Human Impact Project

A Black man with no connection to an ongoing traffic stop was questioned and handcuffed by a US Border Patrol agent at an Orion gas station in Lake Worth Beach, Florida. Video shows the agent demanding his identification and telling him it was 'because you're an immigrant' before officers forced his arms behind his back and restrained him. He was released minutes later after a status check cleared him. A second man who appeared Latino was seized shortly afterward, and an older man filming the encounter was ordered to move away from the scene.

Angel Acosta Ramirez, 43, a former mechanical engineer from Venezuela who later worked as an Uber driver in Branson, was pulled over by the Christian County Sheriff's Office for allegedly speeding near Highlandville in January 2026. Despite holding a valid work visa, he was arrested and jailed on an immigration hold, spending six weeks in the Greene County Jail before being deported. He had fled Venezuela in 2022 with his wife, Maria Fernanda Arrioja Romero, their infant son Santiago, and his parents, believing he had a right to remain in the U.S. Acosta Ramirez said the hardest part of his detention was being separated from his wife and not knowing what would happen to their young son. His wife was later held for months in the same Greene County Jail, which contracts with ICE to detain hundreds of immigrants daily. Acosta Ramirez said life since his deportation has been 'really hard,' with his family now struggling to earn enough money to survive.

Isaac Melendez-Carranza, 31, a Salvadoran national, was arrested by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office and taken to the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center in Leesburg, Virginia. The same day, ICE Washington lodged an immigration detainer and warrant of removal with the detention center, which honors ICE detainers under a 287(g) agreement. Border Patrol had previously encountered Melendez near Hebbronville, Texas, in 2016 after he crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico.

W., a 40-year-old Honduran man, was intercepted by police officers in New Orleans in July while picking up his wife from work. He was held at the Jackson Parish Correctional Center in Louisiana before being transported to Alexandria airport and deported to Liberia on a charter flight, marking the second time he was deported under the Trump administration after an earlier deportation to Honduras. He said staff from the International Organization for Migration are assisting him with his diabetes at the hotel in Liberia where he is being housed, and he does not feel safe leaving the premises.

Emmanuel Nelson, 18, a senior linebacker for Port St. Lucie High School's football and wrestling teams, was pulled over for driving 45 mph in a 20 mph school zone and is still in ICE custody more than a week later. Police found he was not a U.S. citizen and contacted ICE, which placed a detainer on him; he was first held at the St. Lucie County Jail and is now at the Broward Transitional Center. ICE says Nelson entered the U.S. legally in January 2016 but violated the terms of his admission, while his family says he came through the Haitian Family Reunification Program and has a pending residency petition from a U.S. citizen step-parent, and had held a valid work permit, Social Security number and driver's license. His coach and teammates have said they hope to welcome him back to the team.

Daniel Roque Olivares was driving to work on U.S. Highway 81 in Oklahoma when a state trooper pulled him over and detained him for violating federal immigration laws. The stop is part of a broader crackdown enabled by training all 700 Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers in immigration enforcement, an effort led by former Highway Patrol major Lance Schroyer, Trump's nominee to head ICE, who was himself deputized to make arrests after a 40-hour training course. State officials say local agencies like the Highway Patrol are essential to the administration's deportation efforts. Schroyer's nomination has yet to receive a Senate confirmation hearing amid reported friction between Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, to whom he is close, and the Trump administration.

