Human Impact Project

Celestin Dima, a gay asylum seeker from Burkina Faso, fled kidnapping, military persecution and police torture after being outed before crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in 2024. An Arizona immigration judge granted him withholding of removal, finding he would likely face persecution if deported home, but ICE held him at the Eloy Detention Center for nearly two years while searching for a third country willing to accept him, considering Ghana, Cameroon and Uganda—all countries where homosexuality is criminalized. While detained, he grew depressed, stopped eating, and was placed in solitary confinement for two weeks. A federal judge ordered his release in June 2026 after granting a joint habeas petition, but ICE redetained him on July 17 during a mandatory check-in at a field office in Lower Manhattan. He was then transferred through detention facilities in New Jersey and near Dallas, fitted with a GPS ankle monitor, and scheduled for deportation without being told in advance where he would be sent.

Rosendo Lira, a 59-year-old Wise County business owner and father of five, was detained by ICE after Wise County sheriff's deputies pulled him over for a traffic violation on July 17, 2026, just three minutes from his home. Despite holding a valid work permit and driver's license, Lira was transferred to ICE custody based on a 2020 immigration court order of removal that his family says is under appeal. Lira was preparing for his daughter Bella's quinceañera celebration; Bella was born with Down Syndrome, and Lira has been her primary advocate and caregiver throughout her life. His daughter Synthia stated that Lira had no reason to be detained as he had not violated the terms of his work permit, committed no crime, and cannot legally be deported while an appeal is pending. The detention occurred following the sheriff's office's April 2026 adoption of a 287(g) agreement with ICE.

Giovanni Henriquez-Osorio, a native of El Salvador, was arrested in Provo, Utah and held at Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump. Federal authorities asserted he was a member of MS-13 gang, but U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware found no evidence supporting the claim. Boulware noted Henriquez-Osorio feared torture and persecution if deported and that his detention caused financial harm to his family — a partner and infant son facing eviction. After initially denying him a bond hearing, the judge in March ordered he be released or receive a constitutionally adequate hearing. When an immigration judge again ruled him dangerous based on prior DUI and domestic violence convictions, Boulware found the decision misstated the record and misconstrued facts. The judge ordered his release on July 17, 2026, threatening contempt sanctions against ICE and DHS if they did not comply.

A man is detained by United States immigration enforcement officials at the Port Isabel Service Processing Center in Cameron County, Texas. He filed a habeas corpus petition seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent respondents from transferring him outside the court's jurisdiction while his case is pending. The court denied his motion, finding he failed to demonstrate substantial irreparable harm, since his counsel is located in New York City and cannot communicate with him in person regardless of his detention location.

Floridalma Chinchilla, an immigration detainee held at Washoe County Detention Center in Nevada, filed a federal habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 challenging her ongoing detention. She filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent her transfer outside the district and secure her release pending resolution of her habeas petition, alleging she is subject to a final removal order and at risk of imminent removal. The court found the petition stated a prima facie case for relief and issued an order prohibiting her transfer out of the district or removal unless the court grants a motion to modify the order.

A non-citizen from El Salvador who entered the United States in 2021 was arrested and detained by ICE agents outside his apartment building in San Francisco on July 17, 2026. ICE agents arrested him without presenting a warrant at the time, claiming it was at their office. He has no criminal record, filed an asylum application, received work authorization, and is the sole provider for his pregnant wife and two young children. The court granted his temporary restraining order requiring immediate release and prohibiting re-detention without a pre-deprivation bond hearing where the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that detention is necessary to prevent flight or protect the public.

U.S. Border Patrol agents pulled over suspects at a Circle K gas station near Bemidji Regional Airport. The suspects fled on foot to the airport and ended up on the runway. Officers pursued the suspects and eventually apprehended them on the tarmac with assistance from a Bemidji Police Officer, Minnesota State Trooper, and two Border Patrol Agents. Mayor Jorge Prince stated this was a targeted action looking for specific people.

