Human Impact Project

Harrison, New Jersey officials are demanding answers after ICE arrested Jhon Maykel Correa Sangucho, a migrant from Honduras, in front of his children. A video of the arrest has sparked outrage on social media.

Jose Chajon-Raxon, a man detained at Delaney Hall, experienced a seizure and was transported to the hospital around the time of a July congressional hearing on conditions at the facility. ICE granted him a temporary medical release before he died, and because he was technically no longer in detention, his death was not counted as a death in ICE custody.

Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41-year-old Haitian man, died in December 2025 at the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, less than a day after being detained. ICE initially described his death as an unexplained "medical emergency" and attributed it to "natural causes," but a medical examiner later determined he died from a pulmonary embolism. An ambulance transporting him to University Hospital was delayed by five minutes as officials prioritized allowing a van of new detainees into the facility. His death came amid widespread complaints from detainees at Delaney Hall about contaminated water, spoiled food, and inadequate medical care, and was one of at least two deaths at the facility and one of 23 deaths in ICE custody during the year. ACLU of New Jersey Executive Director Amol Sinha later cited his death during congressional testimony about medical neglect and denial of medication at the facility.

Jhon Maykel Correa-Sangucho, a Honduran national, was arrested by ICE agents in Harrison, New Jersey, after officers said he refused repeated commands to exit his vehicle during a traffic stop. Witness video showed two children inside the vehicle crying and clinging to him as agents carried out the arrest. The Harrison mayor and Town Council called the scene 'heartbreaking' and asked the school district to provide counseling to affected students. DHS said Correa-Sangucho remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings, and said a female passenger and a bystander are under investigation for allegedly interfering with the arrest.

During a Sept. 4 ICE raid in Dover, N.J., a Honduran man was picked up on his way to work, loaded into a van, and taken with nine other detained men to a warehouse in nearby Roxbury, where they were handcuffed and held in a parking lot for hours. Frightened, he signed deportation papers and said he regretted it the next morning; NPR later located him in Honduras, where he had been deported, and he requested anonymity out of fear for loved ones still in the U.S. During the same raid, a 59-year-old worker was cornered against a wall by two masked ICE agents in footage that later circulated on social media. His daughter recognized him in the video and received a disoriented call from him afterward saying he was handcuffed somewhere she believed was the Roxbury warehouse; she has not been able to reach him since and asked not to be named for fear of being targeted.

ICE agents arrested approximately 10 people on the morning of October 6, 2026, in downtown Lake Hiawatha, a section of Parsippany, New Jersey, including landscapers and a restaurant worker who had lived in New Jersey for nearly 20 years. A resident said she witnessed masked, armed ICE agents in at least four vehicles blocking in a truck from a local landscaping company on North Beverwyck Road at about 7:45 a.m. during rush hour. Parsippany Mayor Pulkit Desai said local officials received no advance notice of the operation and were working to locate the families of those detained, while the Township Council discussed taking 'more aggressive and protective' measures for residents.

Rep. LaMonica McIver faces an October 9 deadline to decide whether to seek a rehearing or Supreme Court review after a split Third Circuit panel declined in late August to dismiss criminal charges stemming from a May 2025 incident outside Delaney Hall immigration detention facility in Newark. McIver, who gave birth to her second child last week, was indicted in June 2025 on three counts of forcibly impeding and interfering with federal officers after prosecutors allege she used her forearms against two agents as they moved to arrest Newark Mayor Ras Baraka during a protest. She faces up to 17 years in prison, has pleaded not guilty, and argues she is immune from prosecution under the Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause, calling the case retaliation by the Trump administration for her oversight efforts. She is currently the only sitting member of Congress facing a federal indictment.

Norma Bowe, a 69-year-old registered nurse, grandmother, and public health professor at Kean University who runs the Global Grace Health mobile clinic for undocumented and uninsured families outside Delaney Hall detention center, was grabbed from behind and thrown face-down onto the pavement by a masked ICE agent on Memorial Day. She had moved toward a wall of agents after seeing one drag a young woman across the ground, intending to de-escalate using skills from her decades as a psychiatric nurse. Bowe suffered a fractured kneecap, torn meniscus, concussion, whiplash, and bruising around her eye, requiring ER treatment, physical therapy, acupuncture, and ongoing neurological care, and still experiences headaches, sleep trouble, and limited mobility. She returned to volunteer at the clinic two days later and has continued since, despite receiving threats and harassment online after posting video of the incident. In July 2026, Bowe filed a federal tort claim through the ACLU of New Jersey seeking $500,000 in damages for assault, battery, and emotional distress, part of a broader effort of more than 50 similar claims filed across 17 states. Former students described her as someone who taught empathy and kindness and would never provoke harm.

