Human Impact Project

Multiple Ohio organizations filed a lawsuit on March 18, 2026, against the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection, alleging federal agents illegally arrested people without proper arrest warrants or probable cause since April 22, 2025. The lawsuit represents all people in Ohio subject to such arrests and includes a specific case from December 2025 in which plainclothes agents in an unmarked vehicle arrested a man outside a home improvement store without displaying a warrant. The man had an active asylum case, a valid work permit, and a social security number.

Juan Antonio Maldinera Guzman was detained on March 17, 2026, after having been previously released on bond or conditional parole. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California found that the government violated his Fifth Amendment due process rights by re-detaining him without first providing a pre-deprivation bond hearing before a neutral arbiter. The court determined that the Due Process Clause requires such a hearing to consider a noncitizen's eligibility for bond before re-detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) or § 1182(d)(5). Following prior precedent established in Selis Tinoco v. Noem, Labrador-Prato v. Noem, D.L.C. v. Wofford, and Altin v. Chestnut, the court granted Maldinera Guzman's petition for writ of habeas corpus and motion for temporary restraining order. He was ordered released immediately from the California City Detention Facility with the same conditions he was subject to prior to his March 17, 2026 detention. If the government seeks to re-detain him, it must provide seven days' notice and hold a constitutionally compliant pre-deprivation bond hearing.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted 39 live pythons hidden inside a tractor at the World Trade Bridge in Laredo on March 5, 2026. The driver had provided a negative declaration for prohibited goods before officers discovered the snakes concealed in the vehicle. CBP issued $34,824 in penalties for export violations, seized the tractor and trailer, and the case remains under investigation by the Fish and Wildlife Service and Homeland Security Investigations.

A California man was detained for days in December after a rookie ICE agent made critical errors in paperwork that became the federal government's justification for his detention. The new officer had completed an abbreviated basic training program that provided only one-third of the hours previously dedicated to teaching recruits how to fill out a key form, according to federal court records.

San Diego County's Immigrant Legal Defense Program, which provides free legal counsel to detained immigrants and unaccompanied minors, faces significant funding gaps as costs are expected to reach $13.4-$18 million annually while the budget remains at $5 million. The increased demand is driven by a nearly 200% increase in detention levels at the Otay Mesa Detention Center under the Trump administration. Without additional funding from philanthropic and state sources, the program may be unable to maintain current service levels.

A witness recorded ICE agents beating a man inside a Home Depot store in Paramount, California. The man appeared unable to stand on his own as agents dragged him from the store. An agent stated they had a warrant for the man's arrest.

An Emanuel County Commissioners' Office employee was arrested after an internal audit discovered unauthorized use of a county credit card for personal purchases. Risa K. Fortner, 48, of Kite, Georgia, was charged with theft by taking after receipts showed items were delivered to her home address. She was booked into the Emanuel County Detention Center.

Five individuals previously deported from the United States were charged with illegal reentry and remanded to ICE custody in Las Vegas between March and April 2026. Juan Manuel Castellanos-Velazquez, a Mexican national, was remanded on April 13 after serving a 36-to-96-month sentence for drug trafficking and had been deported eight times between 2008 and 2016. Jimmy Jeyson Escobar-Nerio, a Salvadoran national, was remanded on April 8 after arrest by North Las Vegas police for driving under the influence and had been deported twice in 2019 and 2021. Victor Hugo Garcia-Dominguez, a Mexican national, was remanded on April 16 after serving a 19-to-96-month sentence for conspiracy to commit robbery and had been deported twice in 2020 and 2023. Marbin Alexander Ramirez-Rodas, a Salvadoran national, was arrested on March 16 for domestic battery by strangulation, battery on a pregnant victim, coercion, driving under the influence, and child abuse or neglect. Antonio Trinidad Garcia-Gallo, a Mexican national, was remanded on April 22 after serving a two-to-five-year sentence for drug trafficking and had been deported twice in 2015 and 2020. All five were charged with one count of deported alien found in the United States.

