A confrontation occurred in south Minneapolis when dozens of residents gathered as ICE agents operated near Lake Street and Pillsbury Avenue. During the incident, federal agents used pepper spray and at least one Taser on observers as the crowd attempted to prevent the arrest of a woman reported to be pregnant. Local law enforcement responded to assist ICE agents in leaving the scene.
Benny, a 30-year-old musician from Guinea who arrived in the U.S. in 2011 on an H1B visa as a dance instructor, was detained by ICE on December 15, 2025, after going to a police station in Vineland, NJ to file a harassment report. An ICE agent at the station gave him a deportation form while falsely claiming it was a harassment report; Benny, who did not understand the legal language, signed it and was taken into custody. Over the past 12 years, Benny has built a life in the U.S., working in restaurants, getting married, renovating a house in Queens, and starting a farm in New Jersey where he raises goats. He has a 1-year-old daughter and has collaborated with an audio engineer to record over 100 songs together, becoming fluent in nine languages. As of the fundraiser, Benny has been incarcerated for 225 days at Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center, has lost over 50 pounds, and his next hearing is scheduled for September 1, 2026. Despite his own food insecurity, he has shared his meals with other detainees.
Santiago Zamora Perez, a 17-year-old Detroit student at Western International High School, was arrested by ICE on Sunday after Fraser police pulled him over for driving under the speed limit and called federal agents. Zamora and his mother were detained; he is a Venezuelan asylum seeker who entered the U.S. last year. At least four Detroit teens are currently held in ICE detention facilities.
State-funded Operation Prairie Thunder saturation patrols jailed 75 people across Huron, Belle Fourche, and Yankton — 42 on drug charges and 33 on non-drug charges. Twenty-five people were interviewed on behalf of ICE, with 21 held for the federal agency. The patrols, part of Gov. Larry Rhoden's two-pronged initiative announced in July, generated concern in Huron's Hispanic community, with some residents believing ICE rather than state police conducted the operations.
Florencio, from Guatemala who had lived in the U.S. for nearly 13 years, was arrested by ICE agents on his block in Corona, Queens as he returned home from a day of painting an apartment in Manhattan. His wife, Fidelina, and their three children—ages 13, 9, and younger—witnessed the arrest from their doorway. ICE agents claimed Florencio matched the appearance of a different target they were seeking, but arrested him anyway based on his appearance. When Florencio tried to explain he was Guatemalan, not Ecuadorian, the agents told him it did not matter because he lacked papers. Agents forcibly took him to the ground, twisted his ankle, and handcuffed him before placing him in an unmarked vehicle. He was detained for four months before being separated from his family.
Elder Chavez, an 18-year-old from Honduras who was granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) in September 2024, was detained by ICE in December 2024 after Alabama state police pulled him over for speeding and driving without a license. Despite presenting documentation proving his legal protected status, officers contacted ICE and took him into custody. Chavez came to the United States in 2022 at age 14 to live with his older sister Maryuri after being abandoned by his parents in infancy. A high school junior excelling in welding and carpentry classes, Chavez was transported to Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana, where he has remained detained for seven months facing deportation and unable to continue his green card application process. His English teacher Carmen Bahena, sister Maryuri, and local pastors Andy Yarnell and Beth Johnson have described him as kind, hardworking, bright, and gentle; since his detention, Chavez has missed prom, the birth of his nephew, and months of school.
Genesis Valadez, owner of Las Pollitas food truck, captured footage on her business cameras of a federal raid on an unauthorized nightclub near Basse Road and San Pedro Avenue in San Antonio. The operation on November 17, 2025, involved 14 state, local, and federal agencies and resulted in the arrest of more than 150 people, including 27 alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang. Video from Valadez's cameras shows federal agents using flash bangs and smoke bombs, zip-tying detainees, and intentionally destroying a neighbor's surveillance camera. The raid also resulted in the seizure of three guns, cocaine, and approximately $35,000 in cash. Valadez and other lawful business owners operating food trucks in the area were forced to relocate due to community fear following the operation.
