Human Impact Project

Federal Border Patrol and Homeland Security agents took Jose Cordova-Lopez into custody after a hours-long operation at a home in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Cordova-Lopez, a Mexican national with no legal status, was wanted in connection with immigration proceedings and allegedly resisting an ICE officer's attempted traffic stop. Family members reported that agents broke down the door and used force, with claims that one family member was hit in the face. Children were present during the operation.

A U.S. citizen and Latina woman named Maria, a citizen for seven years, was stopped by four ICE agents in unmarked vehicles while driving to pick up a birthday cake for her grandson in Salem, Oregon. Agents broke her car window, pulled her from the vehicle, and threw her to the ground, leaving only after finding her passport and telling her to renew it, without calling for medical help. She suffered a concussion, torn rotator cuff, and bruised ribs, and Salem Police told her family they could not investigate federal officer misconduct. On July 28, U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas cited her case at a congressional hearing in Houston, calling for body cameras on immigration agents and independent investigations when they injure people.

A group of more than 30 Hispanic Texans filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of Texas challenging ICE practices that detain U.S. citizens and require proof of citizenship for release. The lawsuit alleges that immigration authorities violate constitutional protections against unreasonable arrests and due process rights. The complaint references a January 9 ICE raid in Donna, Texas, where agents allegedly detained U.S. citizens at gunpoint without a judicial warrant.

ICE chartered a private Gulfstream IV jet owned by Florida property developer Gil Dezer, a Trump associate and donor, to deport Palestinian men from the United States to the West Bank. At least two deportation flights occurred on January 20-21 and February 1-2, 2026, transporting eight or more detainees from an Arizona detention facility through multiple countries (New Jersey, Ireland, Bulgaria) before reaching Tel Aviv and the West Bank. Among those deported was 24-year-old Maher Awad, a long-term green card holder who had lived in the U.S. for nearly a decade and had a newborn son in Michigan. The men were shackled throughout the multi-country journey and reported being abandoned at checkpoints with minimal resources. A joint investigation by +972 Magazine and The Guardian documented the flights, with former U.S. officials and immigration lawyers characterizing them as indicative of a shift in Trump administration deportation policy toward more aggressive mass deportation tactics.

ICE agent Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. drove an unmarked SUV on a highway shoulder, pulled up next to another vehicle, and pointed his gun at the heads of two civilians inside. The driver called 911. Morgan was charged with felony second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.

Hundreds of high school students organized a peaceful march from City Hall to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center on February 5, 2026 to protest ICE raids. LAPD in riot gear formed skirmish lines and charged at the students multiple times throughout the afternoon, resulting in at least two arrests. Officers were documented using force against minors, including throwing students to the ground and striking a protester with a baton, while ICE agents were observed coordinating with LAPD at the detention center.

Two Afghan brothers with pending asylum claims were detained by ICE during a routine check-in with the Alternatives to Detention unit on Tuesday morning. Mohammad Emran Kohistani and Mohammad Sajad Kohistani, who presented themselves at the U.S. border in 2023 and were released on their own recognizance, were told they were not "appropriately vetted" at the border. Their attorney filed an emergency habeas petition and temporary restraining order, with a federal court hearing scheduled for Thursday.

Federal ICE agents conducted arrests in downtown Phoenixville, Pennsylvania on February 4, 2026, targeting individuals in vehicles. Witnesses reported the arrests involved agents smashing windows and forcibly removing people from cars.

Julien Pereira, a 26-year-old French tennis coach, was detained by U.S. Border Patrol and ICE after being denied entry to Canada while awaiting work visa paperwork. He spent a month in an ICE facility in Batavia, New York, where he experienced shackling, inadequate food and water, and harsh conditions before being released on bail and ordered to leave the U.S. within 15 days.

Immigration officers with guns drawn arrested activists who were following their vehicles in south Minneapolis on Tuesday. At least one person wearing anti-ICE clothing was handcuffed face-down on the ground.

A woman reported that ICE agents attempted to kidnap her twin brother, a Black American man, in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. According to the account, agents rammed into his pickup truck and chased him without apparent reason. The family is seeking public awareness of the incident.

