Human Impact Project

Leonardo 'Leo' Garcia Venegas, a 25-year-old U.S.-born citizen of Mexican descent working construction in Baldwin County, Alabama, was detained by immigration agents multiple times beginning in May 2025 despite presenting a valid Alabama REAL ID. In the first incident, armed agents raided a Foley construction site, tackled his undocumented brother, and held Garcia Venegas handcuffed for over an hour after he began filming and asserted his citizenship; his brother was later deported. Weeks later, agents detained him again at another job site, again dismissing his ID as fake despite him also providing his Social Security card. In a third encounter, officers followed him home, pulled him from his vehicle, tackled him, and shackled him. Never charged with a crime, Garcia Venegas testified before Congress saying 'I don't feel free,' and filed a federal lawsuit with the Institute for Justice against DHS officials, including Tom Homan and Kristi Noem, alleging Fourth Amendment violations, assault, battery, and false arrest. A federal judge in the Southern District of Alabama denied the government's motion to dismiss and temporarily halted warrantless construction-site raids, a ruling Garcia Venegas called 'a huge blow to lawless enforcement practices.'

Carlos Rodríguez, a Cuban migrant, was one of five deportees who refused to leave the ICE deportation plane upon landing, saying they did not feel safe; he says officers carried him off the aircraft and beat him while he was handcuffed. He and three other Cubans, along with a Brazilian, had been told by authorities that if they stayed calm they would be returned to the United States, but the plane instead delivered them to Equatorial Guinea. "This is human trafficking, they trafficked us on a plane," he told EL PAÍS.

Santiago Merlo, a Colombian man living in California, posted his car for sale on Facebook Marketplace. Months later, a purported buyer using the name "Brian" arranged to meet him to see the vehicle. When Merlo arrived, he says about 10 patrol units with federal agents were waiting, and he was handcuffed and detained. Merlo says he had a valid work permit and a pending asylum application at the time he was later deported to Colombia.

Cece Mokua, a 29-year-old pregnant Kenyan asylum applicant living in Spokane with her husband, Humphrey Oyoo, and their 1-year-old son, was detained by ICE agents while attending what she believed was a scheduled asylum interview with USCIS in Tukwila, WA. Officers separated her from her family, handcuffed her, and held her in holding cells before transferring her to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, where she said she experienced contractions and a migraine. She was given only a doctor's note for a bottom bunk and released after roughly 36 hours without explanation, but remains in deportation proceedings with an ankle monitor and a scheduled check-in with ICE in Spokane. Mokua came to the U.S. legally as a teenager fleeing female genital mutilation but later fell out of legal status. Her husband, a home health aide and SEIU union member, said the family was targeted despite having supporters and press present for the interview. Supporters, including the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and Defend Migrants Alliance, said her case reflects a pattern of ICE using USCIS appointments as a pretext for arrests.

Edgar Martinez, 33, was detained outside his West Phoenix home after men allegedly posing as electricians cut power to check a breaker box, according to his partner, Marisol Lopez. Lopez said the agents never identified themselves or showed a warrant before pinning Martinez to the ground and taking him into custody. She said Martinez had no serious criminal record and was in the process of applying for a T visa as a victim of human trafficking. ICE said Martinez lacks lawful status and cited two prior domestic violence misdemeanors on his record. Martinez was being held at a detention facility in Florence, Arizona, due to capacity issues at other facilities and was set to appear in immigration court.

Wilfredo Giron, a construction worker and father, was taken into ICE custody after someone posing as a potential client contacted him about a job, luring him into an encounter that resulted in his detention. He has been held for more than two weeks, leaving behind his wife, Rachel, who is pregnant, and their 2-year-old son. The family is raising funds for immigration attorney fees, legal filings, and a potential bond to secure his release while his case continues.

