Human Impact Project

A man was detained by ICE in Fairbanks, Alaska on July 31, 2026, despite being in the United States legally and actively working toward permanent resident status. His sister describes him as hardworking and honest, someone who pays taxes, works steadily, and helps support their mother and his grandchildren. Within 24 hours of his detention in Fairbanks, he was transferred to Anchorage; his family fears further transfers out of state will make it increasingly difficult for them to communicate with him, secure legal representation, and advocate for his rights. The family is raising funds to cover immigration attorney fees, legal filings, travel, and communication costs necessary to fight for his release.

A Honduran citizen who entered the United States through the southern border in 2021 and was briefly detained by ICE before being released. He subsequently settled in New Jersey. On July 31, 2026, ICE apprehended him in Pottsville, Pennsylvania and detained him at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia. On August 6, 2026, ICE transferred him to Moshannon Valley Processing Center and detained him under Section 1225 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which provides for mandatory detention. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention. The federal court granted his petition, holding that Section 1226(a)—not Section 1225(b)(2)—governs the detention of noncitizens who have entered without admission but have long resided in the interior. The court ordered his immediate release and a temporary seven-day enjoinder against re-detention. If the government seeks to re-detain him after that period, it must first provide him with a bond hearing before an immigration judge.

Iemad Saifo, a 65-year-old Syrian-born chef who owns Zena's American Mediterranean Cuisine and Catering in Collingswood, New Jersey, was detained by ICE on July 31 at their Mt. Laurel office during what he believed was a routine check-in, despite having a pending immigration case with a December court date. Saifo came to the U.S. with his family on a B1/B2 visa from Syria in 2002, is the primary caregiver for his son with autism, and suffers from several chronic health conditions including a rare neurological condition and kidney disease. His wife and four children are U.S. citizens, and a residency petition filed by his U.S. citizen son had cleared its first approval stage. He was held at Delaney Hall, a privately run detention facility in Newark that has been the site of protests over detainee treatment, prompting his daughter Zena, for whom the restaurant is named, to voice concern over reports of detainee deaths there. His attorneys filed an emergency habeas petition, after which a federal judge barred ICE from transferring him out of state. A petition supporting him gathered more than 12,500 signatures, with support from the Council on American-Islamic Relations and over 150 notarized letters from community members. An immigration judge later granted bond and he was released, with his daughter saying, 'We are so relieved to have him safely back home as the immigration process continues.'

Cornelius Kaihau Holani, a 20-year-old citizen of New Zealand of Tongan ethnicity, was lawfully admitted to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program in July 2023. He lives in Seattle, cares for his elderly grandmother, and volunteers at his church teaching traditional Tongan dance. His mother is a green card holder and his stepfather is a U.S. citizen. On July 31, ICE agents detained Holani at Oakland International Airport as he waited to board a domestic flight to Seattle, handcuffed him, and transported him to an ICE office in San Francisco. Agents presented him with a document and instructed him to sign it; when he asked if it was related to deportation, an officer allegedly told him "No, it's nothing like that." U.S. District Judge Noël Wise ruled that ICE coerced Holani into signing the document without knowing its contents and that the government violated his due process rights by relying on it as a waiver of his right to contest removal. The judge ordered his release and barred re-detention or removal pending a hearing.

Paula Sofia Ramirez Clavijo, a 33-year-old Colombian asylum seeker and survivor of sexual assault, was detained by ICE on July 24, 2025, immediately after appearing at San Francisco Immigration Court for a scheduled removal hearing. She had entered the U.S. without inspection in December 2023 and been released on her own recognizance. ICE arrested her outside the courtroom pursuant to a Warrant of Arrest. Attorney Erin Meyer filed a habeas corpus petition on her behalf. A U.S. District Court judge issued an order for her release while she was already on a United Airlines flight to Honolulu with ICE officers. The court granted her petition, ruling that she has a protected liberty interest and cannot be re-detained without a pre-deprivation bond hearing where the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that she is a flight risk or danger to the community.

