Human Impact Project

Sabrina Medina, a 28-year-old pregnant U.S. citizen and mother of four, has been repeatedly detained by ICE agents searching for her undocumented husband, Jorge. On June 12, 2025, ICE conducted a heavily armed raid on her Huntington Park home, with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem present, arriving in about a half-dozen tactical vehicles and showing Medina a warrant with her husband's incorrect first name; agents removed Medina and her children during a room-by-room search but left empty-handed. Medina says ICE agents have since tracked her down four times, including an August 7 arrest while she was leaving a pregnancy clinic, during which she experienced abdominal pain. She said the August arrest stemmed from a 12-year-old shoplifting warrant. Medina expressed fear about her family's financial future and said she and her children would likely join her husband in Mexico if he is deported.

ICE agents conducted a search warrant operation on February 2, 2026, at a residential property in the 600 block of North Rural Drive in Monterey Park, California, approximately 0.1 miles from Mark Keppel High School. Multiple migrants were taken into custody, with the operation occurring early in the morning. The Monterey Park city government confirmed the federal enforcement action but noted that local police did not participate, consistent with California state law and local policy prohibiting municipal involvement in immigration enforcement.

George and Esmeralda Doilez, U.S. citizens from Brawley, were stopped by Border Patrol agents in an unmarked vehicle while exploring the Jacumba area on their way to a dental appointment. The stop was conducted based on U-turns and a reported smuggling event. Agents found legally purchased cannabis. After approximately 30 minutes, they were released with a warning.

Jaime Alanís Garcia, a 56-year-old farmworker at Glass House Farms, died from blunt-force head and neck injuries sustained during a July 10 ICE immigration raid. His wife and daughter filed wrongful death claims against ICE alleging agents used excessive force including rubber bullets, tear gas, and stun guns, causing Alanís to fall 30 feet from a cannabis greenhouse roof. The family is seeking $47 million in damages per claim and answers about what transpired during the operation that resulted in 361 arrests.

US Border Patrol agents conducted a raid outside a Home Depot in Los Angeles's Westlake neighborhood using an unmarked yellow Penske rental truck, with masked officers jumping out and arresting 16 people from Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The operation, called 'Operation Trojan Horse,' occurred despite a federal court order prohibiting indiscriminate raids in the region due to evidence of racial profiling and targeting based on appearance, language, and location. Penske said it was not informed its truck would be used in the operation and did not authorize it, citing a policy against transporting people in vehicle cargo areas. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass's office said it is gathering information and considering legal options, calling the use of rental trucks in raids 'un-American.'

Cesar was arrested by ICE on August 3, 2025, after 9 years in the U.S. and transferred to Imperial Detention Center. He had previously been arrested by ICE around 2019 and released on parole under an order of supervision. ICE has now moved to enforce a previous removal order. His wife and two daughters (ages 16 and 6), one of whom has cerebral palsy requiring specialized medical care, are left without his income and struggling to afford rent, groceries, and medical expenses.

Three women known as "Las Tres Guerreras" or the "Baldwin Park Three" (Akalei Brown, Cynthia Saragoza, and Sandia) were charged by the Department of Homeland Security in September 2025 for documenting an ICE agent during a community watch patrol. They face charges including conspiracy and doxxing with potential sentences exceeding 10 years in federal prison, with trial scheduled for February 24, 2026. Sandia is currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles awaiting trial.

A federal judge dismissed charges against Jonathon Redondo-Rosales, a 36-year-old TikTok creator and U.S. citizen arrested at an August 2 protest against immigration enforcement, after finding the government acted in bad faith. Redondo-Rosales had spent six months in jail awaiting trial for allegedly assaulting a Federal Protective Service officer with a cloth hat. The judge noted discrepancies in the officer's statements, that video evidence contradicted the assault claim, and that prosecutors sought dismissal to avoid disclosing problematic officer records rather than address legitimate legal issues.

A visibly pregnant U.S. citizen and her undocumented mother were arrested by federal agents outside a health clinic in Los Angeles.

In the San Diego area, a mother was arrested by federal agents outside an elementary school as students arrived. Her two children were in the car with her. The school district confirmed the children were students at the school.

