HUMSI — Human Security Initiative

Human Impact Project

A living database documenting reported immigration enforcement incidents and their human impact.

We collect individual stories of people impacted by U.S. immigration enforcement from news reporting, court records, and community accounts into one searchable public database, updated daily and reviewed by our team. The Human Impact Project is run by the Human Security Initiative, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

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4266 incidents with known locations
⚐ Highlighted incident #12389 (not on this page in normal date order)Clear

Detained woman with growing abdominal mass denied urgent ultrasound in Oklahoma

Feb 4, 2026Watonga, OKColombia

Valentina Timaran Restrepo was taken into ICE custody while attending a regularly scheduled check-in appointment on February 4, 2026, and has since been held at the Diamondback Correctional Facility in Watonga, Oklahoma. Weeks earlier she had undergone multiple invasive surgical procedures requiring continuous post-operative monitoring, and she later developed a painful, visibly growing mass at the site of her surgeries, rating her pain 8 out of 10. Although facility medical staff ordered an "urgent" ultrasound on March 27, 2026, she was told it could take up to a month to receive treatment because the procedure required external approval, prompting her to file an emergency petition for a temporary restraining order seeking immediate medical care.

Thirteen arrested during Portland May Day demonstrations on May 2

May 2, 2026Portland, OR

Thirteen people were arrested during May Day protest activity in Portland on May 2, 2026, at two locations. Near the ICE facility in South Portland, five were arrested around 8:30 p.m. after protesters gathered to advocate for workers' and immigrant rights; police reported that protesters threw rocks and water bottles at officers, injuring two. Seven additional arrests were made during a hotel sit-in on Southwest 2nd Avenue.

Fulbright scholar Ranjani Srinivasan's visa revoked, fled to Canada

May 2, 2026New York, NYIndia

Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian citizen, Fulbright scholar, and Columbia doctoral student in urban planning, had her visa revoked by DHS without explanation. ICE agents visited her building three times, twice without a warrant. She fled to the United States and remains in Canada.

Guatemalan deported without receiving stipend collection information

May 2, 2026Quetzaltenango, GTGuatemala

Juan Gaspar, from a village near Quetzaltenango, was deported and signed a voluntary departure agreement. He reported that officers only collected a phone number but he received no message with stipend collection details a week after his expulsion.

Portland police arrest 5 during May Day ICE facility protest

May 2, 2026Portland, OR

Portland police arrested five people during a May Day protest at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in south Portland on Friday evening. Protesters gathered to advocate for worker and immigrant rights and to push for revoking the ICE facility's permit. Police reported that protesters threw rocks and water bottles at officers, injuring two. Portland police made multiple arrests during May Day protests on Friday, May 1, 2026, near the ICE facility in South Portland. Officers arrested nine people at a hotel sit-in demonstration, and additional arrests were made throughout the day and evening during protest activities near the ICE facility. Police reported that some protesters threw rocks and water bottles at officers, with one officer sustaining a non-life-threatening injury.

Noncitizen Detained at ICE Denver Facility Despite Immigration Judge Bond Order

May 1, 2026Denver, CO

A noncitizen is detained at ICE's Denver Contract Detention Facility despite an immigration judge ordering his release on an $8,000 bond. ICE invoked an automatic stay regulation to prevent his release while appealing the bond determination. The immigration judge later reconsidered and held that the petitioner's detention is mandatory under federal law.

Cameroonian Man Detained for Six Months Despite Withholding of Removal Grant

May 1, 2026Adelanto, CACameroon

A noncitizen from Cameroon who entered the U.S. in 2024 was granted withholding of removal to Cameroon on September 16, 2025. Despite this protection from deportation to his home country, he remained detained at the Adelanto Detention Facility for more than six months after his removal order became final. The court ordered his release within 24 hours, finding his continued detention violated due process since removal was not reasonably foreseeable.

