Human Impact Project

Enrique Lozano, an ice cream vendor who has lived in Los Angeles for over 20 years, was detained by ICE agents on June 23, 2025, while working on Culver Boulevard. He was held for approximately four months before being released and granted a green card through his wife's sponsorship. Following his release, Lozano has returned home and resumed his business operations. The local community mobilized support for his family, raising nearly $76,000 through a GoFundMe campaign, while a local company donated a new cart to help him restart his ice cream business.

A junior at Benito Juarez High School in Chicago was detained by federal agents on October 23, 2025, while on his way to school in the Little Village neighborhood. The student, who city leaders identified as a U.S. citizen, was zip-tied and taken into custody after federal agents conducted immigration enforcement operations at a shopping center at 26th and Whipple. He was released back to his family at approximately 3 p.m. that day. A second student was injured during the same operation but was not detained.

During a second day of federal immigration enforcement operations in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood in October 2025, agents led by Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino detained at least five people, including two Benito Juarez Community Academy students and a U.S. citizen. Protesters and city officials said the students were beaten and assaulted by officers, with one left with blood on his face; a teacher said she realized one student was missing only when taking attendance. When residents gathered to oppose the sweeps, agents in camouflage and gas masks deployed tear gas and pepper spray, with video showing Bovino tossing a canister into the crowd despite a court order restricting such force. Additional arrests, including two staff members of a local alderman, occurred in Little Village and suburban Cicero, and a federal judge ordered Bovino to testify and appear at a status hearing.

The Texas Civil Rights Project is challenging the detention of two Iranian nationals, Shahrokh Rahimi (53) and Argam Nazarian (27), who were arrested in June following U.S. military strikes against Iran. Rahimi was arrested at his home in San Antonio where he had lived for over two decades; Nazarian was arrested in Los Angeles and transferred to El Paso. Both had previously been released on bond or parole and had pending asylum cases based on fear of Christian persecution. The organization claims they are being illegally detained without bond under a new Trump administration policy.

Detainees at the Richwood immigration detention facility in Louisiana report persistent hunger despite ICE and facility operator LaSalle Corrections claiming meals meet nutritional standards. Women describe small portions of processed, often expired foods that are undercooked, burned, or barely edible, with inadequate nutrition and lack of fresh produce. The facility switched to a lower-cost food distributor in 2025 as the detained population increased, and inspectors found the facility failed to post menus meeting required nutritional standards. Advocates and detainees, including former detainee Camila Muñoz, report deteriorating food quality and quantity, while ICE and LaSalle maintain compliance with national detention standards despite insufficient oversight of actual meals served versus certified menus.

Gabriel García Avilés, 56, a Mexican immigrant who had lived in the United States for over 30 years and held a work permit, was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol on October 14, 2025, during a roving operation in Costa Mesa, California. He was transferred to ICE custody and moved to Adelanto ICE Processing Center on October 15. Avilés was subsequently hospitalized at Victor Valley Global Medical Center in critical condition. He died on October 23, 2025. ICE and hospital staff attributed his death to cardiac arrest resulting from suspected alcohol withdrawal symptoms. His family reported poor communication from detention staff, concerning hospital conditions, and observed physical injuries on Avilés including dried blood, cuts, broken teeth, and bruising. His family requested that medical staff cease resuscitation attempts.

ICE agents engaged in an hours-long standoff with Honduran immigrant William Hernandez outside his home in Avondale, Arizona, following a car incident. ICE claims Hernandez rammed an agent's vehicle, while witnesses and his wife report that ICE agents rammed his car. Hernandez, who has lived in the U.S. for a decade with no criminal record, was detained along with his uncle Abel Ochoa and another family member Marcos Ochoa.

Irma was detained by ICE on October 21, 2025, during a routine immigration appointment in Santa Ana, California. Her citizenship case was denied and she was taken into custody immediately. She was scheduled to be deported to Mexico on October 22, 2025, leaving behind her four children and life in the United States.

ICE and federal agents conducted an enforcement operation on Canal Street in Manhattan on October 22, 2025, detaining nine undocumented immigrants who were street vendors. Federal authorities characterized the operation as targeting counterfeit goods trafficking and stated the detainees had criminal histories including forgery, drug possession, drug trafficking, robbery, and assault. The raid came days after a right-wing media figure posted a video about the area. Civil rights attorneys characterized it as a pretextual show of force using profiling tactics. During the operation, two men initially detained were released after identifying themselves as U.S. citizens. The detainees were moved to Delaney Hall in New York. Hundreds of New Yorkers protested the raid, with five protesters arrested during the confrontation.

A Venezuelan family seeking asylum in the United States self-deported after the father and 20-year-old son Anderson Contreras-Hernandez were detained by ICE. The family had fled Venezuela due to gang extortion and sought better medical care for two sons with sickle cell disease. After months in detention and legal proceedings, the family chose to return to Venezuela.

