Human Impact Project

Seyo Cecunjanin, a West Hartford restaurant and laundry business owner from Montenegro, was arrested by ICE on June 20, 2026, in a Dunkin' Donuts parking lot surrounded by five unmarked vehicles while with two of his sons. He was detained at Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls, Rhode Island for approximately 12 days. Cecunjanin entered the U.S. in 1997 using a fraudulent passport and had an outstanding removal order, but had been permitted to reenter in 2024 and maintained valid work authorization at the time of his arrest. He owns two restaurants and a laundry business employing 15 people and has a pending permanent resident application filed in September 2023. U.S. Rep. John Larson and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, along with other members of Connecticut's congressional delegation, held a press conference and sent letters to ICE demanding his release, citing his valid work authorization and pending immigration case. Cecunjanin was released on June 26, 2026 (or July 2, 2026 according to another account).

During a surge in ICE enforcement in late June 2026, three men were arrested at federal courthouses in Lower Manhattan in apparent violation of a federal judge's order issued the previous week restricting courthouse arrests. An Ecuadorian man was arrested at an immigration court inside 26 Federal Plaza, a Guatemalan man at 290 Broadway, and a man from the Dominican Republic was also arrested at 290 Broadway. The arrests occurred during a broader ICE enforcement operation in which the agency detained over 10,000 people in five days after being instructed to make 2,000 arrests per day. Legal advocates with Make the Road New York filed challenges claiming the arrests violated due process rights and court orders prohibiting immigration enforcement in courthouses.

Miguel Angel Gomez Alvarado, who had lived in the United States for 14-15 years as an undocumented immigrant, was stopped by police during a traffic stop between November 2025 and February 2026 and turned over to ICE, which held him in deportation proceedings without a bond hearing. Gomez had no criminal record and was raising American citizen children. A federal judge found that holding him without a bond hearing violated his due process rights and ordered his release. The Trump administration appealed the decision to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled on July 2, 2026, that the government cannot hold undocumented immigrants for more than 90 days without a bond hearing and must articulate individualized justification for detention.

A Venezuelan man who entered the United States in July 2022 was initially apprehended by immigration officials and released pending removal proceedings, after which he lived in Portland, Oregon. He was re-detained on July 2, 2026, apparently without any notice beforehand, and has a pending application for Temporary Protected Status. He did not receive a bond hearing until a month after his re-detention. He is currently held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center and filed a habeas petition along with a motion for a temporary restraining order, arguing that a transfer out of the district would strip the court of jurisdiction over his case and harm his ability to pursue relief and stay in contact with family members. The court found he was likely detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) rather than subject to mandatory detention, and that the lack of an individualized hearing at the outset of his re-detention likely violated due process under the Mathews test. The court granted the temporary restraining order, barring his removal or transfer to another facility, and ordered a preliminary injunction hearing and briefing schedule within 14 days.

An Egyptian citizen entered the United States in June 2024 without inspection and was released on his own recognizance into removal proceedings. He settled in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, where he worked at a diner and had no criminal record. On July 2, 2026, he was arrested while walking along a road by local police, who turned him over to ICE, and he has since been detained without bond at the Pike County Correctional Facility. He has no final order of removal. He filed a habeas corpus petition arguing he was being unlawfully held under the INA's mandatory detention provision, 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b), rather than the discretionary provision, 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), which entitles detainees to a bond hearing, and that his detention without a bond hearing violated his Fifth Amendment due process rights. The court agreed, finding that § 1225(b)(2)(A) applies only to noncitizens actively seeking admission at the border, not those already residing in the U.S., and granted the petition. The court ordered Respondents to immediately release him and permanently enjoined them from detaining him under § 1225(b), though he may be redetained under § 1226(a) with notice and a timely bond hearing before an immigration judge.

Jose Acosta, an undocumented immigrant from Honduras who had lived in the U.S. since 2018 while awaiting a green card decision, was detained on July 2 while sitting in his parked truck outside a construction job site in Harmar, Pennsylvania. Springdale Borough police and ICE, operating under a 287(g) task force agreement signed in November, carried out the joint arrest and transported him to ICE's field office in Pittsburgh. Aside from a 2023 traffic stop, Acosta had no other encounters with law enforcement. His wife, Yaquelin Vasques, is now raising their three children alone and said she hopes he could be released in two to three years.

An Indian citizen who entered the U.S. in 2018 without inspection was detained on July 2, 2026, following a traffic stop by Indiana State Police in Indianapolis. ICE determined he was eligible for removal proceedings and issued a warrant under 8 U.S.C. § 1226. He was placed in full removal proceedings but held at Clay County Jail without receiving a bond hearing. The court granted his habeas petition, ordering the government to either provide him an individualized bond hearing before an immigration judge or release him within ten days.

Lesli Vaca Díaz, a 29-year-old Colombian national nearly seven months pregnant, was struck by a Border Patrol agent near Douglas, Arizona on July 2 after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. She was knocked to her knees, pulled up by her jacket, and slammed against a truck while repeatedly stating she was pregnant. She was hospitalized at Banner University Medical Center in Tucson after medical staff determined she was at risk of early labor. Vaca Díaz was held incommunicado and prevented from contacting family or an attorney until July 4, according to her attorney Luis Campos. She is now in ICE custody at Eloy Detention Center.

