Human Impact Project

On October 3, 2025, federal agents conducting an immigration enforcement operation in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood deployed tear gas near Funston Elementary School, traumatizing hundreds of children and families in the area. Children playing on school grounds, eating at a nearby café, and walking home from school were exposed to the gas, including toddlers as young as 14 months old at Luna y Cielo Play Cafe, where nannies rushed children to a back room as the gas spread. Teachers, including Liza Oliva-Perez, were also tear-gassed while attempting to protect students, and parents like Molly Kucich abandoned errands to reach their children amid the chaos. The incident left children experiencing anxiety, nightmares, and fear of separation from family members, with some now asking teachers and dolls whether ICE will come for them, while others have grown fearful of sirens and worried about the safety of caregivers, including nannies who are citizens or legally authorized to work in the U.S. The operation, dubbed "Operation Midway Blitz," has involved masked armed agents in unmarked vehicles patrolling neighborhoods, with residents reporting multiple incidents including helicopter raids, detention of U.S. citizens, and deployment of pepper munitions against protesters.

A federal grand jury indicted 21-year-old Diego Reyes on charges of assaulting, impeding, intimidating and interfering with an ICE officer using a dangerous weapon, after prosecutors said he rammed his SUV into an agent's vehicle on Oct. 4, 2025, during Operation Midway Blitz in Cicero. DHS had reported that six people were arrested that day for impeding operations, and three undocumented immigrants were taken into custody as a result of the incident. If convicted, Reyes faces up to 20 years in prison; no court date has been set.

On October 3, 2025, federal agents conducted widespread immigration enforcement operations dubbed 'Operation Midway Blitz' across multiple Chicago neighborhoods including West Town, Lakeview, Bucktown-Wicker Park, and Logan Square, detaining multiple people at various locations. Individuals detained included a man waiting outside a health center for his pregnant wife (reported to have work authorization and a pending court date), a construction worker arrested at a residence, a gardener taken into custody, and a comedy club night manager. Schools in the Bucktown-Wicker Park area were placed on soft lockdown, and confrontations between residents and federal agents at multiple locations resulted in tear gas and pepper ball deployment. Nearly a year later, 15 U.S. citizens and legal residents, including an Oak Park Township trustee and a Harvard data scientist who were zip-tied for hours at the Broadview processing center without charges, filed administrative complaints against the Department of Homeland Security alleging excessive force and wrongful detainment, a first step toward a federal tort lawsuit.

Saúl Zermeño, a 45-year-old single father with deferred action status, was deported to Mexico after attending a routine ICE check-in appointment on October 3. His 15-year-old U.S. citizen son Damian, who has ADHD, autism, and other health conditions, was left without his sole caregiver. Damian subsequently experienced severe emotional distress including depression, anxiety, inability to focus in school, and withdrawal from activities.

Saúl Zermeño, a 45-year-old with deferred action status, was deported to Mexico on October 3 after attending a routine ICE check-in appointment, after 36 years in the U.S. He had been the sole caregiver for his 15-year-old U.S. citizen son Damian, a 10th grader with autism, ADHD, neurofibromatosis Type 1, epilepsy, and one kidney, since Damian's mother chose not to be involved in his life. Damian learned of his father's deportation from an aunt when he returned home from school and said he initially didn't believe it, retreating to his room and losing his appetite. Since then, Damian, who doesn't drive and has limited cooking skills, has had to navigate daily life largely on his own, experiencing emotional distress, depression, and academic decline.

On October 3, 2025, 26th Ward Alderperson Jessie Fuentes was shoved and handcuffed by masked ICE agents at Humboldt Park Health Hospital while advocating for a detained constituent during Operation Midway Blitz. Fuentes filed a federal tort claims lawsuit in October 2025, and formally sued the federal government in May 2026 after the Department of Homeland Security failed to respond within the required timeframe. The lawsuit alleges battery, assault, false arrest, false imprisonment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, claiming Fuentes suffered shoulder pain, anxiety, nightmares, and emotional distress from the encounter.

