Human Impact Project

An off-duty ICE or Border Patrol agent named Gerardo Rodriguez was arrested on November 11 after pulling a firearm on a 17-year-old during a traffic stop in Riverside County. The teenager was detained for nearly 20 minutes on the side of the road after being stopped while driving through the neighborhood. This incident is part of a growing pattern of ICE agents confronting people and demanding identification.

Jose Eliezer Martinez-Andino, a 20-year-old mechanic from Raleigh, North Carolina, and father to a U.S.-citizen daughter, was deported to Honduras in April after agents detained him in Montana, denied him contact with attorneys for about ten days, and had him sign a voluntary-departure form despite his Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and work permit. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell found the removal denied him due process, calling the circumstances "coercive," and ordered the government to return him; he said he had been afraid in Honduras due to childhood abuse by his father. He flew back to Texas on Aug. 5 after about five months abroad, was held in CBP custody, and was then transferred to ICE custody at the Port Isabel Processing Center, where he awaits a bond hearing to determine whether he can continue proceedings closer to Raleigh. DHS has disputed his account, saying he entered the country without authorization and was released by the Biden administration, and denies he was blocked from contacting legal counsel.

Diana Rodríguez Pardo and Jairo Alzate Elejalde, a Colombian couple with Spanish citizenship, were detained by ICE agents immediately after landing at Las Vegas International Airport, where they had traveled from California to celebrate a birthday. The couple had entered the U.S. legally about two years earlier under a visa waiver program and later filed for asylum before their 90-day authorization expired. They were separated and sent to different detention facilities—Jairo remained in Nevada while Diana was transferred first to Arizona and then to Denver, Colorado. Their two children, ages 8 and 16, are now being cared for by relatives, and the family is seeking an immigration attorney and raising funds to cover legal costs while pursuing a possible bail release.

Emely Charloth Suaza Chambo, a 16-year-old student at Churchill High School in San Antonio, was detained by ICE while on her way to church. ICE agents told her father, Fernando Suaza Ortiz, who was employed at the Hilton Garden Inn, to pick her up or she would be sent out of state. When he arrived at the location to collect his daughter, he was also taken into ICE custody. Both have pending asylum cases and are being held at the Dilley detention facility in Texas. Congressman Joaquin Castro shared their story on social media.

An 18-year-old was detained by masked individuals alleged to be federal agents during an operation on the 400 block of West Glenoaks Boulevard in Glendale, California, and forced into an unmarked vehicle. Video of the incident shows the teenager struggling with the agents, calling out in Spanish for help and his mother, and repeatedly stating he did nothing wrong. Bystanders attempted to intervene but were warned they could be arrested for interfering. He is currently being held at the Desert View ICE facility in Adelanto, California, pending removal proceedings, and federal officials say he had previously been encountered by Border Patrol near El Paso, Texas, in January 2024.

Aurora, 24, and her six-year-old daughter were detained by ICE and sent to a family detention center in Texas. The daughter had arrived at the U.S. border alone and spent more than six months in a child migrant shelter before reuniting with her mother in late March. The detention occurred after the Office of Refugee Resettlement shared information about unaccompanied children, their sponsors, and household members with ICE.

A 14-year-old Brazilian girl with an expired visitor visa was detained by ICE agents on March 11 in a parking lot outside Bethel Presbyterian Church in Marlboro, Massachusetts, after a car was pulled over. Her attorney stated she was with her U.S. citizen brothers, though DHS disputed this account, claiming she was with two Brazilian men suspected of gang ties with no familial relationship to her. ICE said the men's vehicle was connected to an alleged attempted home invasion in Walpole. The girl was taken to the JFK federal building in Boston for 10 hours, then transported overnight to a children's detention facility in New York. At a hearing, Federal Judge Leo T. Sorokin expressed concern about the detention and overnight transfer, stating it was the first time in his 22 years on the bench that he had seen agents detain a juvenile solely because no appropriate person was available to release her to. He ordered her immediate return to Massachusetts, and she was reunited with her maternal aunt, a U.S. citizen, at the JFK building in Boston.

