Human Impact Project

A man is currently detained at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas. He filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 in the United States District Court, Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division, challenging his detention. The court ordered respondents to file a response within 7 days identifying pertinent factual and procedural background information, including the date Petitioner entered the United States, whether he was previously apprehended and released by immigration authorities, and the status of his immigration and/or removal proceedings. The petitioner may file a reply within 7 days after the respondents' response.

A Guatemalan national who entered the United States in approximately 2021 was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Petitioner challenged his detention, arguing he should be governed by the discretionary detention provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) rather than the mandatory detention provisions of § 1225(b)(2). The court granted his petition, ruling that because Petitioner was already in the country prior to detention, he falls under § 1226(a) as a noncitizen already in the country and is entitled to a bond hearing before an immigration judge within seven days.

An immigration detainee filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging her detention at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas. The court ordered respondents to file a response within 7 days identifying pertinent factual and procedural background information, including the date petitioner entered the United States, whether she was previously apprehended and released by immigration authorities, and the status of her immigration and removal proceedings.

A detainee held at Webb County Detention Center in federal immigration custody filed a pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging the constitutionality of his detention. The court ordered respondents (the Warden, Secretary of Homeland Security, and Director of ICE) to file a response by July 30, 2026, with the petitioner able to reply by August 13, 2026. The court also ordered that respondents notify the court of any planned transfer or release.

A noncitizen was detained at Clay County Detention Center by ICE under the authority of jail commander Brandon Crowley and others. The court found that the weight of authority supports his position that ICE's detention authority derives from 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) rather than § 1225(b), making him entitled to a bond hearing rather than subject to mandatory detention. The court granted a preliminary injunction preventing his transfer outside Illinois, Indiana, or Wisconsin during the habeas petition proceedings and ordered respondents to answer the petition within seven days.

An immigration detainee filed a counseled Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus challenging the lawfulness of her ongoing detention at Washoe County Jail in ICE custody. She asserts she is a member of the certified class in Jacobo-Ramirez v. Noem and may be entitled to relief pursuant to the court's grant of partial summary judgment to class members. The court issued an order preserving jurisdiction by prohibiting respondents from removing the petitioner from the District of Nevada absent leave of court. The court ordered federal respondents to produce specific immigration documents by July 27, 2026, and to file a notice indicating whether they contend the petitioner is a class member and identifying the statutory provision authorizing detention. The court preliminarily found that the petitioner may be entitled to habeas relief under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, and the Jacobo-Ramirez v. Mullin decision.

A native and citizen of Uzbekistan was detained by ICE on July 22, 2026, when he reported to the ICE field office in Philadelphia as required by his supervision conditions. He had been living in the United States for over one year and was enrolled in ICE's ATD/ISAP supervision program after being released from immigration custody in July 2025, during which time he complied with all supervision requirements. The court granted his habeas petition, finding he was not subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2) and ordered his immediate release on pre-July 22 supervision conditions.

Kiko, a construction worker who has lived in the Atlanta area for nearly twenty years, was arrested by ICE agents on Tuesday morning while stopped at a QuikTrip with five coworkers on their way to a job site. According to his niece Victoria Garcia, agents surrounded the parked van with Tasers drawn before taking Kiko into custody. He has been held at the Atlanta ICE field office and was briefly transferred to Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin before being returned to Atlanta. Kiko supports himself and sends money to family members in Mexico, and had previously avoided travel out of caution regarding immigration enforcement.

A community member was detained by ICE agents at a Denver DMV office while applying for a driver's license. The person had a pending asylum case, valid work authorization, and no criminal record, according to the post. Their family and church are requesting prayers and calling for justice and respect for the person's dignity while awaiting their release.

An ICE operation in Sterling, Virginia on July 22 ended when a white pickup truck being pursued by federal agents crashed into a residential home after the driver fled an unsuccessful traffic stop. The vehicle rolled down a hill into the unoccupied residence, causing property damage. ICE agents made no arrests during the operation. The homeowner reported that neither ICE nor those involved have assumed responsibility for the damage.

Luis Andrade-Garcia, 20, a Texas Christian University student from El Salvador who arrived in the U.S. at age 3, was arrested on June 28 in Arlington after police spotted his parked vehicle near Meadowbrook Park and he drove away. He was charged with disorderly conduct and fleeing from a police officer, later pleaded down to a class C misdemeanor, and paid approximately $200 in fines. An immigration hold was placed on him while in custody at Tarrant County Jail. ICE took him into custody on July 10 and deported him to El Salvador on July 22. Andrade-Garcia was a double major in accounting and business information systems at TCU, graduated as valedictorian from Sam Houston High School in 2024, ran cross country, received multiple scholarships, and mentored young Latino students in the community. Members of his fraternity, Lambda Theta Phi, described him as 'genuine, hardworking, selfless, honest, dependable and humble.' According to ICE, Andrade-Garcia had entered the U.S. in 2009 and was ordered removed by an immigration judge in March 2010 but remained in the country. His fraternity chapter launched a 'Lambda Week of Action' and created a GoFundMe that raised over $11,000 to assist him and his family.

