Human Impact Project

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.

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.

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.

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.

Joselyn Chipantiza-Sisalema, a 20-year-old Ecuadorean public school student, was arrested inside immigration court on June 24, 2025, and held at ICE's 10th-floor processing facility at 26 Federal Plaza in New York. During her roughly 10-day stay there, she menstruated for five days without access to sanitary pads, as guards distributed only two pads for all women in an overcrowded cell, forcing her to remain in blood-stained clothing. She was then transferred to a detention center in Louisiana, where she remained before being released about three weeks after her initial arrest. Her sworn affidavit describing the conditions is part of a lawsuit filed by immigration rights groups against ICE seeking to improve conditions at the Federal Plaza facility, which detainees describe as overcrowded with limited food, water, hygiene access, and no bathing facilities.

Federal immigration enforcement officers arrested two undocumented immigrants inside the Stamford courthouse on August 11, 2025, forcibly entering a bathroom and breaking a door panel during the encounter. The arrest, which followed the Trump administration's reversal of a federal courthouse enforcement policy, sparked public outcry and led 21 Connecticut state senators to request in September that the state's highest court issue orders prohibiting arrests without judicial warrants in or near courthouses, citing concerns that facilities are being used as "mouse traps" rather than centers for justice. On October 27, 2025, agents arrested two more men in the courthouse's parking garage, including one who was sitting in a car with his wife at the time; bystanders filmed the encounter, and the video was shared thousands of times online. Advocates with Stamford Norwalk United For Immigrants said officers did not display badges or warrants, and the arrests occurred about a month after Connecticut began requiring a judge-signed warrant for ICE arrests at state courthouses.

Alejandra Juarez, a Colombian national who lived undocumented in Florida for 20 years, was deported to Mexico, leaving behind her 16-year-old U.S. citizen daughter Pamela and her husband Temo, a naturalized U.S. citizen and former Marine. Her deportation was initiated following a 2013 traffic stop that exposed her undocumented status. A 2001 citizenship petition was rejected after she was accused of making a false statement during an asylum claim in 1998. Juarez chose to self-deport rather than face forcible removal, settling in Merida in the Yucatan with plans for her younger daughter Estela to join her. Temo remained in Florida to care for Pamela and maintain their roofing business.

US Border Patrol agents conducted a raid outside a Home Depot in Los Angeles's Westlake neighborhood using an unmarked yellow Penske rental truck, with masked officers jumping out and arresting 16 people from Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The operation, called 'Operation Trojan Horse,' occurred despite a federal court order prohibiting indiscriminate raids in the region due to evidence of racial profiling and targeting based on appearance, language, and location. Penske said it was not informed its truck would be used in the operation and did not authorize it, citing a policy against transporting people in vehicle cargo areas. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass's office said it is gathering information and considering legal options, calling the use of rental trucks in raids 'un-American.'

Yeonsoo Go, a 21-year-old Scarsdale High School graduate and Purdue University student, was arrested by ICE outside a federal courthouse in New York on July 31, 2025, after attending a routine visa hearing that reportedly went well, with a judge granting her a late August hearing date. ICE claimed her R-2 religious worker visa had expired over two years earlier, but her attorney confirmed it remained valid through December 2025 and that she was in the process of converting to a student visa. Go was initially held without access to legal counsel at a Manhattan facility before being transferred to an ICE detention center in Louisiana. Her mother is an Episcopal church pastor in Scarsdale. Go was released on August 5 after five days in detention.

Pedro Mariano Salgado, a 36-year-old Nicaraguan national, was arrested by ICE on August 4, 2025, at approximately 7:30 a.m. in Austin, Texas, as he left his home for work. According to his wife, two ICE vehicles followed him from his residence. Salgado has lived in the United States for over three years and works remodeling apartments. His wife states that the family has an open asylum case and an immigration court hearing scheduled for 2027. The couple has four children, including a newborn who is two months old. Salgado is currently detained at a detention facility in Pearsall. His wife, who says he is the family's primary breadwinner, is requesting assistance to pay for legal representation and cover her children's basic needs while seeking his release.

Maycon Souto Dos Reis, 54, a Brazilian national, was arrested by ICE during a targeted operation at Westborough District Court in Westborough, Massachusetts, on Aug. 3, 2025. He had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in June 2024 and was released into the country, later coming to ICE's attention after a May 2025 arrest for unlicensed driving in Southborough. ICE said he was convicted in Brazil on Sept. 14, 2024, and sentenced to over 14 years in prison, with an arrest warrant issued after he fled to the United States. His arrest came two days before Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed the state's PROTECT Act, which restricts ICE operations at courthouses, schools, child-care centers and health care facilities; he remains in ICE custody pending deportation proceedings.

The NYCLU, ACLU, and other legal organizations filed a federal lawsuit challenging ICE's policy of arresting immigrants who attend mandatory immigration court hearings. The lawsuit claims the Trump administration's practice violates the Administrative Procedure Act and due process rights, as people are being arrested when complying with legal obligations to appear in court and then fast-tracked for deportation.

