Human Impact Project

Nasra Ahmed, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen born in Minnesota, was detained by ICE agents on January 15, 2026, after being caught in a parking lot during agents' pursuit of two other men. She says agents handcuffed her and forced her to the ground, causing cuts, bruises, and a head injury that led to a concussion. While held at Sherburne County Jail, Ahmed had a seizure and was taken to a hospital in shackles for an MRI. She says an officer used a racial slur against her during the encounter. Ahmed was released after two days without being charged. Minnesota Rep. Samakab Hussein held a press conference where Ahmed shared her account of the detention.

ICE enforcement operations, including Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, have created widespread fear in immigrant communities, with documented impacts on children's mental health, school engagement, and family stability. Testimony before the Illinois Accountability Commission described children avoiding school activities, families considering guardianship transfers, and reduced use of healthcare and educational institutions due to enforcement actions.

A five-year-old U.S. citizen named Génesis Ester Gutiérrez Castellanos disappeared after being transferred to ICE custody following her mother's arrest on Monday morning. The child does not appear in ICE, ORR, CPS, or any Central Texas immigration detention facility databases. Family members are calling on the San Antonio ICE field office to locate the child so custody arrangements can be made while her mother remains detained.

Elinor Hilton, a 23-year-old Portland resident, was recording federal agents during a Department of Homeland Security operation called "Catch of the Day" at a Home Depot when agents told her she was being placed on a watchlist and threatened to come to her house that night. The incident occurred two weeks after Renee Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, and Hilton has said she has since struggled to sleep and remains fearful of idling cars near her home. Hilton and fellow observer Colleen Fagan, who said agents told her she was being placed in "a nice little database," appeared in court as plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit Hilton v. Noem et al., in which attorneys from Protect Democracy and the law firms Dunn Isaacson Rhee and Drummond Woodsum argue that the surveillance violated observers' First Amendment rights.

A man who has lived in the United States since 1987 was detained by ICE in Minnesota on January 21, 2026, and is currently held in El Paso, Texas. He was pressured into signing a voluntary removal document while detained and without legal counsel, facing deportation to Vietnam despite not having lived there since the 1980s and lacking citizenship there. He had been complying with immigration supervision for years without missing check-ins.

A leaked ICE memorandum reveals that federal immigration agents are entering private residences without judicial warrants, using administrative orders to detain people with final deportation orders. The memo, signed by interim ICE director Todd Lyons on May 12, 2025, authorizes use of force to enter homes based only on administrative orders, which immigration advocates argue violates Fourth Amendment protections. The disclosure comes amid reports of ICE operations in Austin involving minors and allegations of abuse, as well as an incident in St. Paul, Minnesota where ICE agents forcibly entered a U.S. citizen's home without a warrant.

Department of Homeland Security agents were involved in a shooting during an immigration enforcement operation in Los Angeles County's Willowbrook area on Wednesday morning around 7:20 a.m. Agents were pursuing a vehicle that crashed, and shots were fired when agents approached to detain suspects. No one was struck by gunfire and all suspects were taken into custody.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained a gardener in Clovis on Monday morning at the intersection of Willow and Shepherd avenues on his way to work. According to community organization Faith in the Valley, the man was detained by two DEA agents and one federal agent. Clovis Police confirmed receiving notification from ICE before 7 a.m. but stated no assistance was requested.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers handcuffed and detained two teenagers in south Minneapolis on Wednesday afternoon. One teenager was detained on Blaisdell Avenue while their passenger, who witnessed the incident, was left crying in their vehicle.

ICE agents detained two gardeners in Long Beach's University Park Estates neighborhood on January 21, 2026. One of the detained men claimed to be a dual citizen and told agents he was born in Memorial Hospital in Long Beach. Mayor Rex Richardson criticized the operation as an "abduction," expressing concern that a U.S. citizen may have been detained without prior notice to city officials.

Jean-Pierre Obiang, an 18-year-old University of Southern Maine student, was detained by ICE agents on January 21, 2026, after a minor vehicle accident near a Market Basket parking lot in Westbrook. The agents ran the license plates of the vehicle Obiang was in and detained him despite having no criminal record and being enrolled in school. Obiang's family are asylum-seekers from Gabon who have been living in Maine for three years.

