Human Impact Project

Seamus Culleton, an Irish citizen, is currently detained at an ICE facility in the United States. A bench warrant was issued in Ireland in 2009 for his arrest related to an incident where he was allegedly found in possession of 25 MDMA tablets and accused of obstructing gardaí by discarding the tablets during a search.

Ramiro and his nephews Antonella and Andrés attended a scheduled immigration court hearing in Texas on February 12, 2026. After leaving the courtroom, they were detained by ICE and held at Karnes County Immigration Processing Center despite having no deportation order, no criminal record, and having entered the U.S. legally with a visa before applying for asylum. They were subsequently released but the family incurred approximately $17,500 in legal fees and bond payments.

Yingchao Fan, a Chinese national on a legal work permit with a pending asylum case, called 911 after his car rolled over on Interstate 40 during a snowstorm in January 2026. Oklahoma Highway Patrol officers responded and, after questioning him about immigration status, arrested him despite no criminal charges. He was held on an ICE detainer, illustrating how a July 2025 DHS directive reclassifying most recent immigrants as subjects of mandatory detention has transformed enforcement in Oklahoma.

ICE agents rammed a parked car containing a Minneapolis resident and her husband. The husband, a Hispanic U.S. citizen, was intensely questioned by ICE agents and asked to provide citizenship paperwork. After the incident, a police report was filed and authorities discovered that one of the ICE vehicles' license plates could not be located in police systems.

At least 20 undocumented immigrants arrested in Minnesota during immigration sweeps since December 2025 were transferred to Nebraska county jails, including 19 at Lincoln County Detention Center and at least one at Sarpy County. Additional detainees were held at a federal immigration detention center in McCook. Legal representatives argue that transferring detainees across state lines complicates legal representation, as Minnesota-licensed lawyers cannot practice in Nebraska, and some fear federal immigration officials are forum-shopping for more sympathetic judges. The transfers are part of Operation Metro Surge, which has arrested more than 4,000 people since December.

Abhishek Kumar, a native of India who entered the United States in May 2022, was detained by Iowa State Patrol and ICE officers on February 11 while driving a commercial truck at a weigh station near Mitchellville as part of Operation ICE Wall, a joint state-federal enforcement operation targeting commercial truck drivers near Interstate 80. Kumar was taken to Polk County Jail where he has been held without a bond hearing or opportunity to argue for his release. He is suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice, alleging violations of his due process rights and seeking either his release or a bond hearing in immigration court.

Immigration Judge Shana Chen denied a bond hearing to Elmer Gonzalez Altamirano, a Mexican immigrant and Bronx restaurant cook with no criminal record who has lived in the U.S. for 20 years and supports his ailing wife and five U.S.-citizen children. Chen falsely blamed his attorney for late-filed evidence and denied his bond request despite a federal judge's order that he receive a hearing within seven days. Federal courts later ruled that Chen's rushed hearings, including this one, violated the constitutional right to due process for people held at the Delaney Hall Detention Facility.

César, a hardworking father with no criminal record, has been detained by ICE for six months, far from his wife and three young children, ages 6, 4, and 2. His wife has struggled to cover attorney fees, send him money for food and phone calls, and meet the family's basic needs while caring for their children alone. Described by his partner of ten years as responsible and dedicated, César previously worked to support his family and help others in need.

Djeniffer Ribeiro-Semedo, a 22-year-old from Cape Verde who immigrated lawfully at age 13, was detained by ICE agents on February 11 after leaving a state courthouse in Brockton where she was appearing on a domestic battery charge. While six months pregnant, she spent three days sleeping on concrete benches without beds at the Burlington ICE facility, where she said she received only mac and cheese for meals and inadequate medical care. She was hospitalized on February 13 after experiencing severe abdominal pain and spent nearly a week at Beth Israel Hospital, where ICE agents were stationed outside her room. Attorney Carl Hurvich stated that the stress and poor nutrition caused her health to deteriorate during detention, and noted that ICE had a 2021 policy against detaining pregnant people without compelling reason. Ribeiro-Semedo was released on her own recognizance and must appear in U.S. Immigration Court and U.S. District Court.

An ICE officer fired a weapon during a targeted enforcement operation in Roxbury when the arrest subject, Jesus Fabian Lopez-Banegas, rammed a law enforcement vehicle and attempted to run over an officer. The officer shot out the vehicle's tires to stop the threat. No injuries were reported and the subject was taken into custody. The state attorney general's office is investigating the incident.