Carmen Aracely Pablo Sequen was arrested by ICE agents as she was leaving San Francisco immigration court on July 31, 2025, and detained at ICE's San Francisco field office. She filed a habeas corpus petition the next day seeking her immediate release and a permanent injunction prohibiting ICE from re-detaining her without prior notice and a hearing before a neutral arbiter. After the court granted preliminary injunctive relief, she amended her petition to add three additional plaintiffs—Ligia Garcia, Yulisa Alvarado Ambrocio, and Martin Hernandez Torres—who also sought individual habeas relief. The amended complaint added seven class action claims seeking to vacate certain ICE and EOIR policies under the Administrative Procedure Act and to enjoin allegedly unconstitutional conditions of confinement at ICE's San Francisco field office. The government moved to sever the individual habeas claims from each other and from the class claims. The court granted the motion to sever but denied the government's request to randomly reassign the severed cases to other judges.

Jorge Willy Valera Chuquillanqui, a Peruvian asylum seeker with no criminal history, was arrested by DHS agents minutes after completing routine immigration court proceedings on July 25, 2025. He had been living in the U.S. since December 2022 after being released on bond. The federal court granted a preliminary injunction ordering his release and prohibiting re-detention without a hearing before a neutral decisionmaker. The court found that ICE violated his due process rights by detaining him without proper procedural safeguards.

A federal judge in St. Paul placed U.S. Army veteran Ian Davis Austin on probation with restricted travel to Pennsylvania and Minnesota, a mental health assessment, and suspended firearm access, citing his conduct at ICE detention facility protests. Austin has been arrested four times since beginning protests against Operation Metro Surge, including twice during a hunger strike outside the Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, New Jersey. He is among 40 people charged under the FACE Act following a January 18 protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, a group that also includes journalists Georgia Fort and Don Lemon. Activists outside the courthouse argued the ruling penalizes veterans for seeking treatment related to military trauma.

Lewelyn Dixon, a lab technician at UW Medicine who arrived from the Philippines at age 14 and held a green card for more than 50 years, was detained by Customs and Border Protection at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Feb. 28, 2025, while returning from a family trip to the Philippines. Her attorney said the detention stemmed from a 2001 nonviolent embezzlement conviction for which she had already served her sentence and paid restitution, though it had never before affected her travel or green card renewals. She spent nearly three months at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, where she described conditions as 'horrific' and 'super crowded' and spent time helping other detainees and forming friendships, including with an Afghan woman who gave her a beaded bracelet. Immigration Judge Tammy Fitting ruled on May 29, 2025 that Dixon should not be deported, citing her decades as a lawful permanent resident, community ties, and arrival as a child. Family, coworkers, and union supporters from SEIU Local 925 rallied outside the detention center and celebrated her release. About a month later, Dixon applied for U.S. citizenship, passed her interview in October, and took the Oath of Allegiance on July 20. Her niece, Donna Cristobal, said, 'I'm relieved now that she's documented and doesn't have to go through this again... It was a really bad time for us, the whole family.'

Derlis Snaider Chusin Toaquiza, a 19-year-old Ecuadorian asylum-seeker and 11th grader at Grover Cleveland High School in Queens, was detained by ICE on June 4, 2025, during a scheduled immigration court hearing. He was initially held at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City in severely overcrowded conditions, confined in a room so crowded he could not lie down and forced to sleep sitting up with about two dozen other people, receiving only two meals over two days before being moved to an equally overcrowded gymnasium lacking beds, blankets, or basic necessities. He was later transferred to a Texas detention facility. An immigration judge granted him release on bond, and the Envision Freedom Fund posted a $20,000 bond to secure his release. Chusin reunited with his family after about six weeks in detention, with his legal team arguing that ICE violated his due process rights. His asylum case remains pending.

More than 50 community organizers and residents rallied outside the Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice in Philadelphia after ICE agents arrested a man leaving a court hearing on Wednesday. A video recorded by a Juntos ICE Watch volunteer shows plainclothes ICE agents, working alongside Philadelphia police, tackle the man as he exited the courthouse, with agents never identifying themselves or presenting a warrant despite onlookers' requests. Philadelphia police said their cooperation followed a 2016 executive order from former Mayor Jim Kenney permitting cooperation with ICE only under a judicial warrant, though it remains unclear if one existed in this case. Rally organizers, including Juntos director Erika Guadalupe Nunez, said the police involvement violated the city's sanctuary city status.

Leonardo José Colmenares Solórzano, a 31-year-old former youth soccer coach from Venezuela, was detained by CBP agents at a scheduled border appointment in October 2024 after they photographed his tattoos. Internal DHS data showed he had no criminal history and no U.S. or foreign convictions or charges. He was deported to CECOT prison in El Salvador on March 15, 2025, under the Alien Enemies Act as part of a group of 238 Venezuelan deportees labeled as terrorists and gang members despite DHS data showing most had no U.S. criminal convictions. While incarcerated, Colmenares reported being tortured—guards stomped on his hands, poured filthy water in his ears, and threatened beatings. He was returned to Venezuela on July 18, 2025, as part of a prisoner swap.

More than 230 Venezuelan men held in U.S. immigration custody were expelled to El Salvador in March 2025 under the Trump administration's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act and detained for months in the CECOT maximum-security prison, where they allege torture. A proposed class-action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, led by plaintiffs Andry Omar Blanco Bonilla, Wild Yahare Chirinos Romero and Jerce Egbunik Reyes Barrios, accuses aviation companies CSI Aviation and GlobalX of civil rights violations, false imprisonment and negligence for carrying out the flights despite a federal judge's order to halt or return them. The complaint alleges passengers were told they were being returned to Venezuela but instead were taken to El Salvador and held incommunicado for months while subjected to severe abuse. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who also presided over earlier litigation involving the same deportation flights.