Human Impact Project

Miguel Rosas Ruiz, a 50-year-old widowed father of four U.S. citizen children in Michigan who has run Rosas Painting in Ypsilanti since 2003, was detained by ICE on March 10, 2026, after being intercepted near Carpenter Road while on his way to work. He was held at the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, while his oldest daughter, Morelia Rosas Martinez, 22, postponed her college plans to care for her three younger siblings and raised over $20,000 through a GoFundMe campaign. Rosas Ruiz challenged his detention in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, which conditionally ruled on April 9 that his detention violated his Fifth Amendment due process rights; he was granted bond at an April 15 hearing and reunited with his family the next day. His case is one of more than 100 identified by CNN involving U.S. citizen children separated from parents through ICE enforcement actions in 2025.

A Nicaraguan citizen who entered the U.S. in December 2022 and was initially released on parole was re-detained on April 16, 2026 during a routine ICE check-in in Los Angeles. He had been complying with all supervision requirements for over three years, was employed as a caregiver for Los Angeles County, and had a pending asylum application. The court ordered his release within 24 hours, finding his re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated due process.

Willian Yacelga Benalcazar fled criminal gang threats in Ecuador and sought asylum in the U.S. after crossing the border in August 2023. He was detained for five months across multiple ICE facilities, where he reported catching a virus, poor conditions including contaminated water, and difficulty accessing food. Under the Trump administration's third-country deportation policy, he faced deportation to Honduras rather than Ecuador. After learning he could face three to four additional months in detention, he abandoned his asylum case and agreed to voluntary departure to Ecuador on April 16, 2026.

José and his family from Venezuela entered the U.S. legally in 2024 using the CBP One app and received parole to live and work while their asylum cases were pending. After their immigration court hearing in June 2025 was dismissed under a Trump administration order, they were arrested outside the courtroom and detained for a month at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley. Following their release, the family decided to abandon the asylum process and purchased one-way plane tickets back to Venezuela.

A 34-year-old Indian national was arrested by the Florida Highway Patrol on April 16, 2026. He entered the United States on a B-2 visa in March 2016 that expired in May 2019, and he remained in the country without valid immigration status. He is being held at the Duval County Pre-Trial Detention Facility, where ICE encountered him and initiated immigration proceedings, with a custody determination to follow the resolution of his state case. His next court appearance is scheduled for May 7.

ICE detained five Myanmar nationals in Buffalo, New York during an enforcement operation targeting undocumented migrants. One person was arrested while waiting to deliver packages at a warehouse in Pembroke. Community members identified the detainees as asylum seekers.

A police chief and officer from Gratis, Ohio, attempted to enter three Cincinnati Public Schools on April 15, claiming to conduct wellness checks on behalf of ICE. School officials denied them entry without warrants or specific student requests. The officers, from a department with an ICE partnership agreement, were outside their jurisdiction. Cincinnati officials, including the mayor, condemned the visit, stating the officers intimidated children and families.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained two Bhutanese refugees from Central Pennsylvania over the weekend. Both men are permanent residents on a path to U.S. citizenship. The detentions are part of an ongoing pattern where the Trump administration is deporting Bhutanese refugees back to Bhutan, which then re-deports them to India without travel documents, leaving them stateless.

Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., an ICE agent, was charged with two counts of second-degree assault following an incident on February 5, 2026, on a Minnesota highway near the Crosstown at Minnesota 62 and Interstate 35W. Morgan allegedly pointed his duty weapon at occupants of another vehicle after claiming the other driver cut him off while he was driving illegally on the shoulder. The occupants of the other vehicle were unaware Morgan was a law enforcement officer, as he was not in uniform and his vehicle had no law enforcement markings. The criminal charges were formally filed against Morgan in connection with the alleged assault.

Security camera footage captured immigration agents detaining a person at a gas station in Easton, Maryland while the person was fueling a vehicle. The detention occurred in broad daylight in a public space.

Joytu Chowdhury, a 24-year-old former international student from Bangladesh who studied finance and computer science at Illinois Wesleyan University, self-deported after spending two months in ICE detention, which he described as inhumane. He said he had initially planned to fight his case and reunite with his U.S. citizen wife but ultimately felt "completely shattered" and gave up. The Department of Homeland Security disputed his account, saying its facilities meet medical and basic standards and that it provided him a ticket home at no cost. A fundraiser has been organized to help him return to the United States.

Venezuelan physician Rubeliz "Bibi" Bolívar and her 5-year-old daughter Milena were detained by ICE while Bolívar was en route to an asylum interview. Bolívar held a valid work permit (EAD) and an approved I-485 employment-based visa petition. The organization Médicos Unidos Venezuela demanded their immediate release. A Venezuelan physician was detained by immigration authorities in Nashville while attending an official asylum appointment. The detention followed an administrative change to his case after it was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. He is currently held in custody in Louisiana and has health concerns including hypertension, severe scoliosis, and recent respiratory symptoms. Dr. Rubeliz Bolivar, an emergency medicine resident in McAllen, Texas, was detained by ICE at McAllen International Airport on April 11, 2026, while traveling with her five-year-old U.S. citizen daughter to a scheduled asylum interview in California. Dr. Bolivar held a valid work permit and had pending asylum and green card applications. She was released from custody the same night.

