In the States: ICE Forcibly Detains U.S. Citizens, Parents, and Students in Widening Disappearance Campaign
No warrant, no warning—lawful residents, children, and entire families are being torn apart under a reckless, unaccountable system of mass detention and disappearances
The administration, since threatening to suspend habeas corpus and targeting numerous elected officials, continues to detain and disappear lawful residents, essential workers, parents, and religious leaders. The stunning brutality underscores a terrifying 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 recent weeks, a U.S. citizen was detained outside a courthouse by agents who got the wrong man. A father and his 19-year-old daughter were held in the same detention center and denied any contact. In Maryland, a teenager nearly dropped out of school to support his family after ICE detained his father. In Florida, an evangelical pastor was pulled from his community, leaving five U.S. citizen children behind. Across the country, ICE has smashed car windows, stormed workplaces, and intercepted mothers walking their kids to school. Families have been separated mid-meal, mid-commute, mid-life—with no warning, no warrant, and often no way to reunite. This is not enforcement. This is government-sponsored cruelty.
Read more about the everyday Americans affected by Trump’s anti-immigrant assault:
Baltimore Banner: Deportation suspended for two women held in ‘inhumane’ Baltimore holding room (Baltimore, MD; May 14, 2025)
A federal judge Wednesday temporarily halted the federal government’s planned deportation of two immigrants after their lawyers filed a federal class action alleging the women were confined “unlawfully and in inhumane conditions” in a downtown Baltimore holding room for several days.
Detainees are receiving “small rations of food” like sandwiches, military pouches or instant noodle cups as meals, the lawsuit alleges, and are subjected to sleeping in cold temperatures with the lights on.
WAFF 48: Father of U.S. Marine from Huntsville being held in ICE detention center (Huntsville, AL; May 14, 2025)
Huntsville man Jaime Morales has been held in an ICE detention center in Georgia for nearly three weeks. His family’s attorney said he was driving with his wife and 8-year-old daughter in Newnan, GA, when he was hit at an intersection.
Newnan police arrested Morales when they learned he was driving without a license. Police then learned he entered the country illegally 20 years ago, and he was placed on an ICE hold. He was later picked up by ICE agents.
Morales’ daughter says her father is the hardest-working man she’s ever met. “He would do whatever it takes to make sure his family was taken care of, to make sure that we have to eat,” she said.
NBC: Woman recounts encounter with ICE as she left Chelsea home with her 4-year-old son (Chelsea, MA; May 16, 2025)
A mother recounted her encounter with ICE officers who intercepted her Thursday morning as she was leaving her home in Chelsea, Massachusetts, with her 4-year-old son.
María Flores, a mother of Honduran origin, said federal agents were searching for one of her sons, who is in the country under a deferred action program. She said this isn't the first time agents have tried to intimidate her.
"If you have an arrest warrant, I'll let you in. If you have one, I'll let you in. I've already spoken to a lawyer," Flores said.
Wifi: Mother, sister of Bloomington man detained by ICE speak out (Bloomington, IN; May 15, 2025)
Mahogani Rosales and Ahlai Carballo can see Aharon Rosales, but he can’t see them. In a video call from the Hopkins County Jail, Aharon’s face appears in a small window as he talked to his mom and sister Monday evening.
Since he was detained by ICE agents last Wednesday in Bloomington, his mom, Mahogani, and sister, Carballo, have anxiously awaited these calls. He’s been at the Kentucky ICE detention facility for more than a week. They have no way of reaching him unless he calls.
Newsweek: Teachers Save Student From Dropping Out After Father Detained by ICE (MD; May 16, 2025)
When federal authorities detained the father of a Maryland student in late April, the 17-year-old feared his education would end overnight. With his mother recovering from cancer surgery and two younger siblings depending on him, he told a teacher he would need to quit school and find work.
"It was a cry for help," Tess Hiller, head of Montgomery Blair High School's English Language Development program, told Newsweek. Teachers quickly stepped in to offer support, navigating a complex legal and emotional situation that has become increasingly familiar to some educators.
NBC: Chelsea student arrested by police, detained by ICE after school altercation (Chelsea, MA; May 16, 2025)
A police arrest Wednesday inside a school in Chelsea, Massachusetts, ended with serious immigration consequences for a student.
The student, who attends Chelsea High School, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after being arrested by local police following a violent incident on campus.
