Human Impact Project

Ramiro G., a 45-year-old Cuban man detained at Camp East Montana, was twice subjected to attempted forced expulsion to Mexico. On September 22, 2025, he was woken at midnight, chained, and bused with about 15 mostly Cuban men to the border. Guards told them to cross into Mexico. Ramiro refused, saying he was Cuban, had no ties to Mexico, and had previously been kidnapped by a cartel there. Some men crossed; Ramiro and three others refused and were returned. On December 15, guards tried again, this time telling him he was being transferred to another facility. When he overheard guards mention the Santa Teresa port of entry, a guard admitted the transfer was being carried out 'in secret.' He began shaking uncontrollably. Other detainees banged on doors in protest until he was returned to his cell. Guards had told him: 'Your country won't take you; leave now or we'll lock you up for life.'

Jessica Chodor was tackled and assaulted by a Memphis Safe Task Force officer while attempting to film a traffic stop. She was held down on the ground, threatened with a taser, and arrested on a charge of "resisting official detention," which was later dropped. She now avoids filming task force operations unless other observers are present. On May 13, Chodor and three other Memphis residents filed a federal lawsuit against the task force, alleging a pattern of retaliation and intimidation against people who record its operations, including improper use of Tennessee's 25-foot "Halo Law" to push back or arrest observers.

Hunter Demster, who runs a soup kitchen in Memphis, was arrested by officers with the Memphis Safe Task Force on August 26, 2026, while attempting to film task force activity, according to newly released video and a declaration filed in his ongoing ACLU lawsuit. The footage shows federal Homeland Security Investigations officers repeatedly moving toward Demster and ordering him to retreat, despite his insistence that he remained more than 25 feet away as required under Tennessee's "Halo Law." The ACLU says the arrest is further evidence of a continuing campaign of intimidation against Demster and eight other Memphis residents who allege in the lawsuit, filed in mid-May, that they have been violently arrested, surveilled at their homes, and wrongly pulled over for trying to document the task force, which has operated in Memphis since September 2025 under orders from President Trump and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee.

Daryn Herzberg, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, alleges he was assaulted by Department of Homeland Security personnel outside an ICE facility in South Portland on August 13, 2025. According to video evidence and his attorney's account, federal agents tackled him to the ground, with one officer grabbing him by the hair and slamming his face into the ground multiple times. Herzberg sustained injuries including a concussion, abrasions, bruising, chest contusions, and breathing issues. On August 27, Herzberg filed a federal lawsuit against DHS alleging battery and unconstitutional use of force. Federal authorities also charged Herzberg with obstructing the facility and throwing objects; his attorney characterizes these charges as bogus and retaliatory.

Lesli Marili Samayoa, 26, was arrested after recording ICE agents during an immigration enforcement operation in Fort Myers, Florida. She told N+ Univision she began filming on her way to work to alert her community, but agents surrounded her truck and a Florida Highway Patrol vehicle blocked her path. She livestreamed a 28-second video on Facebook showing agents breaking her vehicle's window before pulling her out by the hair, throwing her to the ground, and pressing their knees against her neck. She was booked into the Lee County jail on a charge of resisting an officer, not an immigration charge, and was held for nine days until September 3, during which she says she lost about 16 pounds. "I feel like I can't trust anyone, I feel abandoned, I feel like I can't call 911. I have anxiety, I don't want to go out; I'm terrified to go outside," she said.

Federal Protective Service officers arrested more than a dozen protesters outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles during Occupy ICE demonstrations that began in early July. Protesters maintained an encampment and said they were targeted for exercising First Amendment rights, while officials initially cited charges including assaulting officers and vandalism; the ACLU filed a lawsuit alleging excessive force and constitutional violations. Prosecutors later dropped assault charges against two protesters after defense attorneys said the officer named as the victim in both cases had failed to disclose prior criminal convictions. In one case, the officer's claim that he was punched in the face was contradicted by video of the incident.

Amanda Trebach, a registered nurse and U.S. citizen working in intensive care units serving low-income communities in Watts, Compton, and South Central Los Angeles, was arrested by federal agents on August 8, 2025, while documenting immigration enforcement operations at Terminal Island in San Pedro as a volunteer with Harbor Area Peace Patrol and Unión del Barrio. Video evidence shows masked federal agents pinning her face-down to the pavement, kneeling on her head, handcuffing her, and placing her into an unmarked van. CBP accused her of jumping in front of vehicles and obstructing federal agents; witnesses and video disputed these allegations. Trebach, whose cell phone was confiscated without a search warrant, says agents did not identify themselves and told her to stop photographing. She spent approximately one day in federal custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles before being released without criminal charges. Her release followed demonstrations at the detention center and calls from local elected leaders, including Councilmember Tim McOsker, who characterized the arrest as "apparently illegal and unconstitutional." National Nurses United, representing 225,000 registered nurses, celebrated her release. Trebach has continued documenting immigration enforcement operations and has been working to protect migrant patients from immigration raids; she reports that migrants in her community are now avoiding hospitals out of fear of encountering immigration enforcement.

Sabrina Medina, a 28-year-old pregnant U.S. citizen and mother of four, has been detained and arrested multiple times by ICE agents searching for her undocumented husband Jorge. On June 12, 2025, ICE agents conducted a heavily armed raid on her Huntington Park home in the presence of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, arriving in about a half-dozen tactical vehicles. The agents showed Medina a warrant naming her husband but with an incorrect first name; her husband was not at home. On August 7, 2025, Medina was arrested by ICE agents while leaving a pregnancy clinic. She claims agents have tracked her down four times since the June raid and that she was arrested based on an outstanding warrant from 12 years ago for shoplifting. During the August arrest, Medina experienced abdominal pain. She expressed fear about her family's financial future and stated she and her children would likely follow her husband to Mexico if he is deported.

