Accountable use of state force
When the state wields coercive power — through police, corrections, federal law enforcement, immigration enforcement, or the National Guard — that wielding is itself subject to law, oversight, and consequence. Officers act lawfully or they are held accountable; uses of force are proportional and necessary or they are not justified. The state's monopoly on legitimate violence is legitimate precisely because it is constrained. A democracy without accountable force is not a democracy; it is whatever the people with guns say it is.
The patterns tracked under this ideal include excessive force by law enforcement, deaths in custody, misuse of no-knock warrants, the militarization of routine policing, prosecutorial or legislative actions that shield officers from accountability for misconduct, departmental refusal to discipline established misconduct, corrections abuse, abusive conditions and force in immigration enforcement, and the deployment of federal armed forces in coercive roles against US civilians. As with every other ideal, the action is what matters; the politics of the officer or the politics of the target do not change whether the event is recorded.
Further reading: National Constitution Center Interactive Constitution — Fourth Amendment (search, seizure, force), Eighth Amendment (cruel and unusual punishment).
2026 Events (162)
Capital & Main investigation revealed ICE and CoreCivic denied an asylum seeker medical care for a kidney infection at Otay Mesa
A September 8, 2026 Capital & Main investigation revealed that a Colombian asylum seeker held at the CoreCivic-run Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego went undertreated for a worsening kidney infection over roughly ten months, from a November 2025 report of heavy bleeding through an August 2026 flare-up. Her medical records document repeated denials and delays: a recommended ultrasound went unperformed for months, a May 2026 emergency-room visit found an abnormal urinalysis but recorded "no acute disease," and she was later hospitalized and diagnosed with pyelonephritis. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to requests for comment, and CoreCivic said only that it takes "any allegation" about medical care "seriously."
ICE agents drove vehicles onto sidewalks and struck observers with batons during a Frederick, Maryland raid
On the evening of September 4, 2026, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents drove vehicles onto sidewalks and struck observers with batons in Frederick, Maryland's Taskers Chance neighborhood, where agents had staked out a residence for roughly 40 hours pursuing a man ICE described as a "criminal illegal alien" who fled a vehicle stop. City Council President César Díaz and Vice President Katie Nash, both on scene, said observers formed a human barrier in front of the targeted home but were not violent; no arrests were made and it was not clear anyone inside the home was detained.
U.S. Department of Justice fired career prosecutor who sought a stronger civil-rights charge against ICE officer in Minneapolis shooting
The U.S. Department of Justice fired career Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Evans on September 3, 2026, a day after ProPublica published an email in which he objected "in the strongest possible terms" to DOJ leadership's decision to charge ICE officer Christian Castro only with false statements, rather than a civil-rights offense, over the January 14, 2026 shooting of Venezuelan immigrant Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis. Evans had told Sosa-Celis's attorneys the lesser charge was being "directed by the Main Justice and the US Attorney" despite his objections. The Justice Department disputed Evans's characterization of the investigation as concluded and said the civil-rights probe into Castro remains ongoing, while multiple news organizations separately reported that Evans is under investigation over the email's disclosure.
San Francisco Chronicle investigation revealed CBP held dozens of SFO detainees, including green-card holders, beyond 72-hour legal limit
A San Francisco Chronicle investigation published September 1, 2026 found that U.S. Customs and Border Protection has held at least 25 people beyond its own 72-hour detention limit at San Francisco International Airport through July 2026, 19 of them lawful permanent residents; one detainee spent eight days without a bed or shower, and another went without diabetes medication for eight days until paramedics were called. Rep. Kevin Mullin, whose district includes SFO, conducted an unannounced oversight visit the same day and said CBP officers acknowledged the extended holds reflect "a definitive policy shift from the Trump administration."
ICE denied transgender women hormone therapy and gender-affirming care at Eloy and Aurora detention facilities
An August 31, 2026 LOOKOUT investigation documented transgender women detained by ICE at the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona and the Aurora ICE Processing Center in Colorado being denied hormone therapy and other gender-affirming medical care, producing menopause-like symptoms, severe psychological distress, and increased suicidal ideation; one detainee, identified only as Valentina, went 22 days without hormones and was later held in isolation for nine days over an unsubstantiated accusation. The denials followed a series of 2025-2026 federal policy changes, including a Bureau of Prisons halt on gender-affirming care, a Justice Department narrowing of PREA protections for LGBTQ+ detainees, and Aurora's dismantling of one of its two transgender housing pods, and a separate New York Times investigation independently confirmed the Department of Homeland Security has curtailed specialized transgender care at detention centers nationwide.
ICE agents tased and kicked a restrained Danbury, Connecticut man during an arrest, then moved him before family could reach him
ICE agents arrested a construction worker in Danbury, Connecticut on the morning of August 27, 2026, pulling him from his car, pinning him face down on a driveway, and tasing him twice while he was restrained; video appears to show an agent kicking him as well. An ambulance took him to Danbury Hospital, where ICE blocked his family and attorney from seeing him before transporting him to Hartford; Mayor Roberto Alves intervened by phone with the hospital but the man had already been moved. The arrest was part of a week-long ICE enforcement surge in Danbury that advocates say detained nearly 60 people.
Lawsuit alleged Rikers Island staff shackled a pregnant detainee during medical and court transport for months
A federal lawsuit filed August 27, 2026 in Brooklyn alleges the New York City Department of Correction routinely shackled a pregnant woman in full-body restraints — including leg shackles and waist chains — every time she was transported for medical appointments, psychiatric exams, and court appearances during roughly two months of her 2023-2024 detention at Rikers Island. The suit alleges DOC continued using handcuffs for a further month after stopping full-body restraints, and separately kept her in a mental health observation unit — because the jail's specialized unit for pregnant detainees was closed — where she was exposed to pepper spray directed at other detainees. New York state law and DOC policy bar restraining pregnant detainees absent extraordinary, written-justified circumstances, and the city has twice previously settled nearly identical shackling suits for close to $1 million each.
CBP's Border Patrol SWAT team blockaded Tohono O'odham police to shield border-wall contractors from trespass citations
Before dawn on August 25, 2026, roughly 20 masked, armed U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents -- including the Border Patrol's BORTAC tactical unit -- entered Tohono O'odham Nation land, escorted border-wall contractors to construction sites, and set up a vehicle blockade to keep Tohono O'odham Police Department officers from citing or removing them. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said "a federal court has affirmed" the project; multiple outlets reported the August 14 ruling he cited only denied a preliminary injunction and neither affirmed the project nor dismissed the Nation's pending lawsuit.
Missouri Department of Mental Health left man found incompetent to stand trial in county jail for years awaiting treatment bed
A Marshall Project investigation, published August 24, 2026 and republished by the Missouri Independent, found that the Missouri Department of Mental Health left Carl Henry Louis -- a man found incompetent to stand trial -- confined in the Clay County jail in Liberty, Missouri for roughly two and a half years, from his 2021 arrest until January 2024, awaiting a state psychiatric bed for court-ordered competency-restoration treatment. The wait included months after a judge suspended Louis's criminal case in August 2023 and ordered him committed for treatment, during which the jail continued to hold him because no bed was available. Missouri's own figures show the statewide waitlist for competency evaluation or restoration grew from 27 people in 2016 to 549 by July 2026, with at least two deaths in jails on the waitlist since May 2025.
CoreCivic staff pepper-sprayed and dispersed protesting detainees at Natchez ICE facility after halting hot food and water, detainee said
On Saturday evening, August 22, 2026, an estimated 80-100 detainees held in two housing pods at CoreCivic's Adams County Correctional Center, an ICE detention facility in Natchez, Mississippi, protested outside the cafeteria after the facility halted hot meals and hot water and served a lunch of two flour tortillas and sliced bologna. CoreCivic's special response team, in riot gear, dispersed the protest soon after; detainee Melvin Funez said the team sprayed some detainees and threw others to the ground before locking the dormitory doors. The facility, which CoreCivic operates under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was holding roughly 2,500 people in a space designed for 2,300.
Polk County deputies and ICE detained injured Ecuadorian mother and daughter at Florida hospital, refusing to show a warrant
On August 21, 2026, Polk County Sheriff's deputies and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents handcuffed and removed Grace Stephanie Calero Cabanilla, 39, and her daughter Giulianna Mía Carriel Calero, 19, from HCA Florida Poinciana Hospital in Kissimmee, one day after a car crash left both women hospitalized. A deputy questioned Calero Cabanilla about her immigration status while she was still being treated, then contacted ICE, which lodged detainers describing both women as having overstayed their visas; family members say Calero Cabanilla held a pending asylum case and work permit and that her daughter's visa was valid until 2030, claims neither ICE nor the sheriff's office has addressed.
Deportees say ICE agents assaulted, restrained, and denied them medical care and bathroom access on Liberia deportation flight
On August 20, 2026, deportees said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents beat, restrained, and denied them medical care and bathroom access during a roughly 14-hour deportation flight from Louisiana to Monrovia, Liberia, the first of an expected 1,200 people to be sent to Liberia under a third-country deportation arrangement. Deportees said agents beat those who resisted, denied a Cuban national with a surgically repaired abdominal wound access to a toilet and later knelt on his abdomen on the tarmac, and held others for days without beds in an unheated room. The Department of Homeland Security denied several of these specific claims on the record but did not address most of the deportees' other allegations.
Oregon Journalism Project revealed sworn staff statements alleging Oregon Youth Authority covered up physician abuse of youths
Thirteen former Oregon Youth Authority staff filed sworn statements in federal litigation alleging agency leaders knew for years that a MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility physician was sexually abusing incarcerated youths and failed to investigate, discipline, or remove him, Oregon Journalism Project (via Lookout Eugene-Springfield) reported August 19, 2026. Dr. Edward Gary Edwards, the facility's longtime chief medical officer, is accused of abusing youths in his care from approximately 2000 to 2017. One official who led the agency for part of that period, Fariborz Pakseresht, was appointed interim director of the Oregon Health Authority by Gov. Tina Kotek last month despite being a named defendant in the litigation.
Vandenberg Space Force security forces held invited journalists, troops at gunpoint despite escort
On August 17, 2026, Vandenberg Space Force Base's 30th Security Forces Squadron ordered invited journalists from four outlets and two military members out of their vehicles at gunpoint and handcuffed the two service members, despite the group having a public-affairs escort and an official invitation to a base ceremony. Base security raised barriers and sounded sirens, and the group missed the groundbreaking event they had been invited to cover. A Space Launch Delta 30 public-affairs spokesperson said the stop resulted from a "breakdown in communication" verifying the media's authorized entry.
Michigan corrections officer altered Native American prisoner's ID with racist caricature, posted it publicly for humiliation, lawsuit alleges
A corrections officer at Newberry Correctional Facility in Michigan's Upper Peninsula digitally altered a Native American prisoner's ID to depict him wearing a feathered headdress and other stereotypical Indigenous imagery, then posted the altered image publicly, according to a state civil-rights lawsuit filed in early August 2026 by prisoner Dylan Leenheer (Gun Lake Tribe). The lawsuit, which names officers Jay Stevens and Robert Marsh and the Michigan Department of Corrections, alleges a broader pattern at the facility -- including two other prisoners, one Black and one of "Indian-national-origin," whose ID photos were similarly altered -- and that no corrections staff involved faced discipline.
Army substantiated misconduct finding against Fort Jackson chaplain after year of opaque handling, still withheld discipline details
On August 14, 2026, the U.S. Army completed a reopened 15-6 investigation substantiating a finding of "counterproductive leadership" against Chaplain Maj. Edward Blackledge, roughly one year after he allegedly told Capt. Tatyana Jordan, a Black subordinate at Fort Jackson's Chaplain School, "I'll need to tie you to a tree and beat you." In the intervening year the Army bypassed an Equal Opportunity investigation in favor of a fact-finding inquiry that came back "unfounded" without ever being disclosed to Jordan, its Inspector General's office declined to get involved, and military police characterized the incident as a "bad joke"; the case was reopened only after Military.com published Jordan's account in April 2026. An Army spokesperson confirmed the investigation was complete and "appropriate action was taken" but would not disclose what discipline, if any, Blackledge received.
ICE and GEO Group denied an elderly priest in Aurora detention adequate testing for suspected tuberculosis and cancer symptoms
Colorado Newsline reported August 14, 2026 that Edward Nalwamba, a 78-year-old retired Anglican priest from Uganda held at the GEO Group-run Aurora ICE Processing Center since September 2025, has become severely malnourished, wheelchair-bound after a fall, and continues to present chest pain and a chronic cough consistent with tuberculosis, along with an elevated prostate-specific antigen level suggesting possible cancer. His attorney says the facility has provided only cough medicine and no sputum culture, specialist workup, or other follow-up testing despite a positive TB skin test taken when he entered custody. Colorado public-health officials separately confirmed at least one active tuberculosis case at the same facility and issued orders requiring GEO's cooperation with their investigation.
DOJ found California's CDCR failed to protect women prisoners from staff sexual abuse at two facilities
On August 13, 2026, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division concluded a CRIPA investigation finding that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation failed to protect female prisoners at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla and the California Institution for Women in Chino from a longstanding pattern of staff sexual misconduct. DOJ cited broken confidential-reporting systems, deficient investigations, and insufficient accountability, and gave California 49 days to remedy the violations before facing possible litigation.
ProPublica investigation reveals Jason Crews' Wayne Halfway House concealed abuse, skipped required reports at Tennessee youth prisons
A ProPublica and WPLN investigation published August 12, 2026 found that Tennessee businessman Jason Crews and his company, Wayne Halfway House, repeatedly failed to report abuse and serious incidents at the juvenile-detention facilities Crews operates statewide, as required within 24 hours under Tennessee law. The reporting centers on a June 29, 2024 assault at Middle Tennessee Juvenile Detention Center in Columbia that guards watched happen and did not report; the state's Department of Children's Services confirmed on the record it never received an incident report for that date. Nearly two dozen former employees and youth separately told reporters they suspected abuse went unreported across Crews' facilities.
Capital & Main investigation reveals ICE deported hundreds of unaccompanied Mexican children to unfamiliar cities in southern Mexico
An Aug. 11, 2026 Capital & Main investigation found that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has, since December 2025, flown hundreds of unaccompanied Mexican children to southern Mexico cities including Tapachula, Villahermosa, and Mérida, far from their home regions near the U.S. border, departing from the prior practice of returning them to border-area child-welfare services. Human Rights First and partner organizations told the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on Aug. 3, 2026 that they had confirmed more than 350 cases and that some deported children have disappeared, with unconfirmed reports of possible deaths.
ICE agents chased down and used force to arrest an Arlington, Virginia man, leaving him hospitalized with a brain hemorrhage
On August 11, 2026, ICE agents chased down and used force to arrest Jose Mejia Hernandez, 45, while he was walking to a bus stop in Arlington, Virginia, leaving him hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury, a subarachnoid brain bleed, and severe facial bruising. DHS confirmed the stop and said officers used "necessary force" after Mejia Hernandez "attempted [to] flee," but did not explain what force was used or address his specific injuries. His lawyers say ICE kept a court-mandated ankle monitor attached in a way that delayed his doctor-ordered MRI by several days.
ICE agent drew and pointed gun on bystander distributing immigration-lawyer cards in Virginia parking lot
An ICE agent drew and pointed a firearm at Carolina Molina, a U.S. citizen distributing immigration-lawyer business cards, in a Falls Church, Virginia-area parking lot on August 10, 2026, after she shouted at agents making an arrest nearby. DHS said Molina tried to run over officers with her car and was stopped for that reason; Molina disputes the account and says her own dashcam video contradicts it. She was not arrested and was permitted to leave the scene.
