Human Impact Project

A group of Nigerian citizens and other African and foreign nationals were deported from the United States on a 30-hour ICE deportation flight in which detainees were shackled and manacled. According to human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe, the flight departed from Alvarado outside Dallas, Texas, and routed through Senegal, Sierra Leone, the Central African Republic, and Ghana, dropping detainees in multiple countries. Some Nigerian citizens were among those dropped in Ghana, where they faced additional hardship. Ogebe called on Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to negotiate a bilateral agreement with the United States to ensure the dignified repatriation of Nigerian citizens facing deportation, noting that some detainees had not committed criminal offenses and were being deported to third countries.

Four individuals were detained by ICE personnel at the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo during the weekend. The detentions occurred when attendees presented international identification at age-verification checkpoints for alcohol purchases. During verification of the identification documents, issues regarding immigration status were raised, prompting ICE agents already present at the rodeo to respond and detain the individuals. Law enforcement checks indicated all four had existing immigration-related matters in federal systems.

Leonel Armando Bolívar Linares, a 29-year-old Venezuelan custodian at a St. Johns County school, was detained by ICE agents on August 5, 2026, while driving to work after a traffic stop. Bolívar Linares holds a valid work permit and driver's license, has a pending asylum application, and is legally present in the country. He has no criminal record and holds a university degree in journalism. His mother, Dayana Linares, and other family members who also work at the school expressed concern about the manner of his arrest and fear of deportation, noting that returning to Venezuela would pose a risk to his safety. His union, the St. Johns Educational Support Professionals Association, backed him and demanded his release. His family is raising funds to cover immigration bond, attorney's fees, and legal expenses.

The petitioner, who had lived in the United States for years while complying with ICE check-ins and other alternative-to-detention requirements, was taken into ICE custody on August 8, 2026 when he voluntarily appeared for a scheduled ICE check-in. He had maintained a known residence and employment and remained continuously available to immigration authorities for nearly three years prior to his detention. Immigration officials claimed he violated the conditions of his prior release on an order of recognizance after being arrested for public intoxication on July 28, 2026, though no criminal charges were ever filed and he was not notified of any alleged violation until his check-in. He was previously released under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) and is currently held at a detention facility while pursuing a federal habeas corpus petition and motion for a temporary restraining order challenging his re-detention without a pre-deprivation bond hearing. The court found the government failed to identify any exigency justifying detention without prior process and ruled his re-detention violated due process. The court granted the habeas petition and TRO, ordering his immediate release under the same conditions as before his detention, with no additional restrictions such as electronic monitoring unless later deemed necessary at a hearing.

Jack Chung, a lawful permanent resident and asylee who fled China after participating in pro-democracy protests, was taken into ICE custody on August 8 following what his family describes as a retaliatory report from a business associate. Chung, a father of three including a newborn, was transferred through Washington State and Virginia before being detained at a facility in Natchez, Mississippi, thousands of miles from his wife and children in Alaska. His wife Mojo is now caring for their newborn and two young sons alone in Alaska without his income, and the family is raising money for legal representation to fight the detention.

Marco Uriel Rodriguez Hernandez, an immigration detainee, had won a finding that the government was unlawfully denying him a bond hearing. He was then transferred out of the privately run Aurora detention center to an unknown location and later found to be held in Texas. After his attorney, Skylar M. Larson, filed a new habeas petition, Colorado's Chief Federal Judge Daniel D. Domenico issued a temporary restraining order barring ICE from removing him, and the order was emailed to federal prosecutors. Despite this, ICE deported Rodriguez Hernandez to Mexico the following morning without allowing him to contact his attorney. Government attorneys said officials in Texas who carried out the removal were unaware of the court's order and said they 'greatly regret the error.' Domenico ordered the government to take all available steps to facilitate his return to the United States.

ICE agents arrested two roof repairmen during a raid in Cornwall, Vermont on Aug. 8, according to Will Lambek of the immigrant advocacy group Migrant Justice. The Addison County Sheriff's Department did not respond to requests for comment on the arrests. The incident was part of a wave of workplace and commuting arrests across Vermont that advocates said was unusually large in scale.

A leaked video filmed by a detainee inside the River Center ICE Detention Center in Louisiana shows 76 people held together in a single crowded space. Detainees allege exposure to outbreaks of tuberculosis, flu, and conjunctivitis, and say sick people are being placed in punitive isolation cells instead of receiving medical care. The detainee who filmed the footage asked media outlets for help publicizing the conditions.

Shohrat Saparov, a devoted husband and father of two from the Turkmen community, was arrested on May 29, 2026, after accepting a Lyft pickup request for a package he believed to be legal. He was wrongfully charged in a scam orchestrated by others, but on August 7, 2026, the Wake County prosecutor dismissed the charge entirely, finding him an "unwitting mule without guilty knowledge." The next morning, ICE took him into custody. Saparov is a recently certified Network Engineer who has volunteered with the Divan Center supporting families in need, and his family is now seeking $20,000 to fund his immigration defense and secure his release.

