Human Impact Project

Immigrants detained at ICE holding rooms at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan have complained of inhumane conditions including cramped quarters, inadequate food, inability to bathe or change clothes, and sleeping on concrete floors. Some detainees reported stays lasting up to 10 days in what were previously temporary processing areas, with allegations of insufficient medical care and limited communication with family and lawyers.

Immigrant detainees at a state-managed detention facility in the Florida Everglades are alleging conditions including lack of water, electricity issues, inadequate food, and excessive mosquitoes. Detainees from Cuba and Colombia have reported being denied access to bathrooms, showers, medicine, and legal representation. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has requested access to monitor the facility, while state officials deny the allegations.

Eduardo Guzman Garcia was pulled over in Henry County on July 9, 2025, for a broken brake light while driving his toddler to school, then taken to jail for driving without a license. The Henry County Sheriff's Office said it was required to notify Homeland Security after finding a DHS detainer on him, and ICE agents arrested him at the jail with a warrant; the Henry County Police Department said it never contacted ICE. His wife, Amanda Guzman, said he came to the U.S. from Mexico more than 20 years ago and has spent six years working through the immigration process toward a green card, with a final interview pending. He has remained at an ICE facility in Atlanta since July 11, 2025, leaving behind their three children and a fourth on the way, as Amanda manages a high-risk pregnancy.

Maisa Lopes Eliaser, a 32-year-old Brazilian national, was detained by ICE in early July 2025 during a scheduled adjustment-of-status interview at a USCIS office in Montgomery, Alabama, where she was seeking lawful permanent residency through her marriage to Army Staff Sergeant Alexis Jaramillo. Eliaser legally entered the U.S. on a tourist visa in June 2019 but overstayed it; she had previously applied for asylum and later sought a green card through marriage. Jaramillo, 43, who has served in the Army for 11 years as an aviation operations specialist at Fort Polk, Louisiana, was forced to take administrative leave to care for their 5-year-old stepson, Noah. Jaramillo told reporters the experience was "really overwhelming" and that he feels "betrayed" by the detention, saying "I need to take care of my kid by myself. No one is here to help me out." Eliaser is being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center. An AP investigation found that at least 52 parents and spouses of active-duty service members have been detained by immigration officers since Trump took office for a second term.

Don Lupe, who had worked for 11 years as an associate at Alba Wines and Spirits Warehousing and Distribution in Edison, New Jersey, and lived in the U.S. for 27 years after migrating from Puebla, Mexico, was detained when CBP and ICE agents raided the facility on July 8. Before leaving for work that morning, he had paused, as he often did, to pray before his family's Lord of Mercy picture, asking God to protect his wife and children and to let him return home safely. Agents handcuffed him with zip ties and transported him to Delaney Hall detention facility. His daughter, a pre-school teacher, learned of the raid mid-class when her mother called crying, and the family of six children surrounded their mother, who suffers from asthma, depression, and high blood pressure, as they frantically called immigration lawyers for hours. He was eventually released after legal advocacy and reunited with his family.

Hector Saul Iraheta-Mercado was arrested by ICE officers on July 8, 2025, based on a 17-year-old warrant for unlawful entry and now faces federal trial for allegedly assaulting officer Jaimie Waite by trapping his arm in a car window during the stop. A judge ruled inadmissible evidence showing Washington's Department of Licensing illegally shared Iraheta-Mercado's data with ICE, preventing the defense from using the unauthorized data access as impeachment evidence. The case resulted in a mistrial in March 2026 when jurors could not reach unanimity, and the trial resumed in June 2026. Court records indicate ICE officer Waite has a documented history of collaboration with Washington law enforcement and anti-immigrant social media posts.

ICE agents arrested a Guatemalan asylum seeker identified as Juan on July 8, 2025, minutes after he completed his immigration court hearing at the John E. Moss Federal Building in downtown Sacramento. The man had been complying with all court requirements, had no criminal record, and had not missed any previous hearings or check-ins. Despite receiving a new court date scheduled for October, he was detained by ICE immediately following his hearing. Volunteers from NorCal Resist assisted his family member in locating legal resources and using the federal detainee locator system.

A stateless man born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents entered the United States on September 5, 1982 with an F-1 student visa. He was ordered removed on July 18, 2007, with his removal order becoming final on December 12, 2007 when the Board of Immigration Appeals denied his appeal. He was designated for removal to Kuwait with Egypt as an alternative destination. After being released from ICE detention on July 3, 2008, he was re-detained on July 7, 2025 at a routine ICE check-in without notice or opportunity to contest the revocation of his release. Over nine months of continued detention, ICE made only one documented effort to secure travel documents—a letter sent to Egypt in January 2026, six months after his re-detention, with no response received. The court found no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future and granted his habeas corpus petition, ordering his immediate release on the same conditions as before his re-detention, with protections against re-detention without a pre-detention hearing and restrictions on removal to a third country without due process.

Deivi Jose Molina-Pena, a 33-year-old Venezuelan on Temporary Protected Status, was arrested by ICE agents at a Walmart on July 7, 2025, while working as a delivery driver for Walmart's Spark service. Video captured agents using a Taser to subdue him as he fell and struck his head. Molina-Pena remained in ICE custody in El Paso with reported head pain and no medical evaluation. His arrest followed tensions between American-born and immigrant delivery drivers, with American drivers reportedly calling ICE hotlines to report immigrants' locations.

Joel Gutierrez, a longtime Arizona resident who rebuilds homes, was detained by ICE agents on the morning of July 6 while on his way to drop off his 7-year-old daughter before work. His daughter witnessed the detention and called her mother crying to report that ICE agents had taken her father. According to the mother's account, ICE agents told her that Gutierrez attempted to run but was caught and detained. The family's daughter, Denise Gutierrez, has spoken out about the incident and the impact on her younger sister, saying the child has been deeply affected by the separation and frequently asks when she will see her father again.

