Human Impact Project

Mubashir Khalif Hussen, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen, was stopped and arrested by multiple masked ICE agents in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis while walking to lunch in December 2025. Despite repeatedly telling agents "I'm a citizen" and attempting to show his driver's license and passport card—which his employer also tried to show through the vehicle's windshield—agents refused to examine his identification. He was held for several hours and shackled in a detention center before being released after showing a photo of his passport. Federal Judge Eric Tostrud found in March 2026 that Hussen was detained based solely on his race or ethnicity in violation of the Fourth Amendment, in a case brought by the ACLU of Minnesota against ICE and Border Patrol during Operation Metro Surge.

Alma Bowman, a 59-year-old Macon resident, was detained by ICE on March 26, 2025, during a routine check-in and held at Stewart Detention Center for 243 days until her release in late November 2025. Bowman claims U.S. citizenship as the daughter of an American Navy serviceman and was born in the Philippines. ICE asserted she was in the country illegally. This was her second detention; she had previously been held for three years (2017-2020) at Irwin County Detention Center following criminal convictions deemed deportable offenses. During her detention, Bowman reported inadequate medical care and overcrowded conditions. Her attorney argued the prolonged detainment violated her constitutional rights, and her citizenship status remained legally disputed throughout her custody.

Dulce Consuelo Morales Diaz, an American woman, was released after being held in ICE custody for 25 days. She was detained after speaking Spanish outside a restaurant in Maryland during what her attorney describes as a 'Kavanaugh Stop.' Despite evidence of her American birth, the government has disputed her citizenship claim and she remains at risk of deportation.

Melissa Tran, a Maryland mother who came to the U.S. from Vietnam in the 1990s as a refugee with a Green Card, was deported to Vietnam after being detained by ICE in May. Though a judge ordered her release in October, she still faced deportation due to a 2003 removal order stemming from a 2001 conviction for stealing checks as a teenager. Vietnam had previously refused to accept her, allowing her to remain in the U.S. for over 20 years while completing regular immigration check-ins, until her detention during a check-in in Baltimore.

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.

Chanidaphon Sopimpa, a Thai national and wife of retired Marine Staff Sergeant Samuel Shasteen, was arrested by ICE agents during her final green card interview on November 18, 2025, and detained at Otay Mesa Detention Center. Sopimpa had overstayed her visa but the couple had been pursuing her green card through marriage to a U.S. citizen spouse, which includes a federal law exception for such cases. ICE stated the arrests were for visa overstays, but immigration attorneys note this enforcement action at green card interviews is unprecedented in recent history. Sopimpa has no criminal history and is scheduled for a bond hearing.

In September 2025, federal agents from ICE, Border Patrol, FBI, DEA, IRS, and ATF conducted the largest single-site DHS enforcement operation in history at a Hyundai-LG joint venture battery manufacturing facility near Savannah, Georgia, detaining approximately 450-475 workers. Approximately 300 of those arrested were South Korean nationals; roughly 250 worked for HL-GA Battery Company LLC and about 50 for LG Energy Solutions. ICE alleged many had overstayed visa waiver permits (ESTAs) or held B-1 business visas that did not permit manual labor, though at least one worker with valid documentation was arrested. South Korea's president and foreign minister expressed concern and launched an investigation into whether detained workers were read their rights and reported inappropriate conduct by ICE agents. By November 2025, some workers had been released and returned to their jobs, with HL-GA Battery Co. resuming construction using a mix of new and returning workers, and the facility's opening delayed by two to three months.

An Indian American employee of the Illinois Department of Transportation who is a U.S. citizen was questioned by three masked federal agents on November 7 while working at a Busse Highway resurfacing project in Park Ridge. The agents asked whether the employee had traveled to New York and if he was aware of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who is also Indian. Governor JB Pritzker's office condemned the stop as a targeted questioning of a state employee with no legitimate reason.

Petey Feng, a Taiwanese cook who worked at Dallas restaurants, was detained by ICE on November 6, 2025, after an immigration check-in for overstaying his visa since 2010 and a 2023 DWI misdemeanor. He spent 133 days in ICE detention facilities in southwest Texas. Feng was denied voluntary departure and inadvertently signed away his right to appeal. He was deported and arrived in Taiwan in March 2026, where he cared for his aging parents.

