Human Impact Project

José Alejandro Aponte, a 65-year-old Cuban man deported from the United States to Villahermosa, Mexico, stayed briefly at the Amparito Shelter and now rents a small room in the city center. When Forbidden Stories spoke with him in spring 2026, he had just been refused residency in Mexico. "I tried to comply with every rule. Now I'm in immigration limbo. I have no papers to go anywhere," he said, adding that he fears losing contact with his family because phone companies now require numbers to be linked to a valid identity document.

Humberto García, a Cuban national deported to Mexico after living 35 years in the United States, tried to travel through the mountains near Tapachula to avoid migration checkpoints. He was approached by three armed attackers who robbed him and shot him twice in the torso; he stumbled for nearly an hour before reaching a road where authorities took him to a hospital. After three days recovering, with no organ damage from the bullets, he had no choice but to return to Tapachula, where he said he was left with nothing to eat and nowhere to sleep.

ICE launched a widespread enforcement operation targeting meat processing plants and other residents in Dodge City, Garden City, Liberal, and surrounding southwest Kansas communities, detaining dozens of people without advance notice to local officials. Liberal Vice Mayor Janeth Vazquez said she witnessed agents detain a mother who had a baby in her car, prompting a community volunteer to arrange for a family member to pick up the child. An immigrant rights advocate said families of some detained individuals reported their loved ones had no criminal records, despite ICE describing detainees as "the worst of the worst." Residents also reported ICE agents driving dangerously and racially profiling U.S. citizens. The operation caused widespread fear, with 120 students absent from one elementary school, many businesses closing for the week, and workers missing shifts at meat plants including National Beef and Cargill.

Mario David Coronado Juarez, a 36-year-old Guatemalan construction worker from Tuichilupe village in Comitancillo, San Marcos, died Sunday, Sept. 20, when his vehicle struck a tree and burst into flames in Grand Rapids, Michigan, while fleeing an attempted ICE traffic stop. He had worked in the U.S. for six to seven years to support his wife, two daughters and a son, and was building a house for his family. DHS said ICE officers had been trying to stop him to confirm his identity, mistaking him for a different Guatemalan man they were seeking, and that officers discontinued the pursuit and tried to render aid after the crash. Community members, including volunteer Karla Barberi of Cosecha Grand Rapids, described him as "a hard-working man for the working class" and "an honest man" who "was not a criminal." Grand Rapids Police Chief Joseph Trigg requested that Michigan State Police investigate, citing limited cooperation from federal agencies, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered an independent review. Rep. Hillary Scholten sent a letter to ICE demanding a transparent investigation, and the Guatemalan Consulate is coordinating repatriation of his remains while a GoFundMe and community vigil were organized to help his family, who could not initially afford the trip to begin repatriation proceedings.

Madeline Gallagher, a rapid response team member who had joined the volunteer group a month earlier, was pushed to the ground by a courthouse security staffer during a confrontation between activists and ICE agents at the Meriden courthouse. Other rapid response team members said they witnessed Gallagher briefly lose consciousness after her fall, and she was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. Gallagher said she was motivated to volunteer because "mothers [are] being taken away from their children." The incident occurred as ICE agents detained at least one man at the courthouse, an operation that raised questions about compliance with Connecticut's Trust Act, which limits immigration enforcement at courthouses and bans masked law enforcement.

Nancy Burton, a Meriden resident and member of a rapid response team monitoring ICE activity in Connecticut, was pepper-sprayed by an ICE agent exiting the Meriden courthouse during a confrontation between activists and agents. Burton said she was stepping away from the officer after he demanded she move when he deployed the spray, saying "He wanted to use his pepper spray, he didn't have to." She was treated by an emergency medical technician at the scene. The incident occurred as ICE agents detained at least one man at the courthouse, an operation that raised questions about compliance with Connecticut's Trust Act, which limits immigration enforcement at courthouses and bans masked law enforcement.

Retired Wayne County judge Michael Callahan said a convoy of eight armed ICE officers arrived at his metro Detroit home this summer claiming they only intended to place an ankle tether on his foster son. The officers had no warrant or court order, according to Callahan, even though his foster son, a refugee who had lived in the U.S. for more than seven years, had attended every required ICE check-in, had no criminal record, and worked full-time as a truck driver. Callahan said agents ultimately took his foster son into custody despite these circumstances.

