Human Impact Project

Gladys Tentes-Pitiur, an Indigenous Shuar woman from Ecuador, was detained by ICE for 135 days at Richwood Correctional Center in Louisiana after being arrested outside a courthouse in New Haven on July 7, 2025. She had fled Ecuador due to persecution and traveled through seven countries with her two young sons, surviving cartel kidnapping in Mexico before arriving in New Haven in November 2023. After an immigration judge granted her asylum on October 17, 2025, citing violence she had fled since age 15, she was released on November 19 and reunited with her sons, ages 6 and 7, outside their Fair Haven school the day before Thanksgiving. Her lawyer, Brenda Wylie, said the case was the only successful asylum grant her office achieved in 2025, and Tentes-Pitiur recalled her younger son initially refusing to believe she would not be taken away again.

A native of India who entered the U.S. without inspection in 2004 was re-detained by ICE at a New York office during a scheduled check-in on November 18, 2025. He had been previously detained, placed in removal proceedings, and released, with an asylum application pending since 2024. The court ordered respondents to provide him with a bond hearing within seven days or release him.

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.

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.

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.

Carine Balenda Mbizi, a Congolese mother, was detained by Customs and Border Protection on November 12, 2025, at the Champlain Port of Entry in New York after attempting to seek asylum in Canada with her three teenage children. The family had entered the U.S. without authorization in 2022 and was transferred to the Dilley family detention facility in Texas. An immigration judge issued a deportation order in February 2025, and her appeal was dismissed in October. Online immigration court records show she remains in the facility while her case is pending.

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.

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.

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.

A man who had lived in the United States for more than 24 years and is the husband and father of U.S. citizens was detained by ICE on November 1, 2025, and taken to Adelanto Detention Facility. He had previously been released on bond in 2013 after an earlier detention, received work authorization, and had been checking in with ICE regularly without missing appointments. The court granted a temporary restraining order ordering his immediate release, finding his re-detention violated due process since he was not informed of changed circumstances that would justify revoking his bond.

Mamadou Mouctar Diallo, a 20-year-old asylum seeker from Guinea and student at Brooklyn Frontiers High School, was detained by ICE on August 4, 2025, following a routine court appearance. He was transferred to a detention facility in Pennsylvania. Elected officials, immigrant advocates, and teachers rallied outside the Tweed Courthouse in Lower Manhattan in response to his detention. Diallo was held for approximately five months before being released in November 2025.

L.H., an Indigenous Quechua woman, fled Peru in 2021 with her minor son Y.V. after years of severe gender- and race-based domestic violence, including kidnapping, stalking, and a knife assault by her ex-partner. After settling in California and applying for asylum, DHS moved at a November 2025 hearing to pretermit her applications and seek their removal to Honduras under an Asylum Cooperative Agreement.

Monica, an Ecuadorian child care worker seeking asylum, was pushed to the ground and shoved into a wall by an ICE agent outside a Manhattan immigration court on September 25, 2025, while agents detained her husband Ruben. The incident, which occurred in front of the couple's two young children and journalists, was captured on video and circulated widely on social media. Monica said she feared Ruben's deportation would amount to a death sentence. The officer, who reportedly had a history of aggressive conduct at the same location, was temporarily relieved of duty after DHS called the conduct unacceptable, but was reinstated days later following a preliminary review despite political calls for felony charges. In late October, a federal court ordered Ruben's release after finding he had been detained without explanation. The family of four has since been reunited, though their asylum cases remain pending.

Fernando Jaramillo Solano, a 45-year-old Colombian national seeking asylum, and his two children, Jana Michel Jaramillo Patiño (12) and Kewin Daniel Patiño Bustamante (15), were detained by ICE agents on October 27, 2025, while being driven to school near a mobile home park in Durango, Colorado. The family had lived in Colorado for over 18 months, held valid documentation showing an active asylum process since December 2024, a pending work permit request, and no criminal record. ICE officials later stated in federal court that Jaramillo Solano was not their intended target. Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Durango ICE field office, where agents in tactical gear pepper-sprayed and fired rubber bullets at demonstrators; one protester was allegedly pushed and another, 57-year-old Franci Stagi, was knocked down and put in a chokehold, while 22-year-old Drew Collie was sprayed and struck by rubber bullets. Local police attempting a welfare check on the children were denied entry by federal agents. The father was transferred to a detention facility in Dilley, Texas, and the children were held at a facility in southern Texas before immigration officials granted the family voluntary departure, with ICE stating it would facilitate their return to Colombia. The City of Durango requested an investigation into agent conduct from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, which declined the request.

Arthur Berto, a 13-year-old Brazilian asylum seeker living in Everett, Massachusetts, was arrested by local police on suspicion of making a violent threat at school. When his mother, Josiele Berto, went to the police station to retrieve him, she learned ICE had taken him into custody instead, without informing her of his whereabouts or next steps. Authorities later transferred Arthur to a juvenile detention facility in Winchester, Virginia, without notifying his family or attorney. The Everett police chief said this was the first such incident in the city, and local officials disputed DHS claims that Arthur had an 'extensive rap sheet' and a firearm, stating no gun was found. His mother, whose family has a pending asylum application, has only been able to reach him through brief phone calls. A federal judge ordered the government to justify the arrest or provide a bond hearing, and a federal court petition has been filed arguing the detention violates due process.

M-J-M-A, a 45-year-old Mexican citizen who entered the U.S. legally in January 2025 and later overstayed her visa, was arrested by ICE on October 30, 2025 while on her way to work. At the Portland ICE facility, an officer pressured her to sign a Spanish-language document waiving her right to an immigration court hearing and requesting voluntary removal, despite her intention to seek asylum, telling her that refusing would delay her departure. When her attorney was finally able to meet with her roughly three hours later, the meeting was cut short after only about 10 minutes. ICE then shackled her and transferred her to a facility in Tacoma, Washington, leaving her without attorney contact for approximately two days.

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.

Fernando Jaramillo Solano, a Colombian asylum-seeker, was detained by ICE agents on October 27, 2025 while driving his two children—ages 11/12 and 14/15—to school near a mobile home park in Durango, Colorado. The family had lived in Colorado for more than 18 months with an active asylum case and no criminal record. Immigration officials later admitted in federal court that Jaramillo Solano was not their intended target. The father was sent to a family detention center in Dilley, Texas, while the children were held separately at an ICE facility in southern Texas, apart from their mother, Estela Patiño, who remained in Durango. Local police tried multiple times to secure the children's release but were denied entry by federal agents, and Colorado Governor Jared Polis said ICE had not notified the state in advance. On October 28, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the ICE field office demanding the family's release; agents in tactical gear used pepper spray and rubber bullets, breaking through a human chain formed by demonstrators. The family was subsequently granted voluntary departure, with ICE facilitating their return to Colombia.

Chanthila "Shawn" Souvannarath, 44, was deported to Laos despite a federal court order issued the day before blocking his removal so he could pursue a claim of U.S. citizenship. Souvannarath was born in a refugee camp in Thailand but has lived most of his life in the United States and had been granted lawful permanent residence before his first birthday. A federal judge had directed ICE to keep him in the country while his citizenship claim was reviewed. DHS said the court order was not received until after the deportation had already taken place, according to attorneys.