Human Impact Project

Carolina Molina, a U.S. citizen, licensed mental health therapist, and counselor working with immigration lawyers, was confronted at gunpoint by an ICE agent on August 10, 2026, in a Falls Church parking lot. Molina was distributing business cards with immigration legal services when she witnessed ICE agents conducting enforcement operations on two Latino men. After shouting profanities at the agents from her car window, ICE vehicles boxed in her vehicle and an agent drew his firearm and pointed it at her through her driver's-side window. The agent accused her of attempting to run them over and following the agents; Molina denied the allegations and stated she was turning her car around to avoid drawing attention to an immigration attorney's office. Molina recorded the interaction on dashcam and cellphone video, which contradicted the federal account according to local officials. Though the Department of Homeland Security claimed Molina was "weaponizing her vehicle" against officers, no charges were filed. Democratic Representatives Don Beyer and Suhas Subramanyam called for accountability, with Beyer describing Molina as a mother and noting the incident reflects a pattern of DHS misconduct.

A U.S. citizen was confronted by ICE agents while dropping off cards at lawyers' offices in Falls Church, Virginia. According to the account, ICE agents blocked her vehicle near Columbia Pike, and a masked agent drew a firearm and pointed it at her face while falsely accusing her of attempting to run him over. A dash cam video reportedly shows a different account of events.

José, a car wash worker at La Cienega Car Wash in Los Angeles, was detained by ICE agents in August 2025. José's wife is a U.S. citizen, and he had a pathway to citizenship before his detention. After a federal judge ordered his release on bond, the car wash had shut down, leaving José without employment. Rev. Andy Schwiebert of Immanuel Presbyterian Church noted that the enforcement operation destabilized families, congregations, workplaces, and entire communities across the region.

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.

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.

Nepthali Zozaya Saucedo and Cinthia Sarai Cardona Otero, assistant pastors at Comunidad Cristiana Emanuel in Edinburg, Texas, were detained by immigration agents on Thursday while boarding a flight to a Billy Graham Evangelistic Association retreat—their first time away from their three children. The married couple was released on Saturday. During a Sunday worship service and press conference, they revealed that immigration agents allegedly mocked them and threatened family separation to coerce them to sign voluntary departure papers. DHS claimed they had overstayed a visa that expired in 2022, but faith leaders disputed this, saying the couple held valid religious worker visas. The couple must report to ICE in person in 6 months and call in monthly, with their immigration cases to be heard by an immigration judge.

Pastors Nepthalí Zozaya Saucedo and Cinthia Saraí Cardona Otero, who have served at Comunidad Cristiana Emanuel Assemblies of God in Edinburg, Texas for over 10 years, were detained by ICE on July 23, 2026, at McAllen International Airport while traveling to a marriage retreat in North Carolina. According to church leaders, the couple held valid R-1 religious worker visas. The pastors and their church representatives reported that ICE agents pressured them to sign voluntary deportation papers under threat of separation from their three U.S. citizen children at a U.S. Border Patrol processing center in McAllen. DHS claimed the pastors overstayed their visas. Faith leaders, including the Assemblies of God and Latino Christian National Network, called for their immediate release and an investigation into ICE's conduct.

Eight people were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Thursday morning in Henderson. At least three of those arrested are members of Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, described by the pastor as prominent and longstanding members of the Spanish-speaking Catholic community. Henderson County sheriff's deputies assisted federal agents in the operation, which lasted from approximately 5:30 a.m. to noon.

Marcelino Gutiérrez, a pastor and church leader, was stopped during a traffic stop on July 10, 2026, and arrested for not having a valid driver's license. He had entered the United States legally with a visa on February 14, 2015, and has spent the last 11 years working, serving his church, and supporting his wife and four daughters. After his arrest, an ICE immigration hold was placed on him, and he was transferred to immigration detention. His family is raising funds for legal representation and to support his wife and daughters during his detention.

Angely and Alexka Jerez Medina, 18-year-old twins and Venezuelan asylum seekers, were detained by ICE on June 24 in Buffalo, New York, while working with other Detroit students at an Amazon subcontractor warehouse. The twins are now held in separate detention facilities in Texas and New Mexico. Their teacher at Western International High School, Kristen Schoettle, described them as "great students" who are "very active in their church" and noted that "their family wants to be here, they love this country." Elected officials including U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield have called for their release. Four other Detroit students arrested with them were released; a fifth remains in federal custody.

