Human Impact Project

Hayam El Gamal and her five children, Egyptian citizens who entered the U.S. on B-1 visitor visas in 2022, were detained at Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas in June 2025 after overstaying their visas. The family was detained based on the alleged criminal actions of their estranged father, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, who was later convicted of 101 charges including murder, though the family members were never charged with any crimes and stated they were estranged from Soliman and unaware of his plans. During nine months in detention, the family endured moldy and wormy food, inadequate medical care including failure to treat a 5-year-old's severe dental cavities, and religious freedom violations. Her 16-year-old son described the experience as "a nightmare" that made it difficult to return to normal life, writing that "nothing is normal anymore because you live in fear of going back to that place." An immigration judge granted the family bond in September 2025, but DHS appealed and obtained a stay. On April 24, 2026, a federal judge ordered their release; two days later, ICE re-arrested the family during a routine check-in at an ICE office in Denver and transported them to Denver International Airport for immediate deportation in violation of the federal court order. During transport and on a private jet, the family was subjected to verbal abuse, medical neglect, and physical restraint despite a medical emergency. Federal judges issued emergency orders blocking the removal and turning the plane around mid-air. The family was released on April 27 pending litigation on their asylum case, with electronic monitoring required as a condition of release.

ICE agents detained a woman in Kenner during a traffic stop while two of her three children were in the car. The woman had reportedly reentered the country without authorization and faced a final removal order. A family friend is now caring for her three children while she remains in ICE custody.

Jose Angel Mireles, a 48-year-old longtime Phoenix resident, was detained by ICE at a courthouse after being cited for driving with stolen plates and deported to Mexico after two months in the Florence ICE detention center. He now lives in a migrant shelter in Nogales, Sonora, separated from his 11-year-old daughter in Phoenix. Mireles is among thousands of long-term U.S. residents removed under the Trump administration's immigration enforcement surge, which saw removals of individuals with over a decade of U.S. residency increase 42% between 2024 and 2025.

Shah was detained by ICE at the end of November while working. He was arrested in Ohio and is now detained in Texas, while his family—including his daughter and mother-in-law—remain in Chicago facing financial hardship. The family is struggling with rent, car payments, and legal fees, and risks eviction and loss of their only income source.

A Venezuelan national entered the United States on April 14, 2024, and was granted parole. He has no criminal history and is not subject to a final removal order. On April 26, 2026, he was arrested following a routine traffic stop in San Angelo, Texas, and transferred into ICE custody at the Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Texas, then moved to Central Valley Annex Detention Facility in McFarland, California. He petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus, challenging his detention as a violation of Fifth Amendment due process rights, arguing he was re-detained without a pre-deprivation hearing. The federal court granted his petition and ordered his immediate release, finding that detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated the Due Process Clause. The court enjoined respondents from re-detaining him unless they provide seven days' notice and hold a bond hearing before a neutral arbiter where the government must demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that he is a flight risk or danger to the community.

Thovatsay Phimmoungkhoun, owner of Khao Niew Lao Street Food, a food cart operating near Portland State University in Portland, Oregon, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The cart, known for serving Lao street food including sticky rice to PSU students, announced permanent closure following his detention. Phimmoungkhoun was transferred to a detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, and faces deportation to Laos. His family and supporters created a GoFundMe fundraiser to assist with his case.

An immigrant previously released on bond or parole was detained on April 25, 2026, after previously being released on bond or parole. The court found that the government violated due process by re-detaining him without providing a pre-deprivation bond hearing before a neutral arbiter. The court ordered his immediate release with the same conditions he had prior to detention and required the government to provide seven days' notice and a proper hearing before any future re-detention.

Aleksei, his wife Anastasia, and their 5-year-old twins were detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley for over 120 days—six times the 20-day legal limit under the Flores Settlement Agreement. An ICE officer falsely told Aleksei that Flores protections were no longer in effect. The twins exhibited severe psychological distress, including meltdowns, sleep disruption, weight loss, and trauma responses such as asking if they were bad people or if guards would kill them. The family was released in February 2026 after securing legal representation and filing a parole request.

Feliciano Paulino Soares, a Brazilian citizen who came to the United States in 2021, was arrested by ICE in August 2025 while a passenger in a car in Connecticut. After filing a habeas petition, a federal judge sided with him in April 2026 and an immigration judge ordered his release on bond, finding him neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community. Four days after his release, Utah police stopped Soares for speeding on his way home to the East Coast, and ICE took him from the jail and transported him to a detention center in Aurora, Colorado. U.S. Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter ordered Soares's immediate release and is considering sanctions against the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and ICE for unlawfully detaining him after an immigration judge had already determined he was suitable for release.