Jose Mejia Hernandez, a 45-year-old Mexican immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for 18 years, was walking to work along Columbia Pike in Arlington, Virginia on August 11 when plainclothes ICE agents in an unmarked vehicle approached him without identifying themselves. He fled, was struck by a vehicle, and was shocked with a stun gun before losing consciousness, waking hours later at George Washington University Hospital with two black eyes, facial lacerations, brain swelling, and a subarachnoid brain bleed. He was hospitalized for several days with ICE officers stationed in his room, returned for an MRI on August 14 due to worsening symptoms, and was later fitted with an ankle monitor he says delayed further medical testing. His attorneys, Denisse Gastélum, Carlos Jurado and Margaret Hellerstein, say he now struggles to eat, sleep, speak normally, or work, and have filed a police report seeking criminal charges against the officers and driver, notified federal agencies of intent to sue under the Federal Tort Claims Act, and are pursuing a U visa on his behalf. DHS disputes his account, saying officers used necessary force after he attempted to flee, and cites a prior voluntary return to Mexico and a 2020 public intoxication conviction. He has been placed in deportation proceedings with a hearing scheduled for September 14. Virginia officials including Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Reps. Don Beyer, Suhas Subramanyam and James Walkinshaw have criticized the circumstances of his arrest, and Arlington County Police have opened an investigation. Separately, the Arlington County Board approved $50,000 in emergency grants, distributed through Arlington Thrive, to support families whose primary wage earner was detained during a broader ICE enforcement surge that led to roughly 1,300 arrests across the D.C. area in August.

Five men from an extended family were taken into ICE custody during a Labor Day weekend camping trip in Granite Falls, Washington, after individuals who initially presented themselves as park rangers photographed the group's identification under the pretext of a "garbage warning." Around midnight, ICE agents returned, woke the sleeping families by shaking their tents and shouting, and detained the five men, who were the primary financial providers for their households. One of the men who had posed as a park ranger returned armed with a rifle as ICE "backup." The families, which include children ranging from 1 to 14 years old and a pregnant mother, say they were left without income and are now navigating rent, utilities, and legal expenses while raising money to support the five affected households.

Five men from Mexico, described as fathers and husbands who serve as their families' primary breadwinners, were arrested by ICE agents during a Labor Day weekend camping trip with their extended families at a campground in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Western Washington. U.S. Forest Service rangers first visited the campsite under the pretext of a trash complaint and photographed the men's identification, and armed ICE agents returned around midnight, shook the families' tents, and shouted for the men to come out before handcuffing and taking them away, leaving women and children stranded without cell service. Four of the five men had no criminal record; one had a 2016 misdemeanor negligent driving conviction. The men are being held at an ICE detention facility in Tacoma, and their families are trying to raise about $100,000 for legal fees while fearing the men will be transferred out of state.

Jesús Bracho, a San Antonio father, and his 9-year-old daughter Katherine, a student at Bonnie Ellison Elementary School, were detained near Loop 410 and U.S. Highway 90 in San Antonio. Bracho said ICE agents arrested him during a traffic stop, then released him and forced him to lure Katherine out of their home so agents could detain her as well. The two were held together for more than a month at the South Texas Immigrant Processing Center in Dilley. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro visited the family and said Bracho was moved to tears with guilt, believing he was responsible for his daughter's detention. Their case drew concern from family members, activists, and Katherine's classmates before the two were released together from Dilley.

Ledgar Ramses Delgado-Reyes, a 25-year-old Venezuelan man who entered the U.S. seeking asylum in 2023 and was granted work authorization, was reunited with his wife, Madeline Ramos-Delgado, in Las Cruces after posting a $14,000 bond following nearly a year in immigration detention. Reyes said he was called in to sign paperwork correcting an address discrepancy and was told it would be quick, but was instead detained by ICE officers. His attorney said an immigration judge found he had no criminal history, was not a flight risk given his U.S. citizen wife had relocated to be near him, and had a possibility of success in his pending asylum claim. His family raised the bond money through a GoFundMe campaign.

