ICE and CBP Agents Uncaring Towards Obvious Distress
11 Examples of ICE and CBP Agents Insensitive to Cries of Duress
- Maher Tarabishi
Legal U.S. Resident
Arlington, TX
Jan 29, 2026ICE denied a man bail to see his son before he died and later refused a request to attend the funeral. The father had legal authorization to live in the US for years which was revoked by Trump. He had no criminal record and checked in annually with immigration. - Woman following ICE vehicles
U.S. Citizen
St Louis Park suburb of Minneapolis, MN
Jan 13, 2026A woman was accosted, assaulted, threatened and mocked by ICE agents for merely filming them from her car at a safe distance.- Her phone was snatched from her hand by an ICE agent while she was recording him. He threatened, "have y’all not learned from the past couple of days" in reference to a woman who was recently shot and killed by an agent. Then he slammed her head into her car after which she was handcuffed and forced against an ICE truck.
- The same agent then threatened her again with "Is this how you want to die, with a f#%king bullet in your skull?" He then grabbed her collar choking her to a point where she could not breathe.
- Other agents showed up and forced her to the ground where one agent further intimidated by asking if she "learned her lesson." When she called him out for it, they laughed and said they were going to let her go but now changed their mind and left her crying and hyperventilating sitting on the ground in handcuffs for a while.
- An ICE agent returned and pulled her up so forcefully that she fainted and was left flat down on the pavement without agents rendering any help. When she awoke, agents laughed and said "see, she's faking."
- She then later fainted a second time and awoke on her side on the pavement this time with her handcuffs removed, no aid rendered again and free to go.
- Pregnant woman
South Minneapolis, MN
Dec 15, 2025A pregnant woman was held face down on the ground in the street with knees in her back and then suddenly dragged by one arm across the street ignoring repeated pleas from the crowd that "She is pregnant" and that "She can't breathe." - Nayra GuzmánMother of baby needing intensive care
U.S. Work Permit Holder
Chicago, IL
Dec 2, 2025U.S. work permit holder and 22-year-old asylum applicant Nayra Guzmán and her family were detained by ICE on their way to see her baby recovering at the neonatal intensive care unit of a hospital after an emergency Cesarean section of which she also suffered pain and complications. Despite their paperwork and circumstances, she was detained for 34 hours without receiving any medical evaluation. And, she was forced to spend the entire time in a room which was very cold with only a bench to lie on and no blankets or anything for sleep. Afterwards, she had complications producing breast milk for her baby. While being transferred by van, agents, aware of her condition and ignoring pleas from her brother, drove recklessly fast and over potholes in a way that was very painful for Nayra. - Martha Ruiz56-year old diabetic
Green Card Applicant
Gary, Indiana
Nov 29, 202556-year old diabetic Martha Ruiz, who has no criminal history and has lived in the U.S. since the 90s on a religious visa, had agents bang on her door and then immediately broke it down before she had time to answer.- Despite her telling them she had a hurt arm, agents forced it behind her back and handcuffed her on the ground.
- One of their dogs obviously bit her repeatedly on her back and legs leaving bite wounds still noticeable two weeks later. When she yelled out in pain and out of a longtime fear of dogs, they dismissed her with "our dog doesn’t bite."
- They then dragged her up the stairs and threw her on the ground fracturing her ribs which she did not receive any medical attention for until she was released two weeks later.
- When she asked to use the bathroom, they refused.
- She was transferred from a nearby ICE facility in Broadview, Chicago where she shared an overcrowded room with 170 people with only one window, a single open bathroom with no privacy and where some had to sleep on the floor.
- She was then transferred to an El Paso, TX ICE facility much further away after a couple days where they finally treated just the pain from her injuries but only with a single injection.
- She was finally taken to a women's shelter where people were kind and welcoming but obstinately felt the need to shackle her the entire trip all the way up until she walked in the door.
- When finally released, her son had to fly all the way out to El Paso to bring her home where she was given an ankle monitor -- something they could have done very easily from the beginning.
