Human Impact Project

Renatho Kemsley Casseus, a Haitian national believed to be a San Diego City College student, was arrested by ICE agents near campus after unmarked vehicles stopped his car at 16th Street and C Street. A second student riding in the vehicle fled on foot onto campus grounds, and agents ended their pursuit after realizing they had entered college property. DHS said Casseus entered the U.S. through El Paso, Texas in May 2023 and was released into the country under the Biden administration, and that his case will be heard by an immigration judge. San Diego City College said it was providing counseling and legal services to students and employees following the arrest.

Natalie Holmes, 51, a Jamaican national and ordained pastor, says she was deported to Equatorial Guinea in June while her habeas corpus petition challenging her removal was still pending. Holmes says she and other deportees were dragged from their rooms at gunpoint, handcuffed, assaulted and threatened by armed guards at the decommissioned Hotel Bamy in Malabo, where she remains detained and fears for her life. Witnesses and video footage from the broader deportation program show police in Equatorial Guinea pointing firearms at migrants deported there from the United States. Deportees held at the Malabo hotel, including Holmes, have complained of inadequate medical care, denial of legal assistance, and severe psychological distress.

Federal agents returned to the area of the Geisinger Medical Center construction project on September 8, beginning arrests around 6 a.m., according to immigrant-rights advocates. The Centre County Rapid Response Network said eight people were detained in this second operation, following the earlier September 2 arrests connected to the same construction project. Some detainees were held at Clinton County Jail, and advocates linked the arrests to a broader workplace enforcement surge.

Peta-Gaye Chambers, 35, who came to the United States from Jamaica as a child, had been granted 'withholding of removal' by a U.S. immigration judge in 2013 after he found she would face persecution in Jamaica. Despite that protection, ICE deported her to Equatorial Guinea in June without notice. Chambers says she and other deportees were dragged from their rooms at gunpoint, handcuffed, assaulted and threatened by armed guards at the decommissioned Hotel Bamy in Malabo, where she remains held.

ICE agents conducted an operation in the parking lot of a Home Depot on 43rd Avenue in west Phoenix, detaining about 10 people early Saturday morning, including day laborers waiting for work and some customers exiting the store. Witnesses said agents disguised themselves as day laborers and unhoused people before making arrests, and cell phone video showed men handcuffed and seated beside the road as agents surrounded them. Erika Andiola of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and Clarissa Vela of People First Project said many of those detained did not match the administration's stated focus on people with criminal records, with some detainees having only come to shop. Activists noted ICE Mobile Criminal Apprehension Teams have routinely conducted undercover license-plate-scanning operations at the same location. ICE has not publicly released details about the operation, and protesters and day laborers returned to the store two days later.

Galina Bobreneva, a 40-year-old Russian national who entered the U.S. legally on a tourist visa in 2021, extended her stay after the war in Ukraine began, and applied for asylum in 2022, was detained by a plainclothes ICE agent at Burbank airport on July 13 while traveling with her husband, Brent Jindra, a technology salesman who says he voted for Trump three times. The couple married in December 2025, and Jindra had filed a marriage-based green card petition for her in April, with fingerprinting already completed; her lawyer maintains she was never out of lawful status, while DHS says she overstayed her visa and calls her 'an illegal alien.' She spent 16 days in detention, including a night on the floor of a basement holding cell in downtown Los Angeles and about two weeks at the Adelanto ICE Processing Facility, where she said she was treated 'like a piece of meat, not like a human,' citing sleep deprivation, only four working showers for about 120 women, scarce drinking water, and denied healthcare. She was released on July 29 on a $35,000 bond and fitted with an electronic monitor, with an ICE check-in scheduled for September 7 and a court appearance set for October 22. 'A US citizen just watched his wife get dragged away and had no idea where she's going,' Jindra said. 'We are living in fear in my own country.'

A Maryland Heights, Missouri man who was commended for his service as a translator for the U.S. Army during the war in Afghanistan was arrested by ICE officers. He is being held in a Ste. Genevieve County prison.

Ramon Avilez-Frias and Maria Del Pilar Moreno-Loredo, longtime employees of Cisco's, Austin's oldest Tex-Mex restaurant, were detained by ICE on September 7 at 6 a.m. as they arrived for work. Both are described as hardworking, tax-paying people with no criminal records who are parents and spouses. A GoFundMe campaign was started to help their families cover legal costs and daily expenses while they remain in ICE custody.

A man referred to as 'John' was detained by ICE after his car was stopped on his way home from work in California, and was forced to agree to self-deport to Mexico within a week of his arrest rather than remain in an ICE detention facility. He was held without legal representation or access to his medication, and his family did not know his whereabouts for three days. John came to California from Mexico 30 years ago, worked in construction, and supported his wife and three children, none of whom had legal status despite having no criminal record. A GoFundMe campaign was launched by a family friend to support John's health and new start in Mexico and to help his family, who remain in the U.S. struggling emotionally and financially.

ICE's Dallas office conducted a summer-long enforcement operation around Lake Lewisville, Texas, running from June 27 through Labor Day weekend, resulting in 121 arrests. The operation was conducted in coordination with state and local law enforcement to assist with lake-related investigations and allow local agencies to focus on boating safety enforcement. ICE said two of those arrested were allegedly affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang, and officials stated that every person arrested had a criminal record, including charges such as assault, theft, burglary, DWI, evading arrest, family violence, and sexual assault of a child.