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.

Illinois state representative Hoan Huynh, a Vietnamese refugee, reported being confronted by ICE and Customs and Border Patrol agents who pointed a gun at his head while he monitored immigration enforcement operations on Chicago's North Side. Huynh was documenting the agents' activities and informing residents of their rights when the incident occurred. ICE enforcement operations in Chicago have separated families from their communities. Gerardo Perez's mother was arrested and deported in June.

Subramanyam "Subu" Vedam, a 64-year-old man, has been detained by ICE as he fights a decades-old deportation order. He was denied bail and remains in ICE custody awaiting resolution of his case.

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.

Illinois State Representative Hoan Huynh, a Vietnamese refugee and congressional candidate, reported an encounter with federal agents on October 22, 2025, near Montrose and Kimball avenues in Albany Park on Chicago's Northwest Side. Huynh stated he was in the area to warn residents of their rights following ICE enforcement activity when Customs and Border Patrol agents surrounded his vehicle. According to Huynh, an agent pointed a gun at him and threatened to break his car windows before lowering the weapon when he began recording. DHS stated Huynh was stopped twice for stalking law enforcement and attempting to interfere with operations. The incident also occurred amid reports of a vendor employee being detained by federal agents outside a Rogers Park school.

Zia S., a 36-year-old Afghan immigrant who served as a U.S. military interpreter, was detained by ICE on July 16, 2025, during a routine USCIS appointment in East Hartford, Connecticut, for biometric processing related to a Green Card application. Despite having lawful parole status until October 2026, no criminal convictions, and approval for humanitarian parole due to Taliban threats, he was moved to a detention facility in Plymouth, Massachusetts. A federal judge issued a 72-hour stay to prevent his deportation, and after nearly three months in custody, a second immigration judge ordered his release on a $15,000 bond on October 9, 2025. The government's subsequent motion to reverse the release was rejected on October 21, 2025. Zia was reunited with his wife and five children in Connecticut. His son Rihan was also detained by ICE in Plymouth during this period.

A Pennsylvania man exonerated after spending over 40 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit was immediately taken into ICE custody upon his release, with authorities seeking to deport him to India based on a 1988 deportation order. Subu Vedam, who moved to the US at nine months old, was cleared of the 1980 murder charge earlier this month, but ICE cited his old drug conviction and deportation order as grounds for detention. His family and lawyers are fighting the deportation, arguing that Vedam has virtually no ties to India, had applied for US citizenship before his arrest, and demonstrated decades of good behavior in prison where he earned three degrees and mentored fellow inmates.

Ali Faqirzada, an Afghan refugee and Bard College student, was detained by ICE following a credible fear interview in his asylum case. He was held for six months before being released and reunited with his family in New Paltz.

Melissa Tran, a Vietnamese refugee and Maryland mother of five who legally immigrated in 1993, was detained by ICE for over five months following a routine check-in due to a non-violent theft conviction from 2001. After a federal judge ordered her release, finding the detention unnecessary, Tran was freed and required to wear an ankle monitor while reporting to ICE authorities. She described harsh detention conditions including poor hygiene facilities and being transported shackled across multiple states, though she now faces potential deportation despite her two decades of clean immigration status.

Ali Faqirzada, 31, fled Afghanistan in 2021 and has been waiting for his asylum case to be decided since 2022. On October 14, ICE detained Ali after an Asylum Officer found he had a viable claim for asylum. Ali fled Afghanistan after he and his family received death threats from Taliban members. Every member of Ali's family, including his parents and siblings, have been granted asylum. Ali was the last family member waiting for a decision on his immigration case. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) terminated the application and instead placed Ali in expedited removal proceedings. Ali passed an initial screening by an Asylum Officer. ICE subsequently arrested and jailed him. ICE has the authority to immediately release Ali to continue his immigration case.

Yaa'kub Vijandre, a Filipino-born DACA recipient and pro-Palestine activist who has lived in the Dallas area for over 20 years, was detained by ICE after his DACA status was revoked based on social media posts. ICE agents arrested him at his Arlington apartment on October 7, taking him to the Bluebonnet Detention Center. Vijandre has not been charged with any crimes, and his attorneys argue his speech is protected under the First Amendment and that the government's terrorism allegations are unconstitutional.