Human Impact Project

Elaine Miles, an Indigenous actor best known for roles in 'Northern Exposure,' 'Smoke Signals,' and 'The Last of Us,' was detained by four ICE agents at a bus stop in Redmond, Washington, while walking to Target. When she presented her tribal ID from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation—a form of identification recognized by federal agencies—the agents called it fake and claimed anyone could make one. Miles said the agents did not identify themselves when asked for names and badge numbers, and attempted to take her phone when she tried to call the tribal enrollment office to verify her ID. The agents left after a fifth agent whistled them back to their vehicles. Miles's son and uncle were also detained by ICE agents who initially rejected their tribal IDs before being released.

A 24-year-old man from Mexico was arrested by federal immigration agents near Seattle Center on July 27, just around the corner from where a mass shooting killed three people and injured four the previous day. Witnesses said the man was attempting to drive a white van into the area, where vendors were packing up from the Bite of Seattle food festival, when a marked ICE vehicle pulled him over; video shows him handcuffed by multiple officers before being placed in an unmarked car. U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal said ICE told her office the arrest targeted an individual for overstaying a visa since 2022, and she called the timing and location "insensitive and cruel" given the recent shooting. ICE confirmed the arrest was unrelated to the shooting; the arrest was one of nearly a dozen daytime arrests by masked agents in unmarked vehicles documented across Seattle since June.

Elmer Omar Guevara-Martinez, 28, from Honduras, was pursued by ICE agents on July 26, 2026, during an enforcement operation in Kansas City, Kansas, and was pinned against a plate glass window, crashing through it and severely lacerating his lower right leg to the bone. Witnesses said agents chased and tackled him near 8th Street and Minnesota Avenue after he ran out of fear. His family says the injuries affected his feet, the area below his knee, and his tendons, requiring surgery, and that he remains hospitalized and unable to walk. Guevara-Martinez came to the U.S. from Honduras seven years ago, works as a painter, had no criminal record, was not under a removal order, and was pursuing legal status; his wife, Gracy Venegas, and friend Ronnie Padilla said he was in significant pain after the incident.

An Indigenous young woman was detained by ICE agents while standing on a public sidewalk outside the South Portland ICE facility in Portland, Oregon, during a protest that followed reports of an ICE raid on Warm Springs Reservation land. The woman wore a red handprint painted across her mouth and cheek, a symbol used by the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives movement. ICE agents said they were on Tribal land only to use the restroom and denied conducting targeted enforcement, and the Warm Springs tribal government later confirmed that no tribal members were detained during that incident. Neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security has publicly commented on the video showing the woman's detention.

Nuria, a Houston-area mother of four, was detained by ICE agents on July 22 at a Sam's Club in the Spring area. Her fiancé, Kibwe Dixon, described her as a devoted mother and caring partner and said all four of her children are U.S. citizens. The family has started a GoFundMe and is asking the public for help.

Multiple people were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a migration enforcement operation in Canton, Georgia. According to a Facebook Live recording by a witness, the detainees were transported in different vehicles to a parking lot, where agents made them exit the vehicles and gathered them before transferring them to a van for continued transport.

Marco Antonio Roblero Pérez, a 25-year-old Guatemalan immigrant, was arrested by ICE agents at a gas station in Chamblee, Georgia on July 19, 2026, while stopping to buy drinks on his way to work. According to his family and eyewitness accounts, agents subjected him to physical strikes, a chokehold, and electric shocks with a taser during the arrest. He was hospitalized in Atlanta with a broken nose, broken teeth, severe facial trauma, and spinal injuries requiring a cervical neck brace. An ICE agent remained stationed at his hospital bed during his recovery. His family has questioned the medical care he received, while ICE agents stated they used a stun gun during the operation.

Emma Landis, a 22-year-old activist and artist, was shot in the right foot by Brandon Booth, a 42-year-old off-duty employee of GEO Group, which operates the Aurora ICE Processing Center in Colorado, during a protest outside the facility on July 17, 2026. The shooting occurred after a verbal confrontation when facility employees began mocking and threatening protesters on the sidewalk. Landis called 911 herself after Booth and his colleagues fled the scene and was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. She requires six to eight weeks of bed rest, which has prevented her from working and engaging in her hobbies. Despite her injury, Landis returned to protest at the facility on Sunday and told supporters she will continue to advocate for closing immigration detention in Colorado. Booth was arrested and charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, attempted first-degree assault, felony menacing, and unlawful carrying of a concealed weapon.

ICE agents in Passaic, New Jersey detained a U.S. citizen who repeatedly asked them to verify his identification. According to a neighbor who filmed the incident, the man told the federal agents who he was and pleaded with them to check his ID, but agents forced him to the ground, handcuffed him, and placed him in their vehicle without verifying his identity. A separate video circulating online shows the man continuing to ask agents to check his ID while being handcuffed, which they refused to do.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested seven undocumented immigrants during a targeted operation in Bemidji on July 16, 2026. Benjamin Rodriguez Medina, from Mexico, was arrested while working on a construction site at the SouthShore Hotel on Lake Bemidji; he attempted to flee by swimming into the lake before being apprehended. The other six men arrested were Manuel Pomavilla Pichisaca (Ecuador), Luis Zaruma Delgado (Ecuador/Spain dual citizen), Diego Soto Velosco (Mexico), Xavier Llumiquinga Cajamarca (Ecuador), Wilson Pomavilla Guaman (Ecuador), and Luis Tipan-Calderon (Ecuador). All seven were in ICE custody pending further immigration proceedings.

