Human Impact Project

Luis Angel Velasquez-Montes, 27, was identified during a traffic stop in Chatham County between January and April 2026 and placed in ICE custody. He pleaded guilty to illegal re-entry after previous deportation and was sentenced to time served followed by immediate deportation. Miguel Aparicio-Ortiz, 40, was identified during a traffic stop in Chatham County between January and April 2026 and placed in ICE custody. He pleaded guilty to illegal re-entry after previous deportation and was sentenced to time served followed by immediate deportation.

On June 30, 2026, Homeland Security Investigations agents executed federal search warrants at Scholar Craft manufacturing plants in Birmingham and Irondale, Alabama, as part of an investigation into alleged identity fraud and unlawful employment practices. More than 30 people identified as being in the country without authorization were encountered and taken into custody pending immigration proceedings. The operation involved federal, state, and local law enforcement partners.

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that ICE's policy of mandatory detention without bond for noncitizens violates due process and federal law, ordering the release of Rigoberto Santillan-Quiroz. Santillan-Quiroz, who has lived in the U.S. for approximately twenty years and is married to a legal permanent resident with a U.S. citizen stepdaughter, was arrested during an interior traffic stop in November 2025 and held for eight months without a bond hearing under the Trump administration's July 2025 detention policy. The court found no justification for his detention, noting he posed no flight risk or danger to public safety and had never been charged with a crime. The court ordered the government to grant him a bond hearing within seven days or release him, and the ruling applies across the Tenth Circuit's six-state jurisdiction.

On June 29, four ICE vehicles conducted operations across Kansas City, Missouri. Agents moved down Truman Road and Indiana in the Northeast, then to an apartment complex at 23rd and Topping, where they demanded identification and dragged residents from their own doorways.

Daniel Alejandro Núñez Ramírez, 28, had lived in the U.S. for four years after leaving Venezuela at age 20 and was residing in Jacksonville, Florida. He was detained by ICE during a traffic stop on May 10, 2026, and pressured to sign voluntary deportation papers. He was deported on Flight 164, which landed in Venezuela on June 24, 2026, and he was subsequently placed by Venezuelan authorities in a hotel used to house deportees. Hours after his arrival, an earthquake collapsed the hotel, killing him along with dozens of other deportees. His mother, Oswadeliz Núñez Ramírez, a lawyer, said she was not notified of his deportation until after he had already been handed over to Venezuelan intelligence services (Sebin). She recovered his body five days later at an improvised morgue, had him cremated, and later received only a box of his ashes after being unable to retrieve his belongings. The U.S. government said it bore no further responsibility once he left ICE custody.

A Venezuelan national who presented at the El Paso port of entry on March 19, 2024, was released on her own recognizance and enrolled in an Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP). She complied fully with all terms including GPS monitoring and court appearances. On June 29, 2026, she was arrested without warning during a routine ICE check-in appointment and remained detained. The court granted her habeas corpus petition and ordered ICE to provide a bond hearing by July 31, 2026, requiring the government to prove by clear and convincing evidence that detention was justified.

An immigration detainee petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus challenging his detention at Golden State Annex Detention Facility. The court found that his case mirrored legal issues in multiple prior cases where the government's detention was found unlawful. The District Court granted the habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release, prohibiting re-detention unless the government demonstrates by clear and convincing evidence at a pre-deprivation bond hearing that he poses a flight risk or danger to the community.

Daniel Alejandro Núñez Ramírez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan, was deported from the United States and arrived in Venezuela on June 24, 2026, as part of a group of 146 deported migrants. On the same day, two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela. Daniel was being held at the Santuario La Llanada hotel in La Guaira while repatriation procedures were completed. When the hotel collapsed during the earthquakes, Daniel was killed instantly. His mother, Oswadeliz Núñez Ramírez, spent five days searching for him in hospitals, morgues, and across La Guaira and Caracas before his body was recovered from the rubble. She identified him by a tattoo. Only 32 of the 146 deported migrants survived the disaster.

Isalia Martínez, a 46-year-old Mexican mother, was detained by ICE agents in the parking lot of Community Care clinic in Austin on June 29 while heading to a medical appointment. After six days in immigration custody and being transferred between two detention centers, she was deported to Michoacán, Mexico. Martínez has two sons, ages 17 and 22, who remain in the United States. She expressed devastation at the separation, saying she feels helpless being separated from her children and hopes to reunite with them someday.

A Guatemalan citizen residing in the United States since 2018 and father of two sons was detained by ICE on June 29, 2026, along with his two sons when ICE agents pulled over their family car and shattered the window. He was held without bond at Pike County Correctional Facility under the mandatory detention provision of 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A). The court granted his habeas petition, finding his detention unlawful, and ordered his immediate release, ruling that § 1226(a) discretionary detention with bond hearing rights applies to him instead.

Tania Hernandez's father was arrested on June 29, 2026, for driving without a license. After the family paid his bond and he was scheduled for release, ICE placed a hold on him at the detention facility, preventing his release. The family is now seeking legal representation to address the immigration enforcement action.

