Human Impact Project

An illustration depicts a firsthand account from an ICE detainee describing a traffic stop encounter in which an ICE officer allegedly destroyed their work permit and state driver's license.

Alex Umanzor, a 45-year-old construction worker from Honduras, was detained by ICE on February 16, 2026, at a Walmart in Suffolk County while on a routine shopping trip. He is currently held at Delaney Hall Detention Facility in New Jersey. His detention has forced his family to make major adjustments, including plans to relocate to Maryland, and his eldest son has assumed responsibility for caring for his two younger sisters, ages 10 and 2. The family has raised nearly $7,000 through a GoFundMe campaign to help cover legal fees and expenses.

Ofelia Torres, a 16-year-old U.S. citizen and Lake View High School junior from Chicago, died from metastatic alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma on February 13, 2026. Her father, Ruben Torres-Maldonado, an undocumented immigrant, was detained by ICE agents at a Home Depot in October 2025 during the Trump administration's 'Operation Midway Blitz' enforcement initiative. While undergoing hospice care for stage 4 cancer, Ofelia posted social media videos calling for her father's release from custody. Three days before her death, an immigration judge ruled that Torres-Maldonado was entitled to cancellation of removal based on the hardship his deportation would cause his U.S. citizen children, granting him protection from deportation and the ability to pursue permanent residence.

ICE stopped a vehicle on Interstate 35 at the 19th Street exit in Moore. During the stop, a father was taken into custody by ICE while his 17-year-old son was left alone on the side of the highway.

Adelso Bravo, a 39-year-old painter from Guatemala who had lived in Syracuse for over 20 years and ran his own painting business, was detained by ICE agents near his home on February 10. He spent 18 days at the Batavia immigration detention center before receiving a court hearing. With support from his wife, community members, and lawyers using a habeas corpus petition strategy, and with friends and supporters raising $18,000, Bravo was released after 21 days in custody on a $5,000 bond with an ankle monitor. The habeas corpus strategy used in his case has been applied nationally in response to Trump administration policies mandating detention for immigrants who entered the country without authorization.

Google provided ICE with personal and financial information about Amandla Thomas-Johnson, a British doctoral student and journalist at Cornell University, in response to an administrative subpoena that had not been approved by a judge. The data, including addresses, phone numbers, IP addresses, device identifiers, credit card and bank account numbers, was turned over approximately 90 minutes after his student visa was revoked, which followed his participation in a protest against defense contractors linked to Israel's war in Gaza. ICE reportedly obtained the data under a gag order that prevented Google from notifying him, in contrast to Meta, which has notified users subject to similar subpoenas. Thomas-Johnson subsequently left the United States for Canada and later Switzerland.

Martir Zambrano Diaz, a 50-year-old native of El Salvador, was detained by ICE agents on February 4, 2026 during an enforcement sweep in Greenport. According to a federal habeas corpus petition filed on his behalf, he arrived in the United States in 2001 and has never been arrested or convicted of any crime, directly contradicting ICE's claims that he was previously removed in 1998 and reentered illegally. He had worked at Pindar Vineyards for 23 years, where he was known for his strong work ethic, kindness, and positive attitude. His detention left his family without their primary breadwinner. Community members and advocacy groups, including OLA of Eastern Long Island, launched fundraising campaigns and legal support efforts to assist his family.

Alexandro Rivera Magaña, a longtime Greenport resident and El Salvadoran national, was detained by ICE agents on February 4, 2026, during a raid at a Greenport coffee shop. He had worked at Pindar Vineyards in Peconic as a foreman since 2023 and is the primary breadwinner for his family, which includes a son with severe autism and a 5-year-old child. A second longtime Pindar worker, Martir Zambrano Diaz, was detained in the same raid; as of early March, the vineyard's general manager said he had not learned either worker's whereabouts. The detentions left Rivera Magaña's wife and children facing financial hardship, prompting community fundraising, while Pindar Vineyards says losing experienced crew members threatens its ability to complete vine pruning before spring budbreak.

Dylan, a 20-year-old Venezuelan student at Ellis Prep High School in the Bronx, was detained by ICE on May 21, 2025, immediately after appearing at federal immigration court in Lower Manhattan for an asylum hearing. He entered the United States legally under Biden-era policies and has no criminal record. His attorney stated he was entitled to full legal protections to pursue asylum relief. Dylan's mother reported he has been suffering from untreated stomach problems and has been moved to at least four different detention centers within five to six days. The Department of Homeland Security placed him under expedited removal proceedings.

Julien Pereira, a 26-year-old French tennis coach, was detained by U.S. Border Patrol and ICE after being denied entry to Canada while awaiting work visa paperwork. He spent a month in an ICE facility in Batavia, New York, where he experienced shackling, inadequate food and water, and harsh conditions before being released on bail and ordered to leave the U.S. within 15 days.

