Human Impact Project

Reuters photojournalist Ryan Murphy was struck repeatedly with a baton by federal officers while covering protests outside the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark, which began May 22 amid a detainee hunger strike. On May 28, an officer hit Murphy's hand as he photographed a protester being pepper-sprayed, breaking his finger and leaving a deep cut that required several stitches. Murphy said he was clearly identified as press and that officers also kicked his camera flash, struck his elbow and pointed a stun gun at him during the same assignment. DHS said it would prosecute anyone obstructing law enforcement and urged journalists to exercise caution covering what it described as violent riots, without addressing use of force against the press.

M, an uncle and construction worker living in the Atlanta area for nearly twenty years, was detained by ICE in late June after being pulled over in Gainesville for an expired vehicle tag. He was held at Stewart Detention Center and was released on bond a few days before his brother's arrest, but is required to wear an ankle monitor.

Wendy Baca Sánchez, a Honduran national five months pregnant, has been hospitalized multiple times since her detention in late June near San Miguel, Arizona by border agents. She is currently in ICE custody at Eloy Detention Center. The nature and reasons for her multiple hospitalizations are described in reports of ICE's continued detention of pregnant women in Arizona.

A Honduran man who entered the United States in 2014 and has been living in the country since that time was detained by immigration officials on June 1, 2026, and is currently being held at the Farmville Detention Center. The government sought to detain him under the mandatory detention provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2), arguing that because he entered without inspection, he remained an "applicant for admission" subject to mandatory detention. He challenged his detention through a habeas corpus petition, arguing that as someone already present in the country for over a decade, he should be governed by the discretionary detention provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), which would entitle him to a bond hearing. The federal district court granted his petition, finding that the Supreme Court's decision in Jennings v. Rodriguez established that § 1226(a) is the default rule for noncitizens already in the country in removal proceedings, while § 1225(b) applies only to those actively seeking admission. The court ordered that he be provided a bond hearing before an immigration judge within seven days and enjoined immigration officials from denying him bond solely on the basis of § 1225(b)(2) detention.

A native and citizen of Armenia who entered the United States in 2021 was arrested at a regular ICE check-in in June 2026 and remains detained at Adelanto ICE Processing Center. He has a final removal order, and an immigration judge denied his motion to reopen. He filed a habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 on June 25, 2026, challenging the legality of his present detention primarily on due process grounds rather than seeking review of the removal order itself. The parties disputed whether he is subject to mandatory or discretionary detention and whether respondents complied with statutory, regulatory, and constitutional requirements governing his continued confinement. On July 15, 2026, respondents filed a Notice of Intended Removal, stating he was scheduled for transfer out of Adelanto on July 18, 2026, and removal from the United States on July 26, 2026. On July 17, 2026, the court granted in part his ex parte application for a temporary restraining order, enjoining respondents from moving him to a location outside the Central District of California during the pendency of the action, with the order remaining in effect for fourteen days or until the court's disposition of the petition.

Brandy Rogers, a mental health therapist, was stopped by ICE agents in an unmarked vehicle in June after she volunteered to drive a neighbor home from district court. When ICE agents pounded on the car's doors and threatened to shatter the windows if she did not unlock the vehicle, Rogers initially refused but eventually complied. Her neighbor, whom Rogers identified as being in the country legally, was taken into custody and held for three weeks before being released. Rogers recounted: "I initially refused, shook my head no, but they weren't having any of it and just kept knocking on the door."

A Cameroonian citizen who entered the U.S. in December 2022 was arrested on June 1, 2026, by ICE agents in the lobby of the Sacramento ERO office after an Immigration Judge denied his asylum application and ordered his removal. He was transferred to Golden State Annex Detention Facility in McFarland, California. The court granted his habeas corpus petition on July 8, 2026, finding his detention violated due process because his removal order was not administratively final—he had timely appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals on June 16, 2026—and ordered his immediate release.

A commercial truck driver who entered the United States on April 29, 2022, was initially taken into custody by DHS and subsequently released on his own recognizance pending removal proceedings. For approximately four years, he complied with all release conditions while working lawfully as a commercial truck driver. On June 1, 2026, ICE officers re-detained him while he was at work without providing pre-deprivation notice or a hearing. The court granted his petition for habeas corpus, finding that respondents violated Fifth Amendment due process protections and ordered his immediate release with constitutional safeguards for any future detention.

On June 6, 2025, ICE and federal agents raided Ambiance Apparel, a garment manufacturer in Los Angeles's Fashion District, detaining 40-44 workers, predominantly from Indigenous Zapotec communities in Mexico. Many were restrained with chains at the waist and ankles during arrest. Families gathered outside the facility to protest what they described as kidnappings, with detainees subsequently moved between multiple detention facilities, making family contact difficult. At least one worker was deported; others remain in immigration proceedings. A year later, affected families continue facing severe economic hardship, ongoing trauma, and family separation, with children left without primary breadwinners. The raid was part of a broader workplace enforcement crackdown that included multiple operations across Los Angeles and involved deployment of the National Guard.

