Human Impact Project

Minneapolis City Council President Elliott Payne was shoved from behind by an ICE officer on October 31, 2025, while legally observing an ICE enforcement action at a bus stop on Central Avenue. Payne was standing with fellow council member Jason Chavez when they witnessed ICE officers stop a person waiting for the bus. Video footage captured an ICE officer pushing Payne from behind as he was recording and attempting to speak with the agents. Payne said he introduced himself as the council president and tried to de-escalate the situation, calling the officer's behavior "reckless."

Fouad Saeed Abdulkadir, a 46-year-old Eritrean man and respected leader of the Muslim community, died on December 14, 2025, after 216 days in ICE custody at Moshannon Valley ICE Processing Center in Pennsylvania. On December 5, 2025, Abdulkadir filed a habeas corpus petition seeking release from custody. He sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on December 11, 2025, but the court denied both motions. On January 13, 2026, the court dismissed his habeas petition as moot following his death. CAIR Northern Ohio and CAIR Philadelphia issued a statement expressing condolences to his family and reaffirming their commitment to advocating for humane treatment in immigration detention facilities.

Videos emerged showing Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICE nurse, being forcibly taken to the ground by federal immigration agents on January 13 after kicking out the tail light of their vehicle during a Minneapolis protest. The altercation occurred 11 days before Pretti was shot and killed by Border Patrol officers on January 24. The videos show Pretti struggling with agents and a handgun visible in his waistband, though he did not reach for it and it is unclear if agents saw the weapon.

Abel, an undocumented immigrant who has lived in Minnesota for 29 years with his four U.S.-born children, was detained by immigration agents on January 13, 2026, while delivering groceries to families in hiding during Operation Metro Surge. Agents pulled over his vehicle in Burnsville and arrested him despite his pending green card approval. He was held at a detention center in El Paso, Texas, for two weeks before being released on January 29, 2026. His arrest forced his wife into hiding and left his sons to manage household responsibilities.

Four men were charged in connection with an ICE raid at a Hardin Valley construction site on January 13, with charges filed in January and a superseding indictment in March. All four were accused of conspiring to conceal and harbor undocumented immigrants for financial gain. Three men, including one accused of using a pickup truck to block the site entrance and strike agents' vehicle, were also charged with conspiring to prevent federal officers from performing their duties.

During an anti-ICE protest outside an ICE building in Santa Ana, California on January 13, 2026, a 21-year-old college student named Kaden Rummler was struck in the face by a projectile fired by a federal officer at close range. The incident resulted in permanent blindness in his left eye, skull fractures, and required six hours of surgery. The demonstration was organized in response to the shooting death of Renee Good by a federal agent in Minneapolis. Rummler's family has spoken out about the incident.

A U.S. citizen was arrested during an immigration enforcement crackdown. The family disputes the arrest and claims their relative should not have been taken into custody.

Hani Duglof, a 32-year-old with a rare genetic disorder (RDEB) that causes skin blistering, was detained by ICE after agents ran his license plate while he was driving. He was transferred to M Health Fairview Southdale Hospital after requesting medical attention, where he remains in ICE custody. His family and attorney are seeking his release, citing his severe medical condition and his pending asylum application that has been ongoing for over 10 years.

Two Minneapolis residents who monitor immigration officers' activities were detained by ICE for several hours without being charged. During their detention, they were held without access to phone calls and were pressured to provide information about protest organizers and undocumented immigrants.

A 19-year-old man from Ecuador applying for Special Immigrant Juvenile status and asylum was detained by Border Patrol agents outside a T-Mobile store in Minneapolis on January 13, 2026. He was transported to Texas and held for seven days without access to legal counsel. After attorney Kira Kelley filed a habeas petition, a court ordered his return to Minnesota and release from custody on January 20, 2026.

Kong Vang, a St. Paul resident, recorded federal immigration agents knocking on his door in the Frogtown neighborhood. Vang refused to open the door after agents did not explain the purpose of their visit, and they left after about 90 seconds. The video was posted to Facebook and received over 400,000 views.

A high school graduate was detained during an ICE raid while working.

