History in the Service of Solidarity
Image: from The Washington Post.
This page is part of a resource collection: Tracking ICE During the Second Trump Administration.
ICE using fake footage
Drew Harwell & Joyce Sohyun Lee: We checked DHS’s videos of chaos and protests. Here’s what they leave out. Trump administration videos purporting to show the triumph of recent immigration operations used footage that was months old or recorded thousands of miles away, an analysis found.
Sam Levine: White House posts digitally altered image of woman arrested after ICE protest.
The lie that ICE raids target criminals
Brennan Center for Justice: Debunking the Myth of the ‘Migrant Crime Wave.’
2026
CBS News: Less than 14% of those arrested by ICE in Trump’s 1st year back in office had violent criminal records, document shows.
Will Craft: Worst of the worst? Most US immigrants targeted for deportation in 2025 had no criminal charges.
2025
Edith Olmsted: ICE Logic for Deporting “Gang Members” Is Based on Total Lie.
Roque Planas: Nearly all immigrants detained in Trump Chicago raid had no criminal conviction: Data sharply contradicts officials’ portrayal of immigration sweeps as effort to fight ‘worst of the worst’ criminals.
Albert Sun: Most Immigrants Arrested in City Crackdowns Have No Criminal Record.
Lies about migrant gangs
2026
Dell Cameron & Ryan Shapiro: Trump Warned of a Tren de Aragua ‘Invasion.’ US Intel Told a Different Story.Hundreds of records obtained by WIRED show thin intelligence on the Venezuelan gang in the United States, describing fragmented, low-level crime rather than a coordinated terrorist threat.
Sam Levin: DHS’s account of two Venezuelans shot by border patrol falls apart in court: ‘a smear campaign.’ Immigration officials said agent shot two ‘vicious gang members’ in Portland, but records obtained by the Guardian reveal US prosecutor contradicted claims.
Sergio Martínez-Beltrán: Court records: Chicago immigration raid was about squatters, not Venezuelan gangs.
2025
Sam Levin: Police across US spread false rumors about Venezuelan gang threats: Claim that Tren de Aragua planned to attack officers was widely shared – only for FBI to later acknowledge it was mistaken, internal files show.
The lie that ICE agents are being assaulted
2025
Noah Lanard: How Dangerous Is It Really to Work for ICE? According to ICE’s own data, none of its officers have been killed by an immigrant in the agency’s history.
NPR: White House claims “more than 1,000%” rise in assaults on ICE agents, data says otherwise.
James Queally & Brittny Mejia: Attacks on ICE up 1,000%? Trump administration claim not backed up by court records.
Lies about “violent protests”
2026
Sam Levin: DoJ cases against protesters keep collapsing as officers’ lies are exposed in court: String of embarrassing defeats for prosecutors as experts condemn DoJ effort to cast people as ‘violent perpetrators.’
Lies about ICE murders and brutality
2026
George Chidi: Trump officials continue to push lies after fatal shooting of Alex Pretti. Trump and team seem to prioritize vilifying victims of their immigration operations, regardless of conflicting evidence.
Brittany Gibson: Trump officials stick “terrorist” label on Americans killed by DHS.
Jennifer Ludden & Liz Baker: Videos and eyewitnesses refute federal account of Minneapolis shooting.
José Olivares and Aaron Glantz: Democrats deride veterans affairs secretary for repeating false claims about Alex Pretti’s killing.
NPR: DHS keeps making false claims about people. It’s part of a broader pattern.
Dace Potas: Trump administration blames the victim – and lies about it. The Trump administration is developing narratives for ICE incidents entirely independent of the facts of each incident. Even worse? ICE is the only agency investigating its own shootings.
Image: from the LA Times, of a memorial for Keith Porter Jr., who was murdered by ICE
This page is part of a resource collection: Tracking ICE During the Second Trump Administration.
For the ICE murders of Renee Good & Alex Pretti, see this separate resource.
See also: Deaths in ICE Custody.
Resources
The American Prospect: A Running Count of How Many People ICE Has Killed and Injured: ICE doesn’t share its violent incidents with the public. So here’s our list.
News: 2026
January 16. Sam Levin: Family of man killed by off-duty ICE agent in LA demands charges: ‘The ache will never go away.’ After Renee Good’s killing in Minneapolis, calls grow for accountability in the shooting of Keith Porter Jr on New Year’s Eve.
January 16. LA Times: ICE agent who killed L.A. man accused of child abuse, racism in court filings.
January 17. Douglas MacMillan: DHS seeking to deport two men who said fellow ICE detainee was killed: The two men’s accounts of the Jan. 3 death of Geraldo Lunas Campos at a Texas detention camp differ from the Department of Homeland Security’s account of the incident.
January 22. The Associated Press: Autopsy finds Cuban immigrant in ICE custody died of homicide due to asphyxia.
