Human Impact Project

Edwin Abel Gonzalez Veliz, a Guatemalan citizen who had been released on bond and granted withholding of removal in 2013, was detained on March 24, 2026 during a routine ICE check-in. He had fully complied with his supervision order for over 12 years with no new criminal history. ICE agents told him he was being arrested because of the new administration and they would find a third country if they couldn't send him to Guatemala. The court granted a temporary restraining order requiring his immediate release.

Adrian Ramirez, a Dominican Republic native with an approved juvenile immigrant visa, was detained by ICE on January 16, 2026, while traveling to work in Syracuse after being stopped by agents at a work site. He was held at detention facilities in Batavia and Louisiana, including Jackson Parish Correctional Center, for approximately nine weeks. With support from his Syracuse community, including All Saints Catholic Church members who raised money and wrote letters on his behalf, and assistance from strangers in Louisiana, Ramirez was released on bond with an ankle monitor and returned home to reunite with his family, including his infant son.

Kevin Ntabo, a Kenyan-born father of four living in Edmond, Washington, was detained by ICE at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in December 2025 after returning from Kenya where he attended his father's funeral. Officials flagged his immigration status as irregular upon arrival. He was held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma awaiting a court hearing scheduled for March 17, 2026, to determine whether he would be deported or allowed to remain with his wife and four children.

Jackson Kabut Gichema, a 48-year-old Kenyan national, was arrested by ICE on March 24, 2026, and ordered deported following a conviction in Baltimore County. Gichema entered the United States legally on a visitor's visa in 2003 but remained without legal status after his authorization expired. A 2011 Maryland Court of Special Appeals decision upheld his conviction, triggering mandatory deportation proceedings as the offense qualifies as an aggravated felony under U.S. immigration law.

Wilmar Aristo Pablos-Miguel, a 42-year-old Mexican national, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to time served on March 24, 2026, for fraud and misuse of visa documents. He was arrested during an ICE workplace raid at Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant in Nitro on January 16, 2026, where he had been working with a counterfeit Green Card since June 2025. An ICE detainer has been issued for his removal proceedings. The case was part of Operation Country Roads, which resulted in over 650 arrests statewide.

Arnoldo Bazan, a 16-year-old U.S. citizen and sophomore at Houston Alief Hastings High School, was detained and assaulted by masked federal immigration agents on October 23, 2025, when they stopped his father, Arnulfo Bazan Carillo, during a drive to school near Gessner Road and Beechnut Street in Houston. According to Arnoldo's account, agents beat him, applied a choke hold around his neck, and subjected him to racial slurs despite his statements that he was a minor and U.S. citizen. Bystanders recorded video showing officers restraining a young man with an arm around his neck. Arnoldo was held for several hours before ICE verified his U.S. citizenship and released him. His father, Arnulfo, who was in the country without authorization, was arrested and subsequently deported to Mexico. ICE disputed the assault allegations, claiming Arnoldo elbowed a federal agent during the encounter and that Arnulfo rammed a federal vehicle and fled; ICE noted Arnulfo had prior unauthorized entries and a misdemeanor DWI conviction. Arnoldo has spoken publicly, including on Capitol Hill, about the incident.

Jovanni Paola Garcia-Aburto, who has resided in the United States since 1996, was arrested by ICE in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 24, 2026. The government detained her under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2), but the court found this violated immigration law since she had no prior ICE encounters. The court ordered her immediate release and prohibited re-detention without proper legal authority.

Federal court received a letter from Assistant U.S. Attorneys withdrawing material misstatements of fact regarding the 2025 ICE Courthouse Arrest Policies that were made in prior briefs and oral argument. The government admitted that the May 27, 2025 ICE Guidance on civil immigration enforcement in courthouses does not apply to immigration courts, contradicting their previous legal arguments. The case involves a challenge to ICE policies that broadened circumstances for arrests in or near courthouses.

San Francisco immigration judges ordered over 800 in absentia deportations in one week amid rescheduled hearings and court chaos. Many immigrants missed their hearings because they were unaware their court times had changed, including some moved up by two years. Those who missed hearings lost their asylum pathways and now face ICE custody for deportation.

Eledoro Valenzuela Rodríguez, an undocumented Cuban immigrant, was taken into ICE custody on March 24, 2026, from Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami-Dade. Rodríguez has a final deportation order issued in 1980 that had never been executed and an extensive criminal history spanning over four decades across multiple states. He faced outstanding charges in Miami for cocaine possession with intent to sell, firearm possession by a convicted felon, and breaking and entering. ICE stated it plans to ensure his swift deportation.

