ICE and CBP Physically Assaulting People

Table of Contents
36 Examples of ICE\CBP Physically Assaulting People
  • High school students and special ed teacher
    U.S. Citizen
    Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis, MN
    Jan 8, 2026
    Minneapolis high school students were tear gassed by ICE\CBP agents who were "shouting at students, threatening students" and multiple witnesses reported people being shoved noting agents were "physical and aggressive." They detained a special ed teacher for dubious reasons and so he was later released.
  • Edwin Godinez & Yair Alexander Napoles
    U.S. Citizen
    North Carolina
    Jan 7, 2026
    Two men, U.S. citizens, were racially profiled, pulled over for no reason and then assaulted by an ICE officer described by one victim as "he started just grabbing us, shaking us, and they actually did punch us in our abdomens."
  • Pregnant woman
    South Minneapolis, MN
    Dec 15, 2025
    A 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."
  • Mubashir
    U.S. Citizen
    Minneapolis, MN
    Dec 10, 2025
    20-year-old Minneapolis resident and U.S. citizen Mubashir was slammed against a wall, put in a chokehold and handcuffed by two masked men and in the process is heard screaming in pain, "My hand!".
    • The ICE agents refused to look at digital and paper copies of his passport or to look him up based on his name and date of birth.
    • Then, they drove him around in circles pulling out maps feigning that they were lost.
    • When they arrived at a facility, they made him stand in the cold until he consented to a face scan which did not work, and they further refused requests for water, medical attention and to warm his hands.
    • Eventually, someone at the facility took the simple step of looking at his digital passport on his phone confirming both his citizenship and the egregiously racist and sadistic behavior of agents who arrested him.
    • And of course, when he asked to be taken back to where he was picked up, they told him to walk back in the cold and snow.
  • Susan Tincher
    U.S. Citizen
    Minneapolis, MN
    Dec 9, 2025
    55-year-old U.S. citizen Susan Tincher was detained for 5 hours for passively protesting and recording an ICE raid of 8 unmarked vehicles from a safe distance. She was thrown to the ground, needlessly cuffed, shackled, threatened with pepper spray and had her wedding ring cut off.
  • Man passively protesting
    Peaceful Protestor
    St Paul, Minnesota
    Nov 29, 2025
    A peaceful protestor said something to an ICE agent wearing an American flag mask and in response the agent pushed him and pointed his assault rifle at him
  • Martha Ruiz
    56-year old diabetic
    Green Card Applicant
    Gary, Indiana
    Nov 29, 2025
    56-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.
  • Woman passively protesting
    Payne-Phalen neighborhood of St Paul, MN
    Nov 25, 2025
    A woman in a cane passively and peacefully protesting an ICE operation was pepper sprayed in the face at point blank range for an excessively long time after which she was pushed away until she fell to the ground overcome. This violated a federal court order governing its use according to a former officer and use-of-force expert.
  • Dana Briggs
    Air Force veteran
    Peaceful Protestor
    Broadview ICE Facility near Chicago
    Nov 21, 2025
    Air Force veteran Dana Briggs was pushed to the ground by agents without given time to move and despite passively protesting at the Broadview ICE facility. Obstinately, they charged HIM with assault instead, and it took two months for prosecutors to drop all charges with prejudice despite video clearly showing ICE lied and was the offender.
  • People at a late night venue
    San Antonio, TX
    Nov 16, 2025
    92 people were needlessly detained and handcuffed including two teenage boys during an ICE raid which appeared to use racial profiling to exceed the scope of the warrant. During the raid, they walked up to and immediately tackled a man to the ground who was simply standing by a table with his back turned. They also broke the door of a food truck that was locked and closed for the night, and an agent used an umbrella to break a security camera which recorded everything. Afterwards, the agency refused to provide answers to basic questions or evidence of claims they made supporting the raid.