January 28. Melissa Hellmann: Eight people have died in dealings with ICE so far in 2026. These are their stories.
February 18. KPFA: The Murder of Keith Porter Jr. by an I.C.E Officer.
February 21. The Associated Press: A Federal Immigration Agent Fatally Shot a Texas Man Last Year, FOIA Documents Reveal: Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, worked at an Amazon warehouse and liked to play video games and hang out with friends.
March 5. Robert Klemko: How a DHS shooting of a third U.S. citizen went unnoticed for months: No state or federal agency disclosed that a Homeland Security Investigations agent had killed Ruben Ray Martinez until it was revealed in a public records request.
March 6. The BBC: Footage shows US citizen shot dead by ICE agent in Texas traffic stop.
March 7. CBS News: Bodycam video contradicts ICE claims in fatal shooting of U.S. citizen Ruben Ray Martinez in Texas.
April 1. Lok Darjee: Death of Rohingya refugee left in parking lot by US border agents ruled a homicide: Nurul Amin Shah, 56, who was visually impaired, was left outside Buffalo Tim Hortons on cold night and later died.
Image: from The American Prospect.
This page is part of a resource collection: Tracking ICE During the Second Trump Administration.
Resources
The American Prospect: A Running Count of How Many People ICE Has Killed and Injured: ICE doesn’t share its violent incidents with the public. So here’s our list.
Physicians for Human Rights: Deadly Failures: Preventable Deaths in U.S. Immigration Detention.
Wikipedia: List of deaths in ICE detention.
News: 2026
January 4. The Guardian: 2025 was ICE’s deadliest year in two decades. Here are the 32 people who died in custody.
January 12. TaRhonda Thomas: Family questions treatment of Cambodian immigrant who died in ICE custody in Philadelphia.
January 15. Douglas MacMillan: Medical examiner likely to classify death of ICE detainee as homicide, recorded call says: A fellow detainee says he witnessed Geraldo Lunas Campos being choked to death by guards at an ICE detention center in Texas on Jan. 3.
January 17. The Associated Press: ICE says Cuban immigrant died while attempting suicide. A witness says guards pinned and choked him.
January 18. Melissa Gomez: Honduran father died in ICE custody in California. His family wants an investigation.
January 19. Victoria Bekiempis: Second man dies at Texas ICE detention facility in two weeks: Victor Manuel Diaz was found unresponsive at Camp East Montana in what ICE officials claim is ‘presumed suicide.’
January 21. The Associated Press: Autopsy finds Cuban immigrant in ICE custody died of homicide due to asphyxia.
January 23. Laura Romero: ‘I don’t believe he took his life’: Family of Nicaraguan man seeks answers after his death in ICE detention facility. Victor Manuel Diaz died at an ICE detention facility in Texas on Jan. 14.
January 28. Melissa Hellmann: Eight people have died in dealings with ICE so far in 2026. These are their stories.
January 28. The Associated Press: Nicaraguan man’s death at troubled Texas detention camp was reported as a suicide, 911 records show.
February 3. Colleen DeGuzman: After El Paso’s ME ruled migrant’s death a homicide, ICE sent the next body to an Army hospital: ICE bypassed the county medical examiner in favor of a military facility for the autopsy of a Nicaraguan man and won’t release a ruling to the public.
February 11. Ilse Ramirez: 6 Deaths in ICE Custody and 2 Fatal Shootings: A Horrific Start to 2026.
February 18. Kanishka Singh: Cambodian national dies in ICE custody in Indiana.
February 19. The Texas Tribune: Six deaths in six weeks: What to know about ICE detentions in Texas.
February 24. David Faris: A running list of ICE deaths and shootings during Trump’s second term.
February 25. Sara Braun: Nearly blind refugee abandoned by US border patrol found dead in Buffalo: Investigation under way after man was dropped off five miles from home but family wasn’t notified.
February 28. Izzy Ramirez: Los Angeles Father Dies Under ICE Custody — 9th Death This Year.
March 5. Coral Murphy Marcos: ICE detainee in Arizona dies after not receiving medical attention for severe tooth pain: Emmanuel Damas, a Haitian asylum seeker, was being held at the Florence correctional center before he died.
March 6. Coral Murphy Marcos: Family of detainee who died under ICE custody says he was denied medical care: Alberto Gutiérrez Reyes died in a California hospital in February after suffering chest pain and shortness of breath.
March 16. Jennifer Jett: Afghan asylum-seeker dies after less than 24 hours in ICE custody: Mohommad Nazeer Paktyawal, 41, a father of six who worked with the U.S. military in Afghanistan, had no known health issues when he was detained in Texas, his family said.
March 30. Roque Planas: José Guadalupe Ramos, a Mexican national, dies in ICE detention in LA.
