Human Impact Project

Patricia Vázquez Topete, a DACA recipient who had lived in California for 20 years, self-deported to Mexico in May 2025. She cited legal uncertainty surrounding DACA's future, immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, the inability to travel safely using Advance Parole, and lack of a permanent legal status pathway as factors in her decision. Vázquez Topete sold her belongings and left the U.S. to pursue a master's degree in Spain while reconnecting with family in Mexico.

On May 6, 2025, ICE and HSI agents conducted unannounced visits to multiple Washington, D.C. restaurants as part of a Trump administration immigration enforcement crackdown targeting businesses suspected of employing undocumented workers. Agents requested I-9 employment verification forms and issued inspection notices requiring document production within three business days at establishments including Chef Geoff's and Pupatella. No arrests were made during the sweeps. Restaurant employees, managers, and members of immigrant communities reported anxiety about their legal obligations.

A 21-year-old Colombian woman who was eight months pregnant was deported from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport. She had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in November seeking asylum but was subject to expedited removal. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order to stop the deportation, but the order came approximately three hours after the flight had departed.

Ximena Arias-Cristobal, 19, was detained by ICE after being stopped for a traffic infraction on May 5, 2025 in Dalton, Georgia. Her dark gray truck was confused with a black pickup involved in an illegal turn. During a bond hearing on Wednesday, she was granted $1,500 bond and was expected to be released to her family.

Abelardo Avellaneda Delgado, a 68-year-old Mexican-born man who had lived in the U.S. for 40 years, died while being transported from Lowndes County Jail to Stewart detention center on May 5, 2025. The exact cause of death remains under investigation, but the coroner suspected an aortic aneurysm. His family reported he had no prior health conditions but was placed in a wheelchair during his detention and given medications he had never taken before.

ICE agents apprehended a man at a Sinclair gas station in Oxnard, California on May 4, leaving two children in his vehicle. A gas station attendant witnessed the arrest and reported that the children remained in the truck after the father was taken into custody. DHS stated that the man's 19-year-old son took possession of the vehicle and that ICE offered to relocate it, though advocacy groups contend the children were left unattended.

As the Trump administration accelerates deportations, child welfare advocates have stated concerns about potential violations of children's rights. Cases include a 2-year-old kept in U.S. custody after her mother was deported to Venezuela.

During a May 2025 joint THP and ICE operation in Nashville, a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper pulled over a vehicle for a broken light and shared the driver's immigration status with an ICE agent, resulting in the driver's detention and subsequent deportation. The week-long operation resulted in more than 100 arrests, separating families and leaving relatives behind in Nashville. An analysis found that most arrests involved people without criminal records, marking a shift in ICE enforcement patterns.

Kapil Raghu was arrested by Benton police on May 3, 2025, after officers mistook a perfume bottle for an illegal substance during a traffic stop. While in jail awaiting charges, it was discovered his temporary visa had expired, leading to his transfer to an ICE detention facility in Louisiana. After being released after 30 days, Raghu is now in immigration limbo with his work authorization suspended and previous citizenship efforts halted.

An 18-year-old U.S. citizen, Kenny Laynez, was detained for six hours by Florida Highway Patrol and Border Patrol agents after being stopped while driving to a landscaping job near North Palm Beach. Video footage shows agents using physical force and a Taser on Laynez's undocumented coworkers, including his mother's coworkers, despite Laynez asserting his citizenship rights. Laynez was eventually released after agents confirmed his citizenship status, while his undocumented coworkers were transferred to the Krome Detention Center and faced deportation proceedings.

Over a dozen U.S. citizens have been caught up in the Trump administration's immigration enforcement crackdown, according to interviews, court records and news reports. Attorneys, civil rights advocates and immigration scholars have stated that citizens face vulnerability in a system with faster processing and fewer procedural safeguards.

Federal ICE agents conducted a search warrant raid at an Oklahoma City residence connected to a human smuggling investigation. The targeted address was based on a court-authorized warrant, but the suspects named in it no longer lived at the property. The agents forcibly removed a U.S. citizen mother and her three daughters from their home, seized their phones, laptops, and cash savings, and ordered them outside in the rain. Homeland Security later admitted the family were not the intended targets of the investigation.

