Human Impact Project

A Venezuelan national with Temporary Protected Status was detained by ICE on April 2, 2026, after being stopped for speeding. She had been granted humanitarian parole in October 2022 and subsequently received TPS status. The court granted her habeas corpus petition and ordered her immediate release, finding her detention violated due process rights.

Luzvin Garcia Moran, a 28-year-old noncitizen from Guatemala, was arrested by Arlington County Police on April 12, 2026, for attempted sexual assault. According to ICE, Garcia approached a woman waiting for a rideshare, made sexually explicit comments, grabbed and pushed her into a wall, and physically assaulted her. The victim briefly escaped but he approached and assaulted her again before two bystanders intervened and called police. Garcia fled but was quickly apprehended by responding officers. ICE lodged a detainer requesting he not be released from custody. According to the agency, Garcia has an arrest record spanning 2020 to 2026 that includes charges for public intoxication, assault and battery, disorderly conduct, and probation violations.

Suzy Gerónimo, a transgender activist and community organizer in North Carolina, was detained by ICE following a traffic stop in Franklin County and transferred to Stewart Detention Center in Georgia. Gerónimo is recognized for founding and directing Fuerza y Unión Múltiple (FUM), an organization supporting transgender people in rural areas. A fundraising campaign was launched to support her legal defense and detention-related expenses, with Raleigh Immigration Law Firm providing legal representation.

A federal judge ruled that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents violated a court order during a July 2025 enforcement operation at a Sacramento Home Depot parking lot by conducting warrantless arrests without individualized assessments. Judge Jennifer Thurston found that agents submitted virtually identical detention forms for 11 people, detaining them based on assumptions about their immigration status rather than reasonable suspicion or probable cause of flight risk.

California House members Mike Levin and Sara Jacobs conducted an unannounced oversight visit to the Otay Mesa ICE detention facility in San Diego on May 11, 2026, following a federal court ruling that struck down a Trump administration policy requiring seven days' notice for congressional visits. During their visit, ICE handed Levin a letter outlining a new policy requiring two days' advance notice and written consent from detainees before members of Congress can speak with them. Levin criticized the new restrictions as an attempt to obstruct congressional oversight, stating that advance notice allows the facility time to prepare and conceal actual conditions.

Chicago area officials accused ICE of violating Illinois state law and a Cook County court order that prohibit immigration arrests at courthouses. ICE agents allegedly appeared at the Cook County Domestic Violence Courthouse on Thursday and arrested a woman there on March 13, defying protections signed into law by Governor Pritzker in October.

Subramanyam "Subu" Vedam, a 64-year-old legal permanent resident from India, won an immigration hearing to remain in the United States after his 1980 murder conviction was vacated in 2024 following over 43 years in prison. Immigration Judge Adam Panopoulos ruled that Vedam's lengthy wrongful imprisonment, spotless prison record, and demonstrated rehabilitation outweighed prior drug convictions from the early 1980s, finding he poses no danger to the community and possesses good moral character. Vedam had been taken into ICE custody after his conviction was dismissed and was days away from naturalized citizenship when the deportation case was heard.

The Colibrí Center for Human Rights' DNA database, which helped identify remains of missing migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border for a decade, has been inaccessible since fall 2024. The nonprofit's website has gone dark and communications ceased, leaving families like that of Irma Carrillo Nevares without hope of identifying their missing relatives. Arizona moved to dissolve the organization in December 2025 due to unfiled paperwork.

Protect Democracy, the ACLU, and partners filed suit against DHS, ICE, and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center on April 2, 2026, challenging a secret internal memo that authorizes agents to forcibly enter homes using only an administrative form instead of a judicial warrant. The lawsuit names six individuals affected by the policy, including Teyana and Garrison Gibson Brown, whose home was raided January 11, 2026, and Noe Alfredo Salguero, whose home was entered January 14, 2026. The memo, titled "Utilizing Form I-205, Warrant of Removal," was issued in May 2025 and kept secret until whistleblowers leaked it in late January 2026. Plaintiffs seek to vacate the policy and declare it unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston ruled that Border Patrol agents violated a preliminary injunction by detaining day laborers at a Sacramento Home Depot in July 2025 without specific evidence of immigration violations, relying instead on broad assumptions about workers in the parking lot. The judge found agents "again detained people without reasonable suspicion" and demanded to see identification from individuals based solely on their appearance. Thurston's ruling, granting a United Farm Workers motion to enforce the injunction, requires agents to document specific facts and reasoning for detentions and prohibits warrantless arrests without assessing flight risk.

