Human Impact Project

ChongLy "Scott" Thao, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Hmong descent, was detained at gunpoint by masked ICE agents who broke down his door without a warrant at his St. Paul, Minnesota home. Agents refused to look at his identification and led him outside in subfreezing temperatures wearing only underwear, Crocs, and a blanket while his 4-year-old grandson watched and cried; he was then driven around and questioned for over an hour before being returned home. Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and Sheriff Bob Fletcher have since opened a criminal investigation into the raid, saying agents lacked probable cause to enter the home, while DHS has claimed the operation targeted two sex offenders it said lived at the address, a claim Thao's family disputes. Thao's mother had fled Laos in the 1970s after supporting U.S. covert operations there as a nurse, and Thao says he plans to file a civil rights lawsuit against DHS.

On January 18, 2026, ICE officers entered the home of Chongly "Scott" Thao, a 56-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen and Hmong American man, without a warrant and detained him for several hours. Agents removed Thao from his residence in minimal clothing during sub-freezing weather. ICE stated they were searching for two convicted sex offenders with ties to the property, but Thao denied knowing the men and one remained incarcerated. Ramsey County authorities launched an investigation into potential crimes including kidnapping, burglary, false imprisonment, and constitutional rights violations. Thao was released after ICE confirmed his U.S. citizenship and lack of criminal record.

Sophie Watso, a 30-year-old Mdewakanton Dakota woman, was detained by ICE agents on January 14, 2026, after monitoring immigration enforcement activity in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. During her arrest, agents broke her truck windows and physically restrained her while she held her dog. She was charged under U.S. Code 18 Section 111 for allegedly obstructing a federal investigation, though no formal charges were filed. She was held for over 48 hours at Fort Snelling's Whipple Building and Sherbourne County Jail before being released on January 16, 2026, without charges being formally filed.

Recent violent incidents involving ICE agents in Minneapolis and other cities have prompted scrutiny of federal immigration officer training and use-of-force protocols. An ICE officer fatally shot U.S. citizen Renee Macklin Good, and another Department of Homeland Security officer shot a man in the leg during an arrest. Experts and advocates are questioning how officers are trained to conduct arrests and engage with citizens and protesters.

The ACLU filed a class-action lawsuit against the Trump administration on behalf of three Minnesotans in connection with stops and arrests by ICE and CBP. A 20-year-old U.S. citizen named Mubashir Khalif Hussen was arrested by masked ICE agents on December 10, 2025, while walking to lunch in Cedar-Riverside. Hussen repeatedly stated he was a citizen. The lawsuit challenges practices involving stops and arrests by ICE and CBP.

Ramon Menera, a naturalized US citizen born in Mexico, was detained by a US Border Patrol agent outside his home in a Minneapolis suburb on January 14, 2026, while walking with his five-year-old daughter. The agent cited Menera's accent as the reason for questioning. His citizenship was verified through federal records and he was released. The incident, part of Operation Metro Surge, has prompted legal challenges alleging racial profiling and civil rights violations, with lawsuits filed by the Minnesota Attorney General and the ACLU.

Misael Garcia Lopez, 48, spent 18 years building a life in Eugene, Oregon with his wife Valeria and three children—Leo, 11, Jasmine, 22, and Luis—working in landscaping, roofing, and other jobs. On November 19, 2025, ICE agents in unmarked vehicles conducted a traffic stop near Meadowlark Prairie minutes after he dropped Leo at school and arrested him for lacking legal status, despite his clean criminal record. Over nearly two months detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, Garcia Lopez received support letters from family, friends, and community members attesting to his work ethic, kindness, and role as a devoted father. His 22-year-old daughter Jasmine, a U.S. citizen and certified nursing assistant, spoke publicly about his case despite her mother's fear. On January 15, 2026, Garcia Lopez accepted voluntary departure and was deported to Mexico, arriving with only 96 cents and no documents. His family remained in Oregon; months later, he watched via video call as his grandson was born.

On January 13, 2026, ICE agents detained multiple enrolled members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, including at least three to four Oglala Lakota men, during a sweep of a homeless encampment near the Little Earth housing complex in Minneapolis. Three detainees were transferred to an ICE facility at Fort Snelling. The Oglala Sioux Tribe asserted that enrolled members are U.S. citizens by statute and fall outside immigration jurisdiction. Federal officials refused to provide information about the detainees unless the tribe agreed to an immigration enforcement agreement with ICE and DHS. Tribal President Frank Star Comes Out and the tribe publicly rejected this condition, stating they would not compromise tribal sovereignty or authorize ICE operations on tribal land. The tribe contacted Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan to locate the detainees and issued guidance to members on asserting their citizenship rights.

