Human Impact Project

Celia, a single mother of five, was arrested by ICE at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport on March 12, 2026, while boarding a flight to San Diego after attending her stepson's military graduation. She had a pending U-visa application certified by the U.S. Attorney General's Office after coming forward with claims of sexual abuse by a former officer at Federal Correctional Institution Dublin in California, where she had been incarcerated. Despite informing ICE agents of her pending U-visa and assisting in the federal investigation, supervisors told agents to proceed with her deportation regardless of her pending immigration relief. She was sent to Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, and was deported to Mexico about a week later. Her attorney, Susan Beatty, characterized the action as "a slap in the face."

Aidar N. Masalbekov, a citizen of Kyrgyzstan who entered the U.S. without inspection in 2023, was arrested by Indiana State Police during a traffic stop on March 12, 2026. ICE subsequently detained him at Clay County Jail after revoking his Order of Release on Recognizance. Masalbekov had filed an asylum application in 2024 which remains pending. The court ordered that he must be given a bond hearing or released by April 7, 2026.

Lorenzo Chavez Rascon, a 22-year-old Utah man, was arrested on February 23, 2026, on suspicion of selling drugs, but the substances were determined to be dried pinto beans. He was released from initial criminal custody but subsequently detained by ICE based on a detainer, despite holding deferred action status from a pending U-visa petition. On March 11, 2026, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking his deportation and ordered the government to explain why he should not be released, ruling that his continued detention violated his constitutional due process rights. As of March 14, he remained in federal custody.

A 14-year-old Brazilian national was detained by ICE agents in Marlborough, Massachusetts on March 10, 2026, during an operation targeting suspected gang members. She was transferred to a juvenile detention facility in New York without following proper legal procedures. A federal judge ordered her immediate release on March 12, 2026, finding the detention and out-of-state transfer violated constitutional protections and questioning why she was not turned over to state child welfare authorities instead. She was reunited with her aunt and uncle in Massachusetts but received a notice to appear in immigration court and now faces deportation to Brazil. Her attorney plans to challenge the deportation and petition for special immigrant juvenile status.

Pedro R.O., an asylum seeker who entered the U.S. as a minor in 2021, was detained by ICE after being stopped by police while driving to work in Key Largo, Florida on March 12, 2026. He had been living in the community with a pending asylum application and no criminal history for five years. The court ordered his immediate release, finding his detention violated constitutional due process rights.

Maine nurses called on Senator Susan Collins to stop accepting political donations from Palantir Technologies, a company that provides surveillance technology to ICE. According to advocacy group Purge Palantir, Collins has received over $105,000 in donations from the company, making her one of the top three recipients in Congress. Nurses argued the company profits from personal data collection and surveillance of communities.

The Advocates for Human Rights, a Minneapolis-based organization, sued the U.S. Department of Justice over growing restrictions on public access to immigration court proceedings at Fort Snelling Immigration Court. Since March 2025, court observers have faced locked doors to scheduled hearings, blanket docket closures, mandatory observer lanyards, and removal from the courtroom. The lawsuit alleges violations of the First Amendment and Administrative Procedure Act, with potential national implications as similar restrictions have been reported at courts in California, New York, and Arizona.

Freedom for Immigrants launched an interactive map on March 12 designed to help families locate detained relatives, find legal and community resources, and understand the U.S. immigration detention system. The map compiles information about ICE detention facilities, field offices, resource providers, and companies profiting from immigration detention across the country.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado granted a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the case of Luis Alfredo Chavelas Rosas, a Mexican citizen detained by ICE on July 16, 2025, in Aurora, Colorado. The court ruled that the detainee was improperly detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) without a bond hearing and determined that the default rule under § 1226(a) applies, requiring the government to provide a bond hearing. The court concluded that § 1225(b)(2)(A) does not authorize detention for noncitizens who have been present in the country for years and are not actively seeking admission.

