Human Impact Project

Arlit Martinez-Carrada, a Mexican national living in the Salisbury, Maryland area, was detained by ICE on January 3 while heading to work. Her 15-year-old son, Kevin Mendoza Martinez, died of cancer just two days later on January 5, while she remained in ICE custody at the Baltimore federal building. An immigration judge initially denied her release, calling her a flight risk, but a federal judge later approved her release on $12,000 bond with an ankle monitor, allowing her to attend her son's funeral. Martinez-Carrada has since decided to self-deport, with her attorneys working on the voluntary departure process.

Everyone had their case dismissed that afternoon which meant ICE could now take them at anytime. With only one way out of the building and ICE sitting in cars throughout the parking lot I knew what was going to happen. The mother’s friend-who had been sitting in the car next to mine-stepped out and met them by the front entrance, just a few feet from where I stood with the Priests. For a second, I couldn’t tell if the mother realized what was about to happen. But it only took that second. Suddenly, the ICE agents-every one of them a masked man-began walking toward us. Toward her. And that’s when it started. The little girl saw them first. “Mommy! Mommy!” she screamed, and burst into tears. Then her brother realized what was happening and started crying too. ICE doesn’t like to take children when the Priests are present and watching. ICE -asked whoever is with the kids to follow them to a different location, so they can take the children too. Because the kids are also in removal proceedings. Please donate so The Sidewalk School can continue to document and record these “disappearances” To donate: SidewalkSchool.org ***Video recorded by The Sidewalk School

ICE agents in Maryland used the state's driver's license database to conduct license plate checks in January 2026 without a traffic violation or warrant, detaining Santos Alvarenga-Rodriguez, 47, a Salvadoran citizen, based on license restrictions. The operation, part of "Operation Take Back America," ran checks on approximately 10 vehicles, with nine resulting in no enforcement action. Nearly a quarter-million Maryland drivers carry similar license restrictions, which can indicate various factors unrelated to immigration status. Alvarenga-Rodriguez resisted during the encounter and was charged with assaulting and resisting officers.

Jorge Elieser Gonzalez Ochoa, a 27-year-old Colombian national seeking asylum, was arrested by plainclothes ICE agents at Bread Garden Market in Iowa City on September 25, 2025, while working and wearing a court-ordered GPS monitor. Agents charged him with document fraud and misuse of immigration documents. A federal judge ruled the DHS actions "indefensible" and found Gonzalez Ochoa was illegally detained, noting agents attempted to circumvent a court order and violated procedural requirements. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to time served plus one day. After several months in federal immigration detention, Gonzalez Ochoa was released following sustained community organizing and protests by groups including the Iowa City Catholic Worker and Escucha Mi Voz Iowa.

Jose Manuel De Paz Cruz, a 31-year-old father with no criminal record, was arrested by ICE agents in Sunset Park on January 10, 2026, while walking home from work to attend his step-son's birthday party. After being detained in Brooklyn, Cruz was transferred to multiple locations including Manhattan, New Jersey, Arizona, and California.

An Eritrean single mother of three with a pending green card application was detained during Operation PARRIS operations beginning January 9, 2026. During a five-hour interview with USCIS officers, she was questioned about her application materials and reasons for fleeing her country. Her attorney reported that the USCIS officer conducting the interview stated he had no knowledge of why she was detained or authority regarding her detention. She was released a few days after arrest and returned to Minnesota, and her green card application was approved while she was in detention.

A 42-year-old Salvadoran national was arrested by ICE agents on January 9, 2026, when he and his wife appeared at the Santa Ana Field Office for a scheduled interview regarding their pending I-130 petition. He had been living in the U.S. since 2004 and was previously released on his own recognizance in 2011 after removal proceedings were initiated. He is the primary financial provider for four U.S. citizen children. The court granted his application for a temporary restraining order and ordered his immediate release from custody.

Jose Avendano, a 62-year-old dishwasher from El Salvador with temporary protected status and a valid work permit, was arrested on January 9, 2026, while driving to work. He told officers he had legal authorization to be in the United States, but was detained and transferred to El Paso. Avendano has lived in the U.S. for 32 years, has a heart condition requiring daily medication and a pacemaker, and missed a critical medical procedure due to his arrest. A federal judge ordered his release after his lawyer filed suit, but ICE kept him in custody for three additional days in violation of the court order.

