Human Impact Project

The petitioner was paroled into the United States on June 26, 2019, and issued a Notice to Appear; he later filed for asylum and withholding of removal, and an immigration judge dismissed his Notice to Appear. On August 11, 2026, ICE apprehended him in Burbank, California, following his arrest for possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia, and he was served a new Notice to Appear the same day. He has since been detained at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. His family lost contact with him on August 19, 2026, and his attorney later learned he had suffered a possible stroke, was hospitalized for one night, and then returned to detention, where he says he needs prompt surgical evaluation; he also alleges the facility has withheld timely health information from his counsel. He filed a habeas petition and sought a temporary restraining order seeking immediate release, telephone access to counsel and family, a medical evaluation, or a bond hearing. The court found he was denied constitutionally required pre-detention process and granted the TRO, ordering his immediate release under his prior conditions of supervision and referring the underlying habeas petition to a magistrate judge.

Jimy Samuel Godoy Alfaro, an 18-year-old Honduran man, was confronted by ICE agents in the parking lot of a market in Columbia, Maryland, after agents mistakenly linked his vehicle to another person with a deportation order. When agents ordered him out of the car and tried to break his window, he drove off, striking an ICE agent who was later treated at a hospital for trauma and abrasions. Godoy Alfaro turned himself in to Howard County Police on hit-and-run related traffic charges and is being held without bond at the Howard County Detention Center, while ICE has lodged a detainer seeking custody of him.

A 49-year-old citizen of the Dominican Republic entered Puerto Rico without inspection around 1998 and has lived in the United States for more than 28 years without any reported criminal history. He has two U.S.-citizen children, ages 20 and 12, whom he financially supports, and he also supports his U.S.-citizen mother, who has documented illnesses; his mother twice filed I-130 petitions on his behalf, both of which were approved. On August 11, 2026, seven masked ICE agents approached and detained him in San Juan, Puerto Rico while he was waiting to retrieve electrical materials for a job, and he was taken into immigration custody without prior warning. He is currently detained at the GSA Guaynabo Immigration Center. He filed a habeas corpus petition arguing his detention violates the INA and his Fifth Amendment due process rights, along with an emergency motion for a TRO seeking to block his transfer out of Puerto Rico and to obtain a bond hearing. The court found he is likely governed by the discretionary detention framework of 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) rather than mandatory detention, and granted the TRO, ordering that he not be transferred outside the District of Puerto Rico and that he receive a bond hearing before an Immigration Judge by August 25, 2026. The habeas petition itself was held in abeyance pending further briefing from the government.

A 9-year-old child with special medical needs and their parent, Adrián Espinoza De La Cruz, were detained by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents on August 11 and are being held at the Havre Border Patrol Station, according to a petition filed in federal court by attorneys with Upper Seven Law. The petition alleges the arrest was made without a judicial warrant and that the facility lacks basic amenities such as proper bedding, despite the family's ties to Billings, where the parent has lived for four years and the child for three years while attending elementary school. The child has upcoming medical appointments, including bloodwork and an ultrasound, that took months to schedule. The U.S. Attorney's Office acknowledged the warrantless arrest but argued releasing the parent and child would not be appropriate, while attorneys are seeking their immediate release or a bond hearing as part of a broader case alleging the government is unlawfully detaining 17 people at the Cascade County Detention Center.

An Indian national is detained at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. He first filed a habeas petition and TRO motion on December 17, 2025, after which a district judge ordered an individualized bond hearing and barred his transfer out of the district; an immigration judge subsequently denied bond on the merits. After briefing on the merits, the parties voluntarily dismissed that case without prejudice on August 5, 2026. Six days later, with new counsel, he filed a second habeas petition seeking the same relief—immediate release or a bond hearing—along with another emergency TRO application, citing ongoing detention, an unevaluated cardiac abnormality (documented via ECGs showing sinus tachycardia and T wave abnormality), and the lapse of the prior no-transfer order. The magistrate judge denied the TRO application without prejudice, finding no showing of imminent irreparable harm beyond what standard expedited habeas briefing could address, noting his own dismissal created the transfer risk, and pointing to General Order 26-05's two-day transfer notice requirement. The court ordered the government to answer the petition by August 18, 2026, with the matter to be submitted for final disposition shortly after.