On January 14, 2026, an ICE agent shot and wounded Julio Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan immigrant, during an enforcement operation in north Minneapolis following a traffic stop pursuit. The Department of Homeland Security initially claimed Sosa-Celis attacked an agent with a shovel and broomstick for three minutes, but video footage contradicted this account, showing only a 12-second confrontation with no sustained attack. Prosecutors had access to the video within hours but did not review it until nearly three weeks after charging Sosa-Celis and his housemate; both charges were subsequently dropped. Two federal ICE agents were placed on administrative leave after DHS determined their testimony was untrue, and they faced possible termination or criminal charges for apparent perjury.

On August 13, 2025, DHS agents deployed tear gas and fired less-lethal bullets from the roof of an ICE facility at 4310 S Macadam Ave in Portland, targeting civilians peacefully demonstrating on the public sidewalk. A U.S. military veteran was violently attacked from behind, assaulted, and pinned to the ground while being exposed to tear gas for approximately two minutes by three DHS agents. On January 31, 2026, federal agents deployed tear gas on a densely packed crowd of peaceful anti-ICE protesters during a labor union-led rally and march near the ICE facility. The crowd included children, elderly people, and pets who marched from Elizabeth Caruthers Park before being trapped in lingering tear gas plumes. Agents used tear gas again on February 3. The ACLU of Oregon filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of five plaintiffs: Jack Dickinson (known as "the Portland chicken"), Laurie Eckman (84), Richard Eckman, Mason Lake, and Hugo Rios. Laurie Eckman was shot in the head with a crowd control munition without warning; her husband was tear-gassed and had a munition fired at his walker. Dickinson was repeatedly assaulted and bombarded with chemical munitions. Independent journalists Lake and Rios were shot with pepper balls, tear-gassed, had lights pointed at them to interfere with recording, and Lake was sprayed with bear mace. U.S. District Judge Michael Simon issued a temporary restraining order on February 3 pausing tear gas or crowd control munitions use on non-violent protesters and journalists unless targeting a specific imminent threat. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed an amicus brief supporting the lawsuit.

Federal immigration agents detained an employee at NATIFS, an Indigenous-focused nonprofit restaurant in Minneapolis owned by chef Sean Sherman, outside the restaurant on February 2, 2026. Agents blocked a vehicle carrying staff members, pulled the employee from the car at gunpoint, and stated they were checking paperwork. The employee was transferred to Texas overnight without access to needed medication and without the family being notified in advance. Chef Sherman stated the employee had legal documentation and characterized the armed enforcement as inappropriate.

Federal immigration agents arrested Carlos Chavez, a community member and father of three, during a food distribution event at North Hills United Methodist Church in the San Fernando Valley. Church leaders say Chavez was helping with children's ministries and was chased across the parking lot by armed agents in masks. Following the incident, the church moved its food ministry and after-school programs online.

ICE agents smashed the windows of a car and arrested a man without a warrant while his wife held their crying baby and pleaded with the agents. During the arrest, the man briefly escaped from the ICE van while still wearing handcuffs.

A 19-year-old anti-ICE protester was sprayed with chemical agent by a federal officer during a protest in Portland. The protester was vocal but nonviolent and standing still when sprayed. Video evidence documents the incident.

Federal ICE agents were present outside the Ventura County Sheriff's Office on Monday, February 2, 2026, where protesters and observers had gathered. During the encounter, an ICE agent threw a woman to the ground and subsequently used pepper spray on the crowd. Witnesses stated they were documenting the ICE operation and posed no physical threat to officers. At least one person was detained during the incident. The woman who was thrown to the ground declined to speak about what happened.

Diego, from Ecuador, was surrounded by three ICE agents as he sat in his vehicle in February. He cried out for help ("¡Auxilio! ¡Ayúdenme!"), which drew a neighbor to her window. The neighbor witnessed the arrest and partly captured what happened on her phone. When Diego emerged from the vehicle, his face was bloody.

Maria Santay, a U.S. citizen and community observer, livestreamed her detainment by federal immigration agents at an El Monte gas station on February 1, 2026. Agents surrounded her vehicle and broke her car window with a hammer while she recorded on Instagram. She was detained and released Friday evening with charges including resisting arrest.