Human Impact Project

German Machado Guillen, a Venezuelan IT technician at SUNY Brockport, was detained by ICE agents outside his family's home in Batavia, New York as he left for work. His wife, journalist Maria Velázquez, said the couple fled Venezuela in 2016 after she was threatened and assaulted for her reporting, and that they applied for asylum that year, with a decision still pending and Machado listed as a dependent. The couple said they own a home, work, and pay taxes, and that Machado holds a valid Employment Authorization Document valid until 2029. ICE and DHS said he overstayed a 2016 visitor visa and lacked legal immigration status, noting that work authorization alone does not confer legal status. He is being held at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility pending removal proceedings, and his union, United University Professions, demanded his release and planned a rally in his support at SUNY Brockport.

Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old Dominican construction worker and father, was shot in the neck by a plainclothes ICE agent in the Marble Hill section of the Bronx on October 8, 2026, while attempting to flee an arrest with his 5-year-old son in the backseat after picking the boy up from school. Surveillance footage showed masked agents in construction vests approaching with guns drawn; ICE claims Belgal's vehicle struck agents and government vehicles, which he disputes. A bystander, Iris Rosa, ran to help him and said he told her he thought he was dying; his son was unharmed. Belgal was hospitalized and later transferred to a private ICE facility in New Jersey before being booked into solitary confinement at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where a bullet remains lodged in his neck and his attorneys say he has received inadequate medical care. His lawyers filed a federal habeas corpus petition, later amended to allege ICE lacked a valid arrest warrant, after which a judge barred his deportation or transfer. Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the shooting an 'outrage' and said he negotiated with President Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin for Belgal's release, while Gov. Kathy Hochul demanded an accounting and Rep. Adriano Espaillat said he was blocked from visiting Belgal in the hospital. Protests occurred outside the hospital and in the neighborhood, with some clashes between police and demonstrators.

Jeury Concepcion, a 19-year-old U.S. citizen from the Bronx, was tackled and handcuffed by masked ICE agents near East Gun Hill Road and Hull Avenue after being mistaken for a man with a removal order, minutes after another man was detained nearby. Cellphone video showed agents forcing him to the ground as a bystander shouted 'Why you kidnapping?!' and witnesses said he repeatedly identified himself as a U.S. citizen while being restrained and left bleeding from a head wound. "He just grabbed me and threw me on the floor," Concepcion recalled. Agents eventually checked his ID, apologized, and left him bloodied in an unfamiliar park, where his mother and grandmother, Ivelisse Garcia Santana, found him and took him for treatment; he was diagnosed with a concussion and received stitches. A DHS spokesperson claimed he was briefly detained for matching a description and refusing to identify himself, but Judge Gary R. Brown reviewed the video, called the incident 'extremely violent,' found ICE officers gave 'inconsistent, false and misleading testimony' and falsified records, and ruled the arrest illegal. The judge ordered the government to propose remedies and detail steps to ensure future arrests comply with the law; Concepcion has since been released. His case is among more than 500 U.S. citizens identified as having been detained by immigration agents during the Trump administration.

U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown, appointed by President Trump, ruled that ICE agents illegally arrested Angel Jesus Almonte during a May operation in the Bronx targeting Dario Santos-Amarante, despite striking physical differences between the two men. Brown's 28-page opinion found agents falsified arrest paperwork, including a "substantially false" administrative warrant prepared after Almonte's detention, and gave testimony about alleged drug transactions that bore "all the hallmarks of coordinated fabrication," while official records showed only motor vehicle charges. A supervisor testified that five database searches had initially returned negative results before the warrant falsely claimed biometric confirmation. The same operation also led to the violent arrest of U.S. citizen Jeury Concepcion, who suffered head injuries requiring stitches after being mistaken for the target; Brown provisionally granted Almonte's habeas petition and ordered the government to explain within 21 days how it will address the problems identified, while considering possible sanctions.

Ricardo Aparecido Barbosa da Cunha, a Brazilian immigrant who had lived in the U.S. for about 20 years, ran a small construction business in Massachusetts with his wife and their two U.S.-citizen children. He had a pending asylum application, valid work authorization, and no criminal record. ICE arrested him on September 26, 2025, while he was driving to work after a traffic stop in Norwood, Massachusetts. Under a Trump administration policy classifying him as an 'applicant for admission' subject to mandatory detention, an immigration judge initially denied him a bond hearing, but after he filed a habeas petition, a federal court ordered one, and he was released on bond in October 2025 after being found no danger or flight risk. The government appealed, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the release in April 2026, joining most federal appeals courts in rejecting the administration's detention policy as potentially 'the broadest mass-detention-without-bond mandate in our nation's history.' On October 1, 2026, the Supreme Court agreed to review the policy, with advocacy groups warning the outcome could affect thousands to millions of detained immigrants nationwide.

