Human Impact Project

Ursula Gomez completed over two decades in California state prison and participated in rehabilitation programs and college coursework. Upon her release in July 2024, the California Department of Corrections transferred her to ICE custody rather than releasing her. After 11 months in multiple ICE detention centers, facing threats of deportation to countries she had no ties to, Gomez agreed to voluntary removal to Mexico, the country she left at age 5. She was deported later in 2024.

Besnik "Nik" Shembitrasi, a 49-year-old barber from Albania who immigrated to the U.S. in 2006, was arrested by ICE on May 17, 2026, outside his home in Elmwood Park as he was leaving for work. Shembitrasi has built a life in Illinois over two decades, working as a barber at Frank's Barber Shop in Oak Park, married to a U.S. citizen, and father to an 8-year-old daughter born in the U.S. His uncle and employer Frank Shemitraku described him as hardworking, respectful, and dedicated to supporting his family, noting that Shembitrasi had recently purchased a home in Elmwood Park and works two jobs. At the time of reporting, Shembitrasi was being held by ICE in Brazil, Indiana, and his family expressed concern about his separation and uncertain immigration status.

A Cuban national who entered the United States on July 14, 2024, was arrested on May 17, 2026, by local law enforcement in Florida for Battery (Domestic Violence) under F.S. 784.03.1a1. He was subsequently transferred to ICE custody and detained at Golden State Annex Detention Facility in McFarland, California. The court granted his habeas corpus petition, finding his re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause, and ordered respondents to provide an individualized bond hearing within 14 days or immediately release him.

Sara Yazmin Garcia was arrested on May 15, 2026, and taken into ICE custody on May 17, 2026, due to her immigration status. She is being held in Atlanta, Georgia, over seven hours from her family. She has no criminal record and has lived in the United States for over 20 years, leaving behind her husband of 10 years, her 15-year-old son, and extended family who depend on her emotionally and financially.

Peter Booth was arrested on charges of unlawful trespass and resisting arrest during a protest at an ICE digital surveillance center on May 14, 2026. Booth was carried out of the building by Vermont State Police officers. He had previously been cited for criminal trespass at a similar protest in February 2026.

Vivian Do's father was detained by ICE on March 5 at a GEO processing facility in Adelanto, California. Despite legal assurances and ICE's own notification that he would not be moved until June 5, he was transferred without notice on May 14, flown from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and deported to Vietnam the same day. The family had spent over $50,000 in legal fees seeking his release.

Ernesto, a construction worker, was detained by ICE on December 10 while traveling to his job in Washington, DC. He was transferred to a detention center in Texas, leaving his wife Ana and their three children (ages 3, 7, and 8) without their primary source of income. Ana now works nights as a university cleaner and relies on a moped for transportation while struggling to afford rent, groceries, medical bills, and legal fees.

A man detained by ICE in March after 30 years in the U.S. was released this month after an immigration judge vacated a decades-old drug conviction from 1999 and restored his lawful permanent resident status. The judge found he had not been informed of immigration consequences when he entered the plea. His case is among roughly 19 Laotian cases handled by the Seattle Clemency Project this year, part of a broader enforcement sweep affecting longtime residents in the region.

An uncle and aunt who had attended yearly ICE check-ins since the early 1990s were suddenly detained during a routine check-in and held for over four months. During detention, they were denied access to medications for serious health conditions, and the aunt was transferred to Florence, Arizona without family or attorney notification. Both are stateless individuals from the former USSR facing potential deportation to an unknown country. They were released on January 16, 2026, and are now pursuing a legal appeal.

Obi, who arrived legally on a visa and was in the process of obtaining a green card, was detained by ICE on October 20th without due process. He was held in a detention facility for ten days after a judge ordered his release and bond was posted. His wife, who relies on him as her caregiver due to chronic illnesses, was forced to attend their green card interview alone while he remained detained. He was released with conditions including GPS monitoring and travel restrictions.

The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas granted provisional class certification and a preliminary injunction blocking four key provisions of Texas Senate Bill 4, a 2023 law the court found could allow states to pass their own immigration laws and undermine federal uniformity. The blocked provisions include a reentry crime applicable to anyone reentering Texas even with federal permission, magistrate power to issue deportation orders, criminalization of failing to comply with removal orders, and requirements that magistrates continue prosecutions despite pending federal immigration cases. The class-action lawsuit, filed by the ACLU of Texas and Texas Civil Rights Project on May 4, represents thousands of people across the state, including a lawful permanent resident and a person provisionally approved for a U Visa after assisting law enforcement.

Carlos Alborozo was detained by ICE while working in a construction job. His family launched a fundraising campaign to help cover legal expenses and immigration lawyer costs to support his case.

Wendy Hernandez Reyes, a 29-year-old undocumented immigrant and domestic violence survivor with no criminal record, was detained by Baldwin County sheriff's deputies in Mobile, Alabama on January 8, 2026, during a traffic stop while on her way to work. After ICE was contacted, she repeatedly requested to take her young U.S. citizen son, Orlin, with her or be released to care for him, but ICE denied these requests. She was deported to Honduras on January 26, 2026, forced to leave Orlin in the care of her brother-in-law, Samuel Maldonado Erazo. On March 4, 2026, Orlin died from multiple blunt force traumas inflicted by Maldonado, who was charged with first-degree murder. Hernandez Reyes remains in Honduras grieving her son's death, while a federal court reopened a case against the Department of Homeland Security alleging ICE failed to follow safety protocols and lacked a reunification plan; ICE has blamed Hernandez for leaving her son with the relative.

