Human Impact Project

Isaac Dominguez, a U.S. citizen who identifies as Black and Mexican, was tackled to the ground and detained by federal immigration agents outside the Euclid Car Wash in Anaheim on August 16, 2025, after stopping to wash his car. Agents accused him of impeding their operation and assaulting agents, deploying tear gas against the gathered crowd, but he was released after several hours without charges. Dominguez said he believes he was targeted because he looked Hispanic, stating agents "don't even care if they're documented or not." The incident was reportedly the third such enforcement action at that car wash location since July 3. Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken criticized the continued raids as targeting workers based on job, skin color, or language, and officials said federal agents conducted multiple operations across the city that weekend, detaining at least six people, despite a federal court order barring sweeps based on race, language, or employment type.

ICE officers arrested a Mayan-language speaking woman from Guatemala in San Francisco immigration court on August 15, 2025. The DHS attorney did not move to dismiss her case and agreed to reschedule her hearing for October. The woman, who spoke only Mam and had difficulty communicating through interpreters, was arrested in the courthouse hallway immediately after her hearing concluded.

Maria Ursula Borja Valle, a 54-year-old Mexican immigrant who had lived in the U.S. for nearly three decades without a known criminal record, was detained by ICE on August 8-9, 2025, while attending a scheduled immigration appointment to apply for Parole in Place, a benefit for immediate relatives of active-duty service members. Valle, who suffered a stroke in 2021 and requires ongoing medication, is the mother of Marine Cpl. Jose Manuel Vilchis-Valle, who enlisted after recruiters told him military service could help protect his family from immigration enforcement. After being held at Broward Transitional Center and then transferred to a Border Patrol processing center in Texas, she was deported to Mexico by August 11, 2025. Her son, who completed four years of service and was honorably discharged shortly after her deportation, said, "I gave four years of my life to this country... but knowing that this country doesn't want my mother makes me feel terrible." His sister Mia, a nursing student, described their mother as "a very kind lady," while another sister, María Constanza, expressed concern for Valle's safety in Mexico since their parents have died and she has no family support there. The family hired an attorney who filed a motion to stay deportation and started a GoFundMe for legal costs; an AP investigation found more than 50 parents and spouses of active-duty service members have been detained since Trump took office for a second term, with at least six deported.

Edwin Calva-Guaman, a 27-year-old from Ecuador, was arrested by ICE agents at Danbury Superior Courthouse on August 15, 2025, after his public defender told him to appear for a court date his sister says did not exist. His sister, Monica Apolinario, spoke at a community rally in Danbury alongside Calva-Guaman's 3-year-old nephew, Axel, saying Calva-Guaman supports his sister, nephews and mother, who remains in Ecuador. His girlfriend, Jossie Gutierrez, has said she fears he will be deported and killed, pointing to the death of his nephew after a prior deportation. Calva-Guaman had pleaded not guilty to pending domestic violence and related charges, including two felony counts of violating a protective order.

Ribvar Karimi, an Iranian national, has been in ICE custody for over 50 days in Alabama. He missed the birth of his child while detained.

Johan Blanco, a 44-year-old yoga instructor from Venezuela who teaches at Mimi Yoga's Wynwood location, was detained by ICE agents during a vehicle stop in Miami-Dade County on August 15, just minutes before he was set to teach a sold-out Power Vinyasa class. His students arrived to an empty studio that morning, and it remained unclear where he was being held. An ICE spokesperson said Blanco had entered the country lawfully but remained in the U.S. for 10 years after failing to depart as required. A GoFundMe organized on his behalf describes him as a 'community pillar' and has raised more than $40,700 for legal fees and family support. Blanco moved to Miami in 2015 after previously teaching Hatha yoga at embassies in Venezuela.

Juliana Soares, an advocate with Greater Danbury United for Immigrants, was physically assaulted by ICE agents while protesting at Danbury Superior Courthouse on August 14, 2025. Soares stated that an ICE agent walked into her, shoved her into a group of armed agents, and another agent pushed her so forcefully she nearly fell. She was also screamed at loudly by another agent, causing her ear to ring. Soares was threatened with pepper spray and arrest during the incident.

Michel Tshimankinda, a pastor at Restoration Church of Maine in South Portland, was released on bond after spending 16 days in ICE custody following his August 13 detention. Tshimankinda, who arrived in 2016 on a tourist visa from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, says he applied for asylum while his visa was still active and has been awaiting a decision. He has returned to lead his church while his asylum case is pending. ICE states he overstayed his visa by nine years, while Tshimankinda maintains his asylum application was filed before the visa expired.

Gagne Diagne, a Senegalese immigrant and DoorDash delivery worker, was arrested by masked federal agents outside his Bronx home on August 14 while his wife and infant were upstairs. He was detained for six days and nearly deported to Senegal before a judge granted his habeas petition and reopened his asylum case, leading to his release. The Amadou Ly Foundation, which supports West African immigrants, helped secure his release through legal advocacy.

Antonia Aguilar Maldonado, a mother of two U.S. citizen children, was released from ICE custody on August 13 following a federal judge's order. She had been detained on July 17 while on her way to work despite having no criminal record and an active asylum application. Aguilar Maldonado came to the U.S. in 2016 as a 17-year-old unaccompanied minor without legal status.