Ricardo Navarrete, an 18-year-old senior at Mather High School, was detained by ICE agents on March 16, 2026, during a scheduled check-in appointment for his pending asylum case. He had fled Colombia in 2022 seeking asylum, held a valid work permit and REAL ID, and had been accepted to play soccer at Truman College. Following his detention, Ricardo was transferred between multiple ICE detention facilities across Oklahoma, Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, where he reported sleeping on floors without blankets and spending time in solitary confinement. His attorneys filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention, and he was released on May 26, 2026, just days before his high school graduation.

Leqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old Palestinian woman from Paterson, New Jersey, was detained by ICE in March 2025 after attending a voluntary check-in at the Newark ICE office. She had participated in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University in April 2024, though those charges were dismissed the next day. At the time of her ICE detention, Kordia had a pending green card application through her U.S. citizen mother and a pending asylum application. She was held at Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas for over one year. In February 2026, while detained, Kordia suffered a seizure and was hospitalized but remained shackled to her hospital bed and was prevented from contacting family or attorneys. She experienced additional health complications including dizziness, fainting episodes, and significant weight loss, along with reports of overcrowded conditions and inadequate food at the facility. On March 16, 2026, an immigration judge ordered her release on a $100,000 bond, citing minimal flight risk and serious medical concerns. The government did not appeal the decision. Her attorneys contend she was targeted for her pro-Palestine advocacy.

Vilma Bautista Torres and her 9-year-old son Kenek, who has Level 3 autism, were detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center for more than 80 days despite a federal settlement limiting child detention to 20 days. During detention, Kenek lost access to specialized therapy and schooling, experienced frequent meltdowns, self-harm episodes, and became increasingly disoriented and afraid. After a pro bono law clinic filed a parole request documenting his autism diagnosis and self-harm, ICE released the family with an ankle monitor.

Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, 41, an Afghan national who served alongside U.S. Special Forces for a decade, was arrested by ICE agents on March 13, 2026, outside his home in Richardson, Texas, while taking his six children to school. He had legally entered the U.S. in 2021 after evacuating from Afghanistan and had a pending asylum application. During his arrest, his wife attempted to give him his inhaler, but ICE agents rejected it. While in ICE custody, Paktiawal called his brother Naseer to report chest pain and requested medical care, which ICE staff ignored. He was transported to Parkland Memorial Hospital on the evening of March 15 after reporting shortness of breath and chest pains during ICE intake processing. The following morning, he died from anaphylaxis triggered by an adverse drug reaction that exacerbated his asthma. Hospital staff noted tongue swelling and administered epinephrine, but he was pronounced dead approximately 40 minutes later. His death certificate and the Dallas County Medical Examiner both ruled the cause of death as accidental, attributed to an adverse drug reaction to an unidentified substance. His family and advocacy groups are demanding the full autopsy report be released and questioning what substance caused the reaction. His brother asked: "If they know he is going through pain and he is asking for someone to help, what were they waiting for? The last breath?"

ICE agents arrested an undocumented father while he was taking his 15-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter, both U.S. citizens, to school in New Jersey. According to witnesses and the family, agents asked the boy to call a relative but drove away before anyone arrived, leaving the two minors unattended on the roadside. The incident violates ICE policy and DHS directives requiring agents to remain on scene until a third party assumes physical custody of minor children.

Erendira Rendon, a DACA recipient of more than 14 years and vice president of immigrant justice at The Resurrection Project, applied for DACA renewal in February 2026 and is facing uncertainty as processing delays have extended up to six months. Unlike previous years when a lapsed DACA was manageable, Rendon said current delays create risk of detention if her renewal lapses. As an immigrant advocate who has helped thousands navigate the system, she now confronts the same vulnerabilities affecting hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients nationwide.

A DACA recipient who has lived in the U.S. for an extended period was detained by immigration authorities immediately upon his release from local criminal custody at the Santa Barbara County jail on March 15, 2026. He was held for over a month without a bond hearing despite being eligible for one under immigration law. The federal court ordered his immediate release and prohibited re-detention without a pre-deprivation bond hearing.

