Human Impact Project

Victor Peralta Perez, a Venezuelan electrician with a pending asylum case and no criminal record, was detained by ICE on December 4, 2025, during a mandatory annual immigration check-in in Dallas. He was held for more than 100 days, transferred among facilities including Bluebonnet, Eden, Fort Bliss, and Florence, where he reported mold, contaminated food and water, and inadequate medical care. His wife, Madison Crider, said neither of them was ever given a clear explanation for his detention, and the couple's U.S.-citizen twin infants have not seen their father in the six months since. He was granted voluntary departure by an immigration judge on February 12, 2026, and left the United States on February 28, 2026 (according to DHS) or March 3, 2026 (according to his wife), citing the detention conditions and uncertain timeline.

Federal ICE agents arrested a U.S. citizen Somali woman born in Edina near Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis on Wednesday. According to her cousin, agents zip-tied her, mocked her hijab, and touched her inappropriately before taking her to Sherburne County Jail in Elk River. She was released Thursday after more than 24 hours in custody once her husband provided her passport card proving her citizenship.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents detained an American citizen woman during an immigration enforcement traffic stop near mile marker 103 in Key Largo on Wednesday morning. Video footage shows agents forcefully removing the woman from her vehicle, wrestling her to the ground, and handcuffing her after discovering her boyfriend was in the country illegally. The woman, who was wearing medical scrubs, was released approximately 10 minutes later after agents verified her U.S. citizenship through her driver's license. The operation resulted in 14 undocumented immigrants being arrested for deportation proceedings. The incident was recorded by a Miami Herald reporter.

Lucia Webb, a 31-year-old Minneapolis resident, followed two ICE vehicles to the park-and-ride outside the Whipple Building on December 3. Officers boxed her in, surrounded her car, and threatened to arrest her. She is a named plaintiff in an ACLU lawsuit alleging ICE violated constitutional rights of observers and protesters.

An asylum seeker from Ecuador who fled extortion and death threats was detained by ICE on December 3, 2025 during a routine check-in at 630 Sansome Street in San Francisco. Despite having no criminal record and consistently appearing for immigration hearings, ICE alleged she missed a July 23, 2025 check-in that was not visible on her application. The court granted a temporary restraining order requiring her immediate release and prohibiting re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing.

Francisco Gaspar Cristóbal Andrés, 48, died on December 3, 2025, after 93 days in ICE detention, becoming the first known detainee death at the Camp East Montana facility in El Paso, the nation's largest immigration detention center. He had worked in the U.S. for 20 years and was married to Lucía Pedro Juan for 25 years, with five children. Guards separated the couple during processing and ordered them not to touch, and weeks later Pedro Juan was deported to Guatemala despite pleading to see her husband, who was hospitalized in grave condition with liver and kidney complications; she learned of his death after returning to her hometown of Santa Eulalia. Detainees at the facility reported verbal abuse by guards, including derogatory remarks and claims they were served dog food.

A behavioral therapist for children in Key Largo, Florida, was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents on December 3 while driving to work in a car registered to her partner, who is undocumented. Body camera and cellphone video, recorded in part by a Miami Herald reporter, showed agents unlocking her door, dragging her from the vehicle, taking her phone, and handcuffing her as she screamed, "I'm a U.S. citizen, please help me! This is unfair. Why are you doing this to me?" The woman, described as just under 5 feet tall and 85 pounds, said agents searched her purse without consent and that she complied by rolling down her window as instructed. She was held for about 10 minutes before being released once agents confirmed her citizenship through her driver's license. She said this was the third time she had been stopped in the same area for an immigration inspection, and that the experience left her unable to sleep, in physical pain, and emotionally traumatized. U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said the incident reflected a pattern of people being "racially profiled by ICE," and protesters later gathered in Islamorada to demand accountability. Her case is one of more than 500 documented by ProPublica involving U.S. citizens detained by immigration agents during the Trump administration.

Federal agents, including more than 200 CBP and ICE officials led by Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, carried out the 'Catahoula Crunch' operation in New Orleans and Kenner beginning December 3, 2025, lasting several weeks and resulting in 560 arrests, the vast majority of people detained having no criminal records. The raids slowed business at Hispanic-owned stores and reduced attendance at some schools and churches, after agents arrested people fleeing a Lowe's parking lot, patrolled a heavily Hispanic neighborhood, and surrounded a home during a standoff. On January 26, 2026, U.S. House Democrats held a hearing at New Orleans City Hall where Mayor Helena Moreno and other officials testified that fear persists among immigrants, saying agents had targeted predominantly Hispanic groups before identifying individuals. The hearing also referenced the recent fatal shooting of a Minneapolis nurse by Border Patrol agents, which lawmakers said reflected similar enforcement tactics.