Federal immigration agents detained a gardener in Long Beach's University Park Estates neighborhood on January 21, 2026, after he fled into a restaurant. The man claimed to be a dual citizen and showed agents an identification card during the detention. Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson criticized the operation as an "abduction" and said it reflected "a pattern of enforcement rooted in fear and intimidation."
Nine people were detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents during an immigration enforcement sweep in the Raleigh area on November 19, 2025, and held overnight at New Hanover County jail in Castle Hayne. The nine detainees, consisting of one woman and eight men ranging in age from 24 to 59, were transferred to an undisclosed location on November 20, 2025. ICE officials did not disclose to jail staff the reasons for the detentions or the destination of the detainees. This operation was part of a broader U.S. Border Patrol enforcement surge that began in Charlotte over the weekend, which had resulted in more than 250 arrests by the time of this article.
Fatima Issela Velasquez-Antonio, 23, of Wendell, North Carolina, was detained by federal agents during a U.S. Border Patrol immigration enforcement sweep on November 19, 2025. Velasquez-Antonio came to the United States at age 14 from Honduras after her father was killed by a gang and her mother died of cancer; she had no criminal record beyond two traffic violations, had graduated high school, and recently purchased a home in Wendell with her boyfriend with plans to start a family. She was arrested near her workplace at an HVAC business and transferred to New Hanover County jail before being moved to an undisclosed location on November 20, 2025. Her family has received no information about her whereabouts or what will happen to her next. The detention occurred as part of a broader U.S. Border Patrol operation in the Triangle area that detained nine people total.
Prosecutors dismissed charges without prejudice against 54-year-old John Bennett, an assistant principal at Kempsville High School in Virginia Beach, and his 59-year-old brother Mark Bennett. The two men had been arrested in November 2025 for allegedly threatening violence against local police and ICE agents.
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.
A 24-year-old Native American woman from Arizona, Leticia Jacobo, was subject to an ICE detainer issued by Polk County Jail in Des Moines. The detainer was intended for a different person booked at the same time but was erroneously placed on Jacobo's file. Her family provided tribal identification documents, and she was released before being transferred to federal custody.
Federal immigration agents, including ICE and Border Patrol personnel, deployed tear gas and other riot control weapons against protesters during enforcement operations in Chicago and Illinois beginning in September 2025. On October 14, 2025, Border Patrol agents pursued a vehicle on Chicago's East Side, using a precision immobilization technique (PIT maneuver) to stop it at the intersection of 105th and Avenue N, resulting in a collision. Two undocumented immigrants fled on foot and were arrested. When residents gathered to protest the operation, federal agents deployed tear gas, exposing 13 Chicago police officers to the gas. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on October 9 limiting crowd-control tactics, but subsequent court filings alleged violations occurring almost daily. An analysis of 28 protest events found seven instances of riot control weapons use without apparent threats and 19 instances of excessive force.
Arthur Berto, a 13-year-old asylum-seeking boy from Brazil, was arrested by Everett, Massachusetts police on suspicion of making a violent threat at school. After his mother arrived to pick him up from the police station, ICE took him to a detention facility without informing her of his location or what would happen to him. According to the police chief, this was the first occurrence of this type in Everett.
Fernando Jaramillo-Solano, 45, a Colombian national seeking asylum, was arrested by ICE along with his two children, ages 11 and 14, while taking them to school in Durango, Colorado on October 28, 2025. ICE stated Jaramillo-Solano had allegedly entered the U.S. unauthorized on December 22, 2024. The father was transported to a family detention center in Dilley, Texas, while the children were held in an ICE facility in southern Texas. Local police attempted multiple times to secure the children's release to their mother but were denied entry to the facility by federal agents. Colorado Governor Jared Polis expressed concern about the operation and stated ICE did not inform the state in advance.
