Human Impact Project

ICE agents with guns approached a Korean bakery in Minneapolis, pointing weapons through the glass door at employees. A manager hid Korean immigrant coworkers in freezers during the encounter. Agents allegedly stated they did not need or care about a warrant. After an employee called 911, local police arrived and the ICE agents left the scene.

NPR reporter Adrian Florido witnessed federal immigration agents arrest Jesús González, an undocumented fruit vendor he had been buying from for seven years in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. González was apprehended at his fruit cart stand and subsequently deported to Tijuana, Mexico after agreeing to be removed rather than face detention.

Federal immigration agents detained Thao Xiong, a community organizer and volunteer food shelf delivery driver, in the parking lot of the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center in St. Paul on city-owned property. The detainment occurred despite objections from community center staff and legal observers, and Xiong's U.S. citizenship or immigration status remained unclear. The incident occurred during Operation Metro Surge, which brought approximately 3,000 federal agents to Minnesota for immigration enforcement.

Multiple protesters were detained and injured during an anti-ICE demonstration at the Eugene Federal Building on January 27, 2026. Federal officers deployed tear gas, pepper balls, and flash-bangs, detaining at least nine demonstrators. Several protesters reported injuries including bruises, hyperextended limbs, and eye injuries sustained during the law enforcement response.

On January 28, 2026, ICE agents conducted an early morning immigration enforcement operation at the intersection of Salinas and Carpinteria Streets in Santa Barbara's Eastside neighborhood, near Franklin Elementary School. A masked ICE officer pepper-sprayed and physically pushed community members who had gathered to document the activity, including Beth Goodman, who was distributing ICE resource information at the time. At least one woman was sprayed while recording the operation, and a man in a yellow sweatshirt evaded arrest. Santa Barbara Police Department and firefighters responded to the scene to provide medical assistance and help de-escalate the confrontation. At least one person was detained by ICE, reportedly unrelated to the pepper-spray incident, and no arrests were made by local police.

ICE agents approached and questioned a woman in a Walmart parking lot, asking if she was born in the United States, in an incident captured on video that circulated online. A Native American legal rights group alleged that the individual involved, identified as Jose Roberto Ramirez, was being retaliated against by ICE.

Mayra Vaca Latacunga, 25, a single mother from Ecuador working in Maine's seafood industry, was detained by ICE agents in Biddeford, Maine while her five-year-old daughter, Keyli Camila Espin Vaca, was at school. Vaca Latacunga, who entered the U.S. two years ago fleeing domestic violence, has no criminal record. She was handcuffed and transferred to Massachusetts, leaving her daughter without a caretaker. The arrest was part of a broader Trump administration immigration enforcement operation in Maine that has resulted in more than 200 arrests. After being held for several days, Vaca Latacunga was released with an ankle monitor and reunited with her daughter.

Anthony Paredes, an 18-year-old deaf high school senior at Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts in Los Angeles, was chased and tackled to the ground by Department of Homeland Security immigration officers on January 24, 2026, during a peaceful protest outside a federal building in downtown Los Angeles. Multiple bystanders shouted that Paredes was deaf and could not hear the officers' verbal commands, but he was taken into custody without a sign language interpreter provided. While in custody, Paredes' requests to use a restroom were denied. His mother, Guadalupe Diaz, expressed concern about the lack of interpreter access during the encounter. Educators and organizers plan to file a claim and lawsuit against the government and seek to have charges dropped, with a court date scheduled for April 1.

Three Venezuelan nationals with pending asylum cases were arrested by ICE agents on Friday morning in front of the Drachman Montessori Magnet School on 22nd Street and South 10th Avenue, with dozens of children on the playground nearby. According to a family member, the three—a husband, brother, and sister-in-law—had been regularly checking in with ICE every three months and had proper documentation showing they were legally present while their cases were being processed. One agent was carrying pepper spray during the arrest, and the sister-in-law was arrested after questioning an officer.

William Vermie, a 39-year-old Army combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient, was tackled and detained by ICE agents while standing on a public sidewalk in Minneapolis observing agents detain two young men during an operation the government called Operation Metro Surge. He was taken to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building and held for eight hours without being allowed to contact an attorney or his family, despite repeatedly requesting legal representation and his wife having already secured a lawyer on his behalf. DHS said Vermie was arrested for allegedly assaulting a law enforcement officer. Four attorneys told ABC News they were denied access to clients held at the same facility, with multiple attorneys reporting similar complaints from others arrested in recent Minneapolis ICE operations and alleging violations of Fifth and Sixth Amendment due process and right-to-counsel protections.

