Human Impact Project

A 40-year-old citizen of Peru has lived in the U.S. since December 2022, residing in Oakland, California. He is married with three children ages 4, 16, and 17, whom he supports financially by sending money to Peru, and he has work authorization and is employed in construction. He is in removal proceedings and filed an asylum application in November 2023, complying with all required ICE check-ins and immigration court hearings; his only criminal history is a single 2025 wet reckless conviction with a suspended sentence. On August 19, 2026, uniformed DHS agents arrested him immediately upon arrival for his regularly scheduled check-in at the San Francisco ICE office, without identifying themselves, explaining the reason for arrest, or serving a warrant beforehand. Petitioner filed a habeas petition and TRO application arguing he is a class member under the Garro Pinchi injunction and that his re-detention violated that order and due process because DHS made no individualized finding of changed circumstances regarding flight risk or danger. The court found serious questions on the merits and ordered his immediate release, enjoined future detention without a pre-deprivation bond hearing, and required return of his confiscated property.

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.

ICE took custody of Manuel Ernesto Hernandez-Urmana, 46, a Salvadoran man who was operating a boat that capsized near the Statue of Liberty on Aug. 8, killing a 27-year-old woman and her five-month-old daughter; the Coast Guard rescued 12 others from the water. He faces pending federal charges in the Southern District of New York for misconduct and negligence by a ship officer resulting in death, in addition to earlier state charges. After New York City police arrested him Aug. 9 and a federal court released him to U.S. Marshals custody on bond the following day, ICE's detainer did not transfer with him; ICE Newark then arrested him Aug. 11 in Manville, New Jersey, for immigration violations. He remains in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings.

Daniel Roque Olivares was driving to work on U.S. Highway 81 in Oklahoma when a state trooper pulled him over and detained him for violating federal immigration laws. The stop is part of a broader crackdown enabled by training all 700 Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers in immigration enforcement, an effort led by former Highway Patrol major Lance Schroyer, Trump's nominee to head ICE, who was himself deputized to make arrests after a 40-hour training course. State officials say local agencies like the Highway Patrol are essential to the administration's deportation efforts. Schroyer's nomination has yet to receive a Senate confirmation hearing amid reported friction between Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, to whom he is close, and the Trump administration.

Macedonia Merino Maldonado, 19, and Jero Jimenez Garcia, 29, both kitchen staff at Raymond's restaurant in Montclair, were detained by ICE agents on Bloomfield Avenue while on their way to work. A federal detainee locator confirmed both men, originally from Mexico, are being held at the Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark. Co-workers said the men lived in Montclair, and a local advocate said as many as five Montclair residents may have been arrested that day, though those additional details could not be confirmed. A server at the restaurant said colleagues were devastated by the arrests, and local officials, including the deputy mayor, called the detentions "extremely concerning."

Chantal Alejandra Morales Rojas, 27, an Ecuadorian woman who entered the U.S. on a J-1 au pair visa, was detained by ICE at Denver International Airport on July 20 while preparing to board a flight back to Oakland, where she had been working as a nanny. After a federal judge ordered her release following six weeks in detention, ICE required her to wear an ankle monitor; her attorneys have filed an amended habeas corpus petition arguing the agency lacked authority to impose that condition after an immigration judge ordered her release without added restrictions. Her case prompted a GoFundMe campaign that has raised more than $137,000, and her attorney separately represents three other immigrants arrested by ICE at the Denver airport.

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.

An airline gate manager known by the pseudonym Laurie learned that ICE agents had returned to her airport looking for a specific passenger and called the woman directly to warn her before she reached the gate. The passenger, who was traveling with a family member and said she did not understand why ICE was looking for her despite having "all my papers," decided not to board her flight after speaking privately with Laurie. She left the airport with her family member, and no arrest was made at the gate that day.

Jun Qiu, a Chinese national who runs Fantasy Nails on Low Street in Newburyport, was detained by ICE agents who entered the salon "with guns drawn," according to Mayor Sean Reardon. Eyewitnesses reported the operation left customers shaken, and the mayor called it "incredibly frightening and traumatic," adding that the city does not condone the manner in which the operation was carried out. DHS said Qiu is in ICE custody pending removal proceedings; he had been arrested days earlier by local police on misdemeanor harassment and threat charges and had pleaded not guilty. The city said it did not participate in or receive advance notice of the ICE operation, and Reardon said officials are continuing to gather information from those involved or who witnessed the incident.

Ari Ladino, owner of Luana Rose Modestly, a bridal and special occasion dress shop in Teaneck, New Jersey, was detained by ICE along with his mother, who worked alongside him at the store. Ladino and his mother are originally from Bogotá, Colombia, and had run the shop since it opened in 2024, becoming known for custom gowns popular among local Orthodox Jewish women. Their landlord, Elie Y. Katz, helped retrieve dresses for clients whose weddings and events were imminent after the pair went missing, and later learned Ladino's mother had been sent to a different detention center. Ladino asked a business partner to prepare the store for a sale of the gowns to help raise money for his legal defense.

