Human Impact Project

Outside San Francisco's immigration court, federal agents drove a vehicle through a crowd of protesters, with one protester clinging to the car before being flung into the street and nearly run over. Video also shows agents in body armor clashing with demonstrators and using pepper spray before the vehicle left the scene. One protester, who gave her first name as Sorin, said she was cut and bleeding after falling from the vehicle's hood.

A man fluent only in Mam, a Mayan language, muttered to himself and could not answer basic questions, including his home address, during his hearing before Immigration Judge Patrick O'Brien in San Francisco. O'Brien denied a Department of Homeland Security attorney's request to dismiss the case, which could have led to expedited removal, and instead granted a continuance so the man could find a lawyer. Within minutes of leaving the courtroom, he was arrested by ICE agents. His arrest was one of at least three that morning and part of more than 30 arrests by ICE at or near San Francisco's immigration court in recent weeks, including cases where judges had not approved dismissal or removal.

A client of attorney George Rios was detained in July 2025 during a scheduled green card interview at the Fresno USCIS office. The client arrived with his wife, a U.S. citizen, but she was asked to step into the waiting area before ICE agents detained him. He was driven across the border at age four and presented himself to immigration officials, which counted as legal entry. Rios believes the real reason for detention was the client's criminal history, though the client has no criminal convictions and has been in the U.S. for at least 10 years, maintained good moral character, and is eligible for his green card. He is currently detained at a McFarland detention facility. His wife is a U.S. citizen, and his youngest child is less than a year old. Rios must prove several requirements at a hearing to give his client a chance to stay in the country, arguing that deportation would cause extreme hardship on his wife and children.

An undocumented single mother was arrested during a workplace raid at a cannabis farm in Southern California in July 2025. Her 10-month-old US citizen child was left with family friends as a result of her arrest and detention.

ICE conducted raids on cannabis farms near the California coast in summer 2025, arresting 361 workers and detaining 14 teen minors; more than a dozen US citizen children were left without parents. In one case, a 15-year-old was left alone with his two younger brothers, ages 8 and 9, after their mother was deported to Mexico three days after the raid, while a 10-month-old was left with family friends when her mother was arrested. During the raids, federal agents used riot gear, flash bang grenades, and smoke bombs, and a worker fleeing the facility fell 30 feet from a greenhouse roof and died. Months later, nonprofits report roughly half of those arrested have been deported, many remain in federal custody with only a few released on bond, and federal officials have denied requests for information about the detainees' whereabouts.

Attorney Vanessa Valdez, identifying herself as a legal observer, was shot six times with rubber bullets and exposed to tear gas during an ICE raid on Glass House Farms in Camarillo, part of a broader operation that day resulting in more than 360 arrests at two Southern California farms. The injuries caused severe pain, rib damage, and sleep disruption lasting weeks, leading to hospital visits and ongoing mental health treatment costs included in her Federal Tort Claims Act claim. The Department of Homeland Security disputed her account, saying agents used pepper balls rather than rubber bullets, and only after protesters attempted to breach the perimeter. Her claim is one of roughly $260 million in aggregate claims filed by people affected by the raid campaign.

Arpineh Kamal Masihi, an Iranian-born refugee with a prior theft conviction, was detained by ICE for 187 days at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center after her green card was revoked. Her husband Arthu Sahakyan has stated he would continue to support Trump and his immigration enforcement policies.

Federal officials confirmed that 37 people were detained during immigration enforcement operations at three Home Depot locations in Los Angeles on June 30, 2025: 14 in Cypress Park on Figueroa Street, 11 in North Hollywood, and 12 on Sunset Boulevard. A witness said agents arrived in marked Border Patrol vehicles at the Cypress Park site and attempted to enter a day laborer center before workers locked the gates. A separate raid at the same Sunset Boulevard store on June 19 reportedly resulted in about 30 detentions, including at least one U.S. citizen, prompting protests, while operations in Corona and Chino the same week led to at least ten additional detentions.

Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, a long-term Arizona resident who had lived in the United States since age 14, was deported to Mexico by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials following a 2008 conviction for criminal impersonation related to using a false Social Security number to obtain employment. Her deportation occurred shortly after President Trump signed an executive order on January 25, 2017, expanding deportation priorities to include immigrants charged with crimes. Garcia de Rayos was taken to Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, where she was reunited with her two teenage children, Jackie (14) and Angel (16), who had been living in Mesa, Arizona.

Luis Hipolito, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen, was arrested by ICE agents conducting street sweeps in downtown Los Angeles after interfering with their detention of street vendors near Main and 9th streets. Video footage shows agents pepper-spraying Hipolito at close range, then tackling and restraining him for over two minutes as he struggled to breathe. After being restrained, Hipolito convulsed and his legs buckled. He was charged with assault on a federal officer and released on $10,000 bond. A federal judge ordered his release at a Thursday hearing.