Ya'akub Ira Vijandre, a Filipino DACA recipient and community activist, was detained by ICE at his Arlington home in October 2025. The federal government is seeking to terminate his DACA protection, citing his social media activity and posts about Palestine activism. On March 24, 2026, community members and supporters spoke before Arlington City Council requesting a resolution calling for his release, citing constitutional concerns and detention conditions at Folkston Detention Center in Georgia.

Orange County Sheriff's Department released an annual report showing it notified ICE of 323 prisoners with immigration holds, resulting in 271 being transferred to federal custody. The report comes amid ongoing protests against ICE deportation sweeps in Southern California and disputes between sheriff's officials and immigrant advocacy groups over whether cooperation with immigration authorities should continue.

ICE agents conducted a raid in South Burlington on March 11, 2026, believing they were pursuing Mexican national Deyvi Daniel Corona-Sanchez. Court filings revealed the agents actually chased and arrested Cristian Jerez-Andrade, a Honduran man, after misidentifying him during a vehicle stop. The operation resulted in the suspect ramming into a home and led to arrests and protests.

Abel Ortiz, an undocumented immigrant who arrived in Los Angeles as an infant and spent 38 years building a life there, self-deported to Mexico City in August 2025 under pressure from Trump administration immigration enforcement policies. Though Mexican-born, Ortiz identified as American and had established a hair salon business and community ties in LA. Seven months after his departure, he works as a hair stylist in Mexico City but struggles with displacement, grief over leaving his life and friends behind, and identity questions as he adapts to a country where he spent only nine months of his life and speaks Spanish only haltingly.

Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation unanimously adopted a new rule requiring people seeking professional licenses, including electricians and dog breeders, to prove legal immigration status. The rule implements a 1996 federal law but allows exceptions for those granted asylum, admitted as refugees, or recognized as human trafficking victims. The change takes effect May 1 and has prompted concerns about economic impact and pushing workers into unlicensed work.

Civil rights groups including the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and ACLU of Michigan say ICE enforcement activity has increased at or near Michigan hospitals and clinics following federal withdrawal of guidelines that previously restricted law enforcement in health care settings. Health care providers report a rise in ICE encounters and worry about increased fear among patients and staff.

A middle school student and her parents were deported by ICE on Monday while attending an immigration appointment at the ICE facility in Camarillo. The family was deported to Tijuana within 24 hours. Their 3-year-old sibling, born in the U.S., was not taken into custody and is being cared for by relatives.

An analysis found that ICE enforcement surges across multiple U.S. cities in 2025-2026 resulted in substantial costs to local governments and police departments. Los Angeles police spent $41 million on overtime in June 2025, while Minneapolis police spent over $6 million between January and February during Operation Metro Surge, with the city estimating total economic costs at $203 million. Portland police nearly doubled their 2024 overtime payouts for event response, including nearly 3,000 hours for a single Homeland Security Secretary facility visit. Police departments already facing post-2020 staffing shortages were further strained by the operations, which were largely concentrated in Democratic-led cities.

Leandro Bermudez, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Venezuela, and his 7-year-old daughter Lucia traveled to Colombia on March 10, 2026, to complete her I-130 visa application at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota. On March 16, U.S. officials denied Lucia's visa request citing a June 2025 Trump proclamation targeting terrorists and security threats. Lucia has lived in Utah since age 2 and attends school there. Her attorney argues the denial misinterprets the order and that Lucia, as the daughter of a U.S. citizen, should be exempt. The family is working with lawyers and Utah's congressional delegation to secure a federal waiver to bring her home.

San Diego County Sheriff's officials failed to investigate at least seven reported sexual assaults and four attempted sexual assaults at the privately run Otay Mesa immigration detention center in 2025. A 2020 memorandum of understanding gives detention center Warden Christopher LaRose authority to decide whether to investigate rape allegations, while CoreCivic conducts only administrative investigations and claims to refer criminal matters to law enforcement. A San Diego county supervisor is seeking to revisit the agreement that grants the private contractor this investigative authority.

A Reuters investigation found that judges across the country have ruled more than 4,400 times since October that ICE has illegally detained immigrants. As ICE custody has swelled to 68,000 people this month (up 75% since Trump took office), immigrants have filed over 20,200 habeas corpus petitions claiming unconstitutional detention, with judges granting relief in at least 4,421 cases. The Trump administration has often failed to comply with court orders releasing detainees.