Jesus Cruz was detained by ICE agents on June 9, 2025, at a Westchester car wash in Los Angeles while working polishing luxury vehicles. His wife, Noemi Ciau, could not locate him in ICE's online system or get communication for days afterward. At least 26 car wash workers were detained across the Los Angeles area during that week's immigration raids, with advocates reporting difficulty locating people held in temporary facilities. Cruz was later deported to Mexico, and in August he briefly reunited with Ciau and their four children during a visit to his hometown of Kini in the Yucatán Peninsula. Cruz said his eldest daughter stopped sleeping well and quit piano, and his youngest son began acting out since his deportation. The family, with Ciau working at LAX and the children in school in Inglewood, is weighing whether to relocate to Mexico or remain in California amid a lengthy reunification process.

Pablo Sequen filed a habeas corpus petition challenging unlawful detention by immigration authorities. The case involves a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction proceedings. A judge granted a preliminary injunction on September 16, 2025, halting the petitioner's deportation.

Sharareh Moghadam, a legal green card holder from Iran working toward U.S. citizenship, was detained by ICE on August 1, 2025, after reporting to immigration offices as instructed. She had traveled to Iran to visit family members with serious health issues and was detained upon her return to California. She is currently held in a facility in Phoenix, Arizona, with a court date scheduled for September 12.

A Chinese national was scheduled for detention at an ICE appointment on July 31, 2025 in San Francisco. The federal court granted a temporary restraining order to prevent his arrest and detention, then converted it to a preliminary injunction. The court ruled that he cannot be detained without a pre-detention hearing before a neutral decisionmaker, citing Fifth Amendment due process protections.

Carmen Aracely Pablo Sequen was arrested by ICE agents as she was leaving San Francisco immigration court on July 31, 2025, and detained at ICE's San Francisco field office. She filed a habeas corpus petition the next day seeking her immediate release and a permanent injunction prohibiting ICE from re-detaining her without prior notice and a hearing before a neutral arbiter. After the court granted preliminary injunctive relief, she amended her petition to add three additional plaintiffs—Ligia Garcia, Yulisa Alvarado Ambrocio, and Martin Hernandez Torres—who also sought individual habeas relief. The amended complaint added seven class action claims seeking to vacate certain ICE and EOIR policies under the Administrative Procedure Act and to enjoin allegedly unconstitutional conditions of confinement at ICE's San Francisco field office. The government moved to sever the individual habeas claims from each other and from the class claims. The court granted the motion to sever but denied the government's request to randomly reassign the severed cases to other judges.

Guillermo Medina Reyes, a 31-year-old San Jose tattoo artist and Mexican national, was arrested in Berkeley on July 27 following an alleged vehicle theft crime spree. Reyes had been fighting ICE deportation efforts, with a judge barring his detention two weeks prior to the arrest. He was charged with multiple felonies including carjacking, vehicle theft, and grand theft. Reyes faces criminal prosecution and potential imprisonment, followed by deportation proceedings.

Tae Heung "Will" Kim, a Korean-born green card holder who has lived in the U.S. since age 5 and whose mother is a U.S. citizen, was detained by CBP at San Francisco International Airport on July 21, 2025, while returning from his brother's wedding in South Korea. Kim is a Ph.D. candidate at Texas A&M University researching a vaccine for Lyme disease. He was held for more than a week without access to an attorney, his asthma medication, sunlight, or a bed, with lights kept on continuously in his holding room, before being transferred to detention facilities in Arizona and Texas. His attorney, Eric Lee, said a CBP supervisor told him the Constitution did not apply to Kim, and that deportation proceedings stemmed from a 2011 misdemeanor marijuana charge for which Kim had completed community service.

A video posted online shows federal ICE agents detaining people near a Home Depot in Encinitas. A woman driving through the area recorded the encounter and spoke with NBC 7 about witnessing what appeared to be two men in custody with ICE agents present.

LA County Department of Animal Care and Control has taken in 28 animals from deported or detained families since June 2025, with pet surrenders nearly doubling after a series of summer raids. Children have come to the Carson Animal Care Center for painful goodbyes with family pets including Coco, a pug-beagle mix, and Bruce, a Labrador mix, after their families were ordered to leave the country.

Jorge Willy Valera Chuquillanqui, a Peruvian asylum seeker with no criminal history, was arrested by DHS agents minutes after completing routine immigration court proceedings on July 25, 2025. He had been living in the U.S. since December 2022 after being released on bond. The federal court granted a preliminary injunction ordering his release and prohibiting re-detention without a hearing before a neutral decisionmaker. The court found that ICE violated his due process rights by detaining him without proper procedural safeguards.