Grace Stephanie Calero Cabanilla, 39, and her 19-year-old daughter Giulianna Mía Carriel Calero, Ecuadorian nationals who fled Ecuador three years earlier due to death threats, were taken into ICE custody at HCA Florida Poinciana Hospital near Kissimmee after a highway rollover crash. Polk County Sheriff's Office deputies, operating under a 287(g) agreement with ICE, ran a database check during the crash investigation and said it revealed the women had overstayed their visas, prompting ICE detainers. Grace, still sedated and in a cervical collar, was handcuffed at her bedside, while Giulianna, who has epilepsy, suffered a seizure and was handcuffed in her hospital gown and led out in front of other patients and staff. Family members said agents did not identify themselves or produce a warrant, and the family's attorney said both women had pending asylum claims with valid work permits and visas, though the Sheriff's Office disputed this, said neither had a criminal or gang history, and stated no state charges were filed. Video of the arrest circulated widely, prompting a press conference from local immigrant advocates, while Sheriff Grady Judd said he approved of how deputies handled the arrests. Fearing for her daughter's health in detention, Grace signed voluntary departure paperwork and the pair returned to Ecuador.

Jonatan López, a man from Guatemala, was eating chips and drinking a soda on the steps outside a residential building in New Rochelle, New York, when ICE agents approached and began questioning him. Witness Brenda Figueroa, who recorded part of the encounter, described the detention as violent and said one agent who arrived later acted with particular aggression. Another witness said agents arrived in three unmarked vehicles, took a bystander's phone during the incident, and did not present a warrant despite repeated requests to do so.

A man believed to be Haitian, who neighbor Sara Vanhoose said regularly drove through her neighborhood obeying traffic laws, was pulled over and arrested outside her Sherman Avenue home by officers in three unmarked vehicles wearing ICE vests. When Vanhoose, a U.S. citizen, questioned the officers and told them the man was 'not doing anything wrong,' an ICE agent told her she would become their next target if she did not stop asking questions. Vanhoose said the man's vehicle was later towed and she was left upset that a neighbor she described as never having caused problems was taken away.

According to an airline gate manager, two men in plain clothes identified themselves only as federal officers and asked staff to summon a passenger to the gate. When the manager asked for identification, the men revealed previously hidden badges and said they were ICE agents; after the passenger approached, they took her into custody. The manager asked to see a warrant, and the officers presented an administrative warrant rather than a judicial warrant before handcuffing the woman and driving away in an unmarked vehicle.

Linda Wolff, a 72-year-old fashion stylist and longtime immigrant rights supporter from Manhattan, was pepper-sprayed in the face by a masked ICE agent while filming federal officers near Inwood Hill Park during what officials referred to as 'Operation Rotten Apple.' Wolff said she had learned of ICE's presence via social media and was recording from a distance, never touching or acting aggressively toward officers, when an agent approached and sprayed her without provocation. She said her eyes and skin burned afterward but continued documenting ICE activity in the neighborhood and said she would not be deterred from doing so again. DHS said agents used pepper spray to control an 'unruly, combative' crowd while recovering a vandalized government van, describing their response as appropriate and within training. Governor Kathy Hochul condemned the incident as part of a pattern of aggressive federal immigration enforcement tactics against New Yorkers, and Wolff's attorney filed a claim against ICE under New York's newly enacted Bivens Act, calling it one of the first tests of the statute and describing the pepper-spraying as 'purely punitive.'

Carolina Molina, a U.S. citizen and licensed mental health therapist who works with immigration lawyers, was confronted at gunpoint by a masked ICE agent on August 10, 2026, in a Falls Church, Virginia parking lot. Molina was distributing business cards for immigration legal services when she witnessed ICE agents detaining two Latino men and shouted at the officers from her car. ICE vehicles boxed in her car and an agent drew his firearm, pointing it at her through the driver's-side window while accusing her of trying to run officers over. Molina denied the allegation, saying she was turning her car to avoid drawing attention to the attorney's office, and recorded the encounter on dashcam and cellphone video that she later shared publicly. DHS claimed she was 'weaponizing her vehicle,' but no charges were filed. Democratic Representatives Don Beyer and Suhas Subramanyam called for accountability, with Beyer describing Molina as a mother and citing a pattern of DHS misconduct.

A Black DoorDash delivery driver was arrested by masked ICE agents on a Jersey City street while working. According to the post, the agents did not provide a warrant or demonstrate they had legal reason to detain him. The arrest occurred days after another person died in ICE custody at Delaney Hall in Newark.

