Human Impact Project

Alexander Jarquin-Jarquin, a Nicaraguan asylum seeker with a valid work permit and driver's license, was arrested on July 26, 2026, while on his way to work with no stated reason. He entered the U.S. in 2021 through the southern border, was released by ICE under parole, and has since obtained legal work authorization and worked 12-hour days supporting his elderly father in Nicaragua and his wife in the U.S. He has no criminal history. He is now in immigration custody with his case before an immigration judge, and his family is raising funds for legal fees and bond to secure his release and demonstrate community ties.

Five individuals were detained during check-ins at ICE's Malta field office on July 26, 2026. An emergency habeas petition was filed the same day to prevent their transfer outside the Northern District of New York. They were initially taken to Montgomery County jail, and a court ruling on Thursday allowed their transfer to the Batavia detention center with restrictions on further transport. At least one of the five was undergoing asylum case proceedings and had been detained a second time since arriving in the United States. The detentions occurred as the Trump administration issued new asylum policy guidance and as record-high ICE detentions were reported in July, including increased check-in operations.

Boanerges Flores and his wife, Alba Matamoro, came to Missouri from Nicaragua three years ago to seek asylum, saying it was unsafe to return because Flores had worked for the Nicaraguan government. The couple attended every scheduled check-in with ICE. During a routine appointment last week, agents detained Flores and placed Matamoro on an ankle monitor. Flores is now in deportation proceedings. The couple works in the Maplewood-Richmond Heights school district, where staff described them as model employees. Their 8-year-old daughter attends school in the same district. Matamoro said their daughter has struggled with the separation, and that explaining the family's potential move has been difficult. Court records show no criminal history for either of them.

A man was pulled over while driving to work and subsequently detained by ICE on an immigration hold, leading to his deportation. He is described as a devoted husband, father of three, and caregiver to his nephew whom he helped raise. He spent decades building his life in the United States and worked to support his family. His family is raising funds to cover immigration attorney costs, household expenses, and other urgent needs during this crisis.

Argenis Torres, a legal resident and, according to family, an honest, hard-working man who came to the country legally, was detained by ICE agents along with officers from the Caldwell County Sheriff Department and the U.S. Forest Service during a raid at Wilson Creek on July 26, 2026. Sheriff's deputies blocked exits while law enforcement chased mothers, fathers, and children into the creek, resulting in multiple arrests including Torres. His family states he was detained for no reason and never deserved to be threatened or treated this way. His cousin is raising funds for legal fees to secure his release.

Elmer Omar Guevara-Martinez, 28, from Honduras, was arrested by ICE agents on July 26, 2026, during a targeting enforcement operation in Kansas City, Kansas. While fleeing from agents near Las Palmas restaurant, Guevara-Martinez was pursued and pinned against a plate glass window at a dress shop, crashing through it and severely lacerating his lower right leg to the bone. He was treated at the University of Kansas Hospital and released into ICE custody pending removal proceedings. Friends reported he required a skin graft for the injury and that he had no criminal record and was working on a construction project.

Jesus Carrion, a 63-year-old asylum seeker, was detained by ICE on July 26 during a routine check-in at the Malta facility after receiving a text instructing him to bring his paperwork and family members. His wife, Jean Aurilio, an American citizen and teacher, accompanied him expecting a standard interview but was told Carrion would be taken into custody and transferred to the detention center in Batavia, with a possible court appearance in two weeks. Aurilio said they had been following all requirements and rules, and she remains waiting for information about his status and when she will hear from him.