Do Phi Long, 60, an Amerasian who left Vietnam in 1989 and lived in Orange County, California, had his green card revoked after a 2007 DUI arrest and lived for years under a deportation order that Vietnam initially declined to enforce. In January 2025, ICE agents arrested him at a gas station while he was filling his car, and on August 13, 2025 he was flown on a chartered deportation flight to Hanoi, leaving behind his wife and two sons. Long, who now runs a small coffee shop in Long Thanh, Dong Nai province, said he felt overwhelmed with sadness at how the US had treated him but has since found some peace being back in his home country.

Isabella García, a Mexican woman, said her U.S. tourist visa was canceled after she tried to cross into Eagle Pass, Texas, from Piedras Negras, Coahuila, with her 3-month-old son, a U.S. citizen. She said she was held for nearly seven hours and questioned by immigration agents about her son's birth, how she paid for the delivery, and her income, and that agents took her DNA, fingerprints, and photographs. She said she was told a new law applied to her case and that she could reapply for a visa in a year, and that anyone accompanying her son into the U.S. in the future would also face scrutiny. Her case comes amid increased government scrutiny of so-called "birth tourism," including efforts by Texas Governor Greg Abbott to investigate hospitals allegedly offering maternity packages to foreign women.

Jose Valdovinos, a 27-year-old DACA recipient who has lived in Arizona since he was a toddler, was detained by Border Patrol on August 10, 2025, after he and his wife, U.S. citizen Jitzell Flores, left a Circle K gas station near downtown Yuma. When Flores asked why he was being taken, an agent said, 'We don't have to give it to you.' Valdovinos, who works packaging Medjool dates at Datepac, has no criminal record, pays taxes, renewed his DACA status every two years, and was pursuing permanent residency. DHS said the vehicle was stopped for 'driving in a suspicious manner' and stated that 'DACA does not confer any form of legal status.' Flores called the stop racial profiling. The Mexican Consulate visited him and connected his family with an attorney before his transfer to the Florence Service Processing Center. Weeks later, he was released with an ankle monitor.

ICE agents detained six people at a home on 79th Avenue near Hillside Street in East Oakland on August 12, 2025, including a 17-year-old minor and someone with a severe disability. According to Nikolas De Bremaeker, immigrants' rights managing attorney at Centro Legal, no arrest warrants were issued for any of the detainees. The minor was initially held in a hotel before being transferred to the San Francisco ICE Field Office, where all six remain detained. De Bremaeker stated he pressed ICE on the illegality of detaining a child under these circumstances. Centro Legal and the Alameda County Immigration Legal Education Partnership's rapid response hotline are providing legal support to the detainees. This was the first confirmed ICE sighting in Oakland verified by the county's rapid response hotline.

Federal Protective Service officers arrested more than a dozen protesters outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles during Occupy ICE demonstrations that began in early July. Protesters maintained an encampment and said they were targeted for exercising First Amendment rights, while officials initially cited charges including assaulting officers and vandalism; the ACLU filed a lawsuit alleging excessive force and constitutional violations. Prosecutors later dropped assault charges against two protesters after defense attorneys said the officer named as the victim in both cases had failed to disclose prior criminal convictions. In one case, the officer's claim that he was punched in the face was contradicted by video of the incident.

Armelle Bondonga Bradshaw, who came to the United States from the Democratic Republic of Congo at age 9, was detained by ICE during her final green card interview on Aug. 12. She had married U.S. citizen Terrance Bradshaw, whom she met online in 2022, after her family's asylum case was denied, and her marriage-based petition had been approved by USCIS. The couple had held a traditional Congolese engagement ceremony blessed by both families in May 2025 and attended premarital counseling through their church. Officers separated her from her husband and 19-month-old son in the interview lobby, placed her in handcuffs, and she has no criminal history, leaving Terrance to care for their child while Armelle remains detained in an Indiana jail.

J-M-L, a 57-year-old father from Guatemala, was detained by ICE on August 12, 2025, when he and his son arrived at the Eugene Federal Building for an administrative check-in. Both were transported to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington. J-M-L had previously entered the United States without authorization on multiple occasions and was considered subject to a final removal order since 2007. The family had been living in Lebanon, Oregon since 2019.

S-M-J, a 19-year-old with a disability from Guatemala, arrived at the Eugene Federal Building on August 12, 2025, for an administrative check-in and was detained by ICE along with his father. An ICE officer presented him with options to sign a voluntary departure order or receive a notice to appear, which U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai characterized as "coercive conduct." The judge's ruling ensured the voluntary departure order would not be enforced. S-M-J had lived in Lebanon, Oregon since 2019 and was a high school graduate.

A 21-year-old man with physical and developmental disabilities, who is nearly deaf and has limited English proficiency, was arrested by ICE on August 12 during a raid in Oakland and is now detained at the Northwest ICE Detention Center in Tacoma. Advocates and attorneys report he cannot understand his legal proceedings and is isolated from those who can communicate with him. ICE is detaining an individual with disabilities at a detention center.

Two brothers from Guatemala were arrested by ICE agents inside a Stamford courthouse on August 11, 2025, around 11:15 a.m., after locking themselves in a bathroom. Federal officers in military-style vests and masks kicked in the bathroom's glass panel, handcuffed the men, and walked them to vehicles outside; witnesses reported the use of pepper spray and a Taser. A state judicial marshal attempted to stop the agents from entering, and a family member who asked to see identification or an explanation said none was provided. The family member described the brothers as undocumented workers who pay taxes. The arrests occurred after President Trump's administration reversed a federal policy that had prohibited immigration enforcement in courthouses.