Guardian investigation reveals ICE force-fed Kurdish asylum seeker Gabar Choli for eight months at Texas detention center
The Guardian reported August 10, 2026 that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement force-fed Gabar Choli, a 40-year-old Kurdish asylum seeker and filmmaker, through a nasal tube roughly twice a day for about eight months at the Port Isabel detention center in Los Fresnos, Texas, after he began a hunger strike protesting detention conditions. Federal court records reviewed by the Guardian show ICE and DHS obtained and repeatedly renewed a federal court order authorizing the force-feeding over Choli's objection and without legal representation, before he was deported to Canada in January 2026. Choli said the treatment left him with lasting physical injuries and psychological harm; DHS said involuntary medical treatment is used only to prevent imminent life-threatening harm.
LA Public Press investigation revealed LA County women's jail had years of brown water, mold, and broken plumbing despite health citations
An LA Public Press investigation published August 5, 2026 reported that LA County's Sybil Brand Commission, the county's independent jail oversight body, found in a report submitted to the Board of Supervisors in June 2026 that Century Regional Detention Facility, the county's only women's jail in Lynwood, has had brown, foul-smelling drinking water, mold, broken plumbing, and recurring bug infestations documented since at least 2022, calling it "an ongoing and unresolved public health crisis." The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has cited the LA County Sheriff's Department, which operates the jail, for related environmental-health violations every year since 2022, and about half of the roughly 1,700-capacity facility's current population is pretrial and has not been convicted of a crime.
Phoenix police officers used unreported force, including a taser, on a stopped couple and filed no report
On August 5, 2026, Phoenix police officers Luis Vasquez Jr. and Antonio Felix stopped a Dodge Charger near 19th Avenue and Broadway Road in south Phoenix and used force -- including a stun gun, an arm bar, and repeated punches -- against the man and woman inside, without activating their body-worn cameras or filing a required use-of-force report. The stop surfaced only after one victim escaped and reached Tempe police, whose officers found the account so extreme they initially suspected the assailants were impersonating police rather than being real officers. Phoenix's own investigation later confirmed both were on-duty officers.
Arkansas State Police trooper punched 18-year-old woman in face during traffic-stop arrest
On August 1, 2026, Arkansas State Police Trooper Moisses Arellano forced 18-year-old Alisa Hackett to the ground and struck her in the face with a closed fist during a traffic stop near Manila, Arkansas, after a second trooper told him to arrest her because she "got an attitude." Arellano's own use-of-force report states he punched Hackett because she would not roll onto her stomach on his commands; dashcam video later released publicly shows Hackett telling him "you cannot punch me in my face" and Arellano responding "who says I can't." Hackett was booked on five charges, none of which have been dropped, and filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Arellano.
Michigan corrections department declined to investigate fifth death this year at Women's Huron Valley prison
Family members and advocates rallied outside Michigan Department of Corrections headquarters on July 31, 2026 to demand an independent investigation and reform after five women died at Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility, Michigan's only women's prison, since mid-May 2026. MDOC declined to investigate the most recent death, of Dasie Forbes, by classifying it "expected," and the county medical examiner declined an autopsy. Separately, attorneys for incarcerated woman Krystal Clark alleged in an emergency court motion that she developed mold-related medical deterioration during months at the facility, which MDOC disputes.
Federal judge found New York prison system showed 'deliberate indifference' to incarcerated cancer patient's medical needs
U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ruled on July 31, 2026, that officials at New York's Department of Corrections and Community Supervision acted with "deliberate indifference" toward incarcerated man David Blanding's cancer care, calling the record "nothing short of disgraceful." Blanding, diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2019, was never given his prescribed post-surgery immunotherapy and was not told for nine months that a 2025 biopsy had found prostate cancer, learning only through his attorneys; Kaplan ordered DOCCS to develop a treatment plan and report to the court every two weeks.
ICE deported Cuban asylum seeker to Central African Republic on 71-person flight without disclosing destination
On July 30, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported Aristides Fernandez Garcia, a 37-year-old Cuban asylum seeker held for seven months in immigration detention, from Fort Worth, Texas on a 71-person third-country removal flight to the Central African Republic — one of the largest known third-country removal flights to date. Fernandez Garcia and other passengers said ICE did not tell them their destination until the flight was already underway, and that they were shackled and denied lavatory access during the more-than-21-hour journey. DHS confirmed his arrest and removal dates on the record but did not dispute the lack-of-notice or in-flight conditions accounts.
ICE agent pepper-sprayed 72-year-old NYC protester filming enforcement operation in Inwood
On July 30, 2026, an ICE agent pepper-sprayed 72-year-old Linda Wolff at close range in Inwood, Manhattan, after she and other bystanders confronted federal agents having a vehicle towed. Video shows Wolff filming the agents from the sidewalk when the agent sprayed her in the face and, after she noted she had already been maced, responded, "I'm gonna do it again." The Department of Homeland Security defended the action, saying the group had "swarmed" and become "combative," while Wolff says she is pursuing legal action.
ICE deported Arizona detainee to El Salvador with unremoved medical tube despite hospital orders
ICE deported Salvadoran national Ana Granados Sanchez from its Eloy Detention Center in Arizona on July 28-29, 2026, with a nephrostomy tube still in place more than three months after hospital discharge orders required urologist follow-up within a week of her April 2026 surgery. An independent physician who reviewed her medical records warned before the deportation that the unmanaged tube put her at risk of irreversible complications. DHS did not respond to written press inquiries submitted more than a week before the deportation.
Court-appointed monitor found CoreCivic's California City ICE facility systemically denied detainees adequate healthcare
On July 28, 2026, a court-appointed independent medical monitor, Dr. Muthusamy Anandkumar, released a report finding that the CoreCivic-operated California City Immigration Processing Center in California City, California systemically failed to provide adequate healthcare to ICE detainees, identifying 13 deficiency areas including missing medications, months-long delays in cancer treatment, and inadequate management of chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and seizures. The report was ordered by U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney as part of an ongoing federal lawsuit filed by seven detainees alleging due-process violations at the facility. CoreCivic said it provides daily medical access and 24-hour emergency care, while lawsuit plaintiff Sokhean Keo said he never received medication prescribed for an infection.
Guardian investigation reveals ICE forcibly treated hunger-striking detainee with force-feeding, catheterization, or blood draws
A Guardian investigation reviewed an ICE Health Service Corps document, published online in February 2026, confirming for the first time that the Trump administration forcibly treated a hunger-striking immigration detainee — subjecting the unnamed patient to force-feeding, hydration, forced urinary catheterization, or involuntary blood draws after they began a hunger strike between October and December 2025. The same document discloses at least seven detainees were on hunger strike as of February 2026 and budgets over $168,000 for hunger-strike-related external medical care in fiscal year 2026. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, declined to answer questions about the treatment.
ICE and GEO Group left worm-contaminated drinking water uncorrected at Adelanto detention facility despite court-ordered fix
On July 28, 2026, a detainee at the GEO Group-run Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California shared video of worm-like organisms in the facility's drinking water, corroborated by a second detainee and immigrant-rights attorneys. The discovery came despite a federal court's July 16 preliminary injunction ordering ICE to fix water, food, and sanitation conditions at the facility; plaintiffs' counsel said ICE had met the order's monitoring requirements but not its water and sanitation mandates. DHS denied any water-quality problem and said the facility uses the same municipal supply as surrounding Adelanto.
ICE, Campbell County jail denied insulin to diabetic detainees, put miscarriage victim in solitary confinement
U.S. Reps. Gwen Moore, Delia Ramirez, and Morgan McGarvey conducted a congressional oversight visit to the Campbell County Detention Center in Newport, Kentucky, on July 27, 2026, and found diabetic ICE detainees denied insulin and given pre-diabetic medication instead. They also found that a Wisconsin constituent who miscarried in ICE custody was denied her medical records and placed in solitary confinement, and detainees reported having to pay out of pocket for medications. Campbell County Jailer James Daley disputed the allegations but confirmed the woman had been placed in an isolated medical cell after returning from the hospital.
ICE and CoreCivic denied Stewart Detention Center detainee Prisciliano Trejo-Ricano medical care for eight days; he died of leukemia
Prisciliano Trejo-Ricano, a 29-year-old Mexican immigrant who had lived in the U.S. since childhood, was detained by ICE at the CoreCivic-run Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, after a June 2026 arrest in Durham, North Carolina. His family says he reported feeling unwell on July 6, 2026 and was not taken to a hospital until July 13 -- an eight-day delay -- after which he was diagnosed with acute leukemia, fell into a coma, and was released from ICE custody on July 16 as his condition deteriorated; he died on July 24. DHS disputes that his requests for care went unanswered, saying he received medical treatment on July 10.
Marshall Project investigation revealed Illinois DOC ignored fire hazards at Joliet mental health prison, killing two
A joint investigation by The Marshall Project, WBEZ, and the Chicago Sun-Times found that the Illinois Department of Corrections repeatedly failed to address fire hazards at the Joliet Treatment Center — a mental health prison — over more than three years, during which incarcerated men set themselves and their cells ablaze more than 70 times in desperate bids for medical attention. At least two men died: Jason Stephens in August 2024 after guards delayed ambulance access for 28 minutes following a July 27, 2024 cell fire, and Latrell Edwards in early 2025 after a November 2024 blaze. Government records reviewed by investigators showed inoperable fire alarms, missing sprinklers, absent evacuation plans, and repeated gate delays blocking emergency responders — all documented violations that IDOC failed to correct despite warnings from the Illinois State Fire Marshal's Office.
ICE referred only one officer for discipline over use of force since Trump took office, Democrats revealed
After a closed-door briefing with ICE officials, Rep. Seth Magaziner disclosed that of 56 excessive force complaints filed against ICE officers since January 2025, 32 were cleared and only one was referred for disciplinary action — with no discipline actually imposed. The revelation came as two fatal ICE shootings within a single week — in Biddeford, Maine, and Houston, Texas — had drawn national scrutiny over the agency's use-of-force practices. ICE and the Department of Homeland Security declined to comment.
CNN investigation reveals ICE agents made false statements to prosecutors during Operation Metro Surge
A CNN investigation by anchor Jake Tapper, published July 22, 2026, found that federal immigration agents made false or misleading statements to federal prosecutors throughout the eighteen days of Operation Metro Surge following the January 7, 2026 killing of U.S. citizen Renee Good. Former prosecutors in the Minnesota U.S. Attorney's Office told CNN that agents' accounts were repeatedly "proved to have been downright false," and that DOJ officials directed prosecutors to open a domestic terrorism investigation into Good — who had already been killed — based on those false ICE reports.
ICE agents arrested Ukrainian woman at San Francisco airport; video showed agents pinning her to floor as she alleged choking
Plainclothes ICE agents arrested Iryna Gorb, a 38-year-old Ukrainian national who had lived in San Francisco for 16 years, at San Francisco International Airport on July 22, 2026. Video captured by a Richmond city council member showed agents pinning Gorb to the floor in Terminal 3; she screamed that agents were choking her and called out to bystanders for help. DHS confirmed the arrest and said Gorb had overstayed a visa since 2011; she was transferred to California City Detention Facility in Kern County.
ICE narrowed its own death-reporting rules, then released a dying Delaney Hall detainee to keep his death out of the count
In the week of July 20, 2026, a recently arrived detainee at the GEO Group-run Delaney Hall ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey suffered a seizure during intake and was granted a "discretionary release" to University Hospital, where he died soon after. Because he was no longer in ICE custody at the time of death, ICE did not publicly report it, citing a June 2026 policy change that limits its death-reporting obligations to people who die while still detained; Rep. Rob Menendez disclosed the death on August 3-4, 2026 after learning of it during an unannounced oversight visit. The Department of Homeland Security defended the practice on the record, saying "ICE is not responsible when an individual passes away weeks after leaving their custody."
ICE detained Russian asylum-seeker at Buffalo airport, held her nearly a month
ICE officers detained Alevtina Soboleva, a 59-year-old Russian asylum-seeker from Sunnyvale, California, at the Buffalo airport on July 20, 2026, as she and her daughter prepared to fly home from a trip to Niagara Falls, despite her asylum application still being under review. Her daughter says Soboleva was shackled, held in a cage, and denied water and bathroom access while being transferred between detention facilities, and was held for nearly a month at a federal facility in Louisiana before an immigration judge set a $10,000 bond and she was released.
FBI told agents to stop investigating ICE confrontations while officials publicly denied any policy change
In guidance circulated in mid-July 2026, federal agents were told the FBI would no longer investigate physical confrontations involving ICE officers, shifting review of such incidents to ICE's own Homeland Security Investigations unit. The Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security publicly denied any policy change despite the guidance having already been distributed to agents nationwide.
ICE held Venezuelan asylum-seeker eight days past its own 72-hour standard in unsanitary conditions, then barred a congresswoman from seeing her
Claudia Rodriguez Caglianone, a 28-year-old Venezuelan asylum-seeker with a nine-year pending case and no criminal record, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on July 19, 2026 and held for eight days at ICE's Miramar field office — more than double the 72-hour limit ICE told Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz applies to that check-in facility — before being transferred to the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach and released on bond August 3, 2026. Rodriguez described sleeping on an uncleaned floor without a shower for eight days and said staff discouraged medical exams for pregnant detainees; separately, ICE barred Wasserman Schultz from an in-person visit to Rodriguez during a surprise facility inspection despite a signed family privacy release, requiring her to speak to Rodriguez by phone instead.
ICE agents left Guatemalan immigrant hospitalized with facial injuries during Doraville, Georgia arrest
On July 18, 2026, ICE agents arrested Marco Antonio Roblero Perez, a 25-year-old Guatemalan immigrant, during an enforcement operation near a BP gas station in Doraville, Georgia. Roblero Perez was hospitalized with a broken nose, a missing tooth, a chipped tooth, and cuts and bruises; DHS said he fled and struck an officer's vehicle, while family members and multiple outlets documented injuries that raised questions about whether the force used was proportionate.
ICE agents raided Passaic, New Jersey, arresting more than 75 people, including a U.S. citizen
Over roughly a week in July 2026, ICE agents conducted a series of street raids in Passaic, New Jersey, arresting more than 75 people -- the most in the city since President Trump took office in January 2025 -- including at least one U.S. citizen, with most of those detained having no criminal history. Agents tackled and handcuffed residents in front of their homes and on street corners, with arrests peaking on July 18, the same day a detainee later transferred to the nearby Delaney Hall facility began the medical emergency that led to his death days later. Passaic's mayor said ICE had shifted from targeting people on a specific list to arresting "whoever they can get."
Arizona prison agency defied inmate-healthcare injunction for 3 years and sought to hire unqualified doctors, federal judge found
U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver, in a July 16, 2026 order, denied a motion by the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry (ADCRR) to weaken a 2023 permanent-injunction requirement that prison physicians be board-certified or board-eligible in internal medicine or family practice. Silver found that ADCRR "has utterly failed to comply with the Permanent Injunction's requirements and [has] aggressively opposed its enforcement" over the three years since the injunction issued, and that the agency never made a good-faith effort to raise physician pay despite repeated recommendations from court-appointed monitors.
FBI shifted investigations of fatal shootings by immigration agents to ICE's own HSI unit
On July 16, 2026, the FBI notified field offices in writing that it would stop investigating assaults and shootings involving federal immigration agents, deferring those cases instead to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), an investigative arm of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The change follows fatal ICE shootings in Houston, Texas, and Biddeford, Maine, earlier in July, and was reported by The New York Times, CBS News, and NBC News, each citing independent sources; DOJ and DHS issued a joint statement denying that any change had occurred.
Federal Bureau of Prisons held transferred ICE detainees in Miami facility with failed air conditioning and water
On July 15, 2026, wives of men held at the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami publicly alleged inhumane conditions — failed air conditioning, unreliable drinking water, denied medications, and one detainee held in solitary confinement — after their husbands were transferred there from the wildfire-evacuated Krome Detention Center. The Bureau of Prisons acknowledged a July 1 water-pressure problem and a July 6 air-conditioning chiller malfunction but said both were repaired, while families said conditions had not meaningfully improved.