Federal ICE agents detained a man in St. Charles, Missouri. According to witnesses, an agent slammed the handcuffed man's face into a stone wall while he was restrained. The video also shows agents confronting a bystander who was recording from a public area, chasing him, pushing him backward, and pointing what appeared to be a taser in his direction. Courts have generally recognized a First Amendment right to record law-enforcement officers performing public duties.

Juan, a 66-year-old man, was arrested during an ICE enforcement operation in a residential area on 7/15/2026. According to a video posted on Facebook by Jonathan Djcachu Hernandez, approximately 14 uniformed officers restrained Juan on the pavement. Juan had left his home that morning to buy medicine because he felt sick and did not go to work. During the arrest, Juan stated "No voy a correr" (I am not going to run) and appeared to be in pain. The exact location, Juan's full identity, and official confirmation of the arrest circumstances have not been independently corroborated.

On July 14, 2026, ICE agents conducted a targeted enforcement operation on residential streets in Laguna Vista, Texas, near South Padre Island, the same day the Trump administration had briefly ordered ICE to pause most traffic stops following agent-involved killings in Houston and Maine. Witnesses said an unmarked SUV chased two vehicles carrying seven roofers returning from a lunch break to their job site; resident Samantha Weber Alarcón said the pursuit, at high speed through narrow 20-mph streets, nearly ran her off the road while she was driving with her son. After one vehicle stopped in a home's driveway, the driver and another passenger fled on foot, leaving an 18-year-old U.S. citizen in the back seat; Alarcón alleged agents entered a neighbor's yard, drew weapons, and pointed a gun at the teen before briefly handcuffing and then releasing him once they confirmed his citizenship. ICE said an agent drew his weapon when the teen reached into a tool bag after failing to follow orders, and that a knife was later found inside; the agency denied a vehicle pursuit occurred but confirmed 'targeted enforcement arrests' in the area, where local police with body-worn cameras were also present. The incident took place amid stepped-up ICE activity in the Rio Grande Valley, about 20 minutes from South Padre Island, where agents fatally shot U.S. citizen Ruben Ray Martinez in March 2025.

A Haitian man with a pending asylum application was arrested by ICE on July 14, 2026, while exiting a supermarket in Barrio Obrero, San Juan, after purchasing groceries. According to community leader Jonathan Hernández, the man was detained roughly by approximately ten federal agents immediately after leaving the store. The man has had an active asylum petition pending since August 12, 2025. Community members including interpreter Leonard Prophil expressed concern that deportation to Haiti could endanger his life, given the documented dangers facing returned Haitian migrants.

Two individuals were taken into custody by ICE on the morning of July 14, 2026 at a Love's gas station in Madras. Video posted by the Latino Community Association shows two masked individuals wearing bulletproof vests and bearing Police and U.S. Border Patrol markings approaching a group of vehicles. The Latino Community Association received multiple reports of immigration enforcement activity in the area and was working to confirm whether these individuals were among those transported to Tacoma Northwest Detention Center.

A man, believed to be originally from Venezuela, was arrested by ICE in the parking lot of Wow Supermarket off South Boulevard in Charlotte on Monday morning while working as a Lyft driver. According to video footage and witnesses, approximately 10 immigration officers surrounded the man's car, broke the window, and forcibly removed him from the vehicle. A Siembra NC volunteer and store employee reported the man was assaulted during the arrest. The incident caused the store to close temporarily out of fear for employees' safety.

Danny Joel Quispe Maizanche, an Ecuadorian national, was arrested by ICE officers on Himrod Street in Bushwick during a targeted enforcement operation. He entered the United States near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, in April 2024 and was enrolled in the federal Alternatives to Detention program but failed to comply with its reporting requirements. According to DHS, Quispe Maizanche has accepted Incentivized Voluntary Departure and is expected to return to Ecuador.

Jonathan Delgado was detained by ICE agents in a Food City parking lot in Mesa, Arizona, while his wife Cindy Mendoza recorded the encounter. Delgado is the primary breadwinner for his family and father of three children, including a 6-year-old son with autism who is nonverbal. According to Mendoza, she had only seconds to process the situation and say goodbye as her husband was taken into custody.

Winston, an HVAC technician who has lived in Virginia for six years with his wife and 15-month-old son Luka, was detained by ICE agents in a Home Depot parking lot in New York while working on a maintenance contract along the East Coast. He studied and qualified as an HVAC technician in the United States to provide for his family. His detention has left his wife and young son without income and emotional support; his son searches for him each time the front door opens. His sister Bárbara is fundraising for legal representation costs (approximately $20,000), an immigration bond, and family support expenses while Winston remains detained and unable to work.

A 48-year-old citizen of Mexico who has lived in the United States for thirty years was detained by ICE agents on July 8, 2026 while standing at a bus stop in Brooklyn with other Hispanic men and asked to produce identification. He was arrested and taken to 26 Federal Plaza, then transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn on July 15, 2026. On July 22, 2026, he filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, arguing his detention was unlawful. Respondents conceded that ICE detained him under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) without first conducting the individualized custody determination required by the court's prior ruling in H.A.C.F. v. Francis. The court issued a Temporary Restraining Order on July 24, 2026 directing his immediate release, and Respondents subsequently acknowledged that the H.A.C.F. precedent controlled the outcome of the case. The court granted the habeas petition on August 6, 2026 and enjoined Respondents from re-detaining him absent compliance with applicable regulations or prior court authorization.