Since Trump returned to the White House, immigrants filed more than 18,000 habeas petitions challenging their ICE detention in federal courts. This exceeded the total filed over the last three administrations combined. Immigration lawyers shifted strategies to argue for clients' release in district courts rather than immigration courts. The increase created a burden on federal prosecutors' offices, particularly in border states like Arizona and Texas.

The Trump administration converted industrial warehouses across the country into immigration detention facilities as part of a deportation initiative, with ICE spending $895 million on 10 warehouses. A protest occurred in Roxbury, New Jersey, where over 1,000 residents opposed a planned detention center. ICE arrests increased compared to the Biden administration. Agents targeted immigrants without criminal records, refugees, green-card holders, DACA recipients, and U.S. citizens. There were deaths in ICE custody in fiscal year 2026.

Five Venezuelan construction workers with valid work permits were detained by federal immigration authorities on March 6-7 while working on Buffalo Bills stadium construction. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, two of the men crossed the border illegally and three overstayed their visas. All five are being held at Batavia Federal Detention Facility awaiting removal hearings.

Montana's Attorney General Austin Knudsen threatened to sue Helena over a city commission resolution stating the city will not assist federal immigration agents. The state is investigating Helena under a state law banning cities from providing refuge to undocumented immigrants. City officials face pressure from residents and activists to maintain the resolution, with a special meeting scheduled to discuss possible changes.

On March 9, 2026, ICE detained and deported two 12-year-old twin sisters who are U.S. citizens born in Orlando, Florida, after their mother attended a scheduled immigration appointment at an ICE facility. ICE invoked a "family unity" policy to take the children into custody and deport them to Guatemala. The mother had previously submitted paperwork requesting the children remain with their grandmother, though ICE stated she verbally requested to take them with her. A federal court granted a habeas corpus petition filed by the grandmother, ordering the children's immediate return to the United States at ICE's expense and restraining ICE from rearresting them.

Six Colorado Democrats demanded ICE cease extended detentions at nine holding facilities across the state, where more than 3,000 migrants were held for weeks in 2025 despite rules limiting stays to 12 hours (extended to 72 hours by the Trump administration in June 2025). A March 8 investigation by the Colorado Times Recorder, based on Deportation Data Project information, revealed detainees including children and seniors were confined in small rooms without proper facilities. The lawmakers expressed concern about safety risks and stated the extended detentions violate Department of Homeland Security policy.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement made 20,629 arrests in Florida between January 20 and October 15, 2025. The enforcement resulted in approximately 77 arrests per day in 2025, compared to about 20 per day in 2024. Those arrested came from over 120 countries and ranged in age from 1 to 89 years old, with approximately 25% having no criminal record beyond immigration violations. The data includes cases of individuals deported while applying for legal status, asylum seekers transferred to foreign prisons, and detentions following routine traffic stops.

A Honduran man was detained by ICE agents during a March 11 enforcement action outside a residence on Dorset Street in South Burlington. A federal judge determined the arrest violated his Constitutional rights. On March 19, an immigration judge granted him release on $10,000 bond, which the Vermont Freedom Fund will post. Deportation proceedings against him remain ongoing.

Two sisters with pending asylum claims, Camila and Johana Patin Patin, were detained by ICE on March 11 during a South Burlington raid targeting a different individual. They were released after approximately 10 days in custody, along with a Honduran man, despite not being targets of the operation and having no arrest warrants. A federal judge found the arrests violated Constitutional rights, and their attorney stated ICE appeared to rely on racial profiling in detaining them.

Deyvi Daniel Corona Sanchez, detained by ICE agents on March 11, 2026, during an enforcement operation on Dorset Street in South Burlington, missed a court hearing in May for the January DUI charge in Middlebury that triggered his identification in federal databases. Corona Sanchez had been offered enrollment in a court diversion program that would have allowed the charge to be expunged. A federal judge previously found that the ICE arrests violated Constitutional rights, though deportation proceedings remain possible.