Human Rights Watch and ACLU report found 90% of interviewed Camp East Montana detainees beaten or witnessed beatings by guards
On July 15, 2026, Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union jointly released an 84-page report finding that 64 of 71 detainees interviewed said they had been beaten by guards or witnessed others being beaten at Camp East Montana, the ICE detention facility at the U.S. Army's Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. The report also documented denial of necessary medical care, filthy living conditions, inedible food, coercive pressure to accept deportation, and circumstances that in some cases could amount to enforced disappearance. Researchers found the abuses persisted even after ICE replaced the facility's prime contractor in March 2026.
LAPD officers repeatedly restrained a hooded, handcuffed jail inmate who died minutes later
On July 15, 2026, Los Angeles Police Department detention officers at the Valley Jail Section used force on Jose Carlos Hoyos-Munoz three times during booking, including holding him face-down on a bunk with a spit hood over his head after removing his handcuffs. Roughly 20 minutes after the last use of force, officers found him unconscious and not breathing, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. LAPD released video of the incident in late August 2026, after Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ordered an independent review of police-involved deaths.
ICE and HSI encounter in St. Augustine drove Mexican tourist Juan Jairo Coronilla Duran into traffic; he died
On July 14, 2026, Juan Jairo Coronilla Duran, a 28-year-old Mexican national visiting the United States on a valid tourist visa, was struck and killed by a semi-truck on State Road 16 near St. Augustine, Florida, after fleeing a traffic stop conducted by ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents. He had been in the United States for three weeks, in Florida for only two days, and had already purchased a return flight to Mexico for that weekend. His wife and Mexican state officials confirmed his valid visa status; his death was reported as the third fatality arising from ICE encounters in a single week.
ICE agents tackled, handcuffed, and abandoned arrest of Australian man at Las Vegas airport
Two plainclothes ICE officers attempted to detain Phu Nguyen, a 57-year-old Australian citizen who had overstayed his visa, at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on July 13, 2026, pinning him to the ground. When bystanders began filming and a crowd gathered, the officers abandoned the arrest and walked away, leaving Nguyen handcuffed to one arm; Las Vegas police responded, found no outstanding warrants, and removed the handcuff. ICE arrested Nguyen the next day at Los Angeles International Airport instead.
ICE agent fatally shot Colombian man during Biddeford, Maine enforcement operation; man was not warrant's target
An ICE agent fatally shot a 26-year-old Colombian man during an immigration enforcement operation in Biddeford, Maine, on July 13, 2026. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the man weaponized his vehicle before the agent fired, but Sen. Angus King said the man was not the target of the agents' warrant and that the agents were not wearing body cameras. The Maine Attorney General's Office opened a state investigation and the agent was placed on administrative leave.
Hegseth reversed the suspension of 8 S.C. National Guard Apache pilots grounded over a July 4 flyover
On July 10, 2026, the suspensions of eight South Carolina Army National Guard Apache pilots — grounded after a low-altitude "Salute from the Shore" flyover of the state's coastline on July 4 — were lifted after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly objected to the discipline and pressed for it to be undone. Hegseth said late on July 9 that officials would "fix this," and Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced the reversal the next morning. It was at least the second time Hegseth intervened to cancel discipline arising from an Apache flyover.
DEA agent fatally shot man during Memphis Safe Task Force warrant service at East Memphis hotel
On the morning of July 8, 2026, a DEA agent assigned to the Memphis Safe Task Force fatally shot a man while task force members forced entry to serve a Shelby County felony drug warrant at an Extended Stay hotel in East Memphis. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which said only that the agent fired into the room after the situation escalated, is investigating; it is the second fatal task force shooting in four days and the fourth death linked to the unit since it began operating in Memphis in fall 2025.
ICE agent fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during Houston enforcement stop; family disputes self-defense account
An ICE agent fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national, during a targeted immigration enforcement stop in Houston's East End on July 7, 2026. ICE said Araujo tried to ram and run over the agent before being shot in self-defense, but a witness account relayed through LULAC disputes that account, saying Araujo was in the neighborhood looking for day-laborer work when he was shot. The FBI and DHS Office of Inspector General have opened separate investigations.
Attorneys alleged mold exposure caused Michigan inmate Krystal Clark's medical deterioration at Women's Huron Valley prison; MDOC disputed claim
Attorneys for Krystal Clark, incarcerated at Michigan's Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility, filed an emergency federal court motion on July 6, 2026 alleging she developed severe mold-related medical deterioration -- including a fungal ear infection, hearing loss, and respiratory symptoms -- after months of exposure to mold at the facility. The Michigan Department of Corrections disputed the allegations, citing a private contractor's environmental test showing no dangerous mold levels, but temporarily transferred Clark to an outside health center on July 9, three days after the motion was filed. Clark's mold-related symptoms, including visible mold in her ears and facial swelling, had also been described independently at a February 2026 Michigan House Oversight Committee hearing.
WilmerHale review found New York prison guards' use of force rose for a decade while DOCCS substantiated few misconduct complaints
A 277-page outside review by law firm WilmerHale, ordered by Gov. Kathy Hochul after corrections officers killed prisoners Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi, found that New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision pepper-spray use rose from 124 deployments a decade earlier to 4,758 by 2024 and that use of force climbed steadily in the years before Brooks' killing. Of nearly 1,200 excessive-force complaints filed by prisoners against guards in 2024, only 40 were substantiated.
Federalized Tennessee National Guard soldiers fatally shot Tyrin Johnson during Memphis foot pursuit
Early on the morning of July 5, 2026, two Tennessee National Guard soldiers assigned to the Trump administration's federal Memphis Safe Task Force fatally shot 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson during a foot pursuit in downtown Memphis; police said Johnson turned toward them while holding a handgun. Johnson was struck twice in the chest and died at the scene despite first aid from Guard medics; the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating at the request of the Shelby County District Attorney. An independent autopsy released in August 2026 contradicted the official account, finding Johnson was shot in the back on a trajectory consistent with him running away.
Mielun Butler, 18, stomped to death in custody at Hinds County Detention Center
Mielun Butler, an 18-year-old booked into the Hinds County Detention Center in Raymond, Mississippi on July 1, 2026, was stomped to death in custody by the morning of July 3, 2026, the county coroner said. Coroner Jeremiah Howard said it appeared Butler "had shoe prints all over his head," and a video circulating on social media showed a person kicking his limp, bloodied body. The facility, overseen by the Hinds County Sheriff's Office, has a documented history of custodial-safety failures and operates under a court-appointed federal receiver.
Senatobia police refused to release the incident report and camera footage of the shooting that killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley
Nearly three weeks after a Senatobia police officer fatally shot 1-year-old Kohen Wiley outside a Walmart, city police and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation refused repeated public-records requests for the incident report, body-worn and dashboard camera footage, and store surveillance video. A Senatobia sergeant declined to release the incident report despite Mississippi law making such records public, and the family's attorneys said every footage request had been denied.
Court monitor report finds Maricopa County Sheriff's Office undermined racial-profiling settlement, retaliated against reform commander
A federal court monitor's investigation published June 25, 2026, found that Maricopa County Sheriff's Office leadership under Sheriff Jerry Sheridan violated court-ordered reforms tied to the Melendres v. Arpaio racial profiling settlement. The monitor determined that MCSO command staff pressured the Professional Standards Bureau commander to reopen completed disciplinary cases against deputies and placed him on administrative leave in April 2025 in retaliation when he refused. The violations caused the department's compliance rates to drop sharply — from 95% to 70% on an internal oversight order and from 88% to 68% on an order addressing investigation backlogs.
Wilmington, Delaware police officer fatally shot 19-year-old Kadir Skinner during foot pursuit, disputed by body-camera footage
On June 24, 2026, a Wilmington, Delaware police officer fatally shot 19-year-old Kadir Skinner during a foot pursuit in a northeast Wilmington neighborhood. Police said Skinner pointed a gun at a crowd before fleeing, but body-camera footage released by the Delaware Department of Justice in July showed him running from the officer when shot, with no gun visible in his hands or recovered from his possession on camera. Skinner died at Wilmington Hospital; the Delaware DOJ has opened a civil rights investigation into the shooting.
Mexican detainee Felix Alcorta-Rodriguez, 63, died in ICE custody at Webb County Detention Center in Laredo; 20th ICE death of 2026
Felix Alcorta-Rodriguez, a 63-year-old Mexican national, died on June 19, 2026, about an hour after being found unresponsive and rushed from the Webb County Detention Center in Laredo, Texas, where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had held him since June 16. Webb County's medical examiner said he died of natural causes with a full autopsy pending; his death was at least the fifth in Texas ICE detention in 2026 and at least the 20th nationally. The CoreCivic-operated facility had been cited in a February 2026 ICE inspection for at least nine proper-care violations, about a third involving improper medical care.
Grand Junction police fatally shot Patti Wilson, a transgender woman, firing into her fleeing car
On June 19, 2026, two Grand Junction, Colorado police officers responding to a report of a person with a knife at a Dairy Queen fired roughly 11 shots at Patti Wilson, a 31-year-old transgender woman, striking her twice as she drove away and killing her. Her fleeing vehicle then struck multiple other cars, injuring another person and overturning one. The department later identified the officers as Zachary Diaz and Tim Long, who were placed on paid administrative leave pending an independent 21st Judicial District investigation.
Washington Post report reveals ICE revised detention standards at Geo Group's private request, exempting detainees from minimum-wage protections
On June 16, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued new national detention standards that, according to Washington Post reporting, incorporated language privately requested by Geo Group, the country's largest private immigration detention contractor. Geo Group had asked ICE to remove contractor obligations to comply with state and local detainee-treatment laws and to add language supporting its legal position that paying detainees $1 per day does not violate minimum-wage laws because detainees are not employees. The newly published standards include both categories of change: they explicitly state that detainees are not employees and are not entitled to wages or benefits under applicable wage or labor laws.
Rubio signed memo citing Colombian activist's criticism of Trump-backed candidate as deportation grounds; ICE arrested him same day
On June 16, 2026, Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed a memorandum, under a rarely-used 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act provision, determining that Colombian activist Franklin Humberto "Beto" Coral Garrido's presence in the U.S. was harmful to U.S. foreign policy because he had criticized Trump-endorsed Colombian presidential candidate Abelardo De La Espriella and supported President Gustavo Petro. Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested Coral at his Phoenix home that day and canceled a work permit tied to his pending asylum application.
Senatobia, Mississippi police officer fatally shot 1-year-old Kohen Wiley while firing into a car during a shoplifting call
On June 14, 2026, a Senatobia Police Department officer responding to a Walmart shoplifting call fired a shotgun into a car in the store's parking lot, killing 1-year-old Kohen Wiley and critically wounding a passenger. Police said the driver had steered the vehicle toward an officer, nearly striking them; the child's mother said the car was backing away and that she had told officers a baby was inside. The officer was placed on administrative leave, and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation opened an independent inquiry.
ICE transfers most Delaney Hall hunger strikers out of Newark jail in apparent retaliation
As a hunger and labor strike at Newark's Delaney Hall ICE jail entered its third week, immigrant-rights advocates said most of the hunger strikers had been transferred out of the GEO Group-run facility to other ICE jails in apparent retaliation for the protest. The strike, which began May 22 and was initially led by an estimated 300 detainees, centers on demands that include firing a female guard accused of sexually assaulting at least 10 detained women. Human Rights Watch and the ACLU have separately documented retaliatory transfers, the use of force, and abysmal conditions at the facility.
GAO finds ICE wasted up to $11.5M and endangered detainees in rushed Camp East Montana launch
On June 9, 2026, the U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report (GAO-26-108886) finding that ICE rushed the opening of Camp East Montana, the nation's largest immigration detention facility and a tent camp at the Army's Fort Bliss base in El Paso, wasting up to $11.5 million during its first two weeks in August 2025 while the camp sat empty. The watchdog found ICE awarded a roughly $1.3 billion operating contract to Acquisition Logistics LLC, a firm with no detention experience, and documented unsafe conditions including a contract guard's loss of a loaded firearm that was never recovered and the contractor's failure to provide required use-of-force and death reports. ICE terminated the Acquisition Logistics contract in March after three detainee deaths, a measles outbreak, and mounting human-rights allegations.
GEO Group cancels Delaney Hall family visits, bars Sen. Kim from speaking with detainees
On Saturday, June 6, 2026, GEO Group — the private contractor operating ICE's Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark — canceled the day's family visitation, turning away spouses and children at the gate, according to Mother Jones. U.S. Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), conducting a congressional oversight visit, was admitted but told that if he spoke with any detainee the tour would be terminated immediately. Kim reported seeing a woman curled up in visible medical distress in a women's housing unit, more than two weeks into detainees' hunger and labor strike over conditions, and said guards would not answer his questions about her.
Detainee Mamuka Artmeladze, 43, died in ICE custody at Louisiana's Winn Correctional Center; second death there in under two months
Mamuka Artmeladze, a 43-year-old national of Georgia, was found unresponsive on June 4, 2026 at Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, Louisiana, and was pronounced dead at a local hospital about 45 minutes later; his cause of death is pending an autopsy. He had been held at the facility for nearly four months, and his death was the second at Winn since April 11, 2026 and the 19th in ICE custody since January 1, 2026. The facility, operated by ICE contractor LaSalle Corrections with the Winn Parish Sheriff's Office, was recently cited by the DHS Office of Inspector General for violations of medical-care, use-of-force, and safety standards.
Federal "summer surge" to nearly double DC National Guard to ~5,000 for America 250
Federal officials announced a "summer surge" of the DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force, requesting roughly 1,500 additional National Guard members to raise the federalized troop presence in Washington, D.C. to about 5,000 (up from ~2,800) ahead of the America 250 / July 4, 2026 celebrations. The plan keeps Guard members on Title 32 orders under the D.C. National Guard and folds militarized enforcement tools — high- visibility patrols, drones, tactical K-9 units, and helicopters — into routine policing of the capital, with no announced end date.
Detainees sue ICE over conditions at Camp East Montana amid three deaths and a homicide ruling
On May 30, 2026, the ACLU, the ACLU of Texas, the Texas Civil Rights Project, and the law firm Farella Braun + Martel filed a federal class-action suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement over conditions at Camp East Montana, the nation's largest immigration detention facility — a tent camp on the Army's Fort Bliss base in El Paso. In under a year of operation the facility has recorded at least three detainee deaths, including one the El Paso County medical examiner ruled a homicide with no one charged, a nearly month-long measles outbreak, and roughly 49 detention-standards violations documented by ICE's own inspectors. The Department of Homeland Security called the inhumane-conditions claims "categorically false."
NJ State Police take over Delaney Hall protests, deploy tear gas and pepper spray; six arrested
On May 29, 2026, the New Jersey State Police — deployed by Gov. Mikie Sherrill — took over the security perimeter outside Delaney Hall, the GEO Group-run ICE detention center in Newark where roughly 300 detainees had been on a hunger and labor strike since May 22 over conditions they called inhumane. Sherrill framed the takeover as a de-escalating move to establish "protected protest zones" and remove ICE from nightly clashes, but over the following weekend state troopers deployed tear gas, pepper spray, flashbangs and mounted units, arrested demonstrators, and enforced a half-mile nightly curfew around the facility. Immigrant-rights advocates said the troopers used excessive force against peaceful protesters and were "no different than ICE," a characterization the state disputed as lawful crowd control.
AP investigation finds ICE detainees dying by suicide at an unprecedented rate
An Associated Press investigation published May 27, 2026 found that at least 10 people have died by suicide in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since January 2025 — a pace far outstripping the growth of the detained population and unprecedented in the agency's two-decade history, against a historical baseline of roughly zero to one such death per year. Seven of the deaths have occurred since October 2025, already the most in any single fiscal year, and suicides now account for nearly a fifth of the 51 deaths in ICE custody over the period. AP's review of ICE data, autopsy reports, coroner's rulings, and police records found facilities repeatedly violated ICE's own detention standards on intake screening, suicide-risk monitoring, mental-health care, and access to materials that could be used for self-harm.