May 1. José Olivares: Cuban immigrant dies in Georgia detention center.
News: 2025
July 25. Dhruv Mehrotra & Dell Cameron: ‘They’re Not Breathing’: Inside the Chaos of ICE Detention Center 911 Calls.
June 26. Hannah Ziegler: Canadian Citizen Dies at ICE Detention Center in Florida.
July 8. Edith Olmsted: Kristi Noem Guts ICE Oversight as Detainee Deaths Surge.
July 8. Leah Feiger & Dhruv Mehrotra: The 911 Calls Inside ICE Detention Centers.
September 23. Ruben Vives & Jenny Jarvie: A former DACA recipient died in ICE custody. Did officials ignore his pleas for help?
October 23. Ximena Bustillo & Rahul Mukherjee: It’s the deadliest year for ICE in decades. As detentions rise, the trend may continue.
November 4. Ramon Antonio Vargas: Family speaks out after death of man deported by ICE in vegetative state: Randall Alberto Gamboa Esquivel’s family alleges negligence and inhumane treatment.
November 18. Dan Gooding: Man Detained by ICE Found Dead, Hanging With Hands and Feet Tied.
December 19. ABC News: Bulgarian Chicago business owner dies in ICE custody, sparking calls for ‘immediate investigation’.
Image from Facing South.
This page is part of a resource collection: Tracking ICE During the Second Trump Administration.
See also: The ICE Murders of Renee Good & Alex Pretti.
Resources
Cross Cultural Solidarity: Protest Rights & Safety Tips.
Physicians for Human Rights: “Less-lethal” crowd-control weapons when misused can cause serious injury, disability, and death.
News: 2026
January 12. Max Nesterak: U.S. Border Patrol agent knees man in face in Minneapolis as other agents hold him down.
January 13. Ruben Vives & Itzel Luna: Anti-ICE protester blinded by federal agent during demonstration in Santa Ana, family says.
January 13. Nicole Foy & McKenzie Funk: We Found More Than 40 Cases of Immigration Agents Using Banned Chokeholds and Other Moves That Can Cut Off Breathing.
January 18. Stephanie Saul: In Minneapolis, a Pattern of Misconduct Toward Protesters: Legal and criminal justice experts said a ruling by a federal judge last week revealed conduct by immigration agents that evokes the civil rights era.
January 21. Maya Young: US court allows ICE to arrest and pepper-spray peaceful protesters in Minnesota.
January 29. Rachel Leingang & Maanvi Singh: Minneapolis ICE watchers face violence, teargas and arrests. They keep showing up. Bystanders say they are determined to keep recording federal agents’ actions: ‘There will be absolutely no accountability unless people are documenting.’
January 29. Neel Dhanesha: What a safety expert thinks journalists should know about “less than lethal” rounds and chemical irritants used by ICE.
February 3. Roque Planas: Judge temporarily bans ICE from using teargas and projectiles on protesters in Portland: Ruling comes after agents fired teargas, pepper balls and rubber bullets into peaceful protest that included children.
February 21. Sam Levin: Sam Levin: DoJ cases against protesters keep collapsing as officers’ lies are exposed in court: String of embarrassing defeats for prosecutors as experts condemn DoJ effort to cast people as ‘violent perpetrators.’
News: 2025
July 8. Frankie Solinsky Duryea: Video: ICE agents drive SUV through protesters at S.F.
immigration court. Immigration agents clashed with protesters, who were trying to stop an arrest, in San Francisco’s most violent ICE encounter of 2025.
October 4. Siri Chilukuri: Body slamming, teargas and pepper balls: viral videos show Ice using extreme force in Chicago. A facility in Broadview, a mostly Black suburb, has become the site of escalation and ‘targeted attacks’ on protesters.
October 28. Andrea Cavallier: US citizen, 67, ‘has ribs broken’ by Border Patrol agents after being dragged out of car while driving home into street they’d blocked off.
December 19. Sam Levin: FBI opened domestic terrorism investigations into anti-ICE activity across US.
October 13. Meg Anderson: Tackles, projectiles and gunfire: Many fear ICE tactics are growing more violent.
October 22. Dani Anguiano: LA TikTok creator streaming ICE raids charged with assault after being shot: Carlitos Ricardo Parias remained hospitalized after he was shot in the elbow by federal agents during arrest.
October 23. Anna Bauman: Federal agents used ‘Low Roll’ stun grenades on immigration protesters. What are they?
November 19. Block Club Chicago: Feds Used Chemical Weapons On Chicagoans At Least 49 Times — Even After Judge Said To Stop.
November 21. Julia Coin: ICE video shows officers planned to ‘smash’ into Charlotte man filming Border Patrol.
November 25. ProPublica: Trump’s Immigration Forces Deploy “Less Lethal” Weapons in Dangerous Ways, Skirting Rules and Maiming Protesters.