Human Impact Project

Walter Marcelino Chao was deported by the U.S. government to Lima, Peru, resulting in separation from his young daughter Ashley, who no longer recognizes him. The child, who had lived with her father in Miami Gardens, now refuses to acknowledge him during video calls and has become withdrawn. The family was unable to prevent the deportation despite pleas to authorities.

Kerrie, a transgender Guyanese asylum seeker, was detained following collusion between Nassau County Police and ICE. She is being held in a men's detention facility and is being denied gender-affirming care. Advocates are calling for her release and reunification with her community in New York City.

María de la Luz Loredo was detained at El Valle ICE Processing Center in Raymondville, Texas, when she learned her 17-year-old son had died in a shooting in Houston. After receiving this news, she reports being placed in solitary confinement and stripped of clothing, confined with only a blanket as punishment for crying. While detained, she was separated from her four children, including a 1-year-old still breastfeeding. Loredo states the only immigration check-in she missed was to be present at another son's deathbed during cancer treatment in 2020.

Ulugbek Badalov, held at Philadelphia Federal Detention Center, filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus challenging his mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225. On April 27, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted his petition, finding he was not subject to mandatory detention. The court ordered Badalov's immediate release from custody and temporarily enjoined the government from re-detaining him for seven days. If the government seeks to re-detain Badalov after the seven-day period, it must first provide him with a bond hearing before a neutral immigration judge to determine whether detention is warranted pending resolution of his removal proceedings.

A father from Guatemala and his minor daughter were detained by immigration authorities. Both petitioners had been previously released on the father's own recognizance and he was serving as guardian to his minor daughter. The petitioners had been fully compliant with all ICE-related obligations, dutifully appeared at all immigration court hearings, and committed no crimes since their release. On April 22, 2026, a federal judge granted an emergency Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) finding the petitioners had a strong likelihood of being entitled to a pre-deprivation hearing before an immigration judge. The court ordered the government to release both petitioners from custody by 9 a.m. PT that day and enjoined the government from re-detaining either petitioner until a hearing was held or a pre-deprivation hearing was provided before a neutral decisionmaker. The government was also prohibited from removing the petitioners from the United States.

Children's entertainer Ms. Rachel appeared on MSNBC to describe conditions at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas after speaking with detained families. She reported undrinkable water, worms in the food, rotten food, and dangerously inadequate medical care for children in ICE custody.

A self-represented noncitizen detainee was detained on April 21, 2026. The detainee filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the detention and seeking a bond hearing, arguing the detention violated due process as indefinite. ICE notified the court on July 14, 2026 of intent to remove the detainee on July 15, 2026. The court denied the detainee's emergency motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, finding the detainee failed to comply with Rule 65 procedural requirements and was unlikely to succeed on the merits given the scheduled removal date.

A citizen of El Salvador who entered the U.S. in August 2022 was re-detained by ICE on April 21, 2026 while driving to work in Houston, Texas. He had been released into the community for nearly four years, during which time he obtained work authorization, secured employment, paid taxes, and applied for asylum. ICE provided no notice or justification for his re-detention. The court granted his habeas corpus petition, finding that ICE failed to make any finding of changed circumstances before re-detaining him, and ordered his immediate release with procedural protections requiring a pre-deprivation bond hearing if the government seeks to re-detain him.

A 16-year-old identified as "Elias" in court filings was deported to Guatemala without a removal order or any attempt to obtain one, according to a pending lawsuit filed in the District of Columbia. His lawyers argue that "this removal was lawless: Defendants had no removal order for Elias, nor did they even attempt to obtain one." The case follows a similar pattern to Mario Mata Cruz's deportation and is part of a broader pattern documented by lawyers across the country of noncitizens being deported without final removal orders from immigration judges.

A Honduran man has resided continuously in the United States since 2021 and has substantial ties to the country including family members lawfully present, consistent work history, and a fixed address. On April 21, 2026, he was taken into ICE custody and remains detained at the West Tennessee Detention Facility. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention without an individualized bond hearing before a neutral decisionmaker, seeking either a bond hearing or immediate release. The court's order references the Sixth Circuit's decision in Lopez-Campos v. Raycraft, which affirmed that noncitizens who have spent significant time in the United States interior and have not committed certain offenses cannot be detained without an individualized bond hearing. The court ordered the respondent to respond within two business days, and if his detention is based on 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A), to either distinguish the case from Lopez-Campos or consent to the issuance of the writ. The court also imposed a stay on any transfer of him out of the West Tennessee Detention Facility during the litigation.

