In the States: ICE Detains Lawful Residents, College Students, and Leaves Children Unaccompanied As Disappearances Escalate
From courthouses to classrooms to grocery store parking lots, Trump’s immigration agenda is sweeping up everyday people—with devastating consequences for families and communities
The administration, now actively threatening to suspend habeas corpus, continues to target legal residents, essential workers, students, and community leaders, revealing a horrifying truth: Trump’s immigration policy is cruel, chaotic, and indiscriminate. Now, with the expanded use of a 1798 wartime law, the implementation of a national registry policy, and a pending $150 billion check from Congress, Trump is set to supercharge these efforts through militarized enforcement, invasive surveillance, and government overreach–all at the expense of civil rights and working families.
In the last few weeks alone, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested for trying to inspect a detention facility. A 12-year-old in Massachusetts was left on the sidewalk alone after an ICE raid. In Georgia, traffic charges were dropped after a teen was mistakenly arrested–yet she remains detained and faces deportation. In Washington, a green card holder was picked up while selling a chicken coop. Teachers, veterans, children, and legal residents have all been swept up, as agents stage arrests outside homes, schools, workplaces, and courthouses, sometimes without even confirming identities. This is not targeted enforcement—it is a campaign of fear, with no end in sight.
Read more about the everyday Americans affected by Trump’s anti-immigrant assault:
DemocracyNow!: Newark Mayor Ras Baraka Arrested for Visiting ICE Jail, Slams Trump Admin’s “Insane” Abuse of Power (May 12, 2025; Newark, NJ)
Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, was arrested and detained by masked federal immigration police Friday when he joined three Democratic congressmembers set to tour a newly reopened 1,000-bed Immigration and Customs Enforcement jail run by GEO Group, which advocates say lacks proper permits. Baraka says he was asked to leave the premises and left the secure area to join a group of protesters in a public area outside the gate — when he was seized by officers in a chaotic scene. “This is completely insane, and it’s a scary moment in the history of this country as we watch democracy slip between our fingers,” Baraka tells Democracy Now!
CBS: Officials drop traffic charges that led ICE to arrest 19-year-old Georgia teen (May 12, 2025; Dalton, GA)
Ximena Arias Cristobal, who is in the country without authorization, was taken into ICE custody earlier this month after a May 5 traffic stop in Dalton, where she lives with her family. Local police cited her for making an improper turn and driving without a license before booking her into the Whitfield County Jail in Dalton, where she was picked up by ICE officers.
But the Dalton Police Department and the city's prosecutor announced on Monday they had reviewed dashboard camera footage of the traffic stop and determined that the officer had stopped the wrong vehicle. Officials said the vehicle that made the improper turn was similar to the truck Arias Cristobal was driving.
Arias Cristobal is now facing deportation and remains detained at the Stewart ICE detention facility in Lumpkin, Georgia, according to the agency's online system for tracking detainees. Her father, Jose Francisco Arias Tovar, is also being held there. ICE arrested him last month, also following a traffic stop, his family said.
Boston.com: ‘Get out of our city’: Worcester community reacts to chaotic ICE arrest (May 11, 2025; Boston, MA)
Two people were arrested by Worcester police May 8 after dozens of residents surrounded Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who were detaining a mother on Eureka Street in Worcester, advocates and officials said.
After ICE detained the mother, Worcester police arrested her 16-year-old daughter and charged her with reckless endangerment of a child, disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest.
USA Today: She's in ICE detention. From 1,500 miles away, his piano lulls her to sleep. (Cambridge, MA; May 11, 2025)
In mid-February, Petrova was returning to Boston from France when U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped her at baggage claim. She had gone to Paris to visit friends and see the concert of a Hungarian pianist she adored. Before she departed, she stopped by a sister laboratory to pick up a package of nonhazardous biological samples to bring back to Harvard, at the request of her boss. The last time they tried to ship the samples, they went bad before arriving.
The customs officers could have withheld the samples and issued a fine, her attorney said; instead, they canceled her J-1 scholar visa and detained her. She was turned over to ICE, sent to a processing center in Vermont and then transferred to the Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, Louisiana.
CBS: 12-year-old boy left alone on sidewalk after ICE raid in Massachusetts (May 13, 2025; Waltham, MA)
A 12-year-old boy was left behind on a street after an immigration raid in Waltham, Massachusetts.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were seen on camera leaving the boy by himself on a sidewalk after arresting the person he was with on Felton Street on Sunday, May 4. Neighborhood Watch volunteers were able to get the boy home safely.
"He looks about my son's age," Bradley-MacArthur said. "It makes me feel sick to my stomach as a mom, as a human being."