The Trump administration has expanded immigration detention by moving hundreds of immigrants to federal prisons run by the Bureau of Prisons. Detainees report conditions including moldy food, overcrowding, denial of legal access, being cut off from attorneys and families, and being moved without notice to facilities across the country including Atlanta, Miami, Philadelphia, Berlin, and Leavenworth.

Migrants detained in Texas express fears about potential deportation to El Salvador, citing concerns about the country's prison system. Undocumented migrants are detained and express concerns about detention conditions and possible transfer to facilities.

19-year-old Javier Salazar, a Venezuelan who came to the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor in 2022, was arrested in Maryland and detained by ICE on suspicion of gang membership based on a photo showing what may have been a toy water pistol. A Supreme Court intervention blocked his deportation to El Salvador hours before he was to be removed. His legal battle continues as the Trump administration seeks to expedite his removal.

ICE agents raided an Oklahoma City family's home with a search warrant, but the suspects named on the warrant did not live in the house. The agents seized the family's phones, laptops, and life savings. The family members stated they are U.S. citizens and were not targets of the investigation.

Heidy Sanchez, a Cuban mother, was detained by U.S. immigration officials in Florida and deported to Cuba while separated from her 1-year-old breastfeeding daughter. Sanchez said she was told her daughter must stay in the United States and she would be removed, but DHS claimed she was offered the choice to take her child or place the child with a designated relative. Sanchez arrived in Cuba hours after detention with no passport, identification, or documentation explaining her deportation.

Three U.S. citizen children under age 10 were deported to Honduras with their mothers. One child had Stage 4 cancer and was deported without medication. Another 2-year-old was given to a mother after less than two minutes of phone time with her husband to decide on the deportation. Trump administration officials claim the mothers requested their children accompany them. Attorneys report the mothers felt forced and were denied access to lawyers and family members.

Alfredo Linares, an undocumented immigrant, and his American wife Raegan Kline relocated to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico after 20 years in the United States. Linares had worked as a cook at a Michelin-star restaurant and operated a catering business with his wife. The couple left the United States due to concerns about ICE detention and deportation under President Trump's immigration enforcement policies.

ICE deported an immigrant mother of an infant and three U.S. citizen children, according to lawyers. The woman had four children who are U.S. citizens at the time of her deportation.

A federal judge found strong suspicion that a Louisiana-born two-year-old U.S. citizen was deported to Honduras without due process after being apprehended with her undocumented mother at a New Orleans immigration office on April 22. The child and her family were removed despite a pending custody transfer request filed by the girl's father. In a separate case, a Cuban woman with a U.S. citizen husband was detained and deported.

ICE deported at least two families including three U.S. citizen children aged 2, 4, and 7 from New Orleans in early morning operations on April 25, 2025. The families were held without legal access. One child with metastatic cancer was deported without medication and a pregnant mother was deported without prenatal care arrangements. The deportations occurred after ICE reversed course and expedited the process before courts reopened. A habeas corpus petition had been filed.

Seven migrants died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody during the first three months of Donald Trump's presidency, including Marie Blaise, a 44-year-old Haitian woman who died at a Florida detention center after complaining of chest pains. An ACLU investigation found that 95% of deaths at ICE-operated facilities between 2017-2021 could have been prevented with appropriate medical care. The deaths occurred across multiple states as detention centers became overwhelmed, operating 17% over capacity.

Marie Ange Blaise, 44, a Haitian woman, died on April 25, 2025, after spending more than 10 weeks in ICE custody. She was detained after being stopped at an airport in Saint Croix, Virgin Islands in mid-February without a valid immigrant visa. Blaise was held at multiple facilities including San Juan, Krome North Processing Center in Miami, a Louisiana facility, and finally Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach. Other detainees reported allegedly inhumane conditions including handcuffing, overcrowding, and denial of medical care.

Martín Majín was detained by federal agents outside his barbershop in Pomona on Tuesday. He was released on Wednesday or Thursday after an immigration judge granted his release. Majín, who had been deported almost 20 years ago and returned to the United States unauthorized months later, is set to appear before an immigration judge again on May 29.

Terez Metry was detained by immigration agents during a routine meeting at the Department of Homeland Security office on Brick Church Pike in Nashville. She had submitted Form I-130 as the first step toward obtaining a Green Card to become a U.S. citizen like her husband of three years. Her husband believes she is being taken to Louisiana for removal proceedings despite following immigration procedures carefully.