A Mexican woman who has lived in the U.S. since 2001 was arrested on April 21, 2026 for driving under the influence and causing injury to a child. Although an Idaho magistrate judge ordered her release on her own recognizance, she remained detained at Jefferson County Jail in ICE custody under mandatory detention provisions. The federal court granted her habeas corpus petition and ordered her immediate release.

A Bosnian citizen and lawful permanent resident was detained by ICE on April 21, 2026, at Washington County Jail in Utah after completing a 120-day sentence for violating protective orders. ICE determined he was deportable under immigration law for domestic violence-related convictions including protective order violations, child abuse, and assault. The federal court denied his habeas corpus petition, finding his detention lawful under immigration law.

A Peruvian national with a pending asylum application was detained by ICE on April 21, 2026, during a scheduled check-in appointment in San Francisco. He had been previously released on recognizance but was re-detained after being charged with identity theft and failing to appear for his criminal arraignment. The court granted his habeas petition in part and ordered ICE to provide him with a bond hearing within 14 days.

On April 21, 2026, ICE agents arrested brothers Israel Makoka (18) and Max Makoka (15) at a bus stop in Diamondhead, Mississippi, using 10 unmarked vehicles and zip-ties without prior notice to their host family or school. Israel was shackled during transport to Louisiana and pressured to sign self-deportation papers; Max was isolated in a Texas youth shelter. The detention stemmed from a paperwork issue caused by faulty legal advice. Both brothers were released on April 30, 2026, after nine days in custody and have returned home to their host family while pursuing legal options to remain in the country.

ICE agents conducted a targeted enforcement operation in Shelbyville on April 21, 2026, and arrested four people during a vehicle stop. The driver, Mirzon Patlan-Trevino, 33, from Mexico, was recently arrested for DUI and determined to be unlawfully in the United States. Three passengers—Antonio Aguilera Garcia, 46, Alexis Saavedra Avile, 31, and Yoni Mora-Aguilera, 22—were also found to be unauthorized to be in the U.S. All four remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings. ICE agents arrested four people in Shelbyville on April 21 during targeted enforcement operations. The arrests included 33-year-old Mirzon Patlan-Trevino from Mexico, who had been recently arrested for DUI, and three other individuals identified as Antonio Aguilera Garcia, Alexis Saavedra Avile, and Yoni Mora-Aguilera. All four remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

William "Danny" Rosenmund, a library board member, was arrested at a Springdale Borough Council meeting on April 21 while speaking about the borough's 287(g) agreement with ICE. He was charged with two counts of aggravated assault and five misdemeanors after exceeding his three-minute speaking time and continuing to speak after being ordered to stop. The county's acting chief public defender called the charges "inappropriate" and said he would push for them to be dropped or reduced.

Approximately 200 to 1,400 detainees at North Lake Processing Facility, a 1,800-bed ICE detention center in Baldwin, Michigan, began a hunger and labor strike on Monday, April 21, 2026, to protest conditions including medical neglect, slow ICE communication, and prolonged confinement. The facility, operated by private prison company GEO Group, holds detainees with average stays of 49 days, though some have been held for nearly six months. By Wednesday morning, detainees in at least one unit had stopped the strike.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained at least four people in Heber City on Tuesday morning around 7:30 a.m. using undercover vehicles along Main Street near the Smith's Fuel Center and on U.S. 40. ICE pulled over vehicles and arrested individuals without notifying local police, though the agency later told the police chief it was targeting specific individuals with existing removal orders.

Santos Mauricio Romero, a Salvadoran national, was arrested by ICE Boston during a targeted operation on April 20, 2026. According to ICE, Romero has a criminal history including pending felony sexual assault charges.

Dzhokhar Gutsiev, a Russian citizen who entered the U.S. in 2022 seeking asylum and was released on humanitarian parole, was detained by DHS in April 2026 while traveling for work in Imperial County, California. Gutsiev had been living in the community for 46 months with work authorization and no criminal history when his parole was abruptly revoked without notice. The federal court granted his habeas petition and ordered his immediate release, ruling that the government violated his due process rights by revoking parole without justification or hearing.

Francisco Salazar-Salazar was booked on drug possession charges (cannabis marijuana not more than 20 grams) and failure to appear charges. An ICE hold was placed on him during the booking.