Federal immigration agents detained Hugo Leonel Ardon Osorio, Martin Zambrano Diaz, and Alexandro Rivera Magana in Greenport on Wednesday morning, while a fourth man fled on foot during a separate operation on Ludlum Place. According to community advocates, the three detained men have lived in the area for over 20 years with no criminal backgrounds. The operations prompted school absences throughout the district as families responded to ICE presence in the community.

Omar Ramos Jimenez, 50, a Mexican national who has lived in Rochester since 2004 and co-founded the La Casa restaurant, was detained by ICE after being lured to the agency's Buffalo field office under the pretext of installing a new reporting app. He had been complying with ICE check-ins for five years while pursuing an asylum appeal. His attorney filed a federal complaint alleging denial of due process and seeking his immediate release or a bond hearing. A federal judge later denied his requests for release and a bond hearing, and he remains held at a federal detention facility in Batavia while appealing that decision.

A 22-year-old from Guatemala was walking to his job as a vegetable grocer in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn when six ICE officers approached him on the street. The officers showed him photos of men and asked, "You're Latino, you look like one of them. Do you know any of these guys?" When he said no and was asked for identification and papers, he gazed at their firearms and felt he had no choice but to respond. The officers then arrested him. In ICE's account, agents claimed they "noticed a person matching the target's biographic information wearing a hooded jacket."

In early February 2026, ICE agents conducted a stakeout operation in Port Richmond, Staten Island, searching for a specific target but mistakenly arrested at least three men who were not the intended subjects. Isaias, 36, from Guatemala, was arrested while agents were looking for a different 25-year-old man from Mexico named Julio. Juan, 21, also from Guatemala, was arrested during the same operation; he had lived in the U.S. for nearly two decades and has two U.S. citizen children. Alejandro, 47, from Mexico, was arrested after leaving a location agents were staking out. Following their arrests, both Isaias and Juan decided to leave the country according to federal court records. Alejandro and Juan both had habeas petitions filed by lawyers challenging the legality of their detention, with a judge ordering Alejandro's release and Juan later being released after filing his petition.

Yannier Vazquez Hidalgo, a Cuban man working at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Central New York, was ordered deported to Ecuador by an immigration judge. Hidalgo fled Cuba and married his husband in the U.S., requesting asylum based on persecution fears as a gay man. He was detained by federal agents in October during a routine ICE appointment in Mattydale. Though he passed an immigration test demonstrating a credible threat to his life in Cuba due to his sexual orientation, the judge ordered his deportation to a country where he has no ties and where he argues he will face persecution for being gay and Cuban.

ICE enforcement operations, including Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, have created widespread fear in immigrant communities, with documented impacts on children's mental health, school engagement, and family stability. Testimony before the Illinois Accountability Commission described children avoiding school activities, families considering guardianship transfers, and reduced use of healthcare and educational institutions due to enforcement actions.

Tomas Orellana, a Great Neck resident, was detained by ICE in early January while attending a mandatory probation hearing at a courthouse for a DWI conviction. His wife Claudia says he was detained inside the courthouse without being shown a warrant, in potential violation of New York's Protect Our Courts Act. Community groups, churches, and residents have rallied to support the family of eight children, raising approximately $28,000 on GoFundMe to help cover legal fees.

Thierno Diallo, a Guinean national previously granted withholding of removal to Guinea, was detained by ICE during a routine check-in at 26 Federal Plaza in New York after the agency moved to deport him to Ghana as a third-country national. He was then transferred to the Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark, New Jersey. Diallo filed a federal habeas corpus petition challenging his detention, and a district judge granted the petition in part, ordering relief while denying other requested relief.

Detainees at facilities including the Buffalo Federal Detention Center have faced delayed or denied medical treatment since ICE stopped paying external medical providers on October 3, 2025, after the Department of Veterans Affairs abruptly ended its decades-old agreement to process these payments following criticism from activists who falsely claimed immigrants were diverting veterans' resources. Eleven months later, ICE still has no system to pay for outside care, leaving providers like UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital owed more than $4 million for 150 detainee hospital admissions and visits, and Moshannon Valley EMS in Pennsylvania unpaid for 43 ambulance calls to a detention center since October 2025. The VA had processed over $246 million in claims for detainee medical care in 2024 before ending the arrangement, even though ICE had been fully reimbursing the VA for the service.

Alicbiades "Alex" Lazaro Ramirez Gonzalez, husband of Yannier Vazquez Hidalgo, was ordered deported to Ecuador by an immigration judge one week before his husband received the same order. Ramirez Gonzalez fled Cuba with his husband and they married in the U.S., both requesting asylum based on persecution fears as gay men. He was detained by federal agents in October during a routine ICE appointment in Mattydale. Like his husband, he faces deportation to a country where he has no ties and argues he will be persecuted for being gay and Cuban.