Petitioner, a national of Honduras, is currently detained at ICE's Washington Field Office in Chantilly, Virginia under 8 U.S.C. § 1231 pursuant to a final order of removal. An Immigration Judge previously granted her application for Withholding of Removal, which legally prohibits her removal to Honduras. Despite this protection, she remains in ICE custody and fears she may be removed to a third country instead. She filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 arguing that her continued detention violates her due process rights under Zadvydas v. Davis. She also filed a Motion for Temporary Restraining Order seeking to block her removal to a third country while her habeas petition is pending. The court granted the TRO, enjoining respondents from removing or transferring her from the district, and ordered respondents to show cause by August 17, 2026 why the habeas petition should not be granted, with any reply due by August 21, 2026.

Daniela, a Salvadoran woman, was detained by ICE while three months pregnant. She suffered a miscarriage during her detention. She now wears an ankle monitor and fears deportation to El Salvador, the country she fled after being a victim of crime.

Magdalena Jimenez Juan and her husband Antonio Pedro Andres came to the United States from Guatemala over 25 years ago seeking medical treatment for their son Rafael, who has Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a genetic neurological disorder causing progressive muscle weakness. The couple has four American citizen children, including their 18-year-old son Yoni who also has the same rare disorder and requires wheelchair assistance. Despite ICE permitting them to live and work in the country for decades and their documented medical hardship and clean criminal record, ICE denied their stay of removal on June 23 without explanation. Antonio is detained at Krome Detention Center in Miami awaiting deportation to Guatemala, and Magdalena has until August 27 to self-deport or face detention. If deported, Yoni and Rafael will be placed in state custody while their 22-year-old brother Ervi becomes the sole guardian of their 15-year-old sister Erica.

A member of the Delgado family was arrested by ICE in San Antonio, Texas. According to community members, the family has been part of the San Antonio community for a long time, with children attending local schools and parents involved in community activities including youth sports and advocacy for community rights.

Daniela lost her three-month pregnancy while in immigration detention custody. She was transferred between detention facilities across multiple U.S. states over nearly four months and reports she did not receive appropriate medical treatment for her pregnancy while detained.

Indoniel Lázaro Barrio, a 15-year-old Cuban boy, was deported from the United States to Guyana with his father. After his father's sudden death, the boy was left alone in Guyana. His mother, Indala Saura, a legal resident in Miami, is seeking urgent help to bring her son back to Florida, where he had lived and studied for the past four years.

The United States has deported hundreds of unaccompanied Mexican children on flights to southern Mexico cities including Tapachula, Villahermosa, and Mérida, where human rights organizations confirm more than 350 cases. Many children lack resources to return home safely and have become stranded in unfamiliar cities with inadequate local support services. Some children have disappeared from shelters, and human rights advocates have received information suggesting possible deaths of at least three children attempting to return to their home communities. The policy, discovered in December 2024, represents a shift from prior practice of rapid deportations at the land border where children received care through Mexico's child welfare system.

Jasmir Urbina, a 35-year-old Nicaraguan asylum-seeker living legally in New Orleans with her husband, was defrauded by a scammer posing as attorney "Susan Millan" affiliated with Catholic Charities USA. Through WhatsApp messages and fake documents, the scammer convinced Urbina she had won residency in a virtual hearing and instructed her to skip her real immigration court check-in scheduled for November 24, 2025. Urbina and her husband paid nearly $10,000 through Zelle for the fraudulent services—money they had saved to purchase their first home. After reporting the fraud to authorities, ICE changed her scheduled December virtual check-in to an in-person meeting. When Urbina appeared for the in-person appointment, ICE agents arrested her, shackled her hands and feet, and deported her to Nicaragua in January 2026. She is now living with her mother in a remote village in Nicaragua, separated from her husband who remains in the U.S. Her case was documented in a ProPublica investigation revealing that immigration scam complaints have doubled since Trump's election, with victims reporting at least $94.4 million stolen over five years.