Louis Duxbury, a Gadsden County resident from the United Kingdom, was ordered deported after spending months in ICE custody. He was arrested for overstaying his visa following a social media investigation that did not result in criminal charges. The case comes amid a surge in immigration arrests across Florida, with over 36,000 arrests reported since the start of 2025.

Nearly 100 detainees at Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County launched a hunger strike between April 16-19, 2026, to protest detention conditions and medical care. The strike began after a detainee became ill with influenza on April 16, with 50-70 detainees in the same housing pod initially refusing an evening meal due to food contamination concerns. Advocacy groups reported that detainees were protesting unsafe living conditions, including contaminated food, inadequate medical care, and staff indifference to medical emergencies, with reports of a recent medical emergency in which a detainee lost consciousness without receiving proper care. Advocacy group Frontline DIGNITY called for the facility's shutdown and independent investigation. Clearfield County commissioners met with GEO Group leadership, the facility operator, to address the incident.

Argam Nazarian, a 27-year-old Armenian Christian Iranian asylum seeker, was detained by ICE in June 2025 despite having an active asylum case and no criminal history. An immigration judge ordered his release on bond in August 2025, finding him neither a flight risk nor a danger, but ICE refused to release him, citing mandatory detention policies for those who entered without inspection. After 298 days in detention across multiple facilities, including El Paso, a federal judge ruled in April 2026 that ICE violated Nazarian's Fifth Amendment due process rights by holding him without a bond hearing and using incorrect legal authority. Nazarian was released and reunited with family in Los Angeles, though his immigration case remains pending.

Gabriela Lozano Sousa, a Venezuelan national who entered the U.S. legally in 2023 through a humanitarian parole program, married U.S. citizen Brandon Garrison in April 2025, believing it would put her on a path to legal residency. In October 2025, a domestic-dispute call brought local police to the scene, who turned her over to federal immigration authorities; no criminal charges resulted. ICE classified her as an 'arriving immigrant,' subjecting her to mandatory detention without a bond hearing, and she was held at a facility in Baker County, Florida. Her attorneys argued the classification was legally incorrect. The couple had filed an I-130 petition on her behalf, under review since November 2025. A federal judge dismissed her immigration case in spring 2026, and she was released after roughly six months in detention, though federal authorities retained 30 days to appeal, leaving her future status uncertain.

Rogelio Bolufé Izquierdo, a 44-year-old Cuban national detained at Torrance County Detention Facility in New Mexico, organized approximately 200 detainees into a group called the Union of Those Kidnapped by ICE to document poor conditions including inadequate water access, spoiled food, insufficient medical care, and unsanitary sewage leaks. Izquierdo, who entered legally in 2020 but overstayed his visa, has filed multiple habeas corpus petitions challenging his indefinite civil detention without bail, while his fiancée documents his case and advocacy efforts.

Gilberto García (also referred to as Gilberto Garcia Cruz), a 26-year-old DACA recipient with autism, was detained by ICE agents at his home in LaBelle, Florida without an arrest warrant. According to his account, agents entered his property and the detention involved physical force that left marks on his arms. He was detained in front of his mother without explanation. He was subsequently released on April 10, 2026, following family intervention. After his release, García expressed fear about the possibility of deportation and separation from his mother. His family is now facing housing instability in the aftermath of the incident.

A man was released on his own recognizance in February 2024 after entering the United States. On April 18, 2026, ICE re-detained him without providing a pre-deprivation hearing. He filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus and motion for temporary restraining order challenging his detention. The court found that his prior release by immigration authorities created a liberty interest in his continued release and that his re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated due process. The court granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release on the same conditions he was subject to prior to his re-detention. The court also enjoined ICE from re-detaining him in the future without notice and a pre-deprivation hearing before an immigration judge, where ICE must prove by clear and convincing evidence that he is a danger to the community or a flight risk.

Alejandro Cabrera Clemente, 49, from Valle de Santiago, Guanajuato, Mexico, had spent approximately 25 years in the United States and was married to a U.S. citizen, though he had not obtained legal residency status. He was arrested by ICE on January 8, 2026, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and transferred through multiple facilities in Tennessee and Alabama over five days in handcuffs before arriving at Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana on January 13. During his three months in ICE custody, he suffered from fever, high blood pressure, and back and throat pain. ICE stated they provided him medication. On April 11, 2026, at approximately 8 a.m., he was found unresponsive with left-sided facial paralysis and cyanosis. Staff called emergency medical services and attempted resuscitation, transferring him by ambulance to Winn Parish Medical Center, where medical personnel continued life-saving measures. He was pronounced deceased at approximately 8:51 a.m. His sister was located in Atlanta by Guanajuato's Human Rights Secretariat, which offered funeral assistance and possible repatriation. His death was one of multiple ICE custody deaths reported in early 2026.