Patience Gore, a 44-year-old Zimbabwean national who had lived in the U.S. for about 24 years, was detained by undercover ICE agents at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport after a United Airlines gate agent announced her name over the loudspeaker, according to a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. Gore, who had been granted withholding of removal to Zimbabwe and had no criminal record, was traveling home to Maryland with her partner after attending a friend's wedding when she was surrounded by three plainclothes agents without visible identification and told she was not free to leave. She was held for nearly two weeks in what the lawsuit describes as degrading conditions, including sleeping on a mattress on the floor and being denied a change of clothes, before a federal judge ordered her release. The lawsuit alleges the detention caused her to miss a scheduled IVF treatment, and a subsequent replacement cycle did not result in pregnancy.

Zahid Chaudhry, a disabled U.S. Army veteran and lawful permanent resident from Pakistan, was detained by ICE at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma in August 2025 after being arrested during a citizenship interview at a USCIS office. ICE cited undisclosed criminal charges from Australia in the early 1990s involving financial deception and passport-related offenses. After 124 days in custody, a federal judge ruled the detention was wrongful, finding that the government failed to provide Chaudhry notice or opportunity to be heard before detaining him, violating his constitutional rights. A government attorney apologized during the habeas hearing. In December 2025, Judge David G. Estudillo ordered Chaudhry's release.

Jonatan, a legal resident with an upcoming asylum hearing, was detained by ICE and held in a local jail in Virginia for three weeks before being released on March 14, 2026. His partner Kirby credits community organizing and intervention by people tracking ICE movements with preventing his disappearance and securing his release. The incident left lasting psychological and financial impacts on both of them.

On March 14, 2026, Gerardo Gonzalez Reyes, 44, and his 17-year-old son Esteban were arrested during a traffic stop in San Marcos after police responded to a false report. Police confirmed no crime had occurred. Esteban was released, but ICE placed a detainer on Gonzalez Reyes based on prior DWI convictions from 2004 and 2005 and transferred him to T. Don Hutto Detention Center. Despite over two months of community advocacy, vigils, and petitions to drop criminal charges by his family—including U.S. citizen children and a disabled wife who depends on him as a caretaker—an immigration judge ordered his deportation to Mexico in May 2026. His family plans to appeal.

A man with no criminal record who entered the United States legally and pursued an asylum claim for a decade was transported across multiple states in federal custody. During the multi-day transfer beginning March 14, he experienced prolonged restraint, overcrowding, sleep deprivation, and limited access to food, water, and medical care. Detainees were handcuffed for up to 14 hours, held in facilities beyond capacity, and did not receive proper medical screening or attorney notification.

A woman protesting immigration enforcement operations outside a federal detention facility in downtown Los Angeles was struck by a vehicle on March 14, 2026, as it exited the compound. The vehicle, driven by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer, made contact with the protester twice before she landed on the hood and was thrown to the curb. The protester sustained minor injuries and was evaluated at a hospital. The Department of Homeland Security stated the officer was attempting to exit after being surrounded by demonstrators, while the protester said she did not intentionally step into the vehicle's path.

Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, a 41-year-old Afghan national who served alongside U.S. Army Special Forces in Paktika province starting in 2005, died in ICE custody on March 14 at Dallas' Parkland Memorial Hospital, less than 24 hours after his arrest. On March 13, 2025, unmarked ICE agents arrested Paktiawal outside his home in Richardson, Texas, while he was taking four of his six children to school. His brother Naseer reported that Paktiawal called that evening saying he couldn't breathe, his body was in pain, and he was shaking and sweating. At the hospital, staff discovered severe tongue swelling at breakfast on March 14 and administered allergy medication before initiating life-saving measures. Paktiawal had been evacuated to the U.S. with his family when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021 and held humanitarian parole valid through 2029. His family stated he was in the country legally with a pending immigration case and asylum application. DHS claimed he had been arrested for alleged SNAP fraud and theft with no charges filed, though his military service was confirmed by news organizations. The Dallas County medical examiner's office investigation into the cause and manner of death was ongoing.

