Human Impact Project

Law enforcement executed a search warrant at El Ranchito Night Club in Pecos, an adult entertainment establishment that had drawn resident complaints for operating out of compliance with local ordinance, and discovered seven women ages 20 to 40 confined in a padlocked room hidden behind metal storage cabinets. All seven victims were given clothing and water, removed from the location, and placed into the care of a federal agency. The operation resulted in 24 arrests: 16 people for federal immigration violations and eight others on state or local charges, with state charges also being pursued against the business owners. Homeland Security Investigations is leading the trafficking probe, and officials say the investigation is ongoing with additional charges possible.

Yoelí Altagracia Bracho Casanova, a 26-year-old Venezuelan, was arrested by ICE during an immigration appointment in Jacksonville on June 13 and detained alongside her 20-month-old U.S. citizen daughter, Rebeca Peña Bracho. Despite an approved I-130 family petition and legal documents prepared by her attorney—including a stay of removal request, a cancellation of removal application, and a permanent residency petition—ICE transferred both to a detention center in Texas and deported them to Venezuela within hours. Her husband, a Cuban-American U.S. citizen, stated that ICE refused to accept the legal documents when presented at the appointment, and transferred them out of state at approximately 2 a.m., preventing the attorney from filing additional documents the following day.

A flight carrying at least two dozen migrants deported from the United States, including an Iranian woman who fears persecution in her home country, landed in the Central African Republic. The country is one of at least nine African nations that have entered agreements with the Trump administration to accept third-country deportees. The arrangements are part of a broader U.S. crackdown under which the administration has deported thousands of people to countries other than their own.

A Colombian national fleeing persecution by the Clan del Golfo entered the United States without inspection in May 2023 and was released on parole. He obtained employment authorization, maintained steady work, filed taxes, and complied with parole conditions for three years while his asylum application was pending. On June 12, 2026, ICE arrested him in Rialto, California without providing notice or basis for arrest. The court ordered his immediate release, finding his re-detention violated due process rights and that no legitimate government interest supported his detention given his established ties and compliance history.

Jesús Augusto Paizano Casares, a 24-year-old Venezuelan national, reported experiencing domestic violence from his spouse in the United States. When he attempted to leave the relationship, his partner threatened to report him to immigration authorities and filed a false report against him, leading to his arrest. He was released after no evidence was found against him but was subsequently placed in ICE custody. Paizano Casares filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in U.S. District Court in Michigan challenging his detention. On January 29, 2026, Judge Robert J. Jonker granted his habeas petition, resulting in his release from ICE custody. He was represented by attorney William McLean, III, and later filed a motion for attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act, which was denied on June 12, 2026.

ICE lodged immigration detainers against three Cuban nationals arrested during a joint law enforcement human trafficking investigation in Sumner County, Tennessee. The operation resulted in five arrests and identified nine potential trafficking victims. The three men faced charges related to promoting prostitution and had been encountered by CBP at the southern border between 2021 and 2023.

Manuel de Jesus Montes-Lazo, an undocumented Honduran immigrant who had lived in Indiana for more than 15 years, was arrested by ICE in April 2026 while heading to wake an employee for the roofing business he owned with his wife, Joanna Garzes Lopez, a U.S. citizen. Despite being married to a U.S. citizen and in the final stages of a marriage-based green card petition, Manuel was detained at Clay County Justice Center and later transferred to a federal facility in South Texas. A 2025 Board of Immigration Appeals decision rendered him ineligible for bond release because he had crossed the border unlawfully. An immigration judge denied his cancellation of removal application—reportedly concluding that Joanna was well educated and could support the children without him—and facing months or years of appeals he could not afford, Manuel waived his appeal and was deported. With Manuel detained, Joanna said she struggled to keep the household and business running simultaneously, warning that the family risked losing their home, cars and business, which also threatened the livelihoods of their employees. Rather than remain in the United States as a single parent, Joanna, a devout Christian who values family unity, made the difficult decision to self-deport to Honduras with their two sons, Macario (6) and Jacob (4). On June 12, 2026, the family flew to Honduras with minimal belongings to reunite with Manuel and live with his family in Yorito. The move required Joanna to close their roofing business, sell their home in the Brookstone neighborhood of Indianapolis and their two cars, and uproot her children from school and friends after over a decade of building their life in the United States. Jacob has experienced bedwetting and nightmares since his father's arrest; Macario has taken on emotional weight beyond his years, feeling responsible for protecting his mother.

A man was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the San Jose Field Office on June 12, 2026. He filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus and motion for a temporary restraining order challenging his continued detention at a facility in the Eastern District of California. The Northern District of California court transferred the case to the Eastern District of California, finding it lacked jurisdiction because the petitioner was being held in custody outside its territorial bounds.

A Salvadoran citizen who received withholding of removal in 2024 and was released on supervision was detained without warning on June 12, 2026, when he reported to the Baltimore ICE Field Office as directed. ICE revoked his release and prepared removal documents intending to deport him to Mexico without following required procedural safeguards or providing notice and opportunity to be heard. The court granted his habeas corpus petition, finding ICE violated due process and the Accardi doctrine by failing to follow its own regulations, and ordered his immediate release on the previous supervision conditions.