Border Patrol agents, operating under Chief Greg Bovino, detained two U.S. citizen teenagers, Jonathan Aguilar Garcia and Christian Miranda Romano, while they were working at a Target store in Richfield, Minnesota. Agents reportedly targeted them based on their appearance during an immigration enforcement operation. Garcia presented a U.S. passport asserting his citizenship but was still detained; he was injured during the encounter and later released without charges in a Walmart parking lot without transportation assistance. Miranda Romano, a minor with no criminal history, remained in custody at Fort Snelling despite his family's efforts to contact ICE. State Representative Michael Howard criticized the incident as 'pure madness,' and the detentions prompted protests calling for accountability and restrictions on agents entering businesses without warrants.

A father in Minnesota was separated from his child by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The incident was documented on social media. Community organizers in Minneapolis erected makeshift barricades in neighborhoods to monitor and slow ICE vehicle movements by tracking license plates. Minneapolis police dismantled at least five of these barricades, citing concerns about emergency response times and traffic obstruction. Residents repeatedly rebuilt the barricades.

Britain Rodriguez, 31, an Orange County resident and after-school program supervisor, was shot in the face with a less-lethal round by Homeland Security officers during an anti-ICE protest in downtown Santa Ana on January 9, 2026. The projectile damaged his iris, cornea, and lens, causing a cataract and severe vision loss. Officers gave no warning before firing at protesters demonstrating against ICE deportations and the killing of Renee Good in Minnesota. Rodriguez was unable to work or drive following the injury and faces uncertainty about his vision recovery.

A noncitizen was arrested on January 9, 2026, for driving under the influence, transporting an open container of medical marijuana, and possession of medical marijuana without a license. He was detained by immigration authorities immediately following his release from custody on these drug-related charges. The court granted his habeas petition and ordered respondents to provide him a bond hearing within 14 days before an immigration judge, where the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that he is a flight risk or danger to public safety, or he must be released on the same terms as his previous release.

Alejandro Perez, a Ballwin resident, pleaded guilty to unlawful re-entry into the United States in federal court and was sentenced to deportation to Mexico with a 20-year bar on re-entry. His U.S. citizen wife, Janie Perez, and their two daughters plan to relocate to Mexico to remain together as a family following his deportation, which is expected to occur within three to ten days after his sentencing in March.

Mauricio Martínez was detained by ICE agents during a traffic stop on January 9 and transferred to a detention facility in El Paso, Texas. His wife Nancy Parra and their three children have remained largely confined to their home. Parra reported that her husband is held in conditions including overcrowding, spoiled food, and poor sanitation. The family experiences financial hardship without his income.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent kneed a man identified as Juan Carlos at least five times in the face while other agents held him on the pavement in Minneapolis on January 9, 2026. Video evidence showed the incident occurring on Chicago Avenue near 24th Street. The man was taken to the Whipple Federal Building and then to a hospital due to difficulty breathing.

On Wednesday morning, ICE agents attempted to enter Little Earth, the first Native American community housing project in the United States, located on Minneapolis's southside. Property managers turned the agents away. Later that same morning, community members reported and documented video evidence of ICE agents removing at least three individuals from the facility. According to one community member, agents appeared to be targeting maintenance workers and parents dropping children off at the Little Earth Daycare center.

Ahmed Bin Hassan, a Somali American Uber driver and U.S. citizen, was accosted by over a dozen Border Patrol and ICE agents at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. The agents approached him citing his accent, which Bin Hassan later characterized as evidence of racial profiling. During the viral confrontation, Bin Hassan remained defiant, refusing to provide identification and questioning the agents' authority, before they ultimately walked away.

Federal officers drove through a crowd of protesters outside Hartford's federal building on January 8, 2026, striking at least one person with their vehicles. The protest was held as a vigil for Renee Macklin Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. Hartford police are investigating potential hit-and-run and assault charges against the federal officers involved.

A man named Julio, an ImmDef Law Center client and father of a U.S. military servicemember, died on February 25 after his health rapidly declined following ICE detention. Despite having a lawful pathway to permanent residency and being medically vulnerable, ICE refused to release him and he was handcuffed to a hospital bed during his final days. His attorney secured his release but the damage to his health was irreversible.

Under President Trump's administration, the Trump administration has detained and transferred asylum-seekers to out-of-state detention centers before they receive final removal orders. This represents a change from previous administrations' practice of allowing asylum-seekers to remain in the U.S. during court proceedings.