Human Impact Project

On June 30, an unmarked ICE squad surrounded a work truck in Olathe and shattered the driver's window, dragging the man through the broken glass while morning traffic passed.

Approximately 300 immigrants detained at Delaney Hall, a privately operated ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey, launched a hunger and labor strike beginning May 25, 2026, to protest conditions including spoiled and expired food, inadequate medical care, overcrowding, filthy bathrooms, lack of hot water, and denial of medical treatment. Detainee Elder Guerra, a Guatemalan immigrant, suffered a head injury after slipping in the shower and was placed in isolation rather than receiving proper treatment. Martin Soto, arrested by ICE four months earlier while buying diapers, remained detained despite a judge blocking his removal from the facility. Detainees reported retaliation by facility staff, including beatings, solitary confinement for strikers, and confiscation of personal items. The facility, operated by Community Education Centers, faced scrutiny for a pattern of medical neglect and rights violations, with sustained crowds of protesters gathering outside in solidarity.

Jhon Perez Romero, 39, a former Venezuelan intelligence officer who fled after refusing an order during a 2019 crackdown on the opposition, was arrested by ICE in Philadelphia on June 30 when he appeared for what he expected to be a routine check-in. He entered the U.S. seeking asylum in late 2023, settled in York, Pa., worked as a Spark Driver for Walmart, and married U.S. citizen Sandra Quinones, a high school teacher, in 2025. He is now held at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Philipsburg, Pa., and fears he could be tortured or killed if deported to Venezuela, where he has been branded a traitor. His wife said she believed the U.S. was a place where people fleeing persecution could find safety.

A man previously granted release under a federal court injunction filed a second habeas corpus petition after being re-arrested by ICE on June 30, 2026, during a scheduled supervision check-in at the ICE ISAP office. He states he was not arrested on any criminal charge and did not violate any condition of his supervision. This follows an earlier habeas petition in which the same court ordered his release on May 21, 2026, and enjoined the government from detaining him under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A). Despite that injunction, he was taken back into custody about six weeks later and is now held at the West Tennessee Detention Facility. He is challenging his renewed detention without a bond hearing. The court ordered Respondent to either immediately release him or explain within three business days how his circumstances have changed since the prior order, and barred his transfer out of the facility while the case is pending.

Margarita Melgar, a mother from Honduras who had lived in the U.S. for 12 years, was given a choice by immigration agents: be detained indefinitely or self-deport. She chose to self-deport and left for Honduras on Sunday, taking her 10-year-old daughter Katherin, a U.S. citizen who has never been to Honduras. Her two older daughters, ages 17 and 20, remained in the United States. Margarita had fled Honduras after facing extreme violence. The family said goodbye at Logan Airport, with her eldest daughter Damary, a college student, remaining in Boston.

A Ukrainian citizen was detained by ICE on June 30, 2026, following an encounter with Oklahoma Highway Patrol. He had been temporarily paroled into the United States for humanitarian reasons and had recently received re-parole approval from USCIS in May 2026, permitting lawful presence until April 2028. An ICE officer served him with a Notice to Appear and detained him at the David L. Moss Criminal Justice Center in Tulsa. The court summarily dismissed his habeas corpus petition, finding that the NTA constituted sufficient written notice of parole termination under applicable regulations and that his detention was lawful pending removal proceedings.

Video documented an incident in which a man struck his head on the ground during an ICE detention in a parking lot in Bethany, Oklahoma. The incident occurred amid reports of increased ICE activity in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.

Laura, a mother of four children including a 2-week-old newborn, is in immigration detention facing deportation proceedings. She has lived in the United States since age 9 and has no criminal record. Her children are being cared for by their grandmother while Laura's case moves through the legal system. The family is seeking financial support for food, childcare, rent, legal expenses, and other necessities while Laura is detained.

A Burkina Faso citizen who fled violence and religious persecution and was lawfully admitted on a B-2 visa in November 2021 filed an asylum application within one year of arrival and maintained compliance with all USCIS requirements. ICE arrested him at his Portland home on June 30, 2026, and transported him to the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Rhode Island. The court issued a temporary restraining order enjoining ICE from removing him from the District of Rhode Island pending resolution of his habeas corpus petition, with exceptions only for medical emergencies or bond hearings before an Immigration Judge.

A 37-year-old Venezuelan national fleeing political persecution was re-detained on June 20, 2026 when he arrived for a routine check-in at the ICE Los Angeles Field Office. He had been previously released on conditional parole under the Alternatives to Detention program, had complied with all check-in requirements, maintained employment as a payroll manager, and had no criminal history. ICE agents allegedly used excessive force, tackling him during arrest without notice or opportunity to be heard. The court granted his temporary restraining order, ordering his immediate release under the original conditions of supervision and enjoining re-detention without a custody hearing before a neutral arbiter.