On August 2, a man was reportedly detained inside the emergency room at NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital by masked federal agents. A DHS vehicle pulled into the emergency bay while protesters gathered outside, and the detained man was removed through another exit. The incident prompted community concern about immigration enforcement in medical settings.

ICE agents in unmarked vehicles chased a red car in Chicago's Dunning neighborhood, with one SUV striking the vehicle from behind. The car subsequently crashed into a tree. ICE agents detained an older man at the scene after the collision.

Eduardo Aguirre Esparza, a 53-year-old Mexican national and small business owner who has lived in the United States for over 20 years, was arrested by ICE on July 23, 2026, while working on a home remodeling project in West Seattle. Approximately 20 ICE agents in unmarked vehicles surrounded him, allegedly physically pushing him and threatening him when he refused to sign a voluntary departure form; he requested his lawyer instead. Without appearing before a judge or having contact with his attorney, Aguirre Esparza was transferred between multiple ICE facilities over three days and flown to El Paso, Texas, where he is detained at ERO El Paso Camp East Montana. His wife, Stacey Fitzpatrick, a U.S. citizen attorney, disputes ICE's claim that he has a 2005 DUI arrest from Kansas, noting he has never lived in Kansas and background checks show only a resolved 2015 traffic citation. Aguirre Esparza has a pending green card application and is married to a U.S. citizen with deep community ties. Community members organized rallies and fundraisers in West Seattle to raise awareness and support for his family, and Senator Patty Murray called the arrest "fundamentally wrong and un-American."

Esteban Rios Sosa, a Mexican national who has lived in Oceanside, California since 1988, was detained with his wife by ICE at the gate of Camp Pendleton while visiting his pregnant daughter, who lives on base with her active-duty Marine husband. Rios Sosa's son, a former Marine Sergeant, said the family held deferred action status tied to his wife's pending U visa petition and had valid work permits that should have shielded them from enforcement. After being fitted with ankle monitors and told to report for a routine ICE check-in, Rios Sosa was instead taken to a federal building basement and deported to Mexico within 24 hours, without notice that his status had been revoked. His son has accused ICE and DHS of discrimination and false accusations of criminal activity, and the family sued the agencies for violating federal law and due process rights. A federal judge later ordered the government to immediately facilitate Rios Sosa's return to the U.S. and restore his immigration status.

Yasmany Moreno de Armas, a 32-year-old Cuban national who arrived in the U.S. by raft in 2016 and spent nearly a decade in the Miami and Tampa area working, including running a trucking business and at a meatpacking plant, was detained by immigration authorities after his asylum claim and green card application were denied. He was held in ICE custody for roughly a year, moved among multiple detention facilities, and eventually placed on a deportation flight with 35 others that he was told was merely a transfer. Shackled at the wrists, waist and ankles, he only learned hours into the roughly 21-hour flight that he was being sent to the Central African Republic rather than Cuba, a country he said he had never heard of. He manages asthma and diabetes, was previously imprisoned in Cuba for attempting to flee, and fears persecution if returned there. Now in Bangui without a passport or identification documents, separated from his family in Florida, he says he may be forced to leave his hotel within 90 days with nowhere else to go. "Now, I feel like I'm in prison," he said.

An elderly woman was pepper-sprayed by a masked Department of Homeland Security agent on July 30 as she filmed on her cellphone in Inwood. The incident occurred as part of increased ICE enforcement activity across New York City.

An 18-year-old was detained by masked individuals alleged to be federal agents in Glendale, California, and forced into an unmarked vehicle. Video of the incident shows the teenager struggling with the agents, calling out in Spanish for help and his mother, and repeatedly stating he did nothing wrong. According to social media posts, this was the second similar incident reported on the same block in one week. Bystanders questioned whether the masked men were actual federal agents, with some comparing their appearance to bounty hunters.