On March 11, ICE conducted an enforcement operation in South Burlington to detain a man who had re-entered the country. Burlington police provided mutual aid assistance with crowd management, resulting in clashes with protesters, use of chemical agents and flash bangs, and six arrests. Three protesters arrested by Vermont State Police will not face charges after review of body camera footage.

The Burlington Police Department was cleared of policy violations by the city attorney on June 5, 2026, regarding its response to an ICE operation on March 11 in South Burlington. Over 100 citizen complaints were filed after three individuals were detained during the incident, though none matched the warrant's target. The Police Commission disputed the city attorney's findings, arguing the department's actions constituted support for an unlawful federal enforcement operation.

A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction halting construction of a planned ICE detention facility in Washington County, Maryland, finding the federal government improperly used a categorical exclusion from environmental review requirements. The judge upheld Maryland's arguments that the facility could overwhelm local water and sewer infrastructure and harm waterways and protected species like the green floater mussel. Interior repairs including HVAC and drywall work may proceed, while a decision on the proposed security fence is pending.

Andrei Bankevich, a Belarusian asylum seeker granted relief from deportation to Belarus under the Convention Against Torture, was arrested on a drunken driving charge in Minnesota in February 2025 and transferred to ICE custody. After ICE detention facilities filled during Operation Metro Surge, he was transferred to Muscatine County Jail in Iowa in December 2025. ICE claimed it had been working on potential third-country removals for Bankevich since September 2025, but provided no documentation. Federal Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger ruled on March 11, 2026, that ICE illegally detained Bankevich beyond the six-month limit in violation of federal law and his due process rights, calling his jailing "prolonged and seemingly interminable" and ordering his immediate release.

ICE arrests in Washington state surged to 2,340 in 2025, a 152% increase from 2024, with the largest increases in King, Yakima, and Clark counties, according to University of Washington Center for Human Rights data. The surge was driven by non-custodial street arrests using license plate queries and state driver's license data access. Reports from the Council on American-Islamic Relations document mistreatment of Muslim detainees at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, including restrictions on religious observance during Ramadan.

Pío Figueroa, a Latin convenience store owner in Russellville, Alabama, was detained by ICE on January 30 while transporting $21,000 in cash to a bank for his money transfer business. The funds, collected from community members sending remittances to Latin America, have not been accounted for since his arrest. His legal team notes that ICE agents do not use body cameras, making it impossible to track what happened to the money. Figueroa was held at Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana and now faces deportation proceedings.

The Pacific Northwest experienced a spike in ICE arrests at the end of 2025, with arrests climbing from fewer than 250 between October-December 2024 to nearly 2,250 during the same period in 2025. Washington saw over 2,340 arrests in 2025, a 152% increase from 2024, with particularly high concentrations in Yakima County relative to its population and in the Portland area. The surge coincided with intensive immigration enforcement efforts including Operation Black Rose in Oregon, which used license plate scanning and database checks to identify people for deportation.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has taken at least 240 Clark County Detention Center inmates into custody since a 287(g) agreement with local law enforcement went into effect in late 2025. The agreement allows ICE to issue warrants for inmates and gives agents up to 48 hours to pick them up after release. The ACLU of Nevada challenged the arrangement in a lawsuit, though a judge ruled the organization lacked standing.

A 12-year-old Venezuelan boy was arrested at gunpoint during a home raid without a warrant by federal agents and transferred to a family detention camp in Dilley, Texas, allegedly without his inhaler. He has health concerns related to his respiratory condition. A federal judge found that the government produced no warrant to justify the arrest and ordered the boy and his father released. The boy and his father were returned to Minnesota by January 22, 2026, but remained detained for three additional days in violation of the court order.

A man from Nicaragua who surrendered at the southern border in 2022 held a valid work permit, was employed as a landscaper in Minnesota, and had a pending asylum application when immigration courts summoned him to a hearing. ICE officers arrested him in the courthouse hallway immediately after the hearing ended. His labor union helped him file a lawsuit that ordered his release, though he was held for six additional days. He now fears he cannot trust the federal government to give him a fair hearing.

