Human Impact Project

Aminata Seck, 26, a Kentucky State University graduate student, senior, and women's basketball player from Dakar, Senegal, was detained by federal officers at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on Aug. 7, 2026, while preparing to travel with her team to a tournament in New York. Seck entered the U.S. on a student visa in 2019; her attorney, Sadiqa Reynolds, said she may have missed a visa deadline while recovering from back surgery and never received notice of a September 2025 hearing that led to an in absentia removal order issued Sept. 8, 2025. Reynolds said Seck has been moved among at least four detention facilities, has an ACL injury and torn Achilles requiring surgery, and received inconsistent medical care, including only ibuprofen at times, while DHS said she was referred to a hospital on Sept. 21 for knee pain. Attorney Hishem Alsalman said Seck has also experienced seizures. By Sept. 23, Seck was found hospitalized and appearing sedated, with hospital staff denying her attorneys phone or visitor access; her attorneys filed a motion to reopen her case in Memphis Immigration Court and a habeas corpus petition with an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order in federal court in Kentucky, prompting Chief U.S. District Judge David J. Hale to order the government to respond by Sept. 28. Kentucky State coach Amani Williams and Rep. Morgan McGarvey have both publicly supported Seck, with Reynolds saying the coach has treated her like a mother would her own child, and McGarvey stating, 'The Trump administration's cruelty knows no bounds but we will never let this become normal and we won't stop fighting for her.'

Deng Deng, a 19-year-old Southern Connecticut State University basketball player from Aweil, South Sudan, was arrested by ICE agents at Tweed New Haven Airport on September 4, 2026, while boarding a flight to visit his girlfriend in North Carolina. Deng attended high school in New Jersey; sources reported he held either a pending asylum application with a valid Employment Authorization Document following lawful admission on an F-1 student visa, or protections under DACA. A witness described the arresting officers as 'very aggressive.' His attorneys, Glenn Formica and Steven Strom, filed a habeas corpus petition alleging an officer falsely claimed he was violating Temporary Protected Status he never held, that he has no criminal history, and that his Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights were violated. A federal judge restricted his transfer beyond 150 miles of Connecticut before the case moved to Massachusetts, and he was held at the Wyatt Detention Facility in Rhode Island. After two weeks in custody, Deng was released; U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal called the detention unnecessary and illegal and is seeking an investigation into the regional ICE field office. SCSU said it remained in contact with him and was assisting where appropriate.

Teresa de Jesus Ochoa Briseño, 31, a cook at Carmelita's Restaurant in Alamo, Texas, was arrested by ICE agents outside her workplace around 5 a.m. on September 21, 2026, and deported to Reynosa, Mexico, later that day. Her 17-year-old son, Luis Ochoa, a U.S. citizen, had witnessed an ICE apprehension near a Marine Corps recruiting office days earlier and was himself detained after speaking out publicly; he said agents offered him money to stay quiet and threatened to detain his undocumented relatives. Luis believes his mother was targeted because of the attention her public criticism of ICE generated in local media. ICE said Teresa had a prior removal order from a July 2025 arrest for alleged illegal reentry and denied the deportation was retaliatory, describing it as part of a 'targeted operation.' Advocacy groups We the People RGV and Carnalismo Brown Berets are calling for a congressional hearing and independent investigation into the family's case.

Edgar Chacon-Miranda, 45, a father with U visa protections and full legal custody of his children under a New Mexico family court order, was detained by ICE agents in the parking lot of La Familia Health/Medical Center in Santa Fe while driving his young daughter to a medical appointment. Clinic staff, including chief information officer Jasmin Milz, said agents appeared to have followed him from home and blocked his vehicle, taking him into custody without entering the building; his daughter was later picked up by a family member with help from community advocates. DHS described him as a 'criminal illegal alien' with an 'extensive criminal history,' citing 2018 battery, criminal sexual penetration, and child abuse charges, but court records show those charges were dismissed after the alleged victim declined to cooperate. His attorney, Allegra Love, said he received the U visa in 2022 for cooperating with law enforcement and that it expired in May while his residency application remains pending. Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies criticized federal officials for citing the dismissed case without noting its outcome, and U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández called leaving the child in the parking lot 'cruelty,' noting ICE reported eight detentions in Santa Fe that day. Chacon-Miranda was later jailed and has alleged that immigration agents fabricated reports to secure his deportation despite his legal status.