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.

K.N., a minor U.S. citizen, was arrested along with his sisters while approaching a construction site raid. Federal agents drove K.N. to his mother's home and held him outside the fence while asking him if his mother was "illegal," then threatened to take him into federal custody while demanding his mother produce identification. According to MALDEF's Federal Tort Claims Act claim, agents used K.N. as "bait" in an attempt to lure his mother, a lawful permanent resident, into the street to investigate her immigration status. MALDEF seeks $2.5 million in damages for personal injury and emotional distress.

Sorayda Noyola, 31, and her siblings Claudia, 19, and a third sibling were arrested by ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents during a construction site raid near their mother's home in Texas. Sorayda was documenting the raid when an agent grabbed her arm and attempted to seize her cell phone; when she objected, agents tackled all three siblings to the ground, handcuffed them, and arrested them. Sorayda and Claudia were detained for hours at the ICE Field Office in Harlingen, and agents confiscated both of their phones without returning them. MALDEF filed a Federal Tort Claims Act administrative claim seeking $2.5 million in damages for personal injury and $2,000 for the lost phone for each sibling, alleging unlawful assault, arrest, and detention in violation of their constitutional rights.

On July 21, 2025, Dan Mathers of Key West was arrested by a Customs and Border Protection agent while filming the agent detaining a Haitian immigrant on Eaton Street. Mathers was accused of threatening the agent and held for 8 hours at a facility in Marathon before being released. The Haitian immigrant was also later released. Mathers was unable to contact his family until approximately 9:15pm.

Lee Stinton, a 45-year-old Irish hairstylist from Northern Ireland who had lived in Key West since 2018, was detained by ICE on June 12 after being stopped for a traffic violation on his e-bike. During the stop, an ICE officer told him "You look Mexican" before taking him into custody. Stinton had valid work authorization and a pending green card application through VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) protection after his previous marriage ended in domestic violence charges. An ICE officer also threatened to detain Stinton's partner, DeVaun Davis, a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier and U.S. citizen, after seeing his photo on Stinton's phone. At Krome Detention Center near Miami, Stinton was held in severely overcrowded conditions—a cell designed for 10 people held approximately 100 men on a concrete floor with one toilet—denied vegan food despite being vegan, given limited access to showers and medications, and experienced obstacles contacting a lawyer. During his detention, Stinton was taken to a hospital where subdermal piercings were surgically removed without his consent while he was shackled to a bed. He also witnessed a detainee die after not receiving heart medication. Stinton is a valued community member with no criminal record who had been paying taxes since 2019; a local petition for his release drew over 1,500 signatures. After approximately one month in detention, Stinton was deported to London on July 12 and returned to Northern Ireland, where he has since engaged in therapy and part-time work. His case drew international attention with coverage in the BBC, Belfast Telegraph, and other outlets.

A plainclothes federal law enforcement officer drew a weapon on a man attempting to photograph his vehicle's license plate at a stoplight in Pasadena. The incident occurred Wednesday morning around the same time federal immigration agents conducted enforcement operations at a nearby bus stop, detaining multiple day laborers. Masked plainclothes agents arrested at least two men and several other day laborers, transporting them in an unmarked minivan.

During an immigration sweep on June 19 outside a Lowe's store in Pacoima, Border Patrol agents arrested a 54-year-old woman who had sold tamales at the same spot for 10 years, without presenting a warrant. She lost consciousness after being restrained and later suffered a heart attack; witnesses said a bystander identifying herself as a nurse was denied access to help before LAFD paramedics arrived. She was taken to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, where doctors confirmed a minor heart attack. A U.S. citizen recording the incident was also arrested and detained, and a federal judge later ruled the sweeps violated the 4th Amendment due to racial profiling.

Job Garcia, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and PhD student, was arrested and detained for over 24 hours on June 19, 2025, while filming an ICE immigration raid at a Home Depot in Hollywood, Los Angeles. CBP agents tackled Garcia without warning, smashed his phone, and restrained him as he attempted to document the arrest of day laborers and inform them of their rights. Garcia was released without arraignment or court date notification. MALDEF and Garcia are seeking $1 million in damages from the Department of Homeland Security through a Federal Tort Claims Act notice, citing wrongful arrest, detention based on race, assault, battery, false imprisonment, and interference with his right to document government actions.

An ICE agent drew a gun on a man who was photographing a vehicle's license plate during an enforcement operation at a bus stop near Orange Grove Boulevard and Los Robles Avenue in Pasadena on Wednesday morning. Video footage posted by immigration advocacy account Stop ICE Mobile Alerts shows the agent jumping out of an unmarked car and pointing the gun directly at the individual before returning to the vehicle without making an arrest or explanation. Multiple people were reportedly taken away from nearby Dena's Burgers by masked agents in unmarked vehicles during the same operation.

Juan Ramirez Diaz, a U.S. citizen from Oxnard, was detained by ICE agents on June 17, 2025, while filming video of federal immigration agents arresting his father during an ICE operation. According to his family and attorney, Ramirez Diaz was tased, maced, punched, and beaten before being transported to a hospital and then the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles. He was released on June 18 before 3 p.m. and returned to his family.

A Spanish-language journalist known for documenting immigration raids was detained by ICE after being arrested by police during a weekend protest outside Atlanta. The journalist faces charges of obstructing officers and unlawful assembly while covering the protest and could face deportation proceedings.