Human Impact Project

On Sept. 1, ICE agents raided a day laborer gathering spot near General Hart Playground in Woodside, Queens, detaining about eight men, the second such raid in three days. Workers say ICE has specifically targeted the site during a weekly mobile soup kitchen distribution, and the usual crowd of about 100 day laborers has dwindled to just a few people showing up for work. Local officials, including Assemblymember Steven Raga and City Council Member Julie Won, say the raids are part of a broader, deliberate pattern of ICE activity across western Queens in recent weeks, including incidents near 37th Avenue and 69th Street. DHS says its "Operation Rotten Apple" resulted in 2,197 arrests statewide between July 27 and Aug. 29, though nationwide data shows fewer than a third of those in ICE detention have any criminal conviction.

A man was hospitalized after being Tased by an ICE agent during his arrest in Danbury during a targeted enforcement operation. City officials said ICE called 911 around 6:45 a.m. reporting the man had been Tased and needed medical attention, and a city ambulance transported him to Danbury Hospital, where he was discharged later that morning. A DHS spokesperson said the man physically resisted arrest and reached for a pocketknife, and that he was carrying a counterfeit lawful permanent resident card and fake Social Security card. Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves called the incident 'deeply concerning' and said the community deserves transparency about what occurred and why that level of force was used.

A court filing revealed that earlier this year four ICE vehicles sped past a stopped school bus with its lights flashing in New Jersey before heading toward an apartment complex where elementary school children were waiting for another bus. The children scattered and ran away in fear. Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of America's Voice, said the incident showed immigration agents treating young children on their way to school as targets.

ICE conducted a multi-day enforcement operation in Danbury, Connecticut, with the mayor estimating about 50 people detained by Wednesday, not including further arrests on Thursday. Surveillance video from a security camera near Kennedy Park, at a business owned by Maria Rivera, captured agents throwing, kicking, and kneeling on a man's head as he was arrested outside a local Botanica store. The area had previously drawn up to 200 day laborers each morning, but immigrants and residents now avoid it, and nearby business owners reported fear and declining customer traffic. Agents were also seen waiting near school bus stops and outside a daycare center. A local blogger documenting the activity said agents grabbed day laborers off the street without warrants. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said ICE had not explained why it was operating in Danbury and that he was exploring legal options to hold the administration accountable, while DHS confirmed the enforcement activity but declined to provide further details, citing operational security.

Jhonny Ojeda, a 26-year-old construction worker from Ecuador who has lived in the U.S. for five years, was pulled over on West Street and taken from his truck by ICE agents while driving home from a job site. His fiancée, Kim Rivas, said Ojeda had no criminal record, paid taxes every year, and had legal representation. His arrest came amid a fourth consecutive day of ICE activity in Danbury, with the mayor estimating about 50 people had been detained citywide.

Brandon Domena, a lifelong Passaic County, New Jersey resident and U.S. citizen, was detained by ICE agents for about five hours after a confrontation broke out while he and his family watched agents arrest a neighbor, reportedly a Mexican man wanted for domestic violence. Video showed agents in tactical gear restraining Domena face-down on a lawn and handcuffing him, with a witness saying his arm was nearly dislocated; he says he was left with bruises and marks on his hands. Domena said he repeatedly told agents he was a U.S. citizen, believes he was racially profiled, and was denied water, a restroom, medical attention and a phone call during his detention. DHS alleges he spit at and kicked an officer and was arrested on potential charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers, but he has not been criminally charged. He disputes DHS's account, says an agent later apologized to him, was released the same day, and has hired a lawyer.

A foreign national who entered the United States around 2008 was arrested and detained by ICE officers on August 26, 2026, without prior notice while he was on his way to work. He is currently held at the Philadelphia Federal Detention Center, with the government asserting he is subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A). He filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging his detention. The district court granted the petition, relying on recent Third Circuit precedent holding that noncitizens already present in the United States are not 'seeking admission' and therefore cannot be detained under § 1225(b), but only under § 1226. The court ordered the government to release him immediately, temporarily enjoined his re-detention for seven days, and required that any future detention be preceded by a bond hearing before a neutral immigration judge. The court also barred the government from removing or transferring him out of the district pending that bond hearing.

ICE agents carried out a raid early Wednesday morning at the intersection of Madison Avenue and Alderman Street off Palm Beach Boulevard in Lee County, Florida, detaining dozens of people using masked agents, armored vehicles and machine guns. Resident Ana Hernandez said neighbors live in fear of being stopped for being undocumented, while witness Hillary Hogue described the arrests as targeting hardworking people, not criminals. ICE released images of five men with prior arrests taken into custody but has not disclosed the total number detained, and immigration attorney Indera DeMine said courts in Miami are experiencing "mass chaos" from the surge in cases.

ICE agents wearing masks boarded a Houston METRO bus to carry out arrests, prompting outrage among local residents. The incident drew public reaction over safety concerns for people using public transit in the city.

A video posted online showed five ICE agents in Danbury attempting to wrestle a man's arms behind his back while he lay on the street in front of a preschool center. A masked agent pointed a canister of what appeared to be pepper spray at the man's face, warning, "You're going to get sprayed," while another agent ordered him to put his arms out. The incident occurred during a week in which ICE agents made a sharp uptick in arrests across Danbury, with local advocacy group Danbury Unites for Immigrants confirming dozens of arrests in the city.

