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 · United States

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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