Rapheal Oludemilade Adebowale, a Nigerian national, was arrested by ICE in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, as part of a Department of Homeland Security enforcement operation. Adebowale had been previously convicted of larceny and money laundering in Massachusetts following a jury trial, after a motion to dismiss the indictment against him was denied. DHS also arrested Jawwad Ali Ahmed, a Pakistani national with a prior conviction in Sacramento, California, and Alexandre Esdras Pandolfi-Soares, a Brazilian national with a prior conviction in Salt Lake City, Utah, during the same operation. DHS described the men as priority targets but did not disclose further details about their immigration status, pending court dates, or the specific immigration allegations against them. Adebowale now faces immigration proceedings and possible removal from the United States.

Carlos Josué Marchena Marchena, a 36-year-old Costa Rican national from Guanacaste who worked as a ride service driver and had four children, died on September 18, 2026 after being found unresponsive at Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, Louisiana, where he was later pronounced dead. He had been detained since January and was moved between facilities in several states, with his cousin saying his care had been adequate in Michigan but grew inconsistent after later transfers. His sister, girlfriend, and a detainee in a neighboring cell said he had complained of missed insulin shots, missed meals, spoiled food, and insufficient water, and that in the day before his death he was vomiting, sweating, and turned pale purple; his girlfriend said he called around midnight saying his medication wasn't helping. ICE said his medical care was appropriate, while the fellow detainee said he received only irregular insulin shots and a single pill for his symptoms. Marchena had requested bail and voluntary deportation to Costa Rica, both denied, and friends said he had migrated seeking better opportunities for his children. He is at least the third detainee to die in less than six months at the Louisiana facility and the 58th ICE detainee to die since January 2025; a prior federal inspection had found Winn fell short of medical care and food service standards. A GoFundMe was launched to help return his body to Costa Rica while the family awaits autopsy results.

Arsalan Saleh Fard (referred to as "Ali" in one account), a 25-year-old Christian convert from Qazvin Province, Iran, fled after being pursued by Iran's intelligence services and the Basij paramilitary force. He struggled to find work because of tattoos, and when a bank refused to hire him over them, he burned one off himself — only to then be rejected for appearing mentally unstable. After crossing the U.S. border to seek asylum, he was expelled to Panama on a military flight in January/February 2025 without an asylum hearing, as part of a group of 299 migrants deported there weeks after President Trump's inauguration. Eighteen months later, he remains stranded in Panama with no clear path to permanent refuge, at times sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Bella Mosselmans, a human rights lawyer who directs the Global Strategic Litigation Council and represents deportees sent to Panama, said such outcomes are an inevitable result of sending migrants to a country with a nonfunctioning asylum system, language barriers, and little access to legal counsel.

Unmarked vehicles carrying agents wearing 'ERO' patches, identifying them as ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers, entered a Home Depot parking lot in Concord early one morning and detained up to five day laborers who were waiting for work. Advocates with the Concord Immigrant Protections Network said the detained individuals' names and whereabouts remain unknown, and that ICE has not responded to requests for information. Advocates and community members rallied outside the store the following day, calling on Home Depot and city officials to take action to protect immigrant workers.

Christina Pérez, a DACA recipient who has lived in the United States for 37 years, was detained by ICE on February 22 while walking to her car, in the midst of renewing her deferred action protection. She was transferred first to a facility in Broadview, Illinois, and later to a jail in Kentucky, where she was held alongside both immigration detainees and people facing criminal charges. When she was detained her son was 10 months old, and after seven months in custody he did not recognize her when she returned home. Pérez was eventually released after filing Form 42B, an application for cancellation of removal and adjustment of status, and said she wants other families in similar situations not to give up and to seek legal counsel quickly.

An unidentified man was stopped by ICE agents in a white SUV near the intersection of Acushnet Avenue and Sawyer Street in New Bedford. When he ran from the vehicle, four agents chased him down, tackled him to the ground, and one agent tased him for about 15 seconds. Nearby business owners who witnessed the arrest described it as aggressive, with one saying she locked her shop door out of fear.

