Human Impact Project

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.

Victor Alfredo Perez Martin, a Guatemalan national, was arrested by ICE on July 6, 2026, outside Sentara BelleHarbour outpatient campus in Suffolk during a targeted enforcement operation. Bystander video documented ICE agents tackling him to the ground and repeatedly striking him with punches and knees to the stomach and back while attempting to handcuff him. ICE initially claimed Perez Martin had accepted voluntary departure, but his attorney James Reyes withdrew that acceptance and requested a notice to appear in immigration court. On July 16, U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles ruled that ICE had detained him under the wrong statute and ordered his release, finding he was entitled to a bond hearing. Perez Martin was released the same day and will proceed with immigration court proceedings where he will seek bond and face removal.

ICE agents arrested two noncitizens during a targeted enforcement operation in Morristown on July 16, 2026. Marlon Portillo-Masariegos, a Honduran national, was arrested; DHS stated he had been deported twice previously (in June 2018 and September 2018) and had re-entered the country illegally. Eduardo Alonso Guaido Bracho, a Venezuelan national, was also arrested; DHS said he had entered the U.S. illegally in 2024 and had been issued a final removal order on June 3, 2025. Morristown police director Michael Corcoran said ICE agents arrived in unmarked vehicles around 6 p.m. without advance notice and detained several individuals. Residents reported seeing ICE agents chase a young man on foot through backyards.

ICE agents conducted a targeted enforcement operation at the SouthShore Hotel construction site in Bemidji, Minnesota, on July 16, 2026, around 11:20 a.m. When agents arrived, several construction workers fled the job site, and at least one man ran into Lake Bemidji, swimming about 100 yards offshore in an attempt to escape. ICE agents removed him from the water, handcuffed him, and took him into custody, transporting him in an unmarked van. The worker was employed by a subcontractor hired for the hotel's remodeling project; his identity and immigration status were not disclosed. Bemidji Police Department responded to calls about people entering the lake as a public safety concern but was not involved in the enforcement action itself. Lakeside Management, Inc., the hotel's property management company, said it was unaware of any workers lacking legal work authorization.

Martha Sias, a Mexican national and lawful permanent resident, was arrested by ICE agents on July 15, 2026, during a targeted enforcement operation outside an Allsup's convenience store in Chaparral. The arrest drew attention after a social media video circulated showing her detention. According to court records, Sias pleaded guilty in October 2025 to manufacturing and delivery of a controlled substance after CBP officers discovered approximately 20 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in the door panels of an SUV she was driving at the Paso del Norte border crossing on January 12, 2022. She was sentenced to 10 years of supervised probation and was on probation at the time of her ICE arrest. ICE said she is subject to removal proceedings and will have an opportunity to present her case before an immigration judge.

David Ardila, a 33-year-old DJ from Venezuela, was detained by ICE at Logan Airport on July 10, 2026, after returning from attending a FIFA World Cup quarterfinal match in Boston. Ardila fled Venezuela and applied for asylum in 2017, entering the U.S. on a valid visa that year. He holds a Social Security number and work permits and has been following all legal processes required while waiting nearly a decade for an asylum interview. ICE detained him for allegedly overstaying his visa by over eight years, which his attorney Todd Pomerleau attributes to delays in the asylum application process. Ardila has no criminal record and is currently being held at Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Massachusetts, approximately 3,000 miles from his family in Seattle, with legal challenges being filed seeking his release and permission to remain in Massachusetts during his immigration proceedings.

A suspected federal immigration agent conducted a traffic stop in Slidell, Louisiana that escalated into immigration interrogation. After the driver refused to cooperate, local law enforcement was called and a 13-year-old boy was allegedly interrogated. The occupants were reportedly eventually released.

An elderly woman who has been in the U.S. legally for over 35 years was detained by ICE agents in Chaparral, New Mexico while traveling to a chemotherapy appointment. According to her daughter, the woman encountered ICE agents on the road, became frightened, and fled into an Allsup's Convenience Store seeking help, reporting she had been followed. Video of the incident spread on social media. The detention occurred amid ongoing debate over ICE traffic stop policies, following President Trump's statement that ICE should continue traffic stops despite two recent deadly shootings involving ICE agents.

ChongLy 'Scott' Thao, a 56-year-old naturalized Hmong American U.S. citizen with no criminal record, was forcibly removed from his St. Paul home by ICE agents on January 18, 2026. Agents broke down his front door at gunpoint without a warrant and led him outside in sub-freezing conditions wearing only underwear and a blanket. Thao, who has severe psoriasis worsened by cold and stress, was held for over two hours, driven to an undisclosed location where he was photographed in the cold, then returned home after agents realized he was a U.S. citizen. ICE claimed agents were executing a warrant seeking two convicted sex offenders with ties to the property, but Thao stated he had never seen those men and they did not live with him; the Minnesota Department of Corrections later confirmed one of the wanted men was still imprisoned. Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and Sheriff Bob Fletcher announced in April 2026 they are investigating the incident as potential kidnapping, burglary, and false imprisonment. Thao's family is working with the ACLU of Minnesota and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's office to pursue legal action.