Martin Soto, a Peruvian immigrant and father of two, was arrested by ICE agents in February 2026 while buying diapers for his son in Kearny, New Jersey, and detained at the Delaney Hall facility in Newark. He helped lead a hunger and labor strike over poor food and inadequate medical care, and in late May agents transferred him overnight to solitary confinement at the Elizabeth Detention Center, where his attorney said he was held for months in what she described as retaliation for his activism. His wife, Gabriela Soto, a U.S. citizen, organized rallies outside the facility and said she lost her pregnancy in July after an emergency C-section, delivering the news to her husband while he was in solitary; his lawyer said he had suicidal thoughts during this period. Court records show an assault charge against him was dropped. After roughly eight to nine months in custody, a federal judge cited the length and conditions of his detention and lack of justification for continued confinement, and Soto was released and reunited with his family, though fitted with an ankle monitor despite having no criminal record. ICE data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit showed more than 700 detainees were transferred out of Delaney Hall, which advocates said was an attempt to break the strike; a Homeland Security spokesperson disputed the data's accuracy, and dozens of detainees at a Georgia ICE facility began a separate hunger strike the same week.

Delaney Hall, a for-profit ICE detention center in Newark, faced scrutiny after detainees began a hunger strike and reported spoiled food, lack of medical care, and inadequate gynecological services, including an 18-year-old high school student and a woman who said she miscarried without assistance. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was handcuffed and arrested on trespassing charges while visiting the facility with congressional representatives, repeating 'I'm not resisting' as agents restrained him; he was held for five hours before charges were dropped. Rep. LaMonica McIver, who stood between Baraka and ICE agents during the visit, was later charged with three felony counts of assaulting federal agents after the government claimed she had 'slammed' an agent; she is still fighting the case. Days later, on Memorial Day, Senator Andy Kim visited to mediate between protesters and detainees, standing with arms raised between armed ICE agents and the crowd before agents fired tear gas and pepper balls at him and demonstrators, leaving him needing aid for burning eyes and throat. New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill was denied entry but heard from detainees' family members about conditions inside.

Masked ICE agents conducted an enforcement sweep along Speedwell Avenue in Morristown, chasing a man from the Lincoln Apartments toward a firehouse while a school bus of elementary students watched agents transfer handcuffed detainees between vehicles. Father Duberney Villamizar, a local priest, cut short Mass to witness the operation and said four to six individuals, including a car wash employee, were detained, with one released after producing legal documents. During the operation, a passing vehicle struck the open door of an ICE SUV in front of the school bus, which the priest said caused children to scream; DHS blamed a distracted driver and said no ICE officers were injured. Residents and officials questioned whether a Morris County Sheriff's officer had cooperated with ICE, which would violate New Jersey's Immigrant Trust Directive. DHS later identified three men detained: Noe Izara Rivera and Marco Vinicio Remache-Damian, who will face due process in deportation proceedings, and Cesar Armando Chilotillo, a previously deported individual who will remain in ICE custody pending removal. The arrests were part of a series of Morristown ICE sweeps that have unsettled Hispanic neighborhoods and prompted protests since January.

A man was detained by ICE on September 23, 2026 at around 8 a.m. while waiting at a bus stop. His daughter, Tiffany Yanez, described him as hardworking, loving, and well-respected by coworkers for his kindness and cooking. The family, including his wife who has health issues and barely works, is now facing financial uncertainty and is raising money to hire an immigration lawyer and cover detention-related expenses.

A man was struck by a car while ICE agents pursued him on foot near Jersey City's Liberty State Park light rail station on a Wednesday evening around 6:20 p.m., and the driver fled the scene. City officials said an ICE agent was also hit by the vehicle, with both the agent and the man sustaining minor injuries. Footage showed agents handcuffing the man on the sidewalk and placing him in an ICE vehicle before an ambulance took him to Jersey City Medical Center, where agents and the man later entered the emergency room. The mayor's chief of staff said Jersey City police were not involved in the pursuit or arrest and only responded afterward to complete an accident report, adding that such ICE operations "put residents and bystanders at risk." ICE said it had transported a patient in custody for medical evaluation and that standard protocols were followed.

