Human Impact Project

Bruna Ferreira, a Brazilian woman who arrived in the U.S. in 1998 at age six and previously held DACA protection, was arrested by ICE agents on November 12, 2025, in Massachusetts while driving to pick up her 11-year-old son from school. Ferreira shares custody of her son with her former fiancé Michael Leavitt, brother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. She has no criminal convictions, and her brother, sister and son are U.S. citizens. She was held for 26 days across multiple facilities, including the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana, before an immigration judge granted her release on a $1,500 bond on December 8 after DHS attorneys did not challenge her release. She remains in removal proceedings with mandatory periodic check-ins with ICE.

John Biestman and Janet Lee, a married couple in their late 60s from Linden Hills, followed an ICE vehicle after a December 7 raid at Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Mary in Richfield. ICE agents boxed in their car, pointed guns at them, and threatened to arrest them. They are named plaintiffs in an ACLU lawsuit alleging ICE violated constitutional rights of observers and protesters.

Sophie Watso, a Dakota woman, was detained for more than 48 hours at Fort Snelling after encountering ICE officers while driving in Minneapolis. When she blew a whistle to alert others to federal presence, officers accused her of interference, broke her car window, and forcibly removed her from the vehicle. Fort Snelling is the same site where Dakota ancestors were imprisoned after the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War.

A behavioral therapist for children in Key Largo, Florida, was pulled over by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents while driving to work in a car registered to her undocumented partner. Video recorded in part by a Miami Herald reporter showed agents unlocking her door, dragging her from the vehicle, searching her purse, and handcuffing her as she screamed that she was a U.S. citizen and asked for help. The woman, described as under 5 feet tall and 85 pounds, said she complied with instructions to roll down her window but declined to show identification until agents located her driver's license and confirmed her citizenship, releasing her about 10 minutes after the stop began. She said this was the third time she had been stopped in the same area and that the experience left her unable to sleep, in physical pain, and emotionally traumatized. CBP said the stop stemmed from identifying her partner as undocumented, and the broader operation led to 14 undocumented immigrants being arrested. U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said the incident reflected a pattern of racial profiling, protesters later gathered in Islamorada, and the case is one of more than 500 documented by ProPublica involving U.S. citizens detained by immigration agents.

A Honduran national was struck by an ICE vehicle while fleeing agents in St. Paul in December 2025, resulting in a multi-vehicle crash at an intersection. He sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was taken into custody. A federal judge ordered his release in February 2026, ruling his detention unlawful due to denial of a bond hearing and lack of proper administrative procedures by authorities.

In Denham Springs, Louisiana, more than a dozen schoolchildren were lined up waiting for the school bus at Plantation Oaks Trailer Park when masked Border Patrol agents in multiple cars sped along the highway in front of their neighborhood with sirens blaring. Agents were pursuing an air-conditioning work truck. Terrified and crying, children ran when they saw a man pulled from his truck and slammed face-first into the ground. A witness reported that around eight of the schoolchildren actually made it onto the school bus.

Elder Chavez, an 18-year-old from Honduras who was granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) in September 2024, was detained by ICE in December 2024 after Alabama state police pulled him over for speeding and driving without a license. Despite presenting documentation proving his legal protected status, officers contacted ICE and took him into custody. Chavez came to the United States in 2022 at age 14 to live with his older sister Maryuri after being abandoned by his parents in infancy. A high school junior excelling in welding and carpentry classes, Chavez was transported to Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana, where he has remained detained for seven months facing deportation and unable to continue his green card application process. His English teacher Carmen Bahena, sister Maryuri, and local pastors Andy Yarnell and Beth Johnson have described him as kind, hardworking, bright, and gentle; since his detention, Chavez has missed prom, the birth of his nephew, and months of school.

Angel, a Nicaraguan political activist and LGBTQ community member who fled Nicaragua in 2019 after nearly being killed by the government, was detained by ICE in late December 2025 while driving to work. He holds official work authorization from USCIS. He is being held in ICE custody and facing removal proceedings while seeking funds for legal representation in a habeas petition to challenge his detention.

Leticia Jacobo, a 24-year-old Native American woman, was jailed in Iowa for a traffic infraction and faced potential transfer to an ICE Detention Center for deportation. Indigenous rights groups intervened to prevent her deportation.

Edwin Josue Padilla Molina, who entered the U.S. in 2013 as a 14-year-old and has lived continuously in Central Islip for twelve years, was detained by ICE on November 23, 2025 while driving his pregnant partner and mother-in-law. A federal judge granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release, finding that his detention without an individualized custody determination violated federal law and constitutional due process rights. The court rejected the government's argument that he was subject to mandatory detention, ruling instead that he was entitled to a bond hearing.

Christian Jimenez, a 17-year-old U.S. citizen and McMinnville High School senior, was detained by ICE agents off school grounds during his lunch period on November 21, 2025. Agents broke his car window and transported him to an ICE facility in South Portland despite his assertions of citizenship, which his family confirmed; ICE alleged he followed and obstructed federal agents in a vehicle and faced potential federal prosecution for impeding law enforcement. He was released later that day. The detention was part of ICE sweeps in Yamhill County that week resulting in at least 7 total detentions, including at least 4 U.S. citizens. McMinnville School District Superintendent Kourtney Ferrua said the district had not previously experienced ICE activity and was working to support students' emotional needs. Students nearby witnessed the detention, and a protest was held in response.