Nixon Giovanni Pérez Paz, 43, and his wife Glendy Marisol González de la Cruz, 25, were found bound and shot dead in a sugarcane field in Guatemala weeks after González de la Cruz self-deported to rejoin her husband. Pérez Paz was arrested by ICE agents in an unmarked vehicle near his home in Overland, Missouri in March 2025 while driving to work with his brother; he and his brother were undocumented immigrants who had fled violence and poverty from Central America. González de la Cruz had an active asylum case but worked two manual labor jobs while raising their three young daughters, including a newborn born in June 2025. Fearing detention and separation from her children, she chose to self-deport to be with Pérez Paz in Guatemala. Their 14-month-old daughter was found crying beside her mother's body and showed signs of dehydration; she was taken to a medical center and is recovering. Her brother-in-law is now caring for the three orphaned children.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican citizen who had lived in Houston for nearly 35 years and worked as a homebuilder, was fatally shot by an ICE agent on July 7, 2026, while driving his construction crew to a job site after federal agents in unmarked vehicles pursued him. He had no criminal record and was reportedly close to completing the process of obtaining legal status. DHS and ICE said he rammed an ICE vehicle and ignored commands, and claimed without evidence that he was undocumented, though the passengers in his van and his family dispute this, saying he was shot through the passenger window while parking, with no officer in danger. The FBI suggested bags found in his van contained drugs, but the Harris County district attorney later said they did not; his family said the substance was salt. His sons said they learned of their father's death from a social media video rather than from authorities and testified at a congressional hearing demanding accountability. The shooting prompted sustained protests in Houston, diplomatic complaints from Mexico, and a Harris County grand jury investigation of the agent who fired.

An Ecuadorian asylum seeker who has resided in the United States since 2023 entered the country without inspection and filed a timely asylum application shortly thereafter. On November 19, 2025, he was served with a Notice to Appear charging him as removable for being present without admission or parole. On July 25, 2026, ICE took him into custody and transferred him to the Clinton County Correctional Facility in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, where he was held without a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b). His immigration records show no criminal history and no final order of removal. Petitioner filed a pro se habeas corpus petition arguing he should instead be detained under the discretionary provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), which entitles detainees to a bond hearing, and that his detention without such a hearing violated his Fifth Amendment due process rights. Respondents did not dispute the facts but argued his detention was lawful under § 1225(b). The Court, following the majority view among federal courts and several circuit courts of appeals, agreed with Petitioner, ruling that § 1225(b)(2)(A) applies only to noncitizens affirmatively seeking admission, not those like Petitioner who have resided in the country for years. The Court granted the habeas petition, ordered Petitioner's immediate release, permanently enjoined Respondents from detaining him under § 1225(b), and required a bond hearing before an immigration judge if he is later detained under § 1226(a).

Luis Vasquez Alvarado fled Guatemala in 2023 after being threatened by a gang and applied for asylum with his family, settling in the Las Vegas area. On May 30, 2026, he was arrested by Metropolitan Police Department; upon his June 1 release, ICE detained him without providing a bond hearing. Vasquez Alvarado filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention, but federal authorities failed to substantively respond and made misrepresentations about their communication with his attorneys. U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware ruled on Friday that Vasquez Alvarado was subject to mandatory detention, found his detention was erroneous and prolonged, and determined that federal authorities failed to identify any lawful authority permitting continued detention. The judge ordered his immediate release.

A Latino man was arrested by ICE agents in Smyrna, Georgia while walking to cash his weekly paycheck. According to witnesses, a federal agent exited a vehicle with his gun drawn and pointed at the man without stated cause, followed by other agents who tackled him to the ground and handcuffed him. The man has lived in the U.S. since 2001, has no criminal record, and communicated to family members that the arrest was a traumatic experience.

An Indigenous young woman was detained by ICE agents while standing on a public sidewalk outside the South Portland ICE facility in Portland, Oregon, during a protest that followed reports of an ICE raid on Warm Springs Reservation land. The woman wore a red handprint painted across her mouth and cheek as a symbol of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives movement. ICE agents claimed they were on Tribal land only to use the restroom and denied conducting targeted enforcement, though the 1855 treaty with the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs remains legally binding.

José Arturo Vilchez, a Venezuelan national, was detained by police during a traffic stop in Austin, Texas and transferred to ICE. According to his sister, Vilchez was stopped while driving his daughter to a heart specialist appointment; the child was born with a heart condition. His sister stated that Vilchez has no prior legal problems, has never been a public charge, and even paid for his sister-in-law's delivery expenses. She characterized the stop as racially motivated and said the family is now without their primary source of support.

