Human Impact Project

LT, a 30-year-old Haitian asylum seeker, was detained at Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, 1,500 miles from her 13-month-old daughter in Florida. Her baby, who is allergic to formula and has food sensitivities, vomited constantly and needed breastmilk. The government denied her petition to pump and mail breastmilk, denied bringing the child into detention, and refused bond. LT fled political violence in Haiti where supporters of an opposing party burned her house, kidnapped and raped her. She fears her daughter will end up in foster care.

A father from Guatemala, separated from his daughter at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2017, was returned to Guatemala under the first Trump administration but came back to Florida in 2021 to reunite with his children under the Ms. L settlement agreement. He was re-separated from his children in October 2025 after being stopped in West Palm Beach while performing landscaping work near Mar-a-Lago. He was detained first at Alligator Alcatraz in the Florida Everglades, then transferred to Camp East Montana in Texas, where he reported being fed moldy food with worms and berated by guards; he also learned that a fellow detainee died from mistreatment. The ACLU filed a motion on behalf of detained Ms. L parents, and he was released in April 2026. Though reunited with his children, he continues to feel tracked through ankle monitoring and required bi-weekly ICE check-ins, and his children worry he will not be present when they leave school.

A 60-year-old Mexican tamale vendor who had been selling street food in Pilsen for over a decade was detained by ICE agents when she could not provide proof of legal status. She had been supporting herself and her son while managing diabetes since her husband's death in 2023. She was released on October 22, 11 days after filing her habeas case.

A journalist working for a Turkish media outlet was injured and hospitalized after being thrown to the ground by ICE officers at 26 Federal Plaza during the arrest of an immigrant at an asylum hearing. The journalist was transported on a stretcher with a neck brace and remained on the ground for approximately half an hour before emergency responders arrived. FDNY was called at around 10:30 a.m. for a report of injury and transported one person to the hospital.

On September 24, 2025, a gunman identified as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn opened fire from a rooftop across the street from a Dallas ICE field office, targeting a transport van and the facility's controlled entrance. The attack killed detainees and critically wounded others before Jahn died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Investigators found shell casings and handwritten notes bearing anti-ICE messages, leading authorities to classify the shooting as a premeditated, targeted attack meant to instill fear in ICE agents. One of the critically wounded victims later died from injuries six days after the shooting.

L. Vural Elibol, a chief cameraman and videographer for Turkey's Anadolu Agency, was seriously injured when an ICE agent shoved him to the floor in a hallway outside immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan while he was documenting enforcement activity. Elibol hit his head on the floor near an elevator bank and remained unconscious for 35 to 40 minutes. Paramedics placed a neck brace on him and transported him by stretcher to a hospital, where he was treated for a possible concussion and kept for observation. Two other journalists—Dean Moses, a police bureau chief for amNewYork, and freelance photographer Olga Fedorova—were also grabbed and shoved by agents during the same incident but were not seriously injured. Eyewitnesses reported that ICE agents had been pursuing an immigrant into an elevator when Elibol was attacked while attempting to film the confrontation.

Santos Edilberto Banegas Reyes, a 42-year-old Honduran construction worker and father from Hempstead, New York, died on September 18, 2025, less than 18 hours after being taken into ICE custody. He was arrested by ICE Long Island Fugitive Operations on September 17 and processed at Nassau County Correctional Center in East Meadow, where a nurse noted alcohol withdrawal symptoms during intake and a doctor later prescribed related medications. He was found unresponsive in his cell around 6:25 a.m. the next day and pronounced dead shortly after. DHS initially cited liver failure related to alcoholism, later revised by ICE to acute alcohol withdrawal, but his family disputes this account, with his sister stating he had no underlying health conditions and that officials never contacted them. The family's attorney alleged a cover-up after ICE missed the federal deadline to release a death report and has requested an independent autopsy and jail video footage. His death prompted a September 29, 2025 protest in Mineola, New York, where advocates called for ICE to leave Long Island and for the 287(g) program to be abolished.

Paramjit Singh, a lawful permanent resident who has lived in the U.S. for more than 30 years and runs a business in Fort Wayne, was detained by ICE and DHS at Chicago's O'Hare Airport on July 30, 2025. He was held incommunicado for five days before being hospitalized, and his family only learned of his whereabouts when a hospital bill arrived. DHS has cited a 25-year-old infraction related to a payphone and an alleged 2008 forgery conviction that reportedly does not exist as grounds for his detention and removal. An immigration judge ordered his release on a $10,000 bond in August, but DHS filed an automatic stay to keep him detained. Singh, who suffers from a progressive brain tumor causing vision loss, remains held at the Boone County Jail in Kentucky, with removal proceedings scheduled for September 29.

Miguel García-Hernández, an undocumented immigrant awaiting intake at an ICE facility in Dallas, was shot on September 24, 2025, when a gunman opened fire outside the facility. He died from his injuries on September 29, leaving behind his wife Stephany Gauffeny and three children. García-Hernández had been in ICE custody following a DUI arrest and was working toward legal status through a Biden administration initiative when the shooting occurred.

