Human Impact Project

A two-year-old boy who was held at the Dilley family detention center in Texas since March 19, 2026, and his mother Joani were released on April 2, 2026, after the boy spent 12 days refusing to eat while running a fever. His attorney, Columbia Law School professor Elora Mukherjee, said the situation amounted to a medical emergency. ICE and the Department of Homeland Security said detained individuals receive meals, water, and medical care, including access to a pediatrician. Rep. Joaquin Castro had publicly called for the boy's release and renewed criticism of the facility, which currently holds roughly 1,400 people, including about 400 children.

On March 22, 2026, ICE agents in plainclothes detained Angelina Lopez-Jimenez, 41, a Guatemalan national, and her 9-year-old daughter at San Francisco International Airport after TSA alerted ICE to their presence on a passenger list. Lopez-Jimenez was handcuffed and placed in a wheelchair at Terminal 3 after resisting the agents. She had a final removal order issued by an immigration judge in 2019. Both mother and daughter were transferred to Texas and deported to Guatemala within approximately 36 hours. The detention prompted Democratic lawmakers to condemn the action and community groups to protest, with some alleging San Francisco police illegally assisted ICE in violation of the city's sanctuary policies.

A man who entered the United States in April 2019 and had been living continuously in the country was taken into immigration custody on March 29, 2026. He had been authorized to work in the U.S., possessed a valid Social Security number and work permit, and owned a landscaping and roofing company. The federal court ordered his immediate release, finding his detention without a bond hearing violated his constitutional due process rights.

Hector Antonio Amaya Flores, 49, was arrested by Hamilton County sheriff's deputies on March 31, 2026, and is facing federal charges for unlawfully reentering the United States after four prior deportations. According to court documents, Flores had been deported in 1996, 1997, 2003, and 2018, and did not have authorization from the Department of Homeland Security to return. He is currently in deportation proceedings in federal court.

ICE Boston arrested Bolivar Rivera-Perez, a Mexican national with two prior deportations and a criminal history including firearms offenses and DUI convictions in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. ICE lodged a detainer against Rivera-Perez with the Franklin County House of Corrections on March 24, 2025, but the facility released him into the community on March 31, 2025, without honoring the detainer.

On March 28, 2026, a crowd gathered near the Portland ICE building about an hour after the peaceful "No Kings III" march concluded. Protesters damaged the facility's front gate twice and threw rocks at officers and state troopers before police declared an unlawful assembly around 10:10 p.m. and made targeted arrests. Isiah A. Lee, 26, climbed onto the lower roof and vandalized it, resulting in charges of first-degree criminal mischief and second-degree criminal trespass; he was taken to Multnomah County Detention Center. Isaias Laguna, 21, was charged with second-degree criminal mischief, second-degree disorderly conduct, and second-degree criminal trespass, and Robert Stoms, 37, was charged with second-degree criminal mischief.

About 1,400 people gathered at the federal courthouse in downtown Las Vegas for the No Kings protest against immigration enforcement on March 28, 2026. Metro police arrested six people on charges including battery on a protected person, throwing rocks, battery against protesters, and pedestrian in roadway violations; a 40-year-old Henderson man accused of striking two officers with rocks was released without formal charges as of the following Monday. Additional demonstrations drew about 300 people in North Las Vegas and 900 in Henderson, where no arrests were made.

On March 27, 2026, 25-year-old Jhonathan Cosme Antonio of Carpinteria encountered ICE agents attempting to apprehend him. After fleeing on foot, he jumped the perimeter fence of Santa Barbara County Main Jail to evade them. He sustained non-life-threatening injuries from the fence jump and was discovered hiding between storage containers. He was transported to a hospital for treatment and issued a citation for trespassing by Santa Barbara County deputies.

Carlos Corte-Corte was arrested on March 28, 2026, after leading a four-year-old child out of a laundromat in Patchogue, New York; the child was found at a nearby library. ICE arrested him on March 31 and initiated removal proceedings. According to DHS, Corte-Corte illegally entered the U.S. at least four times since 2020, with three prior removals. He was charged with second-degree kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child.

On March 28, 2026, a charter deportation flight carrying several dozen Russian citizens departed from Alexandria, Louisiana, and arrived in Moscow on March 29 via Newark and Cairo. The deportees were gathered from five or six immigration detention centers across the United States. Human rights advocates reported harsh transfer conditions including shackles and extended periods without seating. Some deportees faced FSB questioning upon arrival, and human rights organizations noted concerns about potential Kremlin reprisals against returnees, including those who had opposed the invasion of Ukraine.

A Trump-appointed federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against ICE for grave violations of detainees' Fifth Amendment rights during Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota. The court found that ICE isolated thousands of people at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building without access to attorneys and ordered the agency to provide legal aid contacts, interpreters, and free phone access within one hour of detention, as well as ban rapid out-of-state transfers within 72 hours.