A 23-year-old South American woman was deported to the Democratic Republic of Congo after being detained in Louisiana for 15 months by ICE. An immigration judge had previously granted her protection from removal to her home country after she claimed persecution based on her LGBTQ+ status. Despite a federal magistrate judge's recommendation for her release in a lawsuit filed in December, she was deported before a district judge could approve the recommendation as part of a third-country deportation agreement.

Laura Ramírez lost her 10-year-old daughter Emily in a hit-and-run accident. As a victim of crime cooperating with authorities, Ramírez was eligible for a U visa. However, she was detained by ICE agents during a scheduled immigration appointment despite having this protection, separating her from her remaining daughter.

A Valencia College student with pending asylum status and legal documents was arrested by ICE while leaving home to go to work. The student had documentation showing their asylum case was in process at the time of detention.

Marie-Thérèse Ross, an 86-year-old French citizen and widow, was arrested by ICE agents on April 1, 2026, at her home in Anniston, Alabama, for overstaying her 90-day tourist visa. Ross had entered the U.S. in June 2025 on a Visa Waiver Program to marry William Ross, a retired U.S. military veteran whom she had known since the 1950s after meeting him while he was stationed at a NATO base in France. After her husband died unexpectedly in January 2026, she fell out of legal status and became involved in a contested probate dispute with her late husband's stepsons over his estate. She was handcuffed at her home and transferred to an immigration detention facility in Basile, Louisiana, where she was held for 16 days in dormitory conditions with approximately 58-70 other women. Despite suffering from pre-existing heart and back problems, she experienced deteriorating health during detention and reported post-traumatic stress symptoms. An Alabama judge noted that her stepson, a former state trooper and federal employee, may have used his position to prompt her detention. Following intervention by the French foreign minister and the French Consul General, who visited her twice and coordinated with U.S. officials, Ross was released and returned to France.

Maria, a 29-year-old woman, fled Colombia in January 2024 after being kidnapped and tortured by the FARC rebel group and abused by her ex-husband, a police officer. In May 2025, a U.S. immigration judge found she would more likely than not be tortured if deported to Colombia and granted her protection under the Convention Against Torture. While held in Louisiana, she learned only the day before her transfer that she was being sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and said she objected up until boarding the plane. ICE took her identity documents and passport, leaving her unable to travel, and she was given seven days upon arrival to decide whether to accept a voluntary return to Colombia despite the risks she faces there.

A native and citizen of India entered the United States on March 6, 2024, near Tecate, California, without inspection. ICE officers took him into custody on April 17, 2026, and transferred him to the Desert View Annex facility in Adelanto, California. The court granted his petition for a bond hearing, ordering ICE to provide an individualized bond hearing within seven days.

ICE Homeland Security Investigations Newark and the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Yechiel Yehoshua Farkash, a 43-year-old Lakewood resident, on April 17 pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant obtained under the U.S.-Israel extradition treaty. Israeli authorities sought Farkash's extradition on charges of attempted rape and indecent acts involving children committed between 2020 and 2023.

ICE lodged an immigration detainer against Rebeca Fratila-Ilies on April 17, 2026, after she was arrested in North Carolina on March 12, 2025, for a probation violation. Fratila-Ilies, a former lawful permanent resident from Romania, was convicted of two counts of carnal knowledge of a child and statutory rape, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. ICE determined her permanent resident status was invalid due to her mother's fraudulent asylum case, and an immigration judge ordered her removal in 2017. She currently faces deportation proceedings pending resolution of her criminal case.

U.S. border authorities interdicted three vessels smuggling foreign nationals off the Southern California coast in separate incidents. The first interdiction on April 17 involved a 24-foot vessel near San Clemente Island with 13 people apprehended, including seven males, five females, and a juvenile female. Some of the apprehended individuals had criminal histories including drug trafficking, aggravated assault, hit-and-run, and domestic violence.

Luis Armando Argueta Montejo, 43, from Mexico, was arrested on charges of incest and sexual conduct with a minor between ages 11 and 14 in Oconee County, South Carolina, after a minor was found giving birth at a local hospital. ICE lodged an arrest detainer on April 17 to ensure his transfer into federal custody following his court appearance. According to DHS, Montejo stated he first entered the country in 2006 and had no previous criminal history in the U.S.