Andres Doroteo Garcia, a 50-year-old Mexican national who had lived in the U.S. for over three decades without criminal history, was arrested by immigration officers on March 10, 2026 while going to work. Officers claimed he had a court order regarding a domestic violence case but never showed him the order. He was placed in the Adelanto Detention Center and the court ordered his immediate release, finding he was denied due process protections.

ICE arrests in Florida increased dramatically between January 2025 and early 2026, with the Miami Field Office averaging approximately 120 arrests per day by March 2026—the highest rate nationwide. Over 20,600 arrests were made between January 20 and October 15, 2025, compared to approximately 20 arrests per day in 2024. By March 10, 2026, the Miami Field Office had made approximately 9,880 arrests. The arrested individuals came from over 120 countries and ranged in age from 1 to 89, with approximately 25% having no criminal record beyond immigration offenses. The surge reflects alignment with federal enforcement policies and Gov. Ron DeSantis's efforts to require state law enforcement participation in immigration enforcement.

A short film documents migrant children as young as three years old appearing in US immigration courts without parents or legal representation to face deportation proceedings. Under US law, children arrested for unauthorized entry have no right to court-appointed lawyers or interpreters. Data shows that children with legal representation have improved outcomes in immigration proceedings.

ICE officers abducted a mother dropping her child off at Scarlett Middle School in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Jaime Eliceo Castro Guaman was arrested by ICE agents during a carpool to work on March 10, though agents stated they were looking for someone else. He held a pending asylum application, valid work permit, and no criminal history. Federal Judge William K. Sessions III ordered his immediate release on March 20, finding the detention may have violated his constitutional rights and stating the stop appeared pretextual. An immigration court bond hearing was scheduled to set conditions for his continued residence in the community.

A 23-year-old Colombian man was detained on March 10, 2026, at an ICE check-in appointment in Eugene based on a pending felony domestic violence assault charge in Linn County. He is an asylum seeker who fled politically motivated violence in Colombia. The alleged victim filed a statement saying she does not fear him and that the arrest does not represent his character as a person or father. Chief U.S. District Judge Michael McShane granted his habeas petition on May 14, 2026, finding the detention unjustified and rejecting the government's broad interpretation of mandatory detention law.

Wulfrano Portillo, a pastor at La Hermosa Church in Tulsa for 24 years, was detained on March 10, 2026, during a routine immigration check-in appointment in Oklahoma City and deported to Mexico the following day. His family, including his wife and four adult children, was not informed of the reason for his deportation. Both Portillo and his wife have been living in the country without authorization since a 2007 deportation removal order was issued after a highway traffic stop.

Houston police officers directly transported at least two drivers to ICE agents on administrative warrants in July and August 2025, violating Houston Police Department policy. The incidents came to light when city council members demanded accountability in March 2026. Mayor John Whitmire confirmed the officers' actions violated department policy. Council members called for Police Chief Noe Diaz to appear before council, restoration of the community affairs division to rebuild community trust, and clarification of policies governing police cooperation with ICE.

Elvira Benitez, a Mexican-born woman who has lived in the U.S. for 36 years without legal trouble, was detained by ICE on March 10 during a routine check-in at the ICE office. An immigration judge found her a good candidate for permanent residency and she was released in December. The federal government appealed her case on the final day allowed, and she was re-detained and transported to Kentucky. Her family and local activists held a press conference regarding her case, with her attorney arguing the law does not require her detention.

ICE agents detained Reginald Toussaint, a Haitian with Temporary Protected Status, while he was picking up his wife from work in Birmingham, Alabama. Agents approached multiple unmarked vehicles and removed Toussaint from the family's minivan in front of his children. Toussaint stated he had valid TPS status. He was charged with impersonating a U.S. citizen based on an alleged pistol permit application from August 2025 where he marked the citizenship box. His wife disputes this characterization.

