Human Impact Project

An elderly woman who has been in the U.S. legally for over 35 years was detained by ICE agents in Chaparral, New Mexico while traveling to a chemotherapy appointment. According to her daughter, the woman encountered ICE agents on the road, became frightened, and fled into an Allsup's Convenience Store seeking help, reporting she had been followed. Video of the incident spread on social media. The detention occurred amid ongoing debate over ICE traffic stop policies, following President Trump's statement that ICE should continue traffic stops despite two recent deadly shootings involving ICE agents.

ChongLy 'Scott' Thao, a 56-year-old naturalized Hmong American U.S. citizen with no criminal record, was forcibly removed from his St. Paul home by ICE agents on January 18, 2026. Agents broke down his front door at gunpoint without a warrant and led him outside in sub-freezing conditions wearing only underwear and a blanket. Thao, who has severe psoriasis worsened by cold and stress, was held for over two hours, driven to an undisclosed location where he was photographed in the cold, then returned home after agents realized he was a U.S. citizen. ICE claimed agents were executing a warrant seeking two convicted sex offenders with ties to the property, but Thao stated he had never seen those men and they did not live with him; the Minnesota Department of Corrections later confirmed one of the wanted men was still imprisoned. Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and Sheriff Bob Fletcher announced in April 2026 they are investigating the incident as potential kidnapping, burglary, and false imprisonment. Thao's family is working with the ACLU of Minnesota and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's office to pursue legal action.

Quentin Williams, an assistant teacher known to students as 'Mr. Q' at Roosevelt High School, was tackled, choked and detained by federal immigration agents on January 7, 2026, hours after Renee Good was fatally shot nearby. Agents pursuing a suspect in a car chase swarmed the school's front lawn as students were being dismissed; body camera footage shows agents grabbing and choking Williams after he helped up a colleague who had been knocked down while trying to keep agents off school property. He was placed in an unmarked SUV and later charged by federal prosecutors with assaulting and impeding officers, charges that were dropped months later. Williams, a Roosevelt High graduate and veteran educator, said, 'I feel lucky to be alive,' and described being terrified during the encounter. He believes he was targeted because he is Black and has struggled with anxiety since the incident, and is now pursuing a Federal Tort Claims Act lawsuit against the government with the MacArthur Justice Center and Friedman, Gilbert and Gerhardstein. Minneapolis Public Schools closed all schools citywide for several days afterward.

Miguel was 14 years old and aspired to be a teacher. He was held in federal custody for 167 days. This source is part of a broader CT Insider investigation into extended detentions of immigrant children under Trump administration policies that imposed stringent new requirements for their release. The article covers six children held in Connecticut federal custody, with detention lengths ranging from 118 to 505 days, many while their families awaited approval despite meeting all vetting requirements.

Liam, 15, was arrested by local police in May 2025 following a fight; ICE agents separated him from his father who arrived to pick him up and took both into custody. Liam was held in an ICE office in Burlington, Massachusetts, then transferred to an ORR shelter in Texas for three months before being moved to Groton, Connecticut. Whether ICE ever properly contacted his mother to inform her she could pick him up remains disputed; she said ICE called her while he was in Burlington but did not tell her she could retrieve him, and she did not hear from him again until he was in Texas. The government made contradictory statements about the mother's availability, at one point claiming ICE couldn't locate her, then claiming ICE asked her to pick him up but she refused, while also stating she was at the police station during his arrest. Liam grew anxious and depressed in the shelters; a psychological evaluation recommended his release "as soon as possible" for his well-being. Federal Judge Vernon Oliver called the government's claims "disturbing" and "full of significant incongruities," and ordered Liam's release 27 days after the lawsuit was filed; his mother picked him up the following day after 255 days of detention.

Jean, a 12-year-old from Haiti, was detained at the U.S. border and held in federal custody for 505 days, spending his 13th birthday in an ORR shelter in California and later a foster care program in New Haven, Connecticut. His family in Fort Lauderdale—his father, stepmother, and two sisters—had completed all required vetting, background checks, and home studies, yet the Office of Refugee Resettlement repeatedly requested documents his family could not obtain, including a Haitian death certificate from territory controlled by gangs. After his sisters were released to their stepmother, Jean remained detained; ORR cited a DNA test showing his father was not his biological parent, though his father said this changed nothing. A federal judge ultimately ruled the government's process "arbitrary and capricious" and ordered Jean's release, with the judge noting that unlawful detention "results in an injury that really can never be remedied." In August 2026, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal cited Jean's case, along with a 5-year-old Connecticut girl held 118 days, in a letter demanding that the HHS inspector general investigate ORR's prolonged detention of immigrant children, accusing the agency of an "obstructionist policy" toward families seeking reunification.

