Human Impact Project

A Nicaraguan immigrant and his son were arrested by ICE at their home in Florida three weeks after attempting to claim a $1,000 lottery prize from a Mega 7 drawing. The family alleges that lottery officials retained the ticket and alerted ICE to their address. The father's license was expired due to the revocation of TPS (Temporary Protected Status) for Nicaraguan nationals, which prevented them from claiming the prize at the time.

A 45-year-old Honduran national who entered without inspection over 20 years ago was arrested without an immigration warrant on July 10, 2026, while traveling to work in Florida. He has four U.S. citizen children, stable employment with a valid Employment Authorization Document, deep community ties, and no criminal history. His removal proceedings were administratively closed in 2015. He was detained at Krome North Service Processing Center without a bond hearing, and the petition challenges his detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A), arguing he should be detained under § 1226(a) with bond eligibility.

An Armenian national with a final removal order since 2020 was released on supervision on July 8, 2026, following a prior court order. When he reported to ICE on July 10, 2026, he was re-detained after ICE obtained travel documents from Armenia and scheduled his removal for July 26, 2026. The court denied his emergency request to be released again, finding he did not show a likelihood of success on the merits of his three grounds for relief challenging the revocation of his supervision order.

David, a hardworking resident of Chicago who worked at La Mijikana, was arrested by ICE. He had been sending his paychecks home to support his family in Mexico, where his mother is facing a serious medical problem. With David now in ICE custody, his family is struggling to cover both his mother's medical treatment and legal fees.

Marcelino Gutiérrez, a pastor and church leader, was stopped during a traffic stop on July 10, 2026, and arrested for not having a valid driver's license. He had entered the United States legally with a visa on February 14, 2015, and has spent the last 11 years working, serving his church, and supporting his wife and four daughters. After his arrest, an ICE immigration hold was placed on him, and he was transferred to immigration detention. His family is raising funds for legal representation and to support his wife and daughters during his detention.

Tou Lue Vang, a Laotian citizen who legally entered the United States in 1994, was convicted in 2006 of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for repeatedly sexually assaulting a child between 2002 and 2004. He was ordered deported in October 2006 but remained in the country for approximately 20 years because Laos restricted deportee acceptance. ICE arrested Vang on December 10, 2025, with plans to deport him based on his prior conviction. A federal judge in the District of Minnesota ordered his release from ICE custody on February 19, 2026. The Minnesota Clemency Review Commission granted Vang a pardon on June 10, 2026, which removed the conviction from his record. Despite the pardon, Secretary of State Marco Rubio terminated Vang's legal status, and ICE deported him to Laos on July 10, 2026. DHS argued that the pardon did not prevent removal, and the agency criticized the clemency decision.

ICE agents conducted enforcement operations in Clark County on Wednesday and Thursday, detaining at least 28 people who are being held at Clark County Jail. The Clarksville Police Department headquarters served as a staging area for federal agents. Community members reported increased ICE presence at locations including a Home Depot parking lot in Clarksville where Latino workers typically seek employment. Noe Muñoz, owner of El Mañanero Breakfast Spot, closed his restaurant Thursday due to community fear after his brother was pulled over by a Corydon police officer in an unmarked vehicle on Wednesday during what appeared to be a pretextual traffic stop that resulted in no citation. Local activism groups expressed concerns about the enforcement operation.

The Bay County Sheriff's Office conducted multiple immigration enforcement operations in partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, resulting in 55 arrests for allegedly being in the United States unlawfully. The operations were conducted by deputies assigned to the 287(g) program in partnership with ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations and Homeland Security Investigations units.

Eight workers were detained during an ICE and Homeland Security Investigations operation at La Fontanella Foods, a food manufacturing warehouse in Kansas City's Historic Northeast, on July 9, 2026. The operation began around 9:45 a.m. and lasted approximately two and a half hours, involving seven to ten federal agents and Jackson County sheriff deputies. A worker reported that agents initially stated no one would be taken into custody and were there only to obtain documents, but later detained the eight people. Agents removed boxes of documents and computers from the facility. Federal officials claimed they were executing a federal criminal search warrant, but no witnesses or employees saw the warrant, and one officer acknowledged not personally carrying a copy. The operation was part of intensified ICE enforcement across the Kansas City metro during June and July 2026.

The petitioner, a citizen of Colombia, entered the United States in June 2017 and filed an asylum application in December 2017. She was detained by ICE on July 9, 2026, and has been held since at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana. There is no final removal order in her case. On July 24, 2026, an Immigration Judge denied her request for release on bond. She filed a habeas petition seeking immediate release, or alternatively a transfer to a facility in South Florida, or alternatively a new bond hearing. She also filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction seeking the same relief. The federal district court denied the emergency motion, finding it was essentially an attempt to obtain a merits ruling on the habeas petition through injunctive relief, and stated the issues should be addressed through ordinary adjudication of the habeas petition.

Jacob Zepeta-Castro, owner of the El Quetzal bakery in Lake Worth Beach, was arrested by ICE agents and Florida Highway Patrol troopers after an hours-long standoff that drew a crowd of officers, protesters and passersby. He was charged with defying deportation orders by returning to Florida more than once from his native Guatemala; his family said he was working legally and had a pending asylum application. Zepeta-Castro's family and advocates disputed ICE's claim that he tried to ram an agent's car, saying he locked the bakery's doors to protect his employees and surrendered voluntarily as his distraught children watched. A federal judge has ordered him held without bond at a Stuart detention facility, ruling his asylum application is no defense against the reentry charge.

