Human Impact Project

A teenage asylum seeker identified in court records as E.L.A., who entered the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor, was deported to El Salvador on September 1 despite protections under the class-action settlement J.O.P. v. DHS. He had previously been removed in March 2026, then returned to the U.S. in August after class counsel intervened so his asylum application could be adjudicated. While being held in immigration detention in Louisiana awaiting an asylum interview, he was reportedly told he would be transferred to another facility but instead was placed on a flight to El Salvador. A federal judge ordered DHS to explain who authorized the removal and how it will be corrected.

A 67-year-old lawful permanent resident who has lived legally in the U.S. for about 50 years was held for eight days by CBP at San Francisco International Airport after returning from a trip to Guadalajara, Mexico, and landing in Fresno. He told the San Francisco Chronicle that agents removed him from his flight and transported him in handcuffs to San Francisco, where he says he slept sitting in a chair under lights kept on and struggled to manage his blood sugar despite having diabetes, hypertension and vision problems. His detention was reportedly linked to an old criminal record; he was later transferred to an ICE detention facility for several months before his attorneys secured his release. The case is part of a broader investigation that found 25 people were held more than 72 hours at SFO through July, 19 of whom were green card holders, despite CBP policy generally limiting custody to 72 hours.

César Cepeda Gomez, a Venezuelan delivery driver for Walmart who held a work permit and had an asylum hearing scheduled for October, was detained by ICE agents outside a Bloomington Walmart alongside a coworker. He lives in Bloomington with his partner and her child. ICE said he was being held at North Lake Correctional Facility in Michigan.

Manuel Alejandro Nadal-Ortiz, a Venezuelan man who came to the U.S. under an asylum claim and held a work permit, was detained by ICE agents outside a Bloomington Walmart while working as a delivery driver for DoorDash, Uber and Walmart. His girlfriend, Joanna Hanner, said his mother called her crying within minutes of the arrest, and the family spent the day calling detention centers before Ortiz reached them by phone that afternoon from Chicago, saying he was being transferred to a jail in Michigan. Hanner said Ortiz had no criminal record beyond a paid speeding ticket, closely monitored local ICE activity to avoid it, and was saving money to support his father in Venezuela. As of publication, Ortiz did not appear in the ICE detainee locator and his exact location was unknown.

José David Murcia Valdez, a 30-year-old Honduran refugee, fled Honduras six years ago after a machete attack cost him a finger and left scars across his arms and shoulders. He settled in Monterrey, Mexico, and worked for three years at a recycling plant until Mexican authorities arrived to check employees' papers and deported him back to Honduras. Unable to remain in Honduras because of the earlier attack, he returned to Mexico and joined a migrant caravan called Sueños sin Fronteras, attempting to bike more than 1,000 miles back to Monterrey in search of work.

Felipe Flores was deported alongside Daniel Ramirez as part of the same third-country deportation flight to Guatemala City. Before the flight, he spent days in cramped U.S. detention facilities without being able to shower or brush his teeth, followed by a 15-hour stint in handcuffs. After being released in Guatemala City, he was bused with other Mexican deportees across the border into Tapachula, Mexico.

Daniel Ramirez, a 30-year-old Texas resident born in Mexico's Tamaulipas state and raised in Brownsville, was detained by U.S. immigration agents near his home. Rather than being returned to Mexico, he was shackled and flown to Guatemala City as part of the Trump administration's third-country deportation policy, then bused across the border into Tapachula, Mexico, more than 1,000 miles from the U.S. border. Ramirez, who lived in the U.S. for years without legal status, said the transfer felt like "a punishment for us so we don't go back again." He later took a multi-day bus trip to Matamoros, near Brownsville, where he found work painting cars.

Ana Garcia's mother was arrested by ICE near downtown Mount Vernon, Washington, according to her daughter. Ana said the family was not allowed to see her before she was taken away. The five siblings are now navigating daily life without either parent at home.

ICE officers arrested Jose Saul Canas-Guandique, a 49-year-old Salvadoran national, in Falls Church, Virginia on August 31, 2026. He is wanted in Colorado on felony charges including child sexual assault, solicitation of child prostitution, and using the internet to lure a child. He had lawfully entered the U.S. in 2004 but remained after his permitted stay expired, and he is now in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

Gilberto Jacobo Mata was taken into ICE custody on August 31, 2026 while on his way to work. He had lived in the United States for 14 years and was the sole income provider for his four children, ages 1 1/2 to 14. Family members describe him as a hardworking man who treated others with kindness and are raising funds to cover legal fees and support his children.

The petitioner was detained at a facility in or near Vinton, Texas, though his exact facility and immediate custodian had not been reliably confirmed to him or his supporters at the time of filing. He filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, along with a motion for a temporary restraining order seeking to prevent his removal from the country and to prevent his transfer outside the Western District of Texas without advance notice. The court found it lacked jurisdiction to stay his removal because such claims are barred under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(g) as directly connected to execution of a removal order. The court did find it had jurisdiction over the underlying habeas petition itself, since it was filed in the district of confinement and named the facility administrator as respondent. The court noted that its jurisdiction would not be lost even if he were transferred to another facility after filing. The motion for a temporary restraining order was denied in full.