Fox Houston: Houston father and son celebrate birthday amid mother's ICE detention (May 2, 2025; Houston, TX)
A Houston father and son are celebrating the child's first birthday without the mother, who has been detained by ICE at the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe. Shirly Guardado, married to an active-duty Army service member, was arrested despite attending court hearings and having her sponsor petition approved. The family remains hopeful and connected through video calls, as they plan a Lion King-themed birthday celebration for their son.
Newsweek: Son of Vietnam War Vet Detained by ICE (May 9, 2025; Lakeland, MN)
The son of a Vietnam War veteran has been detained by federal immigration authorities, leaving his family devastated.
Blong Yang, a longtime resident of the United States and the son of a war hero who fought alongside U.S. forces during the "Secret War" in Laos, was apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on April 30 while on his way to work in Lakeland, Minnesota.
"This situation has been extremely heartbreaking and difficult," his daughter, Kylee Yang, told Newsweek in a statement. "We made the decision to post our GoFundMe because we needed immediate financial support and relief. However, this abrupt family separation has been traumatizing."
Montana Free Press: American children among group deported following Hi-Line immigration arrest (May 12, 2025; Canada)
U.S. immigration authorities deported eight children, some of whom were United States citizens, following the arrest of 21 people in late April near the Montana-Canada border.
Authorities deported the children along with their mothers to Canada while keeping the women’s husbands and others in the United States to face criminal immigration charges.
The children ranged in age from less than a year to 10. At least three were U.S. citizens, although the exact number wasn’t clear in court documents or testimony. Most of the people involved are Romanian citizens, according to case documents.
Tennessee Lookout: Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency continues traffic stops, arrests in Nashville (May 10, 2025; Nashville, TN)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been conducting what officials term “dragnets” in Nashville since May 4, when 84 people were detained in a South Nashville sweep, a spokesperson for ICE confirmed.
Photojournalist John Partipilo on May 10 photographed a traffic stop at Harding Place and Antioch Pike in South Nashville as ICE agents and Tennessee Highway Patrol officers pulled over drivers. In this photo series, Partipilo documents the detention and arrest of one man, who just pulled out of a gas station — seen in the background — after filling his tank up.
Lakeville Journal: Masked, armed ICE agents arrest two men in Great Barrington as witnesses taunt, shoot video (May 9, 2025; Great Barrington, MA)
The May 6 arrests are the latest to rattle the Berkshires as federal authorities pursue President Trump’s aggressive mission to deport or otherwise remove undocumented immigrants. A March crackdown resulted in the capture of at least 10 people in the Berkshires — and 370 statewide.
While the administration has said it would target undocumented people with criminal records, there have been numerous examples of agents detaining people who have never been charged with a crime.
The Independent: ICE arrests California father and leaves his children behind in car: witness (May 10, 2025; Oxnard, CA)
Immigration advocates on California’s Central Coast are reeling after Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations reportedly conducted operations across the region this week, including a May 4 arrest in Oxnard that reportedly left two young people alone at a gas station after agents detained their father.
“They arrested someone,” gas station attendant Juan Conches said in Spanish in a video shared by 805 UndocuFund, an immigrant advocacy group. “They left the children inside the truck.”
NOLA.com: Plainclothes ICE agents make arrests inside Louisiana courthouse (May 9, 2025; Jefferson Parish, LA)
Plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered a Jefferson Parish municipal court building in Metairie this week and detained three people, according to immigrant advocates and a Jefferson Parish official.
WJAR: Judge dismisses ICE case against New Bedford man (May 8, 2025; New Bedford, MA)
A federal immigration judge has dismissed the case against a New Bedford man whose dramatic detainment by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents was captured on video last month.
Juan Francisco Méndez was taken into custody on April 14 as he sat in a car with his wife in New Bedford.
The now widely-circulated video shows agents using a sledgehammer-like tool to smash the car’s rear passenger window before pulling Méndez out.
KOUW NPR: His day started with selling a chicken coop. It ended in immigration detention (May 8, 2025; Spokane, WA)
Sergey Kostenyuk and Mary Loisate have been together for more than 20 years. Loisate was born in the U.S., but Kostenyuk is a legal permanent resident with a green card. He came to Spokane from Ukraine as a refugee more than 30 years ago, when he was a child.
Kostenyuk has been in the U.S. for so long that they didn’t think about his immigration status, and they never considered that he could be at risk for deportation.
But as the Trump administration seeks to fulfill his campaign promise to deport millions of immigrants, people with all kinds of immigration statuses and visas are getting picked up. Immigration attorneys say that includes people like Kostenyuk, who have green cards.
