Human Impact Project

On June 29, four ICE vehicles conducted operations across Kansas City, Missouri. Agents moved down Truman Road and Indiana in the Northeast, then to an apartment complex at 23rd and Topping, where they demanded identification and dragged residents from their own doorways.

On June 28, ICE agents chased a man through a Home Depot parking lot in Olathe, then detained two people from an agua fresca stand at Santa Fe and Ridgeview. Neighbors described the detained individuals as kind and friendly community members.

On June 27, multiple ICE vehicles blocked traffic at 6th and Central in Kansas City, Kansas and conducted a roundup that detained at least four people. Agents then detained another person outside a restaurant at 7th and Northrup. A blue work truck was left abandoned at the curb with its owner gone.

On June 27, 2026, at the intersection of 6th Street and Central Avenue in Strawberry Hill, ICE agents used four vehicles to block a Chevrolet Silverado and detain a man with ten officers involved in the operation. Witness Alison Hawkins reported seeing five agents in full military tactical gear and five others dressed as regular workers with a lawn trailer. After the arrest, one of the officers drove away in the detained man's truck. The incident was documented and posted on social media by witnesses.

On June 21, ICE agents boxed in a vehicle at a QuikTrip gas station at 555 North 78th Street in Kansas City, Kansas, and detained two people who had stopped for fuel. The two were transported to the Leavenworth detention center, a CoreCivic facility reopened in March 2026 as the first ICE detention center in Kansas. Community witnesses and video documented the operation.

Between June 15 and July 3, 2026, ICE carried out intensified enforcement operations across the Kansas City metropolitan area during the World Cup, detaining at least 30 people according to the KC Community Defense Coalition. Enforcement concentrated in Wyandotte County and Johnson County—including Kansas City, Kansas, Olathe, and Northeast Kansas City—areas with significant Hispanic and Latino populations. Among those detained was a Northeast Kansas City father of four, a stay-at-home dad whose wife works evening shifts in healthcare; five masked ICE agents detained him in his front yard while mowing his lawn, leaving his young children to wake and find him gone. Separately, federal authorities arrested at least six people at La Fontanella Foods, a food manufacturing warehouse in Northeast Kansas City, on July 9, 2026. The surge reflects national ICE directives to increase arrests to 2,000 per day and deploy 80% of officers to arrest operations, part of the Trump administration's intensified immigration enforcement push.

Jairo Isaias Alvarado-Lopez, 38, was booked into Shawnee County Department of Corrections on June 8, 2026, following a traffic-related arrest involving allegations of operating a motor vehicle without a valid license, speeding, and unlawful vehicle registration violations. An ICE detainer was placed on him, designated as "NO BOND." He is scheduled to appear in court on July 15, 2026.

Joe Ceballos, 55, a lawful permanent resident and twice-elected former mayor of Coldwater, Kansas, who immigrated from Mexico at age four, was detained by ICE on May 13-14, 2026, after pleading guilty in April 2026 to three misdemeanor counts of disorderly election conduct for voting without U.S. citizenship. Ceballos stated he mistakenly believed his permanent residency status allowed him to vote. He voted in elections in 2022, 2023, and 2024, and disclosed his voting history voluntarily during a naturalization interview. Under his plea deal, he received one year probation with a suspended six-month jail sentence, a $2,000 fine, and court fees. ICE subsequently initiated removal proceedings, citing voting as a removable offense, and took Ceballos into custody at its detention facility in Wichita, where he now faces potential deportation to Mexico.

A Russian national who entered the U.S. on a B-2 visa and filed for asylum was detained by Arkansas police during a traffic stop on May 5, 2026. The officer stated he had violated immigration law and took him to county jail, where ICE later transferred him to Jackson Parish Correctional Center in Louisiana. The court granted a temporary restraining order preventing his removal before his June 15, 2026 asylum hearing.

Victor Roman, co-owner of Los Guapos Latin Food in Lawrence, was detained by ICE in late April and has since been deported to Guatemala. His business and romantic partner, Lourdes E. Perez Rojo, continues operating their restaurants in Lawrence. Community members had organized a GoFundMe fundraiser and submitted character letters to support Roman's case, though the deportation proceeded.