Undocumented man detained in ICE raid, misses court hearing on DUI charge

May 2026South Burlington, VTMexico

Deyvi Daniel Corona Sanchez, an undocumented Mexican man who had been deported to Mexico five years earlier following a criminal trespass charge in Texas, was detained by ICE agents on March 11, 2026, during an enforcement operation on Dorset Street in South Burlington, Vermont. When federal officers attempted to stop his vehicle as it left a home, Corona Sanchez rammed a federal agent's car before crashing in a wooded area and running into a nearby house. Hundreds of community members and protesters gathered at the scene in a hours-long standoff to block agents from entering the home. ICE agents forced their way through the crowd and took him into federal custody around 5:30 p.m. Corona Sanchez had been facing a pending driving-under-the-influence charge from January in Middlebury. He missed a May court hearing where he 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.

Brazilian student detained by ICE, released after months, attends State of the Union as guest

May 2026Milford, MABrazil

Marcelo Gomes da Silva, an 18-year-old high school student from Brazil who arrived in the U.S. at age 7, was arrested by ICE agents in May 2025 while driving to volleyball practice because his student visa had expired. He was detained in a Burlington ICE facility under poor conditions, including sleeping on concrete floors without beds or windows. After his release on bond, he remained in legal limbo for several months. He received his high school diploma in May 2026 and was invited by Congressman Seth Moulton to attend the State of the Union as a guest, where he planned to advocate for immigrants. His arrest and resilience were publicly acknowledged during his high school's commencement ceremony.

Nicaraguan man detained by ICE challenges deportation to third country

May 2026Monroe, LANicaragua

A native of Nicaragua was detained by ICE in May 2026 and is currently held at Richwood Correctional in Monroe, Louisiana. He was granted withholding of removal as to Nicaragua under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). He filed a habeas corpus petition and emergency motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to prevent his deportation or transfer, arguing that deportation to Mexico would violate his due process rights and expose him to refoulement to Nicaragua despite his CAT withholding order. He is a member of the D.V.D. class, consisting of individuals subject to final removal orders whom ICE plans to deport to third countries. The district court denied his motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, citing the Supreme Court's prior stay denial in the D.V.D. class litigation and the principle of avoiding duplicative litigation.

Volunteer medic carried into detention center and detained for helping pepper-sprayed protesters

May 2026Newark, NJ

Adam Marshall, a former infantry officer who has volunteered for over a year helping families of detainees, was arrested and briefly detained while serving as a medic for protesters who had been pepper-sprayed outside Delaney Hall in May 2026. Federal agents pushed him to the ground, carried him by his arms and legs into the detention center's courtyard, scanned his face with a mobile application, held him for two hours, then transported him and two other men to an underpass beneath the New Jersey Turnpike where they were lined up against a metal wall with hands above their heads before being told never to return and released.

Mexican asylum-seeker arrested at ICE check-in, separated from three children, released via habeas petition

May 1, 2026Santa Rosa, CAPeru

A Mexican asylum-seeker who fled cartel violence in Michoacan in 2019 was arrested by ICE at her check-in appointment in Santa Rosa in May 2026, separating her from her three children ages 2, 13, and 19. After texting her daughter to bring the younger children home, she was held in a freezing cell with little food before being transported toward a detention center. Attorneys from the newly created Bay Area Habeas Network, led by attorney Jordan Weiner, filed an emergency habeas corpus petition and obtained a federal judge's order for her immediate release within hours. The woman told the Chronicle: "I feel like I have no peace. But I have faith and know that there are good people who will help us."

Noncitizen Re-detained by ICE After 2 Years Without Notice or Hearing

May 1, 2026Denver, CO

A noncitizen who entered the U.S. in 2024 and was released on his own recognizance was abruptly re-detained by ICE in May 2026 without notice or opportunity to be heard. Respondents claimed he was subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b). The court granted his habeas petition, finding that § 1226(a)—not § 1225(b)—applied to him because he had already entered the interior of the country. The court ordered his immediate release by July 4, 2026, and enjoined re-detention absent clear and convincing evidence at a pre-deprivation hearing.

Dominican man detained without criminal record, held without medication for diabetes

May 2026Randolph, MADominican Republic

Santo, a Dominican national, was recently detained by ICE agents and transferred to an ICE detention facility in Louisiana. He has no criminal record but is a diabetic who was held without his medication for ten days, causing health complications. His wife Yolanda, who declined to use her full name due to deportation fears, stated he does not have legal representation and has reported experiencing side effects from medication deprivation. The family would prefer his release or deportation to the Dominican Republic over continued detention.