Adwoa, a 21-year-old bisexual woman from Ghana, fled years of violence and ostracism after neighbors accused her family of witchcraft over her sexuality. Despite obtaining a US court guarantee that she would not be deported back to Ghana, she was instead sent to Cameroon, where same-sex relations are illegal and punishable by up to five years in prison. She has been held at a government-run detention facility in Cameroon for several months, describing her situation as feeling like "a criminal" and fearing she could be killed if returned to Ghana.

Misael Ramos, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America running for Austin city council, was arrested Saturday morning on a misdemeanor charge of "riot participation" tied to a protest against the shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a Venezuelan asylum seeker with a valid work permit who was shot by an ICE officer. Ramos denies any wrongdoing and plans to contest the charge; his attorney said, "I didn't see any riots... I saw people out there chanting and protesting." His campaign manager said Ramos joined the protest to show solidarity after hearing that an ICE officer had shot someone in the back.

Federal and local officers served nearly a dozen search warrants across Jackson and Josephine counties, Oregon, as part of a two-year investigation into a drug-trafficking organization. Community monitoring group Rogue Valley Migra Watch reported at least 21 people were detained over two days, most of them agricultural workers at cannabis farms in Medford, Ruch, Central Point, Eagle Point, Rogue River, Jacksonville, and Cave Junction, including at least 8 workers detained at a Cave Junction farm on White School House Rd. Witnesses documented GEO Group detention vans, operator of the Northwest Detention Center, at the sites, and one detained person was treated by emergency responders while in handcuffs. The Cave Junction operation involved the FBI, Josephine Marijuana Enforcement Team, Josephine County Sheriff, Oregon State Police, and ICE. The Jackson County Sheriff's Office said it did not coordinate with ICE on immigration enforcement and that deputies were not told immigration detentions were planned, citing Oregon's sanctuary law barring local cooperation with federal immigration agencies; Medford police said their role was limited to supporting the criminal investigation. Advocates raised concerns the sanctuary law may have been violated, while ICE and the FBI have not publicly identified those detained or confirmed the total count.

Nathan 'Nate' Samudzi, a delivery driver from Yankton, South Dakota originally from Zimbabwe, was detained by ICE for a second time this year after reporting to the agency's Sioux Falls sub-field office. He was quickly transferred to a detention center and then to Minneapolis for a deportation flight, but a federal judge granted an emergency Temporary Restraining Order about 30 minutes before the flight was scheduled to depart. Samudzi holds a valid work permit, had begun the citizenship process, and had been under strict GPS monitoring since a prior detention in February; his wife, a local schoolteacher, said he complied with every condition. ICE told reporters Samudzi had a conviction for drug possession and distribution, but his attorney said this is false, explaining he has only a misdemeanor marijuana ingestion conviction from age 20 and a separate charge that was dismissed a year later. Judge Jerry Blackwell has ordered ICE cannot remove or transfer Samudzi from the District of Minnesota while his legal team pursues an emergency habeas corpus petition citing fear of persecution if returned to Zimbabwe, a country he has not lived in since age four. He remains held at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Fort Snelling, Minnesota, as family, friends, and South Dakota's congressional delegation seek updates on his case.

Jessica Trevino (also spelled Treviño), a DACA recipient in her mid-30s who arrived in the U.S. from Mexico as a young child and lived in Texas her entire life, was arrested by ICE agents on December 28, 2025, as she left church with her family in the Rio Grande Valley. Unmarked vehicles rammed the family's car in a Home Depot parking lot, agents struck her husband Juan with a baton, and shoved their 14-year-old daughter against the vehicle hard enough to bruise her. Trevino worked in an elementary school cafeteria and had no criminal record; her DACA status remained valid at the time. After nearly three months in ICE custody, she was deported to Matamoros, Mexico on March 25, 2026, despite disputing that she consented to a 'voluntary departure' order. Her three U.S. citizen children, ages 16, 14, and 13, remained in Texas with relatives. USCIS later moved to terminate her DACA status, citing unauthorized travel. Her family filed a federal lawsuit seeking her return and restoration of her status, though a federal judge has since recommended dismissal on jurisdictional grounds.