A junior at Benito Juarez High School in Chicago was detained by federal agents on October 23, 2025, while on his way to school in the Little Village neighborhood. The student, who city leaders identified as a U.S. citizen, was zip-tied and taken into custody after federal agents conducted immigration enforcement operations at a shopping center at 26th and Whipple. He was released back to his family at approximately 3 p.m. that day. A second student was injured during the same operation but was not detained.
Hundreds of law enforcement officers from about 10 agencies swept La Catedral Arena horse track in Wilder, Idaho, in October, zip-tying roughly 400 attendees, including children, during what the FBI called an illegal gambling investigation covered by a warrant for only five suspects. Ultimately 105 undocumented immigrants were taken into ICE custody, while a group of Idahoans, including U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, sued alleging officers used racial epithets and withheld water, food, bathroom access and medical care; lead plaintiff Juana Rodriguez said she was zip-tied for nearly four hours and unable to hold her 3-year-old son. Records show the Nampa Police Department spent about $24,000 and the Caldwell Police Department spent $11,300 in officer wages that day, with Caldwell's chief saying he felt 'very bad' that children were separated from parents. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill later ordered 16 detainees released after rejecting the government's bid to expand mandatory detention and awarded roughly $87,000 in attorneys' fees to two law firms suing over the raid. Four protesters arrested at the scene were charged with misdemeanor resisting and obstructing officers, with most charges later dropped; ICE, the FBI and local agencies have since filed motions seeking dismissal of the lawsuit. Attorney Nikki Ramirez-Smith said, 'If the government's going to illegally detain them, and we have to fight that ... we're all going to pay for it.'
The ACLU of Nevada filed a lawsuit challenging Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's 287(g) partnership with ICE, which allows local officers to hold undocumented immigrants for transfer to federal agents. The case centers on Sergio Morais-Hechavarria, a 36-year-old man arrested in August who pleaded guilty to attempted possession of a stolen vehicle. After completing his criminal sentence, a judge ordered his release to an inpatient treatment facility, but Metro detained him on an ICE immigration hold for weeks beyond his release date. On October 16, Morais-Hechavarria was transferred to a Texas immigration facility without notice to his attorneys and in violation of the court order. The ACLU contends the 287(g) partnership violates Nevada state law and Dillon's rule, which prohibits local agencies from exercising powers not authorized by the Legislature.
A 72-year-old man was removed from his apartment and marched outside while wearing only his robe and underwear as a result of mistaken identity during Memphis Safe Task Force operations. He was among residents harassed during the task force surge authorized by President Trump.
Reggie Williams, a 39-year-old Black artist, was stopped by Memphis police officers while walking to a nearby store on October 15, 2025. After initial questioning, four armed federal agents in an unmarked SUV with rifles and body armor but no identifying badges descended on him and conducted an aggressive interrogation. An armed agent asked if he was from Ethiopia or Ghana. Williams said he believed he would not have made it home safely without his birth certificate and state ID. He was not arrested or ticketed but reported feeling terrorized during the encounter, which occurred as part of Trump's Memphis Safe Task Force operation.
A 13-year-old Brazilian boy with a pending asylum case was arrested by ICE in Everett after an interaction with local police and transferred to a juvenile detention facility in Winchester, Virginia. His mother was told she could pick him up from the Everett Police Department but was informed ICE had taken him instead. A federal judge ordered the government to justify the arrest by October 14 or provide a bond hearing by October 17.
A 15-year-old boy with autism and special needs, Emmanuel González Garcia, went missing on October 4, 2025, after wandering away from his mother Maria García's fruit stand in Houston. Houston Police Department located him the next day but did not connect him with the existing missing person report due to a name discrepancy (Manuel vs. Emmanuel). HPD contacted ICE and transferred the boy to federal immigration custody. García was without knowledge of her son's whereabouts for nearly a week until an immigration attorney intervened. The teen is now in Office of Refugee Resettlement custody and is facing emergency appendix surgery. An investigation into the Houston Police Department's procedures was initiated following the incident.