HRW: 4,353 Cubans deported to Mexico under undisclosed US deal, denied due process
In a report released May 27, 2026, Human Rights Watch documented that between January 20, 2025 and March 9, 2026 the Trump administration deported more than 18,000 third-country nationals, nearly 13,000 of them to Mexico under an undisclosed US-Mexico agreement; Cubans were the largest group, with 4,353 sent to Mexico. HRW found that none of the 53 deportees it interviewed were given any opportunity to contest their country of removal, a violation of due-process requirements under the Immigration and Nationality Act and international law, and that detainees faced overcrowding, denial of medical care, and guard violence in US custody before being left stranded in southern Mexico.
Trump ordered D.C. National Guard levels not be lowered; Hegseth pledged to 'surge this summer'
At a White House cabinet meeting on May 27, 2026, President Donald Trump publicly directed that the number of National Guard troops deployed across Washington, D.C. not be reduced, saying "don't lower the number." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, at the same table, responded that the administration would "surge this summer too." The exchange committed the executive branch to maintaining and expanding an ongoing federalized National Guard presence in the District, part of the administration's domestic security posture in U.S. cities.
Federal officers spray chemical irritants and charge demonstrators at Newark's Delaney Hall ICE jail
On the night of May 26, 2026, federal immigration officers sprayed chemical irritants and charged demonstrators gathered outside Delaney Hall, the 1,000-bed GEO Group-run ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, where roughly 300 detainees were conducting a hunger and labor strike over conditions including spoiled food, denial of medical care, and failed air conditioning. The confrontation was the latest in days of clashes at the facility, coming after masked, armored federal personnel pepper-sprayed U.S. Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) there on Memorial Day. Journalists covering the protests were among those exposed to the chemical agents.
U.S. Sen. Andy Kim pepper-sprayed by federal agents during ICE oversight visit in Newark
On Memorial Day, May 25, 2026, U.S. Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) said he was pepper-sprayed by federal agents outside Delaney Hall, a private ICE detention facility in Newark, after conducting an in-person oversight visit while detainees inside were on a hunger strike. Kim said he had tried to position himself between ICE personnel and protesters to de-escalate when officers — who had deployed an armored vehicle as a barricade — pushed through and discharged pepper balls and pepper spray. DHS publicly defended the action, blaming "rioters" and asserting officers used "the minimum amount of force necessary," and later said no individuals were directly struck by pepper-ball projectiles.
ICE agents threw a nurse to the ground during Delaney Hall protest, fracturing her kneecap
On Memorial Day, May 25, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents threw Dr. Norma Bowe, a Kean University nursing professor running a volunteer mobile health clinic outside Newark's Delaney Hall ICE detention center, to the ground as she tried to help a woman being dragged across the pavement by agents. Bowe suffered a fractured kneecap, a torn meniscus, and a head injury. The incident is detailed in a notice of claim filed by the ACLU of New Jersey, part of a coordinated set of 54 claims filed by ACLU affiliates in 17 states and Washington, D.C. alleging a pattern of unlawful violence by federal immigration agents.
ICE and GEO Group use pepper spray and force against hunger-striking Delaney Hall detainees
Beginning around May 22, 2026, hundreds of immigrants held at the GEO Group-run Delaney Hall ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey, launched a hunger and labor strike over conditions including spoiled food, scalding showers, and denial of medical care. As the strike continued, staff retaliated by transferring strike leaders, suspending family visitation, and, on May 28, using pepper spray, batons, and rubber projectiles against detainees in an enclosed dining hall, injuring several. White House border czar Tom Homan publicly raised the prospect of court-ordered force-feeding, while the Department of Homeland Security denied that any hunger strike was occurring.
Tennessee's execution physician botched Tony Carruthers' lethal injection; governor postponed execution one year
On May 21, 2026, the Tennessee Department of Corrections attempted to execute Tony Carruthers at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, but the appointed execution physician, Dr. Mark Fowler, spent more than 90 minutes failing to place the intravenous lines required by protocol before Governor Bill Lee called off the execution and postponed it one year. Fowler had not performed a central IV line procedure since 2013 and held no hospital privileges; the state had sought to conceal his identity under a secrecy law.
Detainees launch hunger strike over conditions at GEO Group-run Adelanto ICE complex
On May 19, 2026, at least 20 immigrants detained at the Desert View Annex — one of three facilities in the GEO Group-operated Adelanto ICE complex in Southern California — launched a hunger strike to protest custodial conditions, citing medical neglect, shrinking food portions, unsafe water, overcrowding, and retaliation against detainees who speak out. Their demands include due process and bond reform, adequate medical and mental-health care, nutritious food, accountability for deaths in custody, and the right to organize. The Department of Homeland Security denied that any hunger strike is taking place.
CBP detained pregnant Ghanaian woman and disabled son at Dulles Airport for over a week
On May 19, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers detained Annabella Gyasi, a pregnant 38-year-old Ghanaian woman traveling on a valid visa with her young son for a medical appointment, at Washington Dulles International Airport after she said she feared returning to Ghana. DHS and CBP held the pair for more than a week in a windowless holding room, during which Gyasi was hospitalized twice for pregnancy complications.
Woman gives birth on a Brooklyn courtroom bench while in custody awaiting arraignment
On the night of May 15, 2026, Samantha Randazzo, 33 and nine months pregnant, gave birth to a boy on a bench inside Kings County Criminal Court in Brooklyn while in NYPD custody awaiting arraignment on low-level drug-possession and trespassing charges, hours after a city hospital discharged her back into custody. Public defenders who witnessed the birth said she was restrained and lacked medical care, privacy, or dignity; the state Office of Court Administration disputes that she was shackled to the bench. The Brooklyn District Attorney's office later dismissed her charges.
DEA agent fatally shot Darrin Pigram while serving Memphis Safe Task Force arrest warrant
On the morning of May 13, 2026, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent with the Memphis Safe Task Force fatally shot 41-year-old Darrin Pigram while serving a Shelby County arrest warrant at a Burger King in the Frayser area of Memphis. Pigram, who had been indicted days earlier on charges including aggravated assault, allegedly reached for his waistband as agents approached; he was transported to a hospital and later died of his injuries, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is reviewing the shooting at the request of the Shelby County District Attorney.
Michigan prison staff dismissed inmate's blood-clot symptoms as lies days before her fatal pulmonary embolism
Khaira Howard, 28, died at Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti, Michigan on May 13, 2026, days before a scheduled parole release, after corrections staff dismissed her reports that she had lost feeling in her legs. An autopsy the Michigan Department of Corrections released July 9, 2026 found the cause of death was a pulmonary thromboembolism caused by a deep vein thrombosis in her lower leg -- the same symptom a prisoner-observation aide said staff had disbelieved.
Idaho National Guard troops pinned and detained Purple Heart veteran Anna King outside her D.C. home without a warrant
On May 8, 2026, three federalized Idaho National Guard members detained Anna King, a retired Army captain and Purple Heart recipient, outside her Washington, D.C. home, pinning her to the ground, kneeling on her back, and handcuffing her without producing a warrant or explaining the legal basis. King, who had criticized the National Guard's deployment in the city with signs on her patio, suffered wrist injuries that later required surgery. She was never charged over the prior incident the guardsmen cited to justify the stop, though D.C. prosecutors separately charged her with two misdemeanor counts of assaulting an officer for her resistance during the May 8 encounter, a charge she disputes and has pleaded not guilty to.
Omaha police shocked special-education student with electric-shock compliance glove during school crisis
On May 8, 2026, an Omaha Police Department school resource officer twice shocked a middle-school special-education student's forearm with an electric-shock "G.L.O.V.E." compliance glove at Omaha Public Schools' Integrated Learning Program, after the student threw a chair and struck a security guard and the officer during a behavioral crisis. Compliant Technologies, the glove's manufacturer, warns against using the device on children or people with disabilities, but OPD's internal use-of-force review cleared the incident as within policy. The incident became public at an August 17, 2026 school board meeting, prompting objections from parents and the Arc of Nebraska.
ICE agents injure a U.S. citizen in a Bronx takedown of the wrong person
On May 6, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducting an enforcement operation in the Norwood section of the Bronx tackled, handcuffed, and detained Jeury Concepcion, a U.S. citizen who was not the person they were seeking. Bystander cellphone video captured the takedown; Concepcion was left bleeding from a head wound that required several stitches, and agents released him after checking his ID and phone and determining he was not their target. The Department of Homeland Security disputes the "wrongful arrest" characterization, saying officers ran a targeted operation, that Concepcion matched the target's description and became combative, and that he was briefly detained and promptly released.
Cuban detainee Denny Adan Gonzalez died at Stewart Detention Center, 18th ICE death of 2026
Denny Adan Gonzalez, a 33-year-old Cuban national, was found unresponsive in his cell at the CoreCivic-run Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, on the night of April 28, 2026, and pronounced dead at 11:11 p.m. ICE described the death as an apparent suicide with the official cause under investigation; a former cellmate has publicly disputed that account. It was the 18th death recorded in ICE custody in 2026 and the second apparent-suicide death at Stewart under the current administration.
ICE returns agent who killed Renée Good to duty with no discipline as FBI probe stalls
By late April 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had quietly returned agent Jonathan Ross — who fatally shot unarmed Minneapolis mother Renée Good on January 7, 2026 — to active administrative and investigative duty in another state with no disciplinary consequence. ICE's internal-affairs review remains frozen pending a stalled FBI probe, after the DOJ Civil Rights Division under Harmeet Dhillon declined to open a civil-rights investigation into the shooting.
DOJ directs the Federal Bureau of Prisons to expand federal execution protocol to include the firing squad
On April 24, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice announced — in a same-day press release from the Office of Public Affairs paired with the Office of Legal Policy report "Restoring and Strengthening the Federal Death Penalty" — that it had directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to expand the federal execution protocol to include the firing squad alongside other methods, and to reinstate the pentobarbital lethal-injection protocol used during the first Trump administration. The DOJ also directed BOP to consider relocating or expanding federal death row or constructing an additional execution facility to accommodate the added methods. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the action; the underlying report's preparation had been directed by former Attorney General Pamela Bondi.
ICE agents shoot Carlos Mendoza Hernandez six times during traffic stop in Patterson, California
ICE agents opened fire on Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, 36, during an early-morning vehicle stop near Interstate 5 in Patterson, California on April 7, 2026, striking him about six times, including in the jaw; he survived after multiple surgeries. ICE said he was a suspected 18th Street Gang member wanted for questioning in El Salvador and had tried to run over an agent — claims his attorney disputes, saying dashcam video and witnesses show he reversed to flee only after agents began shooting. After hospital release he was taken into FBI custody and indicted on federal assault charges, to which he pleaded not guilty.
ORR held immigrant toddler five months in foster care and concealed alleged sexual abuse from father
Between September 2025 and February 2026, the Office of Refugee Resettlement held a three-year-old girl, separated from her mother at the border, for approximately five months in a Harlingen, Texas foster placement. During that period the child was allegedly sexually abused by an older child in care; ORR told her father there had been an "accident" and refused further details. After attorneys filed a federal habeas corpus petition, ORR released the girl to her father two days later. Only then did the father learn the "accident" was alleged sexual abuse. The family has filed suit against ORR and HHS alleging unlawful prolonged detention and custodial failure to protect.
Lawyer alleges GardaWorld guards beat, pepper-sprayed detainees at Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz' facility
According to a sworn court declaration by attorney Katherine Blankenship, on April 2, 2026, guards employed by security contractor GardaWorld Federal Services allegedly beat and pepper-sprayed several detainees inside a locked cell at Florida's state-run "Alligator Alcatraz" immigration detention facility in the Everglades. Blankenship's declaration alleges the guards retaliated after detainees complained that the facility's phones — their only means of confidential contact with counsel — were not working; one detainee was allegedly punched, thrown to the floor, kicked in the head, and restrained with a knee on his neck, while another detainee's wrist was broken.
Activist Malik Muhammad vanishes from Oregon custody records, transferred to South Carolina
Malik Muhammad — an Army veteran and activist serving the longest federal sentence of any 2020 Black Lives Matter protester — disappeared from Oregon's inmate-tracking system for weeks in spring 2026 before supporters learned they had been transferred roughly 3,000 miles to Kirkland Correctional Institution in South Carolina, a facility designated a "confidential location." In mid-May, South Carolina's prison system told The Intercept it had no record of anyone named Malik Muhammad in its custody, and Muhammad's Oregon-based attorney has been unable to communicate with them in a privileged manner since the transfer. Muhammad's attorney characterizes the interstate transfer as retaliation for helping other incarcerated people pursue a class-action suit over Oregon's use of solitary confinement; Oregon flatly denies the transfer was retaliatory.
Hegseth lifts Apache crews' suspensions and quashes Army investigation of Kid Rock estate flyby
On March 31, 2026, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on his personal X account that the Army aircrews suspended over a March 28 Apache helicopter flyby of singer Kid Rock's Nashville estate would face "No punishment. No investigation," lifting the suspensions and quashing the Army's formal review hours after the service had confirmed it. The reversal came shortly after President Trump commented publicly on the incident, and Hegseth opened his post by thanking Kid Rock.
DHS agent's less-lethal projectile destroyed USC student's eye as he documented Los Angeles 'No Kings' protest
On March 28, 2026, a Department of Homeland Security agent fired a less-lethal projectile that struck USC freshman Tucker Collins in his right eye as he documented a "No Kings" protest outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. The projectile destroyed his eyeball and fractured the bones in his eye socket; doctors surgically removed his eye. Collins, who was photographing the protest from behind a barrier and separated from agents, said he heard no warnings before the shot; DHS maintained that seven warnings were issued before crowd-control measures were deployed.
Internal emails revealed DHS acting General Counsel Joseph Mazzara urged agents to have 'started hitting' Los Angeles anti-ICE protesters
Internal Department of Homeland Security emails, disclosed by the watchdog group American Oversight on March 27, 2026, showed that then-acting DHS General Counsel Joseph Mazzara suggested federal agents in Los Angeles should have "just started hitting" anti-ICE protesters and should have arrested "everyone that couldn't get away" during the June 2025 demonstrations. American Oversight obtained two versions of the records — one with failed redactions and one with successful ones — indicating an attempt to conceal Mazzara's remarks. The disclosure followed a federal court's ruling that the accompanying National Guard deployment to Los Angeles was illegal.
José Guadalupe Ramos-Solano dies in ICE custody at GEO Group-run Adelanto facility
José Guadalupe Ramos-Solano, a 45-year-old Mexican national, was found unconscious in his bunk and pronounced dead on March 25, 2026, while detained at the GEO Group-operated Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California. Other detainees said he had complained of overheating and difficulty breathing hours earlier and that staff did not respond until he was unresponsive. His death was the 14th known death in ICE custody in 2026 and at least the fourth at the Adelanto complex since 2025, prompting Mexico's Los Angeles consulate and two members of Congress to demand an investigation.
ICE agents violently arrest mother and daughter at San Francisco International Airport
On the night of March 22, 2026, plainclothes ICE agents forcibly arrested a woman, later identified by DHS as Angelina Lopez-Jimenez, and her roughly 10-year-old daughter inside San Francisco International Airport, holding the crying woman on the floor and wheeling her away in restraints while refusing bystanders' requests to identify themselves or show badges. About a dozen San Francisco police officers formed a barrier around the agents but did not intervene. DHS said the family was subject to a 2019 final order of removal and was being repatriated to Guatemala; the arrest coincided with a new federal deployment of ICE agents to U.S. airports.
ICE held nearly 1,560 children past 20-day Flores limit at Dilley facility over six months; 13-year-old attempted suicide after care denied
Court filings submitted March 20, 2026, and July 15, 2026, in the Flores v. Bondi/Blanche family-detention case documented that nearly 1,560 immigrant children were held at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Dilley, Texas facility beyond the 20-day limit set by the Flores settlement over a six-month window, without adequate food, medical care, or mental-health services. The March 20 filings described a 13-year-old girl who attempted suicide by cutting her wrist after Dilley staff withheld her prescribed antidepressants and denied her request to be reunited with her mother, even as the government's own records reported "no placements on suicide watch." The Department of Homeland Security disputed the allegations and reiterated that the administration is seeking to terminate the Flores settlement altogether.