Jose Guadalupe Rojas Quintanar was pulled over for not having a driver's license in Paragould, Arkansas, and arrested. An ICE hold was discovered during the traffic stop, and he is now detained at a correctional facility in Louisiana. His wife Cesilia, who works as an Uber driver at night, is caring for their two young sons alone while managing household expenses. Cesilia is raising funds for legal fees, court travel, and living expenses to support the family during his detention.

A native of India entered the United States in June 2024 at the Mexican border and was released to live in Philadelphia while in removal proceedings. On July 15, 2026, DHS officials arrested him at a scheduled immigration check-in and detained him at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia without a bond hearing. The government relied on a July 8, 2025 ICE policy interpreting the Immigration and Nationality Act to subject all noncitizens without admission status to mandatory detention without bond eligibility. He filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus arguing the detention violated the INA and the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause. The federal court granted his petition, finding that he should be detained under the discretionary provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), not the mandatory detention statute, and that he is entitled to a bond hearing before an immigration judge.

A Cuban citizen who entered the United States in 2022 was taken into ICE custody on July 15, 2026, and detained at the West Tennessee Detention Facility. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his continued detention without a bond hearing. The court stayed his transfer and ordered ICE to respond to the petition, requiring them to either distinguish the case from Lopez-Campos v. Raycraft or consent to release, as that precedent prohibits detention without individualized bond hearings for noncitizens who spent significant time in the U.S. interior and are not ineligible under § 1226(c).

Juan, a 66-year-old man, was arrested during an ICE enforcement operation in a residential area on 7/15/2026. According to a video posted on Facebook by Jonathan Djcachu Hernandez, approximately 14 uniformed officers restrained Juan on the pavement. Juan had left his home that morning to buy medicine because he felt sick and did not go to work. During the arrest, Juan stated "No voy a correr" (I am not going to run) and appeared to be in pain. The exact location, Juan's full identity, and official confirmation of the arrest circumstances have not been independently corroborated.

A delivery driver and father of three daughters was detained by ICE, creating financial and emotional hardship for his family. His detention occurred during his youngest daughter's middle school graduation. The family is raising funds to cover household expenses, legal fees, and other needs while he remains detained.

Alvaro Anastacio Garcia Tevalan, a 20-year-old Guatemalan citizen, entered the United States without authorization in November 2016 at age 11 and was released to his mother's custody in Clarion, Iowa, where he has lived for nearly a decade. He has a U.S. citizen child and maintained compliance with the terms of his release during that period. On April 29, 2026, he was arrested on a domestic abuse assault charge, and ICE took custody of him on May 1, 2026. Federal Judge Stephanie Rose ruled that the government violated his due process rights by re-detaining him without a hearing after allowing him to live freely in the country for nearly 10 years, and ordered that either he be released or given a bond hearing to determine his eligibility for release.

ICE agents fatally shot Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a Colombian man, outside the agency's immigration facility in Maine in July 2026. His partner, Karolina Rojas, described him as a loving, hardworking father who did everything to make her and their daughter happy. Relatives say the ICE officer who shot him has a history of serious mental health struggles dating to childhood. In response, community ICE-watch groups across Maine have ramped up efforts to monitor and document agency vehicles and detentions amid an intensified crackdown known as Operation Catch of the Day, work that organizers, largely small nonprofits and volunteers, say has become exhausting as enforcement expands into rural and suburban areas.

A 72-year-old citizen of Nigeria was admitted to the U.S. in B-2 visitor status in October 2020 and later overstayed her authorized stay; her asylum application has been pending with USCIS since June 2024 and she held a valid work permit through December 2026. She has no criminal history. She is insulin-dependent with type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and a diagnosed psychotic disorder, requiring nightly insulin, twice-daily glucose testing, metformin, and aripiprazole. ICE arrested her on July 14, 2026 at Los Angeles International Airport as she boarded a domestic flight, and she has since been detained at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center for 27 days without any Notice to Appear being filed or produced. Her counsel made three attempts to obtain a custody/bond hearing from the Adelanto Immigration Court, all of which were rejected on shifting and contradictory administrative grounds, while EOIR's own systems disagreed about whether a removal case was even pending. Counsel also reported that she went several days without her metformin and aripiprazole medications, with no confirmation the interruption was resolved. She filed a habeas petition and TRO application seeking release, a custody hearing, medication continuity, and other relief. The court granted the petition in part, ordering an initial § 1226(a) bond hearing within seven days, denied outright release, dismissed her medical/conditions claims without prejudice to a civil action, ordered preservation of records and no transfer out of the district without notice, and required Respondents to file a status report on her medications within 48 hours.