An Eritrean national entered the United States without inspection on March 9, 2023, and has resided in the country for approximately three years. On March 13, 2026, ICE arrested him and placed him in removal proceedings under 8 U.S.C. § 1229a, detaining him pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2) as a person who entered without inspection. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention and sought either an individualized custody determination or release, arguing he should be detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), which permits bond hearings. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma denied his motion for temporary restraining order, finding that he failed to demonstrate likelihood of success on the merits, irreparable harm, or that the equities favored release. The court determined his detention under § 1225(b)(2) was lawful and his due process claims were either premature or inadequately argued.

An individual who entered the U.S. in December 2023 was initially detained by immigration authorities, then released on their own recognizance after approximately one month. On March 13, 2026, they were taken into custody for a traffic violation and subsequently detained again by immigration authorities. The court ordered their immediate release, finding that their prior release created a liberty interest and that continued detention violated due process.

A 42-year-old Guatemalan man who has lived in the United States since 2004 was detained by ICE on March 13, 2026, while attending a court hearing for the dismissal of a criminal offense. He is engaged to a U.S. citizen and is the father of three U.S. citizens. Following his detention, he was transferred to the San Bernardino Sub Office and held at Adelanto Detention Facility. On March 31, 2026, he filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus seeking immediate release or a bond hearing within seven days, raising claims of unlawful denial of a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), violation of Fifth Amendment due process rights, and violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. On April 13, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted his Petition for Temporary Restraining Order, finding that he is entitled to an individualized bond hearing as a member of the Bond Eligible Class established in Bautista v. Santacruz. The court ordered respondents to either provide evidence that he received a bond hearing or release him from custody within 48 hours, with no release restrictions such as electronic monitoring unless deemed necessary at a future bond hearing.

Virginia Lissbeth Pineda Lemus, a 21-year-old Salvadoran woman who crossed the U.S. border as an unaccompanied minor at age 16, was arrested on domestic assault charges in January 2026 and taken into ICE custody after posting bond on those state charges, which were later dismissed. She was held at Lincoln County Jail on an ICE hold for two months before U.S. District Judge John Gerrard ordered her outright release on March 13, 2026. Pineda described her detention as traumatizing, saying she was treated "more like an animal than a person." She remains in deportation proceedings but has reunited with her boyfriend and is building her case outside of jail.

A whistleblower at the Baltimore ICE detention facility alleged severe conditions including use of a restraint chair and unsanitary environments. A video documented overcrowding in January 2026, prompting Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen to raise concerns. ICE transferred approximately 100 detainees from the facility to Arizona on March 12, 2026, the day before a congressional oversight visit. A federal judge subsequently ruled in March 2026 that ICE must limit capacity at the downtown Baltimore holding facility to 56 people across five cells, citing health and safety risks. The court ordered ICE to conduct medical screenings within 12 hours of arrival, clean cells daily, and ensure access to hygiene supplies and medication within 24 hours.

Alejandra Juarez, a Mexican immigrant and wife of decorated Marine combat veteran Temo Juarez, was deported during the first Trump administration, leaving behind her husband and two school-age daughters. In 2021, after lawmakers' intervention, President Biden granted her humanitarian parole to reunite with her family. However, her parole expired in June 2025, and she has no path to citizenship. She signed a document as a teenager that permanently barred her from legal status. With the administration ramping up immigration enforcement and ending parole programs, Juarez sees no viable legal option and must leave the country by July 4 to celebrate her younger daughter's 16th birthday before departing.