Eduardo José Osal Mujica, 32, crossed the Darién Gap into the U.S., turned himself in to immigration authorities, and applied for asylum while working installing roofs and driving for Uber, settling first in Denver and later Wyoming. Local police detained him during a traffic stop in Wyoming, after which he was transferred through detention facilities in Colorado, Arizona and Texas before signing a deportation order. He was among 146 Venezuelans deported on Flight 164, which landed in Maiquetía, Venezuela on June 24, after which he and other deportees were taken to the Negra Hipólita Health Hotel for medical checkups before planned release to their home cities. The hotel collapsed in an earthquake that day, killing an unknown number of deportees while in Venezuelan custody. His wife, Danielys Hurtado, spent five days searching for his body among bags of corpses at an improvised morgue in a converted grain-storage facility. Nearly two months later, the Venezuelan government has released no official information on those who died, with survivor estimates ranging between 12 and 32.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer against Meliza Campos-Sanchez, 26, a Cuban national, after she was arrested and booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami. Authorities allege she was involved in an incident at her Miami home on Aug. 16 that led to two counts of child neglect, along with child abuse and arson charges, and she was taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation under Florida's Baker Act before being booked; jail records recommend she be held without bond. DHS said ICE asked local officials to notify federal authorities before her release so she could potentially be taken into ICE custody, and the agency said it intends to seek her removal after her criminal case is resolved. She entered the United States through Florida without legal authorization in May 2022, according to DHS, and prosecutors have cited social media videos as evidence in the pending case.

Wilbert Jean Baptiste was chased down and apprehended by law enforcement near a car wash at the Southern Village Shopping Center in Springfield, according to bystander videos posted to social media in which an officer identified himself as being with ICE. He is currently incarcerated at the Butler County Jail on an ICE hold, under the jail's agreement with ICE to house suspected noncitizens.

Beaubrun Charles Ardouin, a naturalized U.S. citizen who drives for a transportation company shuttling workers, was pulled over near Topre America in Springfield, Ohio, in what DHS called a 'targeted enforcement' stop. Ardouin said he showed officers his ID and told them he was a citizen, but they demanded identification from his five Haitian passengers and threatened to break his van's windows if he didn't unlock them. All five men, who said they had pending asylum applications, were detained and booked into Butler County Jail under ICE holds; jail records identified them as Canot Monnimat, Albert Francois, Nero Adrien Toussaint, Cadet Vixama and Wislain Fenelon. The stop occurred amid broader ICE activity across Springfield, including arrests near a car wash in an area with several Haitian-owned businesses, with some detainees' mugshots showing them still in work uniforms. Butler County Jail held 17 people listing Haiti as their birth country under ICE detention as of one recent Monday, as many of Springfield's estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Haitian residents became vulnerable to detention after a federal judge lifted a stay on the revocation of Temporary Protected Status for Haiti. Legal experts questioned whether officers had reasonable suspicion for the traffic stop, and DHS said several of the detained men have since been released or transferred.

Oscar, a mechanic from the Fredericksburg area, was held under ICE custody at the Rappahannock Regional Jail before being moved through a chain of detention facilities in Virginia, Texas, and Louisiana and deported to El Salvador in 2024, despite having no felony record. He described poor conditions at the jail, being shackled throughout his deportation flight, and being accused of gang membership in El Salvador due to a paperwork error. Deportation Data Project records show 356 people were held under ICE custody at the jail and removed from the country between January 2025 and March 2026, with 67% having no criminal record beyond their immigration status. The jail's policy of querying ICE about foreign-born detainees exceeds what Virginia law requires, and a new state law, the Community Safety and Trust Act, may prohibit such cooperation without a judicial warrant.

Homero Calderón, a professional soccer player from Venezuela who played for clubs in Venezuela, Portugal, Cyprus and Italy, has been held in an ICE detention center in Folkston, Georgia for about five months. He was pulled over for speeding by the Marion County Sheriff's Office in Florida in late February 2026, arrested for driving without a valid Florida license, and transferred to ICE custody despite having two pending applications with USCIS — a tourist visa extension and an EB-1A visa for people with extraordinary abilities. He is a father of two U.S. citizen children, ages 1 and 3, and recently missed his daughter's first birthday. His wife said that in 17 years together she had 'never heard him cry or ask for help like he has.' His family says he has no criminal record, and USCIS has a backlog of 11.3 million pending cases.