Federal immigration agents stopped a woman driving in Key Largo and forcibly removed her from her vehicle despite her stating she was a U.S. citizen. After agents pulled her from the car and handcuffed her, they found her driver's license in the vehicle and confirmed through their system that she is a U.S. citizen. She was released shortly after.

A 23-year-old U.S. citizen mother was chased by Border Patrol agents near her home in Marrero while walking from a store on Wednesday. The encounter was captured on video and occurred during an enforcement operation called "Catahoula Crunch" in the New Orleans area. The woman told agents twice that she was an American citizen before running into her parents' home, where agents stood outside for several minutes.

Associate pastor Ruzana Nehonde, 49, was detained by ICE during a routine check-in at the Burlington field office in November 2025 and transferred to a detention facility in Louisiana facing deportation to Zimbabwe. Despite having no criminal record, an adult son with U.S. citizenship, a pending green card application, and nearly three decades of residence in Massachusetts with a history of ICE compliance, she was taken into custody. Her church community in Stow has rallied to support her and is collecting donations to help cover household expenses.

A Ukrainian immigrant who has been on supervised release since 2001 was re-detained by ICE on December 2, 2025, during a routine check-in. He had been living in Santa Monica with his sister for 25 years without violations after Ukraine refused to accept him as a citizen. The court ordered his immediate release, finding no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future.

A Mexican citizen who entered the U.S. in 2015 and was released on parole under the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) was re-detained by immigration officials on December 2, 2025, after missing mandatory check-ins. She had voluntarily presented herself at an ISAP appointment when she was taken back into custody. The court ordered her immediate release, finding the re-detention violated due process because she was not provided notice or a hearing before being detained.

A Honduran national was struck by an ICE vehicle while fleeing agents in St. Paul in December 2025, resulting in a multi-vehicle crash at an intersection. He sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was taken into custody. A federal judge ordered his release in February 2026, ruling his detention unlawful due to denial of a bond hearing and lack of proper administrative procedures by authorities.

Federal agents stopped a U.S. citizen, identified only as Maria, near Salem, Oregon, on Jan. 29, shattering her car window and pulling her from the vehicle despite her having a valid passport. She said agents pinned her against the van, injuring her, before finding the passport and leaving; one agent reportedly told her, in English, to renew it. Maria, a citizen for seven years, said she had been driving to pick up her paycheck, pay rent and buy a birthday cake for her grandson when she was stopped. Her child witnessed the encounter and called 911 during it.

Beatriz Pastrana Candela, detained by ICE in Tempe last November, said medical and detention staff at the Eloy Detention Center repeatedly told her she was not pregnant despite a positive pregnancy test, and she later miscarried. She was placed in a segregated room for her mental health after reporting hallucinations in which she saw herself holding her baby and heard voices telling her to hurt herself, and she needed a wheelchair due to difficulty walking; she described the small, barred outdoor area she was allowed into as another cage. Five months after the miscarriage, Pastrana remains in detention, and the Florence Project has worked with three other women who were pregnant at Eloy between January and June 2026, including one held until she was seven months pregnant.

Jacelynn Guzman, 22, was chased by masked federal agents through her Marrero, Louisiana neighborhood as she walked home from a corner store, even after telling them she was a U.S. citizen. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said she matched the description of someone sought under a deportation order, but that agents determined she was not their target and left without making an arrest. Guzman, who has no criminal record, said she believes she was targeted because she is Hispanic.

In Denham Springs, Louisiana, more than a dozen schoolchildren were lined up waiting for the school bus at Plantation Oaks Trailer Park when masked Border Patrol agents in multiple cars sped along the highway in front of their neighborhood with sirens blaring. Agents were pursuing an air-conditioning work truck. Terrified and crying, children ran when they saw a man pulled from his truck and slammed face-first into the ground. A witness reported that around eight of the schoolchildren actually made it onto the school bus.

Elmer M., a 28-year-old Guatemalan man, developed a rash on his penis that became infected because the facility failed to provide soap or supplies to wash or treat it. Starting in December, he asked guards and signed up to see a medic daily. As of March — four months later — he had still not been seen by a medic.

Orlando L., a 40-year-old Honduran man with high blood pressure requiring Losartan twice daily and regular cardiologist visits, experienced repeated medication delays and denials at Camp East Montana. Despite staff knowing his conditions, medications were not given during initial processing. He experienced high blood pressure episodes, bodily tremors, and weakness. Staff attributed symptoms to stress and sent him to a psychologist instead of treating his physical condition. He signed up for medical care eight consecutive days without receiving it. When he requested testing by a cardiologist, staff told him all they could do was 'maintain him in a stable condition until his deportation.'