Human Impact Project

The parent of a student at Allan Hancock College was detained by immigration authorities after leaving the campus in Santa Maria, California on October 5. The detention occurred amid a broader surge of federal immigration enforcement activity reported across Santa Maria and Guadalupe.

A mechanic and grandfather from Mendota was detained by ICE officers in downtown Fresno on Monday while he was picking up auto parts for a car he was repairing. His granddaughter, Jade Torres, said he had lived in Mendota for years and owned his own mechanic shop. Following his detention, he was transferred to a facility in McFarland, which houses two ICE detention centers, and his family said he could be moved further, potentially out of state. Mendota Mayor Victor Martinez said he had received reports of immigration operations in the area and believed they were primarily targeting people with criminal records, though he noted others without records could also be detained. Martinez said, "It seems very unfair to me, very unfair, that we're finishing harvest season in the fields, and now they're starting raids."

A man waiting on a sidewalk next to a parked car for a ride to work was detained by ICE agents in Santa Maria on Monday, after video showed an agent's government vehicle roll forward and crash head-on into the parked car during the arrest. The agent had stepped out of the vehicle without shifting it into park before it struck the car, and a second agent in the passenger seat got out as the driver reversed and repositioned it. 805 UndocuFund organizer Claudia Gonzalez, who said her group was in contact with the detainee's family, described the incident as an example of ICE agents' "aggressiveness" and "incompetence."

Ismael Ayala-Uribe, 39, a Mexican national and former DACA recipient who grew up in Westminster after arriving in the U.S. at age four, died in ICE custody from septic shock caused by an untreated pelvic abscess. He had worked nearly 15 years at the Fountain Valley Auto Wash, where his manager called him 'the most important person in this business' and a customer said staff and patrons were devastated by his death. Arrested by ICE and Border Patrol agents on August 17, 2025, he was transferred to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, where his mother visited weekly and watched him decline after losing his DACA status over a 2015 DUI conviction. An internal ICE mortality review and forensic pathologist both found his death likely preventable, citing staff failures to examine him, respond to wellness checks, or properly treat and document his care. His family, represented by attorney Jesus Arias, has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit, and his brother Jose said the findings show 'what's going on in there, in Adelanto, any detention center.'

Assim Alkhawaja, a 53-year-old asylum seeker of Palestinian heritage raised in Saudi Arabia, was detained by ICE while dropping off Lyft passengers at a Camp Pendleton gate despite holding a work permit valid through 2030 and having no criminal history. He moved to Oceanside about two years ago to pursue graduate studies in human rights and holds a doctorate from the University of San Francisco. His sister Arwa, a U.S. citizen, said he presented his driver's license and work permit at the gate before being told to pull over and detained, then held for about eight days at Otay Mesa Detention Center. An immigration judge found he posed no danger to the community and was not a flight risk, ordering his release on $10,000 bond with a GPS ankle monitor and near-weekly check-ins. Before his arrest, he had sold his businesses in the Middle East to open Sands Coffee Roasters, which was nearly ready to open, and community fundraising has since supported him. Attorneys say he is among dozens of rideshare and delivery drivers detained at the base's gates under a 2025 pilot program in which military police call ICE on non-citizen drivers. His next immigration hearing is scheduled for October.

Federal agents used high-flying drones to track Abel Ávila Martínez, 48, of Buena Park, California, as he left his home before dawn Thursday, then surrounded his vehicle with about 20 Homeland Security Investigations agents in tactical gear as he prepared to drive away. Ávila Martínez, a Mexican national previously removed from the U.S. in 1999, surrendered with his hands raised after agents blasted him with searchlights and pointed weapons at him. He is charged with using fake Social Security numbers to fraudulently obtain credit, racking up at least $15,964 in debt, including a purchase at Guitar Center, and had filed for bankruptcy last year in an attempt to discharge the debt. He was one of at least four people arrested in a wider operation targeting alleged Social Security fraud schemes totaling over $140,000, which also included Walter Anastacio Castellanos-Pérez, José Alfredo Chávez-Cabello, and Verónica Espinosa-Cortés; a fifth suspect evaded capture and remains at large.