Noe Lux Castro, a 24-year-old Guatemalan national whom ICE said entered the United States without authorization, was arrested by Florida Highway Patrol troopers and ICE agents during a multiagency enforcement sweep in the Fort Myers area in August 2026. Authorities said Castro grabbed a trooper's Taser during the arrest and attempted to use it against the officer. He was charged with obstructing a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, and resisting an officer without violence. His arrest came amid a broader Southwest Florida operation in which ICE reported roughly 500 arrests since August 24, including people suspected of murder, child abuse, and cartel activity. One report noted a discrepancy between his listed age of 24 and a photo caption listing him as 28, which has not been resolved.

Juan Miguel Aldape (Aldape-Palacios), a Newberg, Oregon resident of about 22 years and devout Catholic, was detained by masked federal immigration agents without a warrant while shopping for construction supplies with coworkers outside a Lowe's in McMinnville. A coworker who confirmed U.S. citizenship was released, while Aldape and another coworker were arrested; ICE described the action as part of a 'targeted enforcement operation.' Family members say he has no criminal record, is a taxpayer, and serves as primary caregiver for his youngest son, who has autism, as well as a grandfather whose grandchildren call him 'Papa Juan.' He was transferred through ICE facilities in Portland and Tacoma before being moved to the Richwood Correctional Center in Louisiana, and his family said they could not reach him for over a week and struggled to secure legal representation. Advocates from Innovation Law Lab and Unidos Bridging Community, along with relatives including daughter-in-law Ashleen Aldape, said the warrantless arrest violated a February federal court order barring such ICE arrests in Oregon.

At least 16 people were arrested by ICE agents in Danbury on Monday, according to community advocates, with about half detained at a day laborer site in Kennedy Park and others stopped outside residences or businesses. Advocates said agents returned to the park twice to make arrests, and that one detained man requires dialysis treatment while another is the father of a high school student. Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves said city officials were not notified in advance of the operation and said agents appeared to be 'pulling random people' who looked Latino. Gov. Ned Lamont said the arrests did not appear targeted at violent criminals, calling those detained 'laborers seeking work' and 'parents walking their children to school.'

Cristy Maryori Villafranca Trejo, 29, wife of active-duty Army Sgt. Hedár Leonel Turcios Juárez at Fort Bliss, was detained by ICE agents on July 11 outside an El Paso-area Walmart as their 6-year-old U.S. citizen daughter watched masked agents handcuff her. She fled Honduras in 2016 and received a 2017 removal order after missing a court hearing she says she was never notified of; she had no criminal record and served as the family's primary caregiver, including during her husband's nine-month deployment. She was held at Camp East Montana on Fort Bliss, where she and her husband reported an infection, unsanitary conditions and dirty clothing, consistent with a Human Rights Watch report citing excessive force and medical neglect at the facility. Despite a pending Board of Immigration Appeals case and military parole-in-place application, she was deported to Honduras on August 24. Turcios, a naturalized U.S. citizen since 2024, said, "She has been my everything... I'm just asking for my family to be together so I can continue with my military career," and has continued his duties while arranging child care alone and paying for private legal representation. Rep. Veronica Escobar opened a congressional inquiry and visited her in detention, saying her heart "breaks for her, her children and the soldier who must feel so betrayed by the country he is sacrificing for." She is at least the seventh spouse or parent of an active-duty service member deported under the administration's immigration crackdown, according to an Associated Press tally.

ICE arrested Khayrullo Payzullaev, 30, a Uzbek national and commercial truck driver, during a targeted enforcement action at a travel stop in Hamilton, New Jersey. He held a Pennsylvania non-domiciled commercial driver's license. A Philadelphia immigration judge had ordered his detention on July 21, and he remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

Silvano (also reported as Silvino) López Domingo, a Guatemalan man, was detained and physically restrained by ICE agents while waiting to pick up his laundry at a laundromat in New York state. Neighbors who filmed the arrest said four agents forcibly took him away and threatened him with an electric shock. His wife, Milvia Chávez, currently in Guatemala with their 5-month-old daughter, said he has no criminal record and is asking for help to secure his release. Witnesses who saw the arrest expressed concern about the increase in immigration enforcement operations in the state.

Federal immigration agents were seen detaining a man in the parking lot of a Grocery Outlet on South First Street in Yakima, Washington. Witnesses recorded video of the encounter as it unfolded in broad daylight. The man's identity and immigration status have not been confirmed.

Ernesto Alejandro Perez-Garcia, a Mexican national, was arrested by ICE agents while on his morning walk along the Redondo Beach esplanade. He initially denied his identity but admitted the truth after agents showed him a previous mugshot. Perez-Garcia has a lengthy arrest history dating to 2003 and had previously been deported, later re-entering the U.S. multiple times; he said his children live in the United States and he does not know what will happen next. Redondo Beach police had twice declined to honor ICE detainer requests for him, in 2020 and 2026.

According to a viral social media post, ICE agents in the Pine Manor neighborhood of Fort Myers, Florida, grabbed several women, forced them onto pavement and against parked cars, and continued restraining them while a child stood nearby. The post claims agents threatened to shoot the women during the confrontation. The claims have not been independently verified by news sources.

Arcadio Zavala García, known as "Callito," was detained by ICE agents while walking home in New Rochelle, New York. A neighbor, Marisol Cuevas, recognized him as a friend of her father's and began recording as agents questioned him in English, a language he does not speak. Cuevas said Zavala, originally from Veracruz, Mexico, was known for being respectful and, as far as she knew, had no criminal record.