Bruno Guedes da Silva, a Brazilian man who fled to the U.S. in 2022 seeking asylum, was detained by ICE agents in Sewickley, Pennsylvania on February 21, 2026, despite possessing valid work authorization, a Social Security number, and a driver's license. ICE cited a warrant for felony charges related to firearms and falsification of documents, though those criminal charges were later dropped related to allegedly lying about his immigration status on a firearm purchase application in July 2024. His 6-year-old daughter, Maria, began chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma shortly after his detention. Da Silva was held at Northern Regional Jail in Moundsville, West Virginia, until a judge granted him bond on immigration charges in April 2026, allowing him to reunite with his daughter.

An asylum seeker from India entered the United States on September 16, 2023, and was initially released on an Order of Release on Recognizance with conditions including ATD monitoring and regular ICE reporting. On April 15, 2026, he was arrested by ICE and detained at Golden State Annex Detention Facility in McFarland, California. The government argued his detention was mandatory under expedited removal procedures under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2), but provided no justification or due process hearing. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California granted his habeas corpus petition, finding that his re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The court ordered his immediate release and enjoined respondents from re-detaining him unless they provide seven days' notice and hold a bond hearing before a neutral arbiter where the government must demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that he is a flight risk or danger to the community.

A transgender community health worker and member of the Transformative Justice Law Project was detained by ICE on April 15, 2026, in Maryland and later transferred to a detention facility in Louisiana. Granted Withholding of Removal in 2015, she has lived in the U.S. for nearly 40 years, has family in Chicago, and owns a home in Baltimore where she worked with transgender youth. She has a pending U-Visa application and a Habeas Corpus petition before a federal court, and her family has launched a fundraiser to cover legal fees and living expenses while she awaits release.

A Colombian citizen entered the United States without inspection on March 7, 2023, near Lukeville, Arizona. She was issued a Notice to Appear for removal proceedings on March 8, 2023, and enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program on March 9, 2023, where she was released on her own recognizance. On April 5, 2026, she was arrested for driving under the influence by the California Highway Patrol. On April 15, 2026, she reported to a regularly scheduled ICE check-in and was detained for violating ATD program guidelines by having a criminal arrest. She is currently detained at the California City Detention Facility. She filed a habeas corpus petition challenging her detention as a violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, arguing the government's claim of mandatory detention under expedited removal procedures is unlawful. The federal court granted her petition and ordered respondents to provide her with an individualized bond hearing before an immigration judge within 14 days, where the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that she is a flight risk or danger to the community.

Michelle Mendoza, a U.S. citizen and mother of two young children, was detained by ICE agents on April 15, 2026, during a school drop-off at the intersection of Main Street and Bangs Avenue in Asbury Park, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Agents took her to the ground, causing visible bruising, and handcuffed her in front of her children (ages 9 and 1). Some ICE agents covered their faces during the arrest, allegedly violating New Jersey state law prohibiting masked officers during enforcement actions. Mendoza was released without charges after eight hours at the Newark ICE detention center (Delaney Hall), though her husband remained in ICE custody. The incident prompted community protests and statements from city officials and state legislators.

A lawyer for two detainees at a Florida immigration detention facility known as "Alligator Alcatraz" said guards beat and pepper-sprayed several detainees on April 2 after they complained about non-functioning phones needed to reach family and attorneys. One detainee was punched, thrown down, kicked and restrained with a knee to the neck, while another detainee not represented by the lawyer had a wrist broken; phone service was restored the next day without explanation. The incident was detailed in a court filing accusing state and federal officials of violating a federal judge's injunction requiring timely, confidential legal phone access, part of a lawsuit alleging First Amendment violations. State officials have denied restricting detainees' access to attorneys.

A Santa Maria man's five-year-old daughter was released after 20 hours in ICE detention at a Texas airport. The child's mother, Dr. Rubilez Bolivar, a Venezuelan national with valid work visas and a pending asylum case who was in medical residency in southern Texas, remains in ICE custody after an immigration official declared her documents invalid.

Ezequiel Vélez Cáceres, a 32-year-old Venezuelan physician, was detained by ICE at a Border Patrol checkpoint in Sarita, Texas on April 9, 2026, while traveling with his U.S. citizen spouse after his Temporary Protected Status (TPS) was cancelled. Vélez entered the U.S. legally in 2018 on a student visa to revalidate his medical credentials and had been working at a hospital in McAllen before resigning after losing TPS eligibility. He was in the process of obtaining a work visa when detained. On April 15, 2026, his immigration attorney appeared before a federal court judge arguing for his release. His attorney described him as "an example of the type of migrant our country should have," and the court ordered his release from the McAllen immigration detention center, despite prosecution arguments citing flight risk.