Human Impact Project

A Latino man was arrested by ICE agents in Smyrna, Georgia while walking to cash his weekly paycheck. According to witnesses, a federal agent exited a vehicle with his gun drawn and pointed at the man without stated cause, followed by other agents who tackled him to the ground and handcuffed him. The man has lived in the U.S. since 2001, has no criminal record, and communicated to family members that the arrest was a traumatic experience.

Kiko, a construction worker who has lived in the Atlanta area for nearly twenty years, was arrested by ICE agents on Tuesday morning while stopped at a QuikTrip with five coworkers on their way to a job site. According to his niece Victoria Garcia, agents surrounded the parked van with Tasers drawn before taking Kiko into custody. He has been held at the Atlanta ICE field office and was briefly transferred to Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin before being returned to Atlanta. Kiko supports himself and sends money to family members in Mexico, and had previously avoided travel out of caution regarding immigration enforcement.

Multiple people were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a migration enforcement operation in Canton, Georgia. According to a Facebook Live recording by a witness, the detainees were transported in different vehicles to a parking lot, where agents made them exit the vehicles and gathered them before transferring them to a van for continued transport.

Marco Antonio Roblero Pérez, a 25-year-old Guatemalan immigrant, was arrested by ICE agents at a gas station in Chamblee, Georgia on July 19, 2026, while stopping to buy drinks on his way to work. According to his family and eyewitness accounts, agents subjected him to physical strikes, a chokehold, and electric shocks with a taser during the arrest. He was hospitalized in Atlanta with a broken nose, broken teeth, severe facial trauma, and spinal injuries requiring a cervical neck brace. An ICE agent remained stationed at his hospital bed during his recovery. His family has questioned the medical care he received, while ICE agents stated they used a stun gun during the operation.

Jaqueline (Jacky) Ramirez Juarez, a National Honor Society member and honors student at Cedartown High School in Polk County, Georgia, was detained by ICE weeks before her scheduled graduation. She had been accepted to Georgia Highlands College to study nursing and lives in a single-parent household where she helps care for younger siblings. According to a GoFundMe page created on her behalf, she has legal immigration status, has no criminal record, and had lived in the U.S. since childhood. She was arrested by Polk County Police on March 26 for traffic violations and held in county jail for four days before ICE took her into custody upon her release. Despite her absence, she was recognized at her graduation ceremony for her academic achievements by classmates and faculty. Her family and community launched a fundraiser to help cover immigration bond and legal fees as her case is reviewed.

Elder Yuvini Aguilar Macario, a 19-year-old senior and soccer team captain at Trion High School in Georgia, was detained by ICE on May 1-2, 2026, following a traffic stop when officers discovered he lacked a valid driver's license. ICE discovered a prior deportation order dating back 13 years to his mother's denied asylum application when he was six years old, and placed a detainer on him through the 287(g) program. He was transferred to Irwin County Detention Center and later to Folkston ICE Processing Center, approximately 300 miles from his home in northwest Georgia, where he described being shackled during transport. Before his arrest, Aguilar Macario was a member of the soccer team and had begun taking welding classes at Georgia Northwestern Technical College. He missed his high school graduation ceremony, though his classmates gave him a standing ovation when his name was called and placed his cap, robe, and photo on an empty chair in his honor. His attorneys have filed to reopen his immigration case.

Jesús Manuel Arenas-Silva, a 45-year-old Venezuelan man, died on July 13, 2026, during a bus transfer between ICE detention centers in Georgia. ICE agents arrested him at his home in Dallas, Georgia on July 9, 2026. According to his sister, ICE allowed him to take only one of the multiple medications he needed despite the family's pleas not to detain him due to his medical needs. During his four days in detention at Irwin County Detention Center, Arenas-Silva called his sister to report that he was not receiving the medication he depended on. Staff found him unresponsive on the transfer bus between Irwin County Detention Center and Folkston ICE Processing Center at 7:46 a.m., and he was pronounced dead at Irwin County Hospital at 8:31 a.m. Cardiac arrest was listed as the suspected cause of death pending medical examination. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident. His death was one of four fatalities in immigration enforcement encounters within a single week.

Nico Valencia, a Mexican national, was detained by ICE while traveling to work and is being held at Stewart Detention Center. His family, including his uncle Jacob and aunt Leanne Valencia, has been unable to contact him since his detention three days prior. Nico immigrated to the United States to support his mother and siblings in rural Mexico. His family is raising funds to cover legal and detention fees associated with his case.

A landscaper identified in the article as Luis was arrested during an ICE enforcement operation on July 8 in Marietta while working at a construction site. He is the father of a 5-year-old son. His family struggled to cope with his sudden absence and the lack of information about his whereabouts or status. His family members have faced difficulty accessing resources and information about him, and are uncertain about his future.

Jovanny de Jesús Pineda left his home early on July 8 to go to a landscaping job with two colleagues when immigration agents stopped him. His wife, Luz Tagle, said a neighbor alerted her that immigration was in the area and she tried to warn him by phone. "The second he picked up he said, 'Immigration caught me,'" Tagle told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in Spanish. Pineda is now detained at ICE Stewart Detention Center in South Georgia.