A 70-year-old Iranian woman who had resided peacefully in the United States for 26 years was detained by the Trump administration without valid legal justification. Federal Judge Gary Klausner expressed shock at the government's inability to provide adequate cause for her detention and ordered her release. Her case exemplifies a pattern in which the Department of Justice has failed to present valid arguments to justify detentions across numerous cases.

A 10-year-old U.S. citizen girl recovering from brain cancer was deported to Mexico along with her undocumented parents and four American-born siblings in February 2025. The family was detained at an immigration checkpoint while traveling from Rio Grande City to Houston for the child's emergency medical checkup. The girl, who had undergone surgery to remove a brain tumor, has been unable to continue her specialized medical treatment and rehabilitation in Mexico. An 11-year-old U.S. citizen recovering from brain cancer was deported to Mexico with her family by Border Patrol agents despite her documented citizenship and need for ongoing medical treatment. The family was traveling to Houston for emergency care when agents ignored a hospital letter the family had used previously at checkpoints and detained the family, deporting them the next day. The citizen child's 18-year-old brother, Fernando Hernández García, was not detained and remained in the U.S. to earn money and send medicine to his sister. The family's lawyers report they have been unable to access proper medical care in Mexico and have applied for humanitarian parole.

Angelina Lopez-Jimenez and her daughter Wendy Godinez-Jimenez were detained by ICE officers at San Francisco International Airport on March 23, 2026, as the mother was being transported on an outbound flight. Video footage captured by travelers shows officers detaining Lopez-Jimenez as her daughter watched, with San Francisco police officers present at the scene. According to DHS, Lopez-Jimenez resisted officers during the arrest and a deportation order for the family was issued in 2019. ICE stated the family unit was being repatriated to Guatemala.

Jose Alfredo Rivas, a Honduran national who had been living in the U.S. for over a decade with protection under the Convention Against Torture, was detained by ICE during a routine check-in on March 23, 2026. He had been living free under an Order of Supervision for 14 years without any violations. The court granted his temporary restraining order and ordered his immediate release, finding that ICE violated his due process rights by detaining him without proper notice or hearing.

The Trump administration is significantly expanding ICE detention infrastructure as part of its mass deportation campaign. The federal government is spending billions—including $85 billion in new funding with $45 billion specifically allocated for detention expansion over four years—to purchase buildings and convert warehouses into detention centers. ICE is also expanding contracts with local jails and private prison facilities. The number of immigrants in ICE custody has increased over 80% to approximately 70,000 detainees. Lawmakers, advocacy groups, and some local officials have raised concerns about detention conditions in facilities not originally designed for human habitation, with communities across the political spectrum opposing the expansion.

Alicia Luna Flores, her husband Juan Alberto Baquera Santoyo, and their 12-year-old daughter Melanie were deported to Mexico on March 23 after arriving at an ICE office in Camarillo expecting to have their ankle monitors removed. Luna, who had worked as a house cleaner, and Baquera, who worked as a day laborer, had crossed the border eight years earlier and applied for asylum with their then 5-year-old daughter. Melanie attended Mesa Verde Middle School in Moorpark and dreamed of becoming a professional soccer player. The family was given no specific reason for the deportation except a reference to a missed court date that Luna said she was unaware of. They were transported to Tijuana and eventually relocated to Mexico, leaving behind their 3-year-old U.S.-born son Aaron in the care of relatives.

Fernando Aragon-Olivarez, a 38-year-old Mexican national who entered the U.S. illegally in 2003, was detained by immigration authorities during a traffic stop in Fountain Valley, California on March 23, 2026. He has been held at Adelanto detention facility without a bond hearing despite having a pending asylum application, being married to a U.S. citizen, and having an American citizen son. The court granted a temporary restraining order requiring immigration authorities to provide him with an individualized bond hearing within 14 days.

Senator Cory Booker held a press conference at Newark Airport to protest the Trump administration's deployment of ICE agents to airports across the country amid TSA funding disputes. Booker and ACLU representatives criticized the use of ICE agents at airports as reckless and a political tool, arguing the agency has a history of civil rights violations and should not be deployed in this capacity.

The Justice Department has dismantled a 60-year-old Recognition and Accreditation program that authorized non-attorneys to provide affordable legal representation to low-income immigrants. Senior attorneys operating the program were abruptly reassigned, leaving only two support staff without legal authority to process accreditation applications. The program currently accredits over 2,600 non-attorneys across 900 organizations, primarily faith-based groups like Catholic Charities and Jewish Family Services.