Mor Ba, a 19-year-old asylum seeker from Senegal, was detained by ICE on the morning before Thanksgiving while entering his car to go to work. Ba, who had no criminal record and was months away from his asylum hearing, was taken to the North Lake Processing Center in northwest Michigan. His aunt, Seydi Sarr, a Detroit-based immigrant rights advocate, learned of his detention when he called her from the ICE office and eventually posted a $10,000 bond for his release in January.

Isaias Eduardo Soto Elias, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen, was detained by ICE Border Patrol agents in Yamhill County after allegedly following and obstructing the agents in a vehicle on Friday. He was transported to the ERO Portland office for investigation and federal prosecution for impeding federal law enforcement officers. DHS stated the detentions occurred during ICE sweeps in the county that resulted in at least seven other arrests.

Miguel Angel Garcia Martinez, a 24-year-old U.S. citizen, was arrested by Border Patrol agents in Charlotte on November 16, 2025, while photographing and documenting agents' operations to warn immigrants of their locations. He was charged with using his van as a deadly weapon to assault, resist, and impede federal agents after driving away when agents approached and tried to open his vehicle's door; an agent was injured breaking the van's window during the incident. Court video later reviewed in the case showed ICE agents had planned to 'smash' into Martinez's vehicle during the chase. A federal judge is now determining whether ICE agents had probable cause to charge Martinez with assault.

Cristobal Maltos, a 24-year-old U.S. citizen, was stopped by Border Patrol agents on November 17, 2025, while following a hit-and-run driver and reporting it to police. Agents surrounded his vehicle at an intersection, and when he attempted to move forward, they broke his car windows and removed him from the vehicle, allegedly causing injuries. Maltos was charged with felony assault, resisting arrest, and impeding a federal officer during the enforcement operation dubbed "Charlotte's Web."

Carlos Jimenez, a 24-25-year-old U.S. citizen and food bank worker with three children, was shot in the shoulder by ICE agents on October 30, 2025, during an enforcement action in Ontario near an elementary school bus stop on Baseline Avenue. According to Jimenez's legal team, he approached the officers to warn them that children would soon arrive at the nearby school bus stop, and was shot from behind while attempting to leave the scene after an agent drew a gun and pepper spray. Federal authorities maintain Jimenez reversed his vehicle toward officers in a threatening manner, prompting defensive gunfire. A bullet remains lodged in his right shoulder, and bullet fragments remain in his torso, causing ongoing pain. Jimenez was arrested and charged with assault on a federal officer but was released on bond and has pleaded not guilty. The incident is under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security and FBI. His attorneys argue the shooting reflects a broader pattern of escalated ICE enforcement tactics.

ICE agents approached the vehicle of Edith, an enrolled member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate. Edith reported being subjected to physical violence during the encounter and was subsequently released. Edith sustained injuries including a torn rotator cuff, fractured shoulder, three herniated disks, and a ruptured eye requiring surgery.

ICE agents surrounded a car during a traffic stop on Kimball Street in Fitchburg on November 6, 2025, to arrest Juliana Milena Ojeda-Montoya, 24, an Ecuadorian national with a pending asylum claim and valid work authorization who was wanted for allegedly stabbing a coworker with scissors. During the arrest, her husband Carlos Sebastian Zapata, 24, a Fitchburg resident, appeared to suffer a seizure while holding their 1½-year-old daughter, whom Ojeda-Montoya breastfeeds. Zapata said an ICE agent pushed him, hit his ribs, and pressed on his neck, causing him to lose consciousness; video of the incident captured bystanders expressing concern and went viral. DHS disputed his account, claiming he faked the medical emergency to help his wife evade arrest and that medical personnel found no legitimate emergency. Ojeda-Montoya, who had previously been released on bond in March 2024, was ordered released on November 10 after a federal judge found her detention without a hearing violated her due process rights.

Jaykie Funez-Andrade, who has lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years, was detained by federal agents during a traffic stop on Route 11 North in Harrisonburg, Virginia, while driving her 16-year-old daughter to school. When she struggled to recite her Social Security number from memory, an agent tackled her to the ground; she then showed her work permit, Social Security card, driver's license, and vehicle registration, but was arrested anyway. Her daughter filmed the encounter, saying officers left her alone on the roadside as agents drove off with her mother, and pleaded, "I want this video out there because I want my mother home." Funez-Andrade is being held at Rockingham/Harrisonburg Regional Jail with no criminal charges filed, reportedly as a 'courtesy' to ICE, and her family has started a GoFundMe to cover legal fees.

Victor Cruz, a 55-year-old Hillsboro business owner and grandfather with legal work authorization and temporary protected status, was arrested by ICE on October 14 after agents pulled him over claiming he was wanted on DUI and hit-and-run charges. His family says the arrest stemmed from mistaken identity, as agents allegedly confused him with another man of the same name despite a photo mismatch. Cruz was transferred to the Northwest Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, where he spent more than three weeks and described cold conditions, limited food, and crowded facilities. An immigration judge initially denied bail, but a federal district court judge released him on bond on November 7. Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, local Democratic leaders, his family, and his attorney had pushed for his release and protested the detention as unlawful, though his immigration case remains ongoing.