A leaked video shared via TikTok account @Injusticias.de.ICE shows a woman detained at an ICE facility operated by CoreCivic describing conditions inside, stating 'almost all of us here have vaginal infections.' The video was shared by NowThis Impact as testimony about health and sanitation conditions faced by detained women at a CoreCivic-run facility.

Rigo Mendoza's wife was detained by ICE agents, and the following day his 15-year-old son Kevin, who had been diagnosed with cancer in November, died. Mendoza recalled his son's final words expressing worry for his father's safety rather than his own illness. Following his wife's detention and his son's death, Mendoza decided to self-deport to Mexico with his family.

Diana Vera, a 27-year-old Ecuadorian woman, was detained by ICE agents on August 6 at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport while traveling with her husband, a U.S. citizen, to celebrate his birthday. According to her mother, Mercedes Espinoza, agents approached Vera by name and detained her, citing an existing deportation order, despite the couple presenting their marriage certificate and evidence of an ongoing process to regularize her status after she entered the U.S. legally on a visa. The Department of Homeland Security told CNN it has intensified screening at airports using data from the Transportation Security Administration to prevent people without legal status from taking domestic flights. The family has launched a fundraising campaign to cover legal costs while seeking her release on bail.

Edgar Hernandez-Lopez, a father and grandfather in his 40s, was raised in Española, New Mexico since the age of 5 and repeatedly crossed the border again after being deported due to his longstanding roots in the community. His public defender argued in a federal sentencing memorandum that his prior criminal history, largely involving domestic disputes, stemmed from childhood trauma, instability, and deep family ties. He has already spent 129 days in custody and, after pleading guilty to reentry of a removed alien, faces removal to Mexico, where he hopes to reunite with his youngest daughters. ICE located Hernandez-Lopez, like other previously deported individuals, through New Mexico county jail records despite local policies restricting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

Juan Rodriguez Najera was arrested by ICE agents the same week he was placed on probation after pleading guilty to state charges. His probation officer, apparently unaware of his federal arrest, later issued a warrant claiming he had absconded and that his whereabouts were unknown. Rodriguez Najera has since pleaded guilty in federal court to reentry of a removed alien and faces up to 20 years in prison. His case is one of several in New Mexico in which ICE located previously deported individuals through county jail records despite local policies limiting cooperation with immigration enforcement.

Two U.S. citizens were physically assaulted by ICE agents in the Bensenville suburb of Chicago, Illinois while observing and filming an immigration enforcement action. One woman said she repeatedly told agents she was a U.S. citizen, but they yanked her to the ground while trying to grab her phone and then shot her with a taser. A second U.S. citizen was taken by ambulance to the hospital in critical condition, with a witness saying he had been hit repeatedly.

A resident in Brownsville, Texas recorded federal Homeland Security Investigations (HSI/ICE) agents restraining a man on the ground inside a commercial plaza. In the video, a bystander can be heard questioning the agents' presence on what he calls "private property," while an officer orders him to back away under threat of arrest. Brownsville Mayor John Cowen criticized the increased aggressiveness of federal immigration operations in the area, saying it "sends the wrong message" and that "it makes no sense to go after people who follow the rules."

A group of construction workers was detained by ICE agents at a job site in the Texas Heights residential development in Weslaco, Texas. A video recorded by a bystander shows workers telling agents they were on private property while officers restrained and detained several of their coworkers. "We couldn't do anything for our coworkers," one worker said.

Emilio, a Deaf Venezuelan man who had lived in Texas for nearly four years and worked at Amazon, was detained by ICE in December 2025 during what he expected to be a routine asylum check-in. He spent about nine weeks in immigration detention without ever receiving a sign language interpreter despite requesting one. He was later placed on a bus in southern Texas and only realized he was being deported to Mexico, rather than his home country of Venezuela, when he saw the Mexican flag; he arrived in Villahermosa with no passport and had never lived in Mexico before. He did not know Mexican Sign Language, which differs from Venezuelan Sign Language, and traveled to Mexico City with financial help from fellow Deaf community members, remaining stuck with no connections in the country. A second Deaf immigrant, Edgar, reported similar experiences of being denied interpreter access during his deportation proceedings. According to data from the nonprofit Mobile Pathways verified by Mother Jones, more than 100 Deaf people who use sign language as their primary language have received deportation or removal orders since the beginning of 2026.

Ibrahim Mohammed, a 43-year-old Ethiopian national who entered the U.S. legally in 2014, was granted protection from deportation in 2024 under the Convention Against Torture after an immigration judge found he would likely face torture if returned to Ethiopia. Despite this, ICE sought to deport him to third countries like Eswatini, and U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles ordered his release from Louisiana's Camp 57 detention facility in February after finding ICE had no viable deportation plan. ICE rearrested him multiple times without properly serving deportation papers, including a July 28 arrest by roughly 10 agents at his Baltimore-area apartment, during which agents falsely claimed his ankle monitor was malfunctioning and shoved his head into a car. A judge again ordered his immediate release the same day, and deGravelles later held then-ICE deputy field office director Vernon Liggins in civil contempt, ordering ICE to pay Mohammed's attorney's fees and $180 in compensatory damages. 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.