Rev. ELaura James Reid, a 49-year-old pastor of Coleman Chapel CME Church and lifelong Memphian, was pulled over on October 10, 2025, by a man in camouflage fatigues driving an unmarked SUV with a matte army green finish as she left a church unity summit at an East Memphis hotel. The officer claimed she looked lost or was "driving unsure," though she had properly stopped at a stop sign and signaled her turn. When Reid questioned whether it was normal for National Guard members to ask for licenses, the officer told her to have a nice day and let her go. She was not arrested or ticketed.
Alandria London, a Black ride-share driver, was pulled over by a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper on October 8, 2025, while taking a passenger to the airport. The officer claimed he did not see her seat belt, though she was wearing one. After the officer said he needed to "call it in," an Immigration and Customs Enforcement van pulled up behind the motorcycle. London believes she was profiled as Hispanic and stopped as a pretext for an immigration check. She was not cited or arrested but posted about the incident on Facebook with a photo showing herself wearing the seat belt.
Aurelio was arrested on October 5, 2025, after a woman accused him of assaulting a child without providing evidence. Local police took him to the woman's house for identification, then booked him on assault charges and transferred custody to ICE the next day under a 287(g) cooperation agreement. The case was dismissed on March 26, 2026, after prosecutors could not obtain evidence from the arresting officer. Aurelio spent two months in ICE detention before posting bond in December 2025 and now wears an electronic ankle monitor while awaiting an asylum hearing.
Emmanuel González García, a 15-year-old with intellectual disability, speech impediment, and partial deafness, went missing on October 4, 2025, after wandering away from his mother Maria García's fruit stand in northwest Houston. The Houston Fire Department found him at a McDonald's the next day, but Houston Police Department failed to connect him to the missing person report his mother had filed because he gave a slightly different name (Manuel instead of Emmanuel). HPD contacted ICE on October 5, and when no family was identified through initial searches, HPD personally transported Emmanuel to a federal children's detention center. Maria had no way to know her son's location for five days until an immigration attorney called the missing persons hotline on the boy's behalf. Emmanuel subsequently underwent emergency appendicitis surgery while in federal custody.
Gratien Milandou-Wamba, a 32-year-old from the Republic of Congo who fled torture and political persecution, was detained by ICE on April 19, 2025, while driving to work at the Cumberland County Jail in his sheriff's uniform. He had lawfully entered the United States in May 2023 on a nonimmigrant visitor's visa, obtained a work permit while applying for asylum, and was hired as a corrections officer in August 2024 after passing comprehensive background screening. ICE cited an expired visa as grounds for detention, though Milandou-Wamba believed he was in legal status while his asylum application was pending. His attorney noted that immigration authorities may have flagged his status after he attempted to purchase a firearm in September 2024 due to safety concerns from interactions with inmates at work. Cumberland County District Attorney Jackie Sartoris publicly defended him as an upstanding community member who does not fit the Trump administration's stated plan to target only criminals, and criticized the detention as targeting someone with a legitimate asylum claim who had registered with the government. His friend and landlord, Tyler Brinkmann, described him as a kind and gentle man involved in his church and community. Milandou-Wamba left his corrections officer position on May 31, 2025, while remaining in ICE custody at Strafford County Department of Corrections in Dover, New Hampshire. He fears deportation would result in imprisonment or death in Congo, where he was tortured for political differences. A federal judge denied bail citing flight risk, which he is appealing. His asylum hearing is scheduled for October 2025.
Garcia's husband was arrested by a Manatee County sheriff's deputy on a DUI charge last October and transferred to ICE custody. He is being held at a detention center in California. Garcia, a mother of three, works as a cleaner and party venue staff member while applying for a T visa (trafficking victim relief) for both herself and her husband at a cost of approximately $15,000. She disclosed that at age sixteen, smugglers brought her into the U.S. and held her against her will for years in what she describes as kidnapping; her husband faced labor abuse as an H-2A visa migrant farmworker before overstaying. Since his arrest, Garcia has taken only one day off for an immigration appointment. Most of her earnings go toward legal fees and her husband's detention account so he can purchase food and make phone calls home. With limited funds remaining, she struggles to feed her children and has had to forgo celebrating family birthdays and holidays.