Yaima de las Mercedes Suárez, a mother of five including three children with autism, was released after a judge granted her a pardon, ending her six-month ICE detention and allowing her to retain her permanent residency status. She had been arrested at Miami International Airport in February upon returning from Cuba, where she had traveled with her young daughter to visit her grandmother and honor her deceased father. The case stemmed from a 2013 conviction for theft and conspiracy in Manatee County, Florida, which resurfaced under immigration law treating each reentry as a new admission request. During her detention, her husband cared for their five children, and her defense team argued she was not subject to mandatory detention despite lacking the 15 years of residency needed to seek cancellation of removal.

Two people were arrested during a "No Kings" protest at Riverfront Park near an ICE facility in downtown Spokane. An 18-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly taking a Trump flag from a counterprotester, and a 32-year-old man was arrested for assaulting an officer who was attempting to detain the woman. The incident lasted approximately five minutes and involved a brief physical altercation between police and protesters.

Pheap Rom, a Cambodian national with permanent resident status in the United States since 1985, was deported to Eswatini in October 2024 under the Trump administration's third-country deportation program. Rom had completed a 15-year prison sentence for attempted murder before deportation proceedings. He was detained at Matsapha Correctional Centre in Eswatini for approximately five months without criminal charges in that country. Rom was released and repatriated to Cambodia in late March 2026, becoming the second person repatriated under the agreement. The U.S. has paid Eswatini $5.1 million to accept up to 160 deportees under this arrangement, with approximately 15-20 men deported there during this period.

Reza Zavvar, a 52-year-old Iranian green card holder who came to the U.S. as a student 40 years ago, was detained by ICE agents on June 28, 2025, while walking his dog near his Gaithersburg, Maryland home. Zavvar was granted withholding of removal to Iran in 2007 and has lived and worked legally in the U.S. for decades. He is currently held in a detention center in Texas and faces deportation. His family and attorney say they do not understand the legal basis for his detention. His case occurred as part of a surge in arrests of Iranian immigrants under the Trump administration's hardline immigration policies.

Johnny Rondón Rodríguez, a Venezuelan with a pending asylum case and brain tumor, was pulled over on Interstate 75 and detained despite having no criminal charges. He was held in Orange County jail for 25 days without receiving his medication to treat the tumor, violating ICE guidelines limiting such holds to three days. A federal judge granted his immediate release after a federal prosecutor declined to argue for continued detention.

Patience Gore, a 44-year-old Zimbabwean national who has lived in the U.S. for about 24 years, was seized by undercover plainclothes ICE agents at a United Airlines gate at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport after a gate agent repeatedly called her name over the loudspeaker. Gore, who held a withholding of removal order, has sole custody of her 11-year-old U.S. citizen daughter and is married to U.S. citizen Olaoluwa Omotosho; she had been traveling home to Maryland with her partner after attending a friend's wedding. She was held for nearly two weeks across three Arizona detention facilities in what her lawsuit describes as degrading, squalid conditions, including sleeping on a mattress on the floor, being denied a change of clothes, and being denied sunglasses despite light sensitivity. The detention disrupted a time-sensitive IVF cycle, and a subsequent replacement cycle did not result in pregnancy. A federal judge granted her habeas petition and ordered her release on March 27, and she and her husband are now suing United Airlines, alleging it colluded with ICE to lure her to the gate.

Ali and Adel, an Iranian gay couple in their late 30s and early 40s, were detained by border patrol after entering the U.S. from Mexico in early 2025, seeking asylum. Both fled Iran after being arrested by morality police for their relationship, which is punishable by death under Iranian law. Their asylum claims were initially denied, and their appeals are ongoing. Adel was injured in Mexico and remains wheelchair-bound without proper medical treatment; he has experienced severe health complications including organ damage, significant weight loss, and fainting while in ICE custody. Both men face potential deportation to Iran as the Trump administration has reversed decades of policy allowing Iranians fleeing persecution to remain in the U.S. Court orders have so far prevented their deportation, though deportation flights to Iran are paused due to ongoing war. Their lawyer, Rebekah Wolf, states they did not receive full hearings on their asylum claims.

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in late March requiring ICE and the Florida Department of Emergency Management to provide detained people at the Everglades Detention Facility with access to legal counsel, confidential calls, and unscheduled attorney visits. The ruling was based on testimony describing systematic denial of access to attorneys and legal materials. The case, filed by the ACLU and immigrant rights advocates, could shape legal access standards at future ICE detention facilities.

Suraj Vasal, an Indian national seeking asylum, was arrested by ICE agents on February 11, 2026, while driving a commercial truck at a weigh station near Mitchellville, Iowa, as part of "Operation ICE Wall," a joint operation between the Iowa State Patrol and ICE targeting commercial drivers near Interstate 80. Vasal was detained and held in Polk County Jail. Federal court records indicate ICE and the Iowa State Patrol were collaborating to check drivers' legal status at weigh stations. A federal judge ruled that the government violated Vasal's due process rights by conducting his bond hearing with only 30 minutes' notice and denying him adequate time to obtain legal representation, finding the agencies acted in bad faith. Vasal sued the federal government over the alleged violations of his rights.