Human Impact Project

Micheline Ntumba, a Portland resident and mother of four from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was detained by ICE agents on January 21, 2026, after dropping off her child at Portland High School. According to her daughter, agents followed Ntumba home to her apartment parking lot near Deering Oaks Park, took her phone and wallet, and placed her in their vehicle without asking for identification or explanation. Ntumba has been in the United States for almost 10 years, has no criminal record, and has a pending asylum application.

ICE enforcement operations, including Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, have created widespread fear in immigrant communities, with documented impacts on children's mental health, school engagement, and family stability. Testimony before the Illinois Accountability Commission described children avoiding school activities, families considering guardianship transfers, and reduced use of healthcare and educational institutions due to enforcement actions.

A five-year-old U.S. citizen named Génesis Ester Gutiérrez Castellanos disappeared after being transferred to ICE custody following her mother's arrest on Monday morning. The child does not appear in ICE, ORR, CPS, or any Central Texas immigration detention facility databases. Family members are calling on the San Antonio ICE field office to locate the child so custody arrangements can be made while her mother remains detained.

A leaked ICE memorandum reveals that federal immigration agents are entering private residences without judicial warrants, using administrative orders to detain people with final deportation orders. The memo, signed by interim ICE director Todd Lyons on May 12, 2025, authorizes use of force to enter homes based only on administrative orders, which immigration advocates argue violates Fourth Amendment protections. The disclosure comes amid reports of ICE operations in Austin involving minors and allegations of abuse, as well as an incident in St. Paul, Minnesota where ICE agents forcibly entered a U.S. citizen's home without a warrant.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers handcuffed and detained two teenagers in south Minneapolis on Wednesday afternoon. One teenager was detained on Blaisdell Avenue while their passenger, who witnessed the incident, was left crying in their vehicle.

Jean-Pierre Obiang, an 18-year-old University of Southern Maine student, was detained by ICE agents on January 21, 2026, after a minor vehicle accident near a Market Basket parking lot in Westbrook. The agents ran the license plates of the vehicle Obiang was in and detained him despite having no criminal record and being enrolled in school. Obiang's family are asylum-seekers from Gabon who have been living in Maine for three years.

ICE agents arrested Hassane Barry, a 38-year-old asylum seeker from Guinea, on Preble Street in Portland on January 21st. Agents shattered the driver's side window of his car, spraying glass over his 1-month-old baby's car seat, and left his wife Nene and the infant alone in the vehicle in freezing conditions. The arrest was part of an intensified ICE enforcement operation in Maine, though Barry has no known criminal history and had filed for asylum upon arriving in the U.S. in 2023.

Juan Carlos Aguilar Sr., who claimed to be a dual U.S. citizen born at MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center, was detained by ICE agents on January 20, 2026, while doing landscaping work in East Long Beach. In a video of the incident, Aguilar told agents in Spanish that he was a U.S. citizen, but ICE detained him anyway. His daughter Genesis Aguilar posted a GoFundMe seeking funds for legal counsel and basic needs while he is held in ICE custody.

Daniel Granados, a landscaper working in East Long Beach, was detained by ICE agents on January 20, 2026, while doing lawn work a few blocks from Kettering Elementary School. According to a GoFundMe created by his cousin, Granados was the primary provider for his family, and his sudden detention has left them in emotional and financial hardship. Local officials and community advocates expressed concern about the detention of what they describe as a hard-working community member.

Victor Acurio Suárez, a 52-year-old Ecuadorian man with autism and aphasia living in Seaford, Delaware, was arrested by ICE in a Lowe's parking lot in September 2024 and held in detention. His younger brother, Lenin Suárez, had served as his primary caregiver, and a medical assessment submitted with his asylum application documented his disabilities and trauma. Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer wrote to the presiding immigration judge calling his potential deportation "cruel" and "egregious," noting Suárez has no criminal history and cannot safely care for himself or represent himself in legal proceedings without family support. Despite this, an immigration judge denied his asylum request and issued an order of voluntary departure on January 20, 2026, and he now faces deportation to Ecuador.

On January 18, 2026, ICE agents raided the Saint Paul, Minnesota home of ChongLy Scott Thao, a U.S. citizen with no criminal record, pointing guns at family members and handcuffing him without a warrant in front of his 5-year-old grandson. After fingerprinting confirmed his citizenship, ICE released him without apology or explanation. The incident prompted a protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, where ICE St. Paul field office director David Easterwood serves as a pastor. Federal prosecutors subsequently charged dozens of protesters—reported as 30 or 39 depending on the source—under statutes criminalizing interference with religious freedom, including civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, and photographer Junn Bollman. The arrests of the journalists drew condemnation from press freedom advocates.