An inspection by ICE's Office of Detention Oversight at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas found 49 deficiencies in detention standards on April 2, 2026. Violations included issues related to use of force, medical care, security, and disease prevention, with documented safety lapses including inadequate suicide prevention measures, unsecured equipment, staffing shortages, and medical negligence such as failure to isolate a detainee with tuberculosis symptoms. The facility, the nation's largest immigration detention center housing nearly 3,000 detainees daily since opening in summer 2025, has experienced at least three deaths. Despite these violations, the facility received an acceptable rating.

Jesus Vazquez, a 25-year-old Fort Worth resident who came to the U.S. as a baby, was deported to Mexico in March 2026 after three months in ICE detention following an arrest during a routine ICE check-in in November 2025. His American citizen wife Cassidy and their four children, ages 6 months to 8 years, remain in Fort Worth while working with an attorney to find a way for him to return to the U.S., though he is currently barred from re-entry for 10 years due to a 2022 marijuana possession conviction.

ICE agents in San Diego arrested David Antonio Aviles Perez, 35, who is wanted in El Salvador for murder and had previously been arrested in Monterey, California in 2023 on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly swinging a machete at a man, then released under California's sanctuary law. El Salvador had sentenced Perez to 20 years in prison for a 2014 gang killing. He is being held pending removal to El Salvador.

A woman who arrived in the U.S. at age 9 was detained by ICE and is facing deportation for overstaying her visa. She is married to a military veteran and has built her life in the country. Her family is raising funds to cover legal expenses.

Abel Ramirez, a man with schizophrenia who had two strokes, was detained by ICE and deported to Mexico without his family being allowed contact. He moved to the U.S. as a child and is now alone in Mexico. His family is seeking help locating him after he was last seen boarding a bus to Mexico City.

Enrique, brought to the U.S. at age three and raised there for 24 years, was stopped by a state trooper for a license plate light issue and taken into custody based on his Mexican passport despite lacking a driver's license. He spent three months in ICE processing with multiple court appearances before being granted voluntary departure. He is now in Mexico documenting his experience and attempting to maintain his business remotely while seeking residency.

Two sisters in Big Bear Lake are caring for their mother in hospice with stage 4 brain cancer after their father, Armando Gonzalez Procopio, was detained by ICE on March 31. ICE stated he was arrested for public order crimes and illegal entry, though the sisters dispute the characterization of his record, noting only traffic violations. Their father is scheduled to appear before a judge on April 10 for removal proceedings. The family is seeking his release so they can spend their mother's final days together.

José Ignacio 'Nacho' De La Cruz, a 30-year-old Migrant Justice organizer and Mexican national without a visa, was detained by federal agents on March 26, 2026, and charged with nine federal felony counts including human smuggling and document fraud. According to the indictment, between November 2022 and June 2025, De La Cruz smuggled people across the U.S.-Canada border without authorization and fraudulently obtained Vermont driver's privilege cards for individuals, receiving $500 per fraudulent ID. He was held at Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans. On April 2, 2026, Judge Kevin Doyle ordered his release on bond, rejecting prosecutors' argument that he posed a flight risk after noting De La Cruz remained in Vermont despite knowing of the investigation. Migrant Justice attributed the arrest timing to retaliation following an ICE raid in South Burlington on March 11. He pleaded not guilty and faces up to 15 years imprisonment with a mandatory minimum of 3 years if convicted.

A noncitizen who had lived in the United States for an extended period without having been admitted was detained by U.S. immigration authorities during removal proceedings at the California City Detention Facility. A federal court found he was entitled to a pre-deprivation bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) and ordered his immediate release. The court ruled that if the government seeks to re-detain him, they must provide a proper bond hearing where he can contest flight risk and community safety concerns.

A 51-year-old Nicaraguan asylum seeker was re-detained by ICE on April 1, 2026, during a routine check-in appointment after living in the community for nearly three and a half years in full compliance with release conditions. She had no criminal history and was lawfully employed while her asylum application remained pending. The court ordered her immediate release, finding her detention without notice or hearing violated due process rights.