Tenth grader Arnoldo Bazan, a 16-year-old U.S. citizen, and his father were stopped by immigration agents while getting McDonald's before school. During the encounter, agents slammed the father to the ground and put Arnoldo in a chokehold, causing him to struggle for breath. ProPublica found over 40 cases of immigration agents using banned chokeholds and other moves that restrict breathing.

Christina Rank, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen classroom assistant, was arrested by ICE agents outside Concord Education Center in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota on Monday, January 12, 2026, around 7:30 a.m. ICE agents claimed Rank rammed an agent's vehicle, but witnesses disputed this account, stating the agent ran into her white Honda and broke her window. Rank was held in custody at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling for almost 12 hours before being released. As of Monday afternoon, no charges had been filed against her. Her mother, Sarah Rank, questioned the purpose of ICE agents at the school and the use of force employed during the arrest.

Gage Diego Garcia, a U.S. citizen, was held for six hours on Monday after ICE officers approached him in an alleyway and demanded identification. When Garcia refused and began to blow a whistle, officers pushed him against a car, pointed a Taser at him, and accused him of assault by spitting. Video recorded by a friend documents the physical altercation. Officers told Garcia he was picked up because he "looked like someone who committed a crime" and said "we'll figure it out" when asked what crime. Officers later referenced a fatal shooting by another agent, saying "things could have gone really south for you like those agents did to Renee Good." The incident occurred as ICE has deployed approximately 3,000 officers to Minneapolis.

Ryan Ecklund, a U.S. citizen and Twin Cities realtor, was detained by ICE agents for approximately 10 hours on Monday after following and recording their movements from his vehicle in Woodbury. According to Ecklund, five agents boxed in his vehicle, forcibly removed him, threw him to the ground, and one agent placed him in a chokehold. He was taken to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling and released without charges.

Nasra Ahmed, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen, was arrested and detained by ICE for two days. According to the post, ICE agents handcuffed her, used racial slurs, and knocked her to the ground so forcefully that she sustained a concussion.

A ProPublica investigation identified over 40 cases in which immigration agents used chokeholds and other neck restraints on civilians, citizens, and protesters during deportation enforcement operations, and found that at least 170 U.S. citizens have been arrested by immigration agents. Former police officers and law enforcement experts who reviewed the footage said the tactics resulted in apparent seizures, loss of consciousness, and serious injuries. In one case, plainclothes agents in Los Angeles pinned an ICU nurse, Amanda Trebach, to the pavement and knelt on her back and head while she was filming an ICE operation; she was held in federal custody without being told her rights or destination before her release. The Department of Homeland Security has not publicly reported any disciplinary action against agents despite a federal ban on such tactics since 2023.

ICE agents surrounded a family's home with weapons drawn and pointed guns at an unarmed mother and her children. Agents briefly detained a U.S. citizen teenager without a warrant before releasing him after realizing they lacked authority to arrest him. The incident involved armed agents at an unarmed family inside their own home.

A U.S. citizen was arrested during an immigration enforcement crackdown. The family disputes the arrest and claims their relative should not have been taken into custody.

Two Minneapolis residents who monitor immigration officers' activities were detained by ICE for several hours without being charged. During their detention, they were held without access to phone calls and were pressured to provide information about protest organizers and undocumented immigrants.

Jonathan Aguilar Garcia, a 17-year-old U.S. citizen working at a Target store in Richfield, Minnesota, was tackled to the ground, handcuffed, and forced into a van by federal immigration agents on January 8, 2026, after being asked if he was a citizen. Video captured by Bring Me The News shows Garcia repeatedly shouting, "I'm literally a U.S. citizen," as he presented identification including a passport while being restrained. His sister said on Facebook that he hit his head during the confrontation but was otherwise safe. Garcia was released hours later with injuries at a Walmart parking lot after agents verified his citizenship. A coworker, Christian Miranda Romano, was also detained in the same incident and later released. The Department of Homeland Security said one of the two employees was arrested for assaulting a federal officer, though no charges have been filed. The detention occurred during Operation Metro Surge, an immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota that began December 1, 2025, and is among more than 500 cases ProPublica has documented of U.S. citizens detained by immigration agents under the Trump administration.

ICE agents rammed into Christian Molina's car in south Minneapolis on January 12, 2026, then questioned him about his immigration status. Molina, a U.S. citizen, refused to comply and was not detained. The incident occurred two blocks from where an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good on January 7.

A Navajo man named Peter Yazzie was detained by ICE agents at a gas station in Peoria on January 12th despite presenting multiple forms of identification including a Certificate of Indian Blood, driver's license, and birth certificate. Yazzie, a U.S. citizen under the Citizenship Act of 1924, was detained for four hours. Tribal leaders stated that federally recognized tribal IDs are needed and questioned whether ICE operated within its legal jurisdiction regarding Native Americans.