Iryna Gorb, a 38-year-old Ukrainian photographer and barista who worked at Better Half Cafe in San Francisco's Polk Gulch neighborhood for over 15 years, was arrested by plainclothes ICE agents at San Francisco International Airport on July 22, 2026, as she returned from Portland. Video recorded by Richmond City Councilmember Doria Robinson showed agents pinning Gorb to the ground while she screamed for help; witnesses said the agents did not display clear identification. She was transferred to California City Detention Facility in the Mojave Desert, where DHS said she had overstayed a visa from 2010 and alleged she resisted arrest, though she has no criminal record. Her family home in Kharkiv was destroyed in Russian attacks, and friend Andy Eblin described her as 'fiercely loyal, always willing to help friends.' State Sen. Scott Wiener condemned the arrest, noting deportation would send her to a war zone. After seven weeks in detention, Gorb was released and still awaits an immigration court hearing; she thanked fellow detainees and said she plans to share proceeds from her GoFundMe, which raised over $47,000, with other detained women lacking similar resources.

Alberto Enriquez, a Mexican immigrant with longtime ties to Catholic parishes in Denver and Gillette, Wyoming, was arrested by ICE in Tampa, Florida, after traveling there for what he believed was an appointment to secure Military Parole in Place based on his daughter Bettsaida's service in the U.S. Navy. His wife, Karina Gonzalez, and daughter Karibett say he was led to believe the appointment would grant him legal status, but he was instead taken into custody and is now held at Baker County Detention Center in Sanderson, Florida. Married for 29 years with seven children, four still living at home, Enriquez had previously volunteered extensively at St. Cajetan's Catholic Church in Denver and later helped launch a Hispanic ministry at St. Matthew's Catholic Community in Wyoming. His family says his decades-old domestic violence conviction, which he pleaded guilty to under difficult circumstances, is now being used to justify his removal, and they are struggling to find an attorney licensed in the jurisdiction where he is being held before what they fear is a fast track to deportation.

Ibrahim Mohammed, a 44-year-old Ethiopian national who came to the U.S. in 2014, was granted protection from deportation in 2024 under the Convention Against Torture after an immigration judge found he would likely face torture or persecution if returned to Ethiopia. Despite federal court orders in February and March requiring his release, roughly 10 ICE agents arrested him a third time on July 28, 2025, at his Baltimore-area apartment after falsely telling him and his attorney his ankle monitor was malfunctioning. Agents shoved his head into a car and gave him documents referencing Eswatini, a country ICE had previously tried unsuccessfully to deport him to. A judge again ordered his immediate release the same day, and U.S. District Judge John deGravelles later held then-ICE deputy field office director Vernon Liggins, who ordered the arrest on his last day in that role, in civil contempt, ordering ICE to pay Mohammed's attorney's fees and $180 for lost time. Mohammed, who spent 13 months in and out of ICE custody, testified the repeated detentions caused him nightmares and led his landlord to force him to move out.

Elzon Lemus, a 23-year-old electrician and U.S. citizen from Brentwood, New York, was stopped and detained by ICE and Homeland Security agents while riding in a passenger seat on his way to work in Westbury. Agents told him he "looks like somebody we are looking for" but refused to identify themselves or specify who they were searching for. When Lemus refused to provide ID without identifying information from the agents, he was handcuffed and held for 20-25 minutes while they confiscated his phone; they eventually found his ID in his pockets. His attorney, Fred Brewington, is calling the incident racial profiling and a breach of federal civil rights, while state assemblyman Philip Ramo demanded a Department of Justice investigation.

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

Adrián was detained by masked immigration agents outside his Chicago home on the morning of July 24 as he prepared to leave for the day, while his wife and children watched. According to his neighbor Sánchez, an immigration assistant who filmed the incident, agents emerged from several black vans, chased Adrián as he tried to return to his house, and subdued him on the ground with approximately six officers. During the detention, Adrián called out to his wife that he loved her and asked her to care for their children. Sánchez said one agent struck Adrián on the legs and another threatened him with an electronic device; when she asked whether agents had an arrest warrant, they said yes but did not show it. She said she was insulted while recording, and after roughly 15 minutes Adrián was transported to a processing center in Indiana.