Joan Sebastian Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian national with lawful work authorization, was fatally shot by ICE officer David Brouillette during a traffic stop in Biddeford, Maine, while driving to his job as a food delivery and custodian driver. His partner, Karolina Rojas, and their 3-year-old daughter were nearby when agents rammed his vehicle and opened fire, striking him in the head. Officials later confirmed he was not the intended target; agents had been surveilling a nearby address for someone with a final removal order. A neighbor described him as 'a good person,' quiet and dedicated. His death made him the 11th person fatally shot by federal immigration officials during Trump's second term, coming days after agents killed another immigrant father in Houston. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin briefly paused ICE traffic stops before Trump reversed the decision, and the FBI declined to open a civil rights investigation despite the officer's prior history of abusive conduct. Maine officials, including Senator Angus King, Governor Janet Mills, and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, called for an independent investigation as protests broke out in Biddeford and his family sought to repatriate his body to Colombia.

On July 14, 2026, ICE agents conducted a targeted enforcement operation on residential streets in Laguna Vista, Texas, near South Padre Island, the same day the Trump administration had briefly ordered ICE to pause most traffic stops following agent-involved killings in Houston and Maine. Witnesses said an unmarked SUV chased two vehicles carrying seven roofers returning from a lunch break to their job site; resident Samantha Weber Alarcón said the pursuit, at high speed through narrow 20-mph streets, nearly ran her off the road while she was driving with her son. After one vehicle stopped in a home's driveway, the driver and another passenger fled on foot, leaving an 18-year-old U.S. citizen in the back seat; Alarcón alleged agents entered a neighbor's yard, drew weapons, and pointed a gun at the teen before briefly handcuffing and then releasing him once they confirmed his citizenship. ICE said an agent drew his weapon when the teen reached into a tool bag after failing to follow orders, and that a knife was later found inside; the agency denied a vehicle pursuit occurred but confirmed 'targeted enforcement arrests' in the area, where local police with body-worn cameras were also present. The incident took place amid stepped-up ICE activity in the Rio Grande Valley, about 20 minutes from South Padre Island, where agents fatally shot U.S. citizen Ruben Ray Martinez in March 2025.

Styrobert, a defected Venezuelan military officer who fled Venezuela in 2019 after opposing government corruption and human rights violations, was taken into custody at his routine ICE check-in appointment on July 14, 2026, despite appearing with his attorney and having a pending asylum petition. The ICE officer aggressively confined him to a separate room, insulted his attorney, and confiscated his phone, wallet, and clothing. Styrobert was transferred between multiple detention facilities—ICE Baltimore to Farmville, Virginia; then to Richmond ICE processing center; and finally to Wynn Detention Center in Louisiana. His attorney filed a Habeas Corpus Petition on 7/17 and a Temporary Restraining Order on 7/19 to prevent further transfers or deportation. Styrobert faces grave danger if deported to Venezuela, where he is considered an "Enemy of the State" and would face imprisonment and torture in the country's notorious prisons.

Samantha Weber Alarcón, a Laguna Vista resident, was driving with her son to a movie theater when ICE agents chasing a crew of roofers nearly collided with her car on Mesquite Drive, forcing her into a ditch. She witnessed an agent point a gun at a young man in the back of a Ford Escape before handcuffing him; a responding Laguna Vista police sergeant said he could not intervene beyond reporting the agents to their supervisors. The man, a U.S. citizen in his mid-twenties, was released after agents realized their mistake; ICE disputed Weber Alarcón's account, denying a pursuit and describing the vehicle as "abandoned," while the man said the alleged weapon was a shingle cutter in his tool bag. The incident has prompted widespread Facebook posts from residents reporting similar ICE stops of construction and lawn-care workers in the area, with Weber Alarcón's account shared thousands of times.

Victor, a Venezuelan national who arrived legally to the United States seven years ago, was detained by ICE on July 14, 2026, while en route to his volunteer shift as an official volunteer for the FIFA World Cup. He spent two weeks in a detention facility separated from his family, where he became ill and waited nearly two days to receive medication while housed in overcrowded conditions with over 100 people. Since his arrival in the U.S., Victor has worked, studied, paid taxes, and followed the law. He has since been released but faces significant legal expenses related to his case.

A Haitian man with a pending asylum application was arrested by ICE on July 14, 2026, while exiting a supermarket in Barrio Obrero, San Juan, after purchasing groceries. According to community leader Jonathan Hernández, the man was detained roughly by approximately ten federal agents immediately after leaving the store. The man has had an active asylum petition pending since August 12, 2025. Community members including interpreter Leonard Prophil expressed concern that deportation to Haiti could endanger his life, given the documented dangers facing returned Haitian migrants.