Human Impact Project

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.

A father from an unnamed country who was separated from his daughter at the US-Mexico border in 2017 and reunited with his children in Florida in 2021 was detained by ICE in October 2025 at Alligator Alcatraz in the Florida Everglades and transferred to Camp East Montana in Texas. While detained, he experienced poor conditions including mouldy food with worms and witnessed a fellow detainee's death from asphyxia due to neck and torso compression. The ACLU filed a motion and he was released in April 2026, but remains subject to ankle monitoring and bi-weekly ICE check-ins.

Michael James Garcia, a 39-year-old marine engineer with a valid crew visa, was interrogated by CBP agents aboard a Viking Ocean Cruises ship docked in Charleston on October 1, 2025. Agents claimed his email was linked to child pornography but never provided evidence or filed charges against him. Without a formal criminal proceeding or due process, his visa was revoked and he received a 10-year ban from entering the United States.

Maikol Carreno, a 24-year-old Venezuelan barber in Yuma, Arizona, was detained by ICE agents while giving a haircut at Stay Faded Barbershop. Carreno, who is seeking asylum, was transferred to Eloy Detention Center. His U.S. citizen wife, who is three weeks away from giving birth, is pleading for his release with community support.

Ismael Ayala-Uribe, a 39-year-old Mexican national and former DACA recipient, died in ICE custody after being held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California. He was arrested by ICE and Border Patrol agents on August 17, 2025, during an enforcement operation at a car wash in Fountain Valley, and transferred to Adelanto five days later. During roughly five weeks in detention, he reported severe pain from an infected abscess along with cough, fever, and shaking; on September 18, facility medical staff responded to his complaints with only Tylenol. After developing complications, he was transferred to Victor Valley Global Medical Center, where he was found unresponsive at 1:48 a.m. on September 22 and declared dead at 2:32 a.m. from cardiac arrest arising from septic shock. His family was not notified of his hospitalization until after his death. His death occurred amid a rise in ICE detainee deaths, with at least 16 recorded in nine months of 2025.

Mi nombre es Ernesto y estoy recaudando fondos para ayudar a mi papá, Julio Ernesto Chavez Linares, quien fue detenido por inmigración mientras trabajaba el dia 11 de septiembre en un car wash que se llama 100 % hand Wash en Los Angeles California . Él es salvadoreño, nació el 13 de enero de 1983, y siempre ha sido el pilar de nuestra familia, especialmente para mi hermana menor de 12 años. La ausencia de mi papá ha sido muy difícil para nosotros, ya que él se encargaba de la vida diaria de mi hermana, su educación y el bienestar del hogar.

Federal immigration agents conducted a raid at a carwash in California. A social media post documented the incident, describing agents detaining workers at the location.

ICE agents raided the Bixby Knolls Car Wash in Long Beach on Saturday, detaining seven workers (four women and three men). The workers, from Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico, had various forms of legal status according to the manager, but agents allegedly confiscated or dismissed their immigration documents. The detained workers have been processed at facilities in Santa Ana, Adelanto, and Los Angeles.

Seven people were arrested during a U.S. Border Patrol immigration enforcement operation at Bixby Knolls Car Wash in Long Beach on Saturday. The individuals arrested were from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico. About 10 unmarked cars blocked the car wash exit during the raid, which resulted in the arrest of several employees. The chief of the Glassport Borough Police Department reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement made 17 arrests in the borough over a two-week period. Seven workers at Bixby Knoll's Car Wash in Long Beach, California were detained by federal immigration agents on September 13, 2025. During the raid, a woman being placed into a federal vehicle appeared to faint and collapse while in custody. The incident occurred as masked federal agents in tactical vests arrived in dark-colored SUVs and blocked the car wash's entrance and exits, with some workers attempting to flee. Witnesses documented the operation on their cellphones, with one observer describing the scene as impactful.

A man was detained by ICE at a Home Depot location in Orange County. He was admitted to Orange County Global Medical Center. He is a stroke patient who has had six prior strokes and takes multiple medications.

Hilda Gloria Yanez-Zavala, who came to the U.S. from El Salvador three years ago and was granted asylum, was detained during an immigration raid at a factory in Cato where she worked legally. She was separated from her two sons and held in detention for a month before deciding to self-deport. Her two sons remained in America.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers conducted a raid at a construction site near CIA headquarters in Virginia. Construction workers fleeing the raid attempted to scale fences surrounding the CIA complex during the morning commute. ICE did not notify the CIA in advance of the operation. No workers breached security or posed a threat to the facility.