Mario Mata Cruz, a Salvadoran national with a pending Special Immigrant Juvenile Status application and no criminal record, was arrested by ICE on Long Island in October 2025 while driving to work with his brother. He had crossed the border at age 17 and obtained SIJ status in 2019, putting him on a path toward a green card. ICE transported him to Texas and deported him to El Salvador without a final removal order from an immigration judge or signed voluntary departure paperwork, which his attorney Ed Cuccia says was illegal. His lawyers sued the Trump administration, and the government agreed to return him from El Salvador over the summer, but instead of being released to New York where his brother lives, he has been held in detention facilities in Louisiana, New Jersey, and Virginia with no ties to those states. An immigration judge in New Jersey denied him bond, and a hearing on his green card application was scheduled. His case is part of a broader pattern NY1 documented of at least 132 cases where people were deported without final removal orders.

Yehonatan Ovadia, a 35-year-old Satmar Hasidic rabbi and father of five from Rockland County, New York, remains in ICE custody at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center after being detained on August 28, 2026, when he appeared for a scheduled immigration court hearing in Manhattan. Ovadia moved to the U.S. from Israel in 2022 on a religious-worker visa; USCIS later denied his extension request on discretionary grounds, citing his participation in a November 2023 anti-Zionist protest at Ramapo Town Hall during which an Israeli flag was torn down. He was not accused of removing the flag, hate-crime charges were dropped, and he pleaded guilty only to disorderly conduct. His attorneys, including Eric Lee and Chris Godshall-Bennet, filed a federal lawsuit arguing he is being punished for protected religious and political speech tied to his activism with the anti-Zionist group Neturei Karta, and say the administration is conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism. An immigration judge denied him bond, the government has designated Israel as his deportation destination, and dozens of chassidim gathered at the courthouse in support. DHS maintains he overstayed his legal status and will receive due process. Speaking from detention, Ovadia said, 'your struggle is our struggle and your liberation is our liberation.'

Gerson Josué Santamaría Turcios, a Honduran immigrant and Rhinebeck High School graduate who ran his own lawn care and landscaping business, was arrested by ICE as he returned home from work. He had lived in the Rhinebeck community for years, building long-term employment relationships with local residents who describe him as warm and hard-working. A Manhattan judge denied his request for a temporary restraining order, and he was held at Orange County Jail before being transferred to the Jena/LaSalle Detention Facility in Louisiana. A coalition called New York Neighbors Unite launched a fundraising campaign that quickly raised more than $26,000, eventually growing to over $132,000 with support from former employers, teachers, classmates, actor Paul Rudd, filmmaker Andrew Jarecki, and U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan. His attorney, Karen Weinstock, pursued a habeas corpus petition, and a U.S. appeals judge from the Second Circuit granted him a stay of removal after more than a year in custody. Local resident Martha Honey said neighbors remain concerned about his ongoing imprisonment.

Carol Black (also referred to as Carol Williams Black), a Jamaican-born lawful permanent resident who had lived in New York since 1983, was detained by ICE in 2019 for roughly seven months without receiving a bond hearing. The detention stemmed from a 2000 sex abuse conviction for which he had already completed probation. Unable to secure a bond hearing while deportation proceedings continued, Black filed a federal habeas petition arguing the prolonged detention violated his constitutional due process rights. While his case was pending, he sold his home and business and voluntarily left the United States after 40 years of residency. His case reached the Supreme Court, which was set to decide whether ICE can detain lawful permanent residents indefinitely without bond hearings, but the case became moot after he received a final removal order and left the country, prompting the Court to shift its review to a different detainee's case.

A coalition called Evict ICE from 250 Delaware is calling on Uniland Development, owned by the Montante family, and Delaware North, owned by the Jacobs family, to end their lease with ICE, which operates its Buffalo field office and a detainee 'hold room' used to detain immigrants, including children, inside the building. On September 26, eight activists were arrested after occupying the intersection outside the building to protest what they call the "Montante family's continued profiteering from deportation," now referring to the site as the "Montante Detention Center." The campaign, which launched on May Day 2026, seeks to end ICE's presence at the site when its lease expires in March 2027.

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order, later followed by a permanent injunction, requiring ICE to improve conditions at its 26 Federal Plaza detention facility in Manhattan. Detainees, including Sergio Alberto Barco Mercado, who filed a complaint after mass arrests at the site, were reportedly held on floors without beds, given only two meals a day, and denied hygiene products and access to legal counsel. The court found that ICE willfully violated prior orders and kept detainees in overcrowded rooms without adequate bedding, hygiene supplies, or proper temperature control. The rulings required ICE to provide sleeping mats, hygiene products, and legal access to those held at the facility.

