Human Impact Project

Three U.S. citizens were arrested following a crash and confrontation during a federal immigration enforcement operation at the intersection of Asbury and Oakton in Evanston on October 31, 2025. A red vehicle rear-ended a federal agent vehicle; witnesses reported agents braked suddenly while the government stated agents were attempting a U-turn. During the confrontation, pepper spray was deployed and community members who intervened were also arrested. The three arrested individuals' identities and specific charges remain unclear.

Edgar Ruiz, a U.S. citizen born in Chicago, was tased in the face by ICE agents outside a 7-Eleven in Des Plaines on October 31, 2025. He was detained for approximately two hours before being released and hospitalized. His undocumented father remained in ICE custody following the incident. Edgar Ruiz, a U.S. citizen born in Chicago, was tased in the face by ICE agents outside a 7-Eleven store in Des Plaines on September 16, 2025, during an operation targeting his undocumented father. Ruiz attempted to hold his vehicle's door closed when agents arrived, and was tased when the agent tried to open it. He was detained for approximately two hours at a facility in Lombard before being released and taken to a hospital for medical attention. His father, Rigoberto Ruiz, who has lived in the United States for 30 years, remained in ICE custody.

Border Patrol agents conducted immigration enforcement raids across Chicago and nearby suburbs on Halloween, detaining multiple individuals. Incidents included pepper-spray deployment in Albany Park, an agent pointing a weapon at protesters in Evanston, and an officer punching a detainee. Three U.S. citizens were arrested for allegedly obstructing the operations, while five Mexican nationals were detained.

M-J-M-A, a 45-year-old Mexican citizen who entered the U.S. legally in January 2025 and later overstayed her visa, was arrested by ICE on October 30, 2025 while on her way to work. At the Portland ICE facility, an officer pressured her to sign a Spanish-language document waiving her right to an immigration court hearing and requesting voluntary removal, despite her intention to seek asylum, telling her that refusing would delay her departure. When her attorney was finally able to meet with her roughly three hours later, the meeting was cut short after only about 10 minutes. ICE then shackled her and transferred her to a facility in Tacoma, Washington, leaving her without attorney contact for approximately two days.

A federal agent smashed the driver's side window of a vehicle in a grocery store parking lot in Addison, Illinois on Sunday morning to detain a woman. Video posted to social media showed masked federal agents surrounding the vehicle around 8:50 a.m., with one agent using a baton to shatter the window before unlocking and opening the car doors. Multiple people were in the vehicle, though the exact number detained was unclear.

Andrea Guadalupe Velez, a 32-year-old U.S. citizen and Cal Poly Pomona graduate, was detained by ICE agents in downtown Los Angeles on June 24, 2025, when she was dropped off at work during a street sweep operation targeting vendors. Agents arrested her after she stepped into the path of an officer attempting to apprehend another individual. Velez was charged with assaulting a federal officer and reported being denied water for 24 hours while held at a detention center and unable to contact the outside world for much of her detention, which lasted more than two days. A federal judge ordered her released on $5,000 bond. The Justice Department later dismissed her case without prejudice. On August 20, Velez filed a federal tort claim alleging racial profiling and wrongful arrest; she is one of six claimants represented by the Carrillo Law Firm alleging similar misconduct by ICE and Border Patrol in Southern California.

Omar Huerta Cisneros, a 54-year-old green card holder with schizophrenia who has lived in the U.S. since childhood, was stopped by agents in Chicago's Chicago Lawn neighborhood while walking to a grocery store in October 2025. Agents zip-tied his hands and put him into an unmarked vehicle, which witnesses described as a red minivan. His family learned of the detention from a Facebook video and spent 10 days searching for him, repeatedly calling DHS offices to explain he urgently needed his medication, but no agency could tell them where he was. After 10 days, the family found Huerta wandering the streets of Franklin Park disoriented, dirty, and hungry. Based on what Huerta could recall, the family believes agents released him without a phone call or transportation home.