Amanda Ungaro, a 41-year-old Brazilian former model who lived in the U.S. for over 20 years, was arrested in June 2025 on fraud charges related to unlicensed cosmetic procedures at a wellness center in Florida. She was detained for approximately three and a half months at ICE facilities in Miami and Louisiana before being deported to Brazil in October 2025. Ungaro alleges that her ex-partner Paolo Zampolli, a Trump special envoy and father of their teenage son, contacted senior ICE officials to ensure her detention and deportation amid an ongoing child custody dispute. Zampolli and the Department of Homeland Security denied the allegations, with DHS stating the removal was based on visa overstay and fraud charges. The case remains open with an arrest warrant issued should she return to the United States.
Luisa Rodriguez, a Mexican national who immigrated to the U.S. over 30 years ago and worked in courts, was detained by ICE agents on September 28, 2025, at Camp Pendleton's gate while visiting her pregnant daughter, a newly enlisted U.S. Marine. Rodriguez and her husband Esteban Rios were initially released with ankle monitors but were taken back into custody at a subsequent ICE check-in appointment. Rodriguez was held at Otay Mesa Detention Center for nearly three weeks before being released on October 30. Her husband was deported to Tijuana on October 31. The family has pending green card applications and no criminal history.
Noemi Chavez, her husband Jaime Ramirez, and their two children (ages 8 and 3) were detained by federal agents at Millennium Park on September 28, 2025, without a warrant while the children played at the Crown Fountain. When Chavez asked to see a warrant, agents ignored her request. The family originally came from Guatemala in 2023 seeking protection and have an asylum hearing scheduled for October 2027. Chavez and the children were released after detention, but Jaime Ramirez was transferred to detention facilities in Texas and Indiana. A federal judge characterized the stop as "unconstitutional" based on the family's appearance, and attorneys filed a habeas corpus petition alleging the family was stopped because of their skin color. The case is part of broader litigation challenging ICE's warrantless arrest practices in violation of a 2022 consent decree.
Esteban Rios, a Mexican national who immigrated to the U.S. over 30 years ago, was detained by ICE agents on September 28, 2025, at Camp Pendleton while attempting to visit his pregnant daughter with his wife Luisa Rodriguez. Initially released with an ankle monitor, he was detained again when he checked in with ICE days later and was deported on Friday, October 10, 2025. The family has pending green card applications sponsored by his son, U.S. Marine Steve Rios, and says they have no criminal history.
ICE agents encountered a 5-year-old autistic girl outside her family's home in Leominster, Massachusetts while attempting to arrest her father, Edward Hip Mejia, a Guatemalan national. After Mejia fled into his house, agents held the child outside. Local police responded and recovered the girl, returning her to her family. Mejia was detained two days later and is currently held at an ICE detention center in Plymouth.
Cristina Osornio, a legal permanent resident and mother of six who has lived in the U.S. since infancy, was stopped by police in Rogers on September 15, 2025, for driving without insurance and with a suspended license. She was arrested on a warrant for missing a court appearance in a misdemeanor domestic violence case and held at Benton County Jail on an ICE hold for four days before being released without explanation. Osornio said the detention was "very scary" and exacerbated her health conditions. Her husband, Edwin Sanchez-Mendoza, was deported to Mexico after a misdemeanor arrest months earlier, leaving the family without their primary breadwinner and forcing them to lose their home.
The first state-funded Prairie Thunder saturation patrol resulted in 44 felony drug arrests in Sioux Falls. Federal inmates including ICE detainees had to be moved from Minnehaha County Jail to other facilities to make room. U.S. Marshals and ICE transported 35 people to other regional facilities.
