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."

A citizen of Kyrgyzstan entered the United States without inspection on April 17, 2023, and has lived in the U.S. interior for nearly three years. DHS initiated removal proceedings and released him on an Order of Release on Recognizance (OREC) in April 2023. On February 20, 2024, he filed a pending asylum application. On March 12, 2026, Indiana State Police encountered him during a traffic stop, after which DHS revoked his OREC and ICE arrested him under an administrative warrant pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226. He has been detained at Clay County Jail in Brazil, Indiana since March 12, 2026. He is charged with inadmissibility as a noncitizen present in the United States without being admitted or paroled. The federal court granted his habeas corpus petition, finding that his detention without a bond hearing violates immigration law. The court ordered that by April 7, 2026, respondents must either provide him with an individualized bond hearing before an immigration judge or release him under reasonable conditions of supervision.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Will Castillo was released from the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma after a federal judge ruled his nearly 11-month detention unlawful. Castillo, who has no criminal history and was detained during a routine DHS appointment while seeking asylum, has been readjusting to life outside detention and experiencing lingering psychological effects from his time in custody. An immigration judge granted him Convention Against Torture protection, which prevents his deportation to Venezuela but does not provide immigration status.

Flushing resident Haiguang Zheng was denied bond by Newark Immigration Judge Maria Akalski, despite a federal court ruling that the mandatory detention policy applied to him was unconstitutional. U.S. District Court Judge Christine O'Hearn found the immigration court had 'brazenly disregarded' her order and ultimately ordered Zheng's release, which occurred on March 11. Documented found over 100 similar cases nationwide where immigration courts failed to provide fair, timely bond hearings as required by federal court orders.

Christian Jerez Andrade, a Honduran construction worker, was detained by ICE agents on March 11, 2026, during a traffic stop in South Burlington after agents claimed he rammed their vehicles. ICE supervisor David Johnston announced plans to prosecute him for assault on a federal agent. However, more than four months later, the U.S. Attorney has brought no federal charges. Jerez Andrade's 19-year-old nephew, who was a passenger, disputed ICE's account, telling VTDigger that an ICE vehicle hit their car from behind, causing Jerez Andrade to panic and speed away. South Burlington police completed a separate investigation and found evidence to charge him with leaving the scene of an accident and grossly negligent driving, but the case has languished with local prosecutors. Jerez Andrade was imprisoned for eight days after his arrest and released on bond by an immigration court judge while facing deportation proceedings.

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.

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.

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.

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.