Human Impact Project

Jesus Eduardo Reyes Hermes, a Venezuelan national with valid Temporary Protected Status, was arrested by ICE on April 28, 2026, while working on his car outside his South-Central El Paso home. His 11-year-old son, identified in court records as J.R.C., was also detained during the incident despite both having pending asylum claims; the boy told El Paso Matters he believes the arrest stemmed from a neighbor's noise complaint to ICE. Reyes Hermes had lived in El Paso for nearly four years and was in the process of applying for a TPS exemption at the time of his arrest. He was transferred to the Camp East Montana detention facility at Fort Bliss and separated from his son. After attorneys filed federal habeas corpus petitions, a federal judge ordered bond hearings, and an immigration judge set a $5,000 bond on June 16; Reyes Hermes was released on June 24, the same day USCIS issued a negative credible fear determination triggering expedited removal proceedings against him. In July, his son requested voluntary deportation to reunite with his mother in Venezuela after three years in El Paso.

JeanCarlos Fiallos Manzanares, a 31-year-old DACA recipient from Miami, was detained by ICE agents following a traffic stop near his mother's house despite holding valid deferred action status. He was transferred to Otero County Processing Center in New Mexico, approximately 2,000 miles from his family. While detained, USCIS approved his deferred action renewal in January, but ICE did not release him. An immigration judge subsequently ordered his deportation to Honduras, and USCIS rescinded his approved deferred action protections. Fiallos Manzanares filed a lawsuit challenging his detention after a federal judge found merit to his petition, but he was deported after more than a year in custody, separated from his U.S. citizen wife and two young sons.

Fernando Vazquez, an 18-year-old U.S. citizen and landscaper born in Raleigh, North Carolina, was detained by immigration enforcement agents at a construction site in Cary during large-scale enforcement operations in the Triangle area. Despite showing his North Carolina Real ID and telling agents he was an American citizen, Vazquez was handcuffed and placed in an SUV. After agents confirmed his citizenship, Vazquez alleges they threw away his wallet and abandoned him injured in the woods, dropping him off a half mile away from the site. He subsequently filed a legal challenge with ACLU representation, alleging racial profiling and seeking damages for the wrongful arrest and mistreatment.

Aylin, a 28-year-old gay woman from Turkey who fled after being threatened by a religious group and a family member, had been granted withholding of removal by a US judge because returning to Turkey would endanger her due to her sexuality. After spending 18 months in US immigration detention, she says she was handcuffed and shackled and put on a flight she only learned mid-flight was headed to the Central African Republic, a country she had never heard of. Unable to safely live as a gay woman in Bangui, where hostility toward LGBTQ people is widespread, she ultimately returned to Turkey, telling her family she had 'changed her sexual orientation' and saying she hopes to eventually reach Europe. CNN reported she is one of several deportees sent to third countries despite court protection orders; the AP found eight of nine deportees on one January flight had similar orders, and at least 35 third-country deportation deals have been signed by US immigration authorities.

S, a Nigerian Christian, came to the United States in 2001 and applied for asylum based on her fear of religious persecution. A U.S. immigration judge found she would be persecuted if returned to Nigeria and granted her withholding of removal. She is the primary breadwinner for her four U.S. citizen children and her husband, who is disabled. At a routine ICE check-in in Los Angeles in July 2026, she was arrested, detained, and summarily deported to Ghana, separating her from her family and the country she called home for 25 years. Within 24 hours of her arrival, Ghanaian authorities refouled her to Nigeria, where she fears the persecution she fled.

A Peruvian asylum seeker and father of two US citizen toddlers, a citizen of Peru, entered the United States on June 9, 2023, and has lived and worked in the country since then, employed in the A/C mechanics and warehouse industry while paying taxes and contributing to his community. He has two toddlers who are United States citizens. After presenting himself at a port of entry and expressing fear of returning to Peru, he passed a credible fear interview and was paroled into the country to pursue asylum, with his asylum application still pending in ongoing removal proceedings. On July 1, 2026, DHS detained him after he left his local DMV office, and he argued his parole and liberty had been unlawfully revoked without notice or justification. He was held at the Denver Contract Detention Facility and filed a habeas petition seeking immediate release or, alternatively, a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a). The court found he was improperly subject to mandatory detention under § 1225(b)(2), citing prior rulings and a Tenth Circuit decision limiting that provision's application to noncitizens detained at the border. The court granted the habeas petition, ordered his immediate release without conditions such as GPS monitoring, enjoined his re-arrest absent a clear-and-convincing-evidence bond hearing, and denied his TRO/preliminary injunction motion as moot.