Ruperto, a Mexican roofing contractor who lived and worked in Oklahoma for 28 years, was stopped by Oklahoma Highway Patrol after his truck blew a tire and overturned on an interstate in Oklahoma City. Troopers, working under ICE's 287(g) program, detained him despite having insurance and deported him to Mexico. His U.S. citizen daughter Karen, a college student majoring in elementary education, and her older brother were forced to leave school and work to support the family and pay the mortgage. Ruperto was transported through multiple facilities in Oklahoma, Tulsa, and Cushing before deportation, and agreed to voluntary removal rather than continue fighting through the legal system. He cannot reapply for reentry for 10 years.
Federal ICE agents apprehended two people in Maplewood using unmarked cars. According to local officials and advocacy groups, three masked ICE and Border Patrol agents loaded the two arrestees into unmarked, out-of-state vehicles on Prospect Street around 11 a.m. The local police department was not notified of the incident, and the township does not cooperate with ICE.
On August 27, 2025, Vasquez (49) and Ramirez (40), a married couple from Mexico, were arrested by ICE during a traffic stop in Tulsa despite having pending U visa applications and federal deportation protections as crime victims who assisted law enforcement in prosecuting a serial rapist. Ramirez was held for four months at Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Texas, where she was denied access to seizure medication for her epilepsy. Vasquez was detained for over seven months at a CoreCivic facility in Cushing, Oklahoma, and attended 13 immigration court hearings before winning a habeas corpus lawsuit granting him a bond hearing. The prolonged separation and detention resulted in job loss, eviction from their home in Broken Arrow, and approximately $12,000 in accumulated legal debt. Vasquez was released in April 2026 on deferral of removal grounds, followed by Ramirez's release. Both remain without legal status and are working to recover financially while awaiting U visa hearings.
ICE arrests continue to increase across the Western Pennsylvania region, including areas like Monroeville and Ambridge. Federal immigration authorities are receiving assistance from local police in conducting these enforcement operations. The article references an incident on Tuesday involving more than two dozen workers arrested at a construction site at Mount Nittany.
José Escobar Molina, 47, a Salvadoran native with temporary protected status who had lived in Washington, DC for 25 years, was grabbed and handcuffed without questions by ICE agents in two cars as he approached his work truck. He was held overnight in Virginia before being released. He is a plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit challenging warrantless arrests in DC.
ICE Boston, in coordination with the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, DEA, and ATF, apprehended 65 people during a four-day enforcement operation from August 12-15, 2025, targeting transnational organized crime, gangs, and offenders with serious criminal histories across Connecticut. The operation, named Operation Broken Trust, included arrests at courthouses in Stamford, Norwalk, and Danbury, as well as street arrests. According to ICE, 29 of the 65 people arrested had been convicted or charged with crimes including kidnapping, assault, drug offenses, weapons violations, and sex crimes. The operation was conducted in response to Connecticut's Trust Act, which limits state and local law enforcement cooperation with ICE. Immigration advocates protested the operation and criticized ICE's tactics, including arrests at courthouses and use of force against protesters.
Daysi Munoz and her husband were arrested by Burleson, Texas police on suspicion of shoplifting while back-to-school shopping at a Walmart in August 2025, an arrest that led to their transfer into ICE custody. About 40 days later they were deported to Honduras, leaving their two U.S. citizen daughters, 19-year-old Dulce Zepeda and 13-year-old Maria, on their own in Fort Worth. Dulce has since taken on parental responsibilities for her sister, cooking, driving her to school, working at McDonald's, and selling her mother's jewelry to pay bills. Munoz said she repeatedly asked ICE to let her take her daughters with her to Honduras, but was told she would have to spend four or five more months in detention if she wanted that option.