Since the beginning of 2025, ICE has conducted extensive raids targeting day laborers seeking work at Home Depot stores across Los Angeles, with more than 500 workers detained according to estimates by the National Day Laborer Network. ICE operations have included a tactic called 'Trojan Horse,' where officers hid in a truck to enter a Hollywood branch, and raids have expanded to construction sites, traffic lights, and coffee shops where day laborers congregate. Home Depot has expelled day laborers from its facilities citing an old rule against offering services without authorization, while the company denies coordinating with ICE or sharing license plate reader data with authorities. Community groups have organized support efforts including the 'Adopt a Day Laborer Corner' documentation program and boycott campaigns.

Juan Francisco Monroy Turuy, a 54-year-old Guatemalan immigrant who has worked as a restaurant remodeler in the U.S. for more than two decades, called 911 after witnessing a man fire a gun into the air in a Home Depot parking lot on West Sam Houston Parkway South. He stayed at the scene to help identify the suspect, but before Houston police finished interviewing him, ICE agents arrived and detained him over his immigration status. Houston Police Department said it had not contacted or coordinated with ICE, and Home Depot denied cooperating with the agency. He has been held for more than three weeks at the Montgomery ICE Processing Center in Conroe, and his attorney says no one has contacted him about pursuing a U-visa. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said the detention could discourage witnesses from cooperating with police, and advocacy groups including FIEL, PSL, and CRECEN questioned how ICE located him so quickly. Monroy has long sent money home to support his wife, who suffered a stroke, and his three children; his son Wilmer said his father 'risked his own safety to help stop a criminal.'

A witness recorded video of ICE agents using a vehicle to pin a Guatemalan man against a fence to detain him on Aug. 10 in Hallandale Beach. The footage sparked outrage among activists from several organizations, including the Guatemalan-Maya Center and 50501, who gathered to protest at Hallandale Beach City Hall. Advocates said the incident occurred amid an escalation in ICE activity across South Broward and North Miami following the end of TPS, and called on the Hallandale Beach Police Department to document federal misconduct and avoid partnering with ICE under 287(g) agreements.

Laurentino Matuz Reyes, 39, a Mexican national, was detained by ICE agents at the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo after his lawful entry authorization expired in 2022. Local law enforcement encountered him at the event, and he was taken into ICE custody along with two other individuals. He remained in custody pending removal proceedings.

Melqui David Lopez Diaz, a 22-year-old Mexican national, was detained by ICE agents at the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo after local law enforcement encountered him at the event. His lawful entry authorization had expired in 2023. He was taken into ICE custody along with two other individuals at the rodeo and remained in custody pending removal proceedings. His family described his detention as their worst nightmare.

A Lake Worth Beach couple, Maria Leiva and Abraham Domingo, were detained by Border Patrol agents on Aug. 9 as their family drove home from church and planned to buy their children shoes for the start of school. Their five U.S.-born children, ages 3 to 18, were present during the stop near Greenacres, and the encounter was recorded and widely shared online. The eldest daughter, who turned 18 the day before, is now the primary caregiver for her four younger siblings. The Department of Homeland Security said Leiva had an outstanding removal order and Domingo had a past domestic battery charge, though court records show that charge did not result in a conviction.

Juan Quim, 19, was deported to Guatemala on August 9, less than two weeks after being detained during a traffic stop in Littleville, Alabama, and transferred to ICE custody under a 287(g) agreement. Quim came to the U.S. from Guatemala at age 10 and grew up in Russellville, where he graduated with honors from Russellville High School, excelled in the welding program, volunteered at his church, and worked at a local restaurant. The Department of Homeland Security said Quim had an outstanding final order of removal over three years old due to his failure to appear at immigration hearings. An advocate who organized a GoFundMe for Quim said he is now safe with relatives, and he is described as deeply missed by his parents and two siblings.

Four individuals were detained by ICE personnel at the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo during the weekend. The detentions occurred when attendees presented international identification at age-verification checkpoints for alcohol purchases. During verification of the identification documents, issues regarding immigration status were raised, prompting ICE agents already present at the rodeo to respond and detain the individuals. Law enforcement checks indicated all four had existing immigration-related matters in federal systems.