Fernando Diaz, 23, was arrested in Huntington Park after police found a loaded firearm, official-looking Homeland Security and CBP documents, and other law enforcement paraphernalia in his vehicle. Diaz denies claims that he told officers he was a former Border Patrol agent, though police continue investigating whether he was impersonating a federal officer.

ICE agents detained Selena Vanessa Hernández Ramírez, a 25-year-old taco vendor from El Salvador, on June 23 while she was working in front of a Home Depot in Ladera Heights, Los Angeles. According to witnesses and video footage, the agents had covered faces and did not display visible identification or arrest warrants. Hernández Ramírez resisted by holding onto a tree before being forcibly taken to an unmarked vehicle, and agents used tear gas to disperse witnesses who intervened and demanded identification. One witness, Aleca Le Blanc, said she repeatedly asked the agents to identify themselves and show a warrant but was ignored, and said agents threw tear gas canisters at the small group of bystanders.

Miguel Silvestre, a U.S. citizen born in Stockton, California, says he has been deported four times since 1999 despite holding a valid birth certificate proving his citizenship. In 2025, ICE issued an expedited removal order against him, even though a 2004 court order had already confirmed his U.S. citizenship status. After the San Francisco Chronicle reported his account, including his emotional distress upon learning of the recent deportation notice, the Department of Homeland Security stated Silvestre has no active immigration case and is not subject to ICE enforcement action. DHS maintains that in 1999 Silvestre had claimed to be a Mexican citizen with no legal status.

Matilde Garduño, who has sold tamales from the same Los Angeles street corner for 13 years, says she was grabbed and restrained by immigration agents while packing up her cart after being warned that federal vehicles were nearby. She says agents held her by the arms and torso as she struggled to breathe, eventually collapsing and losing consciousness on the ground. Garduño, who has diabetes and high blood pressure, was taken to a hospital where she received oxygen and underwent heart surgery the next day to clear blocked arteries. She said the experience left her with lasting emotional trauma, including nightmares and an inability to leave her home in the days that followed.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested two women outside the Los Angeles Airport Courthouse on Tuesday after they appeared for a hearing in a local criminal case involving organized retail theft charges. The agents waited in the courtroom and detained the defendants without advance notice to the court, defense attorneys, or prosecutors.

Luis Olvera, a Mexican national who has lived in the U.S. for 38 years since being brought here at age 8, was detained by ICE on June 23, 2025, while walking his family dog outside his apartment building in Burbank. Olvera works in the hospitality industry and lives with his partner and three young children who attend Burbank Unified School District elementary schools. Friends describe him as exceptionally kind and devoted to his family and community, noting that he often gives water and donations to struggling community members and teaches his children to "love thy neighbor." He is currently detained at Adelanto detention facility, which is operated by the for-profit Geo Group.

Adrian Martinez, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen and Walmart employee, was detained by federal agents on June 18, 2025, during an immigration enforcement operation at a Pico Rivera Walmart parking lot. When agents began detaining an elderly maintenance worker, Martinez intervened by blocking the agents' vehicle with the worker's cart in an attempt to help. Agents shoved him to the ground twice. Federal officials initially claimed Martinez punched agents, but security camera footage from the store showed no punches were thrown and that agents initiated the physical contact. Martinez was charged with conspiracy to impede or injure an officer, a felony, rather than assault. He spent three nights in jail following his arrest. A federal judge ordered his release on a $5,000 bond.

ICE agents detained a gardener working in Long Beach's University Park Estates neighborhood who told agents he was a dual citizen and showed identification. A video of the incident shows the man claiming U.S. citizenship and stating he was born at Memorial Hospital in Long Beach. Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson condemned the operation as an "abduction," stating ICE was not given prior notice and criticized the enforcement as rooted in "fear and intimidation."

Narciso Barranco, a 5'7", 150-pound landscaper who has lived in the United States since the 1990s, was detained by ICE and Border Patrol agents on June 21, 2025, during a workplace enforcement action at an IHOP in Santa Ana, Orange County, California. Video footage of the arrest shows multiple masked federal agents repeatedly punching Barranco in the head and neck and tackling him to the ground in a busy intersection as he was pinned by three officers. His oldest son, Alejandro, a 25-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran with two active-duty Marine brothers, said his father was scared when plainclothes armed agents approached him and expressed concern about the excessive force used by multiple larger officers. After speaking with his father by phone the following day, Alejandro reported that Barranco was injured, had not received medical attention, was very thirsty, and had not eaten. Barranco is being held by ICE at a detention center in Los Angeles. The Department of Homeland Security claimed Barranco swung a weed whacker at an agent and refused to comply with commands, though videos show him running with the tool and attempting to open a car door before being tackled.

Federal agents conducted an immigration enforcement action at Xpress Wash in Maywood on the same day as the Bell raid. A minor collision occurred when federal agents opened a vehicle door into a slowly moving BMW; the BMW's driver was detained and later released after onlookers protested. As crowds gathered, federal agents threw flash bang grenades at people standing near Riverfront Park who were recording and asking for badge numbers. No one was ultimately taken from the Maywood business, according to the councilman.