Human Impact Project

Masked federal agents detained at least six workers outside the Hilltop Community Children's Center in Pittsburgh's Knoxville neighborhood on the morning of May 6, 2026. The operation occurred in a parking lot across the street from the daycare while parents were dropping off children at a nearby elementary school. Daycare staff used whistles and a toy drum to alert neighbors. Three of the detained workers, employed by a local roofing company, were subsequently released; several others remained in custody.

A police chief and officer from Gratis, Ohio, attempted to enter three Cincinnati Public Schools on April 15, claiming to conduct wellness checks on behalf of ICE. School officials denied them entry without warrants or specific student requests. The officers, from a department with an ICE partnership agreement, were outside their jurisdiction. Cincinnati officials, including the mayor, condemned the visit, stating the officers intimidated children and families.

Valley View Elementary School in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, where two-thirds of students are Latino, was heavily impacted by ICE enforcement operations in early 2026. At least 30 parents and four students were detained. School staff provided support to affected students through counseling and joy-focused activities. The detentions caused widespread fear and disruption in the school community.

Hillsdale police officers operating under a 287(g) agreement with ICE visited Ritenour Middle School on April 4, 2026, inquiring about three students. The officers appeared in the school parking lot in tactical gear but did not enter the building due to lacking a warrant. School administrators redirected the officers to district headquarters where they asked about the students' status. The incident raised community concerns about the expansion of 287(g) partnerships in the region.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents reportedly detained two people in Lawrence on February 27, including near the University of Kansas campus. Approximately 80 protesters gathered outside Strong Hall. The university stated it was still gathering information about whether any KU students or employees were involved.

Ellie Aghayeva, a Columbia University General Studies student from Azerbaijan, was arrested by ICE agents early Thursday morning at her university-owned residence. According to University President Claire Shipman, federal agents impersonated New York Police Department officers to gain entry to the building. Aghayeva was released from ICE custody Thursday afternoon and posted on Instagram that she was "safe and okay." Her student visa had been terminated in 2016 for failing to attend classes.

Ramon Checo Hilario, a Providence Uber driver, was arrested by Cranston police on Feb. 26, 2026, after being wrongly identified as the suspect in a Jan. 27 theft of about $3,300 worth of sunglasses from a Cranston Sunglass Hut. Police linked the crime to Hilario through his car's registration despite differences between him and the surveillance footage, and ICE then detained him for 56 days, from Feb. 26 to April 23, before his release on bond. The shoplifting charge was later dismissed, and on May 27 Hilario filed suit in U.S. District Court in Providence against Cranston police, the city, an unnamed officer, Sunglass Hut, and a store employee, seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages for false arrest, malicious prosecution, negligence, and emotional distress.

A 10-year-old U.S. citizen named Dylan recounted fleeing during an ICE operation that began near his school bus stop in Lindenwold, New Jersey on Thursday morning. Children waiting at the bus stop panicked and ran when they saw ICE enforcement vehicles, with Dylan running home in fear. The Lindenwold School District said the presence of multiple enforcement vehicles caused significant fear and confusion among fourth- and fifth-graders.

ICE agents detained a father outside Mayra's Spanish Preschool and Daycare in Boise on Friday, February 6, 2026, after he dropped off his child. Multiple agents using unmarked vehicles and wearing masks blocked in the man without providing a warrant, instead showing him a picture and asking for identification. According to court records, the man had a misdemeanor theft charge from 2024 but no active cases or warrants at the time of detention. The incident alarmed parents and staff at the school, which serves children ages 18 months to 5 years.

Jhony Gonzalez Merino, a Mexican national from the Triqui Indigenous group, was arrested by ICE agents in Anchorage in February 2026 after dropping off his son at school. He had applied for asylum. After initial detention at the Anchorage jail, Gonzalez Merino was transferred to the federal immigration detention center in Tacoma, Washington, where he remains.