On June 24-26, 2026, the US deported approximately 146 Venezuelans, including minors, on a repatriation flight to Venezuela. The deportees were placed in Hotel Santuario (also called Hotel El Santuario) in La Guaira while undergoing repatriation processing. Within hours, twin earthquakes struck Venezuela with magnitude and force sufficient to collapse the hotel. At least 2,200 people were killed and 50,000 reported missing across the country. Among the deportees, some were killed, others severely injured with amputations, and many remain unaccounted for. Families gathered outside the hotel rubble searching for information, hampered by limited rescue access and unclear communication from authorities.

Galo Suárez, a Nicaraguan asylum seeker, was arrested on S. 13th Street on Milwaukee's South Side when unmarked ICE vehicles boxed in his car. An agent broke his car window with gun drawn. Suárez, his fiancee Reyna Elizabeth Garcia (25), and her brother Teodoro Rafael Garcia (37) were all detained. All three are eligible for work permits as asylum applicants. Suárez alleged that an agent claimed his work permit was forged and that officers used excessive force, pushing his fiancee against the car and verbally abusing her. Suárez was released later that day but his fiancee remains in custody in Kenosha County and the whereabouts of her brother are unknown.

Luis Angel Velasquez-Montes, 27, was identified during a traffic stop in Chatham County between January and April 2026 and placed in ICE custody. He pleaded guilty to illegal re-entry after previous deportation and was sentenced to time served followed by immediate deportation. Miguel Aparicio-Ortiz, 40, was identified during a traffic stop in Chatham County between January and April 2026 and placed in ICE custody. He pleaded guilty to illegal re-entry after previous deportation and was sentenced to time served followed by immediate deportation.

On June 30, 2026, Homeland Security Investigations agents executed federal search warrants at Scholar Craft manufacturing plants in Birmingham and Irondale, Alabama, as part of an investigation into alleged identity fraud and unlawful employment practices. More than 30 people identified as being in the country without authorization were encountered and taken into custody pending immigration proceedings. The operation involved federal, state, and local law enforcement partners.

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that ICE's policy of mandatory detention without bond for noncitizens violates due process and federal law, ordering the release of Rigoberto Santillan-Quiroz. Santillan-Quiroz, who has lived in the U.S. for approximately twenty years and is married to a legal permanent resident with a U.S. citizen stepdaughter, was arrested during an interior traffic stop in November 2025 and held for eight months without a bond hearing under the Trump administration's July 2025 detention policy. The court found no justification for his detention, noting he posed no flight risk or danger to public safety and had never been charged with a crime. The court ordered the government to grant him a bond hearing within seven days or release him, and the ruling applies across the Tenth Circuit's six-state jurisdiction.

On June 29, four ICE vehicles conducted operations across Kansas City, Missouri. Agents moved down Truman Road and Indiana in the Northeast, then to an apartment complex at 23rd and Topping, where they demanded identification and dragged residents from their own doorways.

Daniel Alejandro Núñez Ramírez, 28, had lived in the U.S. for four years after leaving Venezuela at age 20 and was residing in Jacksonville, Florida. He was detained by ICE during a traffic stop on May 10, 2026, and pressured to sign voluntary deportation papers. He was deported on Flight 164, which landed in Venezuela on June 24, 2026, and he was subsequently placed by Venezuelan authorities in a hotel used to house deportees. Hours after his arrival, an earthquake collapsed the hotel, killing him along with dozens of other deportees. His mother, Oswadeliz Núñez Ramírez, a lawyer, said she was not notified of his deportation until after he had already been handed over to Venezuelan intelligence services (Sebin). She recovered his body five days later at an improvised morgue, had him cremated, and later received only a box of his ashes after being unable to retrieve his belongings. The U.S. government said it bore no further responsibility once he left ICE custody.

A Venezuelan national who presented at the El Paso port of entry on March 19, 2024, was released on her own recognizance and enrolled in an Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP). She complied fully with all terms including GPS monitoring and court appearances. On June 29, 2026, she was arrested without warning during a routine ICE check-in appointment and remained detained. The court granted her habeas corpus petition and ordered ICE to provide a bond hearing by July 31, 2026, requiring the government to prove by clear and convincing evidence that detention was justified.

An immigration detainee petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus challenging his detention at Golden State Annex Detention Facility. The court found that his case mirrored legal issues in multiple prior cases where the government's detention was found unlawful. The District Court granted the habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release, prohibiting re-detention unless the government demonstrates by clear and convincing evidence at a pre-deprivation bond hearing that he poses a flight risk or danger to the community.

Daniel Alejandro Núñez Ramírez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan, was deported from the United States and arrived in Venezuela on June 24, 2026, as part of a group of 146 deported migrants. On the same day, two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela. Daniel was being held at the Santuario La Llanada hotel in La Guaira while repatriation procedures were completed. When the hotel collapsed during the earthquakes, Daniel was killed instantly. His mother, Oswadeliz Núñez Ramírez, spent five days searching for him in hospitals, morgues, and across La Guaira and Caracas before his body was recovered from the rubble. She identified him by a tattoo. Only 32 of the 146 deported migrants survived the disaster.