DOJ moved to dismiss remaining charges against ex-officers who falsified Breonna Taylor warrant
On March 20, 2026, Justice Department prosecutors under Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon asked a federal judge in Louisville to dismiss "in the interest of justice" the remaining misdemeanor civil-rights charges against former Louisville detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany, the two officers accused of falsifying the warrant used in the 2020 raid that killed Breonna Taylor. The charges, originally brought as felonies by DOJ under the Biden administration, had already been reduced twice to misdemeanors by judges who found no direct link between the false warrant information and Taylor's death. The dismissal request followed the same DOJ's separate push, months earlier, for early release of Brett Hankison, the only officer convicted in connection with Taylor's killing.
ICE detained Afghan war ally Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, who died in custody the next day after agents denied his inhaler
Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, a 41-year-old Afghan national who served alongside U.S. Army Special Forces, was detained by ICE agents outside his Richardson, Texas home on March 13, 2026, and died the next day at a Dallas hospital after suffering anaphylaxis and an asthma exacerbation in ICE custody. A death certificate reported July 6, 2026 lists the death as accidental, citing an unidentified adverse drug reaction; his family disputes the finding.
CBP officer's personal vehicle struck LA protester outside federal detention center; no police report filed
On March 13, 2026, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer driving his personal vehicle struck protester Jasmin Alyssa Quan-Martinez outside the federal detention complex in downtown Los Angeles, with video showing her carried on the hood before being thrown to the curb; she sustained minor injuries. The Department of Homeland Security said roughly ten protesters had surrounded and struck the officer's car as he left work and characterized the incident as one "rioter" jumping onto a moving vehicle, an account Quan-Martinez disputed. No police report was filed and no arrests or charges had been announced in the days after.
ICE rammed Vermont home on mistaken identity, detained three innocent immigrants whose subsequent detentions courts ruled unlawful
On March 11, 2026, ICE agents pursued a suspect to a home on Dorset Street in South Burlington, Vermont, obtained a search warrant, pulled activists from the front steps, and rammed through the front door — but did not find the man they were seeking. Instead, agents detained three other immigrant residents; federal and immigration judges later ruled all three detentions unlawful and ordered the men released. In a revised criminal complaint filed March 24, ICE agent Colton Riley acknowledged the agency no longer believed the man they chased had even been in the vehicle that triggered the pursuit — because one of the men detained in the raid told the FBI he was the actual driver.
ICE and CoreCivic detained trans asylum seeker Karla Saenz in Eloy's men's unit, denied her hormone care, and held her in solitary
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Karla Saenz, a 26-year-old transgender asylum seeker and Trans Queer Pueblo organizer, during a March 9, 2026 check-in at USCIS offices in Phoenix, and held her for 44 days at CoreCivic's Eloy Detention Center in Arizona. She said she was held in solitary confinement for five days, denied hormone treatment and chronic-illness medication for weeks, housed in the facility's men's unit and misgendered by staff, and pressured more than ten times to sign a voluntary-departure form before a federal judge ordered her release on April 21. ICE disputed her account, calling the mistreatment allegations "entirely false."
ICE and CoreCivic held disabled detainee in unsanitary conditions at Stewart Detention Center, forcing him to crawl through mold and feces to shower
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its contractor CoreCivic held Rodney Taylor, a 47-year-old double-amputee Gwinnett County barber, in unsanitary and unaccommodated conditions for more than a year at the CoreCivic-run Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia. Rep. Lucy McBath disclosed at a March 5, 2026 House Judiciary Committee hearing that Taylor went six days without a shower stool and then was forced to remove his prosthetics and crawl across a bathroom floor covered in mold and feces to shower; DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told the committee she was unfamiliar with the case.
ICE detainee Emmanuel Damas died from untreated tooth infection at CoreCivic Arizona facility
Emmanuel Damas, a 56-year-old Haitian asylum seeker from Boston, died on March 2, 2026, after a tooth infection went untreated for approximately a week at the CoreCivic-operated Central Arizona Florence Correctional Complex. Detainees reported he received only ibuprofen despite worsening symptoms. His family was barred from visiting him in intensive care for nine days, by which point he was shackled to a hospital bed and unable to speak. He was one of thirteen people who died in ICE custody in the first three months of 2026.
DOJ rescinds 2021 no-knock entry limits, broadening when agents can enter homes unannounced
On March 2, 2026, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a Justice Department memo rescinding the 2021 policy that restricted federal agents' use of "no-knock" entries to situations where they feared imminent physical danger. Under the new memo, no-knock entries are also permissible whenever there is a risk that evidence could be destroyed — a condition former prosecutors warned can be asserted in nearly any search. The change was made by internal memo without public rulemaking and was reported on the eve of the sixth anniversary of Breonna Taylor's death in a botched no-knock raid.
Death of Haitian asylum seeker released from ICE custody ruled a homicide
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office ruled the death of Daphy Michel, a 31-year-old Haitian asylum seeker, a homicide caused by hypothermia, after ICE released her in Pittsburgh on February 27, 2026 despite knowing she was a vulnerable adult with untreated severe mental illness and a language barrier. Michel was found on the ground at a bus shelter near Station Square on March 1 and died on March 2; the medical examiner announced the homicide ruling on June 12, 2026. ICE and DHS denied responsibility, while the family's attorney blamed ICE and said a lawsuit is planned.
ICE detained Alberto Gutierrez Reyes, who died at Adelanto facility after repeated denied requests for medical care
Alberto Gutierrez Reyes, 48, died February 27, 2026 at a Victorville hospital after transfer from GEO Group's Adelanto ICE Processing Center, where he had repeatedly sought medical care for worsening symptoms. His wife said he was denied treatment; ICE said he had been evaluated before transport. Mexico later named his death among 17 in a July 2026 criminal complaint against U.S. officials, and a federal judge ordered ICE to fix Adelanto's medical care — an order the government is now appealing.
ICE vehicle pursuit in Newark causes multi-vehicle crash, injuring three children
On February 25, 2026, ICE agents pursuing a fleeing van during a targeted operation in Newark, New Jersey, caused a multi-vehicle crash that sent three children to University Hospital with injuries. Mayor Ras Baraka condemned the pursuit as reckless, noting that New Jersey law bars law-enforcement vehicle chases absent an immediate threat and that roads were still being cleared from a snowstorm. DHS said the operation targeted a man with a 2017 final removal order, who was taken into custody after the collision.
Rep. Omar's silent State of the Union guest forcibly removed, injured, and charged
During President Trump's State of the Union address on February 24, 2026, Aliya Rahman — a Minneapolis software engineer attending as Rep. Ilhan Omar's invited guest — stood silently in the House gallery and was forcibly removed by U.S. Capitol Police after declining to sit. Rahman, who had disclosed injured shoulders and is autistic with a traumatic brain injury, was aggressively handled, required treatment at George Washington University Hospital, and was booked and charged with "Unlawful Conduct," a misdemeanor carrying up to six months. Rep. Omar condemned the response as a heavy-handed, chilling reaction to peaceful expression and demanded a full explanation.
Federal judge stripped Arizona prison agency of control over inmate healthcare, ordering receivership
On February 19, 2026, U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver ordered Arizona's prison healthcare system into court receivership, finding the Department of Corrections had violated 131 of 154 standards required under a 2023 permanent injunction and that 14 years of litigation, contempt fines, and monitoring had failed to produce compliance. The 83-page order authorizes an independent receiver to take over healthcare operations across Arizona's nine state prisons, with authority to hire and fire staff, renegotiate or terminate the roughly $300 million NaphCare contract, set budgets, and override department administrators. ADCRR called the order "exorbitantly expensive" and "unnecessary" and said it would appeal.
Border Patrol leaves near-blind Rohingya refugee in freezing Buffalo lot; death ruled homicide
On February 19, 2026, U.S. Border Patrol agents took Nurul Amin Shah Alam — a 56-year-old, nearly blind Rohingya refugee who spoke little English — from a county jail and released him alone outside a closed Tim Hortons in Buffalo, New York, in near-freezing cold. He was found dead five days later, and the Erie County medical examiner ruled the death a homicide caused by a perforated duodenal ulcer precipitated by hypothermia and dehydration. DHS initially said agents had left him at a "safe location," but surveillance footage contradicted that account.
ICE deports critically ill 2-month-old and family to Mexico after hospitalization
On February 17, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported a critically ill two-month-old, Juan Nicolás, to Mexico along with his mother, father, and 16-month-old sister, hours after the infant was hospitalized for bronchitis and roughly three and a half weeks after the family was taken into custody at the CoreCivic-run South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. The baby had become unresponsive and was treated at a Pearsall hospital the night of February 16, then discharged around midnight and returned to detention; Rep. Joaquin Castro, who had demanded the child's release, called the removal "heinous," while ICE described the hospital visit as a "precautionary evaluation" and said the child received "proper care."
ICE detained pregnant Massachusetts woman in bedless holding cell, denied care until hospitalization forced her release
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Djeniffer Benvinda Ribeiro Semedo, a 22-year-old Cape Verdean national who was 24 weeks pregnant, at Brockton District Court on February 11, 2026 on an outstanding default warrant and held her at its Burlington field office in a bedless holding room, where she slept on a concrete bench. Her abdominal pain, nausea, and decreased fetal movement went unaddressed over roughly three days until she was transferred to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center on February 13, where ICE agents continued to restrict her family's access to her.
ICE agent Gregory Morgan pointed handgun at civilian motorists on Minneapolis highway during Metro Surge
On Feb. 5, 2026, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officer Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. pulled his unmarked SUV alongside a civilian vehicle on a Minneapolis highway during Operation Metro Surge and pointed a handgun at the driver and passenger, who had no way of knowing he was a federal officer. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty charged Morgan on April 16, 2026 with two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon — the first criminal charges against a federal officer for on-duty conduct during the Minnesota immigration surge — and a nationwide warrant was issued for his arrest.
ICE detained asylum seeker four months, denying scheduled cyst surgery and chaining her during outdoor time
Guatemalan asylum seeker Andrea Pedro-Francisco, then 23, was arrested by ICE on February 5, 2026, in Burnsville, Minnesota, during Operation Metro Surge, days before a scheduled surgery to remove an ovarian cyst, and transferred to Camp East Montana and the El Paso Service Processing Center in El Paso, Texas. Over nearly four months in custody, ICE denied her the surgery, provided only over-the-counter pain medication, and had her chained during her roughly one hour of daily outdoor time; a federal judge denied her habeas corpus petition and ICE twice denied her requests for humanitarian parole. She was released June 3, 2026, after Democratic Sen. Tina Smith personally intervened with a DHS official.
Minnesota Star Tribune investigation revealed ICE held Whipple detainees in overcrowded cells without bedding, medical care, or menstrual products
A Minnesota Star Tribune investigation, published February 1, 2026 and based on interviews with 30 detainees, attorneys, and advocates plus a review of nearly 200 federal court records, found that ICE and DHS held immigration detainees at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis in overcrowded cells with no bedding, non-working sinks, and one sandwich a day, while denying requested medical care and menstrual products. Detainees described being locked in bathrooms with strangers of the opposite sex for up to 24 hours and being released into the cold at night with no way home. DHS disputed the allegations, saying ICE holds "higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons."
Federal agents deployed tear gas and chemical munitions against protesters and journalists at Portland ICE facility
Over the weekend of January 31–February 1, 2026, federal agents deployed tear gas and chemical munitions against protesters and freelance journalists outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Portland, Oregon. The deployments were the subject of lawsuits by protesters, journalists, and nearby residents, represented in part by the ACLU of Oregon, who alleged the munitions were used in retaliation for First Amendment activity. On February 3, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring agents from using less-lethal munitions and chemical agents absent an imminent threat of physical harm.
CBP agents smashed a livestreaming bystander's car window and detained her for hours at an El Monte, California gas station
On January 30, 2026, federal agents responding to a Customs and Border Protection call surrounded U.S. citizen Maria Santay's car at a gas station in El Monte, California, and broke her window with a hammer while she livestreamed the encounter on Instagram and cried out that she was a citizen. Agents then drove her roughly 40 miles round trip to Santa Ana and back before releasing her from custody that evening; Santay says she was denied a restroom and made to urinate in handcuffs in a parking lot before her release.
Former Bucks County deputy sheriff Ryan Gaffney photographed naked people in custody with personal phone
On January 30, 2026, Ryan Gaffney, then a Bucks County deputy sheriff, covered his body camera and used his personal cellphone to photograph a man who was naked from the waist down and suffering a mental health crisis during a warrant execution in Middletown Township. Gaffney shared the image with female employees in the sheriff's office and sent it to personal contacts. A court-ordered forensic search later uncovered a second incident from December 26, 2024, in which Gaffney photographed a handcuffed man in custody in a hotel room and distributed that image to 12 personal contacts over four dates.
DHS and ICE agents chased down and detained a St. Peter, Minnesota bystander at gunpoint for filming an immigration operation
On January 29, 2026, DHS and ICE agents in three vehicles boxed in and detained a U.S. citizen at gunpoint in St. Peter, Minnesota after she filmed federal immigration agents from her car, dragging her from the vehicle and forcing her to the ground when she refused to exit. Agents held her and began driving her toward a Twin Cities-area immigration detention facility before turning back roughly 20 minutes later and returning her to St. Peter police without explanation or charge. DHS said she had driven recklessly and attempted to ram an officer's vehicle; her dashcam video, reviewed by NPR, shows her calmly refusing commands and asking bystanders to call 911.
Homeland Security Investigations agents pepper-sprayed bystanders during Phoenix-area Zipps raids that arrested 39 workers
On January 26, 2026, Homeland Security Investigations agents served search warrants at 15 Zipps Sports Grill locations across the Phoenix metro area, arresting 39 workers, including a married couple who had worked at the chain for 18 years. As agents left several locations, they pepper-sprayed bystanders and protesters who had gathered to watch or object, including a woman in Tempe who was hospitalized; a police-procedures expert who reviewed video of one incident found no use-of-force justification for it.
ICE-linked SUV accelerated at a Minnesota protest monitor before agents shouted her home address at her
Emily Beltz, 44, said that on January 26, 2026, an SUV she had been following near her Minneapolis-suburb apartment building -- after apparently identifying her home through license-plate tracking -- "suddenly turned and sped at" her car before braking hard at the last moment, while a masked agent inside shouted her home address at her. Beltz's account, along with nearly 100 other sworn statements describing federal agents in Minnesota's "Operation Metro Surge" immigration deployment identifying protest-monitors' home addresses, was later filed February 13, 2026 in an ACLU-led civil case, Tincher v. Noem.
Alligator Alcatraz guards Trejos and Seenaraine allegedly battered detainee during Jan. 25 transfer at Florida facility
On Jan. 25, 2026, Critical Response Strategies corrections officers Stephen Trejos and Andre Seenaraine allegedly battered detainee Rigoberto Rodriguez Arce, a Cuban national ICE had detained weeks earlier, during a chaotic detainee transfer at Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz" immigration detention facility in Ochopee. A witness said Trejos slammed Rodriguez Arce to the ground and struck him after handcuffed detainees banged their cuffs on benches, and that Seenaraine later punched him in another room; Trejos's attorney says surveillance video instead shows a single "compliance strike" after Rodriguez Arce spat at him. Collier County prosecutors charged both officers with misdemeanor battery in June 2026, both pleaded not guilty, and the case became public in September 2026.
CoreCivic held ~1,500 Dilley detainees, many children, in what detainees described as putrid water and bug-contaminated food, sparking mass protest
On January 24, 2026, an estimated 80% of the roughly 1,500-1,900 people held at CoreCivic's South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas -- many of them children -- staged a roughly 30-minute protest, chanting "Libertad" and "let us out," after guards ordered visiting attorneys to leave and physically blocked other detainees from joining; the Frio County Sheriff's office, Texas DPS, and Border Patrol responded. Detainees told immigration attorney Eric Lee, present for a client visit, that drinking water was "putrid" and meals contained "bugs," dirt, and debris, describing conditions attorneys said had not changed despite a prior lawsuit alleging inhumane food, water, and medical care at the facility.