Benjamin, 16, and his brother Dennis were stopped by Buffalo police in August 2025 during a traffic stop; DHS agents then arrested both brothers despite their possession of Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and Deferred Action protections from deportation. ICE officers questioned them, told them the U.S. would pay $2,000 for self-deportation, and presented them with English-language papers without explanation; Benjamin signed, believing he had no choice. Dennis, who had just turned 18, was deported to Ecuador while Benjamin was transported to a shelter in Texas, then moved to a shelter in Groton, Connecticut, where he spent two months unable to understand why he was being held despite having been previously vetted and approved for release to his father. Benjamin wrote that he felt "trapped" and "like a delinquent," confined to three rooms with no outdoor access without staff supervision. He was released 143 days after his arrest, four days after lawyers filed a lawsuit challenging his detention.
Yeonsoo Go, age 21, a South Korean student with an R-2 religious worker visa, was arrested by ICE outside a federal courthouse in New York on July 31 after reporting for a routine visa hearing. She was initially held without access to legal counsel at a Manhattan facility, then transferred to an ICE detention center in Louisiana, and released after five days on August 5. ICE claimed her R-2 visa expired more than two years ago, though her visa attorney states it is not set to expire until December 2025 and Go was in the process of converting to a student visa. The visa hearing on July 31 reportedly went well and the judge had granted her a hearing date for late August.
Carlos Martín Gonzalez, 26, and his older brother Óscar Alejandro Gonzalez, 30, were detained on July 7 after Carlos was pulled over by Florida Highway Patrol in Orlando for a traffic violation (tinted windows and invalid registration). Óscar Alejandro, who was visiting on a valid tourist visa and married to a U.S. citizen, was also detained under unclear circumstances when he arrived to help his brother. Carlos had legally entered on a tourist visa following their mother's death in October. After three days in county jail, both brothers were transferred to the Everglades immigration detention center, known as "Alligator Alcatraz." Their father, Martín Gonzalez, reported that the facility's conditions were inhumane—constant artificial lighting made it impossible to distinguish day from night—and that the brothers were held without case numbers or legal representation, unable to access their lawyer or consulate staff. Mexican consular officials warned of potential civil rights violations. After approximately 20 days in detention, both brothers were released without being charged with any crime and returned to Mexico through diplomatic intervention by Mexican consulates in Orlando and Miami, working with immigration attorneys and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Patricia Balbuena Soto, a mother of three who had lived in New Jersey for approximately 30 years since age 19, was arrested on July 24, 2025, by Atlantic City Police on charges including criminal mischief and property damage. She was transferred to ICE custody on July 25, 2025, and deported to Mexico on August 5, 2025. According to DHS, Balbuena Soto had been previously removed from the country four times and illegally reentered a fifth time, which constituted a felony. Her 17-year-old daughter told Newsweek she felt alone after the separation and was forced to navigate daily life without her parent.
Rutilio Zelaya Franco, a fencing industry worker who had lived in the country for 14 years without prior police trouble, was driving a delivery truck when he was pursued by ICE agents. During the chase, his truck crashed into a home; he fled on foot and turned himself in at the Loudoun County Courthouse two days later on July 24. After a judge released him on bail, Loudoun County Sheriff's Office deputies presented him with an ICE warrant, handcuffed him, and escorted him to waiting ICE agents. He is married with two children. Zelaya Franco is being held at a detention center in Cibola County, New Mexico, pending removal proceedings.
Juan Barranco Castro, a 56-year-old resident of Jackson for 26 years, was arrested by ICE agents in the parking lot of Community Bible Church as he drove to work. According to friends, ICE was targeting someone else with a similar vehicle and arrested Castro by mistake. He was handcuffed, placed in leg irons and belly chains, and transported to Sweetwater County Detention Center. Court documents show no criminal convictions or pending charges against Castro.
On July 15, 2025, ICE agents arrested two men in a Walworth County, Wisconsin courtroom during traffic court proceedings. Court Commissioner Peter Navis demanded to see a warrant from sheriff's deputies before allowing the arrest, citing lack of lawful authority and a court order requiring warrants be presented before detention. Following the incident, three county judges confronted Navis over his handling of the arrests, told him he had misstated their position, and gave him an ultimatum to resign or be fired. Navis subsequently resigned.
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