ICE agents arrested Hassane Barry, a 38-year-old asylum seeker from Guinea, on Preble Street in Portland on January 21st. Agents shattered the driver's side window of his car, spraying glass over his 1-month-old baby's car seat, and left his wife Nene and the infant alone in the vehicle in freezing conditions. The arrest was part of an intensified ICE enforcement operation in Maine, though Barry has no known criminal history and had filed for asylum upon arriving in the U.S. in 2023.

Juan Carlos Aguilar Sr., who claimed to be a dual U.S. citizen born at MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center, was detained by ICE agents on January 20, 2026, while doing landscaping work in East Long Beach. In a video of the incident, Aguilar told agents in Spanish that he was a U.S. citizen, but ICE detained him anyway. His daughter Genesis Aguilar posted a GoFundMe seeking funds for legal counsel and basic needs while he is held in ICE custody.

A man who has lived in the United States for eighteen years was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on January 20, 2026. ICE charged him with entering the United States without inspection. He is currently detained at the Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, Colorado. On April 2, 2026, he filed a Verified Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, requesting a bond hearing. The central dispute was whether his detention should be governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) (which provides for bond hearings) or § 1225(b)(2)(A) (which permits mandatory detention). On April 17, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado granted his habeas petition, finding that § 1226 applies to his case based on precedent from multiple similar cases. The court ordered respondents to provide him with a bond hearing under § 1226(a) within seven days, with the government bearing the burden of proving that his continued detention is justified.

Federal Border Patrol agents detained two men working as gardeners in Long Beach's University Park Estates neighborhood on January 20, 2026. One of the men claimed to be a U.S. dual citizen and stated he was born at a local medical center. A third gardener who produced documents was not arrested.

Federal immigration agents in Minnesota stopped an off-duty police officer, drew guns, and prevented her from recording the interaction, according to local police chiefs. The chiefs stated that immigration agents have been stopping American citizens without cause. The incidents occur as part of "Operation Metro Surge," which federal authorities describe as an immigration enforcement operation.

Daniel Granados, a landscaper working in East Long Beach, was detained by ICE agents on January 20, 2026, while doing lawn work a few blocks from Kettering Elementary School. According to a GoFundMe created by his cousin, Granados was the primary provider for his family, and his sudden detention has left them in emotional and financial hardship. Local officials and community advocates expressed concern about the detention of what they describe as a hard-working community member.

Victor Acurio Suárez, a 52-year-old Ecuadorian man with autism and aphasia living in Seaford, Delaware, was arrested by ICE in a Lowe's parking lot in September 2024 and held in detention. His younger brother, Lenin Suárez, had served as his primary caregiver, and a medical assessment submitted with his asylum application documented his disabilities and trauma. Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer wrote to the presiding immigration judge calling his potential deportation "cruel" and "egregious," noting Suárez has no criminal history and cannot safely care for himself or represent himself in legal proceedings without family support. Despite this, an immigration judge denied his asylum request and issued an order of voluntary departure on January 20, 2026, and he now faces deportation to Ecuador.

On January 18, 2026, ICE agents raided the Saint Paul, Minnesota home of ChongLy Scott Thao, a U.S. citizen with no criminal record, pointing guns at family members and handcuffing him without a warrant in front of his 5-year-old grandson. After fingerprinting confirmed his citizenship, ICE released him without apology or explanation. The incident prompted a protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, where ICE St. Paul field office director David Easterwood serves as a pastor. Federal prosecutors subsequently charged dozens of protesters—reported as 30 or 39 depending on the source—under statutes criminalizing interference with religious freedom, including civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, and photographer Junn Bollman. The arrests of the journalists drew condemnation from press freedom advocates.

Jelili Qudus, a Nigerian described in court filings as a Muslim faith leader who conducts weekly prayers, visits the sick, and distributes food to people in need, was re-detained when he appeared for his annual ICE check-in in Chicago after approximately 17 years of complying with an Order of Supervision. He was subsequently held at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas. A federal judge later granted his habeas petition and ordered his immediate release under supervision, finding that immigration authorities violated his due process rights by re-detaining him without providing required notice or an opportunity to respond.