An Angolan woman with an active immigration case pending in court was arrested while taking her 6-year-old daughter to school and detained at Dilley Immigration Processing Center. Upon release in mid-February 2026, she was given a court summons to appear near her original arrest location but was transported to Laredo, Texas—over 2,200 miles away from her home in Maine. The family faced difficulties accessing transportation to return home.

ICE agents detained multiple parents near a school bus drop-off spot in Ypsilanti while students were arriving or departing for school. Local school officials and the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office confirmed the detentions occurred near bus stops, though not on school property itself. The superintendent stated the school district does not voluntarily cooperate with ICE and described the circumstances as distressing.

On January 28, 2026, ICE agents conducted an early morning enforcement operation at the intersection of Salinas and Carpinteria Streets in Santa Barbara's Eastside neighborhood, near Franklin Elementary School. During the operation, ICE agents pepper-sprayed and physically pushed multiple residents who had gathered to document the activity. Community members, including Beth Goodman who was distributing ICE resource information, witnessed and recorded the incident. At least one woman was sprayed while documenting the operation, and a man in a yellow sweatshirt escaped arrest. Santa Barbara Police Department and firefighters responded to provide medical assistance and help de-escalate the confrontation. An unknown number of individuals were detained by ICE, and no arrests were made by local police.

A Chula Vista family of four was reunited after both parents, Reinaldo Chirino from Venezuela and Kris Estefany Pineda-Torregosa from Colombia, were released from ICE custody following more than two weeks of detention in late January. The parents were detained after dropping their children at school, leaving their two young sons in the care of a family friend. One parent was released after a judge granted bond, and the couple is now fighting their removal case while being monitored with ankle bracelets.

ICE enforcement operations in Minnesota during January 2026 resulted in the detention of at least seven students from Columbia Heights Public Schools, including a five-year-old boy. The operations included stops of individuals without confirmed identity verification and stops of off-duty police officers, with agents staging on school grounds and in neighborhoods. St. Paul and Brooklyn Park police chiefs acknowledged concerns about racial profiling and potential civil rights violations. School officials reported the year was "tumultuous," with students and families experiencing ongoing negative impacts and fears about student retention.

A 10-year-old girl and her father, Guatemalan asylum-seekers with six years of U.S. residency and an active asylum claim, were detained by federal agents in Spokane on January 9 after a school drop-off and transferred to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. The father holds a valid work permit and has no criminal history. Washington state leaders condemned the enforcement action, noting the family's community ties and scheduled 2027 court hearing.

ICE arrested 19-year-old Willmar High School student Suban Noor on January 12. She was reportedly held in custody for several days before being released.

A parent was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Wednesday morning while waiting at a bus stop with their child in Crystal, Minnesota. The incident occurred at Northport Elementary School's bus stop, and multiple students and the bus driver witnessed the detention. The school district stated that all students, including the child of the arrested parent, were able to safely board the bus and provided support services to affected students and staff.

Christina Rank, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen classroom assistant, was arrested by ICE agents outside Concord Education Center in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota on Monday, January 12, 2026, around 7:30 a.m. ICE agents claimed Rank rammed an agent's vehicle, but witnesses disputed this account, stating the agent ran into her white Honda and broke her window. Rank was held in custody at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling for almost 12 hours before being released. As of Monday afternoon, no charges had been filed against her. Her mother, Sarah Rank, questioned the purpose of ICE agents at the school and the use of force employed during the arrest.

A Roosevelt High School staff member, Quentin Williams, said he feared he might die after being tackled and choked by federal agents during a January 7 immigration enforcement operation near the Minneapolis campus, part of a broader effort known as Operation Metro Surge. The Department of Homeland Security said Border Patrol agents pursued a vehicle after its driver allegedly struck a government vehicle, with the chase ending near the school, and said a man who identified himself as a teacher assaulted an agent while a crowd threw objects at officers. Williams, who had been assisting special-education students, said he stepped between agents and the school community after the confrontation began. Union representatives and DHS officials continue to give differing accounts of what occurred that day.