A Honduran mother and her son, who entered the United States in 2012 when he was one year old, have remained under an Order of Supervision and complied with reporting requirements for over a decade. The mother also has two other children who are U.S. citizens. In May 2026, she and her attorney submitted a written request seeking referral to an asylum officer based on her fear of returning to Honduras, but the government never scheduled an interview. When she tried again in person in September 2026, an ICE officer refused to discuss the request and instead instructed her to appear with travel tickets for herself, her son, and her two citizen children, warning that the family would be detained and deported if she failed to comply. No formal notice revoking their release was ever provided. The mother and son filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order and an underlying habeas petition to halt their removal. The court found they showed a likelihood of success because the government failed to follow regulations requiring notice and an informal interview before revoking supervised release, and found they would suffer irreparable harm without relief. The court granted a temporary restraining order barring removal pending resolution of the habeas petition and ordered the government to respond by September 16, 2026.

Ibrahim Topkaya, a 33-year-old medical doctor from Turkey working as a bioengineering researcher studying diabetes at Upstate Medical University, was detained by U.S. immigration officials after a GPS error rerouted him toward the Canadian border while he was returning from a trip to Niagara Falls with his visiting mother. Canadian border patrol turned him around with documentation confirming he never entered Canada, but U.S. officials detained him upon his return, and he is now held at the Batavia federal detention facility. His friend Omar Alsafadi said Topkaya has an approved asylum case, active work authorization, and a Social Security number, and described him as a well-respected researcher who has authored numerous medical papers. The Department of Homeland Security said Topkaya overstayed his authorized status after legally entering the country in June 2023. Topkaya has requested research materials to continue his work while detained, and his mother, visiting from Turkey for the first time in three years, has extended her stay while awaiting updates on his case.

A young Venezuelan man, a recent graduate of Orange County Public Schools, was detained by immigration authorities while traveling to start college. His father was also detained around the same time in St. Augustine, Florida. According to the report, the young man never made it to the university.

Ten deportees said officers used force against them after they refused to leave a flight to Liberia, a country several said they had no connection to, according to a New York Times account. Border czar Tom Homan said he doubted the specific allegations but that they would be investigated, while DHS separately called the newspaper's account a hoax. The incident adds to scrutiny over how the government verifies deportees' citizenship or ties before third-country removal flights depart, as the administration expands deals with African nations to accept people who are not their citizens.

Fernando Armando Valdes Perez, a 61-year-old man holding Cuban and Guatemalan citizenship who lived in Kendall, Florida, was arrested at Miami International Airport on July 10 during a joint operation involving ICE, the FBI, and CBP. ICE alleged Valdes had been a Cuban intelligence asset since the mid-1990s, infiltrating Cuban exile and dissident communities, and that he fraudulently obtained lawful permanent resident status by concealing his affiliation with the Cuban government. He was placed in removal proceedings and has since been deported from the United States.

Humberto Castro, a 59-year-old Venezuelan who has lived in Doral, Florida for eight years, was detained by ICE agents while driving to work. His daughter, Arianna Castro, said he holds a work permit valid until 2030 and has a pending asylum application, with no criminal record. He is being held at ICE offices in Miramar while his daughter tries to secure his release on bond. His case comes amid a wave of arrests of Venezuelans in South Florida that prompted two exile organizations to send Congress a report demanding oversight hearings and data on detainees with pending immigration cases.

A Maryland man named Aquino, described by his family as the sole provider for his wife and five children, was taken into ICE custody after being pulled over by police for a broken vehicle light. His family says it remains unclear why he was detained or why he continues to be held. Family friend Kristi Voigt said Aquino has lived in the U.S. for 23 years and called him 'a good man.' A GoFundMe launched to cover legal expenses and household costs raised more than $10,000 from 161 donors within three days.

Five Mexican men were detained by immigration agents overnight during a Labor Day weekend family camping trip at Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, after U.S. Forest Service rangers approached their campsite over a trash complaint and collected identification from the adults. Families say agents shook their tents around midnight, identified themselves as immigration officers, and took the men one by one while most children were asleep. The men remain in ICE custody at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma pending removal proceedings, and their families say the separation has been especially hard on the children, who now ask by phone when their fathers are coming home.

Five men from an extended family were taken into ICE custody during a Labor Day weekend camping trip in Granite Falls, Washington, after individuals who initially presented themselves as park rangers photographed the group's identification under the pretext of a "garbage warning." Around midnight, ICE agents returned, woke the sleeping families by shaking their tents and shouting, and detained the five men, who were the primary financial providers for their households. One of the men who had posed as a park ranger returned armed with a rifle as ICE "backup." The families, which include children ranging from 1 to 14 years old and a pregnant mother, say they were left without income and are now navigating rent, utilities, and legal expenses while raising money to support the five affected households.

Five men from Mexico were detained around midnight on September 5, 2026, during a family Labor Day weekend camping trip at Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest near Granite Falls, Washington. U.S. Forest Service rangers had visited the campsite earlier over a reported trash complaint, photographing adults' identification, before returning at midnight with ICE agents, who first identified themselves as police before revealing they were immigration officers. Children ages 1 to 14 were present when the men were taken away, and family members said they could not reach a lawyer or the detained men until after the holiday weekend. DHS said the men were transferred to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma pending removal proceedings, citing prior voluntary returns to Mexico, a 2021 driving-related arrest, and unlawful entry among the cases. Washington Governor Bob Ferguson called the detentions cruel and ordered his legal team to investigate the tactics, while U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal demanded answers about whether federal land management staff improperly facilitated civil immigration enforcement.