Human Impact Project

ICE arrested Jose Jairo Rivas-Santiago, 32, a Honduran national, on June 15 after he was released from a Virginia correctional facility where he was serving a 30-year sentence for first-degree murder and armed robbery. In 2019, ICE Homeland Security Investigations special agents had arrested him on armed robbery and conspiracy charges and turned him over to the Richmond City Police Department for prosecution, leading to his 2021 conviction. ICE had lodged an immigration detainer with Coffeewood Correctional Center following that conviction. Rivas-Santiago is now in ICE custody awaiting removal to Honduras under a previously issued final order of removal.

Between June 15 and July 3, 2026, ICE carried out intensified enforcement operations across the Kansas City metropolitan area during the World Cup, detaining at least 30 people according to the KC Community Defense Coalition. Enforcement concentrated in Wyandotte County and Johnson County—including Kansas City, Kansas, Olathe, and Northeast Kansas City—areas with significant Hispanic and Latino populations. Among those detained was a Northeast Kansas City father of four, a stay-at-home dad whose wife works evening shifts in healthcare; five masked ICE agents detained him in his front yard while mowing his lawn, leaving his young children to wake and find him gone. Separately, federal authorities arrested at least six people at La Fontanella Foods, a food manufacturing warehouse in Northeast Kansas City, on July 9, 2026. The surge reflects national ICE directives to increase arrests to 2,000 per day and deploy 80% of officers to arrest operations, part of the Trump administration's intensified immigration enforcement push.

José Pineda, originally from El Salvador with Temporary Protected Status and over 30 years in the U.S., was detained by ICE agents while working his construction job despite having no criminal record and a valid work permit. He was held in Burlington's ICE office for two days and slept on the floor of a cell with at least 50 other people. ICE agents told him that only people born in the U.S. have rights and that his work permit did not matter. After two days of public pressure and advocacy by Centro Presente, Pineda was released, but his family remains fearful of going out in public.

Gabriela Soto's husband has been detained at Delaney Hall ICE facility in Newark since January. Soto and her children have been repeatedly denied visits more than 10 times due to alleged dress code violations, including rejection of her 11-month-old's onesie and her 4-year-old's leggings as 'provocative.' The facility has also faced scrutiny for unsanitary conditions and tuberculosis control issues, with mass protests erupting outside and detainees reportedly participating in a hunger strike.

Jenner Edilzar Roldan-Perez, a Guatemalan national, was arrested by ICE agents at Kane County Courthouse on June 15, 2026. According to DHS, Roldan-Perez has a prior arrest for battery and domestic violence and has been subject to a removal order since October 2019.

Felipe Linares de Oliveira Dell Aquilla, a Brazilian noncitizen, was arrested on June 5, 2026, during a traffic stop in Mooresville, North Carolina. According to law enforcement, he was a commander of two Brazil-based organizations designated as foreign terrorist organizations and held an international arrest warrant from Brazil for criminal association and extortion. During the traffic stop, Aquilla attempted to flee in his vehicle, leading to a high-speed chase that ended in a crash with parked cars. He was apprehended while fleeing on foot. Authorities seized cell phones, laptops, cash, and a 9mm handgun from his vehicle. Aquilla is also accused of holding his wife against her will. He faces state charges for fleeing to evade arrest and federal charges including illegal firearm possession and kidnapping.

Adriana Quiroz Zapata, a 53-year-old Colombian national and torture survivor with New Jersey ties, was detained by ICE in August 2024 after re-entering the United States despite a prior removal order. In February 2025, she passed a Reasonable Fear Interview and received withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Despite these protections, ICE deported her to the Democratic Republic of the Congo on April 16, 2026—a country where she has no ties and where she cannot receive adequate medical care for her chronic conditions. On May 14, 2026, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to return her, ruling the deportation likely illegal. However, on June 15, 2026, the judge reversed that order after the administration produced evidence claiming the DRC had agreed to accept her, leaving Zapata in the DRC.

Filogonio Rojas-Vasquez, 29, a Mexican national, was arrested by ICE agents on June 13, 2026, in the parking lot of Saars Super Saver Foods in Kent. According to ICE, he had entered the United States illegally at least five times since 2023 and had been returned to Mexico four times. He was also arrested by Burien Police in June 2025 for driving under the influence. He was detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma pending deportation. The arrest prompted approximately 25 protesters from Indivisible Kent and Indivisible Covington to gather on nearby 104th Avenue SE on June 14 to demonstrate against ICE enforcement actions in the region.

An immigration detainee held at California City Corrections facility is the subject of a habeas corpus petition. The court granted his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, ordering respondents to provide him with a bond hearing before a neutral arbiter pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) within ten days of the order dated June 18, 2026. Respondents must provide him with 48 hours' written notice before the hearing, or release him if the hearing is not provided within the ten-day deadline.

An Amazon delivery driver was detained by ICE after making a delivery to a military base in the Los Angeles area, according to legal aid attorneys. The arrest occurred as immigration enforcement continued in the LA region following the June 2025 raids.

Fredy Cruz-Calderon, 48, was arrested by masked ICE agents on Saturday, June 13, 2026, at 8:15 a.m. while getting out of his car in a parking lot near Snoqualmie Hall, where he was waiting to take part in a college class activity. College officials say the agents left campus with him without providing names, badges, or a warrant, prompting security to follow state protocols barring assistance to federal immigration agents. Cruz-Calderon entered the U.S. legally on a visa in May 2018 but overstayed and did not obtain legal status to remain; he is detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma pending deportation to Colombia. The arrest has prompted students to call for more campus resources and led the college's teachers' union to form a task force to improve communication and emergency alert protocols.

