Human Impact Project

Community organizers and immigration attorneys report an uptick in detainments at the Dallas ICE Field Office during routine check-in appointments. Multiple immigrants, including those with pending asylum cases and proper documentation, have been detained during check-in appointments. The office has become one of the busiest in the country, averaging about 100 arrests per day, and reporting indicates most of those arrested in 2025 did not have criminal convictions. One case highlighted by the Dallas Morning News involved an asylum seeker from El Salvador with no criminal record who was arrested at a scheduled appointment in October 2025 and transferred to a detention center in Georgia.

Chanidaphon Sopimpa, a Thai national and wife of retired Marine Staff Sergeant Samuel Shasteen, was arrested by ICE agents during her final green card interview on November 18, 2025, and detained at Otay Mesa Detention Center. Sopimpa had overstayed her visa but the couple had been pursuing her green card through marriage to a U.S. citizen spouse, which includes a federal law exception for such cases. ICE stated the arrests were for visa overstays, but immigration attorneys note this enforcement action at green card interviews is unprecedented in recent history. Sopimpa has no criminal history and is scheduled for a bond hearing.

Manuel Ndongala, an asylum seeker from Angola, was detained by ICE on November 18, 2025, during what he expected to be a routine check-in at the Scarborough, Maine ICE office. His car was left in the office parking lot and was towed under Maine's abandoned vehicle law while he was detained for over 80 days. The incident prompted Maine's Secretary of State to temporarily adjust the state's process for transferring ownership of abandoned vehicles to better protect detained immigrants.

Harrinson Jose Osuna Benitez, a Venezuelan tattoo artist seeking asylum over fears of torture and persecution, was paroled into the U.S. in September 2024 after ICE found no criminal history, later settling in Portland with his partner, who gave birth to their son in December 2024. He attended multiple immigration hearings through 2025 and had a future hearing scheduled for January 2027, but on November 17, 2025, ICE detained him at a Portland office visit, citing his tattoos as a security concern without providing notice of parole revocation. He spent weeks at the Northwest Immigration Processing Center while his family struggled without his income. On December 30, 2025, a federal judge in the Western District of Washington granted his habeas corpus petition, ruling his detention violated due process and ordering his release.

Joel Camas, a 16-year-old Ecuadorian student at Gotham Collaborative High School in the Bronx, was detained by ICE on October 23, 2025, during a required check-in at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan. Camas had been granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status in April after a Bronx County Family Court judge ruled in December 2024 that remaining in the U.S. was in his best interest following his father's abandonment. Despite his legal protections and approved pathway to permanent residency, he was held in Office of Refugee Resettlement custody while his removal order was stayed. The City of New York filed a brief supporting his release, citing his strong academic record and arguing his detention disrupted his education. His attorneys argued ICE violated federal law and the Constitution by arresting a child with legal status at a routine appointment. After nearly a month in custody, U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel ordered his immediate release on November 17.

Heather Morrow, a 44-year-old Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools bus driver, was arrested on November 16 while protesting at an ICE office on Tyvola Centre Drive. Federal prosecutors charged her with felony assault on a federal officer, claiming she grabbed an agent's shoulders and attempted to jump on his back. Video footage released by Morrow's attorney shows her touching an agent's shoulder before being tackled to the ground.

A Venezuelan asylum seeker, an undocumented immigrant with pending asylum applications, was detained by ICE officers on November 13, 2025, during a routine check-in at the ICE field office in San Francisco. She had been released on an Order of Recognizance after arriving at the border in June 2024 and had complied with all release requirements and court hearings. The court granted a temporary restraining order requiring her immediate release from custody and prohibiting re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing.

A Georgian citizen who entered the U.S. in 2022 and filed an asylum application was detained by ICE in November 2025 during a routine check-in. He had originally been released on his own recognizance after being apprehended by Border Patrol. The federal court ruled his detention unlawful and ordered his immediate release, finding he did not meet the criteria for mandatory detention under immigration law.

A long-time U.S. resident who arrived in the country at age 3 in 1991 was detained by ICE on November 7, 2025 during a scheduled check-in at the San Francisco ICE Field Office. ICE alleged he violated his GPS monitoring terms by visiting Stinson Beach on Labor Day, though he claims he had permission from his ISAP officer. The court ordered his immediate release and prohibited re-detention without a hearing before an immigration judge.

Daniel Angel Meléndez, an immigrant from El Salvador, was detained by ICE agents on November 4 during a yearly check-in in Cedar Rapids. His wife María Lozano, a U.S. citizen, and family members appealed to U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks at a town hall on November 10 to prevent his deportation. Meléndez has a U.S.-born child and has been in the country since 2017, having applied for asylum based on gang violence threats.