An immigration attorney who is a U.S. citizen was denied reentry to the country after traveling abroad and was flagged by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The attorney shared her experience on social media to help others understand what to expect when reentering the U.S. after travel, particularly for those with removal of condition cases, green card holders, or recently naturalized citizens.

Anastasio Sanchez, a 51-year-old man who had operated a taco truck in East L.A. for five years and lived in the U.S. for over 20 years with a work permit, was detained by federal agents on July 6, 2025, near Whittier and Atlantic boulevards. He had paused his business due to ICE raids in the area but reopened out of financial necessity to support his wife and five children. He was held at Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown L.A., where his daughter visited and brought him diabetes medication, before being transferred to Adelanto Detention Facility in San Bernardino County.

Nine anti-ICE protesters were tried for their roles in a July 4, 2025 demonstration outside an ICE detention facility in Prairieland, Texas. Eight defendants were convicted of material support for terrorism charges, with prosecutors arguing that wearing black bloc clothing assisted in the shooting of a police officer by protester Benjamin Song. Song was convicted of attempted murder for shooting the officer in the neck and faces up to life in prison, while other defendants face up to 15 years on the terrorism charges.

Juan Antonio, who had lived in the United States for 36 years, was detained by ICE on July 4th while on his way to work. He is the father of three adult children, grandfather of two, and husband to his wife—all U.S. citizens. His daughter Denise describes him as "the heart of our family" who "always put our family first, working tirelessly" to care for them. His detention and threatened deportation have left his family facing financial instability and deep concern for his health while detained. The family is working with lawyers to secure his immediate release.

N.M.Z., a 6-year-old Honduran boy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, was arrested by ICE agents along with his mother and 9-year-old sister in the hallway outside a Los Angeles courthouse on May 29, 2025, following an asylum hearing. The family was held for one month at Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, where the boy missed a scheduled medical appointment and developed concerning symptoms including easy bruising, bone pain, and loss of appetite. After attorneys from Columbia Law School and the Texas Civil Rights Project filed a lawsuit, ICE released the family without a court order, transferring them to a shelter in South Texas before flying them to Los Angeles on July 2, 2025, where they were reunited with relatives. The Department of Homeland Security said the boy had been examined multiple times in custody and denied any medical neglect, while attorneys said public pressure played a significant role in the family's release. Upon return to California, the child developed severe trauma symptoms, including hiding under the bed when strangers passed apartment windows, sobbing and screaming if forced outside, and remaining terrified of anyone in uniform eight months after release.

Chih-Ming "Petey" Feng, a Taiwanese national and longtime line cook at high-profile Dallas restaurants including Bullion, Georgie, Quarter Acre, Carte Blanche, CBD Provisions and Charlie Palmer, was detained during a November 6, 2025 immigration check-in for overstaying his visa since 2010 and a 2023 DWI misdemeanor. After more than 130 days in ICE custody, he was deported to Taiwan and is now in Kaohsiung, where his parents live and his mother and sister are being treated for cancer. During his detention, Dallas restaurant consultant Leslie Brenner and others in the local restaurant community helped secure legal representation, funds and support for him.

A 36-year-old Salvadoran mother was detained by ICE agents on July 3 outside her home in Sherman Oaks and hospitalized at Glendale Memorial Hospital after a medical emergency during her arrest. Her family said ICE did not identify themselves or present a warrant, and she said officers twisted her arms, threw her to the ground and mocked her as she vomited. Detention officers have since maintained a presence in the hospital's lobby, prompting a July 7 community press conference attended by elected officials, hospital workers and advocates who called the presence intimidating. State Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, who met with the family and the hospital's CEO, announced she is co-authoring Senate Bill 81, which would require a judicial warrant before immigration officials can access nonpublic areas of medical facilities.

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell issued guidance on June 27 requiring officers responding to suspected federal immigration enforcement to request a supervisor, verify the credentials of the lead agent, and record the verification on body-worn camera. Officers may detain or arrest anyone found to be impersonating a federal agent, a policy shift discussed after the arrest of a man in Huntington Park accused of posing as an immigration agent. LAPD said it has fielded at least seven 911 calls reporting kidnappings that turned out to be ICE operations, and McDonnell emphasized that LAPD does not participate in immigration enforcement under state law. State Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez has separately introduced the “No Vigilantes Act” to bar bounty hunters from immigration enforcement and require visible identification by agents.

Text messages obtained by the ACLU show ICE agents in Long Beach, California discussing efforts to identify a woman using facial-recognition technology after she allegedly commented on TikTok admitting she was undocumented. One agent asked a colleague to run facial recognition off the woman's profile picture, questioning whether it was "good enough to facial rec," while sharing that she had described herself as "not a criminal and just hard working." The second agent replied there was "No match," though the exchange included the first agent mocking the woman's post and using an anti-Latino slur. Immigration attorney Víctor Nieblas has since publicly confirmed that immigration authorities are using facial recognition applications to investigate people, saying the agency is deploying significant resources toward such technology.

Ward Sakeik, a 22-year-old stateless Palestinian woman married to a U.S. citizen, was released from ICE detention on July 2, 2025, after being detained for nearly five months starting in February when she returned from her honeymoon. Sakeik, who has lived in the U.S. since age 8, was arrested at St. Thomas Airport in the U.S. Virgin Islands while under an order of supervision and with a green card application pending. The government attempted to deport her twice, including once while a federal court order was in place, before releasing her.