Sergio Cerdio Gomez, a 42-year-old Mexican national and food truck owner who has lived in the U.S. for over 25 years, was detained by ICE on April 24 while attending an immigration interview appointment with his U.S. citizen wife. The couple had filed an I-130 petition in 2023 to begin the green card process. Gomez was taken into custody on an arrest warrant despite having no criminal record, and is currently held at Tacoma Northwest Detention Center awaiting a court hearing.

Sergio Cerdio Gomez, a 42-year-old Pasco food truck owner, was detained by ICE during a scheduled immigration interview in Yakima on April 24, 2025. He was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant while attending the interview with his U.S. citizen wife regarding his pending green card and citizenship application, which they had filed in 2022.

Rosmery Alvarado, 42, a Kansas resident born in Guatemala, was arrested by ICE agents immediately after completing a spousal green card interview at the USCIS office in Kansas City on April 23, 2025. She is now facing deportation to Guatemala and is being held in detention, despite her family believing her petition had been approved. The arrest occurred after ICE agents waited for her husband to step out of the interview room before detaining and handcuffing her.

Multiple Ohio organizations filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection alleging that federal agents have been arresting immigrants without proper warrants or probable cause since April 22, 2025. The lawsuit cites specific cases, including a man arrested in December 2025 after leaving a home improvement store who had an asylum case pending and a valid work permit. The ACLU of Ohio states that immigration judges frequently grant bond to those arrested.

Unaccompanied migrant children, including a 4-year-old girl, are appearing in immigration court proceedings without legal representation after the Trump administration terminated a $200 million federal contract funding legal services for minors. Data shows nearly all children without attorneys are deported, compared to 23% of those with representation.

ICE agents conducted an enforcement operation outside a Home Depot in Pomona, Los Angeles County on the morning of April 22, 2025, detaining between 10 and 20 day laborers. The operation initially targeted one individual with an active arrest warrant and resulted in the detention of additional undocumented migrants. LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis directed the LA County Office of Immigrant Affairs to provide support and resources to those detained. Community groups and immigration advocates gathered at the scene to demand information and assist affected workers.

Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen, was arrested in Florida under a new state law criminalizing unauthorized entry into the state. He was held for pickup by ICE even after his mother presented his birth certificate to a judge, who dismissed the charges. ICE requested he remain in custody for 48 hours despite having no legal authority over U.S.-born citizens.

Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez, a United States citizen, was arrested in Florida for allegedly being in the country illegally and held for pickup by immigration authorities. Despite proving he was born in the United States, he was detained by ICE.

A Mother Jones investigation reports that approximately 60 Venezuelan detainees at the Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Texas were nearly removed to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act on April 18, 2025, based on accusations of gang membership. The men, including barber Stiven Prieto Viera and delivery driver Omar Cárdenas Martínez, were given one-page removal notices in English only with no opportunity to contest allegations that they were members of Tren de Aragua. The ACLU filed legal intervention and a Supreme Court order blocked the removals, preventing the detainees from being sent to El Salvador's CECOT prison.

Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen born in Georgia, was arrested by Florida Highway Patrol on April 16, 2025, following a traffic stop for speeding. He was charged under Senate Bill 4C, a state immigration enforcement law that had been temporarily blocked by court order. Despite presenting valid identification documents including a birth certificate and Social Security card, he was held on an ICE detainer at Leon County Jail without food. A judge verified his citizenship and confirmed he had committed no crime, but initially stated the court lacked jurisdiction to release him due to ICE's detainer request. He was released after approximately 24 hours following public advocacy from civil rights advocates, journalists, and elected officials.

Manny, an 18-year-old U.S. citizen from North Carolina, was detained by masked armed ICE agents on November 19, 2025, while sleeping in his work truck. He was later interviewed by The Hometown Holler.

Two hundred migrants, including 80 children from Afghanistan, Russia, Armenia, Iran, China and other Asian countries, were deported from the United States on two flights and detained at Costa Rica's CATEM immigration detention center in February 2025. Many were separated from family members still in the U.S., not informed of their deportation destination, and experienced abuse and rights violations in U.S. detention before being sent to Costa Rica.