A man was detained by ICE during a late-night traffic stop on Collins Hill Road in Lawrenceville, Georgia, while returning home with his teenage daughter Evelyn. Officers provided no explanation for the detention and left Evelyn, a minor, unattended at the scene. Evelyn describes her father as a hardworking provider who supports the family's bills and daily expenses. The family is seeking financial assistance to secure his release.

Alex Orellana, a Guatemalan resident of LaGrange, was approached by ICE agents at a traffic stop on July 7 and asked for identification and citizenship status. Orellana filmed the encounter and posted it to Facebook as part of efforts by residents to document immigration enforcement in their communities. He was ultimately allowed to leave after showing his documents. Orellana said he has lived in the area for nearly two decades and described the increased immigration enforcement activity as creating panic in the community.

Lorenzo Rojas-Martinez, a 37-year-old Mexican national who had been deported twice previously, was arrested after operating a drone in restricted airspace near Centennial Olympic Park during the 2026 FIFA Fan Festival in Atlanta on June 12. Federal agents observed him operating the drone from a parking lot, where he was recording video of the event. After confirming his unlawful presence in the United States, he was taken into custody and transferred to ICE. He faces federal charges for operating a drone in a temporary flight restricted zone and illegal reentry after prior deportations. ICE arrested Jose Garrido-Benitez, 51, on July 6 after he was caught flying a drone in a no-fly zone 2.5 miles from Arrowhead Stadium on July 3. Garrido-Benitez, a Mexican national, was detained for unlawful presence in the United States. ICE stated he had prior convictions and had been removed from the U.S. in 2003 before unlawfully reentering.

Johan Sandoval, a 22-year-old Dominican Republic native and baseball standout at Savannah State University, was detained by ICE agents on July 3, 2026, outside his girlfriend's apartment complex in Clifton Park, New York. Sandoval, who entered the U.S. on a student visa in 2022, was pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration on a full athletic scholarship and had recently been named MVP of the 2026 HBCU Baseball All-Star Game. According to his girlfriend Adriana Wade, ICE agents blocked his car as he was leaving for the gym and followed him to the apartment door; during the encounter, his phone was broken and his state ID was lost. DHS stated that Sandoval's F-1 student visa was terminated in April 2025 after he failed to adhere to visa requirements. He was held at ICE's Buffalo Service Processing Center pending removal proceedings. His family launched a GoFundMe campaign seeking $12,000 for legal representation, and Savannah State's president Dr. Jermaine Whirl worked with the family and an immigration attorney to secure his release.

Daniel Ouguegazu, a Venezuelan asylum-seeker, was detained by ICE agents at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in July 2026 as he attempted to board a flight. Ouguegazu had filed an asylum application and was awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge. His family later filed a complaint alleging he faced persecution and that his case involved legal violations. According to DHS, he remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

Miguel Aparicio-Ortiz, 40, of Mexico; Aguelio Lemos Hernandez, 35, of Honduras; Henry Marin-Hernandez, 41, of Guatemala; Moises Valenzuela-Mendez, 42, of Mexico; and Luis Angel Velasquez-Montes, 27, of Mexico, were identified during separate traffic stops in Chatham and Atkinson counties, Georgia, between January and April 2026. Each had previously been deported and had returned to the United States. They were placed in ICE custody and later pleaded guilty to illegal re-entry after removal in federal court in Savannah before U.S. District Court Chief Judge R. Stan Baker. All five were sentenced to time served followed by immediate deportation, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Georgia.

Tania Hernandez's father was arrested on June 29, 2026, for driving without a license. After the family paid his bond and he was scheduled for release, ICE placed a hold on him at the detention facility, preventing his release. The family is now seeking legal representation to address the immigration enforcement action.

Victor Martin was arrested by ICE agents on June 19, 2026, after they stopped him as he left his driveway. The agents aggressively tailgated his vehicle until forcing him to stop. He is currently detained at Stewart Detention Center alongside his wife, leaving his four children, ages 12, 14, 22, and 24, without parental support and facing significant financial strain.

Alejandra Santiago was stopped by ICE agents while leaving for work on June 19, 2026. Four ICE vehicles cornered her car, and agents removed her from the vehicle, questioned her, confiscated her phone, handcuffed her, and transported her to her home where her husband was also arrested. She is currently detained at Stewart Detention Center, leaving her four children, ages 12, 14, 22, and 24, to manage mortgage payments, attorney fees, and care for the two younger minors.

A 48-year-old Guatemalan man detained at Stewart Detention Center suffered a severe E. coli infection in his leg after being injured while shackled in a transport vehicle and forced to sleep on a dirty concrete floor with leaking toilets. Medical staff did not adequately respond to his requests for help until he collapsed and required hospitalization; a doctor told him he narrowly escaped amputation. He was released in October 2025 as a legal permanent resident but struggles with lingering pain that prevents him from returning to construction work. The case is one of hundreds documented across at least 33 states where detainees allege medical neglect in ICE custody.