Human Impact Project

ICE agents conducted multiple enforcement activities in St. Paul, Minnesota involving immigrant communities. In one incident, agents knocked on a resident's door in the North End neighborhood and asked her to identify Hmong and Asian households, without clearly displaying badges. In a separate incident at a downtown bus stop on 6th Street and Jackson, ICE agents were photographed surrounding a man with his head covered by a black bag. These incidents occurred as part of broader ICE enforcement operations.

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.

Laura, a 24-year-old asylum applicant from Honduras, gave birth in January 2026 but remained isolated in her apartment with her newborn daughter due to fear of ICE enforcement. Her stress about immigration authorities was so severe that it affected her physical health during labor, reducing oxytocin production critical for delivery and breastfeeding. Her boyfriend rarely visited after the hospital stay, fearing detention if he left his mother's home. Fear of immigration enforcement continues to isolate Laura from the family and community support typically available to new mothers.

Tear gas was deployed into a home during an ICE arrest operation Friday night in the Berclair area of Memphis involving a family, ICE agents, and the Memphis Safe Task Force. Children were exposed to tear gas during the operation, though they were sheltered in a closet.

Thousands of Minneapolis residents have organized into rapid response groups called ICE Watch to monitor and document Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in their neighborhoods. The groups, coordinated through organizations like Defend the 612, witness arrests, record incidents on video, and document community member interactions with ICE. Federal agents have conducted vehicle box-ins, window breaking, and surveillance of observers' homes during these operations.

Tenth grader Arnoldo Bazan, a 16-year-old U.S. citizen, and his father were stopped by immigration agents while getting McDonald's before school. During the encounter, agents slammed the father to the ground and put Arnoldo in a chokehold, causing him to struggle for breath. ProPublica found over 40 cases of immigration agents using banned chokeholds and other moves that restrict breathing.

A ProPublica investigation identified over 40 cases in which immigration agents used chokeholds and other neck restraints on civilians, citizens, and protesters during deportation enforcement operations, and found that at least 170 U.S. citizens have been arrested by immigration agents. Former police officers and law enforcement experts who reviewed the footage said the tactics resulted in apparent seizures, loss of consciousness, and serious injuries. In one case, plainclothes agents in Los Angeles pinned an ICU nurse, Amanda Trebach, to the pavement and knelt on her back and head while she was filming an ICE operation; she was held in federal custody without being told her rights or destination before her release. The Department of Homeland Security has not publicly reported any disciplinary action against agents despite a federal ban on such tactics since 2023.

ICE agents surrounded a family's home with weapons drawn and pointed guns at an unarmed mother and her children. Agents briefly detained a U.S. citizen teenager without a warrant before releasing him after realizing they lacked authority to arrest him. The incident involved armed agents at an unarmed family inside their own home.

Abel, an undocumented immigrant who has lived in Minnesota for 29 years with his four U.S.-born children, was detained by immigration agents on January 13, 2026, while delivering groceries to families in hiding during Operation Metro Surge. Agents pulled over his vehicle in Burnsville and arrested him despite his pending green card approval. He was held at a detention center in El Paso, Texas, for two weeks before being released on January 29, 2026. His arrest forced his wife into hiding and left his sons to manage household responsibilities.

Jonathan Aguilar Garcia, a 17-year-old U.S. citizen working at a Target store in Richfield, Minnesota, was tackled to the ground, handcuffed, and forced into a van by federal immigration agents on January 8, 2026, after being asked if he was a citizen. Video captured by Bring Me The News shows Garcia repeatedly shouting, "I'm literally a U.S. citizen," as he presented identification including a passport while being restrained. His sister said on Facebook that he hit his head during the confrontation but was otherwise safe. Garcia was released hours later with injuries at a Walmart parking lot after agents verified his citizenship. A coworker, Christian Miranda Romano, was also detained in the same incident and later released. The Department of Homeland Security said one of the two employees was arrested for assaulting a federal officer, though no charges have been filed. The detention occurred during Operation Metro Surge, an immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota that began December 1, 2025, and is among more than 500 cases ProPublica has documented of U.S. citizens detained by immigration agents under the Trump administration.

A Salvadoran man who entered the U.S. at age 12 in 2007 and has lived here continuously since was arrested by ICE agents at Long Beach Airport in January 2026 after clearing security and while waiting to board a flight. He is the father of three U.S. citizen children, ages 10, 5, and 3, whom he saw daily and helped care for after school before his detention; most of his extended family, including his mother, brother, and other relatives, live in the United States. He had previously held DACA status, which expired after his renewal applications were denied without explanation, and an in absentia removal order had been entered against him in 2008 when he was 13 and never received notice of the hearing. After his detention, an immigration judge reopened his removal case and rescinded the 2008 order, and he applied for cancellation of removal, which remains pending with a hearing scheduled for September 2026. He has been held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center since his arrest, including a period when he was transferred to Arizona in violation of a court order. After two bond hearings denied him release—one where the burden was misapplied and another where he was found not dangerous but still a flight risk—he filed this habeas petition seeking release rather than a new hearing, and the court granted the petition, ordering his immediate release and further briefing on whether he is entitled to protection from re-detention given his DACA history and prior liberty interest.