Subramanyam Vedam, a legal permanent resident born in India, was released from a Pennsylvania maximum security prison after 43 years when prosecutors abandoned his murder case. He was immediately placed in ICE custody at the Moshannon Processing Center and is being held while fighting deportation, with a judge denying him bail.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted multiple enforcement operations in Chicago, deploying tear gas and smoke bombs during raids. In one incident at Funston Elementary School, tear gas released in a nearby parking lot during a grocery store raid spread into the school building, exposing students including first-graders to the chemical agent. A separate operation at 51st and Damen on October 3rd resulted in video footage showing federal agents threatening a community member and throwing a smoke bomb onto a vehicle, with one person detained. ICE has conducted multiple enforcement operations in Chicago during this period, including residential raids and the detention of individuals.

Five asylum seekers from Colombia, Guatemala, China, and Nicaragua were arrested by DHS agents immediately after exiting immigration court hearings at the San Francisco Immigration Court on October 2, 2025. All had pending asylum applications and were previously released under supervision with no criminal history. The federal court granted a temporary restraining order requiring their immediate release and prohibiting re-detention without a hearing.

A Benton, Arkansas man was arrested in May after police mistakenly believed a bottle of his cologne contained liquid opium. The arrest led to the discovery that his visa had expired, and he was subsequently detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for about 30 days at a facility in Louisiana. He has since been released but remains unable to work as his immigration case remains unresolved. His wife said the ordeal has caused significant emotional and financial strain on the family, including their daughter.

Video captured in Oasis, California shows a federal agent kneeling on a man after throwing him to the ground and tasing him. According to the person who shared the footage, the man had already surrendered and was not resisting when the agent used force against him.

Federal agents conducted an immigration raid at a home in Humboldt Park at approximately 6 a.m. Thursday, breaking down the front door. The woman of the house, a migrant from Venezuela, reported that her husband and two other men in the home were detained by ICE. The family has been in the United States for three years and is in the process of seeking asylum.

Two employees of SUNY Upstate Medical University from Cuba were detained by ICE on Wednesday while attending immigration hearings to finalize their legal status. The employees worked in the environmental services department and had been in the country since 2022 and 2024 respectively. Union officials stated the employees were following proper legal procedures and should not be punished for seeking to regularize their immigration status.

Leilani Payne was pepper-sprayed at point-blank range by a Federal Protection Service officer on October 2, 2025, while protesting outside the Portland ICE facility. She was 19 at the time of the incident. Video footage captured the officer spraying her in the face, and witnesses reported her screaming in agony and struggling to breathe. A nearby Portland Police officer was so concerned for her well-being that he called for an ambulance. Payne, now 20, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Protection Service seeking at least $350,000 in damages. The DHS stated that protesters had been given lawful verbal commands to back away and refused to comply.

This entry contains personal commentary and social media content rather than a factual incident summary and cannot be converted to a neutral summary format.

A federal agent sprayed mace at a woman protester standing in front of him outside the Portland ICE facility. The incident was captured on video and occurred amid ongoing demonstrations against federal immigration enforcement. Portland Police liaisons were seen collecting video from witnesses, though the PPB stated they lack authority to investigate federal officers operating within the scope of their employment.

In Chicago, a federal agent grabbed a protester on a public sidewalk by the throat and body-slammed him to the ground. The agent's weapon dangled behind his back during the encounter, creating an additional public safety danger.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation opened a criminal investigation into a CBP officer after he grabbed a protester by the hair, put her in a chokehold, and threw her down a grassy embankment outside an ICE facility in Durango. In April 2026, state prosecutors filed third-degree assault and criminal mischief charges against the officer.

In Berwyn, Illinois, a federal agent walked toward a pregnant driver with his gun raised after she honked to warn others that immigration agents were nearby. The woman, Lesly Guevara, was driving with her fiancé and their 10-month-old son to pick up groceries when she said a Jeep blocked her vehicle and she began honking; she said she believed she was about to be killed. DHS said the video shows her "aggressively barreling toward law enforcement while speeding and honking her horn," calling it a "threatening and aggressive act," while Chicago Ald. Raymond Lopez said the confrontation could have ended badly and that officers are trained to view being boxed in as life-threatening. She asked the agent, "You're really gonna shoot a pregnant woman?"

An asylum seeker and U-Visa applicant was arrested as she and her family loaded into their car in Cicero, Illinois, for the daily drive to see her days-old premature newborn in the NICU. She was held for about 34 hours in a facility that has faced allegations of overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and limited medical care, during which she was still trying to produce breast milk for her daughter. She was later released from immigration custody.