Human Impact Project

A man was detained by masked men identifying themselves as ICE agents moments after a judge dismissed the criminal case he had come to fight at the Otero County District Courthouse, according to Dayna Louise Jones, District Defender for the 12th Judicial District. His children, who were present, described the men as masked and traveling in an unmarked vehicle, and Jones said witnesses told her office the detention 'appeared to be coordinated and preplanned with local entities.' Twelfth Judicial District officials, including chief clerk Audrey Hukari, say court staff had no advance knowledge that federal agents were present and that the detention took place in the courthouse parking lot, which is owned by Otero County rather than the court. Hukari cited a New Mexico Supreme Court order requiring outside law enforcement to present credentials to courthouse security and to avoid interfering with proceedings, though the policy does not address parking lots; the man has not been publicly identified, and Otero County has not responded to requests for comment.

Aleks Latsabidze, 46, a native and citizen of the country of Georgia with a pending asylum case and a prior bid for employment-based permanent residence, worked as a commercial truck driver based out of New York. On August 15, 2026, he was involved in a collision between two semi-trucks on Interstate 80 near North Platte, Nebraska, after a truck merged onto the highway below the minimum speed limit and was struck from behind; the other driver, Jose Espinosa Salazar, 40, of Florida, was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators initially told Latsabidze they would not charge him and planned to release him, but after learning he was not a U.S. citizen, they contacted ICE, which requested he be held; he was booked into the Lincoln County Jail/Detention Center on an immigration hold the day after the crash. On August 24, Nebraska State Patrol announced he had also been arrested on suspicion of motor vehicle homicide following further investigation. Latsabidze filed a federal habeas corpus petition on August 19, arguing no immigration warrant was presented and that he never received a Notice to Appear. On September 21, a federal judge in Nebraska granted his petition in part, ordering the government to provide him a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) within seven days or release him immediately.

Elia, a mother of three who has worked as a housekeeper for nearly 20 years, was detained by police and placed on an ICE hold while traveling to see her dying grandmother in hospice care. Her daughter Sindy describes her as the family's devoted caregiver and provider, noting that her son Jonathan, who has autism, relies on her daily for support and advocacy. With Elia in custody, the family is raising money through a GoFundMe campaign to cover everyday expenses and anticipated legal costs.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested four people during a targeted enforcement operation in the Moab, Utah area. ICE said two were Mexican nationals with final removal orders or prior voluntary departures who had re-entered the country, while the other two were Turkish nationals described as being in the country without authorization, with no further details provided on their cases. Grand County Sheriff Jamison Wiggins said the operation was not relayed to his office in advance and called it an "unprecedented lack of information and communication," adding that administrative warrants were being served and that his office and Moab Police would not assist; ICE countered that it had notified local officials of the plans the prior Saturday and said it aims to be a good partner with local law enforcement. The Moab Valley Multicultural Center activated its emergency protocol, offering free rides and information to residents concerned about the ICE presence, and said agents were in the area from about 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., though it could not independently verify how many people were taken.

Following the mid-September enforcement operation that booked 13 people into the Burleigh Morton Detention Center, ICE activity in the Bismarck area increased further the week of Sept. 21, with a jail roster review showing 19 to more than two dozen people arrested by ICE in custody by Sept. 26. Two employees of Charras and Tequila, a Bismarck restaurant, were detained by ICE despite the owner's statement that they had documentation authorizing them to work in the U.S.; the restaurant closed temporarily afterward, citing fear among remaining staff. An ICE spokesperson said the two employees lack legal status and that work authorization does not confer it. About 75 people gathered Sept. 25 outside the William L. Guy Federal Building in Bismarck to protest the enforcement operations.

ICE agents detained a man who was resisting arrest inside Bravo Supermarket in West Park, Florida. A witness recorded video showing multiple agents attempting to subdue the man on the floor of the store as customers looked on. The arrest was part of a larger multi-agency operation, Operation Sandhill Sentinel 9.0, involving ICE, Border Patrol, HSI, the Florida Highway Patrol and the Broward Sheriff's Office, which has reportedly resulted in about 250 immigration arrests in South Florida.

ICE agents from the New Orleans field office arrested 13 suspected undocumented immigrants in Marshall County, Alabama, including 10 Haitian nationals and three Guatemalans. The operation, assisted by the Marshall County Sheriff's Office, Albertville Police Department and Guntersville Police Department, marked the first arrests of Haitian nationals in the area since the Trump administration ended Temporary Protected Status for Haiti in July. An ICE spokesperson described the arrests as 'standard daily enforcement,' and Sheriff Phil Sims said the number of arrests was typical for monthly operations, though the presence of Haitian nationals was notable. Marshall County is home to more than 700 Haitians, many drawn by jobs at local chicken plants.