  • Man safely following ICE vehicle
    Evanston Suburb of Chicago
    Oct 31, 2025
    A restrained man was repeatedly struck in the head by an ICE agent while roughly held down on pavement and despite him saying that he can't breathe. This happened after agents caused an accident by braking hard in front of the vehicle following them. Agents presumably used the accident as a ploy to target the occupants and escalate the situation with three U.S. citizens arrested.
  • Fernando Jaramillo-Solano
    Father of Two
    Asylum Applicant
    Durango, CO, ICE Facility
    Oct 29, 2025
    Asylum applicants Fernando Jaramillo-Solano, who worked three jobs and has no criminal history, and two of his children were detained at ICE facilities for a month before they were forced to deport back to Colombia due to the distress his children faced. ICE pulled them over while he while taking them to school in search of another person, and so they were detained without a warrant. His 12-year-old daughter said an ICE agent grabbed her breast while she was transported and experienced "acute psychological distress" during her captivity. And his 15-year-old son said when they arrived at the facility, they were treated badly, beaten and given nothing to eat or drink but potato chips and water for a day.
  • Franci Stagi
    5-foot-2 petite retiree
    U.S. Citizen,Peaceful Protestor
    Durango, CO, ICE Facility
    Oct 29, 2025
    57-year-old peaceful protestor Franci Stagi had her phone grabbed or knocked out of her hand by an ICE agent she was filming. When she approached him to ask for her phone he snapped and grabbed her by the hair, lifted her off the ground in a chokehold and pushed her to the ground with two other agents despite being a petite 5-foot-2. The actions were egregious enough for the local police chief to open an investigation into the agent's actions.
  • 67-year-old runner
    U.S. Citizen
    Chicago
    Oct 29, 2025
    A 67-year-old runner and U.S. Citizen was dragged from his car, tackled, pinned down and knelt on by immigration agents in front of children attending a Halloween parade in such an excessive use of force that he suffered six broken ribs and internal bleeding of which many bystanders described as aggressive and unjustified.
  • Sixteen-year-old Arnoldo Bazan & his father
    U.S. Citizen
    Restaurant Depot store in Houston, TX
    Oct 28, 2025
    Sixteen-year-old U.S. citizen Arnoldo Bazan was beaten, choked and verbally attacked with racial slurs by plain clothed and masked ICE officers outside a restaurant supply-chain store in Houston. When he cried out that he was underage, the agent started to choke him more which was severe enough for a witness to yell out "you're fixing to break his neck." He also said an agent took his phone after they noticed him filming the initial encounter, and 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.
  • Ruben Morales and Jessi Olazaba
    Activist protestors
    U.S. Citizen
    Aurora, IL
    Oct 26, 2025
    U.S. Citizen activist protestors Ruben Morales and Jessi Olazaba were attacked by ICE agents despite turning around and backing up when told. They pepper sprayed Ruben Morales in the back and tackled him to the ground with such force it ripped his pants, bloodied his knees and scratched his throat and arm. Jessi Olazaba filmed the arrest and an agent knocked off her glasses, pepper sprayed her and shoved her to the ground where she hit the back of her head. Ruben Morales was released without charges and Jessi Olazaba was cited for impeding an arrest despite merely filming their actions from an appropriate distance.
  • Female protestor
    Peaceful Protestor
    Portland ICE facility
    Oct 26, 2025
    A female protestor was forcefully grabbed, tackled and arrested by multiple ICE agents after pulling her across an ICE-drawn line marking where she could legally protest
  • Almedia California ICE Protestors
    Peaceful Protestor
    U.S. Coast Guard entrance in Alameda, CA
    Oct 24, 2025
    Peaceful protestors outside a Coast Guard facility were told by ICE agents that they would assault them with their vehicles driving through them without stopping and then immediately proceeded to target them without giving them time to move out of the way shoving one protestor to the ground in the process. They also used their vehicles to target and intimidate protesters who were legally walking in a pedestrian crosswalk and ran over a man's foot.