Jessica Trevino, a 34-year-old DACA recipient who arrived in the U.S. from Mexico at age six or seven and has lived in Texas her entire life, was arrested by ICE agents on December 28, 2025, as she left church with her family in the Rio Grande Valley. Agents rammed the family's vehicle in a Home Depot parking lot, struck her husband Juan with a baton, and shoved her 14-year-old daughter Sarah against the car hard enough to bruise her. Trevino's DACA status was valid and not set to expire until spring 2027. She worked in an elementary school cafeteria and had no criminal record. After nearly 90 days in ICE custody, an immigration judge granted voluntary departure; Trevino claims she did not consent to this order and did not sign the forms. Despite federal law protecting active DACA recipients from removal and the errors in the judge's statement regarding her DACA expiration date, Trevino was deported to Matamoros, Mexico on March 25, 2026. Her three U.S. citizen children—ages 16, 14, and 13—remained in Texas in the care of relatives. After deportation, USCIS notified her of intent to revoke her DACA status and work permit. Her family has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the deportation as unlawful and seeking her return and restoration of DACA status.

Fernando Cristancho, a 69-year-old ordained Roman Catholic priest from Colombia, is facing denaturalization after being convicted of sexual abuse of a minor. Cristancho entered the United States as a religious worker and used his leadership position in the church to gain access to minor victims. He sexually groomed and abused a minor parishioner from age 11 to 13. Cristancho pleaded guilty to one count of coercion and enticement and admitted to egregious conduct involving other minor victims, resulting in a 22-year prison sentence. The Department of Justice alleges he hid his ongoing crimes from immigration officials, thereby illegally procuring his naturalization through concealment of material facts and willful misrepresentation of his sexual activity.

Andrea Pedro-Francisco, a 23-year-old Guatemalan asylum seeker who fled to the U.S. with her mother in 2019, was arrested on February 5, 2026, by federal agents during a traffic stop while driving to work in Minnesota. She was immediately transferred to Camp East Montana, a tent detention facility at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, where she was held for nearly four months in crowded conditions. Pedro-Francisco had a golf-ball-sized ovarian cyst that required surgery before her arrest; nine independent physicians concluded the procedure was medically necessary to prevent serious complications including infertility and potential death. ICE repeatedly denied approval for the surgery and provided only over-the-counter pain relief despite a doctor's opioid prescription. Her mother, who has two younger U.S. citizen children, was released at the scene. Following legal motions, advocacy by U.S. Representatives Angie Craig, Greg Casar, and Veronica Escobar, Senator Tina Smith's intervention with DHS, and sustained efforts by lawyers and organizers, Pedro-Francisco was released in early June 2026 with GPS monitoring and her case transferred back to Minnesota for a July hearing.

Marvin Godoy Calderon, a 45-year-old Peruvian immigrant with valid work authorization through 2030, was arrested outside his Sunnyside home on May 27, 2026, while sitting in his parked car waiting to go grocery shopping with his roommate. ICE agents removed him from the vehicle without showing a warrant and pressed him facedown on the asphalt, with multiple agents striking him across the back and head while pinning his arms and placing knees on his shoulders and neck. Calderon works two jobs as a janitor and dishwasher to support his four children in Peru. After being detained for approximately 13 hours in a cold metal cell at immigration court, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order mandating his immediate release, prompted by video footage of the arrest and legal advocacy. Medical evaluation at SF General Hospital revealed a head injury and fluid in his left knee from the arrest. Following his release, Calderon raised $900 through selling pollada (a Peruvian chicken dish) to make rent after losing his restaurant job shifts, and continues working and attending church while awaiting a June 10 hearing.

A woman was taken into ICE custody while a passenger in a car on her way to a church event. She was reportedly going through the legal visa process and had legal representation. Her family is raising funds to cover immigration lawyer fees, legal filings, and other expenses while fighting for her release, as she is the primary caretaker for her sister who has leukemia and type 1 diabetes.

Rufino Beca, a 59-year-old pastor from Angola who arrived in the U.S. in 2017, was detained by ICE agents on April 20, 2026, outside a store on St. John's Street in Portland, Maine. Beca leads two Assembly of God congregations in Biddeford and Portland. He was apprehended while collecting funds to help another congregation member held in immigration custody. DHS stated he overstayed a six-month tourist visa. His daughter disputes this claim, stating he is an asylum seeker with no criminal record. Beca remains held at Strafford County Jail in Dover, New Hampshire.

Rev. Yeison Cortes Vasquez, a 46-year-old evangelical pastor at The Gathering Place Church in Elizabeth, New Jersey, was detained by ICE on March 20, 2026, while working a food delivery job. ICE cited an overstayed tourist visa from Colombia that expired in 2016, though church members stated Vasquez had an active asylum case and was following legal processes. During his approximately three-week detention at Delaney Hall in Newark, church leaders reported he was denied access to a Bible for at least a week; DHS denied these allegations and stated detainees may request religious items. While in custody, Vasquez ministered to other detainees. Members of Congress visited the facility and raised concerns about detention conditions. Vasquez was released on bond with GPS monitoring while awaiting removal proceedings. The National Latino Evangelical Coalition confirmed he has no criminal record.