A 24-year-old Guatemalan man who had become a legal U.S. resident two years earlier was briefly detained, photographed, and released after about 11 hours during an ICE raid at Nutrition Bar Confectioners in Cato, New York. His partner, who lacked legal immigration status, was taken away by agents before he could speak to her, and he did not know where she had been detained. The worker, who has been supporting his parents and siblings in Guatemala, said he planned to return to work despite the disruption.

Federal ICE agents raided Nutrition Bar Confectioners, a family-owned nutrition bar manufacturer in Cato, New York, on September 4, 2025, detaining 57 workers. The raid separated nursing mothers from infants under one year old and affected elementary school-aged children whose parents were detained. Five of the 57 detainees were criminally charged with unauthorized re-entry after prior deportation, while the remaining 52 faced deportation proceedings. Governor Kathy Hochul visited the facility and expressed concern that detaining parents put at least a dozen children at risk of returning from school to an empty house.

In Naperville, Illinois, five roofers working on a home were detained by armed, masked agents. 'My neighbors witnessed two agents chasing one guy down the street in a residential area, guns drawn,' the homeowner, Bobby Fischer, said. 'A roofer running for his life.'

Two carwasheros were detained from car washes in Orange County. Their families and legal advocates fought to secure bonds, with Cuberto's bond set at $2,500 and Rodolfo's at $2,000. The post appeals for help reaching fundraising goals to release these individuals.

Laura Murillo, a 55-year-old immigrant from Mexico and mother of two, was arrested by ICE in September 2025 while operating her tamale vending stand near Home Depot on 47th Street and Western Avenue during Operation Midway Blitz. She spent six months in federal immigration detention before being released in March 2026 following a court order rather than deportation. Murillo's tamale business, which she had operated for years, allowed her to support her daughters Génesis and Daniela and provide flexible work to other women in her community. Since her release, she says she is in the process of obtaining legal status and is rebuilding her life with a focus on her family, faith, and a slower pace rather than the constant work that previously defined her.

Gustavo was detained by ICE on August 24, 2025, while working at Bubble Hand Car Wash in Torrance. After being held for 7 months, he was granted bond at $17,500. His sister Rosa organized a GoFundMe to raise funds for his legal expenses, noting that Gustavo is elderly with medical conditions including high blood pressure, diabetes, and cirrhosis.

Rodrigo Almendarez, a U.S. citizen born in Canoga Park, was detained by ICE agents outside his workplace in Simi Valley without being identified or told why. He was released after showing his ID and a coworker's intervention. He plans to file a lawsuit over the incident.

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.

Mario, a father of three who had worked non-stop for 33 years since immigrating from Mexico, was arrested at the carwash in Santa Ana where he worked during ICE raids on August 19, 2025. He spent six nights sleeping on the floor of a holding cell he called the "ice box," where detainees huddled together for warmth, and two months at Adelanto detention center where he contracted a contagion, possibly flu or COVID. He was released on October 24 after his lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition, but he cannot work while awaiting a final deportation hearing scheduled for July 27. His wife Alejandra said he was severely traumatized after release, refusing to leave the house, barely eating, with no energy to shower. His son now pays for his rent and food, and Mario said he has become "a burden" for his family after decades of being their sole breadwinner.

Daniel Fuentes Espinal, a 54-year-old volunteer pastor and construction worker from Honduras, was detained by ICE on July 21, 2025, while driving to a construction job in Easton, Maryland, after purchasing supplies at Lowe's and picking up breakfast at McDonald's. He arrived legally in 2001 on a six-month visitor visa and had been living in the country on an expired visa ever since. For the past 24 years, Fuentes Espinal has been a cornerstone of his Easton community, working steadily in construction to support his wife and three adult children, and serving as a volunteer pastor at Iglesia del Nazareno Jesus Te Ama for over a decade, where he has built the congregation to 70 families. His daughter Clarissa had begun sponsoring him for permanent residence through legal channels. According to court records and his family, he has no criminal history. During his detention, he was transferred through facilities in Salisbury and Baltimore before being moved to Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, Louisiana, where he reported deplorable conditions including sleeping on concrete or cold benches, lack of adequate food and sanitation, and denial of access to his heart and stomach medications. His community, congregation, and Maryland congressional representatives—including U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen, Representative Sarah Elfreth, and Representative Glenn Ivey—rallied to support him. A GoFundMe campaign raised over $50,000 for his legal expenses. He was released from ICE detention and returned home to his family in Easton nearly a month after his arrest.