Jaciel Cirrus Rojas, a Mexican national and Chatino-language speaker from rural Oaxaca, came to Racine in 2018 to reunite with his brother. In June 2025, ICE agents arrived at his home searching for a prior tenant and detained him as "collateral" despite no prior criminal convictions or civil citations. Held at Dodge County jail for nine months and separated from his partner and child, Rojas filed for asylum citing fear of torture if returned to Mexico. His attorney Jennifer Bizzotto challenged his detention through a federal habeas petition. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in his favor on July 31, 2026, rejecting the Trump administration's mandatory detention policy and allowing detainees like Rojas to seek bond hearings in immigration court.

Elton Purvis, a 55-year-old lawful permanent resident, Rastafarian priest, and father of nine U.S. citizen children from Trinidad and Tobago, was detained by ICE at Boston Logan Airport on May 13, 2025, while returning to attend his sons' graduations. A community fixture for more than 30 years, Purvis had malaria and Type 1 diabetes when detained; he said ICE officers confiscated his insulin and malaria medication, and he was hospitalized about a week into detention before receiving malaria treatment. During roughly seven months in multiple facilities, including the Geo Group-run South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas, Purvis filed over 100 grievances, suffered hypoglycemic crashes, dehydration and malnutrition, and became unresponsive in his cell at least three times due to low blood sugar. Staff also refused to accommodate his strict vegetarian diet required by his religion and medical condition. He was deported to Trinidad and Tobago on December 6, 2025. The ACLU filed a federal tort claim on his behalf seeking $10 million in damages, part of a nationwide effort that filed more than 50 claims across 17 states and Washington, D.C., alleging neglect of detained immigrants' medical and food needs.

A U.S.-born teenager and his father allege they were beaten by ICE agents during a traffic stop in Houston. The teen, a citizen, states that he and his father were subjected to physical force during the encounter with federal immigration enforcement officers.

ICE agents detained three men outside a courthouse in Southern California, raising concerns among local immigration advocates about enforcement activities near judicial proceedings. The detentions highlight ongoing worries about ICE operations in sensitive locations such as courthouses, where immigrants may be seeking legal assistance or appearing for hearings.

Emely Charloth Suaza Chambo, a 16-year-old student at Churchill High School in San Antonio, was detained by ICE while on her way to church. ICE agents told her father, Fernando Suaza Ortiz, who was employed at the Hilton Garden Inn, to pick her up or she would be sent out of state. When he arrived at the location to collect his daughter, he was also taken into ICE custody. Both have pending asylum cases and are being held at the Dilley detention facility in Texas. Congressman Joaquin Castro shared their story on social media.

A native and citizen of Guatemala who has resided in the United States for over a decade was arrested on July 30, 2026, and detained at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. He has no criminal history and is gainfully employed. On August 3, 2026, he filed a habeas corpus petition in the Western District of Pennsylvania along with an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order, challenging his continued detention without a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226 and the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. On August 11, 2026, Chief Judge Cathy Bissoon denied the TRO motion, finding he had not shown immediate and irreparable injury, that transfer out of the district would not defeat the court's habeas jurisdiction, and that there was no indication of a final removal order or scheduled immigration court proceedings. The court construed the petition as seeking prompt review of the lawfulness of his detention and, at minimum, an individualized bond hearing, and ordered an expedited case management schedule.

The petitioner is a citizen of India who arrived in the United States around May 18, 2023, and was briefly detained by immigration officials before being released on his own recognizance. He has a pending asylum petition. On or about July 30, 2026, he was re-detained by immigration authorities and has remained in ICE custody since, held at the California City Immigration Processing Center. He filed a habeas corpus petition and a motion for a temporary restraining order challenging his detention, which is governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a). The court found that his detention without a pre-deprivation hearing following his prior release violated his due process rights, citing its reasoning in Cajina v. Wofford and Perez v. Albarran. The court granted his habeas petition, ordering his immediate release and enjoining respondents from re-detaining him without written notice and a hearing before an immigration judge, absent exigent circumstances. His motion for a TRO was denied as moot.

An opinion piece argues that ICE detention facilities function as camps rather than mere detention centers, citing over 65,000 people currently confined and at least 52 deaths in ICE custody since the second Trump administration began. It highlights a woman in Arizona detained for 16 months without adequate treatment for her leukemia, who has lost more than 70 pounds and regularly vomits blood, and describes a now-closed Florida facility where detainees were allegedly held in a two-by-two-foot outdoor punishment cage.