ICE New Orleans lodged an immigration detainer for Felipe Alvarado Hernandez, a 48-year-old Mexican national, following his July 29 arrest in connection with a June 13 hit-and-run near Demonbreun Street and Music Circle East in downtown Nashville. Authorities allege Hernandez drove his pickup truck onto a sidewalk while making a left turn, striking four pedestrians, including two wheelchair users; one victim remained hospitalized in Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Burn Unit as of the arrest date. He was later located at a home in Antioch, where he admitted to driving the vehicle that morning. Hernandez faces 21 charges, including counts of leaving the scene of an accident, failing to render aid, reckless endangerment, and financial responsibility violations, and had previously agreed to removal in 2004 following a Michigan arrest before reentering the country.

A Nicaraguan citizen who had resided continuously in the United States since December 2022 was taken into ICE custody on June 13, 2026, and detained at the West Tennessee Detention Facility without an individualized bond hearing. He had strong family and community ties, a fiancée, other relatives, lawful employment history, and no criminal record. The court ordered ICE to respond within two business days and prohibited his transfer during the litigation, citing the Sixth Circuit's Lopez-Campos decision requiring bond hearings for noncitizens with significant interior U.S. presence.

Law enforcement executed a search warrant at El Ranchito Night Club in Pecos, an adult entertainment establishment that had drawn resident complaints for operating out of compliance with local ordinance, and discovered seven women ages 20 to 40 confined in a padlocked room hidden behind metal storage cabinets. All seven victims were given clothing and water, removed from the location, and placed into the care of a federal agency. The operation resulted in 24 arrests: 16 people for federal immigration violations and eight others on state or local charges, with state charges also being pursued against the business owners. Homeland Security Investigations is leading the trafficking probe, and officials say the investigation is ongoing with additional charges possible.

Yoelí Altagracia Bracho Casanova, a 26-year-old Venezuelan, was arrested by ICE during an immigration appointment in Jacksonville on June 13 and detained alongside her 20-month-old U.S. citizen daughter, Rebeca Peña Bracho. Despite an approved I-130 family petition and legal documents prepared by her attorney—including a stay of removal request, a cancellation of removal application, and a permanent residency petition—ICE transferred both to a detention center in Texas and deported them to Venezuela within hours. Her husband, a Cuban-American U.S. citizen, stated that ICE refused to accept the legal documents when presented at the appointment, and transferred them out of state at approximately 2 a.m., preventing the attorney from filing additional documents the following day.

A flight carrying at least two dozen migrants deported from the United States, including an Iranian woman who fears persecution in her home country, landed in the Central African Republic. The country is one of at least nine African nations that have entered agreements with the Trump administration to accept third-country deportees. The arrangements are part of a broader U.S. crackdown under which the administration has deported thousands of people to countries other than their own.

A Colombian national fleeing persecution by the Clan del Golfo entered the United States without inspection in May 2023 and was released on parole. He obtained employment authorization, maintained steady work, filed taxes, and complied with parole conditions for three years while his asylum application was pending. On June 12, 2026, ICE arrested him in Rialto, California without providing notice or basis for arrest. The court ordered his immediate release, finding his re-detention violated due process rights and that no legitimate government interest supported his detention given his established ties and compliance history.

Jesús Augusto Paizano Casares, a 24-year-old Venezuelan national, reported experiencing domestic violence from his spouse in the United States. When he attempted to leave the relationship, his partner threatened to report him to immigration authorities and filed a false report against him, leading to his arrest. He was released after no evidence was found against him but was subsequently placed in ICE custody. Paizano Casares filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in U.S. District Court in Michigan challenging his detention. On January 29, 2026, Judge Robert J. Jonker granted his habeas petition, resulting in his release from ICE custody. He was represented by attorney William McLean, III, and later filed a motion for attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act, which was denied on June 12, 2026.

ICE lodged immigration detainers against three Cuban nationals arrested during a joint law enforcement human trafficking investigation in Sumner County, Tennessee. The operation resulted in five arrests and identified nine potential trafficking victims. The three men faced charges related to promoting prostitution and had been encountered by CBP at the southern border between 2021 and 2023.

Manuel de Jesus Montes-Lazo, an undocumented Honduran immigrant who had lived in Indiana for more than 15 years, was arrested by ICE in April 2026 while heading to wake an employee for the roofing business he owned with his wife, Joanna Garzes Lopez, a U.S. citizen. Despite being married to a U.S. citizen and in the final stages of a marriage-based green card petition, Manuel was detained at Clay County Justice Center and later transferred to a federal facility in South Texas. A 2025 Board of Immigration Appeals decision rendered him ineligible for bond release because he had crossed the border unlawfully. An immigration judge denied his cancellation of removal application—reportedly concluding that Joanna was well educated and could support the children without him—and facing months or years of appeals he could not afford, Manuel waived his appeal and was deported. With Manuel detained, Joanna said she struggled to keep the household and business running simultaneously, warning that the family risked losing their home, cars and business, which also threatened the livelihoods of their employees. Rather than remain in the United States as a single parent, Joanna, a devout Christian who values family unity, made the difficult decision to self-deport to Honduras with their two sons, Macario (6) and Jacob (4). On June 12, 2026, the family flew to Honduras with minimal belongings to reunite with Manuel and live with his family in Yorito. The move required Joanna to close their roofing business, sell their home in the Brookstone neighborhood of Indianapolis and their two cars, and uproot her children from school and friends after over a decade of building their life in the United States. Jacob has experienced bedwetting and nightmares since his father's arrest; Macario has taken on emotional weight beyond his years, feeling responsible for protecting his mother.