On August 16, 2025, ICE conducted enforcement operations at a Home Depot and car wash in Anaheim, detaining at least five people despite a federal court order prohibiting indiscriminate sweeps. At the Euclid Car Wash, ICE deployed tear gas against a crowd of bystanders and arrested Isaac Dominguez, an uninvolved Black bystander who was there to wash his car, after he reportedly confronted the agents.

A 21-year-old man with physical and developmental disabilities, who is nearly deaf and has limited English proficiency, was arrested by ICE on August 12 during a raid in Oakland and is now detained at the Northwest ICE Detention Center in Tacoma. Advocates and attorneys report he cannot understand his legal proceedings and is isolated from those who can communicate with him. ICE is detaining an individual with disabilities at a detention center.

ICE served search warrants at agricultural firms including Christensen Farms in Minnesota and Nebraska, and in Las Vegas. The 15-month investigation targeted companies allegedly knowingly hiring undocumented workers. Criminal warrants were issued for 17 individuals in a conspiracy involving fraud and money laundering. 133 workers were administratively arrested.

Jaime Alanís Garcia, a 56-year-old farmworker at Glass House Farms, died from blunt-force head and neck injuries sustained during a July 10 ICE immigration raid. His wife and daughter filed wrongful death claims against ICE alleging agents used excessive force including rubber bullets, tear gas, and stun guns, causing Alanís to fall 30 feet from a cannabis greenhouse roof. The family is seeking $47 million in damages per claim and answers about what transpired during the operation that resulted in 361 arrests.

A video posted online shows federal ICE agents detaining people near a Home Depot in Encinitas. A woman driving through the area recorded the encounter and spoke with NBC 7 about witnessing what appeared to be two men in custody with ICE agents present.

Jose Manuel Castillo Jr., a U.S. citizen and volunteer with immigrant advocacy group NorCal Resist, was charged with depredation of government property after allegedly puncturing a Border Patrol vehicle tire during an ICE raid at a Home Depot on July 17. According to the DOJ, Castillo was seen walking toward a Border Patrol SUV and agents heard a pop and hissing noise before finding the tire slashed; a pocketknife found on him matched the hole's width. Castillo's attorney and the advocacy group dispute the charges, claiming he was merely documenting arrests and was not obstructing operations.

ICE confirmed an active investigation at Trail King Industries, a trailer manufacturer employing about 500 people at its Mitchell headquarters and 770 total across plants in Mitchell, Yankton, and West Fargo, North Dakota. Tips surfaced about agents being seen at the facility. The company's VP of Human Resources declined to comment.

ICE raided four Colt Grill restaurant locations in Yavapai County, Arizona in mid-July 2025, detaining 28 undocumented workers on immigration violations. Restaurant owners Robert and Brenda Clouston and two undocumented employees, Luis Pedro Rogel-Jaimes and Iris Romero-Molina, were accused by federal prosecutors of smuggling undocumented workers from Mexico, paying below minimum wage, withholding overtime compensation, and creating a fake cleaning business to conceal payments. The raids resulted in approximately 200 job losses and closure of two locations; the owners' trial was scheduled for June 2, 2026 in federal court in Phoenix.

Ingrid Ayón, 23, grew up in Cottonwood, Arizona since she was 4 months old, speaks English fluently, and graduated from Mingus Union High School. Despite being undocumented and ineligible for DACA after President Trump attempted to kill the program during his first term, she worked two jobs to support herself and her family. On July 15, 2025, ICE raided Colt Grill restaurant where she worked, targeting the owners for allegedly smuggling and exploiting undocumented workers. During the raid, ICE officers used pepper spray to force workers out of hiding; Ayón was questioned, arrested, and detained for months at multiple facilities including Florence ICE processing center and Eloy Detention Center, where she reported harsh conditions including overcrowding, extreme cold, and a rash that went untreated. She was ultimately deported to Mexico, separated from her three U.S. citizen brothers and her family in the United States.

On July 15, 2025, federal agents raided four Colt Grill BBQ and Spirits restaurants in Yavapai County, Arizona, and a location in Foley, Alabama, arresting 28 undocumented workers on immigration violations. Restaurant owners Robert and Brenda Clouston, both 61, were arrested along with two undocumented immigrants, Luis Pedro Rogel-Jaimes, 33, and Iris Romero-Molina, 29. According to a May 27 federal indictment, the four defendants conspired to transport and harbor undocumented workers from Mexico, operating a fake cleaning business as a staffing front to conceal payments. The workers were paid below minimum wage without overtime compensation, and the defendants avoided proper employment taxes. Approximately 200 employees lost their jobs when the restaurants closed. The investigation spanned three years.

