Human Impact Project

A noncitizen woman was detained at the Aurora Contract Detention Facility and received a removal order on March 11, 2026. The immigration judge ordered deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture. She sought immediate release via habeas corpus petition and Rehabilitation Act claim, arguing she needed release to meaningfully participate in immigration proceedings. The district court denied her petition, finding her removal order became final on April 11, 2026, placing her within the permissible 90-day removal period, and that immediate release is not a proper remedy under the Rehabilitation Act.

An immigration detainee filed a habeas corpus petition challenging ICE's mandatory detention without bond at Baker Correctional Institution. An immigration judge conducted a bond hearing on June 18, 2026, and ordered the detainee's release on a $10,000 bond. The federal court dismissed the case as moot on July 2, 2026, after the bond determination was made.

Nikolas De Bremaeker, a 38-year-old immigration attorney at Centro Legal de la Raza in Oakland, was pulled aside for enhanced screening by TSA at San Francisco International Airport on June 10, 2026. During a 45-minute search, agents examined his belongings, phones, and laptops. When De Bremaeker asked why, a TSA agent stated it was "not random" and that he was on a "watch list" but provided no further details. De Bremaeker was ultimately allowed to board his flight to Boston. The incident prompted him to cancel a planned trip to Belgium and raised questions about federal surveillance of immigration attorneys.

ICE agents arrested Mosiah Wright, a Jamaican national, during enforcement operations in the New York City metropolitan area targeting what the agency described as noncitizens with criminal records and immigration fugitives. Wright had been previously removed from the country and was convicted of murder in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. ICE said he was also arrested for carrying a concealed weapon, drug possession, resisting arrest, and probation violations. Several other noncitizens from El Salvador, Ecuador, and Honduras were also apprehended during the operation.

Leo's parents, ages 60 and 62, were detained by ICE and held separately at facilities within an hour of Palatka, Florida. The parents have lived in the United States since the 1990s and operated Palatka Buffet for nearly 20 years before their son Leo took over the family business with Leo's Fine Sushi. They are facing deportation to China. Their son has launched a fundraiser to support legal fees and family expenses during their detention.

Three teenagers from Collinsville, Illinois—16-year-old Jesus Alexis Cruz and 19-year-olds Hector Cruz Sanchez and Jonathan Godoy—were detained by ICE on June 9, 2026, after a traffic stop by Morrisonville Police for a vehicle licensing violation. After the vehicle was towed and the teens left at a gas station, ICE agents took them into custody. Cruz was transported to a juvenile detention facility in Texas; Sanchez and Godoy were sent to Ste. Genevieve Detention Center in Missouri. Illinois state officials, including the Attorney General's office, State Rep. Katie Stuart, Rep. Nikki Budzinski, and candidate Marsie Geldert-Murphey, have begun investigating whether the police's involvement violated the state's TRUST Act, which prohibits local law enforcement from assisting federal immigration enforcement.

ICE Boston arrested José Paula de Souza Neto, a Brazilian national, in Hyannis, Massachusetts on June 10, 2026. Neto was wanted in Brazil on an arrest warrant for drug trafficking and association with drug trafficking following his conviction in that country. He had fled Brazil after receiving house arrest during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently failing to return to prison. His arrest followed a wanted poster released by Minas Gerais civil police in January 2026.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement partnered with South Carolina law enforcement agencies, including the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, State Transit Police, and Duncan Police Department, to conduct two coordinated highway enforcement operations named Operation Safe Drive and Operation Rubber Duck. The operations took place along Interstate 26 and Interstate 85 from May 12 to May 14, 2026, targeting commercial vehicles, fraudulent truck drivers, invalid operator licenses, and immigration violations. The operations resulted in 114 arrests for immigration and criminal violations. Authorities conducted 145 vehicle stops, performed 77 vehicle inspections, issued 89 traffic citations, and removed 22 drivers and vehicles from service. Seizures included approximately 10 kilograms of cocaine valued at $200,000 and cash. According to advocacy groups and the ACLU, undocumented immigrants traveling in work trucks and vans, including construction and landscaping workers, were disproportionately affected by the stops and arrests. The operations are part of expanded immigration enforcement cooperation in South Carolina under a 287(g) agreement between state and local law enforcement and ICE.

On June 9, 2026, three teenagers were stopped by Morrisonville police in Christian County, Illinois while traveling together to work. Police determined the vehicle lacked proper licensing and towed it. While waiting at a nearby gas station, ICE agents took the teens into custody. Hector Cruz Sanchez, 19, and Jonathan Godoy, 19, were among those detained and subsequently transferred to Ste. Genevieve County Jail in southeastern Missouri, which holds ICE detainees under contract.

Ubaidullah Abdulrashid Radiowala, an Indian national, was detained by ICE in Newark, New Jersey as part of enforcement operations targeting non-citizens with serious criminal histories. He faced allegations related to attempted murder and extortion and was placed in removal proceedings.

