Human Impact Project

ICE lodged an immigration detainer against Alfonso Vasquez-Morales, a Mexican national, after he was charged in a fatal DUI crash that killed 69-year-old motorcyclist William Richard Sauer. Vasquez-Morales told deputies he had consumed several beers before crossing into oncoming traffic and striking Sauer's motorcycle. He told ICE officers he entered the U.S. without authorization through Arizona about three years ago. The Washington County Sheriff's Office, a 287(g) partner, facilitated the transfer of custody to ICE.

Annya Mari, an activist who has protested outside a Department of Homeland Security/ICE facility in Cedar Rapids for more than 20 years without prior arrest, was tackled to the ground and zip-tied by police on July 7, 2026. According to bodycam footage released by Cedar Rapids Police, two officers grabbed and pinned her arms behind her back while she was intervening during the arrest of another individual, Scott Boylen. Mari stated she was wearing a sundress, did not act aggressively, and was not a threat, expressing confusion about her arrest.

Luis Jaime-Fortin, 29, was involved in a traffic crash in Zilwaukee on July 7, 2026, after allegedly failing to yield while driving without a license, insurance, registration, or identification. Zilwaukee Police Chief Jason Wise contacted federal immigration authorities to verify his identity, then cited him for driving without a license and failing to yield before releasing him at the scene without arrest. Jaime-Fortin was later among nine workers arrested in the July 25 ICE raid at a Saginaw Township fiber optic worksite. The Latino Caucus of the Saginaw County Democratic Party criticized Wise's decision to involve federal immigration authorities, while Wise defended his actions by citing public safety concerns.

Alex Orellana, a Guatemalan resident of LaGrange, was approached by ICE agents at a traffic stop on July 7 and asked for identification and citizenship status. Orellana filmed the encounter and posted it to Facebook as part of efforts by residents to document immigration enforcement in their communities. He was ultimately allowed to leave after showing his documents. Orellana said he has lived in the area for nearly two decades and described the increased immigration enforcement activity as creating panic in the community.

Ulises Peña López, a 30-year-old Mexican carpenter and father living in Sunnyvale, California, with pre-existing conditions including a mini-stroke, blood clot, heart condition, and spinal and knee injuries, was surrounded by armed ICE agents outside his home in late February 2025. Agents smashed his truck window, pulled him out at gunpoint, and beat him unconscious in an alleyway while his wife Aby and young daughter watched, according to a federal lawsuit filed by his family with Disability Law United and Pangea Legal Services. He was hospitalized in Mountain View and allegedly shackled to his bed, with nurses passing him written notes to avoid ICE surveillance; his wife said he lost feeling in half his face and parts of his right side. During months in detention at Golden State Annex, California City Detention Facility, and other GEO Group and CoreCivic-run facilities, staff allegedly denied him a cane, hearing aids, medication, and other disability accommodations, and mocked him when he filed grievances. He was deported to Mexico in October 2025, where he says he is living in hiding, while his wife has been diagnosed with PTSD and their daughter has shown developmental regression. The family's lawsuit against DHS, ICE, GEO Group, and CoreCivic alleges civil rights, due process, and disability rights violations.

Leodegario was detained by ICE while traveling to work and is currently in immigration detention facing deportation to Mexico, a country where he has not lived for 30 years. He is a father of five children and husband who has worked to provide for his family and is known in his community for his generosity and willingness to help others. His family is fundraising for legal representation and living expenses as they fight to keep him in the United States and prevent family separation.

Anselmo Esquivel was detained by ICE on a Monday morning and is being held in Tacoma, Washington. His family describes him as a hardworking and generous man. The detention has been devastating for his entire family, who are seeking financial support during this difficult time.

Savannah Eric's father was detained during a routine ICE check-in and subsequently deported after more than 22 years living in the United States. He had no criminal convictions and consistently complied with all immigration requirements. The family has been separated for a year and is raising funds to travel and reunite with him.