Lester Pérez Sánchez and Ismaray Paz Torres, a Cuban pastor couple who arrived in the U.S. in 2021 seeking asylum and hold I-220A status, were detained by ICE on March 31, 2026, during what they believed was a routine supervision appointment in Harlingen, Texas. Both hold work permits and operate a tire repair workshop in Ingleside. They have been held at El Valle Detention Center in Raymondville since their arrest. The Ingleside community, including the mayor, has rallied for their release.

Wulfrano Portillo, a pastor at La Hermosa Church in Tulsa for 24 years, was detained on March 10, 2026, during a routine immigration check-in appointment in Oklahoma City and deported to Mexico the following day. His family, including his wife and four adult children, was not informed of the reason for his deportation. Both Portillo and his wife have been living in the country without authorization since a 2007 deportation removal order was issued after a highway traffic stop.

Antonia Aguilar Maldonado, a mother of two from El Salvador, was arrested by ICE while on her way to work and detained at the Kandiyohi County Jail in Minnesota for nearly a month. Her 22-month-old child is still nursing and has acid reflux and allergies to other forms of milk. The jail was not equipped to house a nursing mother and did not have a breast pump upon her arrival, forcing her to manually express milk until the facility purchased one. By the time of her release, her breast milk had started to dry up. Her children were traumatized by her detention. Her attorney successfully argued for her release on bond of $10,000, paid by church members. She is now requesting voluntary departure.

Two men were arrested by ICE agents outside a church in Union City, New Jersey over the weekend. According to the church pastor, both men had been in the United States for over 10 years and were active church members. Local leaders and the congressional representative expressed concern about the tactics used, with officials saying the men were targeted for being undocumented.

Federal immigration agents arrested Carlos Chavez, a community member and father of three, during a food distribution event at North Hills United Methodist Church in the San Fernando Valley. Church leaders say Chavez was helping with children's ministries and was chased across the parking lot by armed agents in masks. Following the incident, the church moved its food ministry and after-school programs online.

Carlos Chavez, a taco vendor and congregant at North Hills United Methodist Church in Los Angeles who helps with children's ministries, was detained by ICE agents on January 29 during a raid on the church grounds. The raid occurred while the church was conducting a food distribution ministry and hosting an event for mothers and children in the garden. According to church officials, agents forced their way onto the property despite being asked not to enter, carrying weapons and wearing masks, disrupting childcare and after-school programs and forcing attendees to shelter in a secure room for more than four hours. Chavez requested medical treatment for a respiratory illness while in detention, but his request was denied. He was subsequently deported to Mexico after signing a self-deportation order. The raid followed a 2025 policy change that rescinded the long-standing federal "sensitive locations" policy protecting houses of worship, and religious organizations have filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the policy.

Two Latino men were detained by Border Patrol agents on January 17, 2026, while painting the exterior of a Christian church in Compton, California. The men were working outside the church on Alondra Boulevard and Bradfield Avenue, covering graffiti and maintaining the building, when agents stopped them and halted the church service inside. Their wives told Telemundo52 they are uncertain what to do moving forward as mothers now left without their husbands and fathers of their children, expressing their distress over the arrests.

On January 4, 2026, ICE agents in vehicles with out-of-state license plates surveilled St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church in Hopkins, Minnesota, during a Spanish-language Mass, positioning themselves outside the church building. Pastor Paul Haverstock reported that parishioners informed him of men wearing ski masks sitting in a car outside, prompting him to prepare his phone to record if agents entered during the service. Following this surveillance and the earlier deportation of church employee Francisco Paredes, attendance at the Spanish Mass dropped by half from over 400 people, and parishioners expressed fear of attending worship. Church leadership and Hopkins Mayor Patrick Hanlon stated that ICE's presence outside the church violated the constitutional right to free exercise of religion.

Zahra Razavinik, a 66-year-old Iranian immigrant, has taught preschoolers at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston for nearly 30 years and cared for her husband with a heart condition. She was detained by ICE in January 2026 during a routine immigration check-in and has been held at El Valle Detention Center in Raymondville, Texas for six months. Her attorneys argue she cannot safely return to Iran because she is Christian and faces persecution there, and that no other country has agreed to accept her. A 2006 immigration judge's order had previously granted her a stay of deportation due to risk of persecution as a Christian.

