Human Impact Project

Juan Antonio, who had lived in the United States for 36 years, was detained by ICE on July 4th while on his way to work. He is the father of three adult children, grandfather of two, and husband to his wife—all U.S. citizens. His daughter Denise describes him as "the heart of our family" who "always put our family first, working tirelessly" to care for them. His detention and threatened deportation have left his family facing financial instability and deep concern for his health while detained. The family is working with lawyers to secure his immediate release.

A 36-year-old Salvadoran mother was detained by ICE agents on July 3 outside her home in Sherman Oaks and hospitalized at Glendale Memorial Hospital after a medical emergency during her arrest. Her family said ICE did not identify themselves or present a warrant, and she said officers twisted her arms, threw her to the ground and mocked her as she vomited. Detention officers have since maintained a presence in the hospital's lobby, prompting a July 7 community press conference attended by elected officials, hospital workers and advocates who called the presence intimidating. State Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, who met with the family and the hospital's CEO, announced she is co-authoring Senate Bill 81, which would require a judicial warrant before immigration officials can access nonpublic areas of medical facilities.

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell issued guidance on June 27 requiring officers responding to suspected federal immigration enforcement to request a supervisor, verify the credentials of the lead agent, and record the verification on body-worn camera. Officers may detain or arrest anyone found to be impersonating a federal agent, a policy shift discussed after the arrest of a man in Huntington Park accused of posing as an immigration agent. LAPD said it has fielded at least seven 911 calls reporting kidnappings that turned out to be ICE operations, and McDonnell emphasized that LAPD does not participate in immigration enforcement under state law. State Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez has separately introduced the “No Vigilantes Act” to bar bounty hunters from immigration enforcement and require visible identification by agents.

Text messages obtained by the ACLU show ICE agents in Long Beach, California discussing efforts to identify a woman using facial-recognition technology after she allegedly commented on TikTok admitting she was undocumented. One agent asked a colleague to run facial recognition off the woman's profile picture, questioning whether it was "good enough to facial rec," while sharing that she had described herself as "not a criminal and just hard working." The second agent replied there was "No match," though the exchange included the first agent mocking the woman's post and using an anti-Latino slur. Immigration attorney Víctor Nieblas has since publicly confirmed that immigration authorities are using facial recognition applications to investigate people, saying the agency is deploying significant resources toward such technology.

Outside San Francisco's immigration court, federal agents drove a vehicle through a crowd of protesters, with one protester clinging to the car before being flung into the street and nearly run over. Video also shows agents in body armor clashing with demonstrators and using pepper spray before the vehicle left the scene. One protester, who gave her first name as Sorin, said she was cut and bleeding after falling from the vehicle's hood.

A man fluent only in Mam, a Mayan language, muttered to himself and could not answer basic questions, including his home address, during his hearing before Immigration Judge Patrick O'Brien in San Francisco. O'Brien denied a Department of Homeland Security attorney's request to dismiss the case, which could have led to expedited removal, and instead granted a continuance so the man could find a lawyer. Within minutes of leaving the courtroom, he was arrested by ICE agents. His arrest was one of at least three that morning and part of more than 30 arrests by ICE at or near San Francisco's immigration court in recent weeks, including cases where judges had not approved dismissal or removal.

A client of attorney George Rios was detained in July 2025 during a scheduled green card interview at the Fresno USCIS office. The client arrived with his wife, a U.S. citizen, but she was asked to step into the waiting area before ICE agents detained him. He was driven across the border at age four and presented himself to immigration officials, which counted as legal entry. Rios believes the real reason for detention was the client's criminal history, though the client has no criminal convictions and has been in the U.S. for at least 10 years, maintained good moral character, and is eligible for his green card. He is currently detained at a McFarland detention facility. His wife is a U.S. citizen, and his youngest child is less than a year old. Rios must prove several requirements at a hearing to give his client a chance to stay in the country, arguing that deportation would cause extreme hardship on his wife and children.

An undocumented single mother was arrested during a workplace raid at a cannabis farm in Southern California in July 2025. Her 10-month-old US citizen child was left with family friends as a result of her arrest and detention.

ICE conducted raids on cannabis farms near the California coast in summer 2025, arresting 361 workers and detaining 14 teen minors; more than a dozen US citizen children were left without parents. In one case, a 15-year-old was left alone with his two younger brothers, ages 8 and 9, after their mother was deported to Mexico three days after the raid, while a 10-month-old was left with family friends when her mother was arrested. During the raids, federal agents used riot gear, flash bang grenades, and smoke bombs, and a worker fleeing the facility fell 30 feet from a greenhouse roof and died. Months later, nonprofits report roughly half of those arrested have been deported, many remain in federal custody with only a few released on bond, and federal officials have denied requests for information about the detainees' whereabouts.