Debora Kapisha, a Maine Medical Center nurse originally from Zambia, was taken into ICE custody at Portland International Jetport on July 30 after an agent told her she needed a luggage inspection in a separate room, where immigration agents were waiting, according to her attorney Kerry Doyle. ICE has accused her of overstaying a visa that expired in November 2024, though she has a pending asylum claim and, according to the Maine State Nurses Association, is legally authorized to work in the U.S. After she challenged her detention in federal court, Kapisha was ordered released from ICE custody last week, though her removal case continues. Her colleagues protested her detention, and Maine immigrant advocates say at least five people have been detained at the jetport in the past two weeks amid a nationwide increase in airport immigration enforcement.

An elderly woman, identified as Linda Wolff, a 72-year-old immigrant rights supporter, was pepper-sprayed by a masked ICE agent on July 30 while filming an enforcement operation in Inwood. She has since filed a federal tort claim against ICE and appeared with Gov. Kathy Hochul to highlight new New York laws barring local police from immigration enforcement and allowing people to sue individual ICE officers in state court. ICE said its officers "followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary."

A citizen of Armenia was admitted to the United States in February 2013 and has lived in the U.S. for over 13 years. He was placed into removal proceedings in 2023 and found removable by an immigration judge in September 2023. The Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed this determination in January 2024. In April 2024, an immigration judge released him from custody on a $20,000 bond with an order of supervision, which he complied with for over two years. On July 30, 2026, he was unexpectedly detained by ICE during a routine check-in. He is married to a United States citizen, and his wife is due to give birth to their first child on August 17, 2026. On August 4, 2026, a federal judge granted his motion for a preliminary injunction, ordering his immediate release based on a violation of his due process rights, as he was re-detained without a pre-deprivation hearing before a neutral decision-maker.

Jesus Verde Hernandez, a Worden man who has lived in Montana for 10 years with his partner of 14 years and their three children, ages 9, 6 and 4, was arrested on July 30 by Customs and Border Patrol without a warrant or probable cause while agents searched for another man they said resembled him. He is also stepfather to his partner's two adult children, and his partner and all five children are U.S. citizens. During his 30-hour transport between Lewistown, Jordan, Malta, Havre and Great Falls, he was given only crackers and water, denied medication for chronic pain, and pressured by federal authorities to self-deport. Chief District Judge Brian Morris ordered his release, ruling the detention violated his constitutional rights and that the government lacked statutory authority to hold him, and his attorneys at Upper Seven Law are pursuing class certification for roughly 17 people similarly detained at the Cascade County Detention Center, with a court order barring authorities from moving any of them out of Montana before an Aug. 18 hearing in Missoula.

Eight noncitizens were arrested during a U.S. Customs and Border Protection and ICE operation at a solar farm on Riches Corners Road in Albion, New York on July 30, 2026. Seven of the men are from Venezuela and one is from Jamaica. All were working on the solar farm project at the time of the operation, which was conducted after ICE received a tip through its tipline. The arrested individuals were processed at Rochester and Buffalo CBP stations before being transferred to ICE for deportation proceedings. Nearly three weeks later, nearly 20 people marched in Albion to protest the detention and deportation of immigrants and farmworkers, an event organized by the nonprofit Rural & Migrant Ministry after a local youth group member, Analiah Figueroa, and her family said they encountered federal agents near the same field during the operation. Figueroa said her family, who are U.S. citizens, were stopped by an agent at a stop sign and later saw agents repeatedly drive past their home, which she said felt intimidating.

Mario Alfonso Rivera Santiago, detained at Rio Grande Processing Center in Laredo, Texas, filed a pro se Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 against the Department of Homeland Security and the Warden of Rio Grande Detention Center. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas ordered respondents to submit their response by August 7, 2026, with Rivera Santiago able to reply by August 21, 2026. The court also ordered respondents to notify it at least five days before any anticipated transfer or removal of Rivera Santiago outside the Southern District of Texas.

A noncitizen who has resided in the United States since 2024 was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Wyatt Detention Facility in Rhode Island. The Government argued he was subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2), claiming all noncitizens not admitted or paroled are "applicants for admission" seeking entry. The District Court granted his habeas petition, finding the detention unlawful because § 1225(b)(2) applies only to those at the border seeking admission, not interior arrests. The court ordered his immediate release and a bond hearing before an immigration judge under § 1226(a).