Elipidia Aguirre-Romero, a Mexican national, was arrested by ICE in Fresno, CA. She has a prior criminal conviction in California. Jose Alfredo Patino-Avelino, a Mexican national, was arrested by ICE in Santa Barbara, CA. He has prior criminal convictions in California. Saul Alberto Garay-Amaya, a Salvadoran national, was arrested by ICE in Fairfax, VA. He has prior criminal convictions in Virginia. Fidel Larreta-Boltor, a Mexican national, was arrested by ICE in Forsyth County, NC. He has a prior criminal conviction in North Carolina. Yeison Beltran-Avila, a Colombian national, was arrested by ICE. He has a prior criminal conviction.

Jesus Alexis Cruz, 16, was detained by ICE following a traffic stop in Morrisonville, Illinois on June 9, 2026. Local police towed his vehicle, and ICE agents subsequently picked him up at a nearby gas station. Cruz's family, which includes documented relatives, requested his release to their custody, but ICE denied the request. He was transferred to a juvenile detention facility in Texas without family involvement in the transport. Representative Nikki Budzinski's office became involved to seek answers regarding his detention and transfer.

Yi-Han Liou, a Taiwanese national, was detained by ICE in New Hampshire after fleeing Taiwan on drug trafficking charges. She was accused of trafficking cocaine and marijuana from the United States and Canada to Taiwan by air freight, including shipping over 630 grams of cocaine hidden in candlesticks. She had overstayed her entry in the United States. Liou was deported to Taiwan on June 5, 2026.

A federal immigration detention center in Texas built by the Trump administration failed to issue use-of-force reports and did not provide medicine to seriously ill detainees. The facility wasted tens of millions in taxpayer dollars through rushed spending. Protesters have opposed the facility's operations at Fort Bliss.

Miguel, a South American migrant held at an ICE detention center in Texas, was subjected to systematic extortion and violence by members of the prison gang Los Paisas. He was forced to give gang members portions of food purchased with money his family sent him, and was beaten and confined when he refused or failed to comply. After pressure to join the gang, which he resisted, he endured further retaliation. Fearing retaliation and doubting that immigration authorities would protect him, Miguel never reported the abuse until after his release from detention.

Kaleth, a 2-year-old boy seeking asylum with his mother Joani, was detained in March 2026 after attending a required immigration check-in appointment in California. His father was handcuffed and taken to an adult detention facility in California while Kaleth and Joani were transferred to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas. Without his father, Kaleth became despondent and stopped eating for 12 days, vomited when forced to eat, and stopped having bowel movements—conditions doctors attributed to depression. Kaleth and his mother were released in April 2026 and reunited with his father, with reports indicating the boy is recovering well.

Victor Manuel Diaz, a 36-year-old Nicaraguan man and father of two, was arrested by ICE in Minneapolis on January 6, 2026, during Operation Metro Surge and transferred to Camp East Montana detention facility in El Paso, Texas. He died by suicide on January 14, 2026, by hanging with a bed sheet, eight days after his arrest. Diaz had entered the U.S. illegally in 2024, was released on parole, and was working at a Twin Cities restaurant when detained. Staff placed him in a medical holding room instead of a suicide-resistant cell and left him unattended for intervals exceeding the required 15-minute checks. Vision panels that had been requested months earlier were not installed, preventing staff from observing the room. A GAO report released in June 2026 found the facility lacked adequate supervision and monitoring systems, with over 1,600 detainees housed in steel-framed tent-like structures, insufficient surveillance cameras, and inadequate medical care. Diaz was at least the third death at Camp East Montana. His family attorney is considering a wrongful death claim.

Three Collinsville, Illinois teens — Jesus Alexis Cruz, 16; Hector Cruz Sanchez, 19; and Jonathan Godoy, 19 — were detained by ICE on June 9, 2026, in Morrisonville, Illinois, while traveling for a summer job doing internet line work. They were pulled over by the Morrisonville Police Department, after which ICE took them into custody. Cruz, 16, is being held at an unidentified detention facility in Texas, while Sanchez and Godoy are detained at Ste. Genevieve Detention Center in Missouri. The Illinois Attorney General's Office noted that state law sharply limits local police participation in federal immigration enforcement, and State Rep. Katie Stuart called the incident "horrifying." U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski said her office is seeking answers and pledged to use oversight tools to demand transparency, noting the detentions came two weeks after she toured the Ste. Genevieve facility and heard detainee concerns about access to medical care.

A 22-year-old Colombian national was detained at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana after entering the United States on November 16, 2022. She received deferred action status approved by USCIS on February 3, 2025, valid until February 3, 2029. On June 9, 2026, following a credible fear interview with USCIS, she was taken into custody after the asylum officer determined there was no credible fear of persecution or torture. An Immigration Judge affirmed this negative credible fear determination on June 30, 2026. The district court denied her emergency motion for temporary restraining order and stay of removal on July 9, 2026, citing lack of jurisdiction and finding the motion attempted to improperly shortcut the habeas corpus process.

An asylum applicant who had been granted humanitarian parole in 2015 was arrested by ICE near her home on June 9, 2026, and detained at California City Detention Center. The court found that respondents failed to provide constitutionally required notice and opportunity to be heard before revoking her parole. The court granted her habeas corpus petition and ordered her immediate release, permanently enjoining respondents from re-detaining her without pre-deprivation constitutional protections including notice, a timely hearing, and legal representation.