Seven detainees in ICE custody at the Florence Service Processing Center in Arizona have been confirmed with measles. An unspecified number of additional detainees at the Eloy Detention Center and Central Arizona Florence Correctional Complex were placed under quarantine for possible measles exposure. Arizona Democratic representatives Greg Stanton, Yassamin Ansari, and Adelita Grijalva, along with Senators Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly, sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security demanding details about quarantine protocols, medical staffing, and whether detainees had access to legal meetings and court hearings during the lockdown. This is the second measles outbreak reported in Arizona ICE facilities in 2026, with three cases reported in February.

Three residents of Addison County were taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO) agents in the parking lot of MiddTown Dental on Court Street in Middlebury early Tuesday morning. Masked, armed federal agents converged on a vehicle in the lot; witnesses reported seeing agents cuffing and taking away at least one man. According to Rachel Elliott of Migrant Justice, none of the three detainees appeared to be children, though their identities, backgrounds, and immigration status details were not immediately disclosed. Migrant Justice, an organization serving immigrant farmworkers in Vermont, was checking on the detainees' status and providing information to their families about the legal process.

Mario Bojorjes, a North Liberty construction worker and father of three with a pending permanent residency case, was detained by ICE on July 7 after an Iowa State Trooper stopped him on Interstate 80 for a window tint violation. During the traffic stop, the trooper conducted an immigration inquiry that led to Bojorjes' arrest. He has no criminal record and was his family's primary source of income. Bojorjes is currently being held on an ICE hold at the Linn County Jail.

ICE arrested at least five immigrants at New York immigration courthouses in late June despite a federal judge's order limiting such arrests, and advocates have asked U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel to determine whether the agency violated that order. ICE says the arrests were lawful, with acting supervisory officer Roberto Rodriguez stating courthouses are the safest location because enforcement elsewhere in New York risks protests and bystander intervention. Attorney Katherine Rosenfeld's June 29 letter raised concerns about ICE's compliance and noted a near-daily ICE presence at the courthouses. Of the five arrested, three were released without explanation while two remain detained awaiting habeas corpus petitions; one was from the Dominican Republic and another from Ecuador.

Jose Enrique Ojeda Duarte, a 31-year-old Venezuelan asylum-seeker and father of two who entered the U.S. legally in 2024, was arrested by ICE agents in Chicago on September 15, 2025, while driving to work during Operation Midway Blitz. He was told he was being taken to a court date but instead spent about seven months in detention, including at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, where he described 'inhumane' conditions such as frozen or expired food and lack of medical care when he contracted COVID-19. In April 2026, despite his pending asylum case, he was deported to Venezuela; DHS later admitted in court filings that a data error in its removal system caused the wrongful deportation. After his attorneys and partner, Leydimar Castillo, pushed for his return, a federal judge intervened and he was brought back to the U.S. in June 2026, reuniting with Castillo and their two children on Chicago's South Side. He has since struggled with anxiety, insomnia and fear, saying, 'Sometimes, I get a terrible feeling, like a fear of going out.' His asylum case remains unresolved.

Erianny Rodriguez Balza, a Venezuelan woman with active Temporary Protected Status (TPS), was detained by ICE at Eloy Detention Center in Arizona for approximately 9 months. Court filings show that a federal government attorney acknowledged her legal status, yet she remained in detention despite this acknowledgment. She was eventually released after the wrongful detention.

During an ICE enforcement operation over the Independence Day weekend, five individuals with criminal convictions were arrested across multiple states. Radimir Thompson-Nagle, a Panamanian citizen, was arrested in Brooklyn with convictions for murder and assault. Marcos Rubio-Hernandez, a Mexican citizen, was arrested in North Carolina with convictions for second-degree murder and kidnapping. Roberto Gutierrez-Diaz, a Mexican citizen, was arrested in Kentucky with convictions for sodomy, sexual abuse of minors, attempted rape, and burglary. Francisco Olmedo-Silva, a Mexican citizen, was arrested with convictions spanning Oregon, Wyoming, and Pennsylvania for drug trafficking, conspiracy, escaping from custody, and robbery. Pedro Mazorra-Herrera, a Cuban citizen, was arrested in Miami with convictions for aggravated stalking, resisting an officer with violence, burglary with assault or battery, and cocaine possession.