ICE agents detained an unidentified man at the corner of Prospect Street and Revere Avenue in Maplewood, NJ on the morning of September 21, 2026. As bystanders filmed the arrest, agents used what appeared to be license plate and database lookups to identify and call out the names and home addresses of observers, including Maplewood resident Darnell James, who was filming from his car with his two young children, and resident Liz Callahan, telling them to go back inside or return home. Callahan described the tactic as intended "to intimidate or suppress the community from being out and being responsive," and immigration attorney Kate Reilly called the use of government databases in this way "outrageous" and a possible violation of the Privacy Act of 1974.

ICE officers arrested Zokhid Zakhidov, 37, a Uzbek national and commercial truck driver, on August 23, 2026, during a targeted enforcement action in Woodbridge, New Jersey. He held a New York commercial learner's permit and had a May 15 conviction for driving while intoxicated, along with pending charges for assault and harassment. Cranbury, New Jersey, police had previously arrested him in April as a fugitive from justice. He remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

ICE agents entered a laundromat in Lindenwold, New Jersey on September 15 without a warrant and detained customers inside, according to a social media post. During the encounter, agents maced a woman in the face while she recorded the interaction. The incident took place near an elementary school and a high school.

ICE agents detained five men in Montclair, New Jersey on Sept. 14, 2026, while they were on their way to a construction job, and detained at least one more man in neighboring Bloomfield the same day; a community group estimated about 10 people were detained across both towns. Witnesses said agents smashed a truck's passenger window and forcibly pulled one man from the vehicle by his leg while handcuffing the others against the truck. ICE said the driver had refused to comply with officers' commands, but attorney Joseph Fortunato filed habeas corpus petitions arguing the men were detained without individualized custody determinations. A federal judge signed an order Friday night blocking the transfer of two of the men to Louisiana, and they were returned to Delaney Hall in Newark; supporters are raising money through a community bail fund to pay a $7,500 immigration bond for one of the men, a 24-year-old construction worker identified as Kevin. Montclair Mayor Renee Baskerville said she found the enforcement activity "deeply disturbing" and stressed the need to recognize the men's humanity.

ICE agents detained several men in Montclair's Fourth Ward on the morning of September 14, 2026, stopping a pickup truck near Elm Street and Bloomfield Avenue as the men were driving to perform construction work at The Vestry, a luxury apartment building. Witnesses said agents smashed the truck's window, forcibly pulled one man out by his leg, and pushed others against the vehicle while handcuffing them, just a block from Charles H. Bullock Elementary School as children arrived for the day. One detained man, a 24-year-old construction worker identified as Kevin, was held on a $7,500 immigration bond, with community members raising funds through the Envision Freedom Fund. Two other men detained, Macedonia Merino-Maldonado and Jero Jimenez-Garcia, worked as kitchen staff at the local restaurant Raymond's and were on their way to work when they were detained; both were initially held at Delaney Hall in Newark before being transferred to the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena, Louisiana. Mayor Renee Baskerville and Deputy Mayor Susan Shin Andersen said ICE had not notified local police of the operation. After attorney Joseph Fortunato filed habeas corpus petitions, a federal judge ordered two of the men returned to Delaney Hall in New Jersey after ICE had already placed them on a bus bound for a flight to a Louisiana detention facility.

A woman driving to work on Sept. 4 saw an ICE raid underway in Dover, N.J., and followed the vehicle carrying detained people up Route 46 toward the Roxbury warehouse, recording video along the way. She said a white Dodge Durango and then a black Tahoe began circling and filming her on a public sidewalk, which she described as intimidating. She asked that her name not be used, saying she fears what the government might do.

A driver was arrested by ICE agents in North Brunswick, New Jersey after fleeing a traffic stop, running a red light, and crashing into another vehicle on Route 130. The second vehicle, reportedly carrying the wife of East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen, sustained heavy front-end damage, and both of its occupants were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. ICE agents pursued and detained the driver following a foot chase, according to police, who said local officers only responded after the crash occurred and were not involved in the federal operation.