Human Impact Project

Victor Manuel Rocha, a former U.S. ambassador to Bolivia and State Department official, was convicted in 2024 of conspiring to act as an agent for Cuban intelligence services for over 50 years beginning in 1973. Rocha obtained U.S. citizenship in 1977-1978 through false statements, concealing his communist affiliations and espionage activities. He is serving a 15-year prison sentence. In May 2026, federal prosecutors filed a civil denaturalization complaint seeking to revoke his citizenship, alleging he fraudulently obtained naturalization by lying about his ties to Cuba and the Communist Party and concealing his decades-long work as a covert intelligence operative.

Pin He, a native of China, was targeted for denaturalization for obtaining citizenship under the identity Pin He in 2013 after being ordered removed under the name Chun Di He in 1992. He applied for immigration benefits under a different identity the following year and obtained permanent residence in 2007 without disclosing his prior removal order.

Abdallah Osman Sheikh, a resident of Fairdale, Kentucky, was targeted for denaturalization for concealing that he possessed indecent digital images of two minors in July 2019 while serving in the Marines and posted such an image to social media. He also received an other-than-honorable discharge from the Marines for misconduct, disqualifying him from naturalization based on military service.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a denaturalization lawsuit against Abduvosit Razikov, a 46-year-old Uzbek citizen, alleging he obtained permanent residency and U.S. citizenship through fraudulent means. According to the complaint, Razikov paid for a fake marriage in 2005 to obtain a green card, organized additional fraudulent marriage schemes for others, and gave false statements during naturalization proceedings in 2012. The DOJ argues his citizenship should be revoked because it was obtained through fraud and concealment of material facts.

Kevin Robin Suarez, a native of Bolivia, was targeted for denaturalization after pleading guilty in 2020 to conspiracy involving the illegal purchase and trafficking of firearms through straw purchasers from South Florida to Bolivia and other Latin American countries for drug trafficking organizations. The conspiracy began in May 2016 and continued ten months after his January 2017 naturalization, during which he lacked the required good moral character.

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a case to revoke the citizenship of Baboucarr Mboob, 58, a native of Ndungu Kebbeh, Gambia, accusing him of concealing war crimes during his U.S. naturalization in 2011. Mboob, who entered the U.S. in 2002, previously served as a military police officer and orderly under former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh, and in 2019 testimony before The Gambian Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission admitted to participating in the 1994 execution of six fellow officers, naming five victims: Lt. Gibril Saye, Lt. Buba Jammeh, Lt. Bakary Manneh, Cadet Amadou Sillah and Lt. Abdoulie Bah. The case is part of a broader DOJ action against 12 individuals accused of offenses including war crimes, support for terrorism and sexual abuse of a minor, with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stating that those who concealed such histories during naturalization will face legal consequences.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil complaint in federal court seeking to denaturalize Salah Osman Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Minnesota. Ahmed was naturalized in August 2007, months before providing material support to al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization. In 2009, he pleaded guilty to one count of providing material support to terrorists after admitting to attending secret meetings in Minneapolis in 2007, traveling to Somalia in December 2007 to help build a training camp, receiving weapons training including on PKM machine guns, and raising money from the Somali-American community. He served three years in prison and was granted relief from supervised release in 2022. The DOJ contends Ahmed was not genuinely attached to U.S. constitutional principles at the time of naturalization and must prove by clear and convincing evidence that his citizenship was not obtained through fraud or misrepresentation.

Khalid Ouazzani, a native of Morocco, was targeted for denaturalization after pleading guilty in 2010 to bank fraud, money laundering, and providing material support to Al-Qaeda. He falsely swore attachment to the U.S. Constitution during his 2005 citizenship application and 2006 naturalization, while planning with others to support terrorism and sending tens of thousands of dollars to Al-Qaeda by 2007.

José 'Poni' Góngora Poot, a cook who worked at Portland restaurant Güero for a decade, was detained by ICE agents on May 8 while driving to work near his home. He was removed from his vehicle and taken into custody. Góngora Poot is being held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington. A GoFundMe fundraiser was created to support him, raising over $30,000.

An ICE deportation charter flight operated by Omni Air held passengers shackled at the wrists, waists, and ankles for over 69 hours during a multi-country journey from Guam through Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. The passengers included elders, people with disabilities, and individuals who had agreed to voluntary departure, with limited ability to move during the lengthy transport.

Virginia was detained in January 2026 during the Midway Blitz Operation in St. Paul, Minnesota. She was transferred to Adelanto Detention Center in California, where a judge set her bond at $35,000. She was released in CA, where she had no contacts, without any means for returning home to MN.

Ana Delgado, a Venezuelan woman with Temporary Protected Status and an active family-based immigration petition filed by her U.S. citizen husband, was detained by ICE on April 29, 2026, after an agent posing as an ISAP case manager deceived her into stepping outside her home in Texas. Nine ICE officers surrounded her and took her into custody, separating her from her 4-year-old child and 1-year-old daughter whom she was breastfeeding. While postpartum and nursing, Ana was held at Karnes detention center in Texas before being transferred to Eloy detention center in Arizona. She developed severe mastitis as a result of separation from her nursing infant and was denied requests to breastfeed during visitation and denied access to a breast pump. Ana has no criminal record and was in the process of adjusting status through her husband's sponsorship. ICE indicated she may be deported by Mother's Day. Ana Delgado, a TPS holder and stay-at-home mother who had lived in the U.S. for 7 years, was detained during a routine at-home check-in at her residence in San Antonio, Texas on April 29th. She was subsequently deported, separating her from her two young children, Hannah (12 months old) and Isaiah (4 years old). Delgado had been in the process of renewing her TPS and applying for adjustment of status after marrying a U.S. citizen.

Anstasiia and Andrei, Russian activists who fled Russia fearing retaliation for their involvement with the Navalny campaign, sought political asylum in the U.S. but were detained at separate ICE facilities in Louisiana. Anstasiia was held at Basile ICE jail, where she alleges she was stripped naked and confined to a glass room for 24 hours. She also reported that women detainees were subjected to male guards while showering and using the bathroom. Andrei was detained at Allen Parish Public Safety Complex. The facilities are reported to have conditions including physical and sexual abuse, medical neglect, rat infestations, black mold, expired food, and prolonged solitary confinement.

Carlos Della Valle, a Mexican national and long-term resident of Chester County, Pennsylvania, was detained by ICE in December 2024 after being arrested at an airport in St. Thomas while on family vacation. He was held across 12 different detention facilities, including centers in Louisiana and Florida, and reported inhumane conditions during his confinement. Despite claiming a judge had declared him not guilty, Della Valle was detained under a 1997 deportation order. His wife Angela, a U.S. citizen, and supporters rallied for his release. He was released in late April 2026 after 258 days in custody and returned to his home in Chester County.

Maria Trinidad Loya Medina, a Mexican national who lived in Albany, Oregon for over 20 years and was the primary caregiver for her husband and two U.S. citizen children, was detained by ICE agents on January 10, 2026, during Operation Black Rose while shopping at a sporting goods store in Albany. She was held at Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington for four months. An immigration judge denied her bond request on February 4 after a brief hearing, despite evidence of strong community ties and no criminal history. On May 7, Federal Judge Grady J. Leupold ordered her immediate release, finding that the immigration judge violated her constitutional due process rights by failing to consider relevant factors and abusing discretion in denying bond. The judge cited documented harm to her family, including her husband's stroke and daughter's depression. ICE delayed her release until May 8.

Iris Dayana Monterroso-Lemus, detained by ICE at Richwood Correctional Center in Louisiana after missing a court hearing in a child custody case, lost her pregnancy mid-term while in custody and was deported to Guatemala in May 2025. Medical staff performed invasive procedures and administered medication without her consent or clear explanation, and she was returned to detention despite severe pain and bleeding, with ICE denying follow-up care for over two months until she was treated for an infection after deportation. She now lives in a rural area of Petén, Guatemala without reliable electricity or running water, separated from her partner, Gary Bivens, who keeps their son's ashes until they can bury him together, and from her three children, who remain in Lenoir City, Tennessee with her mother. Department of Homeland Security data shows 16 recorded miscarriages in ICE custody between January 2025 and February 2026, during which 363 pregnant, postpartum, or nursing women were deported.

Federal immigration agents were spotted at four Cook County courthouses on May 7, 2026, where they arrested at least one person. One person was detained at the Branch 23 & 29 courthouse for a misdemeanor property damage charge that was dismissed. Since February, federal agents have been at or nearby Cook County courthouses at least once a week, detaining at least 12 people at the facilities. Public defenders and watchdog groups said the arrests violate state law and undermine due process rights. The previous Tuesday, federal agents detained a man at the Clinton Blue Line station following his appearance at domestic violence court, using a taser and throwing him against a wall.

Brulan, a Haitian man who has lived in Marathon for 22 years and held valid Temporary Protected Status, was detained during a routine traffic stop on April 12, 2026, and spent nearly a month in ICE custody, including at the state-run "Alligator Alcatraz" facility in the Everglades, before being deported to Haiti on May 7 despite a federal judge's order keeping TPS protections in place. Working three jobs as a bus driver, hotel worker, and restaurant employee, Brulan sent money home every two weeks to support as many as 50 family members in Haiti. In Haiti, he encountered armed gangs controlling highways and the capital, feared for his life, and remained confined to his brother's house. His lawyer filed a wrongful detention lawsuit, and Brulan was allowed to return to South Florida two weeks after deportation; public records show only traffic citations in his background and an outstanding 2004 deportation order before he later obtained TPS, and his restaurant employer described him as a "very good soul." His case follows a similar deportation of a Tampa man with Venezuelan TPS, as the Supreme Court weighs the future of Haiti's protections, which a federal judge has kept in place through at least July 1.

An immigration detainee with no criminal history was re-detained by ICE during routine non-detained lobby duties at the Dallas Field Office. The court granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release, finding no evidence of any encounter with law enforcement other than ICE's re-detention. The court enjoined respondents from re-detaining him without clear and convincing evidence that he is a flight risk or danger to the community.

A man previously granted humanitarian parole filed a habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 challenging his detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The petitioner was being held in ICE custody and sought release from that detention. On May 20, 2026, the United States District Court for the Central District of California granted the unopposed habeas petition. The court ordered that he be released from ICE custody immediately on the original terms of his humanitarian parole. Additionally, the court ordered that respondents return all identification documents that had been confiscated from the petitioner.