An 8-year-old U.S. citizen was detained in a federally contracted shelter in Brooklyn for nearly seven months after being dropped off by relatives at the Mexico-U.S. border last November. He was sometimes held with no other children present, showed signs of depression, and turned nine while in federal custody. Despite his grandmother providing officials with his birth certificate establishing his U.S. citizenship through his mother, the Office of Refugee Resettlement did not investigate his status; the agency has said in court filings that no one informed them he was a citizen until late May. He was released only after an immigration judge ruled him a U.S. citizen and a federal lawsuit was filed, with custody transferred to New York City's child welfare agency before he was placed with his grandmother in Brooklyn within hours.

Paul Johnson and at least 17 other individuals were charged with assaulting federal officers during an ICE operation in Minneapolis in January 2026. Johnson reported that ICE and CBP agents boxed in his truck, swarmed him, and struck him repeatedly with punches and pepper spray. He was shackled to a hospital bed for five days following the incident. Federal prosecutors dismissed charges against all 18 defendants by June 2026 after a federal magistrate and judge raised concerns about the credibility of sworn affidavits submitted by federal agents, including one HSI agent whose statements lacked personal knowledge of events. The dismissals cited insufficient evidence and misconduct by federal agents.

Randy Cordova Flores, a 36-year-old Peruvian landscaper and father of two children enrolled in the Allegheny Valley School District, was pulled over by Springdale Borough police for a traffic violation on February 10, 2026, and turned over to ICE agents. He had entered the U.S. without documentation in 2023 and was pursuing an asylum case with valid work authorization; ICE claimed he had missed an immigration hearing, but his family and legal representatives said he had been complying with check-in requirements. He was held at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County and later transferred to Northern Regional Correctional Facility in West Virginia, where he was confined to a small cell 23 hours a day. After his family launched a legal challenge, he won release through a habeas corpus petition in June 2026, four months after his detention began, and was freed on bond with an ankle monitor while his case continues.

Legal organizations filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of four people detained at Camp East Montana, a massive immigration detention tent camp at Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, alleging severe rights violations including medical neglect, violent uses of force by officers, excessive solitary confinement, inadequate food, and dangerous living conditions. The lawsuit seeks class certification to represent all people detained at the facility and alleges violations of Fifth Amendment due process rights and the Administrative Procedure Act.

Leo Argoti Rubio, a pastry chef at Fauborg restaurant in Montclair, New Jersey, was detained by ICE on June 1, 2026 while entering a shopping center in Buffalo, New York. He had a valid work visa, a pending asylum case, a Social Security number, and a clean record. His community, including the organization Latinos of Montclair, launched a legal defense fund to support his bond costs, court fees, and emergency expenses while his asylum case proceeds.

Álvaro Salguero was detained by ICE on February 26 despite having no criminal record and an ongoing immigration process. He is described as a dedicated family man and father of two young children, including a newborn born just four weeks before his detention. His wife Karen is now solely responsible for covering legal fees to fight for his release, as well as rent, utilities, and other household expenses. The family is seeking financial support to cope with the sudden loss of income and the costs of pursuing his case.

Nuvia Martinez was detained after attending a routine ICE check-in appointment at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan and held in severely overcrowded conditions for days. Martinez, who has diabetes, was denied access to her required medication despite medical need. She described the facility—designed to hold people for only 12 hours—as holding dozens of detainees in small rooms with no beds or full-time medical staff. In sworn testimony, Martinez reported that women who were menstruating were bleeding through their clothes, almost no food was provided, there were no showers available, and detainees had no access to basic hygiene. She stated: "I was just a body that they crammed into a room, almost as if to be forgotten." The detention occurred as ICE arrests surged.

Eri was detained by ICE and is being held at T. Don Hutto Detention Center. His sister Andrea, an active-duty U.S. Army soldier, organized a fundraiser to pay for immigration legal representation and secure his release so he can fight his case at home with family rather than remain detained.

ICE officers conducted raids at Don Patron Mexican Grill locations across West Virginia on May 30, 2026, detaining multiple workers. The enforcement action affected at least three locations in Elkins, Weston, and Bridgeport, with a fourth location in Buckhannon also closing, which management attributed to a broken pipe. As of mid-August 2026, the Elkins location remained closed outside its normal operating hours, with no response from management to requests for comment.

A Honduran man who entered the United States on or about August 12, 2021, at age seventeen, and was processed by immigration officials as an unaccompanied child. He was released by the Office of Refugee Resettlement to his brother and a sponsor on August 23, 2021, and has a pending application for asylum and withholding of removal. On or about May 31, 2026, he was taken back into ICE custody after encountering law enforcement due to a driver's license related infraction. He was held at the California City Detention Center. Petitioner filed a habeas corpus petition and a motion for a temporary restraining order seeking immediate release, arguing his prior release by ORR created a liberty interest and that he was being detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1232 rather than mandatory detention provisions cited by respondents. The court agreed, citing prior similar rulings, granted the habeas petition, ordered his immediate release, and enjoined respondents from re-detaining him without notice and a hearing where the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that he is a danger or flight risk. The TRO motion was denied as moot given the habeas relief granted.

Kadeen Hunt, brought to the United States from Jamaica on a tourist visa at age 6, was detained by ICE for several months and is now facing removal proceedings. Hunt has five U.S. citizen children, one of whom is autistic and requires special support. Without legal representation, Hunt faces imminent deportation and family separation.