Four U.S. citizen siblings—Eliza, 21; Jessica, 18; Romeo Jr., 15; and Cynthia, 13—have been living on their own in Florida since last fall when both their parents, who are from Guatemala and undocumented, were detained by ICE. Their father was held at Alligator Alcatraz and then transferred to a detention center in Georgia, while their mother was held at a federal facility in Arizona. Eliza dropped out of college to take over the family landscaping business and pay rent, while the children await the outcome of their mother's deportation hearing. According to the Brookings Institution, approximately 205,000 children—including 145,000 U.S. citizens—have likely had a parent detained in the past year and a half due to immigration enforcement actions.

A group of construction workers was detained by ICE agents while working at a construction site in Brownsville, Texas. According to a video recorded by the work supervisor, ICE agents arrived at the location and asked about two specific people; when workers said they did not know who those people were, agents began detaining other workers. The person recording the video was also detained after approaching one of their coworkers who was being questioned by agents.

ICE officers placed a Nigerian man and other detainees in full-body WRAP restraint devices during a September deportation flight to Ghana, despite the detainees being shackled and asking to speak with attorneys. The AP documented at least 12 cases in the past decade where local law enforcement's use of the WRAP contributed to deaths, and identified ICE's use of the device in multiple deportations since 2020. A 2023 DHS civil rights report raised internal concerns about the device's use, citing reports of deaths, yet ICE continues deploying it despite the manufacturer's guidance for lower-threshold situations.

Prisciliano Trejo Ricano, a 29-year-old Mexican national who had lived in Durham, North Carolina since age 3, died July 24 from an aggressive form of leukemia while effectively in ICE custody. He was arrested June 19 and transferred to Stewart Detention Center in Georgia, where he began feeling ill on July 6, reporting coughing up blood, severe pain, and a bruise that would not heal. Advocates say ICE failed to provide treatment for over a week despite his requests for care; he was hospitalized July 13 and fell into a coma by July 15, at which point ICE formally released him before he died. His father and cousin described him as previously healthy, with his father saying he could not understand how his condition deteriorated so quickly. His name does not appear on ICE's official list of in-custody deaths, and the agency will not investigate due to a policy change eliminating reporting requirements for deaths within 30 days of release. Advocacy groups including Detention Watch Network, Project South, Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, El Refugio, and Carolina Migrant Network called for investigations into medical neglect at Stewart Detention Center, while the ACLU reports at least 57 deaths in immigration detention since the start of the second Trump administration, more than double the prior four years combined.

Carlos Hugo Betancur, a 52-year-old Colombian national, was detained by ICE on July 8, 2026, while pumping gas at a Marathon station in Doral on his way to work. An immigration officer approached him from behind, asked for identification, and detained him after he provided his Florida driver's license. Betancur had filed a political asylum application in January 2023 and possessed both an employment authorization card and a Florida driver's license. He spent 8 days at the Miramar Processing Center and 8 days at Krome Detention Center before being released on electronic monitoring. At Miramar, he described severe overcrowding, with 93 to 104 detainees held in a single room with insufficient space for everyone to sit or sleep simultaneously. His daughter, Maria Alejandra Betancur, disputed the detention, noting he had valid asylum and work authorization documents. He is now required to wear an ankle monitor while his immigration case proceeds before an immigration judge.

A native and citizen of Mexico has been present in the United States since 2018. On July 24, 2026, he was detained by immigration officials in Ocean City, Maryland and taken into custody at the Farmville Detention Center in Virginia, where he remained for over a week. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his classification as an "applicant for admission" subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2), arguing instead that he should be subject to discretionary detention under § 1226(a) with the right to a bond hearing. The federal government argued that anyone in the United States without lawful admission is subject to mandatory detention. The district court agreed with him, finding that § 1226(a) is the applicable detention scheme for noncitizens already present in the country. The court granted the habeas petition, ordering he be released from custody and provided an individualized bond hearing before an Immigration Judge within 14 days, where the judge must determine whether he poses a danger or is a flight risk.