Maria Vargas, 6, was detained with her parents at Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas after her family was arrested during a September immigration check-in. The family had fled Colombia in 2022 and settled in New York, where they applied for special visas for human trafficking victims. At Dilley, Maria experienced severe trauma including regression (bedwetting and accidents), loss of appetite and weight loss, a staff member's accidental eye injury, and persistent psychological distress. Her parents reported officers pressured them to abandon their visa applications by threatening to separate Maria. After two months, the family agreed to self-deport and was sent to Colombia in November 2026. Maria continues to suffer vision problems, headaches, and behavioral changes including fear of police.

Maria, a Venezuelan mother in her 30s seeking asylum, was detained in November 2024 during a routine ICE check-in appointment in San Antonio along with her toddler son. They had entered the U.S. through the southern border in 2023. During two months in detention at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Maria reported seeing worms in food, experiencing 24/7 lights, and her son losing weight. In mid-January 2026, after refusing a $5,000 government offer to leave the country, she was released to Laredo with an electronic ankle monitor and required to continue periodic ICE check-ins as an alternative to detention.

Hanne Engan, a Norwegian national, was arrested by ICE officers at her green card interview in November 2025 after her student visa expired and detained at Otay Mesa Detention Center for approximately one week. Medical experts told inewsource that the care she received for her Type 1 diabetes was at times substandard and potentially life-threatening. An inewsource investigation of court records and interviews with 10 former detainees identified dozens of migrants who described chronic conditions, deteriorating health, or inadequate care at the facility.

Rian Andrianzah, an Indonesian national, was arrested by ICE agents while attending what he believed was a routine biometrics appointment in Philadelphia. His arrest occurred while his wife waited in another room, and he was subsequently sent to a Central Pennsylvania detention center where he now faces deportation. The arrest is part of the Trump administration's strategy shift to apprehend green card applicants, asylum seekers, and others engaged in legal immigration processes.

Leticia Nevares, a mother of three who has lived in the U.S. for more than 35 years, was detained by ICE on September 16 after attending a scheduled green card interview at the USCIS office in Fresno, California. The appointment was supposed to be the final step in her legal residency application process. She was placed in handcuffs and transported to a detention facility in Bakersfield, then transferred to a facility in California City run by CoreCivic. Nevares works as an elderly caretaker and has no criminal history. According to her son Steven Rodriguez, she has devoted countless hours to community service, including helping at food drives, caring for sick neighbors, and providing end-of-life care to elderly community members. Her next court hearing was scheduled for October 28.

A Mexican citizen who has lived in the United States since 1970 and entered lawfully with a valid B1/B2 visitor visa in August 2009. He was arrested on October 27, 2025, and has been held in immigration detention at the Desert View Annex facility in Adelanto, California for nearly ten months. Petitioner has no prior criminal history. After an immigration judge denied his bond on May 6, 2026, and again on June 15, 2026, following an individualized hearing, Petitioner filed a habeas corpus petition seeking to prevent his removal from the United States and the Central District of California. He is experiencing health complications related to high blood pressure during his continued detention. On August 7, 2026, the federal court granted Petitioner's emergency motion for a temporary restraining order, enjoining respondents from deporting him or removing him outside the district while his petition is pending. The court scheduled oral argument on the preliminary injunction for August 13, 2026, and referred the case to the Federal Public Defender for consideration of appointed counsel.

Marina Ortiz, a fifth-grade teacher at Global Village Academy in Douglas County (Parker), Colorado, was detained by ICE along with her minor children during a routine immigration appointment at an ICE field office in Centennial on October 24. She and her family were subsequently transferred to a detention facility in Texas. School officials confirmed Ortiz held valid employment authorization through spring 2029 and said they are working with immigration attorneys to help bring the family back to Colorado. ICE said Ortiz entered the country near Yuma, Arizona, on December 2, 2022, and was later paroled. A school board member said the incident has caused fear within the school community.

Irma was detained by ICE on October 21, 2025, during a routine immigration appointment in Santa Ana, California. Her citizenship case was denied and she was taken into custody immediately. She was scheduled to be deported to Mexico on October 22, 2025, leaving behind her four children and life in the United States.

Zia S., a 36-year-old Afghan immigrant who served as a U.S. military interpreter, was detained by ICE on July 16, 2025, during a routine USCIS appointment in East Hartford, Connecticut, for biometric processing related to a Green Card application. Despite having lawful parole status until October 2026, no criminal convictions, and approval for humanitarian parole due to Taliban threats, he was moved to a detention facility in Plymouth, Massachusetts. A federal judge issued a 72-hour stay to prevent his deportation, and after nearly three months in custody, a second immigration judge ordered his release on a $15,000 bond on October 9, 2025. The government's subsequent motion to reverse the release was rejected on October 21, 2025. Zia was reunited with his wife and five children in Connecticut. His son Rihan was also detained by ICE in Plymouth during this period.

Quinn Haberl, a blind protester, said federal agents at Portland's ICE facility dragged and handcuffed him twice during separate protest incidents. The first incident occurred Tuesday night when agents picked him up and dropped him on the ground. During the second incident on Saturday, agents dragged him across the driveway and held him for about an hour with pressure applied to his back and neck. Haberl was taken to the hospital where doctors documented bruising on his shoulders, hands, and arms.