Human Impact Project

ICE conducted a targeted enforcement operation in the Green Drive area of Cleveland, Tennessee that resulted in the arrest of eight undocumented immigrants at a gas station on May 22, 2026. The operation targeted a specific individual with a history of DUI convictions and prior deportations; several people attempted to flee as agents approached. On May 26, ICE released the identities and backgrounds of those arrested, noting that some were apprehended as collateral arrests during the operation. Three of those arrested accepted Incentivized Voluntary Departure, while the remaining five remained in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

At least 20 detainees at Desert View Annex (Adelanto ICE Processing Center) in Adelanto, California, launched a hunger strike in mid-May 2026 to protest inadequate health care, food portions, unsafe conditions, and demand bond reform and accountability. The facility, operated by the GEO Group, experienced four deaths between September 2025 and March 2026. A lawyer with the National Day Labor Organization described the hunger strike as a last resort when other options have been exhausted. One detainee's wife spoke publicly about the inhumane treatment at the facility. The facility's population increased dramatically from 424 detainees in 2023 to 2,087 in 2025.

Dolores Bustamante Romero, a 54-year-old apple picker and farmworker advocate from Wayne County, New York, was detained by ICE on April 22, 2026, during a mandatory check-in appointment at the Buffalo office without notice that her supervised release was being revoked. A Mexican national who fled gender violence in 2003 and arrived in the U.S. seeking asylum, Bustamante has lived in upstate New York since 2012 and was a well-known advocate for migrant farmworkers and member of Alianza Agricola. She was instrumental in securing New York's Green Light Law and an executive order banning State Police from inquiring about immigration status. She had no criminal record and had attended four previous check-in appointments without incident while enrolled in an alternatives-to-detention program under the Biden administration. U.S. District Judge Meredith Vacca ordered ICE to return her to Western New York and held an evidentiary hearing on May 26, 2026, to review whether ICE violated her due process rights by detaining her without proper notice.

On October 1, 2025, federal agents from Border Patrol, FBI, and ATF conducted a predawn military-style raid on a five-story apartment building at 7500 S. South Shore Drive in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood around 1 a.m. as part of "Operation Midway Blitz." Agents rappelled from helicopters, kicked down doors, and threw flash bang grenades, resulting in 37 arrests and the detention of dozens of people, including children placed in zip-ties and without clothing. Four of the detained children are U.S. citizens with undocumented parents, and U.S. citizens were also detained for hours during the operation. Residents reported missing belongings and property damage throughout the building. By May 2026, seventeen of those detained filed tort claims collectively seeking approximately $85 million in damages for their treatment during the raid.

Marvin Suazo, 43, self-deported to Honduras on May 25, 2026, after ICE agents raided his workplace and deported six of his employees earlier in the year. Suazo had lived in the U.S. undocumented since 2014, after fleeing violence and economic hardship in Honduras and seeking asylum, but a prior deportation made him ineligible to stay legally. His wife Maribel and daughters, including Samantha, who became a U.S. citizen in 2025, and 11-year-old Zhoe, remained in the country. Before his departure, the family took a final trip together, visiting Washington, D.C., Orlando and Miami, following Samantha's graduation from Yale University, with photojournalist John Moore documenting their farewell at the Miami airport.

Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, a Los Angeles-based journalist and videographer, was covering a protest against ICE raids in Paramount when law enforcement moved to disperse the crowd using tear gas, percussion grenades, and other crowd-control weapons. A tear gas canister struck him in the head, exploding crystalline CS powder across his face; he sought emergency medical care but was not severely injured. He said the canister appeared to have been fired by Homeland Security Investigations agents, part of ICE. Nearly a year later, Beckner-Carmitchel filed a federal tort claim with the ACLU against immigration officers over the incident.

U.S. Senator Andy Kim, a Democrat representing New Jersey, was pepper-sprayed by federal ICE agents on Monday while attempting to de-escalate a confrontation between protesters and law enforcement outside Delaney Hall immigration detention facility in Newark. Kim had tried to broker a truce between agents and demonstrators before positioning himself between the two sides; he was sprayed in the face and struck in the hand by an unknown object, requiring medics to rinse his eyes and treat him on site. His state director, Paul Aronsohn, was also caught in the spray. Kim said detainees at the facility, which holds roughly 300 people, were on a hunger strike over food quality, heat, and lack of medical care, and noted that New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill had separately been turned away from the facility earlier that day.

An ICE enforcement operation targeting the Dover family occurred in a New Jersey residential neighborhood. The Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center documented the incident and issued a statement condemning what they characterize as a violent enforcement action that separated families and created fear in immigrant communities.

J.R., a 35-year-old Colombian with valid work authorization and an ankle monitor through ICE's Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, attended what he believed was a routine monitor maintenance appointment. ICE officers detained him instead, confiscating his ID and work permit. He was held overnight at the Aurora detention center despite having a pending appeal of his asylum case and was released the following day with assistance from Casa de Paz.

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition filed a lawsuit against the Tennessee Highway Patrol over its partnership with ICE, alleging the collaboration violates multiple constitutional amendments and constitutes racial profiling. The lawsuit references a May 2025 operation in South Nashville where THP conducted traffic stops for minor infractions and ICE agents detained 20 people the first night, with nearly 200 arrested during the entire weekend. The complaint alleges warrantless detention, subterfuge use of traffic stop powers, and misuse of taxpayer dollars, and also cites ongoing THP-ICE operations in Memphis and a DUI checkpoint in Robertson County.