The Gámez-Cuéllar family—parents Luis Antonio Gámez Martínez and Emma Guadalupe Cuéllar López, and their three sons Antonio (18), Caleb (12), and Joshua (14)—were detained by ICE on February 25, 2026, during a routine immigration check-in in Edinburg, Texas. The family had legally entered the U.S. in May 2023 through the CBP One asylum app and were in active asylum proceedings with a final hearing scheduled for September. Antonio was separated from his family and shackled during transport to an adult detention facility in Raymondville, while his younger brothers and parents were held at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley. Two of the brothers are award-winning mariachi musicians with McAllen High School's Mariachi Oro band, which has performed at the White House and Carnegie Hall and won eight state championships. After approximately 13 days in detention, bipartisan congressional pressure from lawmakers including Rep. Monica De La Cruz and Rep. Joaquin Castro, combined with a successful parole request by their attorneys, resulted in the family's release on February 28, 2026. The parents were required to wear ankle monitors and restrict travel to 75 miles from their home.

Habiba Soliman, 18, and her four younger siblings (ages 4-16) were detained at Dilley Immigration Processing Center for more than nine months following their father's arrest in connection with a firebombing attack at a Jewish event in Boulder, Colorado. DHS arrested the mother and children and investigated their alleged involvement in the attack, though they denied any connection and publicly disavowed their father's actions. An arrest warrant reported that their father stated he never discussed his plans with family. An immigration judge initially determined the family posed no danger or flight risk and granted bond, but later reversed the decision after ICE appealed. Soliman was subsequently separated from her younger siblings and moved to an adult section of the facility.

Aleksei and his wife were arrested at the U.S. border with their 5-year-old twins and detained at Dilley Immigration Processing Center for more than 120 days, six times the 20-day federal limit. When Aleksei asked an ICE officer about the violation, he was told the court settlement limiting child detention was "not applicable anymore." The twins experienced psychological deterioration including frequent meltdowns, sleep disruption, weight loss, and fear of strangers. The family was released in February after securing legal representation and filing a parole request.

Curtis Wright, a 39-year-old Edmonton-born permanent resident who has lived in the United States for nearly 30 years, was detained by ICE on November 6, 2025, after returning from a business trip to Mexico through Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport. Wright works in the oil and gas sector and lives with his fiancée Kayla Thomsen, their 18-month-old daughter, and his two young sons from a previous marriage. ICE cited a drug possession conviction from when Wright was 17 years old—Xanax tablets were found in a car he was in; he had completed community service for that sentence. Wright's green card has been renewed multiple times since becoming a permanent resident in 2001, and his fiancée argues that federal law shields him from removal because more than 22 years have passed since his offense. While detained at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Wright endured harsh conditions including cold temperatures, no blankets or jackets, contaminated water that made him severely ill, poor food, and was denied his colitis medication for 41 days. His court hearings were repeatedly delayed, with his name missing from the docket on at least two occasions and a judge failing to appear for a scheduled virtual court date. On March 13, 2026, Judge Jennifer L. Mazza ordered his deportation. Wright's legal team, including attorney Matt Mendez, filed evidence supporting his case and is pursuing a habeas corpus request and plans to appeal the deportation order. During detention, Wright has been moved to seven different facilities and has helped 13 other detainees with legal and communication support. His daughter has learned to walk while he has been detained, and his fiancée described it as heartbreaking to see their daughter try to reach him through glass during visits. Wright could self-deport to Canada but fears losing custody of his two sons.

A pregnant woman reported being shot in the stomach with a rubber bullet by a federal agent while observing an anti-ICE protest in downtown Los Angeles on a Saturday night.

Celia, a single mother of five, was arrested by ICE at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport on March 12, 2026, while boarding a flight to San Diego after attending her stepson's military graduation. She had a pending U-visa application certified by the U.S. Attorney General's Office after coming forward with claims of sexual abuse by a former officer at Federal Correctional Institution Dublin in California, where she had been incarcerated. Despite informing ICE agents of her pending U-visa and assisting in the federal investigation, supervisors told agents to proceed with her deportation regardless of her pending immigration relief. She was sent to Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, and was deported to Mexico about a week later. Her attorney, Susan Beatty, characterized the action as "a slap in the face."

