HUMSI — Human Security Initiative

Human Impact Project

A living database documenting reported immigration enforcement incidents and their human impact.

Nineteen traumatic brain injuries and seven permanent disabilities caused by crowd-control weapons at immigration protests

2025·Location: United States

Country of origin: United States

Nineteen traumatic brain injuries and seven permanent disabilities caused by crowd-control weapons at immigration protests
Photo via phr.org

PHR and UC Berkeley documented 19 traumatic brain injuries, including concussions and more severe brain damage, among 119 individuals with documented injuries from crowd-control weapons at immigration enforcement protests from June 2025 through May 2026. Seven individuals sustained permanent disabilities. Other serious injuries included 12 fractures, 10 ocular injuries, 1 partial hand amputation from a stun grenade, 1 hearing loss, and 5 embedded foreign bodies from shrapnel. The high number of head injuries — 19 brain, 10 eye, 1 hearing loss — suggests a pattern of force directed toward the head, violating virtually all use-of-force guidelines. Kinetic impact projectiles were involved in every serious category of injury.

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