Feride Bardakci, a 26-year-old Turkish national working two restaurant jobs in Jackson, Wyoming, was intercepted by plainclothes ICE agents at a START bus stop near a Target while traveling between shifts. Agents restrained her with zip ties and drove her roughly 270 miles to the Natrona County Detention Center in Casper, citing an alleged visa overstay; DHS said she entered the U.S. legally near Atlanta in June 2023 with authorization until April 2024 but stayed past that date, and officials confirmed she had no criminal record. Her employer, Teton Tiger General Manager Monica Rozzi, called her 'a friend to all of us' and 'a wonderful person,' and coworkers, community members, Jackson's mayor and the Teton County Sheriff criticized ICE for not notifying local law enforcement. The Jackson restaurant and immigrant community rallied to support her roommate, raised money for legal fees, and connected her with an attorney, prompting her to contest her removal rather than self-deport. She has since been transferred to an ICE detention facility in Aurora, Colorado.

A woman working at El Corralón, an immigrant-owned nightclub and restaurant in Memphis, was arrested during a pre-dawn ICE raid on August 30 dubbed 'Operation Corral Light' and, due to a prior removal order, was flown to Honduras within days, reuniting there with her husband who had been deported the previous year after a traffic stop. Her four U.S.-citizen children remain in Memphis with their grandmother, who said the youngest wakes up crying for his mother while a 16-year-old has taken on helping raise the younger kids; reunification is complicated because no power of attorney was arranged and the children lack passports. The raid, initially targeting illegal gambling and a Honduran national suspected of running criminal activity, resulted in 121 arrests after agents corralled patrons and employees, checked immigration status, and zip-tied them onto buses while children screamed for detained parents. Only five of those arrested had criminal histories, and advocacy group Vecindarios 901 said it is working to identify detainees and connect families with attorneys. The ACLU of Tennessee, a state representative, and Memphis's mayor questioned whether the operation exceeded the scope of its gambling and narcotics warrants, and advocates alleged agents beat two security guards.

Post Falls police announced they made 15 arrests of people suspected of violating federal immigration law after joining the 287(g) program with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE agents accompanied Post Falls officers during joint patrol operations from Aug. 24 to Aug. 28, resulting in 13 arrests, with two additional arrests made later. The department said it does not anticipate the number of arrests during the training period reflects future operations.

A former Guilford County detention officer, Michael Diehl, 40, was charged with 20 counts of felony forgery after allegedly submitting fake magistrate signatures on ICE detainer forms. The investigation began after the Magistrate's Office flagged a forged document in the case of detainee Claudio Nepornuceno, filed under North Carolina's HB 153 detainer process, which allows magistrates to hold ICE detainees up to 48 additional hours before transfer to federal custody. A review of jail records then uncovered 19 more forms with allegedly forged magistrate signatures. Diehl, who had worked for the Sheriff's Office since June 2008, was fired and arrested, and the investigation is ongoing.

A man was arrested by ICE agents alongside Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers near 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Miami Beach. According to a witness account, two unmarked vehicles and a Florida Fish & Wildlife truck were used in the operation, and children were reportedly present as a school crossing guard had to stop traffic during the arrest. The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission has a 287(g) agreement with ICE authorizing its officers to conduct immigration arrests.

Iara do Carmo Santana, a 29-year-old Brazilian woman working as a house cleaner, was arrested by Malden police after her fiancé, Gabriel Lemos, called 911 out of concern for her mental health following a recent miscarriage and related infection. She was booked, released from police custody, then detained by ICE, which accessed her information through a shared FBI database, and held for roughly four days at ICE's Burlington, Massachusetts field office. She said she received no medical evaluation upon arrival and was often denied her prescribed antibiotics, causing her infection symptoms to worsen. Federal judge Leo T. Sorokin ordered her release on September 8, criticizing ICE for its failure to provide necessary medical care. She was reunited with Lemos, a legal permanent resident she plans to marry next year, and her 6-year-old son. Do Carmo Santana has a pending asylum case and holds employment authorization. "I was afraid that I was going to go crazy in there," she said. "I was really scared."

Federal agents returned to the area of the Geisinger Medical Center construction project on September 8, following earlier September 2 arrests connected to the same project, with advocates reporting eight more people detained in the second operation. Workers told advocates that agents used drones, monitored vehicles and worked with local police during the arrests, with one worker describing it as feeling like a "manhunt" that has left coworkers afraid to return to work. Advocacy groups have said more than 40 workers were detained across both operations, but an ICE spokesperson said the agency arrested 10 people in Danville, stating they face felony charges for illegal reentry after prior removal and did not cite any record of violent crime.