Federal authorities conducted immigration enforcement raids on Glass House Farms facilities in Southern California between July 10-14, 2025, resulting in over 360 arrests. Jonathan Anthony Caravello, a California State University Channel Islands math lecturer, was arrested during the July 10 raid in Camarillo and charged with allegedly throwing a tear gas canister at law enforcement, though some accounts indicate he was attempting to dislodge a canister stuck under a wheelchair. Caravello was released on a $15,000 bond with arraignment scheduled for August 1. During the broader enforcement operations, one farmworker died after falling from a greenhouse roof.

U.S. Border Patrol agents raided Don Chilaquiles food stand in La Puente on December 3, 2025, detaining three workers. Video footage shows agents seizing a cash box from the stand and placing it in an unmarked vehicle. One worker fled to a nearby firetruck during the operation, and an accident occurred between an agent's vehicle and another car at the scene.

Federal ICE agents raided Glass House Farms facilities in Camarillo and Carpinteria, California on July 11, detaining dozens of farmworkers. Hundreds of community members gathered to protest, and federal agents deployed tear gas and smoke grenades on the crowd, injuring at least one city council member. Judith Ramos, a 22-year-old certified nurse assistant, was sprayed with tear gas when she arrived at the farm to support her father, a farmworker at the facility, and learned he had been detained. Rep. Salud Carbajal was denied entry when he attempted to conduct congressional oversight of the raid. National Guard troops in military vehicles also responded to the scene. ICE agents conducted a heavily armed raid on Glass House Farms cannabis facilities in Camarillo and Carpinteria on July 10, 2025, detaining 361 adults and 14 minors. A 56-year-old farm worker died after falling 30 feet from a greenhouse roof. Three men—undocumented farm worker Santiago, security guard George Retes (an Iraq veteran), and professor John Caravello—were arrested during the operation; Caravello was arrested after throwing back a teargas canister at agents.

Mitch Lillie, a volunteer with grassroots organization VC Defense, was at the Glass House Farms facility in Camarillo when federal agents raided the site on July 10, 2025. Lillie was shot in the temple with a rubber bullet during the operation. He witnessed workers trapped in the facility and family members distraught on their phones.

Don Lupe, a warehouse worker from Puebla, Mexico who had lived in the U.S. for 27 years, was the first worker arrested when ICE agents raided Alba Wines and Spirits in Edison, New Jersey on July 8. Agents handcuffed him with zip ties and transported him to Delaney Hall detention facility. His daughter, a pre-school teacher, learned of the raid mid-class when her mother called crying. The family of six children surrounded their mother, who suffers from asthma, depression, and high blood pressure, as they frantically called immigration lawyers for hours. Don Lupe had hidden his fears about the raids from his wife to protect her health, but prayed each morning before leaving for work that God would let him come home. He was eventually released after legal advocacy and reunited with his family.

An undocumented single mother was arrested during a workplace raid at a cannabis farm in Southern California in July 2025. Her 10-month-old US citizen child was left with family friends as a result of her arrest and detention.

Attorney Vanessa Valdez, identifying herself as a legal observer, was shot six times with rubber bullets and exposed to tear gas during an ICE raid on Glass House Farms cannabis company. The injuries caused severe pain, rib damage, and sleep disruption lasting weeks, leading to hospital visits and ongoing mental health treatment costs included in her tort claim.

Jin Hao Zhang, a 56-year-old restaurateur who operated the China Moon restaurant on Main Street in Camden for nearly 20 years, was detained by ICE agents on June 25, 2025. According to reports, Zhang entered the U.S. on a fraudulent visa in 1990 and was ordered to leave by an immigration court judge in 2000 but remained in the country for the past 25 years. The raid closed the restaurant.

ICE agents detained a gardener working in Long Beach's University Park Estates neighborhood who told agents he was a dual citizen and showed identification. A video of the incident shows the man claiming U.S. citizenship and stating he was born at Memorial Hospital in Long Beach. Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson condemned the operation as an "abduction," stating ICE was not given prior notice and criticized the enforcement as rooted in "fear and intimidation."