A man held at the Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, Colorado filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention under 8 U.S.C. §§ 1225 and 1226, seeking release or, alternatively, a bond hearing. He argued that the government's interpretation of these statutes to deny him a bond hearing was unlawful. The court found this dispute had already been resolved in his favor by a recent Tenth Circuit decision interpreting the same statutory provisions. The court granted the petition in part, ordering that he receive a bond hearing within seven days at which the government must bear the burden of proving his continued detention is justified. The court also enjoined the government from denying him bond on the basis that he is detained under § 1225(b), and barred his removal from the District of Colorado except pursuant to a final removal order, in order to preserve its jurisdiction over the case.

Victor Salgado Araujo, 44, was detained by ICE on July 7, 2026, after witnessing an ICE agent fatally shoot his brother, Houston homebuilder Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, while the two drove their construction crew to a job site. He was held for 54 days at the Montgomery ICE Processing Center, where he missed his brother's funeral. The three detained witnesses filed habeas petitions and sought U visas, and reported pressure from ICE to self-deport while in custody. Victor was released in late August 2026, the last of the three witnesses freed, and reunited with his family. His attorney said he is expected to testify before the Harris County grand jury investigating the shooting while pursuing a U visa and facing separate removal proceedings.

ICE Phoenix arrested two men during targeted enforcement actions in northern Arizona the week of August 2. Norberto Osornio-Gutierrez, a 50-year-old Mexican national with a history of immigration violations and past deportation orders, was arrested near Prescott. Dinesh Sapkota, a 28-year-old Nepali national who overstayed his visa, was arrested near Flagstaff following 2023 convictions tied to a 2022 arrest.

Julio Alfredo De Ávila Hernández disappeared in Jalisco, Mexico, ten years ago after being tortured by a cartel. His parents and siblings later fled to the United States and applied for asylum, but an immigration judge ruled in April that they must continue their asylum process in Ecuador, Honduras, or Guatemala instead of remaining in the U.S. The family has filed an appeal to try to stay. Julio's sister, Alondra De Ávila, 26, crossed the border with her four-year-old son in 2024 to turn themselves in to immigration authorities and tell their story. "We want to stay here. I don't want my son to live what I lived," she said.

Sae Joon Park, 57, a Korean-born US Army veteran awarded a Purple Heart for injuries sustained during the 1989 US invasion of Panama, self-deported to South Korea last year after ICE threatened to detain him at a routine immigration check-in over old criminal convictions. Park had lived in the US since age 7, moving from South Korea to join his mother in Miami, and struggled with PTSD and drug use following his military service, leading to a 2007 drug possession conviction and a 2009 bail-jumping conviction. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul pardoned Park for both convictions, opening a pathway for him to seek to have his removal order vacated and legally return to the US. His attorney said the pardon does not guarantee his return. Park now lives in Busan, South Korea, separated from his two adult children.

A man was deported by ICE this past month after living in the United States for 24 years, according to a GoFundMe campaign organized by a family friend. He leaves behind a wife and two children with limited resources, and the family is now seeking help securing basic necessities and support services.

Kwesi Menezes, a 35-year-old lawful permanent resident who had lived in the U.S. since age two and grew up in Burlington County, New Jersey, was found unresponsive in Guyana on August 30, months after being deported there in April. His family believes he overdosed on medication prescribed for schizophrenia, a condition he had struggled with for years. Menezes had been arrested by ICE in Mount Holly, New Jersey, in connection with a prior conviction for assaulting a police officer during what his family described as a mental-health episode, and was later transferred into ICE detention and placed on DHS's 'Worst of the Worst Criminal Aliens Arrested' list in December. His mother and sister said his psychiatric condition was not adequately considered during his immigration proceedings and questioned whether he understood what was happening to him while in custody. Relatives describe him as a gifted singer and dancer who was always willing to help others, and are working to bring his remains back to the U.S. for burial.

Gustavo Parraga Durán, a Venezuelan journalist who has been seeking asylum in the U.S. for nearly a decade, was detained by ICE agents during a traffic stop in Utah. He is currently being held at a detention facility in Washington state. His wife said he has no criminal charges, not even traffic tickets, and has lost his job while the family risks losing their home. Parraga Durán is married and the father of two young daughters.

Khalil, a 24-year-old Afghan man whose brother served alongside U.S. forces in the Afghan Army and another brother died fighting the Taliban as a pilot, was deported to the Central African Republic despite having been granted 'withholding of removal' by a U.S. immigration judge in August 2025, who found he could face persecution in Afghanistan. He crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in 2024 and was held in ICE custody throughout his time in the U.S.; he did not qualify for asylum due to a Biden-era policy requiring migrants to seek protection in other countries first. His immigration lawyer, Alma David, said his case shows the administration's effort to 'obliterate the global refugee protection system,' while a retired Marine colonel who supervised his brother said he fears Khalil could be killed if eventually returned to Afghanistan.