Watchdog groups alleged in a court filing that children and families held at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas face prolonged detention beyond legal limits, along with shortages of clean drinking water, chronic sleep deprivation, inadequate medical care, and lack of hygiene products. Legal experts filed accounts describing the facility environment and conditions for detainees.

Independent journalist Leigh Kunkel was shot in the face and back of the head with pepper balls by federal officers while covering protests outside the ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois on September 26, 2025. She had joined a group of journalists documenting the demonstration when officers emerged from the facility gates and opened fire from behind; a fellow journalist was also struck by multiple pepper balls in the same volley. After being hit, Kunkel's nose began bleeding. She and her fiancé are planning legal action to hold the federal government accountable for the assault and alleged rights violations during Operation Midway Blitz.

Ayman Soliman, an Egyptian-born imam and hospital chaplain at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, was detained by ICE on July 9, 2025, during a routine immigration check-in appointment after USCIS terminated his asylum status. Authorities alleged he provided material support to terrorists through involvement with an Egyptian charity organization. During approximately 10 weeks in custody at Butler County Jail, Soliman was held in freezing conditions, placed in isolation, and denied access to his attorney. The Department of Homeland Security subsequently withdrew its deportation case after court filings documented errors and inconsistencies in the government's evidence. Soliman was released in mid-to-late September 2025, his asylum status was reinstated, and his green card application was revived.

Miguel Angel Garcia-Hernandez, 32, died from injuries sustained in a sniper-style shooting at a Dallas ICE facility on September 24. He was shot at least eight times and had been in critical condition at Parkland Hospital before being removed from life support. Garcia-Hernandez was the second victim to die from the attack, leaving behind his wife and four children.

Gustavo, a detainee at California City ICE Detention Facility speaking from inside the facility, reported inadequate medical attention and expressed concern that CoreCivic staff are not providing proper care because they assume all detainees will be deported. He stated that medical staff appear unwilling to spend money on medication, assuming detainees will "just gonna get sent to Mexico."

Felipe de Jesus Hernandez Marcelo, a 28-year-old single father from Mexico who works construction in Muscatine, Iowa, was shot twice during an attempted robbery on June 21, 2025, suffering near-fatal gunshot wounds to his arm and leg. After emergency surgery, he went to the police station days later to retrieve his impounded car and belongings, but officers arrested him on an old unpaid traffic warrant and transferred him to ICE custody within hours. He has since been held at Muscatine County Jail, separated from his young son and mother, and says he was denied pain medication for five days and unable to attend medical appointments or physical rehabilitation. He is seeking a U visa as a crime victim cooperating against his attackers, one of whom pleaded guilty, but the county prosecutor has not certified his eligibility. A federal judge ruled his detention without a bond hearing illegal, but Immigration Judge Alexandra Larsen later denied him bond, calling his U visa eligibility 'speculative at best.' His attorney, Emily Rebelskey, said she would continue fighting for his release. His case is among a growing number of crime victims detained for removal following the Trump administration's January 2025 rescission of a policy shielding such victims.

Federal immigration agents raided Bixby Knolls Car Wash in Long Beach, California, arresting seven workers from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico. Masked agents in tactical vests arrived in roughly 10 unmarked dark-colored SUVs, blocking the car wash's entrance and exits as some workers attempted to flee. During the operation, a woman being placed into a federal vehicle appeared to faint and collapse while in custody. Witnesses documented the raid on their cellphones, with one bystander describing the scene as impactful. A social media post also captured the incident, describing it as part of a broader pattern of workers being detained by federal agents.

Mauricio Prado, 45, was detained by ICE at a Home Depot in Santa Ana on October 6 while buying construction supplies. He is a father of five, including a US Navy veteran, and a stroke patient who has had six prior strokes and takes multiple medications. He was admitted to Orange County Global Medical Center. A friend recorded the arrest on a cell phone, during which Prado asked agents to remove their masks.

Rosalio Pelayo Salgado, detained by ICE on September 10, called his daughters from the Broadview processing facility to report being held in a room with at least 150 other men. He described officers yelling slurs, food and water being withheld based on behavior, and his anxiety medication being refused. His daughters protested at the facility on September 19, learning he was scheduled to be deported the following day.

Óscar Rascón Duarte, a 58-year-old Mexican national, died on September 8, 2025, at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, Arizona, while in ICE custody. He had advanced-stage Alzheimer's disease, right kidney cancer, and hepatitis C. Rascón Duarte first entered the United States in September 1976 near Douglas, Arizona, and in 2004, while in Arizona Department of Corrections custody, ICE initiated deportation proceedings against him and transferred him to the Eloy Detention Center. On January 15, 2025, ICE arranged long-term medical care for him at a facility in Mesa, where he remained hospitalized until his death. ICE said the cause of death was under investigation and that the Mexican Embassy was notified. His death was one of 17 Mexican immigrant deaths in ICE custody or during immigration enforcement operations during the Trump administration's crackdown, prompting Mexico's government to file complaints and demand investigations.

At the Broadview detention center in Illinois, a masked agent put a protester in a chokehold and had to be pulled off by another agent. The woman was sprayed in the face with a chemical irritant, shot with projectiles, and violently pushed and shoved to the ground before the chokehold.