A Dominican man was deported from Baltimore after his family paid approximately $9,000 to a fraudulent individual posing as an immigration attorney. The family believed they were paying to resolve the man's legal status, but the money was lost to fraud. When the irregularity was discovered, the immigration proceedings collapsed and the man was deported.

Uber and Lyft drivers in Central Florida report feeling at risk during their work, even those with proper documentation. One female driver was released after being taken into ICE custody in Orlando.

Shriram Krishnan, an engineer with two master's degrees who has lived in the United States since 2003, was detained by ICE at McAllen International Airport on Wednesday while preparing to board a flight to Seattle to meet his newborn nephew. His wife, Dr. Ranjana Sarma, says Krishnan has no criminal history, and the family has paid taxes and had a pending green card application since 2014. Their 8-year-old son has not yet been told what happened and has been asking when his father will return. According to an immigration attorney quoted in the article, Krishnan may have been detained due to a legal technicality: while he holds a work permit, it does not necessarily grant legal status, and ICE is following a new protocol of detaining noncitizens who show work permits but lack legal status.

M, a mother of six children and asylum seeker, is struggling to support her family after her husband and brother—the household's primary income earners—were apprehended by ICE without a warrant while traveling to a job site. Both men are detained and facing deportation. M is caring for her children alone, including three infants and one child with a complex blood disorder requiring regular medical care. M and her two school-age children are asylum seekers living in fear of their own detention. After three months, the family faces mounting bills with no income and M has exhausted her resources.

Miguel Rosas Ruiz, a 50-year-old widowed father of four U.S. citizen children in Michigan, was detained by ICE on March 10, 2026, after being intercepted near Carpenter Road in Ypsilanti while allegedly on his way to his painting business. His oldest daughter, Morelia Rosas Martinez, 22, had postponed her college plans to care for her three younger siblings during his detention. Over the following month, Morelia advocated for his release through community support and legal assistance, with a GoFundMe campaign raising over $20,000. Rosas Ruiz was released on bond on April 15 and reunited with his family on April 16. His case is one of more than 100 identified by CNN involving U.S. citizen children separated from parents through ICE enforcement actions in 2025.

Octavio Daniel Cabrera Valdez was detained by ICE on April 16, 2026, while at work. He held a valid work permit at the time of his detention. His detention has forced his partner and two children (ages 8 and 4) out of their apartment. Cabrera Valdez was the sole provider for his family and also cared for his mother and father, both U.S. citizens, prior to his detention.

A Nicaraguan citizen who entered the U.S. in December 2022 and was initially released on parole was re-detained on April 16, 2026 during a routine ICE check-in in Los Angeles. He had been complying with all supervision requirements for over three years, was employed as a caregiver for Los Angeles County, and had a pending asylum application. The court ordered his release within 24 hours, finding his re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated due process.

Willian Yacelga Benalcazar fled criminal gang threats in Ecuador and sought asylum in the U.S. after crossing the border in August 2023. He was detained for five months across multiple ICE facilities, where he reported catching a virus, poor conditions including contaminated water, and difficulty accessing food. Under the Trump administration's third-country deportation policy, he faced deportation to Honduras rather than Ecuador. After learning he could face three to four additional months in detention, he abandoned his asylum case and agreed to voluntary departure to Ecuador on April 16, 2026.

José and his family from Venezuela entered the U.S. legally in 2024 using the CBP One app and received parole to live and work while their asylum cases were pending. After their immigration court hearing in June 2025 was dismissed under a Trump administration order, they were arrested outside the courtroom and detained for a month at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley. Following their release, the family decided to abandon the asylum process and purchased one-way plane tickets back to Venezuela.

Dipakkumar Ghelani, a 34-year-old Indian national, was arrested by the Florida Highway Patrol on April 16, 2026, on felony charges for trafficking cannabis with an estimated street value of $13 million. Ghelani entered the United States on a B-2 visa in March 2016 that expired in May 2019, and he remained in the country without valid immigration status. He is being held at the Duval County Pre-Trial Detention Facility, where ICE encountered him and initiated immigration proceedings. ICE will make a custody determination following the resolution of his state and local criminal charges.

ICE detained five Myanmar nationals in Buffalo, New York during an enforcement operation targeting undocumented migrants. One person was arrested while waiting to deliver packages at a warehouse in Pembroke. Community members identified the detainees as asylum seekers.