Human Impact Project

Jose Enrique Ojeda Duarte, a 31-year-old Venezuelan asylum-seeker and father of two who legally entered the U.S. in 2024, was arrested by ICE in Chicago on September 15, 2025, while heading to work during Operation Midway Blitz. He was told he was being taken to a court date for his pending asylum case but instead spent about seven months in detention centers, including facilities in Arizona and Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, where he reported inhumane conditions such as frozen food, lack of medical care during COVID, and minimal daylight. In April 2026, he was deported to Venezuela despite his pending legal case; DHS later attributed the removal to a 'data quality issue.' His attorneys and his partner, Leydimar Castillo, pushed for his return, and he was allowed back into the U.S. in June 2026 after a federal judge's intervention, reuniting with his wife and children in Chicago. He has since struggled with anxiety, insomnia, and trauma, telling the Chicago Sun-Times, 'Sometimes, I get a terrible feeling, like a fear of going out.'

A commercial truck driver who entered the United States on April 29, 2022, was initially taken into custody by DHS and subsequently released on his own recognizance pending removal proceedings. For approximately four years, he complied with all release conditions while working lawfully as a commercial truck driver. On June 1, 2026, ICE officers re-detained him while he was at work without providing pre-deprivation notice or a hearing. The court granted his petition for habeas corpus, finding that respondents violated Fifth Amendment due process protections and ordered his immediate release with constitutional safeguards for any future detention.

On June 6, 2025, ICE and federal agents raided Ambiance Apparel, a garment manufacturer in Los Angeles's Fashion District, detaining 40-44 workers, predominantly from Indigenous Zapotec communities in Mexico. Many were restrained with chains at the waist and ankles during arrest. Families gathered outside the facility to protest what they described as kidnappings, with detainees subsequently moved between multiple detention facilities, making family contact difficult. At least one worker was deported; others remain in immigration proceedings. A year later, affected families continue facing severe economic hardship, ongoing trauma, and family separation, with children left without primary breadwinners. The raid was part of a broader workplace enforcement crackdown that included multiple operations across Los Angeles and involved deployment of the National Guard.

An 8-year-old U.S. citizen was detained in a federally contracted shelter in Brooklyn for nearly seven months after being picked up at the Mexico-U.S. border. Despite his grandmother providing federal officials with his birth certificate establishing his U.S. citizenship through his mother, the Office of Refugee Resettlement did not investigate his citizenship status. An advocate documented that the child appeared sad, isolated, and reluctant to engage during detention. He was released only after an immigration judge ruled him a U.S. citizen and a federal lawsuit was filed. He was subsequently placed with his grandmother in Brooklyn.

Paul Johnson and at least 17 other individuals were charged with assaulting federal officers during an ICE operation in Minneapolis in January 2026. Johnson reported that ICE and CBP agents boxed in his truck, swarmed him, and struck him repeatedly with punches and pepper spray. He was shackled to a hospital bed for five days following the incident. Federal prosecutors dismissed charges against all 18 defendants by June 2026 after a federal magistrate and judge raised concerns about the credibility of sworn affidavits submitted by federal agents, including one HSI agent whose statements lacked personal knowledge of events. The dismissals cited insufficient evidence and misconduct by federal agents.

Randy Cordova Flores, a 36-year-old Peruvian landscaper and father of two children enrolled in the Allegheny Valley School District, was pulled over by Springdale Borough police for a traffic violation on February 10, 2026, and turned over to ICE agents. He had entered the U.S. without documentation in 2023 and was pursuing an asylum case with valid work authorization; ICE claimed he had missed an immigration hearing, but his family and legal representatives said he had been complying with check-in requirements. He was held at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County and later transferred to Northern Regional Correctional Facility in West Virginia, where he was confined to a small cell 23 hours a day. After his family launched a legal challenge, he won release through a habeas corpus petition in June 2026, four months after his detention began, and was freed on bond with an ankle monitor while his case continues.

On June 10, 2025, ICE conducted a workplace enforcement operation at Glenn Valley Foods meatpacking plant in Omaha, Nebraska, detaining 76 employees as part of a three-month investigation into identity theft. Workers were accused of using stolen Social Security numbers from over 100 U.S. citizens to gain employment. Luis Mejia's mother was among those detained while Mejia, then 19, was released to support the separated family. Of those arrested, approximately 17 were deported immediately, 25 were released on bond, and 25 were transferred to other facilities. Most detainees remained in immigration court proceedings months later.

Legal organizations filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of four people detained at Camp East Montana, a massive immigration detention tent camp at Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, alleging severe rights violations including medical neglect, violent uses of force by officers, excessive solitary confinement, inadequate food, and dangerous living conditions. The lawsuit seeks class certification to represent all people detained at the facility and alleges violations of Fifth Amendment due process rights and the Administrative Procedure Act.

Leo Argoti Rubio, a pastry chef at Fauborg restaurant in Montclair, New Jersey, was detained by ICE on June 1, 2026 while entering a shopping center in Buffalo, New York. He had a valid work visa, a pending asylum case, a Social Security number, and a clean record. His community, including the organization Latinos of Montclair, launched a legal defense fund to support his bond costs, court fees, and emergency expenses while his asylum case proceeds.