  • Quinn Haberl
    Blind peaceful protestor
    Peaceful Protestor
    Portland, OR
    Oct 22, 2025
    Quinn Haberl,a 4-foot-6 blind man sitting outside an ICE facility peacefully protesting and clearly not impeding whatsoever, was grabbed, dragged and dropped on his head, had foot pressed on his back and neck and was cuffed for an hour before taken to the hospital with lots of bruising. Agents referred to Portland as a warzone unironically during the excessively violent arrest.
  • 14-year-old girl and her mother
    Wilder, ID horse race track
    Oct 21, 2025
    A 14-year-old girl was dragged out of her family truck by gunpoint during an ICE raid where she fell to the ground resulting in bruising on her ribcage and was then zip-tied. Her mother, Anabel Romero, was shoved to the ground and was kicked repeatedly resulting in bruising of her ribs and shoulder despite holding her hands empty in the air waiting for instruction. They also put a gun to her head and said they were going to "f%#king blow her head off." She was zip-tied as well and asked to go back to her children of which the agent laughed and said, "we're taking better care of them." They were detained for 3 hours despite telling them her social security number and date of birth and that she had her ID in their truck.
  • Warren King
    19 year-old recent high school grad
    U.S. Citizen
    Chicago neighborhood Walgreens
    Oct 15, 2025
    U.S. citizen and Chicago resident Warren King was tackled at a neighborhood Walgreens for merely trying to run from the chaotic scene unfolding due to an overwhelming and excessive use of force by ICE agents. A woman from a safe, non-threatening distance tells the officer he is her brother-in-law and a U.S. citizen but the officer yells at her to "get the f#$k back". ICE also ignored claims of citizenship from the young man and detained him in their vehicle for hours before releasing him without charges.
  • 15-year-old boy
    U.S. Citizen Born in Chicago
    Chicago
    Oct 14, 2025
    A 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.
  • Evelyn & two friends
    Chicago students
    U.S. Citizens
    Chicago
    Oct 11, 2025
    A petite 18-year-old Chicagoan woman and legal U.S. resident was violently thrown to the ground and kneed in the neck by a masked ICE agent more than twice her size. He did this despite her yelling out "I'm not resisting" and having three vehicles of agents as backup. She and her two friends were subsequently detained for hours without being able to call their parents knowing where they were until they were released without charges. The ICE agents apparently were unhappy the group was filming them earlier to hold them accountable-- obstinately for completely and utterly egregious acts exactly like this. After the incident became public, DHS propagandist Tricia McLaughlin smeared the 18-year-old woman as a criminal and laughably claimed the quite obviously federal immigration officers were Chicago PD instead.
  • Frank Miranda
    Metal shop employee
    U.S. Citizen
    U.S. Citizen born in California
    Portland, OR
    Oct 11, 2025
    U.S. citizen and Portlander Frank Miranda was threatened by masked ICE agents that "we're gonna put you in cuffs or you're gonna get the dog" after which he was struck from behind, handcuffed and put in a van in which his legs were kicked out from under him and was told he would be sitting on the floor. He was driven to an ICE facility where he was held for several hours without access to a lawyer before being released without charges or any explanation of his detainment.
  • Debbie Brockman
    WGN Employee
    U.S. Citizen
    Lincoln Square Chicago
    Oct 10, 2025
    U.S. Citizen and WGN Chicago employee Debbie Brockman was forced to the ground, handcuffed and battered in a way that exposed her buttocks while walking to a bus top in a northside neighborhood and was detained for seven hours despite no evidence of any wrongdoing and finally was released without charges.
  • Woman driver
    Chicago Northside Neighborhood
    Oct 10, 2025
    A woman's car is hit by ICE agents which is clearly their fault. But instead of responding reasonably acknowledging their role in causing the accident, they violently dragged the woman from her car and threw her to the ground in an egregiously excessive use of force perhaps triggered by her honking at them for blocking the road in an unmarked vehicle. The SUV doesn't turn normally to leave the scene and instead makes an overly wide turn -- perhaps in an attempt to intimidate bystanders filming them from the sidewalk -- which is abnormal for someone continuing straight. So, the woman probably thinks it's fine to finally pass. But the SUV driver veers quickly back into the street as if they were not paying attention and sideswipes the woman trying to get by.