"The young Chelsea student had an argument with other youth, and from there, the school police took him to the police station. Then, the father called us at LUMA to ask us to please help him pick up his son. When we arrived, he was practically in ICE custody," said Lucy Pineda of Latinos Unidos en Massachusetts.
NPR: In Florida, an immigrant pastor's detention sends a community reeling (Tampa, FL; May 19, 2025)
If you live out by the Little Manatee River, in the swamplands south of Tampa, Florida you probably know the name Maurilio Ambrocio. He's an Evangelical Pastor at a local church, he's lived here for 20 years. He also owns a landscaping business, tending the lawns and yards in the neighboring city of Fort Myers. And a few weeks ago, he was detained in President Trump's massive immigration crackdown.
For the Ambrocio family, the Pastor's detention has been catastrophic.
"For my kids, it's like the world ended," Ambrocio's wife, Marleny says.
They have five children, all U.S. citizens, ages 12 to 19.
Marleny herself has been consumed by grief. As she fries an egg for breakfast, she says she dreams about her husband most every night.
Harvard Crimson: Naturalized U.S. Citizen Briefly Detained by ICE Outside of Cambridge District Courthouse in Medford (Cambridge, MA; May 16, 2025)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers briefly detained an American citizen outside of the Cambridge District Court in Medford on Friday after allegedly confusing him with an undocumented immigrant, the latest in a string of immigration-related arrests across the state.
Four plainclothes officers approached 31-year-old Hugo Monteiro, a naturalized American citizen originally from Brazil, around 9:15 a.m. as he was leaving the courthouse.
“I just came here to bring a client for a hearing. And when I came out, they took me, but again, I was not expecting this at all,” Monteiro said after being released. “I’m still shaking.”
ABC: Exclusive: Dalton father shares harsh conditions in ICE detention, calls for family unity (Dalton, GA; May 19, 2025)
Jose Arias-Tovar is back with his family in Dalton after a month in ICE custody. His daughter, Ximena Arias Cristobal, remains in custody at the same facility he was just released from.
Despite being in the same detention center as his daughter, 19-year-old Ximena Arias-Cristobal, Arias-Tovar tells us: "They never let me see her, they never let us see her. I pleaded, I wrote to the director, I wrote to the manager of the center, I wrote to the officials, I wrote cards, I wrote reports. I said 'please, I'm a father, my daughter is here, she's 19 years old, let me see her,.' They never responded."
Boston.com: ICE arrests 11 roofing workers in Lowell in latest immigration raid (Boston, MA; May 19, 2025)
Eleven people working for a roofing company were arrested by federal immigration officers in Lowell Friday, according to federal officials.
Workers for a Massachusetts-based roofing business, which was not identified, were arrested at a staging area for the company, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a press release Monday.
KGNS: ICE arrests 31 in Laredo worksite operation (Laredo, TX; May 16, 2025)
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says 31 people were arrested during a one-day worksite operation in South Texas. The arrests happened at a business and two job sites in the Laredo area.
NBC: Why U.S. citizen children sent with their deported moms can't come back easily (May 16, 2025)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Denisse Parra Vargas' three children — two of them American citizens and one born in Mexico — in Texas last week and, because authorities deported their mother, sent them out of the United States too.
González said ICE often confiscates identification documents when deporting people. For example, the 2-year-old U.S. citizen daughter of the Honduran mother González represents had her passport taken away before she left, he said. It was returned after the family got to Honduras.
MassLive: Smashed windows, street abductions: ICE gets attention with Mass. arrests (MA; May 17, 2025)
Public criticism has reached a fever pitch over some of these arrests, and the tactics ICE employs in undertaking them — which have included approaching a target while wearing masks, an interruption of court proceedings and smashing a car window with an ax while people were inside.
NBC: 502 arrests: FBI Mobile breaks down the latest immigration enforcement numbers (Mobile, AL; May 16, 2025)
FBI Mobile says it has reached a major milestone in its immigration enforcement efforts. 502 undocumented migrants have been arrested in southern Alabama since January 20th, 2025.
Nashville Star: Kitchens Close to Avoid ICE at Steve Smith’s Broadway Bars (Nashville, TN; May 14, 2025)
“We were already understaffed because of the ICE raids throughout the weekend,” an employee, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid retaliation, tells the Scene. "Then, around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, our manager came back and told anyone without legal status to go home. Events at the Ryman, Ascend, the Savannah Bananas’ baseball game all let out, and it was crazy busy. But there was no one in the kitchen to cook the food.”