Maikel Guerra Morales, a Cuban national convicted of aircraft piracy in 2003 after hijacking a commuter plane, was released from ICE custody by Senior U.S. District Judge John E. Steele on July 8, 2026, after more than six months in detention. Judge Steele ruled that ICE lacked a concrete plan to deport Morales and was violating the 2001 Supreme Court decision in Zadvydas v. Davis against indefinite detention. Morales had been released under supervision in March 2023 but was re-arrested in December 2025 despite complying with all supervision terms. Judge Steele ordered ICE to release Morales within 24 hours under the same conditions that had previously applied. In an exclusive statement, Morales expressed gratitude for Judge Steele, saying he would "always remember Judge Steele as a man who honored the oath he took" and calling him someone who applied "the law with independence, integrity, and justice." Judge Steele died at age 77 days after issuing the ruling. U.S. Rep. Greg Steube subsequently filed articles of impeachment against the deceased judge, making Judge Steele the first federal judge to die during impeachment proceedings.

Two construction workers from National City were arrested by federal immigration agents around 7 a.m. on July 17, 2026, outside a residential construction site in Cardiff. According to a co-worker, the brothers have worked at construction sites for nearly two decades. One is married with two children; his son is now an adult aspiring to become an architect. The arrest occurred quietly and quickly in unmarked vehicles, with some neighbors unaware of what happened despite being nearby. The workers' silver Nissan Frontier was left abandoned at the scene with their equipment and lunch still inside.

Twin sisters Angely and Alexka Jerez-Medina, 18-year-old students at Western International High School in Detroit, were detained by ICE in Buffalo, New York on June 24, 2026, while working a summer job cleaning an Amazon warehouse. According to court documents, the twins have never been arrested or convicted of a crime, have attended all immigration court appointments, and had previous removal proceedings dismissed by an immigration judge with no current removal proceedings pending. Their teacher described them as excellent, hardworking, shy students, with Angely participating in the school's JROTC program and Alexka interested in pursuing a career in the sciences. Both are active members of Pan de Vida Lutheran Church in Detroit. The twins were subsequently transferred to ICE detention facilities in El Paso, Texas and Louisiana. An attorney filed a habeas corpus petition on their behalf on June 25, and U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and multiple state and local officials have requested their release.

ICE agents in Passaic, New Jersey detained a U.S. citizen who repeatedly asked them to verify his identification. According to a neighbor who filmed the incident, the man told the federal agents who he was and pleaded with them to check his ID, but agents forced him to the ground, handcuffed him, and placed him in their vehicle without verifying his identity.

Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25- or 26-year-old Colombian national with legal work authorization, was fatally shot by ICE officer David Brouillette on July 13, 2026, during a mistaken traffic stop near a laundromat in Biddeford, Maine. He was working an early-morning DoorDash delivery shift when agents conducting surveillance on a different address approached his vehicle and fired five shots through the windshield, with his 3-year-old daughter witnessing the shooting. DHS said the vehicle attempted to flee and the officer fired fearing for public safety, a claim disputed by witnesses; Sen. Angus King said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed Guerrero was not the intended target. He lived with his partner Karolina Rojas and also worked as a veterinary clinic cleaner; she described him as 'a hard worker devoted to his family' who 'always dreamed big' for their daughter. His death prompted hundreds of protesters to gather and led to inquiries by the Maine Attorney General's Office, the FBI, and the DHS Office of Inspector General, with Democratic lawmakers, including Congressman Bennie Thompson, calling for an investigation into the officer's hiring history.