On October 4, 2025, Marimar Martinez was shot five times by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent Charles Exum during an immigration enforcement encounter in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood. Federal agents claimed Martinez chased and rammed her car into an agent's vehicle. Martinez was initially charged with assault on federal law enforcement, but the government dropped the charges nearly two months later, and a judge dismissed them with prejudice. Body camera footage and text messages released by the U.S. attorney's office provided details of the incident, though Exum was not wearing his body camera during the shooting. Martinez testified before Congress in February 2026 about the incident and filed a tort claim seeking damages for her injuries.

Yebio Kifle, a 48-year-old intellectually disabled man with congestive heart failure, was detained at California City Detention Facility in Kern County in November 2025 after arrest in Sacramento. His sister reported severe medical neglect, including jaundiced eyes, swollen legs, inability to urinate, and vomiting blood. Medical experts stated he required immediate hospitalization and risked death without urgent care. In February 2026, U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney issued a ruling in response to a class-action lawsuit filed by detainees, ordering ICE to provide constitutionally adequate healthcare, legal representation access, temperature-appropriate clothing, and daily outdoor recreation at the facility. The judge appointed an external monitor to oversee compliance through medical record reviews and on-site inspections.

Alejandro Villegas Angel was one of two other immigrants released by a lower court in February 2025 after the judge granted bond hearings. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed Angel's habeas petition, freezing the lower court's release order and sending the case back into legal limbo pending full appeal proceedings.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bazis ordered ICE to provide Carlos Roldan Chang a bond hearing within seven days or release him immediately. Chang, 44, has lived in the U.S. since 2005 and was detained at the McCook facility under ICE's mandatory detention policy. The ACLU of Nebraska filed the civil lawsuit on his behalf after he was denied a bond hearing.

Jimmy Paz, a Georgia man with a valid work permit and no criminal record, was detained by ICE agents during a traffic stop in January despite presenting valid identification documents. Paz, who has lived in the U.S. for 21 years and was approved for temporary protected status in 2022, is being held at the ICE Processing Center in Folkston. His family expresses concern about his health, as he had a heart transplant four years ago, and hopes he will be released to continue his asylum process outside of custody.

Individuals held at the Whipple Federal Building immigration detention facility reported experiencing poor conditions and lack of basic humanitarian treatment. Detainees described their firsthand experiences of the conditions at the facility. Activists called for the closure of the detention site and demanded ICE's departure from the location.

Carlos Roberto García, 42, the former mayor of Mérida, Venezuela, now living in Butler County, Ohio, and working as an Amazon delivery driver, was detained by federal agents on January 23 during what his wife described as a routine immigration check-in. García fled Venezuela in 2017 after refusing government orders to suppress anti-Maduro protests and being removed from office and sentenced to prison by the Chavista-controlled Supreme Court; he later crossed into Texas with his family in 2022, applied for asylum, and received Temporary Protected Status along with a work permit valid through 2030. His wife, Gaby Duarte, said he has no criminal record and fears torture if returned to Venezuela, where an outstanding arrest order remains against him. His attorneys filed a habeas corpus petition seeking his release from Butler County Jail, but a February 10 hearing revealed the Department of Homeland Security is instead seeking to deport him to Ecuador, a country where his wife says he has no family, home, or support network. Duarte said, 'We are simply asking that he be allowed to defend his case where he formally requested asylum.'

A Venezuelan family who legally entered the U.S. through the CBP One program and were released on notice to appear in court chose to self-deport to Mexico after ICE arrested the husband and son. The family said ICE agents came to their home in New Mexico claiming a routine status check, detained the husband from his workplace, and took the son from a construction site. The remaining family members decided to relocate to Mexico rather than risk deportation to Venezuela.

Martin Romero was deported to Mexico while dealing with multiple serious health conditions including lupus vasculitis, hypertension, anemia, and kidney failure requiring dialysis every other day. His daughter created a fundraiser to help cover the costs of his medical treatment, medications, specialist visits, and transportation to dialysis appointments in Mexico, as the family struggles with overwhelming medical expenses.

Adelso Bravo, a 39-year-old house painter from Guatemala, was arrested by ICE agents on February 10 near his Syracuse home. After 18 days in the Batavia immigration detention center, he had a court hearing. With support from his wife, community members, and lawyers, plus $18,000 raised by friends and supporters, he was released on bond after 21 days in detention. Bravo had been living in Syracuse for over 20 years and had started his own painting business with a work permit.