VC Star: Immigration arrests appear to surge in May in Ventura County; exact numbers remain unclear (Ventura, CA; May 16, 2025)
Leaders of the 805 UndocuFund group that helps run an immigration hotline contend at least 53 people in Ventura, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties have been arrested by U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement officers so far this year. They said 14 of the arrests occurred in Ventura County.
Dakota News Now: Eight undocumented immigrants arrested by ICE in Madison appear in court (Sioux Falls, SD; May 15, 2025)
On Thursday, eight individuals detained by ICE at two Madison businesses on Tuesday made an appearance in the Federal Courthouse in Sioux Falls.
Islam continued, “I think it’s important to understand that in previous administrations, there were always ICE enforcement priorities and they were always violent offenders. It doesn’t seem like that’s a priority anymore. It’s very confusing and disheartening to see the direction that we’re going under this administration.”
Durango Herald: ICE arrests five suspected undocumented immigrants at Durango business (Durango, CO; May 15, 2025)
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested five suspected undocumented immigrants employed by Rock Solid Custom Granite in Durango this week, said manager Jake Morrow. Morrow said about 10 ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents in five vehicles arrived at Rock Solid on Wednesday.
“Everyone else should have been left alone,” he said. “But we know that’s not how they practice.”
Fox: ICE arrests will continue in DC, immigration officials say (Washington, D.C.; May 15, 2025)
FOX 5 learned exclusively on Thursday that immigration enforcement and arrests will continue in the District of Columbia. That's according to the head of ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations for the Washington Field Office, Russell Hott.
Enlace Latino NC: ICE confirms large-scale operation in Charlotte area (Charlotte, NC; May 15, 2025)
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) confirmed through its social networks that it carried out a massive operation that included the Charlotte area and Atlanta, Georgia, to arrest undocumented immigrants.
The agency released a video on Wednesday, May 14, of the arrest of two immigrants in a van that stopped on a road near Canton, Georgia. The video describes the operation as a large-scale operation.
WANE: ICE arrests 23 in joint operation across southern Indiana (Henderson, KY; May 15, 2025)
Multiple federal agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have arrested 23 people in the Evansville and Bloomington areas
Reno Gazette Journal: ICE arrests over 50 in Reno, Tahoe and Carson City; most already deported (Reno, NV; May 17, 2025)
ICE agents arrested 52 immigrants in Northern Nevada in targeted actions over four days in early May.They were booked briefly into the Washoe County jail and then transferred to Las Vegas, where some still were as of the evening of May 16. From there, others went to Arizona. Most have been deported outside the United States.
A Reno immigration attorney said “a lot” of those arrested had not been specifically targeted by ICE but were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
FOX: ICE Central Florida raids: At least 30 fled during worksite bust in Wildwood, agents said (Wildwood, FL; May 14, 2025)
On Tuesday, a multi-agency raid led by ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tampa resulted in the arrest of 33 undocumented immigrants at construction sites near The Villages.
Texas Tribune: ICE says it deported more than 500 people in the Houston area in one week (TX; May 13, 2025)
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday said it has deported more than 500 people and arrested more than 400 suspected undocumented immigrants as part of a weeklong operation in the Houston area.
New Bedford Light: Two Guatemalan fisheries workers arrested in early-morning operation (New Bedford, MA; May 13, 2025)
Two Guatemalan men — one of whom is waiting for a kidney transplant — never made it to work at a seafood processing plant on Monday.
Marvin Yobani Chitic Us, 30, and Justo Rufino Chitic Us, 33, both undocumented immigrants without any criminal history in Massachusetts, were allegedly taken into custody by federal agents before their early-morning shift at Oceans Fleet, where they have worked for years processing scallops. Though they share a surname, they are not related, their families say.
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The National Immigration Project is a membership organization of attorneys, advocates, and community members who are driven by the belief that all people should be treated with dignity, live freely, and flourish. We litigate, advocate, educate, and build bridges across movements to ensure that those most impacted by the immigration and criminal systems are uplifted and supported. Learn more at nipnlg.org. Follow NIPNLG on Facebook, X, and Instagram at @NIPNLG.
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