Human Impact Project

Alejandro Suarez, 31, a gardener who has lived in the U.S. since age 11, was detained by ICE on October 7, 2025, following a routine USCIS appointment regarding his permanent residency at the Fresno office. Suarez had an approved I-130 petition and had kept his immigration paperwork current as advised by his attorney. He was escorted out through a back entrance and transferred to Golden State Annex detention center. Suarez's wife, Elida Herrera, 27, was recovering from a C-section and caring for their five children, including a newborn daughter and a son with autism. Suarez described harsh detention conditions including poor food and uncomfortable bedding. Between early October and mid-October 2025, ICE agents detained multiple immigrants attending USCIS permanent residency appointments at the Fresno office, many of whom were long-term residents married to U.S. citizens or military veterans with no criminal records.

An Indian citizen with a 2003 removal order was re-detained by ICE on October 7, 2025 after nearly two decades on supervised release. He had been released from detention in 2006 after six months because the government could not obtain travel documents from India. Despite complying with all supervision conditions for nearly 20 years, he was re-detained and has been held for over 5 months at Port Isabel Detention Center while India continues to refuse issuing travel documents.

U.S. citizens, including Latinos, were detained during Trump's immigration enforcement operations in the Chicago area. Detainees reported being assaulted by officers who questioned them about their birthplace. The incident occurred when Diego Rosales was stopped by ICE agents while waiting for a school bus in Waukegan.

Willian Giménez González, who is suing a group of off-duty police officers for harassment and abuse of day laborers at a Home Depot in Chicago, was detained and taken into ICE custody. His lawyer states the timing suggests the detention may be related to his lawsuit.

A man entered the United States on March 31, 2023 and was encountered by immigration authorities. He was released on his own recognizance on April 3, 2023, but was re-detained by ICE on October 6, 2025. The court found that his prior release created a liberty interest and ordered his immediate release with conditions, requiring pre-detention hearings for any future detention.

P.R., a 42-year-old Cambodian national, was born in a refugee camp in Thailand after his family fled the Cambodian genocide. He entered the United States in 1985 at age three and lived there for 40 years. In 2010 he was ordered removed to Thailand, a country where he is neither citizen nor national. After completing his sentence in January 2025, he was held by ICE nine additional months before being deported to Eswatini on October 6, 2025.

K.V.V., a 49-year-old Vietnamese national, came to the United States as a refugee at age eight in 1984. After a criminal conviction he was ordered removed in 2007 and remained on supervised release for 18 years. ICE arrested him in March 2025 and deported him to Eswatini on October 6, 2025, without attempting deportation to Vietnam. His physical and mental health have deteriorated significantly in detention, with his family reporting weight loss and emotional distress.

Jorge, an Ecuadorian national living in Queens, was arrested by ICE agents at 26 Federal Plaza while attending a required check-in, with his pregnant wife Jessica waiting outside. He was deported to Ecuador before meeting his newborn daughter, Maite Cristina, who was born shortly after his arrest. Jorge had fled Ecuador after his brother was killed by gang members and was in the process of resolving his immigration status after marrying Jessica, a U.S. citizen, wearing an ankle monitor at the time of his detention. Jessica, an elder care worker, has since struggled financially and emotionally, losing the family's apartment to eviction and caring alone for Maite, her 9-year-old son Dylan, and Jorge's children from a prior relationship. Friends pooled money so Jessica and the children could travel to Ecuador to meet Jorge in person, while the family awaits approval of an I-130 petition that attorneys say could take years to resolve.

Gustavo Santiago, a 13-year-old from Tamaulipas, Mexico, living in San Antonio, Texas, was detained with his mother on October 5, 2025, at a Border Patrol checkpoint. He has been sick multiple times in detention. When he had a fever, medical staff told his mother he was old enough to fight it off without medication. He was treated for a skin rash believed caused by poor water quality and suffered stomach pain and nausea attributed to unsanitary food preparation. He expressed fear of deportation and uncertainty about what he did wrong to be detained.

Aurelio was arrested on October 5, 2025, after a woman accused him of assaulting a child without providing evidence. Local police took him to the woman's house for identification, then booked him on assault charges and transferred custody to ICE the next day under a 287(g) cooperation agreement. The case was dismissed on March 26, 2026, after prosecutors could not obtain evidence from the arresting officer. Aurelio spent two months in ICE detention before posting bond in December 2025 and now wears an electronic ankle monitor while awaiting an asylum hearing.

A U.S. citizen was detained by federal agents during the Brighton Park immigration enforcement operation on October 4, 2025. According to Alderman Julia Ramirez, the man was driving one of the vehicles involved in the incident with Border Patrol agents. His mother, Elizabeth Ruiz, stated her 21-year-old son was being held in an ICE vehicle and had nothing to do with the confrontation. At least one other protester was also detained during the clashes that followed the shooting.