- Jennifer33-year-old mother and her four children
Queens, New York City
Nov 18, 2025Jennifer had her apartment door busted in by immigration agents without showing a warrant, had her phone knocked out of her hands as she filmed and was dragged by her hair while holding her 2-year-old baby. One agent screamed, "put your fucking hands up, stupid" and another pointed an assault rifle at her 13-year-old daughter. They were detained for an hour as agents asked them about a cousin who had not lived there for years. - 32-year-old father & his 1-year-old daughter
U.S. Citizen
Los Angeles Home Depot Parking Lot
Nov 6, 2025A 32-year-old father and U.S. citizen was removed from his vehicle by masked immigration agents who then drove off in his car with his one-year-old daughter strapped in the back seat ignoring yelled warnings by a witness that "there's a baby in the back" (presumably on purpose). The family did not know where she was for a while and the baby's grandmother was made to wait for hours at an immigration center and provide proof of citizenship before they returned the baby. - Sixteen-year-old Arnoldo Bazan & his father
U.S. Citizen
Restaurant Depot store in Houston, TX
Oct 28, 2025Sixteen-year-old U.S. citizen Arnoldo Bazan was beaten, choked and verbally attacked with racial slurs by plain clothed and masked ICE officers with such force he had to go to a children's trauma unit of a hospital suffering from "damage to his neck and spine that lasted for weeks"- When he cried out that he was underage, the agent started to choke him even more which was severe enough for a witness to yell out "you're fixing to break his neck."
- An agent confiscated his phone after they noticed him filming presumably to hide incriminating evidence against them
- He was detained for hours before being released without charges.
- During the incident his father was also roughed up and kicked. Agents previously cut off the car the father was driving in with his father with two unmarked vehicles and recklessly escalated the situation by smashing the windows after which Arnulfo said he was scared and drove off briefly to escape before stopping again.
- Arnoldo found his confiscated phone days later in a Walmart parking lot kiosk selling used phones confirming that an agent not only hid evidence but profited off of it


- Video from the later found phone shows agents violently ramming their vehicle four times before they stopped


- 15-year-old boy
U.S. Citizen Born in Chicago
Chicago
Oct 14, 2025A 15-year-old American citizen peacefully protesting excessive use of force by CBP agents was slammed to the ground, cuffed and held down so hard he cried out "my neck, my neck" after which they pushed him down even harder. Then he was detained by agents in a federal building garage for five hours without informing his family, stating any charges, or allowing him to call an attorney or his family. - Rafie ShouhedCar Wash Owner
U.S. Citizen
Los Angeles Car Wash
Sep 25, 2025U.S. citizen Rafie Shouhed was shoved to the ground in an excessive use of force by a masked ICE thug while trying to engage with them on their fascist raid on his car wash. He was further roughed up outside where agents were quick to throw him on the ground and during the process he describes three agents sitting on his back in a very painful way. And the abjectly evil fascists they are, his pleas about them hurting him were met with "You don't F with ICE." He suffered multiple broken ribs, deep bruising, a gruesome injury to his arm and damage to his brain from being slammed headfirst into the ground. He was detained for hours without his wife knowing where he was despite him yelling that he had proof he was a U.S. citizen in his wallet and five of his employees were also detained without looking at his claims of proof he had that his employees were authorized to be on the job. Mr. Shouhed filed a $50M lawsuit over the excessive use of force by the fascist ICE thugs. - Matilde54-year-old tamale vendor
North L.A. Suburb Pacoima
Jun 19, 202554-year-old Matilde, who sells tamales with a street permit and has lived undocumented in California for 29 years without incident, was traumatized by masked immigration agents who charged at her without asking questions or producing a warrant. One grabbed her from behind with such considerable force she cried out multiple times that she couldn't breathe. Despite her panicked pleas, the agent holding her actually pulled tighter continuing to apply excessive force until she lost consciousness. When she regained consciousness, the agents left her sitting there and prevented a bystander who identified herself as a nurse from attending to her. And when eventually taken to the hospital after a bystander -- not immigration agents -- called for an ambulance, it was found out she suffered a minor heart attack.