Aniceto Hernandez-Reyna, who came to the United States from Guanajuato, Mexico at age 17, was detained by ICE officers at a gas station outside Phoenix in front of his two younger sons. His daughter, Army Spc. Jasmine Hernandez, was stationed 2,000 miles away at Fort Stewart, Georgia, at the time; she had enlisted in 2024 in part to protect her family and had filed a Military Parole in Place application on her father's behalf more than a year earlier, which was still pending when he was detained. An ABC News review of state and federal records found no record of violent crime for Hernandez-Reyna, who has had several traffic violations including a 2002 DUI. He remains held at the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona, and his daughter said she has only spoken with him once since his arrest, calling it 'a slap in the face' given her military service and describing the situation as a significant source of stress.

Juan Nasario-Reyes, 43, from Beaver, Oklahoma, was arrested at a Border Patrol checkpoint in Sarita after authorities discovered 42 undocumented immigrants in his tractor-trailer, which was sealed shut with no means of escape and an internal temperature of 92.5 degrees. He also faces charges for possessing approximately 16 grams of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. If convicted on smuggling charges, Nasario-Reyes could face up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine; drug charges carry a maximum sentence of 40 years.

Deisy Fidelina Rivera Ortega, wife of active-duty U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Jose Serrano stationed at Fort Bliss, was detained by ICE agents on April 14, 2026, while attending a USCIS appointment in El Paso, Texas to apply for Parole in Place. A native of El Salvador who had lived in the U.S. for approximately a decade, Rivera Ortega held valid work authorization and a 2019 court order granting her withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture. Despite these legal protections, ICE arrested her based on a December 2019 removal order for illegal entry and indicated plans to deport her to Mexico under third-country removal procedures. After approximately one month in custody at the El Paso Service Processing Center, Rivera Ortega was released on May 15, 2026, following media reporting and personal intervention by U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat and combat veteran who contacted the Department of Homeland Security on her behalf. She remains subject to GPS monitoring, mandatory ICE check-ins, home visits, and travel restrictions while facing potential deportation.

Tuan Van Bui, a 55-year-old Vietnamese national who legally entered the U.S. in 1990 under the Amerasian Homecoming Act, died on April 1, 2026, at Miami Correctional Facility in Bunker Hill, Indiana while in ICE custody. Staff found him unresponsive, initiated CPR, and called emergency services; he was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. His autopsy ruled the death natural, caused by hypertensive arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Bui had been ordered removed from the country by an immigration judge in 2005 and was challenging his detention through a habeas corpus petition at the time of his death. His death was the second at the facility since October 2025, prompting the ACLU of Indiana to call for transparency and advocates to organize a statewide day of action on May 16, 2026, with over 70 protesters rallying at the Allen County Courthouse in Fort Wayne.

Annie Yaritza Ramos Alvarado, a 22-year-old Honduras-born immigrant who came to the U.S. as a toddler in 2005, was detained by ICE agents on April 2, 2026, at Fort Polk military base in Louisiana while trying to register for military benefits just days after marrying U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Matthew Blank, 23. Ramos, a college student with no criminal history, had applied for DACA in 2020 though her application was never processed, and was working with a lawyer to adjust her status through marriage. Her detention stemmed from an outstanding removal order issued in 2005 after her family missed an immigration hearing when she was 20 to 22 months old. She was held for about five days at an ICE facility in Basile, Louisiana, before being released on April 7 with a GPS ankle monitor, though a DHS spokesperson said the government would continue pursuing her deportation. "All I have ever wanted is to live with dignity in the country I have called home since I was a baby," Ramos said in a statement.

Justo Betancourt, a 54-year-old Cuban national who entered the U.S. in 1990 and held lawful status, was detained by ICE on October 29, 2025, during a routine annual immigration check-in. He was held for roughly seven months at the South Florida Detention Facility, known as Alligator Alcatraz, despite being unable to be readily deported to Cuba. During detention he was shackled up to 23 hours a day and denied adequate care for his diabetes, neuropathy, and heart conditions, leading to strokes, cardiac arrest, a diabetic coma from withheld insulin, significant weight loss, and lasting neurological damage including tremors and mobility impairment. His daughter Arianne organized weekly vigils outside the facility for 44 weeks advocating for his release. U.S. District Judge Kyle Dudek granted his habeas corpus petition on May 13, 2026, finding the detention erroneous and unlawful, and ordered his release within 48 hours; Betancourt was freed on May 14-15, 2026.

LT, a 30-year-old Haitian woman, fled her home country after supporters of an opposing political party burned down her house, kidnapped her, and raped her, and after her sister was later murdered. She arrived in Miami by boat in 2019 and sought asylum, later giving birth to a daughter. LT was detained at the Dilley detention center in Texas, roughly 1,500 miles from her 13-month-old daughter, who remained in Florida with LT's mother. The child has food allergies and sensitivities causing vomiting when fed formula, and the government denied LT's requests to pump and mail breastmilk or to bring the child into detention, citing a policy against holding US citizen children at immigration facilities. LT's mother struggled to work full time while caring for the infant's medical needs. LT's asylum case was ultimately denied after three months in detention.