The Laramie County Sheriff's Office arrested 46 people for immigration violations during a three-day commercial vehicle enforcement operation called "Truck Around And Find Out: Operation Spring Break" conducted in partnership with federal authorities on April 25, 2026. The operation resulted in 85 total criminal arrests, with one undocumented truck driver found operating without a commercial driver's license and parked illegally. The sheriff's office, whose deputies were sworn in by ICE under 287(g) authority, stated the enforcement actions aim to improve road safety.

Border Patrol agents arrested three people during a vehicle stop north of Sanderson on April 25. Two undocumented immigrants and a U.S. citizen who was attempting to smuggle them were taken into custody.

A vigil titled "Disappeared in Berks" was held at the First Unitarian Universalist Church in Reading to commemorate 75 immigrants discharged from Berks County Jail to ICE between March 2025 and March 2026. Seventy-five pairs of empty shoes were displayed to represent those taken. The event featured testimonies including a letter from Gladis Garzon about her husband Carlos Gonzalo, who has been in ICE custody for eight months after being transferred from the county jail, and has been moved between detention facilities in multiple states.

A Dominican Republic citizen who entered Puerto Rico without inspection in 2004 was detained on April 24, 2026 during an enforcement operation on Ave. Américo Miranda while on his way to open his business. He is the sole caregiver for his U.S. citizen wife and daughter and has a pending I-130 petition filed by his daughter. A federal court granted a temporary restraining order preventing his transfer outside Puerto Rico and ordered that he receive a bond hearing before an Immigration Judge.

A Venezuelan citizen was detained by ICE and held at Buffalo Federal Detention Facility. He filed a habeas corpus petition on April 24, 2026, alleging unlawful detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225 and requesting immediate release or a bond hearing. The court granted his motion to prevent removal from the United States until an evidentiary hearing determination is made, but denied his requests for immediate release and to prevent transfer within districts.

A Russian citizen was detained by ICE on April 24, 2026, during a routine check-in after living freely in the United States for four years since her 2022 release. She had been released on parole/supervision in April 2022 after ICE determined she was not a flight risk or danger to the community, and had been attending yearly check-ins with no criminal record. The court granted a temporary restraining order requiring her immediate release, finding her detention violated due process rights as she received no notice or hearing before re-detention.

A federal judge in Philadelphia ordered the Trump administration to pay nearly $40,000 in legal fees to an immigrant who sued ICE over its attempt to require him to wear an ankle monitor. U.S. District Judge Kai N. Scott found that ICE's actions were unlawful and that the agency offered no factual basis to justify requiring the monitor as the man's immigration case proceeded. The man, identified only by his initials N.N., had been released on bond by an immigration judge who determined he was neither a safety nor flight risk.

Zoila Guerra Sandoval, mother of a child whose father José Mynor López died in the 2024 Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, faces deportation proceedings under the Trump administration. López was one of six construction workers killed when a cargo vessel hit the bridge. The Biden administration had provided immigration protections to about 30 people with immediate connections to the victims, but those protections are being withdrawn under the current administration.

Yasser Jose Lopez Soza, an 18-year-old high school student at Memphis Business Academy, was detained by ICE agents on February 20, 2026, while a passenger in a vehicle during a traffic stop on the way to a soccer game. He was held at the West Tennessee Detention Facility in Mason, Tennessee, as part of enforcement actions from the Memphis Task Force established in late 2025. Tennessee State Rep. Gabby Salinas visited him and noted he was a good student with a job and college soccer prospects. On April 24, 2026, Federal Judge Sheryl Lipman ordered his immediate release, ruling that his detention without bond violated his due process rights. Lopez Soza, originally from Nicaragua, was released after approximately two months in custody.

A federal judge in Florida ordered the immediate release of Alejandro Osvaldo Ghysels Reales, who had been detained by ICE despite holding deferred action status under a U-1 nonimmigrant visa, which makes him ineligible for deportation. Judge Kyle Dudek ruled that ICE's detention was unlawful and violated Reales' constitutional rights, criticizing the government for failing to recognize his valid legal protection.

Isaac Villegas Molina, a Pasadena resident and lead plaintiff in federal litigation challenging ICE enforcement operations, was arrested by federal agents on June 18, 2025, at a bus stop along with two other day laborers. He was released on bond in July 2025. On April 17, 2026, Villegas was arrested again by ICE during an appointment with the Alternatives to Detention-Intensive Supervision Appearance Program. His lawyer filed a habeas petition alleging the arrest was unlawful, without a warrant, and retaliatory given his pending removal case hearing. Following the arrest, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order. Villegas was released from Adelanto Detention Center after community outcry and advocacy from supporters including local elected leaders and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON).