Human Impact Project

Arturo Ruvalcaba, a 38-year-old deaf man with a green card, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against ICE agents and federal officials after an encounter on September 29 outside Salt Lake Community College's Taylorsville campus. According to the lawsuit, three white Ford SUVs pulled up to a bus stop where Ruvalcaba was waiting, and agents in military-style uniforms approached him shouting commands without providing a sign language interpreter or accommodating his deafness. When Ruvalcaba attempted to communicate through gestures and sign language and retrieve his documentation, an agent pushed him down by his shoulders and another pulled forcefully on his arm, injuring his elbow. After presenting his legal status documents, he was released. Ruvalcaba subsequently experienced pain and swelling, required multiple medical treatments, and missed several weeks of work. His wife reported that the encounter affected the emotional well-being of their three adopted sons. On July 8, 2026, the parties filed a stipulated motion to dismiss the case without prejudice, and the court terminated the civil case on July 9, 2026.

Ryan Drury, a volunteer with VC Defensa, a community group that alerts residents when immigration agents are operating in the area, was confronted by an ICE agent on the 101 Freeway in Ventura on Tuesday morning. Cell phone video captured the agent stopping in the middle of the road, jumping out of his vehicle, and pepper spraying the air-conditioning vents of Drury's car. According to Drury, the agent then positioned himself in front of the vehicle, smiled, waved, and walked away. Drury stated the agent's actions followed a pattern he has witnessed before, where agents spray the air-conditioning vents so that if the driver turns on the air conditioning, the pepper spray comes through the vents.

Annya Mari, an activist who has protested outside a Department of Homeland Security/ICE facility in Cedar Rapids for more than 20 years without prior arrest, was tackled to the ground and zip-tied by police on July 7, 2026. According to bodycam footage released by Cedar Rapids Police, two officers grabbed and pinned her arms behind her back while she was intervening during the arrest of another individual, Scott Boylen. Mari stated she was wearing a sundress, did not act aggressively, and was not a threat, expressing confusion about her arrest.

Ulises Peña López, a 30-year-old Mexican carpenter and father living in Sunnyvale, California, with pre-existing conditions including a mini-stroke, blood clot, heart condition, and spinal and knee injuries, was surrounded by armed ICE agents outside his home in late February 2025. Agents smashed his truck window, pulled him out at gunpoint, and beat him unconscious in an alleyway while his wife Aby and young daughter watched, according to a federal lawsuit filed by his family with Disability Law United and Pangea Legal Services. He was hospitalized in Mountain View and allegedly shackled to his bed, with nurses passing him written notes to avoid ICE surveillance; his wife said he lost feeling in half his face and parts of his right side. During months in detention at Golden State Annex, California City Detention Facility, and other GEO Group and CoreCivic-run facilities, staff allegedly denied him a cane, hearing aids, medication, and other disability accommodations, and mocked him when he filed grievances. He was deported to Mexico in October 2025, where he says he is living in hiding, while his wife has been diagnosed with PTSD and their daughter has shown developmental regression. The family's lawsuit against DHS, ICE, GEO Group, and CoreCivic alleges civil rights, due process, and disability rights violations.

Rabbiatu Kuyateh, a 58-year-old nurse who spent more than 30 years in the U.S. caring for Covid-19 patients and disabled adults, was detained by ICE agents during a routine check-in in Baltimore on July 1, 2025, with her son Mohamed present. Kuyateh had fled civil war in Sierra Leone as a child and had been granted a withholding of removal protecting her from being sent back there, saying she had no criminal record: "I did not commit any crime; I always abided by the law." After four months in ICE custody, she was deported to Ghana as part of a third-country deportation, a country with which she had no ties. Video obtained by news outlets shows Ghanaian officials dragging her by her hair, shoeless and screaming, through a hotel in Accra and forcing her onward to Sierra Leone, the country a U.S. judge had ruled would endanger her life. She is now living in hiding in an undisclosed location in Africa.