Narciso Barranco, a 5'7", 150-pound landscaper who has lived in the United States since the 1990s, was detained by ICE and Border Patrol agents on June 21, 2025, during a workplace enforcement action at an IHOP in Santa Ana, Orange County, California. Video footage of the arrest shows multiple masked federal agents repeatedly punching Barranco in the head and neck and tackling him to the ground in a busy intersection as he was pinned by three officers. His oldest son, Alejandro, a 25-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran with two active-duty Marine brothers, said his father was scared when plainclothes armed agents approached him and expressed concern about the excessive force used by multiple larger officers. After speaking with his father by phone the following day, Alejandro reported that Barranco was injured, had not received medical attention, was very thirsty, and had not eaten. Barranco is being held by ICE at a detention center in Los Angeles. The Department of Homeland Security claimed Barranco swung a weed whacker at an agent and refused to comply with commands, though videos show him running with the tool and attempting to open a car door before being tackled.

Federal agents conducted an immigration enforcement action at Xpress Wash in Maywood on the same day as the Bell raid. A minor collision occurred when federal agents opened a vehicle door into a slowly moving BMW; the BMW's driver was detained and later released after onlookers protested. As crowds gathered, federal agents threw flash bang grenades at people standing near Riverfront Park who were recording and asking for badge numbers. No one was ultimately taken from the Maywood business, according to the councilman.

Federal agents conducted an immigration raid at Jack's Car Wash in Bell, detaining at least three people. A U.S. citizen employee wearing a white long-sleeved shirt was tackled and detained after attempting to defend a coworker, according to his brother Jesús Rafael Cervantes. The raid sparked protests, with crowds confronting masked federal agents and property damage to federal vehicles occurring amid the confrontation. Federal agents used tear gas and flash bang grenades to disperse protesters.

Lorena Pineda, a 27-year-old Salvadoran mother of two, was arrested by ICE agents on June 19, 2025, while five months pregnant at a food stand in California. Despite ICE policy prohibiting detention of pregnant women for administrative violations, an agent told her he would not release her. She was transferred through multiple detention facilities—Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Atlanta, Alexandria, and finally South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana—where she was held for over 3.5 months separated from her young children by 1,500 miles. At the facility, she was housed with at least 20 other pregnant women and witnessed multiple miscarriages, including a woman carrying twins. She received inadequate prenatal care, poor nutrition, and was unable to contact her family for the first month. After three months, she signed papers for voluntary self-deportation to El Salvador with a departure date extended to March due to her full-term pregnancy.

Job Garcia, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and PhD student, was arrested and detained for over 24 hours on June 19, 2025, while filming an ICE immigration raid at a Home Depot in Hollywood, Los Angeles. CBP agents tackled Garcia without warning, smashed his phone, and restrained him as he attempted to document the arrest of day laborers and inform them of their rights. Garcia was released without arraignment or court date notification. MALDEF and Garcia are seeking $1 million in damages from the Department of Homeland Security through a Federal Tort Claims Act notice, citing wrongful arrest, detention based on race, assault, battery, false imprisonment, and interference with his right to document government actions.

Juan Carlos Ramirez, a U.S. citizen, was pepper-sprayed, slammed onto vehicle hoods, punched and kneed by armed immigration agents who raided his father's auto body shop in Oxnard on June 16, 2025. Ramirez and dozens of other U.S. citizens and immigrants are seeking financial compensation through tort claims against the federal government for injuries, trauma, and deaths sustained during recent immigration enforcement operations, with claimants seeking at least $260 million collectively.

Juan Carlos Ramirez, a U.S. citizen, was pepper-sprayed, slammed onto vehicle hoods, punched in the face, and kneed by armed immigration agents during a raid on an auto body shop where his father was arrested. Ramirez filmed the incident and subsequently filed a legal claim against the federal government seeking damages for injuries and trauma.

On Saturday, June 14, ICE agents conducted a raid on a popular swap meet in Santa Fe Springs featuring vendors, food, and entertainment. Dozens of heavily armed, masked officers carried out the operation before a scheduled 5:30 p.m. concert, which was subsequently canceled. Witnesses reported that agents appeared to be targeting people based on appearance, with one attendee describing being photographed by agents after stating he was from the United States. DHS confirmed that two people were arrested at the swap meet and are facing deportation. The raid was part of sustained ICE activity across southern California targeting day laborers, car washers, warehouse workers, and residents in public spaces.

Border Patrol agents questioned Brian Gavidia, a U.S. citizen born in East Los Angeles, at his workplace on West Olympic Boulevard. Despite Gavidia showing his Real ID and repeatedly asserting his citizenship, agents held him against a fence, twisted his arm, and confiscated his ID and phone. The incident was captured on video.