICE immigration hold for weeks beyond his release date. On October 16, Morais-Hechavarria was transferred to a Texas immigration facility without notice to his attorneys and in violation of the court order. The ACLU contends the 287(g) partnership violates Nevada state law and Dillon's rule, which prohibits local agencies from exercising powers not authorized by the Legislature.