Michael "Sandy" Sims, 42, a Philadelphia lighting technician born in Ireland and raised in London, was detained by ICE agents at the San Jose airport on September 2 as he returned from a business trip. Sims, married to U.S. citizen Jennifer Sims since 2017 and the subject of an approved I-130 family petition toward a green card, had worked in entertainment lighting since 2002, including tours for Metallica, Usher, and Florence + the Machine. He was held at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield. DHS claimed Sims faced a domestic battery charge in Nevada, but his wife, his immigration lawyer, and a search of Nevada court records found no record of any such case. Sims was deported to the United Kingdom days before an October 8 bond hearing he and his wife had hoped would lead to his release. Friends and family started a GoFundMe campaign that had raised nearly $21,000 toward legal expenses.

Kwadwo, a 57-year-old respiratory therapist who has lived in Daly City for eight years, was arrested by a plainclothes ICE agent at his gate at San Francisco International Airport while waiting to board a domestic flight to visit his cousin in Dallas, who was recovering from a stroke. After clearing security, he was surrounded by officers who chained his feet, waist, and hands in the arrivals area near baggage claim in front of other travelers, before he was taken to a federal immigration building downtown and then transported through Stockton to the Golden State Annex detention center outside Bakersfield, where he has been held for more than two months. Kwadwo fled religious persecution as a Christian in Ghana at age 28, was granted asylum in South Africa, later earned a master's degree in respiratory care in the U.S., and was earning more than $166,000 a year supporting his family, including his son's graduate studies. His detention stems from an expired student visa; his green card application was rejected in June 2024, his first appeal was denied, and a second appeal filed in May 2025 remains pending. He filed a habeas corpus petition on his own behalf, but a judge denied his bond citing flight risk, and he is appealing while continuing to challenge his detention in immigration court. His son said the arrest has been a major financial and emotional stressor for the family, noting, "It feels like they're just trying to find people to fill up prisons."

A 40-year-old Filipino man, the son of a slain Filipino radio broadcaster, was detained by US immigration authorities on September 21 after returning to Los Angeles from a music performance in Chicago. He is being held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center and is scheduled for a hearing on the eve of the fourth anniversary of his father's 2022 killing. He arrived in the US in February 2023, holds work authorization, and had sought asylum after receiving death threats following his father's murder. The Philippine consulate in Los Angeles has conducted a welfare visit, and Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez said the consulate is coordinating with the family's lawyers.

Joshua, a 22-year-old originally from Guatemala, was detained by ICE on September 25 after an officer told him 'you look Mexican.' He came to the U.S. at age 11 and attended elementary, middle, and high school in Clairemont, San Diego, where he still lives with his family. Friends describe him as kind-hearted and hard-working; his immigration case had been administratively closed and never reopened. His family has hired an attorney and is seeking his release through an immigration bond that could cost up to $25,000 or more.

Nguyen Phuong Anh To, known as "Toph," was detained by ICE agents at Los Angeles International Airport around 9 a.m. on September 25 while getting coffee before boarding a flight to Miami for a conference. She is a UC Irvine student in the U.S. on a student visa and a cherished member of the Midwest, New York, and Los Angeles dance communities, including the Essence dance team she has danced with since its founding. Friends describe her as "an utter light to anyone who crosses her path" and "a one of a kind soul and all around amazing human." She is being held at a detention center about two hours from Los Angeles. Her friend organized a GoFundMe, with consent from To's parents in Vietnam, to cover immigration fees, filing fees, bond, commissary funds, and post-detention housing and food costs, with funds directed to her best friend and roommate.

A woman was detained by ICE agents outside her daughter's home while on her way to work, surrounded by three ICE vehicles with no warrant. She has lived in the United States for over 18 years and is described by her family as a hardworking mother who ensures her children are fed and attend school. She is currently held at a detention center in Otay, California, and her family is raising funds for legal fees.

Vova, a 23-year-old Ukrainian man seeking asylum in the U.S., was detained by ICE while traveling to Los Angeles. He is now held in a detention facility, sleeping in a large cell with other detainees, and faces an immigration hearing on October 1st. Friends describe him as quiet and kind, with interests in bow hunting, jiu-jitsu, aviation, and cars, and note that his mother and brother live in Poland while he has been building a life on his own in the United States. A GoFundMe campaign is raising money to cover his legal representation.