ICE removed Jose Serrano-Maldonado, a Maryland father with no criminal record, to El Salvador on January 20, 2026, despite two court orders prohibiting his removal and a clear "do not remove" banner in his file. Federal authorities admitted the mistake during an emergency hearing but did not provide explanation for why the deportation occurred. The judge ordered daily status updates and the government is working to return him to the United States.

Video shows an ICE agent entering Thai restaurant Eastside Thai in St. Paul, Minnesota, with his handgun drawn while searching for a person who had run past the restaurant. Co-owner Kou Lee said the agent accused them of hiding "the kid," while co-owner Elle Lee said the agent was shouting as he entered and that multiple customers and staff were traumatized. Elle Lee said the incident disrupted her business and left staff hesitant to return to work, with some employees showing up worried and scared despite needing to pay bills. St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her told PBS Newshour that "people are afraid, they are frustrated, they are angry" regarding immigration enforcement in the area.

Two Latino men were detained by Border Patrol agents on January 17, 2026, while painting the exterior of a Christian church in Compton, California. The men were working outside the church on Alondra Boulevard and Bradfield Avenue, covering graffiti and maintaining the building, when agents stopped them and halted the church service inside. Their wives told Telemundo52 they are uncertain what to do moving forward as mothers now left without their husbands and fathers of their children, expressing their distress over the arrests.

Ann Salas laid out toys, clothes, furniture and appliances on her Skokie driveway Friday morning, selling everything in preparation for permanently leaving the United States.⁠ Some shoppers were happy to just give her cash, because her 49-year-old husband, who was brought here from Guatemala as a 5-year-old, was deported to that country last month. She plans to take their young son to Mexico to reunite with her husband, Antony “Tony” Salas, and live there as a family.⁠ A check of court records in Cook County and San Francisco County, California, where Antony Salas lived for a time, did not show any arrests for him.⁠ The family doesn’t plan on coming back, though Ann Salas and the couple’s 3-year-old son are U.S. citizens, and Antony Salas has lived in the U.S. for decades.⁠ Tap on the link in our bio to read more. ⁠

Adonay Mancia Rodríguez was detained by ICE agents near his home in Morristown, New Jersey, after he stepped out to pick up a food delivery. His six-year-old daughter, Annabella, was later found wandering the streets alone following his detention. The arrest occurred during a broader immigration enforcement operation in which DHS said 11 undocumented individuals facing deportation were taken into custody. According to family statements, Rodríguez came to the U.S. as a teenager and had lived and worked in the community for more than ten years without a criminal record.

Magdalena's husband was detained by ICE agents on January 19, 2026, while working to support his family. He was subsequently deported. Magdalena, who is battling stage 4 cancer that has spread from her uterus to her lungs and has undergone multiple surgeries, was left alone to care for their three children. The family fled Honduras due to violence and is seeking asylum in the United States.

An immigrant who has lived in the United States for over thirty years was arrested and detained by ICE on January 19, 2026, pursuant to immigration proceedings. He is the father of three U.S. citizen children, the youngest of whom is entirely dependent upon him. He has no criminal history and maintains community ties. After requesting a custody redetermination hearing under 8 C.F.R. § 1236, an Immigration Judge denied jurisdiction over his bond request on May 19, 2026. He filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court contending he is entitled to a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) and that the statute and regulations require custody determinations and bond hearings, prohibiting indefinite detention without a hearing. The court granted his habeas petition in part, ordering that respondents must either hold a bond hearing before a neutral decisionmaker within seven days or cease detention. The court found the case mirrored numerous analogous cases previously decided by the Eastern District of California.

A 62-year-old Somali elder was detained by ICE agents at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis on December 31 without a warrant. ICE officers remained at the patient's bedside for approximately 28 hours while she received medical care. During her detention, the patient was allegedly shackled to her hospital bed and denied family visits. She was subsequently transported to the ICU where she remains unresponsive.

An 18-month-old girl named Amalia was held with her parents at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas. In January, she became critically ill with pneumonia, Covid-19, and RSV and was hospitalized with respiratory failure. After discharge, she was returned to detention and denied prescribed medication by doctors, remaining confined for nine additional days before being released following an emergency habeas corpus petition.