Ezzat Adel Abdalla Magly, an Egyptian national, is detained at the Western Tennessee Detention Facility pending removal proceedings. He filed a habeas corpus petition seeking release from custody or a bond hearing, along with a motion for temporary restraining order to prevent transfer outside the district. The court denied his motion for temporary restraining order, finding he failed to demonstrate irreparable harm from a potential transfer.

Elaine Miles, an Indigenous actor best known for roles in 'Northern Exposure,' 'Smoke Signals,' and 'The Last of Us,' was detained by four ICE agents at a bus stop in Redmond, Washington, while walking to Target. When she presented her tribal ID from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation—a form of identification recognized by federal agencies—the agents called it fake and claimed anyone could make one. Miles said the agents did not identify themselves when asked for names and badge numbers, and attempted to take her phone when she tried to call the tribal enrollment office to verify her ID. The agents left after a fifth agent whistled them back to their vehicles. Miles's son and uncle were also detained by ICE agents who initially rejected their tribal IDs before being released.

During a traffic stop in Fort Pierce, Florida, ICE officers allegedly crashed their vehicle into a man's car. The man's 18-month-old child was left unattended in the back seat after the father fled the scene. Strangers found the child at La Central & American Grocery store on Okeechobee Road and are attempting to locate the family.

F.S., a 32-year-old asylum seeker from Guatemala, was arrested by ICE after beginning the vetting process to gain custody of her 13-year-old son, who has been in a federal shelter for over eight months as of July 2026. F.S. fled Guatemala in 2023 due to violence and had been living in the U.S. while her asylum case was pending, making four-hour drives to visit her son weekly at the shelter. When she came forward to sponsor him, ICE arrested her as part of the Trump administration's operation targeting undocumented sponsors. Her son's mental health has severely deteriorated during his prolonged shelter stay; he has been prescribed anxiety medications and was recently admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Both mother and son have agreed to accept deportation to reunite sooner. F.S. fears retaliation for speaking publicly about her case.

Camila, a 5-year-old girl from Atlixco, Mexico, crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in summer 2025 and was detained in federal immigration custody for 118 days, separated from her mother who lived only a few miles away in New Haven, Connecticut. Unable to be taken by her parents due to their immigration status, the government classified her as "unaccompanied." During detention, Camila was held first in a CBP detention center, then in a Connecticut shelter where she was the youngest child present, and finally in an office building converted for federal use. She saw her mother, who has a pending legal residency application, for only one hour per week. A child psychiatrist's evaluation documented that Camila experienced nightmares, anxiety about family separation, and fear expressed through play. Her mother applied for custody but waited more than 90 days without receiving a decision, as the federal government repeatedly added requirements before deeming her application complete. Camila was released three days after her attorneys filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of her detention. She is now home with her mother and newborn brother, though she continues to experience separation anxiety and sleeps with her mother at night. During the same period, more than two dozen unaccompanied immigrant children were in federal custody in Connecticut on any given day, with some held for as long as 505 days.

Alim Garipov, an 18-year-old Russian senior at Bellaire High School in Houston, was detained by ICE at Hobby Airport on July 17, 2026, while traveling with family to visit colleges. Garipov arrived in the United States on May 7, 2022, at age 14 with authorization to remain until November 6, 2022, but stayed in the country after his authorized period expired. He has a pending asylum application from Russia. Teachers and former classmates described Garipov as hardworking, kind, and a standout swimmer who served as team captain. Educator Elizabeth Chapman stated he "has done everything right" and described him as "the kindest, most sensitive boy." Garipov founded the school's Russian Culture Club and worked to learn English. He was held in ICE detention in Conroe for more than 72 hours. U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher's office worked with the family on the case.

A Border Patrol agent stopped a 20-year-old driver at a Slidell, Louisiana gas station, citing a vehicle light violation, before shifting to immigration questioning. The driver livestreamed the encounter on Facebook and refused to provide identification, prompting the agent to turn to the driver's 13-year-old stepbrother in the passenger seat, demanding his name, birth date and citizenship. The boy, born in Pearl River, confirmed he was a U.S. citizen; both occupants were eventually released. An immigration attorney who reviewed the footage characterized the stop as an illegal detention, noting Border Patrol lacks authority to conduct traffic stops for vehicle code violations.