Multiple ICE agents were recorded engaging in physical violence with a man outside Sentara BelleHarbour Hospital Emergency Room in Suffolk, Virginia. According to witness accounts and video shared on social media, after the man was thrown to the ground, agents punched and kicked him while he had his hands up in a compliant position. The incident occurred in broad daylight at the corner of Bridge Road and Plummer Boulevard. DHS has said the man resisted arrest and signed a voluntary departure agreement, but his attorney disputes this, saying the document was signed under duress, and has filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court while pursuing bond in immigration court.

ICE conducted enforcement operations at two laundromats in southern Madison on Tuesday, July 3, 2026, detaining five people total—three at the Fish Hatchery Road location and two at the Todd Drive location (Little Big Load Laundromat). According to laundromat owners Roger and Nancy Hansen, one detainee was bloodied after being slammed to the floor during the operation. The apprehension at Todd Drive occurred just after 1:45 p.m., with witnesses reporting two or three unidentified men were taken. Madison police reviewed video of the apprehension but were not requested to respond or informed of the operation by ICE. The detentions were part of a broader series of ICE enforcement operations across Wisconsin, with at least 10 people detained in the Madison area and 39 arrested statewide.

Lesli Vaca Díaz, a 29-year-old Colombian national nearly seven months pregnant, was struck by a Border Patrol agent near Douglas, Arizona on July 2 after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. She was knocked to her knees, pulled up by her jacket, and slammed against a truck while repeatedly stating she was pregnant. She was hospitalized at Banner University Medical Center in Tucson after medical staff determined she was at risk of early labor. Vaca Díaz was held incommunicado and prevented from contacting family or an attorney until July 4, according to her attorney Luis Campos. She is now in ICE custody at Eloy Detention Center.

A Guatemalan man was the target of a federal law enforcement operation in early July at an apartment complex in Linda Vista where agents in face coverings and unmarked vehicles served a warrant. As he backed his car into a parking spot, agents surrounded his vehicle and broke his window. He was accused of striking a government vehicle as he reversed. According to his attorney, his car was surrounded by law enforcement vehicles and the agent had just broken his window. Federal prosecutors dismissed the assault charge, saying they "received additional information that has caused the pursuit of this prosecution to be reevaluated." The incident also resulted in charges against three other individuals present during the operation.

Fernando Vazquez, an 18-year-old U.S. citizen born in Raleigh, North Carolina, and a commercial landscaper, was detained by masked Border Patrol agents at a construction site in Cary during a large-scale immigration enforcement sweep that detained over 250 people in the Charlotte area. Agents pinned him against a gate and questioned him about his birthplace despite his showing a North Carolina Real ID, then handcuffed him and separated him from his brother. He says agents drove him around for about two miles before releasing him in an isolated wooded area, throwing his wallet, IDs, and AirPods on the ground rather than returning them. Vazquez recorded video of the encounter that was viewed millions of times online, and said the experience left him 'feeling powerless, frightened, humiliated, and deeply shaken.' In July 2026, he filed a federal damages claim with ACLU of North Carolina representation alleging wrist injuries and emotional trauma, part of more than 500 cases ProPublica documented of U.S. citizens detained by immigration agents during the Trump administration.

Clemente Lara-Hernandez, a Mexican citizen, was the subject of an ICE arrest operation in Harrisburg on July 1, 2026. According to ICE, agents attempted a targeted vehicle stop and Lara-Hernandez drove his car into an ICE vehicle, then drove the wrong way on a one-way street and hit a civilian vehicle. An ICE agent fired one shot at his vehicle; Lara-Hernandez fled the scene and remains at large. One ICE agent sustained a hand injury. The FBI is investigating the shooting.

On July 1, 2026, Bozeman resident Brandi Straub was driving near Camp Equinox summer theater camp, about 10 minutes after dropping off her daughter, when ICE agents conducting an enforcement operation pursued two men who had jumped from a moving pickup truck after it sideswiped a post. An agent ran past her vehicle and pointed a gun through her passenger window before continuing the pursuit. Straub's 12-year-old daughter and a neighbor's 11-year-old were at the camp, three blocks away with about 120 children present; she called the camp director, who had not been notified of the operation but was already keeping children inside due to a storm. When Straub called 911, dispatch told her local police could not intervene in ICE operations.