Elvira Benitez Suarez, a 51-year-old from Sheboygan Falls who emigrated from Mexico as a teenager, was detained by ICE after accidentally crossing into Canada during a family road trip in July 2025 and reentering the U.S. A federal judge ruled her eligible for a green card in fall 2025, but she was arrested again during a check-in at the Milwaukee DHS office in March 2026 while the agency appealed. A 6th Circuit appeals court ruling on mandatory detention allowed her to file for bond, which was granted at $1,500 on May 21, 2026. She was released and checked in at the Milwaukee DHS office on June 1, 2026, with continued check-ins required as a bond condition while the Board of Immigration Appeals considers DHS's appeal.

Álvaro Salguero was detained by ICE on February 26 despite having no criminal record and an ongoing immigration process. He is a dedicated family man. His wife Karen is now solely responsible for legal fees to fight for his release, rent, utilities, and care for their 5-year-old daughter and newborn baby born four weeks prior. The family faces urgent economic hardship from his sudden detention.

Nuvia Martinez was detained after attending a routine ICE check-in appointment at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan and held in severely overcrowded conditions for days. Martinez, who has diabetes, was denied access to her required medication despite medical need. She described the facility—designed to hold people for only 12 hours—as holding dozens of detainees in small rooms with no beds or full-time medical staff. In sworn testimony, Martinez reported that women who were menstruating were bleeding through their clothes, almost no food was provided, there were no showers available, and detainees had no access to basic hygiene. She stated: "I was just a body that they crammed into a room, almost as if to be forgotten." The detention occurred as ICE arrests surged.

Carlitos Ricardo Parias, a 44-year-old Mexican immigrant from Puebla living in South Los Angeles, built a TikTok following of over 340,000 documenting ICE enforcement activity and received a Los Angeles City Council certificate of recognition for his community reporting. On October 21, 2025, federal agents attempting an immigration arrest boxed in his car near Santee High School; agents said he rammed their vehicles, and video showed 11 shots fired, striking Parias in the elbow and wounding a deputy U.S. marshal by ricochet. Councilmember Curren Price called him 'a pillar of our community, a fearless citizen journalist,' and his attorney described him as a hardworking, pacifist father of two U.S.-citizen children with no criminal record. He was charged with assault on a federal officer and property damage, then detained at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center; a federal judge later dismissed the indictment with prejudice, citing denial of counsel and missed evidence deadlines, but ICE returned him to custody afterward. After more than 300 days in detention, Parias' injured arm reportedly became discolored and atrophied without adequate treatment, with his congresswoman warning he may need amputation, and his attorney said he remains in pain.

Eri was detained by ICE and is being held at T. Don Hutto Detention Center. His sister Andrea, an active-duty U.S. Army soldier, organized a fundraiser to pay for immigration legal representation and secure his release so he can fight his case at home with family rather than remain detained.

ICE officers conducted raids at Don Patron Mexican Grill locations across West Virginia on May 30, 2026, detaining multiple workers. The enforcement action affected at least three locations in Elkins, Weston, and Bridgeport, with a fourth location in Buckhannon also closing as a result. The Elkins location closed the day after the raid.

A Honduran man who entered the United States on or about August 12, 2021, at age seventeen, and was processed by immigration officials as an unaccompanied child. He was released by the Office of Refugee Resettlement to his brother and a sponsor on August 23, 2021, and has a pending application for asylum and withholding of removal. On or about May 31, 2026, he was taken back into ICE custody after encountering law enforcement due to a driver's license related infraction. He was held at the California City Detention Center. Petitioner filed a habeas corpus petition and a motion for a temporary restraining order seeking immediate release, arguing his prior release by ORR created a liberty interest and that he was being detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1232 rather than mandatory detention provisions cited by respondents. The court agreed, citing prior similar rulings, granted the habeas petition, ordered his immediate release, and enjoined respondents from re-detaining him without notice and a hearing where the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that he is a danger or flight risk. The TRO motion was denied as moot given the habeas relief granted.

Kadeen Hunt, brought to the United States from Jamaica on a tourist visa at age 6, was detained by ICE for several months and is now facing removal proceedings. Hunt has five U.S. citizen children, one of whom is autistic and requires special support. Without legal representation, Hunt faces imminent deportation and family separation.

ICE conducted operations in Bluffton, South Carolina that resulted in the detention of over a dozen individuals. Witness footage showed nearly 20 men being escorted into a detention van. According to immigration attorney Amy Deverard, those arrested were not criminals but were detained on administrative warrants, with many caught as collateral while authorities pursued others. Families report uncertainty about their detained relatives' locations and immigration proceedings.

Jose Ortega, a 38-year-old bank employee and father figure to his stepdaughter, was recently detained by ICE and is being held in custody pending court proceedings. His spouse, Don Williams, launched a fundraiser to cover legal expenses, attorney fees, and bond costs to fight for his release and bring him home to his family in Phoenix, Arizona.

ICE detained six individuals in the Rogue Valley region of Southern Oregon between May 19 and May 29, 2026, marking a significant escalation in enforcement activity—the first notable surge since July 2025. Detentions occurred in public places including outside Jackson County Circuit Court, near parks, at workplaces, and during traffic stops. Community volunteers with Rogue Valley Migra Watch documented the incidents and tracked ICE vehicle sightings in the area.