Human Impact Project

Juan Diego Lopez Macias, a 19-year-old Enid High School senior, was arrested during a traffic stop for speeding on February 28, 2026, and subsequently transferred to ICE custody after being charged with driving without a valid license. He was transferred to the Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson, Texas, where he awaits immigration court proceedings. Student walkouts and protests occurred across Oklahoma following his detention, with classmates and family members gathering at the state Capitol on March 16.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents reportedly detained two people in Lawrence on February 27, including near the University of Kansas campus. Approximately 80 protesters gathered outside Strong Hall. The university stated it was still gathering information about whether any KU students or employees were involved.

The South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, operated by CoreCivic, faced multiple documented problems affecting detained immigrant families and children. Emergency responders handled at least 11 medical emergencies since September 2025, including respiratory distress, seizures, and fever in infants and young children. Detainees reported finding worms, bugs, and mold in food, contaminated drinking water, and inadequate nutrition, leading to a confirmed measles outbreak in early 2026. Children experienced inadequate medical care, 24-hour lighting, and some were detained beyond the 20-day legal limit. A 13-year-old girl denied prescribed anxiety medications experienced a mental health crisis and attempted suicide before deportation. Following media coverage and a January protest, facility staff increased confiscation of art supplies, drawings, and personal items from detainees, and restricted communications with family and lawyers through Google services and video calls. A federal judge ruled some detentions unconstitutional, and medical advocates and congressional representatives called for facility closure.

Documents obtained by activists reveal that U.S. Border Patrol used the Escondido Police Department's gun range for training at least seven times between February and June 2018, paying $300 per use. The discovery came as the city was scheduled to meet to discuss an ongoing contract between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Escondido police.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested four people at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse on Tuesday. Three attorneys were present during the arrests and were accused of interfering, with one attorney attempting to physically stop the process. ICE warned that anyone impeding arrests in the future could face arrest themselves. Federal authorities have opened a criminal investigation into whether two ICE officers committed perjury by lying under oath about a shooting in Minneapolis. All charges were dropped against two Venezuelan men involved in the incident.

Multifaith leaders held their seventh vigil at Southside Christian Church in Kokomo to oppose ICE detention at Miami Correctional Facility. The vigil came a week after 59-year-old Lorth Sim, an ICE immigrant detainee, died in custody at the facility. Religious leaders called for thorough investigation and better treatment of detainees, noting it was the seventh death in ICE custody nationally that year.

Court documents revealed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Diego conducted surveillance on activists through Operation Road Flare, targeting individuals who document ICE activities such as Jeane Wong and Arturo Gonzalez. The operation began monitoring activists on October 23, 2025, and documents describe confrontations at the 47th Street Trolley Station on November 18, 2025, where Wong was accused of throwing belongings at agents during a crowd altercation. Wong subsequently pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault on a federal officer and received home detention.

Juan Parra, a tattoo artist, provided services at ICE protests and donated half the proceeds to support protesters. He was assaulted and detained for participating in a protest. He later spoke at a Pro-Palestine rally and encouraged support for protesters outside a detention center.

A Wilson County man spoke out against a rumored ICE detention center, expressing that he feels safer with undocumented immigrants than with ICE agents. Sheriff deputies responded to the man during his protest, though the ICE detention center plan was subsequently abandoned.

About 150 students at Grand Island Senior High School walked out to protest ICE activity on February 17. During the protest, a 54-year-old man exchanged blows with students near West Lawn Elementary School. A water bottle was thrown through the man's car window during the altercation. The man was arrested for assault on a juvenile, and at least one juvenile was cited for assault; additional citations may follow.

An NBC News investigation found that Department of Homeland Security officers conducting Trump's immigration crackdown used less-lethal weapons including rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray on protesters. Officers shot 13 people with guns and injured hundreds more. Courts in at least four states found that force was used inappropriately and indiscriminately. The use of these weapons began in late spring and summer in California and Oregon, expanded to Chicago in the fall, and reached Minneapolis where officers shot and killed two protesters.