On June 30, an unmarked ICE squad surrounded a work truck in Olathe and shattered the driver's window, dragging the man through the broken glass while morning traffic passed.

Approximately 300 immigrants detained at Delaney Hall, a privately operated ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey, launched a hunger and labor strike beginning May 25, 2026, to protest conditions including spoiled and expired food, inadequate medical care, overcrowding, filthy bathrooms, lack of hot water, and denial of medical treatment. Detainee Elder Guerra, a Guatemalan immigrant, suffered a head injury after slipping in the shower and was placed in isolation rather than receiving proper treatment. Martin Soto, arrested by ICE four months earlier while buying diapers, remained detained despite a judge blocking his removal from the facility. Detainees reported retaliation by facility staff, including beatings, solitary confinement for strikers, and confiscation of personal items. The facility, operated by Community Education Centers, faced scrutiny for a pattern of medical neglect and rights violations, with sustained crowds of protesters gathering outside in solidarity.

Video documented an incident in which a man struck his head on the ground during an ICE detention in a parking lot in Bethany, Oklahoma. The incident occurred amid reports of increased ICE activity in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.

A 37-year-old Venezuelan national fleeing political persecution was re-detained on June 20, 2026 when he arrived for a routine check-in at the ICE Los Angeles Field Office. He had been previously released on conditional parole under the Alternatives to Detention program, had complied with all check-in requirements, maintained employment as a payroll manager, and had no criminal history. ICE agents allegedly used excessive force, tackling him during arrest without notice or opportunity to be heard. The court granted his temporary restraining order, ordering his immediate release under the original conditions of supervision and enjoining re-detention without a custody hearing before a neutral arbiter.

Galo Suárez, a Nicaraguan asylum seeker, was arrested on S. 13th Street on Milwaukee's South Side when unmarked ICE vehicles boxed in his car. An agent broke his car window with gun drawn. Suárez, his fiancee Reyna Elizabeth Garcia (25), and her brother Teodoro Rafael Garcia (37) were all detained. All three are eligible for work permits as asylum applicants. Suárez alleged that an agent claimed his work permit was forged and that officers used excessive force, pushing his fiancee against the car and verbally abusing her. Suárez was released later that day but his fiancee remains in custody in Kenosha County and the whereabouts of her brother are unknown.

Galo Suárez, 25, and his fiancée Reyna Elizabeth Garcia were arrested by ICE agents during a three-day surge near Milwaukee's El Rey Food Market. Suárez, who has a valid work permit, said masked agents pointed guns at them, broke their car windows without asking for identification, and called Garcia a "dog" before taking her and her brother into custody. Speaking through Voces de la Frontera at a press conference, Suárez described the arrest as he was released; Garcia and her brother remain detained. Voces de la Frontera has corroborated 26-28 ICE detentions across Wisconsin in recent days, including cases involving medical conditions, excessive force, and at least one person with a pending U-Visa application.

Estenderly Marte Polanco, a 31-year-old undocumented immigrant from the Dominican Republic, was arrested by ICE agents on June 27 during a traffic stop at 26th and Mitchell on Milwaukee's South Side while her 7-year-old daughter sat in the back seat. Videos and photographs documented that agents broke both the driver's and passenger-side windows of her car, pulled her onto the ground, and briefly pointed a taser at a cooperating driver. Family members shared photographs showing bruises, scrapes, and cuts on her neck, arms, and lip that they said were inflicted during the arrest. Wisconsin court records show no prior convictions or citations under her name. Her partner Frankeli, who is also undocumented, expressed concern about the welfare of their children. Polanco was held at Waukesha County jail and was among 39 people detained during a surge of ICE enforcement operations in the Milwaukee area. Legal experts who reviewed the incident questioned whether the window-breaking tactic was necessary or if adequate time was given for compliance.

A driver was pulled over by police on Interstate 10 in Arizona for a suspended license. After being directed to a secluded area off an exit, border patrol agents swarmed the vehicle within minutes with guns drawn. A border patrol agent broke the vehicle's window and removed the passenger, who is dark-skinned. The driver reported that a border patrol agent yelled "GUN" despite no weapon being present. The passenger was taken to a detention center. The incident was documented and reported to stopice.net.