Following President Trump's mass deportation campaign, federal agents have conducted large-scale immigration enforcement crackdowns across multiple U.S. cities, resulting in hundreds of thousands of arrests and deportations. Companion animals including dogs, cats, bunnies, and chickens have been left behind by deported families, overwhelming pet rescue organizations and animal control agencies. Rolling River Rescue in New Orleans and other nonprofits are scrambling to find foster and adoptive homes for displaced pets, with some cities reporting significant increases in stray and abandoned animals.

California's Senate Public Safety Committee advanced Senate Bill 941, which would limit price markups on goods sold in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility commissaries to a maximum of 35% above vendor cost. The bill addresses exploitative pricing practices by private vendors, with items like soap marked up 75% and canned tuna by 300%. Supporters argue the measure protects detained immigrants and their families from predatory pricing during vulnerable circumstances.

A federal judge blocked a Trump administration policy that would have significantly expanded refugee detention in Texas. The court's decision paused a plan that would have affected tens of thousands of immigrants in the state.

Hundreds of immigration detainees held in New Mexico facilities have filed petitions in federal court seeking bond hearings and release, challenging a new interpretation of the 1996 Immigration and Nationality Act that denies bond hearings to those who entered at unauthorized points. The detainees, from countries including Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, Afghanistan, and others, include individuals who were arrested without warrants. Federal judges in New Mexico have granted bond hearings in approximately 99% of cases, but detainees must hire attorneys to file the petitions.

Heidy Sánchez, a 44-year-old Cuban immigrant and home health aide who arrived in the U.S. in 2019, was detained by ICE on April 22, 2025, during what she believed was a routine annual check-in appointment at the Tampa office while nursing her one-year-old daughter, a U.S. citizen born prematurely with seizures. She was handcuffed and separated from her daughter as her husband, Carlos Yuniel Valle, a U.S. citizen who owns a landscaping company, heard her screaming. Two days later, on April 24, Sánchez was deported to Cuba on a flight with 81 other Cuban migrants. Sánchez had no criminal record, worked as a home health aide, held a social security card and driver's license, paid taxes, and was complying with ICE requirements under her I-220B supervision order. Her daughter, distressed by the separation, refused to eat. From Cuba, Sánchez has recorded tearful video pleas to President Trump and walks up to ten times daily searching for internet to video call her daughter. U.S. Representatives María Elvira Salazar and Kathy Castor have called for her reunification, with Castor filing a humanitarian parole request with the Trump administration. DHS disputed Sánchez's account, claiming she was offered the choice to take her child or place the child with a designated relative. Sánchez arrived in Cuba without passport, identification, or documentation explaining her deportation.

Raul Efrain Salas Pacheco, who had been granted parole on August 15, 2024, was re-detained by ICE on March 22, 2026, without notice or an opportunity to be heard. Respondents stated he was re-detained after violations of his conditions of release. The court granted his habeas petition, ordered his immediate release on the same conditions as before his re-detention, and enjoined respondents from re-detaining him without providing notice and a pre-detention hearing.

Beyker Jose Valecillos-Gonzalez, a Venezuelan citizen, entered the U.S. on June 21, 2022, was initially detained by immigration authorities, then released on his own recognizance on June 24, 2022. He was re-detained by ICE on March 22, 2026, without notice of the reason for his re-detention or opportunity to contest it. The court granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release, finding that his re-detention without notice and hearing violated due process.

On March 22 at San Francisco International Airport Terminal 3, TSA agents alerted ICE to the presence of Angelina Lopez Jimenez and her daughter, who had removal orders issued in 2019. ICE agents detained the pair as they prepared to board a flight to Miami. Multiple airport employees and passengers called 911, unaware of the immigration enforcement action. Lopez Jimenez and her daughter were subsequently deported to Guatemala.

Between January 1, 2025, and February 16, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security deported 363 pregnant, postpartum, or nursing women, according to data provided to U.S. senators. As of February 16, 2026, 86 detainees were identified as pregnant in ICE custody, including nine in the final trimester, and 16 miscarriages in detention had been recorded by late September 2025. Human Rights Watch and other advocates noted health risks associated with detaining pregnant individuals and identified gaps in medical care.

During a government shutdown causing TSA staffing shortages and three-hour airport security delays, President Trump announced ICE agent deployments to assist at airports nationwide. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens confirmed ICE agents will deploy to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday to support TSA operations including line management and crowd control, with officials stating the deployment is not intended for immigration enforcement activities.