On October 4, 2025, Marimar Martinez was shot five times by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent Charles Exum during an immigration enforcement encounter in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood. Federal agents claimed Martinez chased and rammed her car into an agent's vehicle. Martinez was initially charged with assault on federal law enforcement, but the government dropped the charges nearly two months later, and a judge dismissed them with prejudice. Body camera footage and text messages released by the U.S. attorney's office provided details of the incident, though Exum was not wearing his body camera during the shooting. Martinez testified before Congress in February 2026 about the incident and filed a tort claim seeking damages for her injuries.

High school students in Clovis, California walked out of class on February 10, 2026 in response to Trump administration immigration enforcement. The action followed the death of an ICU nurse during an immigration raid. The Clovis Police Department announced it was investigating up to six adults, including Fresno Resistance co-founder Alfred Aldrete, for potentially violating state law by inducing student truancy, though no arrests or charges have been filed. The LAPD also issued similar warnings to adults in Los Angeles who helped organize school walkouts, but only Clovis publicly named its investigation.

Hundreds of high school students organized a peaceful march from City Hall to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center on February 5, 2026 to protest ICE raids. LAPD in riot gear formed skirmish lines and charged at the students multiple times throughout the afternoon, resulting in at least two arrests. Officers were documented using force against minors, including throwing students to the ground and striking a protester with a baton, while ICE agents were observed coordinating with LAPD at the detention center.

Dylan, a 20-year-old Venezuelan student at Ellis Prep High School in the Bronx, was detained by ICE on May 21, 2025, immediately after appearing at federal immigration court in Lower Manhattan for an asylum hearing. He entered the United States legally under Biden-era policies and has no criminal record. His attorney stated he was entitled to full legal protections to pursue asylum relief. Dylan's mother reported he has been suffering from untreated stomach problems and has been moved to at least four different detention centers within five to six days. The Department of Homeland Security placed him under expedited removal proceedings.

Immigration officers with guns drawn arrested activists who were following their vehicles in south Minneapolis on Tuesday. At least one person wearing anti-ICE clothing was handcuffed face-down on the ground.

On August 13, 2025, DHS agents deployed tear gas and fired less-lethal bullets from the roof of an ICE facility at 4310 S Macadam Ave in Portland, targeting civilians peacefully demonstrating on the public sidewalk. A U.S. military veteran was violently attacked from behind, assaulted, and pinned to the ground while being exposed to tear gas for approximately two minutes by three DHS agents. On January 31, 2026, federal agents deployed tear gas on a densely packed crowd of peaceful anti-ICE protesters during a labor union-led rally and march near the ICE facility. The crowd included children, elderly people, and pets who marched from Elizabeth Caruthers Park before being trapped in lingering tear gas plumes. Agents used tear gas again on February 3. The ACLU of Oregon filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of five plaintiffs: Jack Dickinson (known as "the Portland chicken"), Laurie Eckman (84), Richard Eckman, Mason Lake, and Hugo Rios. Laurie Eckman was shot in the head with a crowd control munition without warning; her husband was tear-gassed and had a munition fired at his walker. Dickinson was repeatedly assaulted and bombarded with chemical munitions. Independent journalists Lake and Rios were shot with pepper balls, tear-gassed, had lights pointed at them to interfere with recording, and Lake was sprayed with bear mace. U.S. District Judge Michael Simon issued a temporary restraining order on February 3 pausing tear gas or crowd control munitions use on non-violent protesters and journalists unless targeting a specific imminent threat. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed an amicus brief supporting the lawsuit.

Federal ICE agents were present outside the Ventura County Sheriff's Office on Monday, February 2, 2026, where protesters and observers had gathered. During the encounter, an ICE agent threw a woman to the ground and subsequently used pepper spray on the crowd. Witnesses stated they were documenting the ICE operation and posed no physical threat to officers. At least one person was detained during the incident. The woman who was thrown to the ground declined to speak about what happened.

Thousands of protesters marched to an ICE facility in South Portland on Saturday as part of a "Labor Against ICE" rally organized by local unions. Federal agents deployed tear gas, pepper balls, rubber bullets, and flash-bang grenades after some protesters approached the building's security gate. The protest coincided with a march honoring Alex Pretti, an intensive-care nurse fatally shot by Border Patrol officers in Minneapolis.

Anti-ICE demonstrations at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles turned confrontational on January 30, 2026, with protesters throwing objects at federal agents. Dozens of arrests were made over the weekend as demonstrations expanded to City Hall. The protests were part of a nationwide call to end funding for ICE.