Ramiro Santiago Pacheco Martinez, a 53-year-old day laborer who has lived in Pomona, California for nearly two decades with no criminal record, was detained by Border Patrol/ICE agents on November 13, 2025 while waiting at a bus stop to get diabetes medication. He has serious health conditions including congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, diabetes, and a pacemaker, with a history of heart attacks. His daughter, Jax Santana, says he has not consistently received his medication while in custody at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, and according to community members, faith leaders, and advocates, he was denied heart medication for two weeks and required emergency heart surgery while detained. On January 21, 2026, community members rallied to demand his release, and the Pomona City Council subsequently passed a resolution calling on ICE to release him. Local, state, and federal lawmakers have written to the Department of Homeland Security seeking his release.

On August 23, 2025, about 40 people gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center to protest ICE raids. Jessica Ramirez Vasquez, a social worker and community volunteer, was detained after using a bullhorn during the protest. Officers fired pepper balls and rubber bullets at the crowd. Jessica was arrested and charged with felony assault on a federal officer. Livestream video documented the incident.

Nasra Ahmed, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen born in Minnesota, was detained by ICE agents on January 15, 2026, after being caught in a parking lot during agents' pursuit of two other men. She says agents handcuffed her and forced her to the ground, causing cuts, bruises, and a head injury that led to a concussion. While held at Sherburne County Jail, Ahmed had a seizure and was taken to a hospital in shackles for an MRI. She says an officer used a racial slur against her during the encounter. Ahmed was released after two days without being charged. Minnesota Rep. Samakab Hussein held a press conference where Ahmed shared her account of the detention.

Department of Homeland Security agents were involved in a shooting during an immigration enforcement operation in Los Angeles County's Willowbrook area on Wednesday morning around 7:20 a.m. Agents were pursuing a vehicle that crashed, and shots were fired when agents approached to detain suspects. No one was struck by gunfire and all suspects were taken into custody.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained a gardener in Clovis on Monday morning at the intersection of Willow and Shepherd avenues on his way to work. According to community organization Faith in the Valley, the man was detained by two DEA agents and one federal agent. Clovis Police confirmed receiving notification from ICE before 7 a.m. but stated no assistance was requested.

Jean-Pierre Obiang, an 18-year-old University of Southern Maine student, was detained by ICE agents on January 21, 2026, after a minor vehicle accident near a Market Basket parking lot in Westbrook. The agents ran the license plates of the vehicle Obiang was in and detained him despite having no criminal record and being enrolled in school. Obiang's family are asylum-seekers from Gabon who have been living in Maine for three years.

ICE agents arrested Hassane Barry, a 38-year-old asylum seeker from Guinea, on Preble Street in Portland on January 21st. Agents shattered the driver's side window of his car, spraying glass over his 1-month-old baby's car seat, and left his wife Nene and the infant alone in the vehicle in freezing conditions. The arrest was part of an intensified ICE enforcement operation in Maine, though Barry has no known criminal history and had filed for asylum upon arriving in the U.S. in 2023.

Juan Carlos Aguilar Sr., who claimed to be a dual U.S. citizen born at MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center, was detained by ICE agents on January 20, 2026, while doing landscaping work in East Long Beach. In a video of the incident, Aguilar told agents in Spanish that he was a U.S. citizen, but ICE detained him anyway. His daughter Genesis Aguilar posted a GoFundMe seeking funds for legal counsel and basic needs while he is held in ICE custody.

Federal Border Patrol agents detained two men working as gardeners in Long Beach's University Park Estates neighborhood on January 20, 2026. One of the men claimed to be a U.S. dual citizen and stated he was born at a local medical center. A third gardener who produced documents was not arrested.

Daniel Granados, a landscaper working in East Long Beach, was detained by ICE agents on January 20, 2026, while doing lawn work a few blocks from Kettering Elementary School. According to a GoFundMe created by his cousin, Granados was the primary provider for his family, and his sudden detention has left them in emotional and financial hardship. Local officials and community advocates expressed concern about the detention of what they describe as a hard-working community member.