Border Patrol agents shoot and kill U.S. citizen VA nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis
On January 24, 2026, two federal agents — Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and CBP officer Raymundo Gutierrez — shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and Department of Veterans Affairs intensive-care nurse, on a Minneapolis street during a federal immigration surge. The Department of Homeland Security said Pretti was armed and "violently resisted," but bystander videos showed him pepper-sprayed and pinned to the ground before the shots, and the Hennepin County medical examiner ruled the death a homicide. The two agents were placed on administrative leave and the Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation.
ICE agents smashed a lawfully present driver's car window and tased him during a Portland, Maine stop
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stopped civil engineer Juan Sebastián Carvajal-Muñoz while he drove to work in Portland, Maine, on January 22, 2026, smashed his car window with a crowbar, and dragged him out at taser-point after he showed a REAL ID through the window. Agents held Carvajal-Muñoz, who holds a valid H-1B visa through September 2027, for roughly 16 hours — moving him toward an ICE facility in Burlington, Massachusetts — before releasing him that night. He sued ICE agent Jack Cory Ravencamp and four then-unnamed agents in April 2026 under the Maine Civil Rights Act, alleging the stop was based on his race.
Brooklyn Park police chief revealed ICE agents drew guns on an off-duty officer and knocked her phone from her hand
Brooklyn Park (Minn.) Police Chief Mark Bruley said at a January 20, 2026 news conference that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pulled over one of his off-duty officers, boxed in her car, demanded her paperwork despite her being a U.S. citizen, and had their guns drawn; when she tried to record the stop, an agent knocked the phone from her hand. Bruley and other Minnesota police leaders alleged that officers and residents have been stopped by federal agents "solely because of the color of their skin," while DHS said it could find no record of the stop and could not verify the claim without a name.
DHS denies Minneapolis immigration detainees, including a U.S. citizen, access to lawyers
During Operation Metro Surge, federal agents held people swept up in Minneapolis-area immigration raids — including at least one U.S. citizen — inside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building and systematically denied them access to attorneys. Lawyers reported being turned away for days with shifting, legally invalid excuses, while detainees were allowed an outgoing call only after being booked and transferred to out-of-state facilities. DHS denied any violation, but the pattern was corroborated by four named attorneys, two U.S. senators, and a class-action suit that produced a March 2026 court order requiring prompt attorney access before any transfer.
ICE agent drew gun, entered St. Paul restaurant chasing unidentified person, traumatizing staff and customers
On January 19, 2026, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent stepped out of his vehicle with his handgun drawn and entered Eastside Thai, a restaurant in St. Paul, Minnesota, after a person ran past the front door while the agent searched for an unspecified "kid." Co-owner Kou Lee said the agent accused the owners of "hiding the kid," and co-owner Elle Lee said the agent was shouting as he entered, then exited and re-entered with the weapon still unholstered before leaving; both owners said multiple customers and staff were left traumatized by the encounter.
ICE breaks into St. Paul home at gunpoint and detains Hmong American U.S. citizen ChongLy Thao in his underwear; county probes it as kidnapping
On January 18, 2026, masked federal immigration agents broke down the door of ChongLy "Scott" Thao, a 56-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen of Hmong descent, in St. Paul, pointed guns at his family, and led him into subzero cold wearing only his underwear, Crocs, and a blanket. Agents handcuffed Thao in front of his young grandson and drove him around questioning him before fingerprinting confirmed he is a longtime citizen with no record, then returned him home without explanation. Ramsey County's attorney and sheriff opened an investigation into the federal agents' conduct as a possible kidnapping.
Federal agents pepper-sprayed Minneapolis protesters outside Whipple building one day after court order barred it
On January 17, 2026, federal agents deployed chemical irritants against peaceful demonstrators outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis — conduct that U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez had specifically enjoined less than 24 hours earlier. The January 16 injunction, arising from an ACLU lawsuit over Operation Metro Surge, barred federal agents from pepper-spraying, arresting, or retaliating against peaceful protesters. Rather than comply, the Trump administration appealed and sought an Eighth Circuit stay, which the appellate court granted on January 21.
Lea County Sheriff's deputy tased traffic-stop subject after he was on the ground; charged with battery
On January 16, 2026, Lea County Sheriff's Deputy Dustyn Bennett stopped Israel Arenivas on New Mexico Highway 132 while investigating a report of a stolen motorcycle. Body camera footage obtained by KOB 4 shows Bennett grabbed Arenivas, threatened to tase him after he pulled free and remained standing, and then deployed a Taser twice -- once while Arenivas was standing and again after he was already on the ground. Bennett now faces a misdemeanor battery charge over the encounter.
ICE breaks into St. Paul home in armed warrantless raid, detains six including a 12-year-old flown to Texas
On January 15, 2026, federal immigration agents broke through the door of a home on Nevada Avenue East in St. Paul, Minnesota, entered with assault rifles, and detained six members of a Venezuelan family — including a 12-year-old boy who was transported to an immigration center in San Antonio, Texas. Agents claimed a search warrant but never presented one; a document left on the doorstep the next day was an unfiled Ramsey County (state) court paper with no case number. On January 19, U.S. District Judge John Tunheim granted the family's habeas petition after DHS failed to produce a judicial warrant by his deadline, ordering the detainees returned to Minnesota and released within 72 hours.
Alabama prison officials transferred 'Alabama Solution' whistleblowers to extreme solitary confinement
In mid-January 2026, the Alabama Department of Corrections abruptly transferred incarcerated activists Raoul Poole, Robert Earl Council ("Kinetik Justice"), and Melvin Ray — subjects of the Oscar-nominated documentary "The Alabama Solution" — from their prisons to an isolated five-cell solitary confinement unit at Kilby Correctional Facility near Montgomery, Alabama. The transfer followed the men's December 2025 announcement of a nonviolent work strike, and their attorneys and family said prison officials gave no reason and cut the men off from contact with other prisoners, staff, and initially their families.
ICE routes Diaz autopsy to military hospital, bypassing ME who ruled prior Camp East Montana death a homicide
Victor Manuel Diaz, a 36-year-old Nicaraguan detained in the Minneapolis area under Operation Metro Surge, died on January 14, 2026 at Camp East Montana, the ICE tent facility on the Army's Fort Bliss base in El Paso, Texas — eight days after his arrest and roughly 1,200 miles from where he was taken. ICE called the death a "presumed suicide," but his family rejected that account, and the agency routed his autopsy to a military hospital that withholds its findings from the public, bypassing the El Paso County medical examiner who had ruled an earlier detainee's death at the same camp a homicide. Diaz was the third person to die at Camp East Montana in a 44-day span.
Federal agents deployed tear gas under a Minneapolis family's vehicle, trapping six children inside
On January 14, 2026, federal agents responding to protests against Operation Metro Surge deployed tear gas that rolled under a family's SUV in north Minneapolis, trapping Destiny and Shawn Jackson and their six children — ages six months to eleven — inside as the vehicle's auto-locking doors initially prevented escape. Once extracted, Destiny Jackson performed CPR on the couple's six-month-old, who had stopped breathing; the infant was revived, and the family was hospitalized and decontaminated. DHS initially posted, then deleted, a statement blaming the family for bringing children to a "violent riot," before an agency spokesperson said the family had not intentionally been at the protest and were not the target of the agents' actions.
ICE detained U.S. citizen Nasra Ahmed for two days in St. Paul; agent allegedly shoved her and used a racial slur
On January 14, 2026, ICE agents in St. Paul, Minnesota detained Nasra Ahmed, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen with no criminal record, while pursuing two men she did not know; Ahmed said agents shoved her to the ground and one used a racial slur before she was held two days at Sherburne County jail and released without charges. She described the detention publicly at a Minnesota State Capitol press briefing on January 21, and a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson responded the same day by alleging, without evidence, that she had assaulted federal agents. Federal prosecutors subsequently charged Ahmed over the same encounter, and in June 2026 a federal judge dismissed the case with prejudice, finding the government had violated a court order and undermined the presumption of innocence.
Hennepin County charges ICE agent in January Minneapolis shooting of Venezuelan immigrant
On May 18, 2026, Hennepin County prosecutors charged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Christian Castro with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime in the January 14, 2026 shooting of Venezuelan immigrant Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis through the front door of a home in north Minneapolis. County Attorney Mary Moriarty said security-camera and physical evidence show Castro was never under threat — he was not struck by a shovel, broom, or other object — and then filed a false account of the encounter. The U.S. Department of Justice had previously dropped the federal assault charges that the Department of Homeland Security brought against Sosa-Celis and his cousin Alfredo Aljorna in February 2026 after the same footage contradicted the ICE agents' sworn statements; ICE placed two agents on administrative leave at that time.
Federal agents dragged U.S. citizen Aliya Rahman from her car and detained her without charge in Minneapolis
On January 13, 2026, masked federal agents smashed the window of U.S. citizen Aliya Rahman's car, cut her seatbelt, and dragged her out at a Minneapolis intersection while she was driving to an appointment at the city's Traumatic Brain Injury Center. Rahman, who is autistic and has a prior brain injury, told agents she was disabled; she was taken to the Whipple detention facility, denied medical care until she lost consciousness, and was never charged with a crime. The Department of Homeland Security called her an "agitator" who ignored commands to move her vehicle, one of seven people arrested at the scene during Operation Metro Surge.
Justice Department was investigating Renee Good's widow while declining to investigate the ICE agent who killed her
By January 13, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice was pursuing a criminal investigation into Becca Good, the widow of Renee Good — fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross during Operation Metro Surge — for allegedly impeding a federal officer, while Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said there was "currently no basis" for a civil-rights investigation into Ross. The dual decision, which drew on a statute from Attorney General Pam Bondi's December domestic-terrorism memo, prompted at least a dozen career federal prosecutors to resign across the Minnesota U.S. Attorney's office and the DOJ Civil Rights Division's criminal section. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said "the only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her."
ICE agents arrested and held Willmar teenager Suban Noor incommunicado for four days during Operation PARRIS sweep
On January 12, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 19-year-old Suban Noor, a Willmar Senior High School student and Walmart employee, on a downtown Willmar street as she stopped to pick up food for her family. An eyewitness described agents cornering her car, handcuffing her, and pulling her barefoot into an ICE vehicle while she cried out; her family had no contact with her and did not know where she was held until ICE's own detainee locator showed her release on January 16.
ICE pepper-sprayed and detained two citizen legal observers in Minneapolis; one says HSI tried to recruit him as an informant
On the night of January 11-12, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in south Minneapolis pepper-sprayed the vehicle of two U.S. citizens conducting legal-observer work, Brandon Siguenza and Patricia O'Keefe, then smashed its windows and pulled them out despite their hands being raised -- an incident independently corroborated by neighbor-recorded video, according to a Snopes investigation -- arresting them for an "obstruction" charge that was never formally filed. The pair were held roughly eight hours at the Whipple Federal Building, where Siguenza says a Homeland Security Investigations agent offered him money and help bringing relatives into the country in exchange for the names of protest organizers and undocumented neighbors, which he refused; DHS disputed the account, calling any claim it offered money for information "FALSE" and alleging Siguenza and O'Keefe had themselves committed a felony by "stalking and obstructing ICE law enforcement." Upon release, agents directed Siguenza into a nearby area where tear gas was deployed and he was struck by a projectile.
Border Patrol agents choked and dragged Honduran cook from car, knocked him unconscious during St. Paul gas station arrest
On January 11, 2026, U.S. Border Patrol agents smashed the car window of Orbin Mauricio Henriquez Serrano, a Honduran restaurant cook, at a Speedway gas station in St. Paul, Minnesota, then dragged him from the vehicle, choked him, and knelt on his back while handcuffing him until he lost consciousness. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino, who was directing enforcement activity in the area, watched the arrest. Henriquez Serrano was detained, denied medical care and a lawyer for days, and deported to Honduras before he could meet with the attorney his family had retained.
ICE detained Parady La, who died in Philadelphia federal custody after staff gave Narcan for his known drug withdrawal
On January 9, 2026, Parady La, a 46-year-old Cambodian American Upper Darby, Pennsylvania resident, died at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained him and held him at the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Federal Detention Center Philadelphia. ICE said La was being treated for drug withdrawal when he was found unresponsive in his cell and given several doses of Narcan before being hospitalized; his family and the ACLU of Pennsylvania have questioned why an opioid-overdose antidote, not standard withdrawal care, was administered. The ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act request on February 5, 2026 seeking his detention, medical, and video records.
DHS launched Operation PARRIS, and ICE detained up to 150 Minnesota refugees without due process
On January 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security launched "Operation PARRIS," directing USCIS to reexamine the immigration status of 5,600 Minnesota refugees who have not yet received green cards, as part of the administration's broader Minnesota fraud investigation. In the weeks that followed, ICE agents in plain clothes and masks arrived at refugees' homes and workplaces across Minnesota with drawn weapons, told families it was "just paperwork," and detained roughly 100 to 150 people, transporting most within about 24 hours to the Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling and then to detention facilities in Texas without access to an attorney or a stated legal basis for their detention.
DHS agents blinded two protesters with crowd-control projectiles at a Santa Ana immigration protest
On the evening of January 9, 2026, federal Department of Homeland Security officers in riot gear fired crowd-control projectiles into a crowd of demonstrators outside a federal immigration building in Santa Ana, California, at a protest held in response to the ICE killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis. The projectiles blinded two protesters, 21-year-old Kaden Rummler and 31-year-old Britain Rodriguez, each in one eye; Rummler required six hours of surgery and was left with skull fractures and metal fragments near his carotid artery. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin characterized the demonstrators as "violent rioters" who threw "rocks, bottles and fireworks," a claim video evidence did not support, and did not address either man's injuries or identify the type of projectile fired.
A U.S. Border Patrol agent kneed a man in the face repeatedly while other agents held him down during a Minneapolis arrest
On January 9, 2026, a U.S. Border Patrol agent driving the wrong way on a south Minneapolis street struck an oncoming car, then pulled the driver out and, with other agents holding him facedown, kneed him in the face at least five times as bystanders filmed and objected. DHS said the man is a "criminal alien from Ecuador," while a fundraiser organized on his behalf described him as a U.S. resident who had been observing ICE activity; he was later hospitalized for breathing difficulty before being taken into federal custody.
ICE agents beat Mexican national in St. Paul, fracturing his skull in 8 places, then unlawfully detained him
On January 8, 2026, ICE agents pulled Alberto Castañeda Mondragón, a 31-year-old Mexican citizen, from a vehicle in a St. Paul, Minnesota shopping center parking lot, threw him to the ground, and repeatedly struck him in the head with a steel baton, per his own account and hospital records; he was hospitalized with brain hemorrhaging and eight skull fractures, injuries a treating doctor said were inconsistent with ICE's account that he fell and hit a concrete wall while trying to escape. A federal judge ruled on January 23, 2026 that Castañeda Mondragón's detention was unlawful because ICE had not obtained a warrant until after his arrest, and ordered his immediate release, but the government had not confirmed his release five days later, prompting the court to threaten an order to show cause.
U.S. Border Patrol agents shot and wounded two Venezuelan nationals during Portland vehicle stop
On January 8, 2026, U.S. Border Patrol agents shot and wounded Luis David Nino-Moncada, 33, and Yorlenys Zambrano-Contreras, 32, two Venezuelan nationals, during a vehicle stop outside a medical clinic in Southeast Portland, Oregon. The Department of Homeland Security said the driver "weaponized" his vehicle and an agent fired "a defensive shot"; none of the six Border Patrol agents present wore body cameras and no video was immediately available. Federal prosecutors charged Nino-Moncada with assaulting an officer and damaging federal property and charged Zambrano-Contreras separately with illegal entry, while defense counsel called DHS's accompanying gang-affiliation claim unsupported.
ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shoots U.S. citizen Renee Good in Minneapolis
On January 7, 2026, ICE deportation officer Jonathan Ross fatally shot Renee Nicole Macklin Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, on a south Minneapolis street during Operation Metro Surge after she stopped to object to the federal presence. Multiple bystander and bodyworn videos, and a New York Times multi-angle analysis, show her SUV turning away as Ross fired three shots. The administration branded Good a "domestic terrorist" and called the killing self-defense, while local officials said the footage contradicted that account; federal authorities later declined to investigate.
Police fired 27 shots at unarmed Navy veteran John Jenuwine; he bled out while officers watched
Washtenaw County Sheriff's deputies, pursuing an erratic white van, conducted two PIT maneuvers and fired 27 shots at an unarmed driver who did not match the dispatch description. John Andrew Jenuwine, 34, died of blood loss. Officers violated department policy by using deadly force without verbal engagement; the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. Two deputies received 2024 commendations despite the killing.
ICE agents arrested handcuffed Hempstead, NY man whose head struck brick wall during arrest; agency and officials dispute cause
On January 5, 2026, ICE agents arrested Isai Santos Caceres, 35, outside a supermarket in Hempstead, New York, and bystander video shows his head striking a brick wall while he was handcuffed. ICE said Caceres fled, resisted arrest, and "fell into the side of the building," while Nassau County Legislator Viviana Russel and the civic group Islip Forward said the footage shows agents using his head as a "battering ram" against the wall. Islip Forward said Caceres was later transferred to ICE detention in Maryland.
ICE agents forcibly detained man who says he is a naturalized U.S. citizen in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, leaving him hospitalized
On January 5, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stopped Emmanuel Sackie, who says he is a Liberian-born naturalized U.S. citizen, in a Family Dollar parking lot in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, after questioning his fiancee about a vehicle agents believed was registered to someone else. When Sackie's driver's license did not satisfy agents' demand for further proof of citizenship, the encounter turned into a physical struggle captured on video; agents handcuffed him and took him to an undisclosed location before he was hospitalized with bruising. ICE had not responded to a request for comment as of publication.
Cuban ICE detainee dies under restraint at Camp East Montana; death ruled a homicide
On January 3, 2026, Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban man, died at ICE's Camp East Montana detention camp on the Army's Fort Bliss base in El Paso, Texas. The El Paso County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide, finding the cause to be asphyxia due to neck and torso compression while he was being physically restrained by law enforcement. ICE first said he died after "experiencing medical distress," then attributed the death to a suicide attempt and an ensuing struggle with staff; it was the third detainee death at the facility, and no one has been charged.
2025 Events (41)
ICE agents entered Minneapolis hospital without a warrant, shackled patient to bed for 28 hours
On December 31, 2025, ICE agents entered the emergency department at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) in Minneapolis, Minnesota without a judicial warrant to arrest a patient who had just arrived for care, and remained at his bedside for approximately 28 hours, according to the advocacy organization Unidos MN and Minnesota state legislators. During that time agents treated the patient as though he were in criminal custody — denying him family visitation and at points shackling him to the bed — and accessed hospital staff-only areas including break rooms and parking lots, before leaving after a Hennepin County commissioner and state legislators confirmed no warrant existed and asked them to go. DHS did not respond to requests for comment.
ICE agent Adam Saracco pushed attorney and activist Robert Held to the ground at Brookfield, Illinois gas station
On December 27, 2025, off-duty U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Adam Saracco pushed attorney and immigrant-rights activist Robert Held to the ground at a gas station in Brookfield, Illinois. Held, who is over 60, had followed Saracco's vehicle from an ICE processing facility in Broadview and was filming him when the confrontation occurred.
ICE agents smashed car window to forcibly remove Salisbury, Maryland mother after school drop-off
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 24-year-old Vanessa Parrazal in Salisbury, Maryland on December 17, 2025, minutes after she dropped her daughter off at Pinehurst Elementary School. When Parrazal did not exit her vehicle, agents smashed the driver's-side window and forcibly removed her, an encounter witnesses captured on video and neighbors described as traumatizing. ICE said Parrazal resisted arrest and was extracted for officer safety, while Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis said the agency had lawful authority to make the arrest.
Family demands independent autopsy after Jean Wilson Brutus, 41, dies within a day of entering Delaney Hall
Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41-year-old Haitian national, died on December 12, 2025, at University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey — roughly one day after entering ICE custody at the GEO Group-operated Delaney Hall Detention Facility. ICE reported he showed no signs of distress at intake and listed the cause of death as "unknown." His family and advocates sought an independent autopsy and called for the facility's closure; Brutus was believed to be the first detainee to die at Delaney Hall since it opened in May 2025.
ICE and CoreCivic denied pregnant detainee's repeated pleas for medical care at Eloy, and she miscarried in custody
In late November 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Beatriz Pastrana Candela in Tempe, Arizona, and transferred her to the CoreCivic-operated Eloy Detention Center while she was nearly three months pregnant. Despite a positive intake pregnancy test and her repeated complaints of abdominal pain, medical and corrections staff at Eloy told her she was not pregnant and denied her requests to see a doctor until she miscarried. ICE has disputed that her requests for care were ignored, while Pastrana remains detained at Eloy months later.
Federal court found ICE detained immigrants beyond 12-hour limit, denied medical care at San Francisco holding facility
On November 25, 2025, U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts of the Northern District of California found that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had routinely detained people beyond its own 12-hour limit -- some over 72 hours -- at its San Francisco field office at 630 Sansome Street, denying intake medical screening and prescribed medication and withholding beds and basic hygiene supplies while holding cells at frigid temperatures under continuous lighting. Pitts provisionally certified two detainee classes and granted a preliminary injunction ordering ICE to remedy the conditions immediately, in a suit brought by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, the Central American Resource Center of Northern California, and the ACLU of Northern California.
Nevada prison guards beat inmate Malik Avila during cell extraction, causing fatal brain injury; coroner ruled death natural
On November 4, 2025, a Nevada Department of Corrections Correctional Emergency Response Team went hands-on with 24-year-old inmate Malik Avila during a cell extraction at High Desert State Prison in Indian Springs, Nevada, after his family reported he was having a seizure; a recording captured Avila pleading "please stop, please stop" during the takedown. Avila was airlifted to a Las Vegas hospital and died 18 days later, on November 22, 2025, from lack of oxygen and brain damage; the Clark County Coroner classified the death as natural, but a wrongful-death lawsuit filed August 4, 2026 alleges guards beat Avila and that the warden gave the family false information about the incident.
Border Patrol agent pointed gun at bystanders, another punched handcuffed detainee in Evanston, Illinois
On October 31, 2025, U.S. Border Patrol agent Timothy Donahue pointed his service weapon at unarmed bystanders and threatened to shoot them after a vehicle crash in Evanston, Illinois, while fellow agent Thomas Parsons punched a handcuffed man on the ground. Agents pepper-sprayed onlookers and detained three U.S. citizens, who were released without charges after several hours in federal custody. Both agents were operating under U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Operation Midway Blitz.
ICE officer Israel Hernandez threatened to shoot Portland teenager during 911 call
On October 31, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Israel D. Hernandez pulled his service weapon and told a 911 dispatcher he might have to shoot a teenager who had punched the window of his unmarked SUV in Northeast Portland, Oregon. Hernandez did not fire, and the teenager fled without being identified. The confrontation surfaced publicly four months later when Oregon Public Broadcasting obtained the 911 recording and a corroborating police report via a public-records request.
CBP officer choked and shoved protester to the ground outside Durango, Colorado ICE facility
During an overnight protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Durango, Colorado, in the early morning of October 28, 2025, a masked Customs and Border Protection officer — later identified as Nicholas Rice — grabbed protester Franci Stagi's phone and threw it across the street, then put her in a chokehold and shoved her to the ground. Multiple bystander videos captured the encounter. The protest had begun in response to ICE's warrantless arrest of a Durango resident and his two children the previous morning.
ICE denied Greggy Sorio medical care for months at Tacoma detention facility, causing partial foot amputations
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's "pattern of failures" in treating Greggy Sorio, a Filipino lawful permanent resident held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, left him hospitalized on October 22, 2025, after months of denied care for reported bleeding and pain beginning around mid-2025; doctors diagnosed a bone infection and performed two amputation surgeries. ICE continued to pursue his deportation despite the injuries, attempting to remove him in early December 2025 before a court order temporarily blocked it. A federal judge in the Western District of Washington later ruled the facility's treatment unconstitutional and ordered Sorio's release on February 13, 2026.
ICE agent shot citizen journalist Carlitos Ricardo Parias during Los Angeles arrest attempt; agency denied him counsel access and body-camera footage
On October 21, 2025, an ICE agent shot citizen journalist Carlitos Ricardo Parias in the elbow during an attempted arrest in downtown Los Angeles, after agents smashed his car window; a U.S. marshal was also struck. Prosecutors charged Parias with assaulting a federal officer, but a federal judge dismissed the indictment with prejudice in December 2025, finding the government denied him access to counsel while in ICE custody and missed a court deadline to release body-camera footage of the shooting.
FBI-led task force with ICE, local police raided Wilder, Idaho racetrack; detained ~400 including citizens, children with flash-bangs, rubber bullets
On October 19, 2025, more than 200 federal, state, and local officers raided La Catedral racetrack in Wilder, Idaho, detaining roughly 400 attendees -- including U.S. citizens and children -- for about four hours. Officers zip-tied detainees at gunpoint and used flash-bang grenades and rubber bullets, including on occupied vehicles. DHS credited ICE with leading the operation, but the Canyon County sheriff and Caldwell police chief called that "completely false," saying the FBI's Metro Violent Crime and Gang Task Force -- of which local agencies are longstanding members -- led a gambling-warrant operation, with ICE present only to process detainees' immigration status.
Border Patrol agents defied supervisor's order to end Chicago car chase, crashed into vehicle at 51 mph
On October 14, 2025, Border Patrol agents Benito Nunez, Carlos Chavira Jr., and Jesus Guillen pursued a fleeing vehicle for 18 minutes through Chicago's East Side neighborhood, disregarding their supervisor's repeated radio orders to stop the chase. The pursuit ended when the agents' vehicle blew a tire and crashed into the fleeing SUV at 51 mph near East 105th Street and South Avenue N — a crash DHS publicly described as an authorized "precision immobilization technique," a claim later-released body-camera footage contradicted.
Border Patrol agent shot Chicago citizen Marimar Martinez five times; DHS's same-day account was contradicted by its own evidence
On October 4, 2025, U.S. Border Patrol agent Charles Exum shot Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old U.S. citizen and Montessori teaching assistant, five times through her car window in Chicago's Brighton Park after she followed agents' vehicle and honked to warn others of their presence. Hours later DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin publicly said agents had been "rammed by vehicles and boxed in by 10 cars" and that Martinez was armed with a "semi-automatic weapon" — claims the next day's criminal complaint, body-camera footage and the agents' own reports did not support. Martinez was charged with assaulting federal officers, the charges were dismissed with prejudice in November 2025, and Exum was placed on paid administrative leave rather than disciplined.
ICE left detainees without a functioning medical-payment system for ten months after VA ended its claims-processing role
The Department of Veterans Affairs abruptly ended its two-decade role processing ICE's offsite medical-care payments on October 3, 2025, after political pressure and a lawsuit from a conservative advocacy group; ICE itself called the loss an "absolute emergency" that would "delay critical medical care" and risk detainees' "health, welfare, and lives." Ten months later, ICE's replacement contractor, Acentra Health, had received $44.6 million of a $67.5 million no-bid contract but had paid offsite medical providers zero dollars after missing multiple promised start dates, a gap that coincided with a separate Senate investigation documenting dozens of cases of untreated or unmanaged medical conditions in ICE custody.
Brentwood, California police restrained 72-year-old Yolanda Ramirez during arrest; she died days later, independent autopsy ruled homicide
On September 26, 2025, Brentwood, California police officers responding to a family-dispute call handcuffed and restrained 72-year-old Yolanda Ramirez, allegedly slamming her head against a patrol vehicle and leaving her unattended in the back of the car for about ten minutes without telling arriving paramedics she had struck her head; she died October 3, 2025, of a brain bleed. The Contra Costa County Coroner attributed her death primarily to natural causes and found no significant trauma contribution, but an independent autopsy commissioned by her family found the cause of death was multiple blunt-force trauma and asphyxiation from police restraint and ruled the manner of death homicide.
DHS reinstated ICE officer who shoved Ecuadoran woman on video, three days after calling conduct 'unacceptable'
On September 29, 2025, DHS quietly reinstated an ICE officer who had been placed on administrative leave after video captured him shoving an Ecuadoran woman to the ground outside Manhattan's immigration court. The reinstatement came three days after DHS publicly declared the officer's conduct "unacceptable and beneath the men and women of ICE" and announced a "full investigation," and followed only a "preliminary review." No public statement accompanied the decision; DHS instead deflected follow-up by attacking the character of the detained woman's husband.
FBI Director Patel and Deputy AG Blanche confirmed closure of Homan bribery sting probe, called it 'baseless investigation'
On September 21, 2025, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche jointly confirmed to ABC News that the Department of Justice had closed a federal bribery probe into Tom Homan, the White House's border enforcement czar. The investigation, inherited from the Biden administration, had been predicated on undercover FBI recordings of Homan allegedly accepting $50,000 in cash from agents posing as contractors seeking government contracts. Patel and Blanche publicly labeled the probe a "baseless investigation," stating it had found "no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing."
Trump signed memo deploying National Guard and federal agents to Memphis over mayor's objection
On September 15, 2025, President Trump signed a presidential memorandum titled "Restoring Law and Order in Memphis," deploying Tennessee National Guard troops alongside FBI, ATF, DEA, ICE, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Marshals to Memphis for crime enforcement. Mayor Paul Young — who had not requested the deployment and represented a city where crime had reached a 25-year low — publicly objected. The deployment came weeks after a federal court ruled Trump's Los Angeles military deployment violated the Posse Comitatus Act, the longstanding federal law prohibiting military forces from performing domestic law enforcement.
ICE agent fatally shot Silverio Villegas-González during a traffic stop in Franklin Park, Illinois
On September 12, 2025, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed Silverio Villegas-González, a 38-year-old Mexican national and father of two, during a targeted traffic stop in Franklin Park, Illinois, part of the Chicago-area "Midway Blitz" enforcement surge. The Department of Homeland Security said he resisted arrest, fled, and dragged an agent, but eyewitnesses disputed that anyone was dragged and video showed agents breaking his car window before he was shot at close range. Bodycam footage showed the agent describing his own injuries as "nothing major."
ICE and CBP agents body-slammed 79-year-old U.S. citizen car wash owner during Van Nuys raid, held him nearly 12 hours without medical care
Masked federal agents from ICE, CBP, and DHS raided Valley Car Wash in Van Nuys, Los Angeles on September 9, 2025, and, per surveillance video and the owner's account, body-slammed and restrained 79-year-old U.S. citizen Rafie Ollah Shouhed after he tried to show them his employees' work authorization. Shouhed was handcuffed and held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles for nearly 12 hours without medical attention despite pleading that he had a heart condition, then released without charges. He suffered broken ribs, elbow injuries, and post-concussive symptoms of a traumatic brain injury.
DHS opened 'Camp 57' ICE detention unit inside Angola prison's former solitary-confinement wing for civil immigration detainees
On September 3, 2025, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the opening of "Camp 57," an ICE detention facility inside Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola), occupying the facility's former Camp J solitary-confinement wing — a section shuttered approximately seven years earlier after cell locks malfunctioned, dozens of weapons were found, and more than 80 staff resigned or were fired for misconduct. The facility opened with 51 civil immigration detainees and a stated capacity of 416; courts later ordered four detainees released citing conditions.