A citizen of Kyrgyzstan entered the United States without inspection on April 17, 2023, and has lived in the U.S. interior for nearly three years. DHS initiated removal proceedings and released him on an Order of Release on Recognizance (OREC) in April 2023. On February 20, 2024, he filed a pending asylum application. On March 12, 2026, Indiana State Police encountered him during a traffic stop, after which DHS revoked his OREC and ICE arrested him under an administrative warrant pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226. He has been detained at Clay County Jail in Brazil, Indiana since March 12, 2026. He is charged with inadmissibility as a noncitizen present in the United States without being admitted or paroled. The federal court granted his habeas corpus petition, finding that his detention without a bond hearing violates immigration law. The court ordered that by April 7, 2026, respondents must either provide him with an individualized bond hearing before an immigration judge or release him under reasonable conditions of supervision.

Lorenzo Chavez Rascon, a 22-year-old Utah man, was arrested on February 23, 2026, on suspicion of selling drugs, but the substances were determined to be dried pinto beans. He was released from initial criminal custody but subsequently detained by ICE based on a detainer, despite holding deferred action status from a pending U-visa petition. On March 11, 2026, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking his deportation and ordered the government to explain why he should not be released, ruling that his continued detention violated his constitutional due process rights. As of March 14, he remained in federal custody.

A 14-year-old Brazilian national was detained by ICE agents in Marlborough, Massachusetts on March 10, 2026, during an operation targeting suspected gang members. She was transferred to a juvenile detention facility in New York without following proper legal procedures. A federal judge ordered her immediate release on March 12, 2026, finding the detention and out-of-state transfer violated constitutional protections and questioning why she was not turned over to state child welfare authorities instead. She was reunited with her aunt and uncle in Massachusetts but received a notice to appear in immigration court and now faces deportation to Brazil. Her attorney plans to challenge the deportation and petition for special immigrant juvenile status.

An asylum seeker who entered the U.S. as a minor in 2021 was detained by ICE after being stopped by police while driving to work in Key Largo, Florida on March 12, 2026. He had been living in the community with a pending asylum application and no criminal history for five years. The court ordered his immediate release, finding his detention violated constitutional due process rights.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado granted a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the case of Luis Alfredo Chavelas Rosas, a Mexican citizen detained by ICE on July 16, 2025, in Aurora, Colorado. The court ruled that the detainee was improperly detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) without a bond hearing and determined that the default rule under § 1226(a) applies, requiring the government to provide a bond hearing. The court concluded that § 1225(b)(2)(A) does not authorize detention for noncitizens who have been present in the country for years and are not actively seeking admission.

Five Venezuelan construction workers with valid work permits were detained by federal immigration authorities on March 6-7 while working on Buffalo Bills stadium construction. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, two of the men crossed the border illegally and three overstayed their visas. All five are being held at Batavia Federal Detention Facility awaiting removal hearings.

On March 9, 2026, ICE detained and deported two 12-year-old twin sisters who are U.S. citizens born in Orlando, Florida, after their mother attended a scheduled immigration appointment at an ICE facility. ICE invoked a "family unity" policy to take the children into custody and deport them to Guatemala. The mother had previously submitted paperwork requesting the children remain with their grandmother, though ICE stated she verbally requested to take them with her. A federal court granted a habeas corpus petition filed by the grandmother, ordering the children's immediate return to the United States at ICE's expense and restraining ICE from rearresting them.

Christian Jerez Andrade, a Honduran construction worker, was detained by ICE agents on March 11, 2026, during a traffic stop in South Burlington after agents claimed he rammed their vehicles. ICE supervisor David Johnston announced plans to prosecute him for assault on a federal agent. However, more than four months later, the U.S. Attorney has brought no federal charges. Jerez Andrade's 19-year-old nephew, who was a passenger, disputed ICE's account, telling VTDigger that an ICE vehicle hit their car from behind, causing Jerez Andrade to panic and speed away. South Burlington police completed a separate investigation and found evidence to charge him with leaving the scene of an accident and grossly negligent driving, but the case has languished with local prosecutors. Jerez Andrade was imprisoned for eight days after his arrest and released on bond by an immigration court judge while facing deportation proceedings.