Federal prosecutors moved to dismiss charges against Dana Briggs, a 70-year-old Air Force veteran, who was arrested during a September protest outside an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois. Briggs was accused of assaulting a federal officer after being pushed to the ground during a scuffle, but prosecutors determined the charges should be dropped. Briggs had no prior criminal history.

A video circulating on social media shows DHS agents arresting a woman outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles on October 4, 2025. The woman was arrested after she allegedly blocked a federal facility entrance and refused to comply with officers' orders. The woman's clothing became disheveled during the arrest. A witness account suggested the woman had pulled over to ask for directions.

A woman was shot by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Brighton Park on Chicago's Southwest Side near South 35th Street and California Avenue. According to DHS, agents claimed they were rammed by 10 vehicles and boxed in, and fired defensive shots after discovering the woman was armed with a semi-automatic weapon. The woman drove herself to Mount Sinai Hospital, was treated for her wounds, and discharged. The shooting sparked a protest of approximately 100 people, during which federal agents deployed tear gas and pepper balls. A woman was shot by Border Patrol agents during a protest outside the ICE detention facility in Broadview. According to DHS, agents claimed they were "rammed by vehicles and boxed in by 10 cars" and fired defensive shots when a suspect attempted to run them over. The agency stated one driver who rammed the law enforcement vehicle was armed with a semi-automatic weapon. The woman drove herself to the hospital for treatment and was later released according to Chicago police.

Emmanuel González García, a 15-year-old with intellectual disability, speech impediment, and partial deafness, went missing on October 4, 2025, after wandering from his mother Maria García's fruit stand in northwest Houston. Houston Fire Department found him the next day, but Houston Police Department failed to link him to his mother's missing-person report due to a name discrepancy and instead contacted ICE, which transferred him to the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Maria had no way to know her son's location for five days until an immigration attorney called the missing-persons hotline on his behalf, and he underwent emergency appendicitis surgery while in custody. Emmanuel remained in federal detention for a total of 48 days despite his mother's pleas for his release, during which members of a local group, Autism Moms of Houston, held nightly vigils outside the facility in support.

Saúl Zermeño, a 45-year-old with deferred action status who had lived in the U.S. for 36 years, was deported to Mexico on October 3 after attending a routine ICE check-in appointment. 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 the boy's mother chose not to be involved in his life. Damian learned of his father's deportation from an aunt after returning 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 alone, experiencing depression, anxiety, academic decline, and withdrawal from activities.

New video footage from May 9, 2025 reveals details surrounding the federal arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka at Delaney Hall, a migrant detention center. Rep. LaMonica McIver and House colleagues had arrived for an unannounced visit when the arrest occurred. McIver was subsequently indicted for allegedly impeding the arrest and assaulting federal officers; she has pleaded not guilty.

Huabing Xie, a 47-year-old immigrant from China, died on September 29 after suffering a seizure while detained at the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico. Staff began CPR and used a defibrillator after observing the seizure at about 2:13 p.m., but Xie was pronounced dead at 3:15 p.m. at El Centro Regional Medical Center. ICE records show Xie was first arrested by Border Patrol near Tecate in December 2023 and released, then arrested again in September 2024 in Indio before being transferred to ICE custody. ICE said it notified the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General, its own Office of Professional Responsibility, and the Chinese consulate, and that a public report would be posted online. This marks the second ICE custody death in California in two weeks, and immigrants' rights groups have called for a full investigation.

On Friday, October 2, 2025, federal immigration agents handcuffed Alderman Jessie Fuentes of the 26th Ward at Humboldt Park Hospital while she was confronting them about an arrest. Fuentes asked agents if they had a signed warrant before being handcuffed and led outside the hospital. Agents were at the hospital pursuing a person who had been injured and brought for medical care. The incident occurred during broader immigration enforcement operations across Chicago that included tear gas deployment and multiple arrests, including at least one U.S. citizen. Mayor Brandon Johnson stated that elected officials have a First Amendment right to document ICE actions and inform constituents of their rights. Governor Pritzker called for an investigation into treatment of children during a separate federal raid in South Shore.

Mario Guevara, an Emmy-award-winning Spanish-language journalist who lived in Atlanta for nearly 22 years with a valid work permit, was arrested on June 14, 2025, while live-streaming a 'No Kings' protest in DeKalb County, Georgia, and charged with obstruction, unlawful assembly, and improperly entering a roadway. Though a judge granted him bond, ICE placed a hold on him and he spent over 100 days in detention, including up to 22 hours daily in solitary confinement, separated from his wife and children. A federal judge questioned the legality of his detention, and the ACLU and his attorneys argued it violated his constitutional rights to free speech and due process, while the government claimed broad discretion to detain him and denied targeting him for his journalism, citing a decade-old removal order. The Bureau of Immigration Appeals ordered his removal on September 19, and he was deported to El Salvador on October 3, 2025, after which he continued working as a journalist, reporting from Central America and speaking at international press freedom conferences.