Jazmin Alonso-Cantu, who was born in Mexico, was arrested by ICE agents on Dec. 4 after they followed her into a hallway following a mandatory Manhattan Municipal Court hearing. She had previously been arrested by Riley County police in November on a DUI-related charge and released on bond. She was held at the Otero County Processing Center in Chaparral, New Mexico, but no detainee record for her has appeared on ICE's locator system since January. After she failed to appear for a scheduled status hearing, her public defender, Richard Seaton Jr., told the judge it was his understanding she had been deported. A judge issued a warrant for her arrest with a $500 own recognizance bond after prosecutors said they did not want to drop the underlying case. Her case was referenced in a report noting ICE disclosed, after a 236-day delay, that it had detained eight people during separate raids in Manhattan, Kansas in February, though it withheld their identities and other details.

Alisa Ramdial Shahib, a 46-year-old from Trinidad and Tobago who immigrated to the U.S. at age 19, has been detained by ICE at Chase County Detention Center since March 2026. Despite being granted a withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture by a federal judge—a legal protection that bars her deportation to Trinidad and Tobago due to fears of persecution—DHS continues to detain her while searching for a third country willing to accept her. Shahib is separated from her U.S. citizen husband Secah, a PGA golf instructor, and her two children, one of whom is attending college. Over her decades in the U.S., she worked in modeling and commercial cleaning. Prior drug trafficking convictions prevent her from pursuing legal status. She communicates with her family through drawings mailed from detention while dealing with undisclosed medical issues, and her family remains uncertain about her final destination.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents reportedly detained two people in Lawrence on February 27, including near the University of Kansas campus. Approximately 80 protesters gathered outside Strong Hall. The university stated it was still gathering information about whether any KU students or employees were involved.

Juan, a 21-year-old from Guatemala seeking asylum, was pulled over by Olathe Police Officer Todd Boyer on February 16, 2026 for speeding and driving without a license. Boyer violated department policy by calling an ICE hotline and providing the exact stop location, leading to Juan's detention and subsequent deportation to Guatemala. Police Chief Mike Butaud confirmed the policy violation. As of June 2026, Boyer remained employed at the Olathe Police Department.

A grand jury indicted Braulio Jara-Alvarez on federal gun and drug charges after his arrest by Topeka police on an ICE detainer in February 2026. Jara-Alvarez faces charges including unlawful reentry after deportation, methamphetamine possession with intent to distribute, and illegal firearm possession. ICE took custody of Jara-Alvarez on February 20 following his arrest at the Shawnee County Jail.

ICE agents arrested 19-year-old Brian Nataren at an Olathe Walmart parking lot on February 14 after stopping his vehicle, whose license plate was associated with a person with an outstanding warrant. Nataren was determined to be a U.S. citizen and was later released. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Kansas announced it is reviewing the incident and decided not to pursue charges against him.

Carlos, a Venezuelan national with withholding of removal and work authorization, was detained on January 28, 2026, during a routine monthly check-in at the Kansas City ICE office where he was required to report under the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program. Despite his judge-approved protection, valid work authorization, clean six-year record, and pending permanent legal status applications with his wife, ICE detained him. After a chaotic series of transfers across Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and Arizona—during which he was held in overcrowded conditions—Carlos was deported to Mexico on a tarmac in Arizona, where he remains separated from his wife and children.

ICE stopped and arrested 3 individuals who were traveling to work at a Family Dollar store on Robinson Avenue in Springdale, Arkansas. Officers broke the car windows during the stop. ICE was reported to have been spotted in other areas of the city that same morning.

A Benton, Arkansas man was arrested in May after police mistakenly believed a bottle of his cologne contained liquid opium. The arrest led to the discovery that his visa had expired, and he was subsequently detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for about 30 days at a facility in Louisiana. He has since been released but remains unable to work as his immigration case remains unresolved. His wife said the ordeal has caused significant emotional and financial strain on the family, including their daughter.

Rosmery Alvarado, 42, a Kansas resident born in Guatemala, was arrested by ICE agents immediately after completing a spousal green card interview at the USCIS office in Kansas City on April 23, 2025. She is now facing deportation to Guatemala and is being held in detention, despite her family believing her petition had been approved. The arrest occurred after ICE agents waited for her husband to step out of the interview room before detaining and handcuffing her.