A federal judge ordered the immediate release of Nyamuoch Thomas Duoth, a lawful permanent resident born in a refugee camp in Ethiopia who arrived in the U.S. as a refugee in 1994, from an Iowa jail where she was held by ICE. Duoth, a citizen of South Sudan, had been detained since March 2025 after ICE said it intended to deport her to South Sudan or Ethiopia, though officials failed to show progress toward removal for more than six months after her removal order became final. U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher said the government's argument that her past criminal history justified continued detention was 'hard to take seriously,' noting she had lived in the community without incident for years after her convictions. Duoth's attorneys are now seeking reimbursement of legal fees from the federal government.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested seven undocumented immigrants during a targeted operation in Bemidji on July 16, 2026. Benjamin Rodriguez Medina, from Mexico, was arrested while working on a construction site at the SouthShore Hotel on Lake Bemidji; he attempted to flee by swimming into the lake before being apprehended. The other six men arrested were Manuel Pomavilla Pichisaca (Ecuador), Luis Zaruma Delgado (Ecuador/Spain dual citizen), Diego Soto Velosco (Mexico), Xavier Llumiquinga Cajamarca (Ecuador), Wilson Pomavilla Guaman (Ecuador), and Luis Tipan-Calderon (Ecuador). All seven were in ICE custody pending further immigration proceedings.

ICE agents detained Matar Ndiaye at an immigration court in Manhattan while he attended a mandatory asylum hearing, despite a May 2026 federal court order prohibiting such arrests. This marks at least the sixth arrest at Manhattan immigration courts since U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel's ruling. Ndiaye, a Bronx resident with no criminal convictions who had complied with all immigration directives, was transferred to Delaney Hall detention facility in New Jersey.

A noncitizen filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, challenging his detention at the South Texas ICE Processing Center without a bond hearing. The court issued an order for service requiring respondents to file a response within seven days identifying his country of birth, date of entry, statutory basis for removability, previous immigration detention history, and current immigration status. The court indicated that the case appears to turn on whether his detention without a bond hearing violates the due process rights afforded to noncitizens who have established a substantial presence in the United States, and directed respondents to consider the court's prior orders addressing this question. Respondents were permitted to either file a full response or indicate no material factual differences from related cases while preserving legal arguments.

A federal immigration detainee filed a pro se Application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 while detained at the ICE Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, Colorado. The court found deficiencies in his filing and ordered him to cure them within 30 days, including submitting a proper 28 U.S.C. § 1915 Motion and Affidavit or paying the $5.00 filing fee. The court warned that failure to cure the deficiencies within 30 days would result in dismissal without prejudice.

Federal ICE agents detained a man in St. Charles, Missouri. According to witnesses, an agent slammed the handcuffed man's face into a stone wall while he was restrained. The video also shows agents confronting a bystander who was recording from a public area, chasing him, pushing him backward, and pointing what appeared to be a taser in his direction. Courts have generally recognized a First Amendment right to record law-enforcement officers performing public duties.

Jorge Vilchez, owner of Caracas Latin Food restaurant in El Paso, Texas, was detained by ICE on July 16, 2026. A Venezuelan national who arrived in the United States on September 22, 2019, on a visa that expired on March 21, 2020, Vilchez had recently organized a humanitarian aid campaign through his restaurant to collect food, medicine, and supplies for earthquake victims in Venezuela on June 24. According to his family, he has no criminal record and had gained recognition in the El Paso community for his relief efforts and commitment to helping others. His asylum case remains pending before an immigration judge. He is being held at the Otero County Processing Center in New Mexico. His family and friends launched fundraising campaigns, including a GoFundMe, to cover legal fees and immigration process costs, while the restaurant announced it will continue operating during normal business hours.

Shucheng "Charlie" Yang, 32, a Chinese national employed as an attorney with Alaska's Department of Law Civil Division, was arrested by ICE on July 10, 2026 in Anchorage. Yang was admitted to the Alaska Bar Association and licensed to practice law in June 2025. According to ICE, Yang violated the terms of his admission to the U.S. and is subject to deportation, though the specific violation was not clarified by ICE. An attorney familiar with immigration proceedings suggested Yang likely applied for asylum. Court records show Yang received a speeding ticket in April for driving 103 mph in a 65 mph zone on the Seward Highway, which he resolved by pleading no contest and paying a $2,300 fine. As of July 16, he was being held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington awaiting immigration proceedings scheduled for October.