Daniel Ouguegazu, a Venezuelan asylum-seeker, was detained by ICE agents at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in July 2026 as he attempted to board a flight. Ouguegazu had filed an asylum application and was awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge. His family later filed a complaint alleging he faced persecution and that his case involved legal violations. According to DHS, he remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

A Mexican national who first entered the United States in February 2003 and has lived in the U.S. for over 20 years. He was apprehended by ICE in July 2026 during a routine check-in and taken into custody. He has an asylum application pending since May 1, 2023. He is currently detained at Golden State Annex Detention Facility in McFarland, California. On July 27, 2026, he filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention as violating Fifth Amendment Due Process rights. The court granted the petition in part and ordered that Respondents provide him with an individualized bond hearing before an immigration judge within 14 days, where the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that he poses a danger to the community or is a flight risk. If determined not to be a danger or flight risk, the immigration judge should consider alternative conditions of release based on his financial circumstances.

A Venezuelan national who entered the United States at age 17 and applied for asylum was arrested by police in Salt Lake City, Utah in July 2026 and subsequently transferred to the ICE Processing Center in Adelanto, California. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention as unlawful under the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause and immigration statutes, and sought a temporary restraining order for immediate release. The court denied the temporary restraining order application, finding that the alleged harms could be addressed through the court's expedited habeas corpus process.

A man who was legally in the United States and in the asylum process was detained by ICE at Chicago airport, according to his immigration attorney Joe Moravec. He is currently being held by ICE.

An unnamed woman who entered the United States legally and is in the asylum process was detained by ICE at a Washington, DC-area airport this month while traveling home to Texas to attend her father's funeral, according to her immigration attorney Joe Moravec. She is currently being held in Virginia.

A Honduran woman entered the United States without inspection near Presidio, Texas on May 6, 2019, and was encountered by U.S. Border Patrol. She was released from custody at that time with no Notice to Appear. She was subsequently placed in removal proceedings and issued an Order of Release on Recognizance in 2019. As of July 2026, she is detained at Richwood Correctional Center in Louisiana. The court denied her motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent her transfer or deportation, finding that such relief would circumvent the habeas corpus process and that she failed to meet the legal requirements for emergency injunctive relief.

A Nicaraguan citizen paroled into the United States in October 2022 was detained on July 1, 2026, when she appeared for a routine check-in appointment at the ICE Office in Los Angeles. She had complied with all release conditions, maintained employment, paid taxes, and had no criminal record for nearly four years. The court granted her petition for habeas corpus, finding that her re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated procedural due process, and ordered her release on her prior conditions within 24 hours.

An Egyptian citizen and practicing Coptic Orthodox Christian who has resided in the United States since August 2023 was taken into ICE custody on July 1, 2026, during a routine ICE check-in. He was detained at the West Tennessee Detention Facility without an individualized determination regarding the necessity of continued confinement. The court stayed his transfer and required ICE to respond to his habeas petition, noting that under Lopez-Campos v. Raycraft, noncitizens who have spent significant time in the United States interior and have not committed disqualifying offenses may not be detained without an individualized bond hearing. A second Egyptian citizen and Coptic Orthodox Christian who fled religious persecution was detained by ICE on July 1, 2026, at the West Tennessee Detention Facility. He had resided in the United States continuously since July 2023, maintained steady employment in Nashville, attended all required ICE check-ins, and had no criminal history. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention without an individualized bond hearing. The court issued an order staying his transfer and requiring the government to respond within two business days, with instructions to either distinguish the case from Lopez-Campos v. Raycraft or consent to release.

A 52-year-old asylum seeker from Mexico was detained on July 1, 2026, at an ICE check-in in San Francisco after ICE revoked her Order of Supervision without a hearing. She had been released under supervision after her 1999 removal order was reinstated on March 23, 2026, following a USCIS adjustment of status interview. The court granted her preliminary injunction, prohibiting re-detention without notice and a pre-deprivation hearing before a neutral decisionmaker, finding she had a constitutionally protected liberty interest based on the government's affirmative decision to release her.

