Human Impact Project

Fernando Alves Rocha, a 45-year-old Brazilian theater manager at Juanita High School in Kirkland, was arrested by ICE on July 18 after overstaying a tourist visa he entered in August 2018. He filed an asylum application in February 2019, one day before his visa expired, and has maintained a valid work permit since then. Director Rose Cano described him as well-loved at the high school and a good mentor to students. According to witness accounts, ICE agents pulled Rocha from his vehicle and threw him to the ground during the arrest. ICE alleged he is wanted by Brazilian law enforcement for theft, but his attorney stated they were not shown evidence of any crimes. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 15 raised $36,405 through GoFundMe to support his legal fight and help secure his $10,000 bond. On July 29, Immigration Court Judge Tammy Fitting granted the bond, citing his strong community ties, pending asylum claim, and lack of danger to the community or flight risk. Rocha was released from Northwest Detention Center on July 30.

Three Cuban nationals filed a lawsuit challenging U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's use of I-220A forms to release them without proper parolee status. The plaintiffs, who were apprehended upon entry and subject to mandatory detention, allege ICE unlawfully misclassified their immigration status, which excluded them from eligibility for adjustment of status under the Cuban Adjustment Act. The case raises claims of Administrative Procedure Act violations, Fifth Amendment due process violations, and ultra vires agency action.

Lewelyn Dixon, a lab technician at UW Medicine who arrived from the Philippines at age 14 and held a green card for more than 50 years, was detained by Customs and Border Protection at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Feb. 28, 2025, while returning from a family trip to the Philippines. Her attorney said the detention stemmed from a 2001 nonviolent embezzlement conviction for which she had already served her sentence and paid restitution, though it had never before affected her travel or green card renewals. She spent nearly three months at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, where she described conditions as 'horrific' and 'super crowded' and spent time helping other detainees and forming friendships, including with an Afghan woman who gave her a beaded bracelet. Immigration Judge Tammy Fitting ruled on May 29, 2025 that Dixon should not be deported, citing her decades as a lawful permanent resident, community ties, and arrival as a child. Family, coworkers, and union supporters from SEIU Local 925 rallied outside the detention center and celebrated her release. About a month later, Dixon applied for U.S. citizenship, passed her interview in October, and took the Oath of Allegiance on July 20. Her niece, Donna Cristobal, said, 'I'm relieved now that she's documented and doesn't have to go through this again... It was a really bad time for us, the whole family.'

On June 11, two men seeking asylum who were legally in the country and had appeared for immigration court were detained by ICE at a Department of Homeland Security office in Spokane. Former Spokane City Council president Ben Stuckart sent out a social media alert urging people to disrupt the enforcement action. Bajun Mavalwalla II, a Petaluma native, military veteran, and recent transplant to Washington, responded to the call and joined other protesters who blocked an ICE bus attempting to transport the detainees to Tacoma, deflating its tires. Several people were arrested that day, though Mavalwalla was not among them. About a month later, on July 15, ten FBI agents arrived at Mavalwalla's Spokane home at 6 a.m. and took him into custody.

Rakesh Rakesh, an Indian national detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, was granted voluntary departure to India. On May 31, 2025, ICE officers escorted him to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and mistakenly placed him on an Alaska Airlines flight to Sitka, Alaska instead of his intended connecting flight through New York to India. Flight attendants alerted ICE officers to the error, but officers directed his boarding anyway. Upon landing in Sitka, the Alaska Airlines captain assisted Rakesh and arranged his return to Seattle. However, ICE re-detained him upon arrival rather than allowing him to continue to India. He remained in the Tacoma detention center for 16 additional days, during which he undertook a hunger strike, before being released and facilitated to depart for India on June 17, 2025.

A mass protest occurred at Spokane's ICE facility after former City Council President Ben Stuckart called for people to prevent two asylum-seeking immigrants from being transported to a Tacoma detention center. Federal Homeland Security Investigations agents used physical force against protesters, while Spokane police later arrived and employed dialogue-based tactics. Three protesters—Bajun Mavalwalla II, Justice Forral, and Jac Archer—were charged with conspiring against ICE agents, and their trial examined the differing enforcement approaches.

Five of nine protesters who participated in a June 11 demonstration at a Spokane ICE office pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges for attempting to prevent the transportation of two legal immigrants to a detention center. The protesters blocked the facility's driveway and transport bus to stop the deportation of two young men who had entered the U.S. through a humanitarian program. Four other defendants are scheduled for trial in May, and under a plea agreement, the guilty defendants can withdraw their felony pleas for misdemeanor charges if they abide by release conditions for 18 months.

Sergio Cerdio Gomez, a 42-year-old Pasco food truck owner and father of three, was detained by ICE agents on April 24, 2025, during a scheduled immigration interview in Yakima. Gomez was attending the interview with his U.S. citizen wife, Gabrielle Cerdio, regarding his pending green card and citizenship application, which they had filed in 2022. He was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant. Gomez co-owns the Kennewick food truck Hibachi Explosion with his wife. He was subsequently deported to Chiapas, Mexico in June 2025.