Rent-stabilized tenants in East Harlem, mostly noncitizens from Ecuador and Mexico, say landlord Steven Croman and his staff have harassed them for years, including by asking about immigration status after ICE agents were seen at one tenant's door in April 2025. Tenants believe the questioning and a subsequent call from Croman were intimidation tactics tied to their immigration status. Croman's company has been accused by the New York Attorney General of illegally displacing rent-stabilized tenants to convert units to market-rate rentals.

Carlos Arreaga, a Syracuse resident and active community member for eight years, was taken into ICE custody on the morning of June 26 while on his way to work, without a warrant, according to his family's GoFundMe page. He had filed for asylum in the U.S. and was held at the federal detention facility in Batavia, which has faced criticism for overcrowding and poor conditions. Despite a federal judge's order that he receive a bond hearing, Arreaga was repeatedly denied bond. His wife launched a fundraiser to cover legal fees and living expenses after his detention left the family without its sole breadwinner, and about 70 community members gathered at a vigil in Syracuse calling for his release. After roughly three months in detention, Arreaga was released and reunited with his family.

As the school year began in Queens, immigrant families expressed fear over ICE activity in their neighborhoods. In one incident, a father was detained by ICE agents while running morning errands in Corona before he could return home to drive his son to school, prompting his wife to rush to the scene in tears. Community members and local advocates, including the group Las Doñas, responded to support the family, while other parents like Margarita described ongoing anxiety about enforcement affecting daily routines like school drop-offs.

Marco was recently detained by ICE, according to his daughter Leire, who is raising money to cover immigration legal representation and attorney fees. The family is working to secure his release and asked for donations, prayers, and help sharing their story.

A man living on Brook Street in Croton-on-Hudson was taken into ICE custody during a 'verified immigration enforcement' operation around 7 a.m. on September 11, 2026, near a school bus stop on a school day. Village Mayor Brian Pugh said the village police department had no advance knowledge of the operation and did not participate in it. Pugh criticized ICE for conducting the operation without notifying local officials or the school district, calling it 'unnecessarily disruptive,' and said he notified the state attorney general through her Federal Action Reporting Form. He noted this is the second such case on Brook Street, after another man was taken into ICE custody in an incident reported in the village's April 19-25, 2026 police blotter and who remains in federal custody; Pugh added that village police do not enforce federal civil immigration laws and only cooperate with immigration officials in cases involving judicial criminal warrants, terrorism, or probable cause of a criminal offense.

G.M., a lawful permanent resident from the Dominican Republic, was arrested by ICE at his home on Oct. 5, 2020, and held for 21 months without a bond hearing during removal proceedings tied to a 2015 second-degree assault conviction. He was released in 2022 after a nationwide injunction required ICE to review the custody status of detainees with certain medical conditions, though the legal questions in his case remained unresolved. His case had been scheduled for Supreme Court arguments in October, but it was dismissed as moot on Sept. 11, 2026, after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul granted him a full pardon for the assault conviction in late August, eliminating the legal basis for his detention and deportation.

Wilfredo Giron, a construction worker and father, was taken into ICE custody after someone posing as a potential client contacted him about a job, luring him into an encounter that resulted in his detention. He has been held for more than two weeks, leaving behind his wife, Rachel, who is pregnant, and their 2-year-old son. The family is raising funds for immigration attorney fees, legal filings, and a potential bond to secure his release while his case continues.

On the morning of September 9th, two family members—an aunt's husband and her son-in-law—were detained by ICE agents outside their home as they left for work. The men had lived in the U.S. for nearly 13 years and have three children between them, one of whom was born in the U.S. They were taken to the Buffalo detention center, where they were pressured into signing voluntary departure forms, and were later transferred to a facility in Louisiana. One of the men has heart problems requiring five medications nightly, and one reported experiencing abuse in custody; family members say they are unsure if he is receiving needed medical care. ICE confiscated the men's passports, leaving the family without a way to relocate, and the wives have had only brief phone calls with the detained men since their arrest.

Ibrahim Topkaya, a 33-year-old medical doctor from Turkey working as a bioengineering researcher studying diabetes at Upstate Medical University, was detained by U.S. immigration officials after a GPS error rerouted him toward the Canadian border while he was returning from a trip to Niagara Falls with his visiting mother. Canadian border patrol turned him around with documentation confirming he never entered Canada, but U.S. officials detained him upon his return, and he is now held at the Batavia federal detention facility. His friend Omar Alsafadi said Topkaya has an approved asylum case, active work authorization, and a Social Security number, and described him as a well-respected researcher who has authored numerous medical papers. The Department of Homeland Security said Topkaya overstayed his authorized status after legally entering the country in June 2023. Topkaya has requested research materials to continue his work while detained, and his mother, visiting from Turkey for the first time in three years, has extended her stay while awaiting updates on his case.