Jesus Acevedo Sanchez, a 39-year-old father of two U.S. citizen daughters from Mexico, was arrested by ICE agents on June 11 outside Commodore John Rodgers Elementary/Middle School in East Baltimore while dropping off his children. Unmarked ICE vehicles cut off his SUV at Dundalk Avenue and O'Donnell Street; armed agents in plain clothes with guns drawn broke his driver's side window. Believing he was being carjacked and fearing for his children's safety, Acevedo Sanchez drove to the school seeking protection. He sustained injuries including bleeding from his leg and face during the extraction. His partner, Adriana Gavilan Sanchez, 37, a mother of two U.S. citizen daughters from Mexico, was also detained by ICE that same day outside the school. She reported feeling terrified and experiencing nightmares following her detention. U.S. District Judge Julie Rubin ruled that ICE lacked probable cause and violated due process in Acevedo Sanchez's arrest, calling it a "stomach churner" and stating his detention was not justified. Judge Rubin ordered his release from Farmville Detention Facility. His attorney Rachel Girod said the judge reached the right result, noting that any other outcome would have been "rubber-stamping lawlessness." U.S. District Judge Matthew Maddox ordered Gavilan Sanchez's release from immigration detention, and she was freed on July 15 from Caroline Detention Facility in Virginia.

More than 50 employees at Premier Packing, a seafood processing plant in Lynden, Washington, have been detained by ICE since March 2026 through a series of coordinated arrests designed to bypass a new state law requiring employers receive five business days' notice before I-9 inspections. The detentions have occurred through multiple methods: roadside stops and checkpoints on county roads using unmarked vehicles with flashing lights, arrests during employees' commutes, and on July 22-23, ICE agents posed as members of a religious organization handing out free water bottles across the street from the business to lure workers off the property before arresting at least two to four employees. Local volunteers documented an uptick in ICE detentions in Whatcom County, increasing from two to four individuals per week to approximately two arrests per day, with advocates estimating about a dozen of the detained workers have since been deported. The business owner acknowledged that while some detainees may have committed crimes, "a lot of people that haven't done anything wrong are getting picked up too," and said there is "a better way." Immigration advocates characterize the operation as a pattern of intimidation tactics designed to circumvent legal workplace raid procedures.

A man was pursued on foot by ICE agents in Bonita Springs, Florida while riding a bicycle. According to witness video, an unmarked vehicle made a U-turn to intercept him, and when the agents exited the vehicle, the man abandoned his bicycle and ran. He was detained in a nearby commercial parking lot.

Chantal Alejandra Morales Rojas, a 27-year-old Ecuadorian au pair and software developer, was detained by plainclothes ICE agents at Denver International Airport while boarding a Southwest Airlines flight to Oakland. She had entered the U.S. lawfully on a J-1 exchange visitor visa in early 2023 and, before that visa expired, filed an immigration application allowing her to remain with federal authorization while her case was pending, according to her attorney Laura Lichter. ICE alleged she had overstayed her visa, but Lichter said Rojas "followed the rules of her program" and worked legally under federal employment authorization as a software developer for a recycling app company in Oakland. Agents in civilian clothing removed her from the jetway and placed her in a Homeland Security van as friends and fellow passengers watched, and the arrest was captured on video that circulated widely amid a broader increase in ICE enforcement at U.S. airports. She was transferred to the Aurora ICE Processing Center, where a federal immigration judge later ordered her release on a $3,000 bond. The family she worked for said, "She is a part of my family. She has never hurt anyone and just lives a quiet life. She came here legally and tried to do everything right."

Phu Nguyen, a 57-year-old Australian citizen born in Vietnam, was confronted by plainclothes ICE agents at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on July 13, 2026. Video footage shows agents holding him on the ground and attempting to handcuff him while he was in Terminal 3. When onlookers and a TSA officer intervened, the agents walked away, leaving him with a handcuff attached to one wrist. Las Vegas police officers arrived and removed the handcuff after determining there were no outstanding warrants against him. According to DHS, Nguyen's valid two-year visa had expired in 2015. ICE arrested him the following day at Los Angeles International Airport, and he is currently held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center pending removal proceedings.