Camilo Quino, a Guatemalan national with a pending immigration case, was detained by ICE agents in New Bedford shortly after dropping his daughter off at school on a Tuesday. Video shared with NBC10 Boston showed officers breaking the window of his pickup truck before taking him into custody. His wife, Juana Tiniguarro, spoke publicly about the arrest, calling him "a hard-working man" and saying "they can't be doing that." Local officials and school administrators said they had received reports of agents near the school, though it was not established that the arrest occurred on school grounds. The arrest was part of a broader surge of ICE arrests in the New Bedford area that left families seeking information and support.

João Ferreira, 59, a Portuguese immigrant with a U.S. green card, was taken into custody early Tuesday in Dartmouth alongside a Brazilian man while riding in a landscaping truck on his way to a job in New Bedford. Ferreira had past criminal charges from 1992 and 2009, and in 2019 was stopped by Customs and Border Protection at Logan Airport and given a notice to appear for removal proceedings. He had filed a motion for a new trial on the earlier charges, which court records show remained unresolved.

A New Bedford man from Guatemala, who arrived in the U.S. four years earlier and had work authorization while his asylum application was pending, was detained by ICE agents on Tuesday while on break from his job at an auto repair shop. According to his brother, identified only as Nicolás for fear of being targeted himself, the man did not immediately open his car door when agents approached, so an agent smashed the window to pull him out. Nicolás said his sister had also been arrested during a 2007 immigration raid in New Bedford. He later spoke with his brother by phone, who was being held at ICE's facility in Burlington, Massachusetts.

Dannick Massamba-Bankela, a corrections officer at the Cumberland County Jail, was detained by ICE agents following a scheduled appointment at the agency's Scarborough office. He came to the United States from the Republic of Congo in 2023, applied for asylum within three months, and holds work authorization with no criminal record. He previously worked as a transportation coordinator for a Portland assisted-living facility and is the sole breadwinner for his wife and two young children, whom he told he loved before his appointment. Protesters said he arrived at the office with his children but was told to return later without them. His attorney, Christina Corbaci, said he entered legally on a visa and has a pending asylum claim, but ICE cited a visa overstay as the reason for detention; she called him courageous and said he anticipated the detention. He is being held at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Massachusetts, and Corbaci plans to file a motion for a bond hearing. He is the fifth known Cumberland County corrections officer detained by ICE, following the detentions of Nilton Ribeiro of Angola in August and a York County corrections officer in January.

A man doing landscaping work for Tommy Builders was detained by six to eight federal agents near Fifth Street in North Everett on a Monday morning. Video recorded by homeowner Jennifer Gordon shows masked agents in tactical vests reading 'Police' and 'Immigration and Customs Enforcement' pulling the man from a work truck as he shouted for help in English and Spanish, said 'They don't have a warrant,' and said 'I can't breathe' while agents leaned over him. A second man working with him ran from the scene. Gordon said the agents wore no badges or identification and used unmarked vehicles; when she asked to see a warrant, an agent told her, 'I don't have to show it to you,' and later photographed her house and address before leaving, which she said felt intimidating. A neighbor said an agent claimed the man was being arrested over a murder allegation in his home country, but ICE declined to confirm details or release his name, citing privacy concerns.

Yeferson Francisco Sequera Ruiz, a 31-year-old immigrant from Venezuela, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is being held in a Texas detention center. According to immigration, state and federal court records, he has no criminal convictions and is facing deportation.

Malena Chacón Santos, a 24-year-old Cuban woman who entered the U.S. legally in November 2024 through the CBP One app and applied for asylum, was detained by ICE in November 2025 after voluntarily attending a routine immigration supervision appointment in Dallas. She was transferred to the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, Texas, more than 175 miles from home, where she has remained for nearly 10 months. In February 2025, she married Juan Carlos Alvarez, a U.S. Army veteran who lives with disabilities including depression, anxiety and arthritis, and became stepmother to his three children. Alvarez drives three hours every Sunday to visit her, and the couple speaks by phone daily. Her attorney filed a federal habeas corpus petition in May 2026, which a judge denied with prejudice on August 4. Chacón Santos says she has no criminal convictions and is still awaiting a decision on her case.