Four U.S. citizens were arrested and held at 26 Federal Plaza for nearly 24 hours without any federal charges during a joint ICE enforcement operation on Canal Street in Manhattan's Chinatown on October 21, 2025. The operation, described by ICE as targeting criminal activity related to counterfeit goods, also resulted in the detention of nine undocumented immigrants. The families of the arrested citizens filed missing persons reports with the NYPD before the four Americans were released approximately 30 minutes after Congressman Dan Goldman held a press conference about the arrests.

Zia S., a 36-year-old Afghan immigrant who served as a U.S. military interpreter, was detained by ICE on July 16, 2025, during a routine USCIS appointment in East Hartford, Connecticut, for biometric processing related to a Green Card application. Despite having lawful parole status until October 2026, no criminal convictions, and approval for humanitarian parole due to Taliban threats, he was moved to a detention facility in Plymouth, Massachusetts. A federal judge issued a 72-hour stay to prevent his deportation, and after nearly three months in custody, a second immigration judge ordered his release on a $15,000 bond on October 9, 2025. The government's subsequent motion to reverse the release was rejected on October 21, 2025. Zia was reunited with his wife and five children in Connecticut. His son Rihan was also detained by ICE in Plymouth during this period.

An employee of a Chicago Public Schools vendor was taken into custody by federal immigration agents outside Decatur Classical School on the Far North Side. School officials stated no students witnessed the incident and emphasized that CPS will not cooperate with federal agents without a criminal judicial warrant.

Yassine Halhoul, a 21-year-old University of Arizona aerospace engineering student from Morocco, was detained by Homeland Security Investigations on October 21, 2025, due to a clerical visa issue. He spent approximately one month in ICE detention at Florence Correctional Center and Eloy Detention Center, where he reported poor conditions including inadequate food, interference with sleep, and frequent cell counts. After a GoFundMe campaign raised $18,500 for bail and legal expenses, Halhoul was released on November 13, 2025, with an ankle monitor.

21-year-old Judas Rivera, who immigrated to Arizona as a child, was detained by ICE agents on October 21, 2025, while traveling to work at Chick-fil-A. ICE initially and erroneously recorded his country of origin as Afghanistan instead of Mexico, a discrepancy only corrected after media inquiry. Rivera is currently held at the Eloy Detention Center awaiting a court hearing scheduled for November 7, 2025, that will determine his deportation status, as his family works to stop his deportation.

An Oak Park civil litigation attorney was arrested by ICE agents outside his child's elementary school on Monday morning. The attorney was detained after following an ICE van and honking his horn and blowing a whistle, which he said was to identify the unmarked vehicle. He was charged with impeding federal agents and held for approximately one hour before being released near the school.

A Mexican immigrant father of five, who has lived and worked in the U.S. for two decades without a criminal record, was detained during an Oct. 19 ICE raid on a horse track near Wilder, Idaho, that swept up more than 100 people. He has since been held in Wyoming's Uinta and Sweetwater county jails, and his attorney is petitioning a federal judge for his release or a bond hearing while his immigration case proceeds. His daughter, a U.S. citizen who witnessed the raid while caring for her baby, said her father 'works his butt off' for the family and that her younger siblings, ages 15 and 11, were handcuffed with zip ties for hours and traumatized by the operation. A federal judge has since ordered the government to provide the man a bond hearing within seven days or release him.

Miguel Barreno López, a 39-year-old Spanish citizen, was arrested by ICE on October 18, 2025, during a traffic stop near Chicago after his tourist visa expired. An immigration judge approved his voluntary departure to Spain on November 17, 2025. Despite this approval, Barreno remained detained at Kenton County Detention Center in Kentucky for six months with no communication from ICE regarding his departure status or case updates. He was eventually deported to Spain in May 2026 and banned from re-entering the U.S. for ten years.

A 57-year-old Mexican father of four was detained at Broadview Processing Center for four days in severely overcrowded conditions before signing a voluntary departure form, unaware his attorney had secured an emergency hearing that could have allowed him to stay. He was deported to Mexico the following day after waiving his right to appeal. The case illustrates concerns among immigration attorneys that voluntary departures may not be truly voluntary, with immigrants reporting coercion due to language barriers and lack of legal knowledge.

A 42-year-old San Francisco tenant from Russia who fled political persecution remains in federal immigration custody at California City Detention Center while facing eviction for alleged nonpayment of rent. The Eviction Defense Collaborative has taken on his legal representation ahead of his Monday eviction trial at McAllister Street court, preventing an automatic no-show eviction. His landlord's legal firm has refused to reschedule the hearing despite awareness of his detention, and ICE has not responded to requests about allowing virtual court appearance.