Venezuelan asylum seeker and grandfather detained by ICE after DUI charge dismissed

May 1, 2026Naples, FLVenezuela

Henry Morales Hernandez, 55, a former Venezuelan army major who fled the Maduro government and sought asylum in the United States, was detained by ICE following a traffic stop in Collier County, Florida in April 2026. He was charged with driving under the influence, but prosecutors dropped the charge after determining insufficient evidence—breath tests showed blood alcohol levels of 0.036 and 0.037, below Florida's legal limit of 0.08. Despite the criminal case dismissal, ICE lodged a detainer and took him into custody on May 1, 2026. An immigration judge denied his bond request in May, relying on the arrest report despite the DUI charge being dismissed. Morales Hernandez holds an active asylum case in immigration court and previously held Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans, though the Trump administration moved to terminate that program in 2025.

Unaccompanied minor released after detention violates due process rights, court rules

May 2026

An unaccompanied minor came to the United States as an unaccompanied minor in August 2018 and was initially detained by immigration officers who commenced removal proceedings. He subsequently filed an asylum application that remains pending. He was transferred to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement and released to his sponsor, an uncle. In May 2026, immigration officers arrested him in front of his home without pre-deprivation process or notice. He challenged his detention in federal court, arguing it violated his constitutional due process rights. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California granted his petition for writ of habeas corpus, finding his case indistinguishable from prior cases where courts determined similar detentions violated due process. The court ordered his immediate release and permanently enjoined respondents from re-arresting or re-detaining him without constitutional protections including pre-deprivation notice, a timely hearing, and a government burden to prove by clear and convincing evidence that he poses a danger or flight risk.

Josue's asylum hearing canceled without notice, deportation ordered to Ecuador

May 1, 2026Batavia, NYEcuador

Josue Alvarado, who fled gang extortion in Ecuador with his family in 2024, was detained by ICE in 2025 after the Trump administration canceled CBP One paroles. On May 1, 2026, his scheduled asylum hearing was canceled just before trial when a judge granted the government's motion to pretermit his case within hours, denying his attorney the standard 10 days to respond. He was ordered deported to Ecuador despite his family's fear that return would result in kidnapping or death from the gang members pursuing them.

Austin ISD senior detained by ICE released following judge's order

May 1, 2026Austin, TX

Luis Fernando Cabrera Chavarria, an Austin ISD high school senior, was detained by ICE after a state trooper stopped him for an expired registration sticker on May 1 while he was returning home from his job at Popeyes. U.S. District Judge Jason Pulliam ordered his release before Friday, allowing him to attend his high school graduation on June 2. His family had applied for asylum in 2019, though his application was not filed correctly.

LGBTQ Jamaican Asylum Seeker Detained by ICE Despite CAT Protection

May 1, 2026Willits, CAJamaica

A Jamaican LGBTQ asylum seeker who had been granted Convention Against Torture withholding in November 2024 was arrested at his home by ICE agents on May 1, 2026 without a warrant. He had been complying with supervision requirements and living with his U.S. citizen wife in California. The federal court granted a temporary restraining order requiring his immediate release and prohibiting re-detention without a hearing.

Legal immigrant bartender detained by ICE despite holding green card

May 1, 2026Hoboken, NJ

Sebastian Pasco, a bartender at Cork City Pub in Hoboken who holds a valid green card, was detained by ICE on May 1, 2026, while re-entering the country in Florida. The bar launched a fundraiser to cover his legal expenses while awaiting a hearing for his release.

Berkshire family deported to Ecuador despite pending asylum appeal

May 1, 2026Pittsfield, MAEcuador

Karina Lozano Chiriboga, Angel Granda, and their daughter Ariana Granda Lozano were deported to Ecuador on Wednesday morning despite their asylum case being denied without a hearing. The family had fled Ecuador two years prior due to violent organized crime and were going through legal channels to seek asylum. Their initial attorney missed filing deadlines, leading a judge to vacate their case, and although they obtained a temporary stay from U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin on April 24, that order was vacated four days later. ICE ordered them to the airport for a 5:30 a.m. departure, and while they were in flight, the Bureau of Immigration Appeals accepted their appeal into the record.