Masked ICE agents conducted an enforcement sweep along Speedwell Avenue in Morristown, chasing a man from the Lincoln Apartments toward a firehouse while a school bus of elementary students watched agents transfer handcuffed detainees between vehicles. Father Duberney Villamizar, a local priest, cut short Mass to witness the operation and said four to six individuals, including a car wash employee, were detained, with one released after producing legal documents. During the operation, a passing vehicle struck the open door of an ICE SUV in front of the school bus, which the priest said caused children to scream; DHS blamed a distracted driver and said no ICE officers were injured. Residents and officials questioned whether a Morris County Sheriff's officer had cooperated with ICE, which would violate New Jersey's Immigrant Trust Directive. DHS later identified three men detained: Noe Izara Rivera and Marco Vinicio Remache-Damian, who will face due process in deportation proceedings, and Cesar Armando Chilotillo, a previously deported individual who will remain in ICE custody pending removal. The arrests were part of a series of Morristown ICE sweeps that have unsettled Hispanic neighborhoods and prompted protests since January.

A Russian woman who resides in Sarasota, Florida is being held by ICE at a detention facility in Eloy, Arizona, facing a bond of nearly $90,000 to secure her release. Her family says they do not have the resources to pay that amount as her immigration case continues. An immigration attorney suggested that such a high bond could be a government tactic to pressure immigrants into self-deporting when they cannot afford to pay.

Joselito Mateo Sam, 20, was taken into ICE custody while walking down a street in New Bedford, according to court filings reviewed by The Boston Globe. Probate court records show he entered the United States in 2024 at age 18, then moved in with two uncles in New Bedford and began working at a fish processing house. He was one of at least 34 people detained during a multi-day ICE sweep across the Massachusetts coast region, part of a broader operation that left families searching for information amid a tracking blackout. Local officials warned immigrants in the New Bedford area to stay home following the surge in arrests.

A federal judge in Maryland held the Trump administration in contempt for twice deporting an asylum seeker identified in court documents as E.L.A. (or ELA) to El Salvador, the country where he feared persecution, in violation of court orders. E.L.A. was a minor at the time of his first removal in March 2026. After advocacy from his lawyers, he was returned to the U.S. in August 2026, but was deported again on September 1 despite holding humanitarian parole and having no pending removal order. His attorneys said he was left in El Salvador without his belongings, money, or a phone, still wearing a detention jumpsuit. The case stems from a 2019 class-action lawsuit protecting the asylum rights of immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as unaccompanied minors. The judge ordered the government to return E.L.A. to the U.S., restore his property, and halt any further removal until his asylum case is resolved.

Two employees of Charra's and Tequila, a Mexican restaurant in north Bismarck, North Dakota, were taken into ICE custody, including the owner's nephew. The restaurant's owner said the workers held permanent resident status and valid, unexpired work authorization, and described remaining staff as "scared" and the team as "in shock" following the arrests, prompting the business to temporarily close. An ICE spokesperson disputed this, stating the two workers had entered the U.S. without legal status and would remain in custody pending immigration proceedings. About 75 people gathered on September 25 to protest outside the William L. Guy Federal Building in Bismarck, opposing increased ICE enforcement activity that left at least 19 people in custody at the Burleigh-Morton Detention Center that week.