Hoodline: ICE Arrests Another Individual at Milwaukee County Courthouse Amid Ongoing Immigration Enforcement Debate (May 8, 2025; Milwaukee, WI)
Another individual was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at the Milwaukee County Courthouse Complex, an incident that follows a string of arrests that have stirred local contention and broader discussion on immigration enforcement's presence in judicial spaces. As confirmed by Milwaukee County Chief Judge Carl Ashley yesterday, ICE agents made their move after the court hearing was concluded.
Star Advertiser: ICE raids lead to arrests, teachers detained (May 8, 2025; Kona, HI)
Federal agents served search warrants, detained and arrested more than two dozen people in Kona on suspicion of immigration law violations, and detained a group of Maui teachers from the Philippines as part of an ongoing effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to deport illegal aliens.
Newsweek: ICE Agents Told They've Identified Wrong Man, Say 'Going to Take You Anyway' (May 8, 2025; Framingham, MA)
President Donald Trump's immigration enforcers apprehended a Massachusetts man with no criminal record despite realizing he was not the intended target.
Daniel Orellana, 25, from Guatemala, was traveling to work when he was snatched by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, according to Spanish news outlet Telemundo.
Daniel's girlfriend, Zulema Alfaro, told Telemundo: "He has communicated with me, letting me know about the situation and that it was a misunderstanding, and they told him, 'OK, but we're going to take you anyway.'"
WBUR: An ICE arrest in Watertown highlights secrecy around immigration enforcement (May 8, 2025; Watertown, MA)
An arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Watertown Monday turned rough, leaving more questions than answers for neighbors who witnessed it.
WBUR’s Simón Rios takes a look at the secrecy and lack of information that often follow immigration enforcement.
Spokesman: Spokane man charged with assaulting agent during immigration arrest; allegations don’t match video, wife says (May 7, 2025; Spokane, WA)
“I might be biased, but I went full investigative mode and watched the clips in super-slow motion,” said Kendall Diaz, 31. “I don’t see anything wrong. Our lawyer is confident, but it’s scary. I’m nervous for him.”
It’s the latest complication for a man who was brought to the United States as a toddler by his parents who, according to Diaz’s wife, were escaping threats of gang violence in Mexico.
KFYR: Several men arrested by ICE in Fargo after traffic stop (May 7, 2025; Fargo, ND)
A traffic stop Tuesday, May 6th, described as a targeted operation, led to the arrest of multiple people in Fargo.
David Marcus, a Border Patrol Agent with the Grand Forks Sector, tells Valley News Live eight men…were arrested.
Newsweek: Walmart Worker Disappears After ICE Agents Detain Him After 12-Hour Shift (May 7, 2025; Nashville, TN)
A Venezuelan man was detained by immigration enforcers after leaving his shift at a Walmart in Nashville.
Yali Molero realized her husband, Leugim Romero, was missing around 5 a.m. on Sunday. She later found out through social media posts that he had been arrested during an operation carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to NewsChannel 5.
Intercept: “They Actually Had a List”: ICE Arrests Workers Involved in Landmark Labor Rights Case (May 5, 2025; Albion, New York)
On Friday morning at around 9:30 a.m., federal agents in unmarked cars and bearing no agency insignia pulled over a bus in Albion, New York, about 35 miles west of Rochester, and took 14 people of Lynn-Ette & Sons Farms into custody. All of the detainees, who hailed from Mexico and Guatemala, were year-round employees of Lynn-Ette & Sons Farms, a family-owned business in nearby Kent, New York, which has been locked in a multiyear battle to prevent workers from unionizing.
The company is one of five agricultural businesses that, together with a state growers’ association, have tried for years to overturn or chip away at New York’s 2019 farm labor law. The law enshrined protections for the right of farmworkers — whether seasonal or year-round — to seek union representation.
Herald-Times: Mayor, MCCSC respond to ICE presence; at least 4 men detained in Bloomington (May 7, 2025; Bloomington, IN)
Recent arrests by ICE agents in Bloomington raised concerns, prompting the mayor to remind citizens that despite the city's "principles of dignity and safety," laws prohibit local officials from interfering.
NOLA.com: Border Patrol arrests 48 in Louisiana, Mississippi as Trump immigration crackdown widens (May 6, 2025; LA, MS)
Federal Border Patrol agents arrested and deported dozens of people in a sweeping immigration enforcement operation along the Interstate 10 corridor in Louisiana and Mississippi in late April, officials said, part of the Trump administration's widening crackdown on immigration.
NBC: Details remain sparse for 39 arrested in Maine amid immigration crackdown (May 5, 2025; Maine)
U.S. Border Patrol said it arrested 39 people in Maine after the federal law enforcement agency conducted a 10-day immigration enforcement operation. The federal agency claimed all of the people they took into custody were undocumented immigrants.
Border Patrol first shared the information Friday, but details about who those 39 people are, the charges they face, and what happens next were not included in the press release.
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