Human Impact Project

Fatima Issela Velazquez-Antonio, 23, was detained by Customs and Border Patrol agents at her job site in Raleigh in November and transferred to a Georgia federal detention facility. She was released from ICE custody and returned to North Carolina on December 23, 2025. Velazquez-Antonio, who has lived legally in the U.S. since age 14 fleeing gang violence in Honduras, has valid work authorization and no criminal record, and her case remains pending.

Families of immigrants arrested in a federal ICE surge in Maine are struggling to find basic information about their detained relatives as the government rapidly transfers them to detention facilities across multiple states. Erik Orellana-Mejia was arrested at his worksite on January 20 and has since been transferred to Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Louisiana, and Missouri. ICE has been building out detention and deportation infrastructure in New England and across the country to support intensified enforcement operations.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with Border Patrol and Florida Highway Patrol, conducted immigration enforcement operations in central Palm Beach County on December 8, 2025, including roadblocks and an attempted raid on a residential construction site. Activists estimate at least 50 people were detained during the sweeps, with children separated from apprehended parents. A 19-year-old U.S. citizen was wrongly detained but later released. Local officials stated the operations disrupted the community and economy.

Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona stated she was pepper-sprayed and pushed by ICE agents during a raid at a Tucson restaurant on Friday. The congresswoman identified herself as a member of Congress and stated she witnessed others being sprayed, including press and staff members. The Department of Homeland Security stated she was in the vicinity of another person being pepper-sprayed.

Don Lupe, who had lived in the U.S. for 27 years after migrating from Puebla, Mexico, was detained by ICE agents during a worksite raid in New Jersey. He described detention center conditions as isolating and abusive, designed to encourage self-deportation. His family mobilized support and with legal assistance, Don Lupe received a hearing where a judge granted bail and set bond at $7,500.

Immigration agents took a cash box from a taco stand in La Puente after arresting four people at the location, according to a witness account. The incident involved the confiscation of the business's cash box during the enforcement action.

A Charlotte man was detained by ICE during his lunch break at a construction job during raids in the city last December. He was held in detention centers across two states before being deported to El Salvador. His wife, who was five months pregnant at the time, and their young daughters have not seen him in about ten months, and he has never met the couple's new baby. Neighbors describe him as a talented woodworker who helped build decks and complete projects for others in the community, and the family has decided to relocate to El Salvador to reunite.

A 32-year-old Turkish man was detained and transferred to ICE custody while working as a driver, before he could receive follow-up medical care despite blood tests indicating he needed prompt treatment. He has rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic autoimmune disease causing intense pain in his neck and ankles. His family attempted to deliver medication to Otay Mesa but was turned away. His sister, brother-in-law, cousin, uncle and a family friend submitted court declarations supporting his release and attesting to his community standing. A judge granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered a bond hearing within seven days, considering his documented medical conditions.

Mark, a 17-year-old U.S. citizen in Maryland, received his high school diploma in May 2026 while his father Marco watched remotely from El Salvador, about 2,000 miles away. Marco was arrested by ICE in Maryland just before Christmas 2025 and deported in March despite 40 years in the country and owning a contracting business. As he prepared for graduation, Mark thought about how his father would have insisted on fixing his tie and adjusting his slacks. Mark struggled academically during his senior year following his father's deportation but completed his education. A Guardian investigation found that during the first seven months of the Trump administration, approximately 27,000 children—including 12,000 U.S. citizens—were separated from their parents through immigration enforcement.

A dairy farm worker in New York's North Country was detained by Border Patrol. His girlfriend, Myrna Romero, spoke about the impact of the detention on their family, expressing concerns about freedom and safety in the country.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted enforcement operations in Long Beach on Thursday, resulting in at least nine detentions at workplaces. Mayor Rex Richardson and Supervisor Janice Hahn commented on the operations, with Richardson referencing a violent incident involving a gardener at a restaurant. DHS stated six people in the country without authorization from Mexico were arrested who had prior criminal histories.

Emmanuel Gonzalez-Garcia, a 16-year-old with autism, was separated from his mother Maria Garcia on October 4-5, 2025, while they were selling fruit as street vendors in Houston. After going missing, he was located by firefighters during a welfare check and told police he was homeless, providing a different name. Houston police turned him over to ICE, and he was placed in federal custody with the Office of Refugee Resettlement as an unaccompanied immigrant minor. After approximately 48-50 days in detention, a federal judge ruled that authorities lacked legal authority to detain him since he was not truly unaccompanied. He was reunited with his mother, though their immigration court cases remain pending.