Bryan Omar Sánchez, a Honduran man who had lived in Colorado for about a decade working as a gardener, truck driver, and pressure-washing business owner, was detained by ICE at his home on May 13 and moved through detention centers in Texas and Arizona. Despite a 2020 Convention Against Torture protection barring his return to Honduras and a pending asylum claim, he was placed on a nearly 22-hour flight to the Central African Republic on July 29 without his consent; one officer reportedly mocked him, asking 'Hey, Honduras, why are you going to Africa?' while Sánchez protested, 'Africa? I can't go to Africa.' Once in Bangui, he described being held in a shelter with restricted movement, facing language barriers and limited access to services, prompting Honduras' National Human Rights Commissioner (Conadeh) to demand urgent consular assistance and verification of his well-being. While detained, Sánchez represented himself in filings with Colorado's federal court, arguing he should not have been removed to a country he had never visited. U.S. District Judge Regina M. Rodríguez ruled that ICE violated his due process rights by giving him no notice or opportunity to challenge the removal, and ordered the government to return him to Colorado and release him without conditions such as GPS monitoring.

A Black U.S. citizen in Evanston, Illinois was tackled and beaten by federal agents believed to be ICE, who mistook him for a fugitive they were pursuing near Dodge Avenue and Howard Street. Video captured by witness Miguel Angel Olivares and another bystander shows agents using rough force, pinning him to the ground and appearing to strike him as he repeatedly stated he was a citizen. He suffered injuries to his head, neck and teeth and was treated at a local hospital, St. Francis. Federal officials said the man refused to identify himself and declined medical assistance, and that he was briefly detained for fingerprinting before being released once agents confirmed he was not their target. Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss confirmed the detention and release, while local police, eyewitnesses, and activist group Sanctuary Evanston disputed DHS's account, calling the incident a 'violent assault.' Evanston police, Illinois authorities, and the FBI are investigating, with body camera footage being preserved and witnesses interviewed.

Catherine came to the United States as an international student ten years ago, building a life and education in Utah. Her family says she was taken into custody on false charges and has been held for six months in a Louisiana ICE detention facility without receiving a trial or hearing. Family members describe her as a daughter, sister, friend, and student, and say she has been separated from her education and community throughout her detention. They are raising money to cover attorney fees, legal filings, transportation, and other costs as they pursue her case.

A Peruvian man identified in court filings as "John Doe," who has judicial protections against deportation to Peru, has been held in ICE custody in Massachusetts since July. After an appeals court struck down the Trump administration's third-country removal policy, a Department of Justice attorney argued the ruling wasn't yet in effect and sought to transfer Doe to another facility to put him on a flight to the Central African Republic. Doe's attorneys, including Mary Holper, obtained an emergency clarification from the appeals court reaffirming the policy was dissolved immediately, and a judge declined to lift the stay barring his removal, though he remains in detention. Flight data showed ICE charter planes continued flying to and landing in African countries used for third-country removals hours after the court's order, raising concerns the government may still be violating the ruling.

Pastor Molis Augustave, 33, a faith leader in York, Pennsylvania and former organizer with We Are CASA, was deported to Haiti after a 19-day detention that began September 4 when West Manchester Township police stopped him over a reportedly broken headlight while he was driving for DoorDash and turned him over to ICE under the township's 287(g) agreement. An advocacy campaign led by his U.S.-citizen wife, Omara Boniface Nunez, briefly got him pulled from an initial deportation flight, but USCIS denied his pending green card application days later and he was removed alongside 38 other Haitians despite an approved I-130 petition, a pending I-485 application, a pending motion to reopen before the Board of Immigration Appeals, and a federal habeas corpus petition in Louisiana. While detained, he led a Bible study group and counseled a fellow detainee who was contemplating suicide. His wife and their two U.S.-born children, Isaac and Sofia, remain in York, where he pastored a congregation, and his Motion to Reopen remains pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals.

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order, later followed by a permanent injunction, requiring ICE to improve conditions at its 26 Federal Plaza detention facility in Manhattan. Detainees, including Sergio Alberto Barco Mercado, who filed a complaint after mass arrests at the site, were reportedly held on floors without beds, given only two meals a day, and denied hygiene products and access to legal counsel. The court found that ICE willfully violated prior orders and kept detainees in overcrowded rooms without adequate bedding, hygiene supplies, or proper temperature control. The rulings required ICE to provide sleeping mats, hygiene products, and legal access to those held at the facility.