An 18-year-old from El Salvador was detained by ICE on June 29, 2026, and transferred to Golden State Annex Detention Facility in McFarland, California. He entered the United States in May 2019 and was released on his own recognizance. He obtained Special Immigrant Juvenile status in September 2023 and had his removal proceedings administratively closed in October 2023, with no criminal history and no final removal order. The court granted his habeas corpus petition, finding his detention violated the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause, and ordered his immediate release with restrictions on future detention requiring advance notice and bond hearings.

Milana, a Russian immigrant and trafficking survivor, was detained at ICE's Oklahoma City office during a routine immigration check-in in September 2025. She arrived in the U.S. on a fiancé visa in the early 2000s, escaped an abusive first marriage involving human trafficking, and received a removal order in 2003 that was later converted to an order of supervision requiring routine check-ins. For over 20 years, she complied with these check-ins while building a life in the U.S., raising her U.S. citizen daughter, working consistently, and marrying Roger Swope, a U.S. Army veteran. On the day of her detention, ICE suddenly acted on the dormant removal order. Her attorney, Elissa Stiles, filed multiple legal challenges including habeas corpus petitions and argued Milana qualifies for a trafficking victim visa, but all were denied. A federal judge ruled on June 29, 2026, that Milana had not cooperated with Russian consulate authorities. ICE initially attempted to deport her to Russia despite the active war and closed airspace, then considered third-country removal options. Roger has spent over $20,000 on legal efforts. Since detention, Milana has been moved multiple times between facilities in Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas, shackled during transfers. Her attorney states the only remaining option is to appeal to ICE for humanitarian intervention, as Milana fears for her life if deported to Russia during the ongoing war.

ICE conducted multiple operations throughout the week of June 29 around Bozeman and Gallatin Gateway, detaining approximately 150 residents according to nonprofit Bienvenidos a Gallatin Valley, though other estimates put the number around 100. Following the arrests, fear gripped the local Latino community; many residents stopped leaving their homes entirely out of fear of arrest, and Latino business employees with valid visas ceased working. In response, Bienvenidos a Gallatin Valley organized emergency deliveries of groceries, toiletries, diapers, infant formula, and other household supplies to nearly 160 households across Gallatin County between June 26 and July 7.

Diana Socha Torres and her 8-year-old son were taken from their home in Wisconsin Dells in late June during the ICE surge. Socha Torres had an active asylum case, was wearing an ICE-issued ankle monitor, and had no criminal charges or convictions in Wisconsin. She and her son were transported to an ICE office in downtown Milwaukee and then transferred to the South Texas Residential Detention Center in Dilley, Texas. The arrest separated the child from their home and disrupted an active legal case.

Galo Suárez, 25, and his fiancée Reyna Elizabeth Garcia were arrested by ICE agents during the three-day surge. Suárez, who has a valid work permit, and Garcia were followed from a food market and arrested by masked agents in unmarked vehicles who broke out their windows, refused to answer questions, and repeatedly called them "dogs" in Spanish. Suárez was released and told to "run and not look back" or else he'd regret it; the agents retained Garcia and her brother. Suárez later joined concerned residents and local activists marching through Milwaukee's South Side to call for his fiancée's release.

Jose David Cortes Torres, a 20-year-old noncitizen who has lived in Bozeman since 2023, was pulled over on June 29 while driving to work by ICE agents in an unmarked white Dodge Durango. According to court documents, agents asked for his driver's license, told him he had no right to be in the United States, and arrested him without charging him with a crime. He was detained for more than 24 hours in a holding room at the Helena airport with more than 15 other individuals, forced to stand for approximately six hours due to cramped conditions, and was limited to a single three-minute phone call with attorneys. He was told to voluntarily self-deport or face months of lockup. His lawyers at Upper Seven Law filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court alleging the arrest violated constitutional due process rights and was part of a dragnet operation targeting Latinos based on race and language, without individualized suspicion. Cortes Torres is the primary caretaker for his grandmother, who is undergoing cancer treatment.

A woman is currently detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the El Valle Detention Center in Willacy County, Texas. She filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the government's authority to detain her without a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A), arguing that mandatory detention without a hearing violates her constitutional rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The court indicated it was inclined to deny her petition based on analogous cases but decided to postpone its final ruling pending the Fifth Circuit's decision in a similar case, Sosnava Rodriguez v. Ortega, Case No. 26-50183. The court denied her request for a preliminary injunction or other immediate injunctive relief, leaving her in detention while awaiting the appellate court's guidance on the due process question.

Marta, a Latin American asylum seeker deported to the Democratic Republic of Congo under a U.S. third-country deportation policy, described feeling emotionally adrift and psychologically strained by her uncertain situation. Living in conditions marked by frequent power cuts, lack of clean water, and constant illness, she expressed distress about not knowing what her future holds.

Dale Patel (also known as Dhavalkumar Kalidas Patel), owner of Wallace's Market in Friendship, Maine, was arrested by ICE agents on June 27 at his workplace. A native of India, Patel allegedly entered the U.S. without authorization on November 1, 2010, and failed to appear for an immigration hearing, resulting in a removal order issued in August 2011. He is being held at Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Massachusetts while his wife Hanna manages the store and cares for their 2.5-year-old U.S.-born son. Attorney Audrey Richardson filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani issued an emergency order preventing Patel's transfer for at least 72 hours and ordering advance notice before any transfer out of Massachusetts. Over 200 community members signed a petition supporting his return, and a GoFundMe campaign raised more than $7,800 to assist the family.