The petitioner is a 23-year-old native and citizen of Russia who entered the U.S. with his parents and siblings in October 2022 and has remained continuously in the country since, complying with all reporting and immigration court requirements with no criminal history. He and his family applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. He suffers from moderate atopic bronchial asthma requiring inhaled medication and severe, recurrent leg cramps aggravated by confinement. After an immigration judge ruled against him and his family on August 3, 2026 (an appeal now pending before the BIA), he was instructed to report to ICE for a scheduled check-in, where officers took him into custody without prior notice or an opportunity to contest the detention, and denied his requests to contact family or obtain his medication. He was transported to and remains held at Adelanto Detention Facility without a bond hearing. He filed a habeas petition and TRO application seeking immediate release, and the government did not oppose the petition. The court granted the petition, ordering his immediate release and barring re-detention absent notice and a hearing showing materially changed circumstances.

A witness recorded video of ICE agents using a vehicle to pin a Guatemalan man against a fence to detain him on Aug. 10 in Hallandale Beach. The footage sparked outrage among activists from several organizations, including the Guatemalan-Maya Center and 50501, who gathered to protest at Hallandale Beach City Hall. Advocates said the incident occurred amid an escalation in ICE activity across South Broward and North Miami following the end of TPS, and called on the Hallandale Beach Police Department to document federal misconduct and avoid partnering with ICE under 287(g) agreements.

Amina Khalifa, a 23-year-old Seattle resident from Morocco who came to the U.S. on a student visa in 2023, was arrested by ICE agents as she stepped off a flight at Sea-Tac International Airport, returning from a vacation in Puerto Rico. Her visa has expired, but she has a pending asylum application and no criminal record, and holds a work authorization permit while employed as a bank teller. Her lawyer, Olia Catala, said Khalifa fled Morocco due to fears of persecution and violence, and colleagues consider her a responsible and respected community member. She was taken to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma.

On August 10, 2026, ICE agents detained at least 33 people across the Capital Region of New York, including Albany, Schenectady, and Colonie, in more than 15 separate incidents over roughly six hours. Among those detained was a family of four, including two children, who were separated and sent to two different detention facilities, with one family member transferred to the Dilley Detention Center in Texas. The Capital Region Sanctuary Coalition, which documented the incidents, said the true number detained may be higher since ICE was also seen patrolling additional neighborhoods that day.

A Guatemalan teenager who fled to the US in 2022 at age 16 to escape domestic violence has lived in the country for about four years. He was initially processed as an unaccompanied minor, held by DHS/ORR, and released to his aunt, a vetted sponsor, after being deemed neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community. He currently lives in Daly City with his mother, works at a Korean restaurant, and has no criminal history. On August 10, 2026, four ICE officers arrested him outside his home, handcuffed him despite his complaints of pain, and drove him to a parking structure where he was pressured to sign a document. He filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and a TRO motion challenging the lawfulness of his detention and seeking release plus protection from re-detention without notice and a hearing. The court found he was likely to succeed on his procedural due process claims and granted the TRO, ordering his immediate release, barring removal or transfer out of the district, and setting a show cause hearing for August 24, 2026.

Iliana Noeli Lick, 30, an Argentine national who legally entered the U.S. on a tourist visa and was awaiting an asylum interview with USCIS, was arrested by ICE at Philadelphia International Airport on July 11 while attempting to travel to Kansas City to watch the Argentina national team play in the World Cup quarterfinal. Lick has worked as a nanny caring for three young children in South Philadelphia for two years and has no criminal record. She was transferred between multiple ICE detention facilities in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico, where she was held with nine others in a small cell with one window and one toilet. After one month in custody, Lick was released on a $10,000 bond and required to surrender her passport and license and wear an ankle monitor. She is awaiting a court date to determine whether she will be deported or allowed to remain in the country.

Haitian immigrant Monsanto Maler collapsed to the ground in tears after leaving an ICE check-in appointment in Blue Ash, Ohio on Sunday while wearing an ankle monitor. Maler had reported to ICE after his Temporary Protected Status ended following a Supreme Court decision allowing the Trump administration to terminate TPS for roughly 350,000 Haitians. Reports indicate some former TPS holders were told to accept monitoring or face detention or deportation. The emotional breakdown was captured on video by a photojournalist and became widely shared across social media and news outlets.