Two former Logan City Municipal Justice Court clerks, Jennifer Joma and Lauren Kelsey Morrow, were charged with federal felonies after an April 9, 2026 incident in which they allegedly used their access to court databases to identify noncitizens on the docket, including an ICE enforcement target. Upon learning an ICE officer was present to make an arrest, the women helped multiple people exit the courthouse through a back or maintenance door without being detected. Joma allegedly drove at least three of the individuals away in her personal vehicle. Both faced charges including conspiracy to transport and harbor noncitizens, harboring noncitizens, and obstruction of federal proceedings. In June 2026, they pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Jefferson Hisola, a Filipino father and long-term Alaska resident, was released from ICE detention following a court decision in his favor and a widespread public campaign mobilizing community advocates. His release ended a legal battle that highlighted vulnerabilities in immigration status for long-term residents, even those with community ties and economic contributions.

Federal immigration enforcement officials conducted a vehicle chase that ended in the parking lot of Steilacoom High School in Washington on June 12, 2026. The chase began at Western State Hospital parking lot and continued onto Sentinel Drive before concluding at the high school. The driver, a middle-aged man, attempted to flee on foot but was apprehended by immigration authorities.

U.S. District Judge Kyle Dudek ordered the immediate release of Dmitrii Iastrebov, detained at Baker County Detention Facility in Florida, after finding the Trump administration repeatedly violated court orders regarding his right to an individualized bond hearing. The government initially conceded Iastrebov was entitled to a bond hearing, but when an immigration judge refused to hold it, government lawyers accepted that refusal without appeal. When Iastrebov petitioned federal court again, the government claimed its previous concession "was in error" and asked the court to reverse its own decision. Judge Dudek rejected this request, criticizing the government's conduct as "a masterclass in litigation cynicism" and "a complete inability to follow judicial directions," and ordered Iastrebov's release within 48 hours.

Mohsen Mahdawi, a lawful permanent resident and Columbia University graduate student living in the U.S. since 2014, was arrested by federal agents on April 14, 2025, when he arrived at a Vermont immigration office for a routine citizenship interview. Federal authorities initiated removal proceedings, alleging his pro-Palestinian activism threatened U.S. foreign policy. Immigration Judge Nina Froes terminated the deportation case on February 17, 2026, after the government failed to authenticate supporting documentation. The Trump administration revived deportation efforts, and Immigration Judge Angela Munson ordered him deported on June 3, 2026, based on the foreign policy bar and his pro-Palestinian speech. The ACLU is representing Mahdawi and filed a federal appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on June 10, 2026, challenging the use of the foreign policy bar to target his speech.

ICE agents chased a day laborer into a Home Depot and took him away bloodied and in handcuffs, according to Jorge Nicolás, a senior organizer at the Central American Resource Center (Carecen), who witnessed the arrest. This occurred as enforcement continued in LA neighborhoods a year after the initial June 2025 raids.

Elias Cardoza-Torres, a 58-year-old Cuban national, was arrested by ICE on June 11, 2026, after being released from Miami-Dade County custody. Cardoza-Torres entered the United States in 1989 with a temporary stay permit and was eligible to adjust his immigration status under the Cuban Adjustment Act but never did. An immigration judge issued a final deportation order against him in April 2000, but he remained in the United States for over 26 years, accumulating convictions from 1991 to 2018 for selling heroin, cocaine possession, burglary, vehicle theft, drug possession, and a weapons-related felony, as well as an arrest for assault. ICE acting director David J. Venturella said Cardoza-Torres had never been a lawful permanent resident and had disregarded both immigration and criminal laws; he remains in ICE custody pending deportation.

A 7-year-old boy appeared in immigration court to request reunification with his father, who had been detained and deported to South America. The immigration judge approved the boy's voluntary return within 60 days at government expense with child safety protections. The hearing is part of a pattern of fast-tracked immigration court cases involving minors under the Trump administration, with attorneys reporting violations of the 10-day notice requirement and compressed timelines.

A noncitizen detained at Karnes County Immigration Processing Center filed a federal habeas corpus petition challenging his detention without a bond hearing. The petition argues that his detention without a bond hearing violates due process rights afforded to noncitizens who have established a presence in the United States. On June 12, 2026, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery issued an order requiring respondents to file a response within seven days identifying his country of birth, date of entry, statutory basis for removability, previous detention history, and immigration status. The court issued an immediate stay on any transfer of him outside the Western District of Texas judicial district pending further court order, while preserving the government's ability to proceed with removal proceedings. The order references multiple similar cases the court has previously decided regarding detention without bond hearings.

On June 11, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted a targeted enforcement operation at a residential development site (Villas at Vista North) in Bemidji, Minnesota, detaining between 23-30 construction and roofing workers. Local police and sheriff's office confirmed they were not notified in advance and did not participate in the operation, though ICE had notified the sheriff's office of planned activities. Family members posted on social media seeking support and launched fundraising campaigns to cover legal fees. Community members, including members of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, gathered to protest the enforcement action.

Fernando Rivas, a 46-year-old Dominican national, was arrested by ICE agents in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, on June 11 through a targeted enforcement action. A federal grand jury indicted him on June 24 for illegal reentry after he had previously been removed from the United States in 2015. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania is prosecuting the case, and Rivas remains in custody pending proceedings.