Federal immigration agents arrested a person outside the Culver City Police Department on Monday after the individual was cited and released following arrest for driving under the influence and weapon possession. The Culver City Police Department stated it was not notified in advance of the federal action and did not participate in the detention, emphasizing its commitment to not assisting with immigration enforcement under California law.

Twenty-three people have died in ICE custody since October 2025. The death count exceeds the entire prior fiscal year's total. The deaths occur amid detention numbers of nearly 70,000 people. Detention centers are operating at capacity with reduced medical oversight and limited healthcare access.

Records show that ICE arrests of children in the San Diego region experienced a significant increase in 2025. The exact circumstances and details of these arrests are not provided in the available text.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested approximately 1,514 people classified as "other immigration violators" (those without apparent criminal records) during the first nine months of 2025 in Northern California, representing a fivefold increase from 271 such arrests in all of 2024. Street arrests reached 627 in September 2025, comprising nearly three-quarters of all ICE apprehensions in the region. Over 2,500 deportations occurred during the first nine months of 2025, with experts noting that most of the surge involved enforcement in local communities rather than at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Rosalio Justia Xigua Ambrocio, a Guatemalan citizen who entered the United States in 2001, was detained by ICE officers on March 9, 2026, while on his way to work and is currently held at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield, California. A federal court granted his habeas corpus petition, finding his detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated due process, and ordered the government to provide a bond hearing within 14 days or release him.

Karla Sáenz, a 26-year-old transgender woman from Venezuela and organizer with Trans Queer Pueblo, was detained by ICE on March 9 during a routine immigration check-in at a USCIS office in Phoenix. She was held for a month at Eloy Detention Center in a men's unit, where she was denied hormone therapy, unable to shower for a week, and subjected to verbal abuse and medical neglect by staff. A federal judge ordered her release in April, finding her detention arbitrary and violating her due process rights.

Rogelio, a 39-year-old Guatemalan immigrant married to a U.S. citizen with five U.S.-born children, was detained by ICE for seven months after being stopped by local police in La Belle, Florida. He spent over six months at the Broward Transitional Center in deportation proceedings. A judge approved his cancellation of removal application, allowing him to pursue citizenship and a green card. Approximately 4,000 cancellations of removal are granted nationally each year.

Mahady Sacko, a 50-year-old undocumented Mauritanian national, was arrested by ICE in Philadelphia for illegally voting in seven federal elections between 2008 and 2024. Despite being ordered removed from the country in 2000 and placed under immigration supervision, Sacko remained in the U.S. and registered and voted in multiple elections. Federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting, with violations carrying fines and up to five years in prison.

Adriana Laya, Miguel Alberto Caicedo, and their two children were detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas for two months following a routine ICE check-in in January 2026. The family, who entered the U.S. in 2024 under asylum parole, reported poor detention conditions including undrinkable water, constant lighting, and inadequate medical care for their son with kidney issues. Upon their release in mid-February, they discovered they had been evicted from their apartment in Las Cruces, New Mexico and lost their possessions, life savings, pet dog, and jobs. The family is now living in their car, their only remaining possession.

A federal judge in Oregon has restricted federal officers from using tear gas at protests at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland. The ruling limits law enforcement's use of force against demonstrators at the ICE facility.

Joseph Andrey Londono Rodriguez, a 6-year-old deaf student at the California School for the Deaf, was detained by ICE agents on March 3, 2026, during what his mother believed was a routine photo renewal appointment at an ICE office in the San Francisco Bay Area. His mother, Lesly Rodriguez Gutierrez, an asylum seeker from Colombia who had been in the country for four years and was under a supervision order, was detained along with Joseph's 5-year-old brother. The family was deported to Colombia within days without access to hearing aids, cochlear implants, legal representation, or accurate information about their location. State officials alleged ICE misrepresented the family's location to obstruct legal intervention. California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond and congressional members requested an investigation and humanitarian parole to return the family, citing violations of due process protections.