Miguel was 14 years old and aspired to be a teacher. He was held in federal custody for 167 days. This source is part of a broader CT Insider investigation into extended detentions of immigrant children under Trump administration policies that imposed stringent new requirements for their release. The article covers six children held in Connecticut federal custody, with detention lengths ranging from 118 to 505 days, many while their families awaited approval despite meeting all vetting requirements.

Liam, 15, was arrested by local police in May 2025 following a fight; ICE agents separated him from his father who arrived to pick him up and took both into custody. Liam was held in an ICE office in Burlington, Massachusetts, then transferred to an ORR shelter in Texas for three months before being moved to Groton, Connecticut. Whether ICE ever properly contacted his mother to inform her she could pick him up remains disputed; she said ICE called her while he was in Burlington but did not tell her she could retrieve him, and she did not hear from him again until he was in Texas. The government made contradictory statements about the mother's availability, at one point claiming ICE couldn't locate her, then claiming ICE asked her to pick him up but she refused, while also stating she was at the police station during his arrest. Liam grew anxious and depressed in the shelters; a psychological evaluation recommended his release "as soon as possible" for his well-being. Federal Judge Vernon Oliver called the government's claims "disturbing" and "full of significant incongruities," and ordered Liam's release 27 days after the lawsuit was filed; his mother picked him up the following day after 255 days of detention.

Jean, a 12-year-old from Haiti, was detained at the U.S. border and held in federal custody for 505 days, spending his 13th birthday in an ORR shelter in California and later a foster care program in New Haven, Connecticut. His family in Fort Lauderdale—his father, stepmother, and two sisters—had completed all required vetting, background checks, and home studies, yet the Office of Refugee Resettlement repeatedly requested documents his family could not obtain, including a Haitian death certificate from territory controlled by gangs. After his sisters were released to their stepmother, Jean remained detained; ORR cited a DNA test showing his father was not his biological parent, though his father said this changed nothing. A federal judge ultimately ruled the government's process "arbitrary and capricious" and ordered Jean's release in a case where the judge noted that unlawful detention "results in an injury that really can never be remedied."

Jose Guadalupe Rojas Quintanar was pulled over for not having a driver's license in Paragould, Arkansas, and arrested. An ICE hold was discovered during the traffic stop, and he is now detained at a correctional facility in Louisiana. His wife Cesilia, who works as an Uber driver at night, is caring for their two young sons alone while managing household expenses. Cesilia is raising funds for legal fees, court travel, and living expenses to support the family during his detention.

A native of India entered the United States in June 2024 at the Mexican border and was released to live in Philadelphia while in removal proceedings. On July 15, 2026, DHS officials arrested him at a scheduled immigration check-in and detained him at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia without a bond hearing. The government relied on a July 8, 2025 ICE policy interpreting the Immigration and Nationality Act to subject all noncitizens without admission status to mandatory detention without bond eligibility. He filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus arguing the detention violated the INA and the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause. The federal court granted his petition, finding that he should be detained under the discretionary provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), not the mandatory detention statute, and that he is entitled to a bond hearing before an immigration judge.

A Cuban citizen who entered the United States in 2022 was taken into ICE custody on July 15, 2026, and detained at the West Tennessee Detention Facility. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his continued detention without a bond hearing. The court stayed his transfer and ordered ICE to respond to the petition, requiring them to either distinguish the case from Lopez-Campos v. Raycraft or consent to release, as that precedent prohibits detention without individualized bond hearings for noncitizens who spent significant time in the U.S. interior and are not ineligible under § 1226(c).

Juan, a 66-year-old man, was arrested during an ICE enforcement operation in a residential area on 7/15/2026. According to a video posted on Facebook by Jonathan Djcachu Hernandez, approximately 14 uniformed officers restrained Juan on the pavement. Juan had left his home that morning to buy medicine because he felt sick and did not go to work. During the arrest, Juan stated "No voy a correr" (I am not going to run) and appeared to be in pain. The exact location, Juan's full identity, and official confirmation of the arrest circumstances have not been independently corroborated.

A delivery driver and father of three daughters was detained by ICE, creating financial and emotional hardship for his family. His detention occurred during his youngest daughter's middle school graduation. The family is raising funds to cover household expenses, legal fees, and other needs while he remains detained.