A Honduran man was detained by ICE agents during a March 11 enforcement action outside a residence on Dorset Street in South Burlington. A federal judge determined the arrest violated his Constitutional rights. On March 19, an immigration judge granted him release on $10,000 bond, which the Vermont Freedom Fund will post. Deportation proceedings against him remain ongoing.

Two sisters with pending asylum claims, Camila and Johana Patin Patin, were detained by ICE on March 11 during a South Burlington raid targeting a different individual. They were released after approximately 10 days in custody, along with a Honduran man, despite not being targets of the operation and having no arrest warrants. A federal judge found the arrests violated Constitutional rights, and their attorney stated ICE appeared to rely on racial profiling in detaining them.

Deyvi Daniel Corona Sanchez, an undocumented Mexican man who had been deported to Mexico five years earlier following a criminal trespass charge in Texas, was detained by ICE agents on March 11, 2026, during an enforcement operation on Dorset Street in South Burlington, Vermont. When federal officers attempted to stop his vehicle as it left a home, Corona Sanchez rammed a federal agent's car before crashing in a wooded area and running into a nearby house. Hundreds of community members and protesters gathered at the scene in a hours-long standoff to block agents from entering the home. ICE agents forced their way through the crowd and took him into federal custody around 5:30 p.m. Corona Sanchez had been facing a pending driving-under-the-influence charge from January in Middlebury. He missed a May court hearing where he had been offered enrollment in a court diversion program that would have allowed the charge to be expunged. A federal judge previously found that the ICE arrests violated Constitutional rights, though deportation proceedings remain possible.

On March 11, ICE conducted an enforcement operation in South Burlington to detain a man who had re-entered the country. Burlington police provided mutual aid assistance with crowd management, resulting in clashes with protesters, use of chemical agents and flash bangs, and six arrests. Three protesters arrested by Vermont State Police will not face charges after review of body camera footage.

The Burlington Police Department was cleared of policy violations by the city attorney on June 5, 2026, regarding its response to an ICE operation on March 11 in South Burlington. Over 100 citizen complaints were filed after three individuals were detained during the incident, though none matched the warrant's target. The Police Commission disputed the city attorney's findings, arguing the department's actions constituted support for an unlawful federal enforcement operation.

A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction halting construction of a planned ICE detention facility in Washington County, Maryland, finding the federal government improperly used a categorical exclusion from environmental review requirements. The judge upheld Maryland's arguments that the facility could overwhelm local water and sewer infrastructure and harm waterways and protected species like the green floater mussel. Interior repairs including HVAC and drywall work may proceed, while a decision on the proposed security fence is pending.

Andrei Bankevich, a Belarusian asylum seeker granted relief from deportation to Belarus under the Convention Against Torture, was arrested on a drunken driving charge in Minnesota in February 2025 and transferred to ICE custody. After ICE detention facilities filled during Operation Metro Surge, he was transferred to Muscatine County Jail in Iowa in December 2025. ICE claimed it had been working on potential third-country removals for Bankevich since September 2025, but provided no documentation. Federal Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger ruled on March 11, 2026, that ICE illegally detained Bankevich beyond the six-month limit in violation of federal law and his due process rights, calling his jailing "prolonged and seemingly interminable" and ordering his immediate release.

Pío Figueroa, a Latin convenience store owner in Russellville, Alabama, was detained by ICE on January 30 while transporting $21,000 in cash to a bank for his money transfer business. The funds, collected from community members sending remittances to Latin America, have not been accounted for since his arrest. His legal team notes that ICE agents do not use body cameras, making it impossible to track what happened to the money. Figueroa was held at Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana and now faces deportation proceedings.