Maximo Londonio, 42, a green card holder who immigrated from the Philippines to the United States at age 12 and is the father of three living in Olympia, Washington, was detained by CBP agents on May 15 as he returned from a family vacation to the Philippines with his wife Crystal, a U.S. citizen, and their 12-year-old daughter. He was celebrating his 20th wedding anniversary during the trip. Londonio was pulled aside at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport upon landing and transferred to an ICE detention facility in Tacoma after receiving a notice to appear before an immigration judge. His wife and community organizers with Tanggol Migrante Network WA believe the detention may be connected to a 2002 guilty plea to grand theft when he was 19 years old, for which he completed his sentence and probation without issue. Crystal described him as hard-working, family-oriented, devoted, and the primary provider for their family. Londonio works as a lead union member at Crown Cork and Seal manufacturing company in Lacey, Washington, and his union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, called for his immediate release. The Port of Seattle Commission expressed being "deeply concerned" about the prolonged detention, noting that CBP's own standards generally limit detention to 72 hours. The Philippine Consulate was notified and has been coordinating with U.S. immigration authorities. Community members gathered outside the airport demanding his release.

On May 6, 2025, ICE and HSI agents conducted unannounced visits to more than 100 Washington-area businesses, including nearly a dozen well-known restaurants, as part of a Trump administration immigration enforcement crackdown targeting employers suspected of employing undocumented workers. Agents requested I-9 employment verification forms and issued Notice of Inspection documents requiring record production within three business days at establishments including Chef Geoff's, Pupatella, Millie's, Chang Chang, Jaleo, Clyde's and Cynthia. DHS confirmed more than 100 Notices of Inspection were served and said no arrests were made during the operations. Restaurant owners, managers and industry members commented on the visits to the local food community.

After months in ICE detention in Tacoma, Rakesh Rakesh volunteered to self-deport to India but was mistakenly placed on a flight to Sitka, Alaska instead of New York. Alaska Airlines staff assisted him with meals, lodging, and rebooking at no charge. Upon his return to Seattle, ICE re-detained him at the Northwest ICE Processing Center for an additional 16 days before completing his deportation, prompting him to conduct a hunger strike to protest the situation.

A 16-year-old unaccompanied immigrant girl in Washington state was visited by ICE officials for a "welfare check" earlier in April. During the visit, the frightened girl messaged and called her legal representative expressing fear that her life would be upended. The visit was characterized by her attorney as causing terror and trauma, illustrating the impact of ICE's targeting of unaccompanied minors under the guise of welfare checks.

A family of six asylum seekers from southwestern Africa — parents Josefina and José and their four children, ages 13, 10, 5 and 11 months — were held in a single windowless cell at a CBP facility in Blaine, Washington for about a month starting in April 2025, according to an ACLU complaint. Josefina, who was five months into a high-risk pregnancy, was hospitalized twice during the detention after CBP staff allegedly kept her in unsafe conditions despite hospital warnings, and she suffered pregnancy complications. The children reportedly went weeks without mental stimulation or physical activity, and the 13-year-old was allegedly handcuffed when taken to shower. The ACLU of Washington filed a federal claim seeking $15 million in damages from the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection, one of 54 such claims filed nationwide in July under the Federal Tort Claims Act.

César Herrera Ferrer, a 24-year-old Venezuelan man, was detained by ICE in Tacoma, Washington, after his father-in-law, Óscar Antonio Castañeda, called immigration authorities during an escalating family conflict. The dispute began when Castañeda was confronted and expelled from the home, then returned and threatened Herrera with a firearm while he held his young daughter, Francesca. Castañeda was arrested but released within 72 hours, after which Francesca says he called ICE to prevent Herrera from testifying against him in the firearm case. Herrera remains in ICE custody at the Tacoma detention center while his attorneys argue the detention was retaliatory and aimed at obstructing the criminal case against his father-in-law.

A Venezuelan couple were arrested by federal immigration agents and charged with misdemeanor unauthorized entry more than two years after crossing the southern U.S. border in October 2022. Despite having been granted Temporary Protected Status and pending asylum claims, they were arrested while returning home from work in Washington, D.C.

Boun Morisath, a Bremerton father and longtime lawful permanent resident, was detained on March 11, 2025, during a routine check-in at the Department of Homeland Security office in Tukwila after 30 years of regular compliance with immigration officials. He remains in custody at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma. His family says he poses no flight risk or danger to society and questions why ICE has suddenly detained him during a visit he had completed without issue for three decades.

A Pasco mechanic and father of three was arrested by a federal immigration agent on his way to work in March 2025. He may have been targeted because of a 2020 DUI charge and minor resolved traffic violations. A federal work permit he had previously applied for was approved while he was detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma. After months in detention, he was deported to central Mexico in June 2025.

Lewelyn Dixon, a 64-year-old green card holder and University of Washington lab technician, was detained by ICE on February 28, 2025, after returning from the Philippines, following discovery of a 2000 embezzlement conviction by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Dixon had lived legally in the United States for over 50 years and completed restitution on her conviction in 2019. She is currently held at the Northwest ICE Detention Facility and is not bond eligible, with her first hearing scheduled for July 17. Her family and supporters have called for her release.

Sergey Kostenyuk, a longtime Spokane resident who came to the U.S. from Ukraine as a child refugee more than 30 years ago, was arrested by ICE agents who posed as customers on Facebook Marketplace seeking to buy a chicken coop from his shed-building business. He was detained for over two months based on two 2018 felony theft convictions before a judge ruled he did not meet federal criteria for deportation and ordered his release. Kostenyuk runs the business with his partner of more than 20 years, Mary Lesotti, with whom he has two sons.

Micaela Eudave, a 44-year-old Othello woman, was arrested by ICE agents on February 8 while driving to work at her taco truck business. According to court documents, Eudave had no criminal history and was under no deportation orders, though ICE stated agents were in the area searching for a different person. Her arrest has sparked debate about local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities, leading to a lawsuit by Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown against Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner for allegedly violating the state's "Keep Washington Working" act.