Tonny Quesada-Ramirez, a Costa Rican national who has lived in the United States for approximately 26 years, was detained by ICE agents on August 7, 2026, while working on a home addition project one block from his residence in the South Orange-Maplewood area. He lives with his wife and two children, one of whom has Down's syndrome. Quesada-Ramirez had begun the green card application process when he was detained and is being held at Delaney Hall ICE detention center in Newark pending removal proceedings. At least four other people, including Omar Alvarez (a sous chef) and two men who work at a roofing company, were detained in the area during the same enforcement activity. A neighbor who had hired Quesada-Ramirez for various carpentry jobs over five years started a GoFundMe that surpassed $36,000, and community members raised over $50,000 total through documenting the enforcement activity, connecting families with resources and attorneys, and fundraising efforts.

Daniel Palencia arrived in the United States in 2016 at age 11 with his mother, crossing the Mexico-U.S. border at El Paso, Texas, where they turned themselves in to immigration authorities and sought legal status. He was detained for three months in deplorable conditions, including cold rooms where temperatures dropped at night and blankets were confiscated, and overcrowded holding areas he described as "cages" designed for 4-5 people but sometimes holding 40 individuals where "we were sleeping on top of each other." After being transferred to JK Airport in New York for additional detention, his family hired a lawyer and obtained asylum status. Palencia moved to Southold to live with his grandparents, attended local schools, and has worked for Marcello Masonry for two years. Reflecting on his experience and that of detained coworker Hugo Leonel Ardon Osorio, he stated: "There are bad people out there. But you can't arrest everybody for the way they look or if they speak Spanish. You can't arrest hard-working people who are trying to support their families."

A man was deported by ICE to Tijuana in January 2024 and died during an armed robbery when gunmen shot him in the heart, according to his family. His daughter, Evelyn González, a resident of Oceanside, California, remembered him as a strong man who always fought for his family and taught her to be independent. His family is seeking help to transport his body to his hometown in Mexico for a dignified farewell.

An 18-year-old U.S. citizen in Norfolk was detained by ICE agents on Friday morning after arriving at the scene of an immigration enforcement operation involving her husband. According to the woman, she informed agents she was a U.S. citizen, but was detained anyway.

Sebastian Ralios Tino, a Guatemalan landscaper with no known criminal record, was detained in summer 2025 after living in the U.S. for nearly two decades without legal status. His son, U.S. Army Specialist Romero Ralios, enlisted in the military and spent nine months in 2024 deployed to the Joint Task Force Southern Border supporting U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. The detention has left Romero Ralios remorseful about his border enforcement work and unable to sleep, expressing regret over the families he helped separate during his deployment. His commanding officer, Capt. Mohamed Elmaola, told the AP that Ralios is a phenomenal soldier deserving of support for his family.

Juan Carlos Maspache, a detainee at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, documented evidence of a cockroach found in his detention cell and shared the video with L.A. TACO. His documentation is part of mounting claims from detainees about inhumane conditions at the facility.

Omar, a Peruvian sous chef at the restaurant Perla in New York City, was detained by ICE agents on the morning of Friday, August 7, while on his way to work. According to his employer, Omar has been following the lawful path to citizenship, was recently awarded a social security number, pays taxes, and works every day. His employer describes him as a hardworking, dedicated, and morally-just person who has played a significant role in shaping the restaurant over nearly two years of employment and serves as a mentor to the employer's sons. Omar is currently detained at Delaney Hall.

Katerina was recently detained by immigration authorities at an airport and is currently held in immigration detention. Her supporters are raising funds for emergency federal legal representation to file a habeas corpus petition and temporary restraining order in federal court challenging the legality of her detention and seeking her release.

Aminata (Amina) Seck, a 26-year-old graduate student and basketball center for Kentucky State University from Dakar, Senegal, was detained by ICE on Aug. 7 at Louisville's Muhammad Ali International Airport while preparing to fly with her team to an HBCU tournament in New York. Seck entered the U.S. on a student visa in 2019 and was ordered removed after missing an immigration hearing; her attorney, Sadiqa Reynolds, said Seck never received notice of the hearing and missed the deadline while recovering from back surgery and an ACL injury. Wearing a leg brace at the time of her arrest, she has since been moved between at least four detention facilities in Kentucky and Chicago as well as a hospital over 48 days, reportedly experiencing seizures and limited access to phone calls, visitors, or basic medical care. Seck started most games last season, averaging more than 11 points and 7 rebounds, and earned All-Conference and SIAC Elite 16 academic-athletic honors. Her head coach, Amani Williams, has advocated on her behalf, and U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey said he is monitoring her situation.

An 18-year-old and his father were detained during a required immigration check-in, according to the ACLU of North Carolina. The pair were held at a detention facility in Georgia before being granted bond, and the son was released on Aug. 7, 2026.

ICE, FBI, and CBP arrested Fernando Armando Valdes Perez, a 61-year-old Cuban national and Guatemalan citizen, at Miami International Airport on July 10, 2026. Investigators alleged he was a Cuban intelligence asset who infiltrated Cuban exile and dissident communities while concealing his ties to the Cuban regime when he obtained lawful permanent resident status. He was placed in removal proceedings and deported from the United States on August 7, 2026.