Human Impact Project

Abdikadir Abdi Noor, a 43-year-old Somali-American citizen from Fridley, was pulled over and arrested by ICE on December 15 outside Karmel Mall in Minneapolis. He is a named plaintiff in an ACLU lawsuit alleging ICE violated constitutional rights of observers and protesters during the agency's ramped-up raids in Minnesota targeting the state's Somali community.

Jesus Gutiérrez, a 23-year-old US citizen, was stopped by federal immigration agents in Chicago and handcuffed without identification. Agents used ICE's Mobile Fortify facial recognition app to scan his face, which verified his citizenship status. He was held for about an hour before being released. Federal authorities have acknowledged using this facial recognition technology across the country to verify citizenship and check for deportation orders.

Mubashir, a 20-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen of Somali descent, was detained by ICE agents while on his lunch break near Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis's Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. Video footage showed agents forcibly removing him, slamming him against a door, placing him in a chokehold, and handcuffing him despite his repeated attempts to show identification, including his U.S. passport. He was held for about two hours at the Whipple Federal Building, where he alleged he was denied water and medical assistance, before being released once his citizenship was verified. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O'Hara said the detention amounted to wrongful, unconstitutional racial profiling based on his Somali appearance, and Governor Tim Walz called for a DHS review of ICE arrests of U.S. citizens in the city. ICE said its agents acted on reasonable suspicion.

Jose Gomez and his 13-year-old son were detained by ICE agents in unmarked SUVs in Eden Prairie on Thursday morning while moving their car after a snowstorm. The boy was tackled, handcuffed, and questioned about his legal status; he later required medical attention for an abnormal heartbeat triggered by the stress. Both are undocumented immigrants from Mexico; Gomez's family believes he was randomly targeted and says ICE lacked a warrant for his arrest. The boy was released to his aunt's house, but Gomez remained in ICE custody.

Nathan Griffin, a U.S. citizen and night manager of the Laugh Factory comedy club in Lakeview, was arrested by masked Border Patrol agents on October 24, 2025, outside the club at Belmont and Broadway during immigration enforcement operations on the North Side. Agents accused him of interfering with a federal officer and assaulting an agent by closing a vehicle door on the agent's leg while the agent was searching for a body-worn camera believed dropped during a prior immigration-related arrest. Video posted by the club showed multiple masked agents in full camouflage wrestling Griffin to the ground as bystanders screamed that he had done nothing wrong. Griffin's mother, Elaine Plybon, was also physically engaged with agents while attempting to stop her son's arrest. Griffin was initially charged with one count of forcibly assaulting, impeding, and interfering with a federal officer, facing up to 8 years in prison if convicted. Federal prosecutors dropped all charges on December 10, 2025, after a federal grand jury refused to indict him by returning a 'no bill.'

Susan Tincher was arrested on December 9 while standing on a sidewalk observing an ICE raid in north Minneapolis. Officers pulled her to the ground, handcuffed her face-down in the snow, transported her to the Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling, shackled her legs, removed her wedding ring and boot laces, and held her in a cell for five hours before releasing her. She is one of six named plaintiffs in an ACLU lawsuit alleging ICE agents routinely violated constitutional rights of people protesting their actions.

Augsburg University president Paul Pribbenow stated that ICE agents illegally detained a student on campus without displaying a warrant. In response, the university plans to lock more buildings to prevent ICE agents from entering without proper legal documentation. Federal officials countered that university staff attempted to obstruct the arrest.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with Border Patrol and Florida Highway Patrol, conducted immigration enforcement operations in central Palm Beach County on December 8, 2025, including roadblocks and an attempted raid on a residential construction site. Activists estimate at least 50 people were detained during the sweeps, with children separated from apprehended parents. A 19-year-old U.S. citizen was wrongly detained but later released. Local officials stated the operations disrupted the community and economy.

Sophie Watso, a Dakota woman, was detained for more than 48 hours at Fort Snelling after encountering ICE officers while driving in Minneapolis. When she blew a whistle to alert others to federal presence, officers accused her of interference, broke her car window, and forcibly removed her from the vehicle. Fort Snelling is the same site where Dakota ancestors were imprisoned after the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War.

A behavioral therapist for children in Key Largo, Florida, was pulled over by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents while driving to work in a car registered to her undocumented partner. Video recorded in part by a Miami Herald reporter showed agents unlocking her door, dragging her from the vehicle, searching her purse, and handcuffing her as she screamed that she was a U.S. citizen and asked for help. The woman, described as under 5 feet tall and 85 pounds, said she complied with instructions to roll down her window but declined to show identification until agents located her driver's license and confirmed her citizenship, releasing her about 10 minutes after the stop began. She said this was the third time she had been stopped in the same area and that the experience left her unable to sleep, in physical pain, and emotionally traumatized. CBP said the stop stemmed from identifying her partner as undocumented, and the broader operation led to 14 undocumented immigrants being arrested. U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said the incident reflected a pattern of racial profiling, protesters later gathered in Islamorada, and the case is one of more than 500 documented by ProPublica involving U.S. citizens detained by immigration agents.

