Human Impact Project

A 15-year-old U.S. citizen was detained by Customs and Border Patrol agents on Chicago's East Side after federal agents deployed tear gas at a crash scene. According to his attorneys, the teen was slammed to the ground, zip-tied, and held in a garage for five hours without being booked, read his rights, or allowed to contact his mother. DHS stated the teen was arrested for allegedly throwing an egg at an agent, taken to an FBI field office where he admitted to the action, and released without charges. A 16-year-old U.S. citizen born and raised in Chicago was arrested and body-slammed by federal immigration agents during the East Side operation. His mother, Juanita Garnica, reported receiving a call that her son had been beaten, body-slammed, and taken into custody, but was not informed of his whereabouts or status. He was among multiple people arrested during the federal operation and subsequent protest.

Warren King, a 19-year-old U.S. citizen born and raised in Chicago, was tackled and arrested by federal immigration agents at a Walgreens store on the East Side during an operation targeting undocumented immigrants. King was shopping with friends and family when agents swarmed the store; he was arrested despite repeatedly telling agents he was a U.S. citizen and legally in the country. He was held for hours before being released without charges, left with physical and mental injuries from the takedown.

A federal judge in Illinois issued a temporary restraining order blocking federal agents from using tear gas, pepper balls, and excessive force against protesters demonstrating outside an ICE detention facility near Chicago. The order was prompted by video of Reverend David Black, a Presbyterian pastor in clerical garb, being repeatedly struck with pepper balls and chemical spray while peacefully praying during a protest at the Broadview facility.

Federal officers took three people into custody outside the South Portland ICE facility on Thursday night during a protest against Trump administration immigration policies. The reasons for the federal arrests were not immediately clear. Portland police also arrested two people at the facility on separate charges.

Yaa'kub Ira Vijandre, a 38-year-old DACA recipient and Filipino immigrant, was detained by ICE on October 7, 2025, after his DACA status was terminated citing social media posts. Vijandre, a freelance journalist and activist in the Dallas area, had spoken out against the Gaza war, ICE detention conditions, and human rights abuses. His attorneys filed a habeas corpus petition arguing his detention violates his First and Fifth Amendment rights, as his speech constitutes protected political expression rather than support for terrorism.

Laurie Eckman, 84, and her husband Richard Eckman, 84, a Vietnam war veteran, say they were knocked to the ground and struck with a projectile by federal agents on October 5, 2025, while peacefully protesting outside an ICE building in South Portland. The couple, who live nearby and walk past the building daily, joined the protest spontaneously after seeing it from their kitchen window. Laurie Eckman said the officers charged at them with "no warning" and "no apparent reason," knocking Richard down despite his use of a walker. Eye-witnesses confirmed their account to The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Federal prosecutors moved to dismiss charges against Dana Briggs, a 70-year-old Air Force veteran, who was arrested during a September protest outside an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois. Briggs was accused of assaulting a federal officer after being pushed to the ground during a scuffle, but prosecutors determined the charges should be dropped. Briggs had no prior criminal history.

A woman was shot by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Brighton Park on Chicago's Southwest Side near South 35th Street and California Avenue. According to DHS, agents claimed they were rammed by 10 vehicles and boxed in, and fired defensive shots after discovering the woman was armed with a semi-automatic weapon. The woman drove herself to Mount Sinai Hospital, was treated for her wounds, and discharged. The shooting sparked a protest of approximately 100 people, during which federal agents deployed tear gas and pepper balls. A woman was shot by Border Patrol agents during a protest outside the ICE detention facility in Broadview. According to DHS, agents claimed they were "rammed by vehicles and boxed in by 10 cars" and fired defensive shots when a suspect attempted to run them over. The agency stated one driver who rammed the law enforcement vehicle was armed with a semi-automatic weapon. The woman drove herself to the hospital for treatment and was later released according to Chicago police.

Spanish-language journalist Mario Guevara was arrested by police on June 14, 2025, while covering a protest in DeKalb County, Georgia, and charged with obstructing police, unlawful assembly, and improperly entering a roadway. After a judge granted him bond, ICE placed a 48-hour hold on him despite his work authorization and pending green card application. Guevara spent 110 days in ICE custody, including 22 hours daily in solitary confinement, before being deported to El Salvador. A federal judge questioned the legality of his detention. His attorneys argued it violated his constitutional rights to free speech and due process. The government claimed broad discretion to detain him as a deportable immigrant. Guevara stated he was targeted for his journalistic work documenting immigration raids rather than for any criminal activity.

Oak Park Township Trustee Juan Munoz was arrested outside the Broadview ICE facility on October 3, 2025, while protesting in a designated protest-free zone, and detained for about eight hours without being told why or what he was accused of. He testified on January 22, 2026, before the HART Truth-Telling Commission that then-Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino tackled him to the ground, that he was questioned by FBI agents without an attorney present, and that detainees had to share shoes taken from them during processing because conditions inside were unsanitary. Munoz said he was used as a backdrop for an interview Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem gave to a social media influencer, calling it propaganda, and said tactics he has observed used recently in Minnesota are likely a preview of what could come to Illinois. He is pursuing legal action over his treatment, which prompted a joint press conference from Oak Park's elected bodies denouncing his arrest.