Samantha Weber Alarcón, a Laguna Vista resident, was driving with her son to a movie theater when she became caught in the middle of an ICE high-speed chase through residential streets. As she drove down Mesquite Drive, an unmarked Ford Escape sped past her without sirens, hitting a speed bump so hard that she had to swerve right to avoid collision. She witnessed ICE agents pull a gun on a young man in the backseat of the Ford and place him in handcuffs. Weber Alarcón called 911 and confronted the agents about their dangerous driving, photographing the scene. The man in the backseat was later identified as a U.S. citizen and released. ICE disputed her account of a high-speed chase, claiming they were conducting targeted enforcement and the vehicle was "abandoned." The man disputed ICE's claims about his age and alleged weapon, describing it as a shingle cutter in his tool bag.

Darwin Alberto Gomez Corrales, an Uber and Lyft driver with Temporary Protected Status and a valid state driver's license, was arrested by ICE agents who shattered his vehicle window in the parking lot of a WOW Supermarket on South Boulevard in Charlotte. According to his wife, agents refused to explain the reason for his arrest or show a warrant, and he was denied the ability to speak with someone in Spanish or ask questions during the encounter. His wife reported that when detained, agents told him to "shut up" and used profanity when he requested a Spanish-speaking officer. Gomez Corrales is currently held at an ICE facility in South Georgia. He and his wife have two children.

Phu Nguyen, a 57-year-old Australian citizen born in Vietnam, was tackled and handcuffed by two plainclothes ICE agents in Terminal 3 of Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on July 13, 2026. Nguyen had entered the United States legally on a visa in May 2013 but remained in the country after his authorized stay expired in May 2015. Bystander and filmmaker Chris Motley recorded the confrontation on the airport floor; when officers realized they were being filmed, they withdrew, leaving one handcuff attached to Nguyen's wrist. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police arrived and removed the handcuff, finding no outstanding warrants. The following day, ICE agents arrested Nguyen at Los Angeles International Airport as he boarded a departing flight. He is currently held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Centre in California pending removal proceedings.

Raul Moreno Meza, a middle-aged man living in Salt Lake City's Rose Park neighborhood, was restrained by ICE agents inside his home on July 7 after agents followed him from a gas station into his garage without announcing themselves as immigration officers, according to his daughter Elizabeth Garcia. Garcia, a U.S. citizen, filmed the incident in which agents also restrained her teenage brother while their family dog escaped. Garcia said her father has not left the U.S. in 22 years and that their grandfather, a U.S. citizen, petitioned for his legal residency before his death; the family hopes to complete that process. ICE stated Moreno Meza was granted voluntary return to Mexico for illegal entries, but Garcia disputes this account and says she is unaware of multiple entries. An attorney representing Moreno Meza argues that law enforcement cannot enter a home without a warrant except in special circumstances involving exigent danger, and that agents should have waited for him to exit or obtained a warrant.

Sergio Daniel Cerpas Garcia, 36, a Mexican citizen, was arrested by ICE agents at Stanislaus County Superior Court on July 9, 2026, before he could appear for his scheduled arraignment in a pending state criminal case. Cerpas Garcia had voluntarily appeared at court after posting $150,000 bail in May and was detained by federal immigration agents before the courthouse doors opened, according to his attorney Hector Alvarez. ICE stated Cerpas Garcia was deported from the United States in 2017 and later reentered without authorization. His sister Cecilia recounted watching three men handcuff her brother, place him in a black van, and provide no identification initially. The detention has disrupted his state criminal proceedings, in which he has not yet entered a plea to charges of committing a lewd or lascivious act on a child under 14. His defense is preparing a motion under California's Racial Justice Act challenging the circumstances of his detention.

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

Two Lane County residents identified by initials H-F-M-J and A-V-L were detained by ICE officers during a vehicle stop near Eugene on July 3, 2026. According to legal petitions filed by Catholic Community Services of Lane County, the officers boxed in the vehicle without displaying arrest warrants, explaining the reason for the stop, or identifying themselves as immigration officials. The petitions allege the arrests were based solely on the detainees' perceived race and ethnicity rather than individualized assessment of flight risk or immigration status, and claim officers failed to inquire about family, employment, or community ties. ICE stated the detainees were arrested during a targeted enforcement action and that warrants had been issued for both men.