Miguel was 14 years old and aspired to be a teacher. He was held in federal custody for 167 days. This source is part of a broader CT Insider investigation into extended detentions of immigrant children under Trump administration policies that imposed stringent new requirements for their release. The article covers six children held in Connecticut federal custody, with detention lengths ranging from 118 to 505 days, many while their families awaited approval despite meeting all vetting requirements.

Liam, 15, was arrested by local police in May 2025 following a fight; ICE agents separated him from his father who arrived to pick him up and took both into custody. Liam was held in an ICE office in Burlington, Massachusetts, then transferred to an ORR shelter in Texas for three months before being moved to Groton, Connecticut. Whether ICE ever properly contacted his mother to inform her she could pick him up remains disputed; she said ICE called her while he was in Burlington but did not tell her she could retrieve him, and she did not hear from him again until he was in Texas. The government made contradictory statements about the mother's availability, at one point claiming ICE couldn't locate her, then claiming ICE asked her to pick him up but she refused, while also stating she was at the police station during his arrest. Liam grew anxious and depressed in the shelters; a psychological evaluation recommended his release "as soon as possible" for his well-being. Federal Judge Vernon Oliver called the government's claims "disturbing" and "full of significant incongruities," and ordered Liam's release 27 days after the lawsuit was filed; his mother picked him up the following day after 255 days of detention.

Jean, a 12-year-old from Haiti, was detained at the U.S. border and held in federal custody for 505 days, spending his 13th birthday in an ORR shelter in California and later a foster care program in New Haven, Connecticut. His family in Fort Lauderdale—his father, stepmother, and two sisters—had completed all required vetting, background checks, and home studies, yet the Office of Refugee Resettlement repeatedly requested documents his family could not obtain, including a Haitian death certificate from territory controlled by gangs. After his sisters were released to their stepmother, Jean remained detained; ORR cited a DNA test showing his father was not his biological parent, though his father said this changed nothing. A federal judge ultimately ruled the government's process "arbitrary and capricious" and ordered Jean's release, with the judge noting that unlawful detention "results in an injury that really can never be remedied." In August 2026, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal cited Jean's case, along with a 5-year-old Connecticut girl held 118 days, in a letter demanding that the HHS inspector general investigate ORR's prolonged detention of immigrant children, accusing the agency of an "obstructionist policy" toward families seeking reunification.

Yeison Saúl Menjívar Portillo, a boy with Down syndrome and epilepsy who is nonverbal and hearing impaired, was detained by ICE in Bridge City, a suburb of New Orleans, Louisiana. His family says they do not know where he is or whether he is safe. His mother stated he requires specific medication for epileptic seizures and cannot survive or care for himself without her presence, and she is asking authorities to either tell her where he is or deport her with him.

In June, immigration agents entered a branch courthouse in Bridgeview and struggled with a man on the ground as onlookers asked whether they had a warrant, in a scene captured on video that circulated widely online. Agents took two adults and a child into custody after the adults had appeared in court on misdemeanor retail theft cases. A person in a Cook County sheriff's office uniform was seen greeting an immigration agent and assisting as the detained man was placed into a vehicle, prompting state lawmakers to send letters demanding answers from Sheriff Tom Dart.

A Mexican national who re-entered the U.S. without inspection in 2021 and was living in Redwood City with his partner and three children was detained by ICE officers in his driveway on July 9, 2026, while taking his two-year-old child to daycare. Officers claimed to have an arrest warrant but only showed a zoomed phone screen and did not allow inspection. The warrant later produced was signed in June 2025 with handwritten markings added after arrest. The court found the warrant invalid because no basis for probable cause was checked, and the officers made no individualized determination that he was a flight risk as required by law. The court granted a temporary restraining order, ordering his immediate release and prohibiting re-detention pending an evidentiary hearing.