  • L. Vural Elibol
    Turkish journalist
    Legal U.S. Resident
    Federal Plaza Immigration Bureau in NYC
    Sep 30, 2025
    Turkish journalist L. Vural Elibol was thrown to the ground by ICE thugs outside an elevator in the Federal Plaza in NYC which was serious enough for him to be taken to the hospital with back and head injuries.
  • Olga Fedorova
    Freelance AP photojournalist
    Federal Plaza Immigration Bureau in NYC
    Sep 30, 2025
    Freelance AP photojournalist Olga Fedorova was shoved to the ground by an ICE thug for merely taking photos of agents detaining two women inside a public elevator at Federal Plaza in NYC.
  • Dean Moses
    Photojournalist with amNewYork
    NYC Federal Plaza Immigration Office
    Sep 30, 2025
    Photojournalist Dean Moses with amNewYork was grabbed by the arm and shoved by masked ICE agents after he merely followed them into a public elevator at Federal Plaza in NYC during which they screamed at him to "get the fuck out."
  • Kat Abughazaleh
    Congressional candidate
    Peaceful Protestor
    Sep 19, 2025
    Congressional candidate and peaceful protestor Kat Abughazaleh was violently carried and thrown to the pavement by an ICE agent much larger than her where she landed on her side with a loud thud
  • A middle-aged woman protestor
    Sep 19, 2025
    A middle-aged woman protestor who was clearly and obviously not a physical threat to ICE was thrown to the ground in an egregiously excessive use of force which they escalated so badly fellow agents had to intervene to stop one of their own from choking her.
  • George Retes
    Iraq War veteran
    U.S. Citizen
    Los Angeles ICE Roadblock
    Aug 18, 2025
    U.S. citizen and Iraq War veteran George Retes was driving to his job as a security guard where he was stopped at an ICE roadblock -- and despite not resisting or posing a threat, even backing up when told to -- ICE thugs broke his window, teargassed and pepper sprayed him and forced him to the ground where two of their degenerates put knees to his neck and back. Despite him having a valid ID, he was detained by ICE fascists for three days in an isolation cell and not allowed to shower despite the exposure to toxic chemicals. Additionally, he was denied access to a lawyer or a hearing with a judge and prevented from making phone calls. His family had no contact with him and no idea where he was and he missed his daughter's third birthday.
  • Mahdi Khanbabazadeh
    Doctor
    Green Card Applicant
    Has a current legal visa to work in the USA, a Green Card application in the final stages of approval and is married to a U.S. citizen
    Montessori Kindergarten, Beaverton, OR
    Jul 28, 2025
    Dr. Mahdi Khanbabazadeh had his car window smashed by masked ICE agents in unmarked vans with no warning, no warrant and without identifying themselves while he was dropping his grandson off at his Kindergarten school according to witnesses who also described children, parents and staff at the scene as terrified. He was taken to a facility 150 miles away instead of a local one close to his family and held for 3+ months.
  • Kenny Laynez
    high school senior
    U.S. Citizen
    Jul 25, 2025
    U.S. citizen and high school senior Kenny Laynez was told by Border Patrol agents that "You got no rights here. You're an amigo, brother" during a traffic stop in which he said the occupants were not resisting. However, the agents escalated things tasing one passenger in the stomach causing him to fall and spasm and grabbing another by the hair & neck. A hidden smartphone also recorded one agent saying "They're starting to resist more. We're gonna end up shooting some of them." Which was followed with a reply from another who said, "Just remember, you can smell that too with a $30,000 bonus."
  • Matilde
    54-year-old tamale vendor
    North L.A. Suburb Pacoima
    Jun 19, 2025
    54-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.
  • Brayan Ramos-Brito
    U.S. Citizen
    Jun 7, 2025
    U.S. citizen Brayan Ramos-Brito was forcefully shoved by a federal immigration agent without provocation during a legal protest outside a government building. He was charged with assaulting government officials, but a jury took just one hour to find him not guilty after video proved the agent was the aggressor.