Francisco Paredes, a 46-year-old maintenance worker at St. Gabriel Catholic Church in Hopkins, Minnesota, was arrested by ICE on December 4, 2025, and deported to Mexico after living in the U.S. for 25 years. Paredes was detained for approximately one month in multiple facilities, including a Bloomington immigration office holding cell with 40 people, Crow Wing County Jail in Brainerd, and Webb County Detention Center in Texas, where he reported sleeping on floors without blankets and receiving minimal food. He spent Christmas imprisoned and was denied phone contact for several days after his arrest. Five weeks later, ICE agents surveilled St. Gabriel's Church during a Spanish-language Mass on January 4, 2026, which church leadership and local officials said violated parishioners' constitutional right to free exercise of religion. Francisco Paredes, a maintenance worker at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church in Hopkins, was detained by ICE agents in December 2024 after picking up coffee on his way to work. Paredes had lived in the U.S. for 25 years. He was transported to a processing facility following his detention.

ICE agents conducted an enforcement action at a church, arriving without visible identification and detaining individuals. According to accounts, agents chased workers into the woods. The incident resulted in children screaming and women crying.

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrived at an east Charlotte church on Saturday while about 15-20 congregants were doing yard work. Agents detained one man who was outside. His wife and child were inside the church. Church members reported that agents showed no identification and asked no questions before making the arrest.

Alejandra, a 30-year-old undocumented mother of four U.S.-born children, lives in fear of detention and family separation in Nebraska as ICE enforcement intensifies. In June 2025, ICE conducted a raid on a meatpacking plant in Omaha, detaining dozens of people including family friends and church acquaintances. A new ICE detention facility called "Cornhusker Clink" is opening in McCook with capacity for 300 adults. Alejandra's undocumented parents plan to self-deport to Mexico within six months due to fears of detention and concerns about ICE facility conditions.

Rev. Jorge Bautista, a United Church of Christ pastor, was shot in the face with a pepper round by an ICE agent during an October 23 prayer vigil at Coast Guard Island in Alameda, California. The vigil was organized by the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity to protest ICE operations in the Bay Area. Bautista approached an agent to help deescalate the situation, saying "We come in peace," but was immediately shot with no warning. He received medical treatment and recovered after several days of burning eyes and headaches.

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.

A longtime parishioner of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Montclair was detained by ICE agents on June 20, 2025, while doing landscaping work on church property. His family is involved in the parish ministry. According to ICE, the man was initially stopped during a traffic stop near the church and chose to pull into the church parking lot, where officers made the arrest. The detention occurred after President Trump revoked protections for immigration enforcement at sensitive locations including churches, schools, and hospitals that had been in place since the Obama administration. On the same day, ICE agents chased several other men onto the parking lot of St. Adelaide parish in Highland.

On June 11, 2025, masked ICE officials detained a man in the parking lot of Downey Memorial Christian Church. Reverend Tanya Lopez witnessed the man on the ground surrounded by three armed, masked officers who refused to identify themselves or produce a warrant. The officers identified themselves only as police and prevented Lopez from questioning them or assisting the man. The church subsequently offered multiple worship options including in-person, Facebook Live, and Zoom services for concerned parishioners.

Sinri Baltazar, a member of the Afro-indigenous Garifuna community from Honduras, was first separated from her then-5-year-old daughter in 2018 under the Trump administration's family separation policy. In 2024-2025, immigration officials presented her with a document they claimed would allow her family to stay together, but it actually facilitated their removal. She was deported with her three children, including one who is a U.S. citizen. Under a federal judge's order in April 2026, she was allowed to return to Louisiana with her three children. The family is currently living with an acquaintance from church while working to reestablish stable housing. Baltazar expressed gratitude that her children could seek a better life but emphasized the family's desire for a safe home of their own.

In Maryland, a federal agent sitting outside a church, waiting for the target of his operation to leave his house, acknowledged to journalists that they could never have conducted such an operation before the sensitive locations policy was rescinded.

Margarita Avila, a 50-year-old mother of five, has been held in an immigrant detention center since March 2025 as the Trump administration prepares to deport her to Belize, a country she left two decades ago due to threats to her family. Her two youngest sons, Isaac, 12, and Jeremiah, 10, attended a Mother's Day service at a Pentecostal church where children were called forward to greet their mothers—but no one came for Isaac and Jeremiah. Her husband, José Avila, wept during the service as he watched his sons struggle with their mother's prolonged detention. Margarita is among tens of thousands of immigrants targeted for deportation under the Trump administration's stated goal of deporting 1 million immigrants annually.

ICE agents arrested Wilson Rogelio Velasquez Cruz outside Iglesia Fuente de Vida church in Tucker on Sunday while he was attending service with his family. Velasquez Cruz, who had a valid five-year work permit and was employed at a tire shop, had been wearing an immigration GPS ankle monitor since seeking asylum from Honduras two years ago. His wife expressed concern about the family's future and reported that her husband will be transferred to Stewart Detention Center and deported without the ability to appeal to a judge.