Human Impact Project

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.

Alejandro Cabrera Clemente, 49, from Valle de Santiago, Guanajuato, Mexico, had lived in the United States for about 25 years and was married to a U.S. citizen, though he had not obtained legal residency. He was arrested by ICE on January 8, 2026, in Tennessee and transferred over five days through facilities in Tennessee and Alabama before arriving at Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana on January 13. During roughly three months in custody he was treated for high blood pressure, fever, and back and throat pain, receiving medication according to ICE. On April 11, 2026, he was found unresponsive with facial paralysis and cyanosis during a security check; resuscitation attempts failed and he was pronounced dead at Winn Parish Medical Center. The coroner attributed his death to natural causes from cardiovascular disease. Guanajuato's Human Rights Secretariat located his sister in Atlanta and offered funeral assistance and possible repatriation. His death was one of several ICE custody deaths reported in early 2026.

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.

Argam Nazarian, a 27-year-old Iranian Christian who fled religious persecution and arrived in the U.S. as a refugee in 2008, was arrested by ICE on June 23, 2025, while heading to work in Los Angeles. He had lived legally in Los Angeles for four years, working as a delivery driver and in air conditioning while supporting his wife and serving as a caretaker for his mother, who has chronic health conditions. An immigration judge ordered his release on bond in August 2025, finding he posed neither a flight risk nor danger to the community, but the federal government refused to release him, arguing his classification as an "applicant for admission" requires mandatory detention. Nazarian was held in ICE detention in El Paso and later transferred to Cibola County Detention Center in New Mexico, where his knee injury requiring ACL reconstruction remained untreated. The Texas Civil Rights Project challenged his detention through habeas corpus petitions. After nearly 10 months in custody, a federal judge ruled on April 17, 2026, that his detention violated his Fifth Amendment rights, and Nazarian was released. War between the U.S., Israel, and Iran beginning February 28, 2026, had disrupted ICE's deportation plans, with charter flights to Iran temporarily ceased.

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.

Octavio Daniel Cabrera Valdez, a 36-year-old Mexican immigrant who fled cartel violence in Monclova, Mexico, was detained by ICE while at work in April 2026. He had a valid work permit and had applied for a green card through his U.S. citizen mother. A Stockdale Marshal's Office officer asked him and his coworkers for papers before turning him over to ICE. He was the sole provider for his partner and two children, ages 8 and 4, and had also cared for his U.S. citizen parents. He has been held at the Karnes City detention facility, where he reports scarce food, an untreated rash he attributes to insect-infested bedding, and delayed medical care. His family sold their belongings, was forced from their apartment, and moved to another part of Texas, where they now avoid going out for fear of arrest. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro has called for his release.

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.

Damaris Gomez-Laurens, a Maryland woman who lived in Prince George's County for more than 20 years, was detained by ICE during her annual immigration check-in in Baltimore and has been held since August at Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, Louisiana. She had a work permit and ran an electrical business with her husband, had no criminal record, and had been trying to become a citizen since 2014, according to her niece. In a video call, Gomez-Laurens described unsanitary bathrooms, inadequate food, overcrowded rooms holding up to 108 people, and restricted visitation, while her husband, Kevin Pinto, said their two young sons have struggled with her absence. Family members said she has become known among fellow detainees as 'Pastor' for leading Bible studies and using money sent by relatives to buy food for other women during the holidays.

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.

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.