A Colombian national who entered the U.S. without inspection in 2023 and was paroled after indicating credible fear of persecution was detained by ICE on July 1, 2026, while delivering packages for Amazon with a valid work permit. DHS and EOIR ordered his mandatory detention without bond eligibility under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A). On July 10, 2026, the U.S. District Court for Idaho granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release, finding that § 1226(a) applies because he was already present in the country and was not subject to the cited detention statutes.

Clemente Lara-Hernandez, a Mexican citizen, was the subject of an ICE arrest operation in Harrisburg on July 1, 2026. According to ICE, agents attempted a targeted vehicle stop and Lara-Hernandez drove his car into an ICE vehicle, then drove the wrong way on a one-way street and hit a civilian vehicle. An ICE agent fired one shot at his vehicle; Lara-Hernandez fled the scene and remains at large. One ICE agent sustained a hand injury. The FBI is investigating the shooting.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained 15 people during raids in Bloomington-Normal from July 1-3, 2026, according to the Immigration Project. The detainees had entered the United States legally from Venezuela, Mexico, Ecuador, and Guatemala. Most were apprehended at their workplaces throughout the community. About half were described as long-term residents, while others had recently arrived. Many had been granted humanitarian parole under the Biden administration or had applied for asylum; a few had pending family petitions. One detainee was unaware of a missed immigration court date and was ordered deported in absentia. The raids separated families and caused significant emotional and financial hardship, particularly for families whose primary breadwinner was detained. One detainee was denied a breathing machine while in confinement. The detentions are part of a nationwide ICE enforcement effort that reportedly captured more than 10,000 people during a five-day period.

Fatima Eminzada, a 24-year-old citizen of Azerbaijan, was detained by ICE on April 4, 2026, and transferred to the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana. She is pregnant in her first trimester with medical complications including hypothyroidism, possible UTI, and mild anemia. After bond was denied at a redetermination hearing on May 14, 2026, and an immigration judge denied her renewed motion for bond on June 12, 2026, she filed a federal habeas corpus petition on June 25, 2026, represented by attorneys Logan Joseph Duplessis and Giedre Stasiunaite. On July 1, 2026, the court issued a temporary restraining order and ordered ICE respondents to file a medical-status report addressing her current medical conditions, treatment, and access to medical care, with the deadline extended to July 13, 2026.

Between May 25 and May 30, 2026, ICE arrested nine individuals in New Jersey as part of enforcement operations. The arrests included: Esteban Pastor Montes Navarro (Mexico) on 5/25 with convictions for simple assault and possession of weapon; David Benitiz (Honduras) on 5/26 with convictions for simple assault, obstructing police, and public order crimes; Cesar Augusto Diaz Poveda (Ecuador) on 5/27 with arrests for assault and obstructing police; Jose Manuel Rivera-Mes (Guatemala) on 5/28 with a conviction for voluntary manslaughter and arrests for weapon offenses; Success Bounte (Ghana) on 5/28 with convictions for robbery, burglary, identity theft, and credit card fraud; Ismael Antonio Moreno-Javier (Dominican Republic) on 5/28 with arrests for terroristic threats, assault, child neglect, and fraud; Carlos Javier Llano-Batista (Dominican Republic) on 5/28 with arrests for fraud, larceny, burglary, and robbery; Jacinta Contreras Reyes (Mexico) on 5/29 with arrests for domestic violence, aggravated assault, and weapon-related charges; and Pabline Patricia Da Silva (Brazil) on 5/30 with arrests for burglary, larceny, and property damage. ICE conducted expanded enforcement operations across New Jersey, resulting in the arrests of several individuals. Marvin Miguel Perez, a Guatemalan national, was arrested on July 6 and had prior convictions in Mercer County Superior Court for unlawful possession of a weapon and theft. Jorge Vega-Meza, a Mexican national, was arrested on July 1 and had been previously removed from the United States with prior convictions related to drug distribution and racketeering. Fidel Rodriguez Lemus, a Cuban national, was arrested during the operations after being ordered removed in 2022 and having previously received a federal prison sentence in the Eastern District of Virginia. Kaitlyn Tracey, a Canadian national, was taken into custody by ICE after allegedly assaulting a teenage girl on the Point Pleasant Boardwalk, with the girl allegedly targeted for wearing pro-Trump and ICE clothing.