A leaked video from an ICE detention center in Louisiana shows detainees begging for food. Former detainee Victor Nery and Chris, originally from El Salvador, reported being subjected to hunger and poor conditions, with cells holding 90-110 detainees each.

Jaqueline (Jacky) Ramirez Juarez, an honors student at Cedartown High School in Georgia, was detained by ICE weeks before her scheduled graduation. The student, who planned to attend Georgia Highlands College to pursue nursing, faced an uncertain future as her family fought for her release while dealing with mounting legal fees. Her community launched a fundraiser to support her case. Despite her detention, she was recognized during graduation ceremonies for her academic achievements, with classmates and faculty honoring her despite her absence from the ceremony.

On May 18, 2026, ICE agents detained 31-year-old DACA recipient and community organizer Karla Toledo at her Tucson home without presenting a judicial warrant, despite her maintaining valid DACA status since age 1 and having no criminal record. ICE agents were reportedly searching for someone else when they arrested Toledo. DHS alleged Toledo assaulted a federal officer and illegally entered the U.S. in October 2024—claims she disputed using video footage showing her compliance and asserting she had legally used advance parole authorization available to DACA recipients. During the arrest, agents allegedly used force to prevent the door from closing and denied her attorney access. Her mother, Veronica Ortiz, held a press conference pleading for her release, and attorney Mo Goldman stated allegations of assault were fabricated, with surveillance footage supporting Toledo's account. Following community protests and statements by U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva, Mexican consulate representatives, and local nonprofits, Toledo was approved for a $1,500 bond and released from Eloy Detention Center. One day after dismissing an earlier deportation case, DHS filed a second notice to appear in immigration court against Toledo.

Jairo Antonio Molina Moron, a 38-year-old Venezuelan national, was arrested by ICE Buffalo's Fugitive Operations Team and U.S. Marshals Service deputies during a targeted operation in Albion, New York, on May 24, 2026. Molina had been paroled into the United States in 2023 and was arrested twice by New York police before this operation: by the NYPD in December 2024, with charges later dropped, and by the Yonkers Police Department in February 2025 on a felony assault charge. After the Yonkers arrest, ICE lodged an immigration detainer, but local authorities refused to honor it and released him. He is now in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings, with the New York assault charge still pending.

ICE New Orleans conducted a week-long enforcement operation in Sevier County and surrounding areas in East Tennessee from May 24-31, 2026, resulting in 117 arrests. The operation targeted noncitizens, some of whom had prior criminal convictions. According to ICE, those arrested included individuals with convictions for assault, driving under the influence, and other offenses, though some may have faced immigration charges rather than criminal prosecution.

Daniel Romero, 18, a Colombian national and recent graduate of Ooltewah High School in Tennessee, was taken into ICE custody on May 18, 2026, during what his family believed was a routine appointment related to an immigration program. ICE cited missed check-ins and failure to submit required weekly photos as reasons for detention. Romero's family disputed the allegations, claiming the check-in app malfunctioned for four weeks and provided documented evidence of the technical error, but officials did not allow Romero to present this proof before his arrest. Records provided by the family indicated compliance with program requirements. He was held at Etowah County Jail in Alabama before being transferred to a detention center in Louisiana, where no bond, video calls, or visitation were allowed.

Javier Anibal Melgar was detained by ICE officers on May 15, 2026, while sitting in his vehicle at 1259 Park Avenue in Bridgeport, Connecticut, as he prepared to take his 16-year-old son to school in New Haven. ICE described the arrest as part of "targeted operations" and said Melgar is from El Salvador, entered the country illegally in 2005, and had a final removal order issued by an immigration judge in October 2006. Officers allowed Melgar to contact his wife, who arrived to pick up their son before he was taken into custody. Connecticut lawmakers, including State Rep. Christopher Rosario, condemned the arrest as a violation of ICE's sensitive location policies, and groups including Make the Road Connecticut and the Bridgeport Rapid Response Network are now supporting the family.

Clara Linhares, a 17-year-old high school student, says her mother, Rita Linhares, 46, was detained by ICE shortly before Clara's graduation and is now held at the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, New Jersey, awaiting resolution of her immigration case. Clara told Status Coup's Jordan Chariton, and later a Brazilian outlet, that she has experienced worsening hair loss from alopecia, which she attributes to the stress of her mother's detention, and removed her wig on camera to show the condition. She said she lives with constant worry about her mother's health, as Rita has reported struggling to receive medication for glaucoma, anemia, high blood pressure, and circulation problems in custody, though DHS says she received adequate medical care. Clara also said she fears her father could be detained during a routine ICE check-in scheduled for the same day as her graduation.

Jose Danilo Diaz Sandoval, who had lived in the U.S. for nearly 20 years and was in the process of obtaining a green card, was detained and deported by ICE in January 2026. His granddaughter Malani, whom he was raising, is a survivor of the 2022 Uvalde school shooting. Diaz's wife is a U.S. citizen. After spending four months in Honduras, he returned to the United States following legal efforts by his family.

A U.S.-born mother of four was stopped at an ICE checkpoint in a residential area of Lafayette and detained despite presenting a valid Louisiana state ID and Social Security card. ICE agents accused her documents of being forged, handcuffed and shackled her at the ankles, and transported her to a USCIS field office for interrogation before moving her to South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile. An immigration attorney secured her release by submitting identification documents. ICE did not apologize and confiscated her Social Security card.