Attorney Vanessa Valdez, identifying herself as a legal observer, was shot six times with rubber bullets and exposed to tear gas during an ICE raid on Glass House Farms in Camarillo, part of a broader operation that day resulting in more than 360 arrests at two Southern California farms. The injuries caused severe pain, rib damage, and sleep disruption lasting weeks, leading to hospital visits and ongoing mental health treatment costs included in her Federal Tort Claims Act claim. The Department of Homeland Security disputed her account, saying agents used pepper balls rather than rubber bullets, and only after protesters attempted to breach the perimeter. Her claim is one of roughly $260 million in aggregate claims filed by people affected by the raid campaign.

Arpineh Kamal Masihi, an Iranian-born refugee with a prior theft conviction, was detained by ICE for 187 days at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center after her green card was revoked. Her husband Arthu Sahakyan has stated he would continue to support Trump and his immigration enforcement policies.

Federal officials confirmed that 37 people were detained during immigration enforcement operations at three Home Depot locations in Los Angeles on June 30, 2025: 14 in Cypress Park on Figueroa Street, 11 in North Hollywood, and 12 on Sunset Boulevard. A witness said agents arrived in marked Border Patrol vehicles at the Cypress Park site and attempted to enter a day laborer center before workers locked the gates. A separate raid at the same Sunset Boulevard store on June 19 reportedly resulted in about 30 detentions, including at least one U.S. citizen, prompting protests, while operations in Corona and Chino the same week led to at least ten additional detentions.

Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, a long-term Arizona resident who had lived in the United States since age 14, was deported to Mexico by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials following a 2008 conviction for criminal impersonation related to using a false Social Security number to obtain employment. Her deportation occurred shortly after President Trump signed an executive order on January 25, 2017, expanding deportation priorities to include immigrants charged with crimes. Garcia de Rayos was taken to Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, where she was reunited with her two teenage children, Jackie (14) and Angel (16), who had been living in Mesa, Arizona.

Luis Hipolito, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen, was arrested by ICE agents conducting street sweeps in downtown Los Angeles after interfering with their detention of street vendors near Main and 9th streets. Video footage shows agents pepper-spraying Hipolito at close range, then tackling and restraining him for over two minutes as he struggled to breathe. After being restrained, Hipolito convulsed and his legs buckled. He was charged with assault on a federal officer and released on $10,000 bond. A federal judge ordered his release at a Thursday hearing.

Fernando Diaz, 23, was arrested in Huntington Park after police found a loaded firearm, official-looking Homeland Security and CBP documents, and other law enforcement paraphernalia in his vehicle. Diaz denies claims that he told officers he was a former Border Patrol agent, though police continue investigating whether he was impersonating a federal officer.

ICE agents detained Selena Vanessa Hernández Ramírez, a 25-year-old taco vendor from El Salvador, on June 23 while she was working in front of a Home Depot in Ladera Heights, Los Angeles. According to witnesses and video footage, the agents had covered faces and did not display visible identification or arrest warrants. Hernández Ramírez resisted by holding onto a tree before being forcibly taken to an unmarked vehicle, and agents used tear gas to disperse witnesses who intervened and demanded identification. One witness, Aleca Le Blanc, said she repeatedly asked the agents to identify themselves and show a warrant but was ignored, and said agents threw tear gas canisters at the small group of bystanders.

Miguel Silvestre, born in Stockton, California, claims he has been deported four times since 1999, despite possessing a valid birth certificate proving his U.S. citizenship. ICE issued an expedited removal order against him in 2025, the same year a prior removal order from 2004 had already confirmed his citizenship status. DHS stated Silvestre has no active immigration case, though the San Francisco Chronicle reported his account of the recent deportation notice and his emotional distress upon learning of it.

Miguel Silvestre, a U.S. citizen born in Stockton, California, claims he has been deported four times since 1999, most recently facing an expedited removal order in 2025 despite a 2004 court order confirming his citizenship. After the San Francisco Chronicle published his account, the Department of Homeland Security stated Silvestre has no active immigration case and is not subject to ICE enforcement action, though the agency maintains that in 1999 he had claimed to be a Mexican citizen with no legal status.

Matilde Garduño, who has sold tamales from the same Los Angeles street corner for 13 years, says she was grabbed and restrained by immigration agents while packing up her cart after being warned that federal vehicles were nearby. She says agents held her by the arms and torso as she struggled to breathe, eventually collapsing and losing consciousness on the ground. Garduño, who has diabetes and high blood pressure, was taken to a hospital where she received oxygen and underwent heart surgery the next day to clear blocked arteries. She said the experience left her with lasting emotional trauma, including nightmares and an inability to leave her home in the days that followed.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested two women outside the Los Angeles Airport Courthouse on Tuesday after they appeared for a hearing in a local criminal case involving organized retail theft charges. The agents waited in the courtroom and detained the defendants without advance notice to the court, defense attorneys, or prosecutors.