Federal ICE agents raided a residential home in Minneapolis on Sunday, ramming the door to arrest a man inside. Agents pepper-sprayed protesters who had gathered outside the home to disrupt the operation. The raid occurred as part of a massive enforcement campaign in Minnesota that has resulted in more than 2,000 immigration arrests since early December, and took place in a city reeling from the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer on January 7.

ICE agents rammed into Christian Molina's car in south Minneapolis on January 12, 2026, then questioned him about his immigration status. Molina, a U.S. citizen, refused to comply and was not detained. The incident occurred two blocks from where an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good on January 7.

A Navajo man named Peter Yazzie was detained by ICE agents at a gas station in Peoria on January 12th despite presenting multiple forms of identification including a Certificate of Indian Blood, driver's license, and birth certificate. Yazzie, a U.S. citizen under the Citizenship Act of 1924, was detained for four hours. Tribal leaders stated that federally recognized tribal IDs are needed and questioned whether ICE operated within its legal jurisdiction regarding Native Americans.

Nimco Omar, a Somali-American U.S. citizen, was stopped by multiple masked ICE officers while walking in her Minneapolis neighborhood. The officers demanded identification and proof of citizenship status. Omar refused to provide ID and asserted she was a U.S. citizen, but an officer threatened to place her in a vehicle and warned of federal charges if she was lying. Omar recorded the encounter on her phone out of fear. Legal experts noted that U.S. citizens have no legal obligation to provide identification while walking or standing in public. The encounter occurred as part of ICE's expanded enforcement operations in Minneapolis.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted enforcement operations across multiple Los Angeles neighborhoods over the weekend, resulting in the detention of at least a dozen people. Arrests occurred in Echo Park, Silver Lake, Downey, Eagle Rock, and Highland Park, with DHS confirming that 11 detainees were from Mexico and El Salvador. Community members witnessed and documented the incidents as federal immigration agents took people into custody. Some of those detained reportedly had valid documentation or long-term residence in the U.S., according to witnesses and local organizations including the Los Angeles Tenants Union.

A Venezuelan man who entered the United States in January 2022 says he applied for asylum and complied with all release regulations. He was arrested in Florida on January 12, 2026, on a criminal charge and held for six months before the state court case ended in a nolle prosequi, meaning no conviction. Rather than being released, an immigration hold was placed on him and he was transferred into immigration detention at Jackson Parish Correctional Center in Jonesboro, Louisiana. While his habeas corpus petition was pending, he filed an emergency motion asking the court to block any transfer to another facility, or alternatively to require advance notice of a transfer and to ensure he retained access to his legal papers and ability to communicate about the case. The federal court denied the motion, finding that habeas jurisdiction is not affected by a transfer, that claims about prison transfers are generally not legally actionable under the habeas statute, and that detainees have no protected right to remain at a particular facility.

Ava Corey-Gruenes was pepper-sprayed in the face by a masked ICE agent during a confrontation between federal immigration agents and protesters in Mankato, Minnesota, on January 12, 2026. Video shows the agent exiting a vehicle and ordering the crowd to move before spraying her; she had told the agent "I don't pose a threat" moments before being sprayed. The same agent was accused by another protester of using bear spray. The incident drew public anger, with more than 300 residents packing a Mankato City Council meeting afterward to address the use of chemical irritants during ICE operations.

A Salvadoran man who entered the U.S. at age 12 in 2007 and has lived here continuously since was arrested by ICE agents at Long Beach Airport in January 2026 after clearing security and while waiting to board a flight. He is the father of three U.S. citizen children, ages 10, 5, and 3, whom he saw daily and helped care for after school before his detention; most of his extended family, including his mother, brother, and other relatives, live in the United States. He had previously held DACA status, which expired after his renewal applications were denied without explanation, and an in absentia removal order had been entered against him in 2008 when he was 13 and never received notice of the hearing. After his detention, an immigration judge reopened his removal case and rescinded the 2008 order, and he applied for cancellation of removal, which remains pending with a hearing scheduled for September 2026. He has been held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center since his arrest, including a period when he was transferred to Arizona in violation of a court order. After two bond hearings denied him release—one where the burden was misapplied and another where he was found not dangerous but still a flight risk—he filed this habeas petition seeking release rather than a new hearing, and the court granted the petition, ordering his immediate release and further briefing on whether he is entitled to protection from re-detention given his DACA history and prior liberty interest.