Brenda Beatriz Organiz-Perez De Lorenzo, a Guatemalan woman and her two minor children, petitioned for review after being denied asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. She fled Guatemala in February 2019 after receiving threatening phone calls demanding money. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals denied her petition, finding she failed to establish eligibility for relief on multiple grounds including lack of nexus between the threats and her claimed protected social group.

ICE agents conducted a raid at and near a laundromat on Speedwell Avenue in Morristown, New Jersey, detaining 11 people. At least one father was taken into custody, leaving his 6-year-old daughter alone on the street. Those detained include a Morristown High School senior, identified through an online fundraiser set up to support him. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said all those arrested are either in removal proceedings or in the process of being removed from the United States. Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty posted a video appealing for volunteer legal aid to assist those detained.

A Mexican and Ojibwe U.S. citizen from Crystal, Minnesota, with family from the Red Lake Nation, was detained by ICE agents outside a Hy-Vee in Robbinsdale on Jan. 8 after agents said he matched the description of an Ecuadoran national with a criminal history. The incident was filmed by his aunt, Shawntia Sosa-Clara, who called police and repeatedly stated they were citizens; bystanders can be heard reacting on the video. He was released after several hours in custody but now faces a federal charge of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer, which he denies; photos show bruising on his wrists and neck that his family attributes to the encounter. The Robbinsdale Police Department said it does not work with ICE or ask about immigration status but does not interfere with federal operations except in life-or-death situations.

Génesis Ester Gutiérrez Castellanos, a 5-year-old U.S. citizen from Austin, Texas, who misses her cousins, classmates and kindergarten teachers, was deported to Honduras alongside her mother, Karen Guadalupe Gutiérrez Castellanos. The removal stemmed from an administrative deportation order issued against the mother in 2019, before Génesis was born. According to advocacy group Grassroots Leadership, Austin police responding to an early-morning disturbance call found no incident but identified the ICE warrant, leading to the arrest of both mother and daughter. They were held incommunicado for nearly a week at a San Antonio hotel without access to legal representation or a judge, with authorities allegedly pressuring them not to disclose their location, preventing attorneys from intervening before deportation. The mother briefly reached her brother by phone to say they were about to be removed, and later called from Honduras to confirm the deportation. She has said she plans to send her daughter back to the U.S. with another relative, since Génesis is a U.S. citizen.

Adonay Mancia Rodríguez was detained by ICE agents near his home in Morristown, New Jersey on January 11, 2026, during an enforcement sweep while picking up a dinner delivery. His six-year-old daughter Annabella was found wandering the streets alone following his detention. According to DHS, ICE took 11 individuals into custody during the operation who were undocumented and facing deportation.

Border Patrol detained Guatemalan father Arnoldo Tiul Caal and his 10-year-old daughter Karla on January 10 in Spokane, alleging he missed multiple required immigration check-ins while seeking asylum. The pair were transported to a detention facility in Texas but were released Friday by a federal judge. The father had been living in Spokane since 2019 with his daughter, who was a fourth-grader at Logan Elementary School.

Everyone had their case dismissed that afternoon which meant ICE could now take them at anytime. With only one way out of the building and ICE sitting in cars throughout the parking lot I knew what was going to happen. The mother’s friend-who had been sitting in the car next to mine-stepped out and met them by the front entrance, just a few feet from where I stood with the Priests. For a second, I couldn’t tell if the mother realized what was about to happen. But it only took that second. Suddenly, the ICE agents-every one of them a masked man-began walking toward us. Toward her. And that’s when it started. The little girl saw them first. “Mommy! Mommy!” she screamed, and burst into tears. Then her brother realized what was happening and started crying too. ICE doesn’t like to take children when the Priests are present and watching. ICE -asked whoever is with the kids to follow them to a different location, so they can take the children too. Because the kids are also in removal proceedings. Please donate so The Sidewalk School can continue to document and record these “disappearances” To donate: SidewalkSchool.org ***Video recorded by The Sidewalk School

Jose Manuel De Paz Cruz, a 31-year-old father with no criminal record, was arrested by ICE agents in Sunset Park on January 10, 2026, while walking home from work to attend his step-son's birthday party. After being detained in Brooklyn, Cruz was transferred to multiple locations including Manhattan, New Jersey, Arizona, and California.

Jose Roberto Ramirez, a 20-year-old descendant of the Red Lake Nation, was detained by ICE agents on January 8, 2026, after being pulled over at a Hy-Vee grocery store in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. According to one account, agents struck him on his face and body during the arrest despite his aunt identifying him as a citizen and Native American. Ramirez is not enrolled in the Red Lake Nation due to the tribe's blood quantum requirement and had no tribal identification. He was released after his mother provided his birth certificate. ICE later claimed he assaulted a federal officer; Ramirez denies the charge and has since been charged with assaulting a federal officer. Red Lake Nation's legal department provided assistance with documentation of his citizenship and family tribal connection.