Cole Sheridan, a 27-year-old hospitality worker, was arrested during an Oct. 3 pro-immigrant protest at the Broadview immigration enforcement facility after Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino accused him of pushing and swinging at him, leading to federal charges of assaulting, resisting, and impeding a federal officer. An investigator said Bovino took two weeks of leave from the Chicago operation due to a groin injury he claimed to have sustained in the encounter. After a friend found video from an Oct. 31 news report showing Sheridan being pushed down—not near Bovino—prosecutors moved to dismiss the charges on Nov. 3, though they could still refile in another form. Sheridan said the ordeal cost him four days of work and a month of anxiety over potential imprisonment.

Kyle Frankovich, a protester, was arrested outside the Broadview ICE facility on October 3 while demonstrating in a designated protest zone. Federal agents grabbed and threw him to the ground, zip-tied him, and detained him for approximately eight hours without explanation or charges, making him stand along a guardrail for 40 minutes as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem walked past with cameras and photographers. He was later released without documentation or charges, and the following week his fiancée Leigh Kunkle was shot in the face with pepper balls by federal agents during another protest at the same site; the couple's attorney has filed federal claims alleging wrongful detention and violation of rights. On the same day Frankovich was detained, federal agents took multiple other protesters into custody as a crowd grew outside the facility amid newly installed barricades, with Illinois State Police also deployed in riot gear; at least five protesters have since faced federal charges from clashes at the site, where agents have repeatedly used tear gas and pepper balls against demonstrators.

Leilani Payne was pepper-sprayed at point-blank range by a Federal Protection Service officer on October 2, 2025, while protesting outside the Portland ICE facility. She was 19 at the time of the incident. Video footage captured the officer spraying her in the face, and witnesses reported her screaming in agony and struggling to breathe. A nearby Portland Police officer was so concerned for her well-being that he called for an ambulance. Payne, now 20, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Protection Service seeking at least $350,000 in damages. The DHS stated that protesters had been given lawful verbal commands to back away and refused to comply.

A federal agent sprayed mace at a woman protester standing in front of him outside the Portland ICE facility. The incident was captured on video and occurred amid ongoing demonstrations against federal immigration enforcement. Portland Police liaisons were seen collecting video from witnesses, though the PPB stated they lack authority to investigate federal officers operating within the scope of their employment.

In Chicago, a federal agent grabbed a protester on a public sidewalk by the throat and body-slammed him to the ground. The agent's weapon dangled behind his back during the encounter, creating an additional public safety danger.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation opened a criminal investigation into a CBP officer after he grabbed a protester by the hair, put her in a chokehold, and threw her down a grassy embankment outside an ICE facility in Durango. In April 2026, state prosecutors filed third-degree assault and criminal mischief charges against the officer.

Catalina 'Xóchitl' Santiago, a 28-year-old DACA recipient and community organizer from El Paso, was detained by Border Patrol agents on August 3, 2025, at El Paso International Airport while traveling for work with her wife, Desiree Miller, a U.S. citizen whom Santiago married earlier in 2025. Despite holding valid DACA status since 2012—renewed seven times with her current renewal expiring in April 2026—Santiago was subjected to deportation proceedings. Originally from Mexico, Santiago has lived in the U.S. since age 8. On October 1, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone ruled that Santiago's arrest and detention violated her Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights and ordered her release from the ICE El Paso Service Processing Center. Judge Cardone found that the government presented no evidence that Santiago endangered anyone during her twenty years at liberty, including her thirteen years under DACA, and failed to articulate any individualized reason for her detention. Santiago's brother Jose said the family was deeply affected by her detention and expressed relief at her release.

Photojournalist Olga Fedorova was shoved to the floor by ICE officers at 26 Federal Plaza while documenting the arrest of an immigrant at an asylum hearing. Fedorova, who was lawfully present in the public elevator, was pushed away from the elevator by federal agents. She disputes DHS claims that officers gave warnings before shoving, stating there was no warning and shoving followed immediately.

Three women—Cynthia Raygoza, Sandra Carmona Samane, and Ashleigh Brown—have been federally indicted for allegedly following an ICE agent home and publicly disclosing his personal information on social media. On August 28, 2025, the women livestreamed their pursuit of the agent from Downtown Los Angeles to his residence on Instagram, then shouted to neighbors about his identity and posted his address online. Each faces federal charges of conspiracy and disclosing a federal agent's personal information, with sentences of up to five years in prison per count. Raygoza remains at large while her codefendants have been arrested.

An independent journalist was shot with pepper balls in the face and back of the head by federal officers while covering protests outside the Broadview ICE facility on Sept. 26, 2025. She had joined a group of journalists documenting the demonstration when officers opened fire from behind; a fellow journalist was also struck by multiple pepper balls in the same volley. After being hit, her nose began bleeding. She and her fiancé are planning legal action to hold the federal government accountable for the assault and alleged rights violations during Operation Midway Blitz.