Human Impact Project

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.

Estenderly Marte Polanco, a 31-year-old undocumented immigrant from the Dominican Republic, was arrested by ICE agents on June 27 during a traffic stop at 26th and Mitchell on Milwaukee's South Side while her 7-year-old daughter sat in the back seat. Videos and photographs documented that agents broke both the driver's and passenger-side windows of her car, pulled her onto the ground, and briefly pointed a taser at a cooperating driver. Family members shared photographs showing bruises, scrapes, and cuts on her neck, arms, and lip that they said were inflicted during the arrest. Wisconsin court records show no prior convictions or citations under her name. Her partner Frankeli, who is also undocumented, expressed concern about the welfare of their children. Polanco was held at Waukesha County jail and was among 39 people detained during a surge of ICE enforcement operations in the Milwaukee area. Legal experts who reviewed the incident questioned whether the window-breaking tactic was necessary or if adequate time was given for compliance.

A 32-year-old undocumented immigrant from El Salvador was arrested by ICE agents on Saturday outside Waukesha County Courthouse after appearing for a hearing in his ongoing immigration court case. He had not missed any court dates and had no prior criminal convictions in Wisconsin. His traffic citation—for driving without a license in May—is a common infraction for undocumented immigrants barred from obtaining licenses under Wisconsin law. He was transferred to Greene County, Missouri, and held in custody there as of Monday morning.

Five men were identified during separate traffic stops in Chatham and Atkinson counties between January and April 2026. Miguel Aparicio-Ortiz (40, Mexico), Aguelio Lemos Hernandez (35, Honduras), Henry Marin-Hernandez (41, Guatemala), Moises Valenzuela-Mendez (42, Mexico), and Luis Angel Velasquez-Montes (27, Mexico) were each placed in ICE custody following their stops. All five pleaded guilty to illegal re-entry after previous removal in federal court in Savannah and were sentenced to time served followed by immediate deportation.

On June 28, ICE agents chased a man through a Home Depot parking lot in Olathe, then detained two people from an agua fresca stand at Santa Fe and Ridgeview. Neighbors described the detained individuals as kind and friendly community members.

Damary Melgar, a 20-year-old college student at Simmons College working full-time as a restaurant server, remained in the United States after her mother and 10-year-old sister self-deported to Honduras on June 28, 2026. After initially planning to pursue pre-med studies, Damary changed her focus to business and finance due to financial pressures on her family. She is now facing the burden of supporting her mother and sister from abroad while managing full-time work and school, living without stable housing since she cannot afford the family's Brighton apartment alone. Damary said she must remain strong to prevent her family from being harmed, and plans to send money to Honduras. She struggles with the separation and the understanding that despite her family's full compliance with immigration procedures—attending all required check-ins and following all rules—they were still forcibly separated.

A Chinese national who entered the CNMI as a parolee in 2015 and overstayed was arrested by ICE on June 28, 2026, and placed in removal proceedings. He was detained at the CNMI Department of Corrections and denied a bond hearing despite requesting one at his master calendar hearing. The court granted his habeas corpus petition, finding he was subject to discretionary detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) rather than mandatory detention, and ordered respondents to provide an individualized bond hearing within fourteen days or release him.

A detained immigrant held at West Tennessee Detention Facility filed a habeas corpus petition seeking release pending removal proceedings or a bond hearing. He simultaneously filed for a temporary restraining order to prevent his transfer outside the district, arguing such transfer would sever access to his New Jersey-based counsel. The court denied the motion, finding no irreparable harm since electronic communication would remain possible and no litigation on the habeas petition had yet commenced.

Ángelo Mejía Meléndez, a 27-year-old Venezuelan, was deported from the U.S. on June 24, 2026, as part of a group of approximately 145-146 Venezuelans. He had been building a life in Miami, working at a pier, where his employer valued his work so highly that they named a new Jet Ski after him. In a recent voice note to his mother, he expressed deep love for her, saying "If I were to be born again, I would want you to be my mother." Hours after landing in Caracas, while being processed in a guarded hotel in La Guaira, powerful twin earthquakes struck and the building collapsed, killing him. His family identified his body by a distinctive pizza tattoo on his arm. His best friend Georgelyss Montes, whom he had said goodbye to four years earlier when he left for the U.S., learned of his death after searching hospitals and morgues. His mother did not learn of his death until days after the earthquakes, when a survivor informed her he had not survived.

A man who lived in the United States for over 25 years was stopped by police in Utah on June 28 while dropping off his son at work. He was transferred to ICE custody and subsequently moved to Golden State Annex detention facility in California before his scheduled court date. He has no criminal record. His family of seven, including a child with autism, is seeking legal representation and has organized a fundraiser to cover legal costs for his case.