On October 25, 2025, a 67-year-old U.S. citizen was removed from his car and assaulted by Border Patrol agents during an immigration enforcement operation in Chicago's Old Irving Park neighborhood. The man sustained six broken ribs and internal bleeding during the incident. The enforcement operation occurred during a children's Halloween parade preparation, and tear gas was deployed near children in the area. Border Patrol agents had blocked off the street as part of their operation to apprehend an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. On October 10, 2025, Dayanne Figueroa, a U.S. citizen paralegal employed by WGN TV, was removed from her vehicle by masked Border Patrol agents on West Hubbard Street in Chicago following a traffic accident involving an unmarked government vehicle. Video footage documents armed federal agents dragging her from the car by her legs and pinning her to the ground without initially explaining the reason for the detention. Figueroa sustained injuries requiring hospital treatment. She was subsequently released without being charged. Accounts differ between Figueroa and DHS regarding who struck whom and her actions during the encounter.

Federal immigration agents deployed tear gas in the Irving Park and Avondale neighborhoods on Chicago's Northwest Side on Saturday, detaining multiple people including a landscaper, a tortilla delivery driver, and an elderly resident. Neighborhood protests occurred following the incident. The incident was alleged to violate a federal judge's temporary restraining order limiting tear gas use. Additional arrests occurred at O'Hare International Airport's rideshare lot the same day.

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.

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.

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.

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.

As protests continue outside the ICE facility in South Portland, Oregon, residents and local leaders are reporting health impacts from federal agents' use of tear gas and other chemical crowd control munitions. Area residents report symptoms including nausea, headaches, and respiratory issues. State lawmakers have expressed concerns about documented health effects including chemical burns and respiratory failure. Federal agents have deployed tear gas multiple times over recent weeks, with chemicals seeping into nearby apartments and affecting residents regardless of protest participation.

Portland Police Commander Franz Schoening testified in federal court that on October 18, federal officers accidentally escalated a No Kings protest at an ICE facility when one officer misfired a tear gas launcher, sending a canister onto the roof where other federal officers were stationed. The officers on the roof mistook the friendly fire for an attack by protesters and retaliated by firing tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd, injuring local law enforcement in the process.

Leo (Leonardo) Martinez, a U.S. citizen and volunteer with immigrant rights group VC Defensa, was monitoring ICE enforcement activity near 8th and A streets in Oxnard, California, when federal agents in an unmarked SUV rammed his pickup truck, injuring him. ICE agents told dispatchers and police that Martinez had struck their vehicle, but body camera footage from Oxnard Police and witness videos, including footage released by VC Defensa, contradicted their account and instead showed the ICE Jeep striking Martinez's Nissan truck. Martinez was arrested at the scene and taken to a federal facility, identified as the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, where he was released the same day. He was told he could face charges, but the U.S. Attorney's Office has not filed any charges against him.

Jude Jasmine Jeannine Allard, 28, and Jenaro-Ernesto Ayala, 43, day-laborer advocates, were arrested by federal Border Patrol at a Home Depot parking lot in Van Nuys on suspicion of interfering with immigration enforcement operations. They are facing additional felony charges for allegedly placing homemade tire spikes to disable law enforcement vehicles. Ayala is a U.S. citizen and outreach coordinator at the Van Nuys Day Labor Center who helps connect workers with resources and jobs. After their arrests, attorneys Cal Soto and Colleen Flynn attempted to meet with the detainees at the Federal Detention Center on Alameda Street in Downtown Los Angeles but were denied access, with federal authorities citing ongoing "processing" and inability to locate where the detainees were being held.

A 32-year-old man identified as G.R.R. was arrested at a Colorado Springs nightclub while waiting to be a designated driver for a friend. He was detained for over six weeks. The ACLU filed a lawsuit on his behalf challenging the arrest as lacking probable cause and part of a pattern of indiscriminate enforcement.