ICE and CBP agents fired three shots at Francisco Longoria's truck during a warrantless San Bernardino stop
On August 16, 2025, ICE and CBP agents in unmarked vehicles stopped Francisco Longoria's work truck in San Bernardino without a warrant or identification, smashed both side windows, and fired three rounds at the vehicle as Longoria drove away in fear for his life. No one was struck. CBP's own use-of-force policy prohibits shooting at a vehicle merely fleeing agents absent a reasonable belief that deadly force is being used against them or others. Longoria's family later sued the government over the shooting as part of a documented pattern of ICE and CBP use-of-force incidents.
CBP and ICE agents detained U.S. citizen and Army veteran George Retes for 72 hours without charge during Camarillo raid
On July 10, 2025, Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained George Retes, a U.S. citizen and disabled Army veteran working as a security guard, as he arrived for his shift at a federal raid on Glass House Farms in Camarillo, California, breaking his car window, pepper-spraying him, and pulling him from the vehicle before holding him roughly 72 hours across three facilities without charge, an attorney, or contact with his family. The Department of Homeland Security said Retes "became violent" and was arrested for assault, but the government never filed a charge and released him on July 13, 2025. Retes sued the United States and individual federal officers in February 2026.
Federal agents shot legal observer six times with rubber bullets, deployed tear gas during Camarillo cannabis farm raid
On July 10, 2025, federal agents conducting an immigration raid on Glass House Farms, a cannabis facility in Camarillo, California, deployed tear gas and shot Ventura-based attorney Vanessa Valdez six times with rubber bullets despite her identifying herself as a legal observer. Valdez, left unable to see and forced to crawl to escape, has since filed a Federal Tort Claims Act claim seeking compensation for medical costs, lost wages, and emotional trauma. The Department of Homeland Security disputed the account, saying agents used pepper balls rather than rubber bullets, and only after protesters attempted to breach the perimeter.
ICE raid on Glass House Farms drove farmworker Jaime Alanís García to a fatal 30-foot fall
On July 10, 2025, federal immigration agents and National Guard soldiers raided Glass House Farms in Camarillo, California; farmworker Jaime Alanís García climbed onto a greenhouse roof to escape the operation and fell roughly 30 feet, breaking his neck, and died two days later without ever having been taken into custody. The Department of Homeland Security disputed that agents were pursuing him, while his family said his death was "not an isolated tragedy."
Border Patrol agents violently arrested Santa Ana landscaper and father of 3 US Marines outside IHOP
On June 21, 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents confronted Narciso Barranco, a 49-year-old undocumented landscaper with no criminal record, while he worked outside an IHOP restaurant in Santa Ana, California, tackling him and repeatedly striking him in the head and neck before taking him into custody. Barranco is the father of three U.S. Marines; DHS said he swung a weed trimmer at an agent and resisted commands, while video of the arrest shows no such attack.
Colorado Springs police officers tased suspect and threatened to kill him during 2025 arrest, federal judge found
On June 17, 2025, Colorado Springs officers Ryan Paine, Daniel Mork, and Kirby chased and arrested Anthony Miranda following a theft call, tasing him at least five times while Officer Kirby pressed his service weapon to Miranda's head and threatened to kill him as he lay pinned face-down. In an August 24, 2026 suppression order, U.S. District Senior Judge William J. Martínez found the tasing and death threat had rendered Miranda's statements from that phase of the encounter involuntary and suppressed them, while separately upholding the legality of the initial stop and Miranda's later, Mirandized statements.
U.S. Marines detained Army veteran Marcos Leao for two hours outside Wilshire Federal Building; no charges filed
On June 13, 2025, U.S. Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment — deployed under Title 10 authority to assist immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles — detained Marcos Leao, a U.S. Army veteran, outside the Wilshire Federal Building. Marines zip-tied Leao's hands behind his back and held him for approximately two hours before releasing him without charges. Legal experts identified the detention as the first known instance of active-duty military detaining a civilian during the Los Angeles deployment and cited serious Posse Comitatus Act concerns.
ICE and GEO Group denied diabetic detainee Elton Purvis insulin and care, causing repeated hospitalizations at Pearsall facility
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and GEO Group, which operates the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas, confiscated detainee Elton Purvis's insulin and malaria medication and denied him food meeting his diabetic and religious dietary needs during his May-to-December 2025 detention. Purvis, a 55-year-old legal permanent resident and Type 1 diabetic, was found unresponsive and hospitalized for dangerously abnormal blood sugar at least three times — the first on June 2, 2025 — after guards repeatedly ignored his pleas for help and his more than 100 grievances to ICE went unanswered.
Georgia Gov. Kemp signed SB185, barring state-funded gender dysphoria treatment for transgender people in state prisons
On May 8, 2025, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 185 into law, barring the use of state funds or resources to provide gender dysphoria treatment - including hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgery - to people in Georgia state custody. The law singled out incarcerated transgender people for the denial of medically recognized care that many had already been receiving.
ICE and LaSalle Corrections denied pregnant detainee prenatal care at Louisiana facility; she delivered a stillborn baby
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its contractor, LaSalle Corrections, denied Iris Dayana Monterroso Lemus, a pregnant Guatemalan detainee, adequate prenatal care during her detention at Richwood Correctional Center in Richwood, Louisiana, and she delivered a stillborn baby on April 29, 2025, after days of unaddressed complaints that she had stopped feeling fetal movement. Federal records later obtained by The Intercept through a Freedom of Information Act request showed no completed ultrasound or OB-GYN visit, contradicting a later DHS public denial that she lacked care.
Kentucky enacted SB2 barring hormone therapy and gender-reassignment surgery for transgender state inmates
On March 27, 2025, Kentucky Senate Bill 2 became law without Gov. Andy Beshear's signature, prohibiting state correctional facilities from initiating hormone therapy for transgender inmates and banning gender-reassignment surgery outright. The Republican-controlled legislature passed the measure 31-6 in the Senate and 73-12 in the House; a floor amendment let inmates already receiving hormone therapy at admission continue it. The law made Kentucky one of several states in 2025 to restrict gender-affirming medical care for incarcerated people.
TDCJ staff falsified Stiles Unit prison heat logs during federal lawsuit; investigation found leadership likely knew or consented
An internal investigation by the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, made public on March 21, 2025, found that Texas Department of Criminal Justice staff at the Mark W. Stiles Unit in Beaumont falsified temperature logs during summer 2022, in the middle of federal litigation over unconstitutional prison heat conditions. The investigation concluded the Stiles Unit warden and other unit leadership "likely knew about or even consented to the falsification," corroborating a federal judge's own August 2022 characterization of one log as "a fabricated document." TDCJ's attorneys acknowledged the logs were inaccurate but denied any intent to mislead the court.
ICE agent fatally shot U.S. citizen Ruben Ray Martinez at a South Padre Island traffic stop; federal role concealed for nearly a year
On March 15, 2025, ICE agent Jack C. Stevens fatally shot Ruben Ray Martinez, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen, during a traffic stop near an accident scene on South Padre Island, Texas. Agents said Martinez accelerated his vehicle toward an officer, but the sole eyewitness said the car was stopping and Martinez "never hit the gas" when the shots were fired, and no agent present wore a body camera. Authorities described the killing only as an "officer-involved shooting" and concealed for nearly a year that a federal immigration officer fired the fatal shots, a fact that emerged in 2026 through a public-records lawsuit rather than government disclosure.
MPD Chief Pamela Smith reinstated two officers convicted of murder and cover-up, overruling her department's recommendation to fire them
On March 3, 2025, D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department reinstated officers Terence Sutton and Andrew Zabavsky, both convicted in the 2020 death of Karon Hylton-Brown and pardoned by President Trump that January, restoring them to the force with back pay retroactive to 2021. MPD Chief Pamela Smith overruled her department's own Disciplinary Review Division, which had recommended termination for both officers based on a 172-page internal investigation; Sutton received a 25-day suspension and Zabavsky a $2,500 fine and pension-eligible retirement. The D.C. Auditor later found the discipline "grossly inadequate" and said Chief Smith never personally reviewed the investigative file, relying instead on MPD legal counsel.
Cuyahoga County jail staff failed to give dying detainee Jennifer Wade CPR for more than 20 minutes
On February 23, 2025, corrections staff at the Cuyahoga County jail found 41-year-old Jennifer Wade unresponsive in her mental-health-unit cell but waited more than 20 minutes to begin CPR, and none of the responding officers or contracted MetroHealth nurses performed chest compressions as she died. Body-camera video later showed staff had left Wade on the concrete floor of her cell for hours, with one officer telling her to "stop playing," before anyone sounded an alarm. An initial state review cleared the jail, but after the withheld footage surfaced Ohio's Bureau of Adult Detention reopened the case and found the staff had failed to render aid.
Federal Bureau of Prisons issued a memo directing transfer of transgender inmates to facilities matching birth sex and cutting affirming care
On February 21, 2025, the Federal Bureau of Prisons issued a memo implementing President Trump's Executive Order 14168, directing staff to refer to transgender inmates by the legal name and pronouns matching their sex assigned at birth, barring the use of funds for gender-affirming items and care, and suspending clothing and pat-search accommodations and support programs previously offered to transgender inmates. The memo laid the groundwork to transfer transgender women out of women's facilities into men's facilities based on sex assigned at birth. Affected women were moved into segregated housing pending transfer, and those slated for men's prisons faced the cutoff of their hormone treatments.
ICE officers beat disabled Sunnyvale man Ulises Peña López unconscious during 2025 arrest, lawsuit alleges
On February 21, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested Ulises Peña López, a disabled carpenter, outside his home in Sunnyvale, California, and, according to a federal lawsuit filed in July 2026, beat him in front of his wife and young daughter before taking him to a nearby alley and continuing until he lost consciousness and had to be hospitalized. The suit says GEO Group and CoreCivic, the private contractors that ran the detention facilities where he was held for more than six months, failed to accommodate his disability, and that he suffered a stroke and a heart attack in custody that left him partially paralyzed. He was deported to Mexico in October 2025.
Trump pardoned two DC police officers convicted of murder and cover-up in Karon Hylton-Brown's death, before either served time
On January 22, 2025, President Trump granted full pardons to Washington, D.C. police officers Terence Sutton and Andrew Zabavsky before either served a day of their sentences for the 2020 death of Karon Hylton-Brown. A federal jury had convicted Sutton of second-degree murder and both officers of obstruction of justice for covering up the fatal chase; a judge had sentenced Sutton to five years and Zabavsky to four. Neither officer met Justice Department clemency guidelines, which require having served most of a sentence and expressed remorse.
2024 Events (4)
San Diego County sheriff's deputies ignored Bobby Ray Patton's pleas for help during Vista jail safety checks; he died hours later
Bobby Ray Patton, 46, died December 28, 2024, at the Vista Detention Facility in Vista, California, after two San Diego County sheriff's deputies conducted routine safety checks but failed to respond as he audibly pleaded for medical help. Body-worn camera footage showed Deputy 3 turning away and switching off his camera after Patton said "I can't breathe" and "please help me"; Deputy 1 passed his cell less than an hour later while Patton was audibly moaning and also did not intervene. Patton died at 8:45 a.m. after a third deputy finally summoned medical staff around 7:51 a.m., too late to save him.
San Diego County sheriff's deputy Jeremiah Flores fractured a handcuffed detainee's spine, then falsified his report
On August 29, 2024, San Diego County Sheriff's Office Deputy Jeremiah Flores shoved a handcuffed, non-resisting pretrial detainee headfirst into the wall of a courthouse holding cell, fracturing the man's spine and causing a head injury that required surgery. Flores rendered no aid, left the injured man on the cell floor for more than two hours, and wrote in his incident report that no force had been used. He was later convicted of federal civil-rights and records-falsification charges and sentenced to 57 months in prison.
SFPD officer smashed driver's car window, pepper-sprayed him during 2024 stop based on license-plate error
On July 4, 2024, San Francisco police officers Vinesh Govindbhai and Jonathan Zepeda stopped driver Matthew Ludwig at a red light on O'Farrell Street after entering a Toyota's license plate number instead of his Honda Accord's and wrongly concluding his car was stolen; Govindbhai smashed Ludwig's window with a baton, the officers pulled him to the pavement, and pepper-sprayed him in the face at a distance violating department policy, then cited him for reckless driving and resisting arrest even after realizing their mistake. In March 2026, the San Francisco Department of Police Accountability sustained findings that the officers used unnecessary force and issued the citation without cause; the Public Defender's Office made the findings public on August 10, 2026, after Ludwig died in September 2025.
York County PA jail failed to charge inmate's defibrillator vest and ignored chest-pain reports; he died within 48 hours of intake
Todd Sidesinger was booked into York County Prison in Pennsylvania on February 18, 2024 — three days after being discharged from a heart-failure hospitalization during which two cardiac stents were inserted. Staff noted at intake that his prescribed defibrillator vest needed charging but that no charger was available; the vest was never charged during his detention. On February 19, Sidesinger submitted a medical request reporting chest pain; an EKG showing Premature Ventricular Contractions was deemed "normal" and he was given acetaminophen. On February 20 he reported chest pain again and was sent back to his cell; he was found unconscious at approximately 5:25 a.m. and died after hospitalization. His sister filed a wrongful-death suit against PrimeCare Medical, the jail's for-profit medical contractor, York County, and the warden.
2023 Events (1)
Huerfano County jail staff denied dying inmate Michael Burch medical care for 8 days after tackle injury; he died in his cell
On March 28, 2023, a Huerfano County, Colorado detention officer tased and tackled 69-year-old inmate Michael Burch, fracturing six ribs and collapsing a lung, and jail staff and the facility's contracted healthcare provider then denied him hospital care despite his repeated pleas over the following eight days. Burch died in his cell at the Huerfano County Detention Center on April 4, 2023, and a coroner ruled the death a homicide.
2022 Events (2)
Border Patrol agent shot unarmed teen in Calexico eight times after two prior disciplined civilian shootings
On July 11, 2022, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Marcos Javier Andrade fired eight shots at 19-year-old Anthony Flores during an attempted traffic stop in Calexico, California, striking the unarmed driver in the neck, hip, shoulder, and hand. Flores, who was not engaged in any smuggling activity, survived with permanent disabilities and lasting psychological trauma. Federal prosecutors later revealed Andrade had previously been disciplined twice — in 2012 and 2017 — for firing his weapon at civilians, yet remained on active duty through the date of the 2022 shooting and for nearly four years after it.
Federal judge found Arizona's prison healthcare system unconstitutional after 15-day trial
On June 30, 2022, U.S. District Judge Roslyn O. Silver ruled that the Arizona Department of Corrections had "failed to provide, and continues to refuse to provide, a constitutionally adequate medical care and mental health care system" for the roughly 34,000 people in its custody, violating the Eighth Amendment. The 200-page ruling followed a 15-day bench trial in a class action originally filed in 2012, after Silver rescinded a 2014 settlement in 2021 upon finding the state had committed "pervasive material breaches" of its terms.
2021 Events (1)
Mississippi prison healthcare contractors delayed woman's cancer diagnosis for a decade, concealed result until days before her release
Prison healthcare contractors overseeing Susie Balfour's care at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl allowed mammogram follow-ups to lapse for up to three years at a time between 2011 and 2021, despite prison physicians' own recommendation for annual and later twice-yearly screening. A November 3, 2021 biopsy found her breast cancer had progressed to an advanced stage; Balfour said she was not told of the result until days before her December 27, 2021 release. She died of the metastasized cancer in 2025.
2018 Events (1)
Connecticut prison officers struck and pepper-sprayed inmate J'Allen Jones, who died; medical examiner ruled the death a homicide
On March 25, 2018, correctional officers at Connecticut's Garner Correctional Institution struck, hooded, and pepper-sprayed J'Allen Jones, a 31-year-old incarcerated man in a schizophrenic crisis, who then lost consciousness and died. The state medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, but a Department of Correction internal review found no use-of-force violation and imposed one-day suspensions on the officers and a nurse. The department fought for years to keep video of the death sealed, until a judge ordered its public release in 2026.