A Houstonian who fled Honduras due to threats related to his sexual orientation was detained by ICE. Political groups have spoken out against the detention.

Department of Homeland Security agents attempted to speak with students at two Los Angeles elementary schools (Russell Elementary and Lillian Street Elementary) stating they were conducting welfare checks on unaccompanied minors. School principals denied the agents access. House Democrats have requested a briefing regarding the agents' claim of having parental permission and regarding four of the targeted students who were not unaccompanied minors.

ICE agents surrounded a car in New Bedford, Massachusetts on April 14, 2025, and used a hammer to smash the back passenger window to arrest Juan Francisco Mendez, a Guatemalan immigrant. Mendez and his wife, who is seeking asylum, had called their lawyer and remained in the vehicle, but agents broke in and dragged them out without showing documentation or waiting for legal representation. An emergency hearing was held Wednesday, with a judge noting Mendez has no apparent criminal record and considering a request to halt the government's actions.

Jessica Flores Marin, 44, a mother of three who has lived in the United States for 22 years, was detained by ICE on April 13 near her family's home in Georgia. She was taken into custody while an ongoing T visa application was being processed. Her detention came after an immigration judge denied her motion to reopen a decades-old deportation order from 2004.

Hugo, a father of five and husband of a U.S. citizen veteran who had lived in the U.S. since age 16, was detained by ICE at a courthouse during what should have been a final hearing for permanent residency. Despite being in an active legal process and authorized to be in the U.S., officials ordered him to continue his case from Mexico and deported him. ICE later admitted the detention was a mistake, but Hugo has been separated from his family.

A Florida woman, Latrance Battle, impersonated an ICE agent and kidnapped her ex-boyfriend's wife from her workplace on April 10. The victim, who was in the process of becoming a legal U.S. resident, believed Battle was an ICE agent when approached. Battle took the victim to an apartment complex instead of the sheriff's office, where the victim escaped and contacted law enforcement. Battle was arrested and charged with kidnapping, robbery, impersonating a law enforcement officer, and felony probation violation.

A disgraced former Milwaukee police officer with serious credibility issues, Charles Cross Jr., signed a report claiming a gay Venezuelan makeup artist was affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang based on tattoos. The report played a key role in the man's deportation to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center. Cross had been flagged by prosecutors as having credibility issues due to accusations of lying and breaking the law.

María Alejandra Rivas Martínez, a 19-year-old Venezuelan, was detained by ICE on April 10 after a state police officer notified the agency following a traffic accident in Miami. She had entered the U.S. legally in 2019 with a tourist visa at age 13 and has a pending asylum case, valid work permit, and Florida driver's license. She was held for two days before being transferred to Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, where she awaits an immigration hearing.

Jose Hermosillo, a 19-year-old U.S. citizen, was wrongfully detained by Border Patrol in Arizona for 10 days at Florence Correctional Center after approaching an officer for help following a medical emergency. The Department of Homeland Security claimed Hermosillo stated he crossed the border without authorization and was a Mexican citizen, but Hermosillo disputes this account, saying he cannot read and did not understand the document he signed. His family provided his birth certificate to secure his release after a court hearing.

Jesús Eduardo Marín, a Venezuelan national, was detained by U.S. Border Patrol on April 8 during a traffic stop in Miami, Florida, due to his immigration status. Marín had resided in the United States for 12 years with his wife and three children, had filed for asylum, and was living under legal protections. Despite his active asylum case and continuous residence, authorities detained him after determining he lacked citizenship or permanent residency status.

Jose Hermosillo, a 19-year-old US citizen from New Mexico visiting Arizona, was detained by border patrol agents in Nogales on April 8, 2025, after an officer claimed he lacked proper immigration documents. Hermosillo was held for nearly 10 days despite repeatedly asserting he was a US citizen. A federal judge dismissed his case on April 17 after his family provided his birth certificate and social security card, and he was released.

Jose Hermosillo, a 19-year-old U.S. citizen from Albuquerque, was arrested by Border Patrol agents on April 8 near Nogales, Arizona, and detained for 10 days at Florence Correctional Center on suspicion of illegally entering the country despite having U.S. citizenship. His family located him after extensive searching and provided his birth certificate and social security card to officials. A magistrate judge dismissed his case on April 17, and he was released that night.