Federal ICE agents arrested a U.S. citizen Somali woman born in Edina near Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis on Wednesday. According to her cousin, agents zip-tied her, mocked her hijab, and touched her inappropriately before taking her to Sherburne County Jail in Elk River. She was released Thursday after more than 24 hours in custody once her husband provided her passport card proving her citizenship.

Diana Sanchez Ledezma, a Stockton-area DJ known as DJ Reina Azteca with pending asylum and U-visa applications, was detained by ICE officers at a check-in appointment on December 18, 2025, despite being enrolled in the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program and requesting deportation herself. During processing at Otay Mesa Detention Center, she initially refused a medical screening and pregnancy test out of fear, having heard accounts of forced abortions and hysterectomies in detention, and was held unclothed in a cold cell before relenting. Over nearly four months in custody, she witnessed medical emergencies including strokes and fainting, reported inadequate care and poor food, and faced retaliation from guards after filing grievances; she also lost her deactivated DJ account and entire music library. A federal judge ruled in her favor in April 2026, finding ICE lacked authority to detain her, and she was released, though she has struggled to rebuild her music career while awaiting the return of her identification documents.

Alma Bowman, a 59-year-old Macon resident, was detained by ICE on March 26, 2025, during a routine check-in and held at Stewart Detention Center for 243 days until her release in late November 2025. Bowman claims U.S. citizenship as the daughter of an American Navy serviceman and was born in the Philippines. ICE asserted she was in the country illegally. This was her second detention; she had previously been held for three years (2017-2020) at Irwin County Detention Center following criminal convictions deemed deportable offenses. During her detention, Bowman reported inadequate medical care and overcrowded conditions. Her attorney argued the prolonged detainment violated her constitutional rights, and her citizenship status remained legally disputed throughout her custody.

A person warned their community that ICE agents were staging outside houses and then parked at a trolley station to observe. When ICE agents returned to the station, they attempted to detain the person, who fled because the agents were masked and refused to identify themselves. The person claims to be an American citizen and states that other people were also detained at the scene.

Miguel Angel Garcia Martinez, a 24-year-old U.S. citizen, was arrested by Border Patrol agents in Charlotte on November 16, 2025, while photographing and documenting agents' operations to warn immigrants of their locations. He was charged with using his van as a deadly weapon to assault, resist, and impede federal agents after driving away when agents approached and tried to open his vehicle's door; an agent was injured breaking the van's window during the incident. Court video later reviewed in the case showed ICE agents had planned to 'smash' into Martinez's vehicle during the chase. A federal judge is now determining whether ICE agents had probable cause to charge Martinez with assault.

ICE agents detained a 16-year-old high school intern at the Licht Judicial Complex in Providence on November 20, 2025, after misidentifying the teenager as their target. Superior Court Judge Joseph J. McBurney intervened, and agents verified their information and released the intern. Governor Dan McKee and Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos issued statements regarding the incident.

Emmanuel Gonzalez-Garcia, a 16-year-old with autism, was separated from his mother Maria Garcia on October 4-5, 2025, while they were selling fruit as street vendors in Houston. After going missing, he was located by firefighters during a welfare check and told police he was homeless, providing a different name. Houston police turned him over to ICE, and he was placed in federal custody with the Office of Refugee Resettlement as an unaccompanied immigrant minor. After approximately 48-50 days in detention, a federal judge ruled that authorities lacked legal authority to detain him since he was not truly unaccompanied. He was reunited with his mother, though their immigration court cases remain pending.

A British woman was arrested by ICE while holding her 5-month-old baby at her green card interview in San Diego on November 20, 2025. She spent five days in custody before being released with her green card approved on November 25. Multiple immigration attorneys noted that federal law provides exceptions for direct relatives of U.S. citizens undergoing adjustment of status.

Federal immigration agents arrested a man in a parking lot at Eastway Crossing shopping center in Charlotte while he was documenting their activities. The man, Joshua Long, was released from an FBI office six hours later. DHS claimed he was arrested for vehicular assault against a federal agent, which Long disputed.

Harrinson Jose Osuna Benitez, a Venezuelan tattoo artist seeking asylum over fears of torture and persecution, was paroled into the U.S. in September 2024 after ICE found no criminal history, later settling in Portland with his partner, who gave birth to their son in December 2024. He attended multiple immigration hearings through 2025 and had a future hearing scheduled for January 2027, but on November 17, 2025, ICE detained him at a Portland office visit, citing his tattoos as a security concern without providing notice of parole revocation. He spent weeks at the Northwest Immigration Processing Center while his family struggled without his income. On December 30, 2025, a federal judge in the Western District of Washington granted his habeas corpus petition, ruling his detention violated due process and ordering his release.