Jose Antonio Caballero-Nolasco, a 32-year-old Salvadoran national living in the U.S. without legal status, was charged with manslaughter and vehicular homicide after allegedly driving drunk the wrong way on the I-270 Spur in Bethesda/Montgomery County, Maryland, causing a head-on collision. The crash killed 46-year-old Musammat Shamima Begum and her 23-year-old daughter Areebah Jahin, and left an 8-year-old girl in their vehicle with life-threatening injuries. Caballero-Nolasco was treated at a hospital before being transferred to the Montgomery County Detention Center, where he is being held without bond. ICE lodged an immigration detainer asking local officials not to release him, though Montgomery County's sanctuary policies and Maryland's Community Trust Act make it unclear whether the detainer will be honored. His attorney said he is a construction worker who has lived in the U.S. for 10 years and is expecting a child with his girlfriend.

Molis Augustave, a Haitian immigrant pastor and DoorDash driver in York, Pennsylvania, was pulled over on September 4, 2026 for a burned-out headlight and expired registration, then handed to ICE under a local 287(g) agreement. He entered the U.S. legally in 2016 but lost Temporary Protected Status after the Trump administration ended TPS for Haitians in July 2026, despite having a pending green card application through his U.S. citizen wife, Omara Nunez, with whom he has two young children. He was transferred to a Louisiana ICE facility and moved toward a deportation flight to Haiti, but was pulled off the plane at the last minute after advocacy from his wife, church, and organizations including We Are CASA and the Haitian Bridge Alliance; 89 others on that flight were deported. Augustave says he was handled roughly during his initial detention, leaving him with ongoing neck and back pain, but has since become a source of support for other detainees, leading Bible study and counseling men who are frightened or losing hope. His wife filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court and an appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals, while local pastors and state Sen. Patty Kim held a news conference calling for his release.

A joint operation by the Lorain County Sheriff's Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and ICE swept through farmland and roadways near Oberlin, Ohio, arresting two men on criminal human trafficking charges and detaining roughly 50 other people on civil immigration violations. The yearlong investigation targeted a suspected smuggling network accused of recruiting workers under false pretenses and transporting them to agricultural businesses using shell transportation and contracting companies. Law enforcement conducted traffic stops of at least six vans and used a drone to track movement during the operation; three U.S. citizens were left behind in a Walmart parking lot after others nearby were detained. Oberlin city officials said they had no advance knowledge of the operation, which conflicts with the city's longstanding sanctuary policy limiting local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

More than 60 federal agents raided the Nutrition Bar Confectioners plant in Cato, New York in September 2025, herding roughly 160 workers into a breakroom and arresting 57 of about 100 people questioned, including pregnant women and mothers of young children. Body camera footage later released in a lawsuit showed agents breaking down a locked bathroom stall door to remove a female employee and separating workers by citizenship status, with some told they would be arrested if they asked for an attorney. Argentina Juarez-Lopez, 50, invoked her right to counsel, but an agent falsely claimed she confessed without one; a federal judge called the conduct 'grossly negligent' and suppressed the evidence, yet she was deported after her case was dismissed. Juana Castillo Avelar, a mother of three U.S. citizen children who had lived in the U.S. over 20 years, was granted $9,000 bond but was deported before ICE would release her, based on a false claim she had appealed. Only five of the 57 arrested faced criminal charges, mostly for illegal reentry, and no charges have been filed against the company. The New York Civil Liberties Union and the Worker Justice Center of New York filed a lawsuit alleging officers lacked arrest warrants, exceeded search warrant authority, and violated workers' Fourth Amendment rights; one deported plaintiff has since been allowed to reenter the country while attorneys for another seek his return.

Federal immigration agents, supported by state and local law enforcement, conducted an operation at China Buffet restaurant in Greeneville, Tennessee on September 2, 2026. Homeland Security Investigations confirmed that several undocumented individuals were detained, with witnesses reporting that around 10 to 14 people, some of Mexican origin, were held. Photos and videos shared by nearby witnesses showed the detained individuals sitting on a curb and in the parking lot behind the restaurant while officers stood by. The restaurant, located in the Fairgrounds Plaza, closed early and remained closed that evening. ICE described the matter as an active, ongoing investigation and officials have not confirmed an exact number of arrests.

An operation at the El Corralón bar in Memphis's Berclair neighborhood, which began just before 1 a.m. on August 30 as a state-led raid targeting illegal gambling and drugs, turned into the city's largest documented immigration sweep. State and federal agents, including Tennessee Highway Patrol and ICE, shut off the music, questioned patrons about their legal status, and restrained many with cable ties before busing 121 people to ICE detention facilities. The Department of Homeland Security later named the operation "Operation Corral Light," and Memphis Mayor Paul Young said local police had no role in planning it; officials have released criminal histories for only five of those detained.