Usiel Sanchez Romero, who came to the United States without authorization in 2013, was subjected to a traffic stop on March 21 and detained by ICE. He has no criminal record, is married with an 8-year-old son, and has owned a contracting business for seven years. He was taken to Pottawattamie County Jail and held without a bond hearing. Romero is suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Pottawattamie County, seeking court-ordered release or a bond hearing in immigration court.

Jose Leal, a Venezuelan-born artist living in Three Rivers, Texas, was detained by ICE following a traffic stop despite having an active asylum case, a valid work permit valid through 2027, and no criminal record. Leal arrived in the U.S. in 2022 and has been compliant with all immigration requirements, including monthly check-ins. His wife, Francis Campos, expressed concern about his detention and said he came to the U.S. fleeing violence. Family and friends continue working to secure his release.

Women detained at Baker County Detention Center in Florida have shared a video describing poor living conditions while awaiting immigration processing. They allege inadequate access to hygiene supplies, broken clothing, moldy food, and substandard bedding including mattresses made of insulation. One woman claims to have been transferred through over 30 facilities in a month and often slept on floors.

Between January 2025 and February 2026, ICE deported 363 pregnant, postpartum, or nursing women, with 498 total detained during that period, according to DHS data released in response to congressional inquiry. As of February 16, 2026, ICE held 121 pregnant, postpartum, or nursing detainees, with 9 in their final trimester. The data documented 16 miscarriages in detention centers, and medical professionals and immigrant rights advocates have documented inadequate prenatal care and violations of federal policy that discourages detention of pregnant individuals except in limited circumstances.

An activist Instagram post calls for the release of Ender Cardenas Chacon and other people granted asylum from Karnes ICE detention center. The post urges followers to contact the Department of Homeland Security and Congress to demand their release.

More than 800 people received deportation orders in a single week at the San Francisco immigration court after failing to appear for hearings, according to the director of the immigrant legal defense program at the San Francisco Bar Association. The mass deportations occurred when judges from Concord were reassigned to San Francisco and hearings were scheduled back-to-back with 20-30 people called simultaneously, in some cases with only 3 of 77 appearing. Many people did not receive adequate notice due to rescheduled dates, outdated mailing addresses, and misspelled names on notices, while others avoided hearings due to ongoing fears of ICE arrests near courthouse buildings.

The Trump administration has implemented aggressive policies targeting both undocumented immigrants and those legally in the US, including suspending the refugee program, revoking temporary protected status for approximately 1 million people, restricting asylum access, pausing humanitarian parole programs affecting over 1.5 million people, and targeting DACA recipients and visa holders. A May 2026 USCIS memo now requires most people seeking green cards while in the US to leave and apply from abroad, reframing adjustment of status as 'extraordinary relief' rather than routine benefit, potentially affecting roughly 1 million people with pending applications. The policy gives immigration officers broader discretion to deny applications, with applicants now required to show 'unusual or outstanding equities' to qualify.

Amritpal Singh, a citizen of India who entered the U.S. in 2019 and was released on bond with supervision, was arrested by ICE officers on March 20, 2026, while waiting in line to enter the Fresno Superior Courthouse. He had been charged with removability and placed in expedited removal in 2019, and was recently arrested for driving on a suspended license and carrying a concealed firearm. The court granted a preliminary injunction ordering the government to provide Singh with a bond hearing within 14 days or immediately release him from detention.

Valeria Mendoza Santiago, a 25-year-old pregnant woman from Oaxaca, Mexico, was arrested by ICE agents at a bus stop in Anchorage on March 20, 2026, and transferred to Hiland Mountain Correctional Center. She was scheduled for transfer to federal detention in Tacoma, Washington, but her lawyers obtained a temporary restraining order citing ICE's own guidelines against detaining pregnant women, resulting in her release. Santiago remains in federal immigration removal proceedings and lives at home with her son.

ICE has activated the Detention Reengineering Initiative (DRI), a centralized detention and deportation model implemented through new federal megacenters. These facilities consolidate arrest, legal proceedings, and deportation processing in single locations, with capacities of 7,000-10,000 detainees each and an average detention period of 60 days. The first confirmed megacenter is located in Social Circle, Georgia, with additional facilities anticipated in border states and the Southeast. The initiative operates alongside expedited deportation procedures capable of removing undocumented immigrants within 48 hours, representing a shift toward more rapid enforcement operations.