Yeferson Jose Canamo-Jordan, a 28-year-old Venezuelan national, and Felipe Fernando Reymundo, a 23-year-old Guatemalan national, were arrested by ICE during vehicle stops in Upper Marlboro on July 9, 2026, after being released from Prince George's County Detention Center. Both men had been released from county custody after their charges were dismissed or resolved. Canamo-Jordan entered the U.S. in August 2022 and has been convicted of driving without a valid license and recently charged with assault. Reymundo entered without inspection and has faced arrests since 2025 on charges including arson and motor vehicle theft. ICE alleged Canamo-Jordan was affiliated with Tren de Aragua. The arrests followed Prince George's County's decision to decline ICE detainers; the county executive signed an executive order in February banning the use of county property as immigration detention facilities.

A Nicaraguan national who entered the U.S. in September 2022 and was released on recognizance with asylum pending was arrested for driving under the influence on July 4, 2026. He reported to ICE offices on July 9, 2026 pursuant to his release conditions and was detained at Golden State Annex Detention Facility. The court granted his habeas corpus petition, finding his re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause, and ordered a substantive bond hearing within 14 days where the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that he poses a danger or flight risk.

Arturo Ruvalcaba, a 38-year-old deaf man with a green card, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against ICE agents and federal officials after an encounter on September 29 outside Salt Lake Community College's Taylorsville campus. According to the lawsuit, three white Ford SUVs pulled up to a bus stop where Ruvalcaba was waiting, and agents in military-style uniforms approached him shouting commands without providing a sign language interpreter or accommodating his deafness. When Ruvalcaba attempted to communicate through gestures and sign language and retrieve his documentation, an agent pushed him down by his shoulders and another pulled forcefully on his arm, injuring his elbow. After presenting his legal status documents, he was released. Ruvalcaba subsequently experienced pain and swelling, required multiple medical treatments, and missed several weeks of work. His wife reported that the encounter affected the emotional well-being of their three adopted sons. On July 8, 2026, the parties filed a stipulated motion to dismiss the case without prejudice, and the court terminated the civil case on July 9, 2026.

Winston, an HVAC technician who has lived in Virginia for six years with his wife and 15-month-old son Luka, was detained by ICE agents in a Home Depot parking lot in New York while working on a maintenance contract along the East Coast. He studied and qualified as an HVAC technician in the United States to provide for his family. His detention has left his wife and young son without income and emotional support; his son searches for him each time the front door opens. His sister Bárbara is fundraising for legal representation costs (approximately $20,000), an immigration bond, and family support expenses while Winston remains detained and unable to work.

An Eritrean national ordered removed in 2016, was released on an Order of Supervision in 2016 and lived in the community for approximately 10 years before being re-detained in 2026. The court found that ICE failed to establish a significant likelihood of removal to Eritrea, which does not cooperate with the United States for repatriation. The court granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release, also establishing procedural protections against removal to third countries.

Sergio Daniel Cerpas Garcia, 36, a Mexican citizen, was arrested by ICE agents at Stanislaus County Superior Court on July 9, 2026, before he could appear for his scheduled arraignment in a pending state criminal case. Cerpas Garcia had voluntarily appeared at court after posting $150,000 bail in May and was detained by federal immigration agents before the courthouse doors opened, according to his attorney Hector Alvarez. ICE stated Cerpas Garcia was deported from the United States in 2017 and later reentered without authorization. His sister Cecilia recounted watching three men handcuff her brother, place him in a black van, and provide no identification initially. The detention has disrupted his state criminal proceedings, in which he has not yet entered a plea to charges of committing a lewd or lascivious act on a child under 14. His defense is preparing a motion under California's Racial Justice Act challenging the circumstances of his detention.

Sergio, a Mexican national who immigrated to the U.S. decades ago to escape crime in Chihuahua, was arrested by ICE at a gas station in Colorado Springs on July 9, 2026. He has worked in construction for nearly 40 years while managing partial blindness and medical issues, according to his 22-year-old daughter Inez. Three other men were also detained in the same operation at an unmarked DHS facility in downtown Colorado Springs. Inez said her father "just wanted the American Dream" and described the arrest as "our worst nightmare."

Ryan Drury, a volunteer with VC Defensa, a community group that alerts residents when immigration agents are operating in the area, was confronted by an ICE agent on the 101 Freeway in Ventura on Tuesday morning. Cell phone video captured the agent stopping in the middle of the road, jumping out of his vehicle, and pepper spraying the air-conditioning vents of Drury's car. According to Drury, the agent then positioned himself in front of the vehicle, smiled, waved, and walked away. Drury stated the agent's actions followed a pattern he has witnessed before, where agents spray the air-conditioning vents so that if the driver turns on the air conditioning, the pepper spray comes through the vents.

Robinson, a father with a serious congenital heart condition who underwent open-heart surgery in 2008, was detained by ICE on July 9, 2026 while traveling to work in upstate New York. During his arrest, he experienced severe chest symptoms and suffered a leg injury, and was hospitalized at UHS Wilson Medical Center in Johnson City, NY for approximately three days. His 18-year-old daughter drove four hours to the hospital but was unable to visit him or obtain information about his condition due to ICE's policies; hospital staff threatened to involve police if she did not leave. Robinson has U.S.-citizen children and has lived in the United States for many years. He has since been discharged into ICE custody at Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia, New York, where his family is concerned he receive prescribed heart medication and appropriate cardiology care while his immigration case proceeds.