A Guatemalan man was the target of a federal law enforcement operation in early July at an apartment complex in Linda Vista where agents in face coverings and unmarked vehicles served a warrant. As he backed his car into a parking spot, agents surrounded his vehicle and broke his window. He was accused of striking a government vehicle as he reversed. According to his attorney, his car was surrounded by law enforcement vehicles and the agent had just broken his window. Federal prosecutors dismissed the assault charge, saying they "received additional information that has caused the pursuit of this prosecution to be reevaluated." The incident also resulted in charges against three other individuals present during the operation.

Galo Suárez, a Nicaraguan asylum seeker, was arrested on S. 13th Street on Milwaukee's South Side when unmarked ICE vehicles boxed in his car. An agent broke his car window with gun drawn. Suárez, his fiancee Reyna Elizabeth Garcia (25), and her brother Teodoro Rafael Garcia (37) were all detained. All three are eligible for work permits as asylum applicants. Suárez alleged that an agent claimed his work permit was forged and that officers used excessive force, pushing his fiancee against the car and verbally abusing her. Suárez was released later that day but his fiancee remains in custody in Kenosha County and the whereabouts of her brother are unknown.

Galo Suárez, 25, and his fiancée Reyna Elizabeth Garcia were arrested by ICE agents during the three-day surge. Suárez, who has a valid work permit, and Garcia were followed from a food market and arrested by masked agents in unmarked vehicles who broke out their windows, refused to answer questions, and repeatedly called them "dogs" in Spanish. Suárez was released and told to "run and not look back" or else he'd regret it; the agents retained Garcia and her brother. Suárez later joined concerned residents and local activists marching through Milwaukee's South Side to call for his fiancée's release.

On June 27, 2026, four immigrant construction workers employed at the QTS data center in Cedar Rapids were detained by ICE agents without being informed of the reason for their arrest. The workers—Dailyn Zambrano Morales, Lenin Primera Esis, Job Guerra Finol, and Wilman Gorutt Muchacho—were intercepted by agents in unmarked vehicles while heading to work. Gorutt Muchacho stated: "They arrested me without telling me the reason or why they were doing it." The agents transported all four to the ICE office in Cedar Rapids and then to Linn County Jail. According to advocacy group Escucha Mi Voz Iowa, none of the detained workers have criminal records.

José de Jesús Cortez Delgado, a Mexican national, was detained on June 20 after federal marshals dressed as municipal electrical workers approached him in South Los Angeles, claiming they needed him to move his vehicle so they could work on a light pole. When Cortez Delgado moved his truck, armed agents emerged from unmarked vehicles and arrested him at gunpoint. According to DHS, Cortez Delgado had been wanted on a murder charge from December 2020 in Nevada and had remained in the United States without authorization since his tourist visa expired in October 1999. However, activist Ron Gochez reported that Cortez Delgado's wife claimed the charges had been dropped and her husband had no outstanding legal issues. After his arrest, Cortez Delgado was transferred to ICE custody.

A man was arrested after ICE officers disguised as electric company workers knocked on his door and asked him to move his pickup truck under the pretense of fixing streetlights. When he stepped outside, approximately eight additional officers emerged and apprehended him.

Salah Sarsour, a Palestinian-born legal permanent resident and president of Wisconsin's largest mosque, was detained by ICE on March 30, 2026, after being pulled over by armed plainclothes agents in unmarked vehicles. He was held for 80 days in Clay County Jail in Indiana on an administrative warrant. During detention, his unmonitored diabetes caused significant health deterioration, he faced religious liberty restrictions and inadequate medical treatment, and he lost over 30 pounds, describing the experience as dehumanizing. On June 18, 2026, U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon ordered Sarsour's immediate release, finding he had raised a substantial First Amendment claim and that ICE detained him in retaliation for his public advocacy for Palestinian rights. The judge rejected government arguments about foreign policy and national security threats, noting that immigration officials had been aware of his prior convictions from the 1990s for 25 years and had previously approved his legal permanent residency application. The Trump administration continues to seek his deportation, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio citing his activism as grounds for removal.