Human Impact Project

A national from Sierra Leone was placed under a final removal order but had her removal statutorily withheld after an immigration judge found her life and freedom would be threatened if removed. She was released from immigration detention on an Order of Supervision approximately one year ago. Three weeks ago, the government revoked her Order of Supervision and re-detained her. The government announced plans to remove her to Ghana, a country to which she has no connection. She filed a habeas corpus petition challenging her detention and a motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent removal. The court granted her motion, finding she demonstrated sufficient likelihood of success on the merits and that the balance of equities strongly favored her. The court expressed concerns about the government's actions, particularly the plan to remove her to a third country despite diplomatic assurances that Ghana might return her to Sierra Leone where her safety is threatened.

A Turkish national is an immigration detainee held at Mesa Verde Detention Center. He was previously released from immigration detention pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) but was subsequently re-detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A). He filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging his detention without a bond hearing. The court granted his petition, finding that the Due Process Clause requires a bond hearing where the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that he is a flight risk or danger to the community. The court ordered respondents to provide him with a bond hearing before a neutral decisionmaker within ten days, with the government bearing the burden of proof. The court directed that he be given 72 hours' written notice in a language he can understand, may be represented by an attorney, and that the decisionmaker must consider his financial circumstances when setting bond or alternative release conditions. If respondents fail to provide the hearing within ten days, they must release him.

A Salvadoran national entered the United States near the southern border on November 23, 2022, presented himself to immigration authorities, and was released on humanitarian parole. While released, he complied with all reporting requirements, filed a pending asylum application, obtained employment authorization valid through January 2029, and was issued a Social Security number. He has been steadily employed at a printing company in Los Angeles since March 2024, filed federal and state taxes, and has been married to a U.S. citizen since March 2026, serving as the principal financial provider for his household. On July 20, 2026, ICE re-detained him at his scheduled check-in appointment at the ICE Los Angeles Field Office without notice or a pre-deprivation hearing, despite his full compliance with parole conditions and lack of criminal history. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted his habeas corpus petition, finding that re-detention without a hearing violated procedural due process under the Mathews v. Eldridge test, and ordered his release on his prior conditions within 24 hours.

Alevtina Soboleva, a 59-year-old Russian asylum seeker from Sunnyvale, California, was detained by ICE agents at Buffalo Niagara International Airport on July 20 while returning from a vacation to Niagara Falls with her adult daughter, Daria. Soboleva had entered the U.S. legally on a visitor visa in 2021 and applied for asylum before it expired, citing fears of persecution in Russia over her opposition to the war in Ukraine. Her attorney said she held valid asylum documentation and work authorization. Daria said her mother, who has a progressive neurological disorder and gum disease requiring special hygiene care, was restrained with handcuffs and chains that caused her pain, developed an untreated fever, and was held in a cage without adequate water or bathroom access. She was transferred through multiple facilities, including Mahoning County Jail in Ohio and a South Louisiana ICE processing center. A federal judge later set her bond at $10,000, and she was released after nearly a month in custody and reunited with her daughter in the Bay Area.

Vlad, a 23-year-old Russian asylum seeker, was deported to Moscow on July 20, 2026, after missing his May asylum hearing in Tucson. Vlad fled Russia in 2022 and presented himself at the San Ysidro port of entry in December 2022 requesting asylum protection. He had been living in Tucson with his partner Andrea Landavazo. Vlad expressed deep fear of being conscripted into the Russian military or imprisoned upon return due to his political beliefs and opposition to the Russia-Ukraine war. He was detained by ICE in June 2026 and held at ICE's Florence Service Processing Center during a measles lockdown. An order of deportation was issued in absentia, and Vlad did not receive the standard $2,600 in departure funds typically provided for voluntary departure, as ICE stated he did not leave voluntarily.

Two brothers from Guatemala who worked as kitchen staff at El Nopalito restaurant in Haddonfield were arrested by ICE agents on July 20, 2026, while walking near their home in East Camden. The longtime employees, who sent money home to support family members including children, were taken into custody and are believed to be detained at Delaney Hall in Newark. The restaurant's owners and local community members expressed shock at their arrests, with hundreds of supporters offering legal services, volunteer kitchen help, and financial assistance through social media.

Three noncitizens were released from immigration detention by federal judges in Texas in February and March after being pulled over in traffic stops. According to their attorney, the men have no criminal records, have lived in the U.S. for more than 10 years, and have U.S. citizen children. While in detention, they experienced inadequate conditions including rotten food, inadequate medical care, and maggot- and fungus-ridden mattresses. The Trump administration is now asking an appeals court to return them to detention as part of a broader effort to overturn court rulings that have found the mandatory detention policy unconstitutional.

Adrian Mendoza, an Ecuadoran man who fled persecution in 2023, was detained during an ICE raid at a food manufacturing plant in the Kansas City area. His wife, Aylin Castro, was not notified by ICE and learned of his detention through social media when agents detained eight people at the facility. Castro told KCUR 893 that the last message she received from Mendoza came as he said goodbye, telling her he loved her and thanking her for breakfast she had packed in his lunchbox.

Jaqueline Ramirez Juarez, a National Honor Society member and honors student at Cedartown High School in Polk County, Georgia, was detained by ICE weeks before graduation. The senior, accepted to Georgia Highlands College to study nursing, was arrested by Polk County Police on March 26 for traffic violations and held in county jail for four days before ICE took her into custody following her release. According to a GoFundMe page created on her behalf, she has legal immigration status, has no criminal record, lives in a single-parent household where she helps care for younger siblings, and had lived in the United States since childhood. Her family is raising money to pay an immigration bond and legal fees to secure her release while her case is reviewed.