A Colombian asylum seeker who fled to the United States in 2022 was detained without warning while attending a routine ICE check-in in San Francisco. He had previously been released from custody after DHS determined he posed no danger or flight risk, and he attended every scheduled check-in since then. He held employment authorization and a Social Security number, worked assembling ventilation and refrigeration equipment, filed federal tax returns for two years, resided in Fremont, California, had a partner of one year, and regularly attended a Mormon temple. In June 2026, he was arrested for an alleged DUI after being found sleeping in his parked car outside his home. He was not shown a warrant at his re-arrest and was subsequently transferred to the Central Valley Annex detention facility in McFarland, California. He filed a habeas petition and motion for a temporary restraining order, arguing his detention violated due process because he was not given a pre-detention bond hearing. The court granted the TRO, ordering his immediate release and barring re-detention pending further briefing and a hearing scheduled for October 8, 2026.

Arsalan Saleh Fard (referred to as "Ali" in one account), a 25-year-old Christian convert from Qazvin Province, Iran, fled after being pursued by Iran's intelligence services and the Basij paramilitary force. He struggled to find work because of tattoos, and when a bank refused to hire him over them, he burned one off himself — only to then be rejected for appearing mentally unstable. After crossing the U.S. border to seek asylum, he was expelled to Panama on a military flight in January/February 2025 without an asylum hearing, as part of a group of 299 migrants deported there weeks after President Trump's inauguration. Eighteen months later, he remains stranded in Panama with no clear path to permanent refuge, at times sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Bella Mosselmans, a human rights lawyer who directs the Global Strategic Litigation Council and represents deportees sent to Panama, said such outcomes are an inevitable result of sending migrants to a country with a nonfunctioning asylum system, language barriers, and little access to legal counsel.

Unmarked vehicles carrying agents wearing 'ERO' patches, identifying them as ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers, entered a Home Depot parking lot in Concord early one morning and detained up to five day laborers who were waiting for work. Advocates with the Concord Immigrant Protections Network said the detained individuals' names and whereabouts remain unknown, and that ICE has not responded to requests for information. Advocates and community members rallied outside the store the following day, calling on Home Depot and city officials to take action to protect immigrant workers.

Guilherme, a husband and father of 5-year-old twins, was detained by ICE according to his wife Camila. She says he had no criminal history and was not out of status, which made his detention especially shocking. Guilherme was the family's main provider, and his wife is now raising funds to cover attorney fees and household expenses while he is held.

Nika, a 32-year-old Iranian woman who fled Iran after protesting the regime and losing friends in the government's crackdown, had been granted 'withholding of removal' by a US immigration judge barring her return to Iran. She was released from ICE custody on May 28, 2026, but was re-arrested days later during what officers described as a routine check-in in California. She was handcuffed, shackled, and placed on a deportation flight with roughly two dozen other migrants bound for the Central African Republic, a country she said she had never heard of or visited. Central African Republic is one of at least nine African nations that have entered agreements with the Trump administration to accept third-country deportees as part of a broader crackdown that has sent thousands of people to countries other than their own. Since arriving in Bangui, Nika has largely stayed indoors out of fear, been stopped by local police demanding bribes, and was hospitalized after contracting malaria. Her immigration lawyer is now filing a federal lawsuit seeking to bring her back to the US and reopen her asylum claim.

Jorge (a pseudonym), a Guatemalan man who fled gang extortion threats and joined family in San Diego, was arrested by ICE during a raid on his construction worksite after working there for five months. He spent three months in detention, much of it in frigid holding cells where he slept on bare concrete with only a foil sheet, and developed bronchitis after officers allegedly made cells colder in retaliation for complaints; staff denied him hospital care. He said he signed English-language deportation papers he could not read after being threatened with years in federal detention, later learning the signing carried a 10-year reentry bar, and described being shackled during his deportation flight to Guatemala.

María, a 35-year-old Indigenous Mixtec farmworker from Oaxaca who has lived in Oxnard, California since 2007, is a single mother of four U.S.-born children ages 17, 12, 10 and 2. She was detained by ICE agents after questioning why they were arresting a friend who was driving her to look for farm work; agents told her she would be arrested for 'asking questions and complaining' and took her to ICE facilities in Camarillo and then Thousand Oaks, where she was told she might spend three months in detention before deportation. She was released after seven hours with an ankle monitor and a phone app tracking required check-ins, after agents warned that missing an appointment would result in her entire family being deported. An activist who met her after release said she lives in an apartment complex where ICE agents regularly wait outside for immigrants to leave, and an advocate who helped her access legal assistance described her release as an unusual outcome.