Federal immigration agents conducted enforcement operations at multiple locations in Long Beach on November 20, 2025, including at Polly's Pies restaurant, where agents chased a gardener inside and tackled him in front of two Long Beach Police Department officers who were eating there. Police said officers recognized the operation as federal immigration enforcement and did not intervene; restaurant staff who knew the man contacted his family, and a local business improvement district board member retrieved the keys to his work truck for them. Agents also arrested three people outside Cherry Donuts and were reported at four additional locations, including a church and intersections along Pacific Coast Highway, throughout the morning.

On November 18, a 23-year-old asylum seeker named Fatima Issela Velasquez-Antonio, a Wendell resident, was detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents at a construction site in Cary, North Carolina; video taken by a co-worker shows agents handcuffing her and loading her into a van. She was held overnight at the New Hanover County jail before being transferred to Stewart Detention Center in Georgia for over a month. A federal immigration judge ordered her release in late December, ruling that her detention violated a juvenile-arrival settlement agreement since she had entered the United States from Honduras unaccompanied at age 14, after her father was killed by a gang, and held a valid work permit. The detention was part of Operation Charlotte's Web, a federal enforcement operation that resulted in at least 370 arrests in North Carolina.

Border Patrol detained Moises Benitez Diaz, a 27-year-old Raleigh construction contractor, on November 18 during Operation Charlotte's Web. His wife Esmeralda Escobar, who is 8 months pregnant, is now managing the family business while he is held at a Georgia facility. Despite DHS claiming he was a criminal convicted of felony larceny, court records show his charges were dismissed and he completed a misdemeanor diversion agreement.

In September 2025, federal agents from ICE, Border Patrol, FBI, DEA, IRS, and ATF conducted the largest single-site DHS enforcement operation in history at a Hyundai-LG joint venture battery manufacturing facility near Savannah, Georgia, detaining approximately 450-475 workers. Approximately 300 of those arrested were South Korean nationals; roughly 250 worked for HL-GA Battery Company LLC and about 50 for LG Energy Solutions. ICE alleged many had overstayed visa waiver permits (ESTAs) or held B-1 business visas that did not permit manual labor, though at least one worker with valid documentation was arrested. South Korea's president and foreign minister expressed concern and launched an investigation into whether detained workers were read their rights and reported inappropriate conduct by ICE agents. By November 2025, some workers had been released and returned to their jobs, with HL-GA Battery Co. resuming construction using a mix of new and returning workers, and the facility's opening delayed by two to three months.

Nine employees at Allston Car Wash in Boston—Hector Valladares, Felicita Valladares, Vanessa Vasquez Valladares, Clarisa Aguilon, Heidy Aguilon, Yuli Magali Mendez Luarca, Pablo Oseas Lopez, Dairo Preciado, and Jose P. Enriquez Sagastume—were detained by more than 22 ICE agents on November 4, 2025. All nine workers held valid work permits at the time of their arrest. According to business manager Jose Barrera, agents arrived with subpoenas and detained the workers before allowing them to retrieve their work permits from their lockers. Attorney Todd Pomerleau reported that detainees held at ICE's Boston field office in Burlington experienced mistreatment, including being denied food and shower access for several days, and that one detainee was allegedly transferred to Texas in violation of a court order. Seven of the detained workers subsequently filed a federal tort claim through Boston Lawyers for Civil Rights alleging unlawful arrest, racial profiling based on their Latino and Spanish-speaking status, and mistreatment in custody including shackling, transport to multiple detention facilities, and denial of access to phones, legal counsel, and medications. The complaint seeks $1 million in compensation per worker plus legal fees.

An Indian American employee of the Illinois Department of Transportation who is a U.S. citizen was questioned by three masked federal agents on November 7 while working at a Busse Highway resurfacing project in Park Ridge. The agents asked whether the employee had traveled to New York and if he was aware of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who is also Indian. Governor JB Pritzker's office condemned the stop as a targeted questioning of a state employee with no legitimate reason.

A 32-year-old U.S. citizen was detained by federal agents during an immigration raid at a Home Depot in Cypress Park, Los Angeles. According to witnesses, agents allegedly drove off in his car with his 1-year-old daughter in the backseat after detaining him for allegedly throwing rocks at agents. The child was later released to her family with a bruised cheek but was otherwise unharmed. The father was released after two days in custody.

Julio Vargas, a 66-year-old Guatemalan, was detained by U.S. Border Patrol during an immigration raid at El Corredor Salvadoreño in Los Angeles on Sunday. He is being held at Adelanto Detention Center and has reported breathing problems and cramps due to cold conditions, worsened by his existing health conditions and lack of medication. His family is seeking legal assistance but faces financial and resource barriers.