Jose Raul Martinez-Alvarado, 40, from Honduras, was arrested by New Bedford Police on June 7 after officers found him in an apartment where a group of men were fighting and residual cocaine was present. He was charged with possession of a large capacity firearm, carrying a firearm without a license, and resisting arrest. Martinez-Alvarado posted $1,000 bail and was released from Bristol County Jail on June 9. He was then picked up by ICE on July 2. The case became the subject of a public dispute between Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux and ICE Boston, after ICE posted on social media that the jail violated federal law by releasing him without honoring an ICE detainer, citing Massachusetts law that prevents law enforcement from holding individuals solely on the basis of immigration status.

An unidentified man was detained by ICE in White Center, Seattle on July 2, 2026. According to a social media account, he was taken into custody from a vehicle while his young daughter was in the backseat. The man's mother arrived to take the child, and bystanders reported she told ICE officers the family had immigration paperwork, but he was detained anyway. Neighbors gathered at the scene, using whistles, recording, and calling 911 in response to the enforcement action.

A mother and her child were detained by ICE agents in Houston, Texas on July 2, 2026. According to the post, ICE agents used two vehicles to stop the mother's car in a parking lot near an apartment complex around 2:30 p.m. A video of the incident shows the child pleading for help as her mother was taken into custody.

Liliana, a mother of two U.S.-based children, was detained by ICE during a routine check-in in May 2017 and subsequently deported to El Salvador despite intensive advocacy efforts by immigrant rights organizations in the Washington, DC metro area, including press conferences and intervention from elected officials. The article documents her struggle to rebuild her life as a deportee facing violence, unemployment, and social stigmatization in El Salvador.

Arturo, a 48-year-old Mexican man, was arrested by ICE in Salt Lake City on Sunday, June 30, 2026, while on his way to a soccer game. His wife Veronica reported the arrest shattered their family. According to immigration attorney Ysabel Lonazco in Utah, the detention occurred during a broader ICE enforcement surge in late June.

A Nicaraguan father of two children was arrested by ICE during a routine check-in appointment on Monday, despite having an immigration court hearing already scheduled for 2027, according to his immigration attorney Cindy Blandon in Miami. The arrest occurred during a surge in which ICE detained more than 10,000 people over five days following White House directives to increase enforcement operations.

Victor Luna Lopez, a Mexican national residing in the U.S. since 2004, was detained by ICE while working as a roofer after agents observed workers on a private property roof using a drone and conducted document verification. Luna Lopez holds military parole status due to his daughter's active service in the U.S. military, which his family and attorney argue should protect him from detention. He is being held at El Valle Detention Center while his family pursues legal action and public support for his release.

Two federal judges in Iowa held ICE Supervisory Detention and Deportation Officer Quintin Erdman in civil contempt for knowingly and willfully transferring detainee Pardeep Saini from Iowa to Nebraska in direct violation of a court order blocking such transfers. In a separate case, detainee Osmar Jose Arraiz Montilla was transferred between federal judicial districts while his case was pending. The judges sharply criticized ICE officials for a pattern of repeatedly violating court orders in immigration cases, with one judge warning that noncitizens are not 'bargaining chips' to be moved based on litigation strategy.

Fourteen anti-ICE protesters affiliated with Direct Action Minnesota and the Black Cat Workers' Collective pleaded not guilty in federal court to charges of conspiring to impede immigration enforcement officers in Minnesota. The group is accused of tracking officers and setting up blockades around the Whipple Federal Building. A 15th defendant, Kyle Wagner, remains jailed after being charged in February. The court proceedings focused on managing discovery of 20 terabytes of evidence, primarily Signal chat messages between defendants.

Jeane Wong, a prominent immigration enforcement protester in San Diego, was sentenced last month to 45 days of home detention after pleading guilty to assaulting a federal officer during a law enforcement operation at an apartment complex in Linda Vista in early July. Wong told the judge in asking for a lighter sentence that she had unmasked an agent whom she said had assaulted someone else during the operation.

A Guatemalan man was the target of a federal law enforcement operation in early July at an apartment complex in Linda Vista where agents in face coverings and unmarked vehicles served a warrant. As he backed his car into a parking spot, agents surrounded his vehicle and broke his window. He was accused of striking a government vehicle as he reversed. According to his attorney, his car was surrounded by law enforcement vehicles and the agent had just broken his window. Federal prosecutors dismissed the assault charge, saying they "received additional information that has caused the pursuit of this prosecution to be reevaluated." The incident also resulted in charges against three other individuals present during the operation.

Omar Bautista Carvajal, a Colombian immigrant with a valid work permit and no criminal record who had been deemed a low safety risk, was detained by ICE agents in the Chicago area on his way to English class on October 4, 2025, as part of 'Operation Midway Blitz.' His wife, Jasbleidys Hernandez, said his health deteriorated in custody and that ICE did not prioritize his medical needs or meals. An immigration judge ordered his removal, and he was deported to Colombia in July 2026. Unable to afford living in the U.S. without his income, Hernandez and their two younger children, including daughter Victoria, packed up their lives and self-deported to Colombia to reunite with him, while their 19-year-old son Juan chose to remain in Chicago alone. Bautista Carvajal was named in a federal class-action lawsuit arguing he should not have been detained, but a court overturned an order for his release before his removal.