Hebert Kaleth Ibarra Castro, a 20-year-old mariachi musician, was arrested by ICE on June 25, 2026, at a traffic stop in China Grove, Texas, while returning from a musical performance in his mariachi outfit. Castro arrived in the U.S. at age 4 on a B-2 visa fleeing violence in Mexico; ICE claims he entered illegally, though his wife states the visa expired in 2020. He was detained at a South Texas ICE facility where he remained in his mariachi attire for nearly 18 hours before being allowed to change clothes. ICE agents allegedly mocked and discriminated against him because of his traditional mariachi clothing. While in custody on July 4, Castro performed 'The Star-Spangled Banner.' His wife, Marisol Pantosi, is a U.S. citizen and filed his green card application shortly before his detention. State and federal lawmakers, including State Rep. Barbara Garvin Hawkins and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, have publicly called for his release, and mariachi artists nationwide have rallied to demand his freedom.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested one person at a construction site near Allen Street and Easterly Parkway in State College on Saturday morning. ICE officers arrived in unmarked vehicles and detained two people; one was arrested and taken into custody while the other was released. State College Borough officials denied that the police department was involved in the operation, though video posted to social media showed ICE agents regrouping at the Municipal Building's parking lot. The arrest occurred ahead of a July 6 borough council meeting to discuss a proposed ordinance restricting local police collaboration with ICE.

Rabbiatu Kuyateh, a 58-year-old nurse who spent more than 30 years in the U.S. caring for Covid-19 patients and disabled adults, was detained by ICE agents during a routine check-in in Baltimore on July 1, 2025, with her son Mohamed present. Kuyateh had fled civil war in Sierra Leone as a child and had been granted a withholding of removal protecting her from being sent back there, saying she had no criminal record: "I did not commit any crime; I always abided by the law." After four months in ICE custody, she was deported to Ghana as part of a third-country deportation, a country with which she had no ties. Video obtained by news outlets shows Ghanaian officials dragging her by her hair, shoeless and screaming, through a hotel in Accra and forcing her onward to Sierra Leone, the country a U.S. judge had ruled would endanger her life. She is now living in hiding in an undisclosed location in Africa.

The petitioner has lived in the United States continuously since 2000 and is married to a U.S. citizen wife, with four U.S. citizen children ages 14 to 24, three of whom are minors who rely on him for financial and emotional support. He owns and operates JMQ Construction Inc., a family business that supports his household. He was paroled from custody in February 2022 under ICE's Alternatives to Detention program and was later placed in withholding-only proceedings after a positive reasonable fear determination, with an appeal pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals since June 2025; he also has a pending U-visa application based on being the victim of a 2016 machete assault. On July 6, 2026, he was detained by immigration agents while appearing for a scheduled biometrics appointment at a USCIS Application Support Center in connection with renewing his work authorization, and was held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. He filed a counseled habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 seeking a bond hearing or release, arguing his re-detention without notice or a hearing violated procedural and substantive due process and the APA. The court found his re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated procedural due process and ordered him released within 24 hours on the same conditions that existed before detention, with his belongings and documents returned and a status report filed confirming compliance.

A Venezuelan family of three — father Freddys Padilla Revilla, pregnant mother Edgarianny Gervis, and their 7-year-old daughter — remain held at the Dilley Detention Center more than a month after attempting to self-deport to Venezuela. The couple had lived legally in Pecos, Texas for three years, working and maintaining ICE check-ins, and sought to leave voluntarily after discovering Edgarianny was pregnant, but say they were arrested at a July 6 ICE check-in after signing forms waiving their rights. On August 13, the family sent Sen. Katie Britt a letter, including a drawing from their daughter, asking for help returning to Venezuela, saying they were inspired by Britt's reported sympathy for another detained child. The family says Edgarianny has not received proper medical care and their daughter has said she 'wants to die' while detained.