James Wambui, a Kenyan truck driver, was arrested by ICE at a weigh station in Middletown, Virginia during a routine cargo stop after a local sheriff handed his documents to waiting ICE officers. He was transferred to Farmville Detention Center and held for three weeks, incurring $50,000 in legal fees. Wambui was eventually released due to pending marriage-based immigration petition, asylum application, and marriage to a U.S. citizen, though ICE retained his driver's license, work permit, Social Security card, and other personal documents.

ICE announced it removed several immigrants convicted of crimes including sexual assault, voluntary manslaughter and driving while intoxicated on July 19. The agency said the removals are part of its ongoing effort to arrest and deport immigrants deemed threats to public safety.

A Liberian national has lived in Philadelphia under an Order of Supervision (OSUP) since 2000 after receiving withholding of removal due to danger he would face in Liberia, a status reaffirmed in 2025. ICE recently revoked his OSUP, citing a significant likelihood of removal in the near future based on a new agreement between the United States and Ghana to accept deportees from West African nations. He was taken into custody and given a revocation notice citing only vague 'changed circumstances' and the securing of a travel document, with no mention that Ghana was the intended destination. An ICE informal interview conducted with him also failed to address Ghana or any third-country removal plan. He filed a habeas petition arguing due process violations, including mandatory detention without individualized review and lack of notice regarding his destination country, which would prevent him from raising claims about the safety of removal to Ghana. The court found that ICE's revocation procedures failed to comply with due process and its own regulations because he was never properly notified that Ghana was the target country, denying him a meaningful opportunity to contest that designation. The court noted unresolved concerns, including litigation before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice alleging Ghana quickly repatriates deportees to their countries of origin despite persecution risks. The judge ruled that ICE's procedures did not comport with due process, rendering his removal unlawful at this time.

A Ukrainian refugee is a Ukrainian citizen who fled Russia's invasion in early 2024 after his home in Luhansk was destroyed by a Russian missile. He arrived in the United States on February 28, 2024 with DHS travel authorization and was granted parole under the Uniting for Ukraine program. Over more than two years in the US, he obtained employment as a commercial truck driver, paid taxes, developed strong community ties, and committed no criminal offense. On July 19, 2026, local law enforcement in Cheyenne, Wyoming detained him during a routine traffic stop after learning he lacked lawful immigration status, and transferred him to ICE custody without any criminal charge, warrant, prior notice, or individualized assessment of flight risk or dangerousness. DHS initiated removal proceedings on July 21, 2026. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the lawfulness of his detention and seeking either immediate release or a prompt bond hearing before an Immigration Judge. On August 7, 2026, the federal district court granted the petition, finding the detention violated both the Immigration and Nationality Act and Fifth Amendment due process rights, and ordered his immediate release by August 9, 2026 on his own recognizance with no additional conditions beyond his original parole.

Sanan Atou, 43, was held in solitary confinement for approximately three weeks in January at North Lake Processing Center in Northern Michigan. He says the isolation cell had poor heating, with a vent that did little to warm the corner room with two exterior walls from the former Baldwin prison facility. Atou stated: "I felt like I was going to freeze to death. I didn't know if I was going to wake up." Data shows that as immigration detention has expanded under the Trump administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has increasingly used solitary confinement, a practice experts say causes mental, physical, and psychological harm.

An Indian national who arrived on a student visa, married to a U.S. citizen for 6 years, was arrested by ICE and detained at a facility in Tennessee. He was offered the choice to fight deportation in a Louisiana state prison for 6 months with no guarantee of legal status approval, or to self-deport. He chose self-deportation. His wife, a U.S. citizen, suffers from a debilitating medical condition and their child has special needs. With the father's self-deportation, the family decided the mother and child would relocate to India to reunite with him, leaving behind their life in Tennessee. The mother, who has no family support locally and whose husband's family lives overseas, faces the challenge of traveling internationally for the first time with her child to a country where neither speaks the language, while managing her medical condition and her child's special needs.

Gonzalo Roberto Yasaca Arellano, a national of Ecuador, was arrested by ICE Boston officers during targeted enforcement operations in Brockton, Massachusetts. According to ICE, Yasaca Arellano has a documented criminal history in the United States.

Jhorland Atehortua, a 22-year-old Colombian national, was arrested by Polk County Sheriff's Office deputies on Interstate 4 after being clocked traveling 101 mph in a 70 mph zone and driving erratically. Deputies observed signs of impairment and found marijuana and a smoking pipe in his vehicle during a search. Atehortua faces charges including driving under the influence, dangerous excessive speed, reckless driving, possession of cannabis, and possession of drug paraphernalia. ICE has placed a detainer hold on him.

Daniel Hernández has been detained by ICE. His daughter Daniela launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for his legal representation and to support the family during his detention.

Maikol, a 22-year-old Venezuelan national, was detained in Utah and held in immigration custody for five months. He was transferred through multiple detention centers across the country and housed at Desert View Annex in Adelanto, California, where he says conditions were inhumane. He was recently released with conditions requiring him to return to Utah by a specific deadline to maintain his release status.

Martha Sias, a Mexican national and green card holder, was arrested by ICE on July 15 in Chaparral, New Mexico during a targeted immigration enforcement operation. According to court records, Sias pleaded guilty in October 2025 to manufacturing and delivery of a controlled substance after CBP officers discovered approximately 20 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in the door panels of an SUV she was driving across the Paso del Norte border bridge in January 2022. She was sentenced to 10 years of probation with 400 hours of community service. ICE said Sias is subject to removal proceedings and will have an opportunity to present her case before an immigration judge.