U.S. Park Police and federal officers, including ICE, conducted an enforcement operation on Clara Barton Parkway on Wednesday morning after protesters warned nearby of ICE presence. Three occupants fled the vehicle during the stop, with two heading toward the Potomac River; Montgomery County Fire and Rescue used boats to pull them from the water before they were taken into ICE custody. A search for the third person was called off. County Executive Marc Elrich and Council President Natali Fani-Gonzalez condemned the arrests as fear-inducing, while clarifying that county police and fire personnel were involved only for safety reasons and did not participate in the pursuit or enforcement.

A man was pursued on foot by ICE agents in Bonita Springs, Florida while riding a bicycle. According to witness video, an unmarked vehicle made a U-turn to intercept him, and when the agents exited the vehicle, the man abandoned his bicycle and ran. He was detained in a nearby commercial parking lot.

Min Khant Zaw, a Rohingya and Kaman activist who fled genocide in Myanmar, was detained by ICE on July 21 at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport while returning from a West Coast trip to visit family. He spent seven weeks at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena before being released on Sept. 9 on a $40,000 bond. Zaw, a computer science graduate researcher at Georgia Institute of Technology, came to the U.S. in 2019 for a conference and filed for asylum in 2020 after his family, Rohingya activists and political dissidents, warned him it was unsafe to return amid violence against the Rohingya.​

Airida Gould, a Lithuanian national and licensed massage therapist who has lived in the United States for 26 years, was detained by ICE on May 16, 2026, during a green card interview at which USCIS had just approved her marriage petition. Gould is married to U.S. Army veteran Mark Gould and has three U.S.-born adult children. ICE officers handcuffed and detained her based on a 2009 removal order issued after she missed a court hearing due to road construction; DHS says she entered the U.S. in June 2000 on a visa valid until December 2009 and was ordered removed after overstaying it, adding that approval of a marriage-based petition does not confer immigration status. During her 66 days in ICE custody, Gould was held at multiple facilities including Broadview, Illinois, Brazil, Indiana, and Kentucky, and described conditions at the Brazil facility as extremely poor. Her legal team, led by former immigration court Judge Carla Espinoza Grcic, filed an Emergency Motion to Reopen with the Board of Immigration Appeals, but Gould was deported on July 21, 2026, flying from Chicago O'Hare to Warsaw, Poland; Mark Gould said ICE allowed him to drop off cash, cards and a bag for her but denied his request to see her or say goodbye.

A native and citizen of El Salvador who entered the United States in 2007 was detained on July 21, 2026, and has been held at the Farmville Detention Center in Virginia. He filed a federal habeas corpus petition arguing that he was being detained under the discretionary detention provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) rather than the mandatory detention provisions of § 1225(b)(2), and that his prolonged detention without a bond hearing violated his due process rights. He sought release or, alternatively, a bond hearing before an Immigration Judge. The government argued he remained an 'applicant for admission' subject to mandatory detention under § 1225(b)(2) because he had not been lawfully admitted. The court found his case indistinguishable from numerous similar rulings in the district and concluded that § 1226(a)'s discretionary framework applies to him since he was already inside the country. The court granted the petition, ordering that he receive a bond hearing within seven days and enjoining the government from denying bond based on § 1225(b)(2) or from rearresting him after release except under limited circumstances.

Garnet Smith, a 44-year-old U.S. Army veteran originally from Jamaica, was released from the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma on July 21, 2026, after spending over nine months in ICE detention. During his detention, Smith reported experiencing sexual assault by a GEO Group guard during a pat-down search, as well as inadequate medical care for a broken hand and poor detention conditions including inedible food and foul drinking water. A federal judge granted Smith's habeas corpus petition on July 20, finding that his earlier bond hearing violated his due process rights and that his prolonged detention was unlawful. Smith continues to fight a deportation order to Jamaica while advocates call for an investigation into the alleged sexual assault.

ICE arrested Rocael Ordonez-Cruz, 23, a Guatemalan national, on July 21 at the Middlesex County House of Correction in Billerica following his release from state custody. Local authorities had arrested him on June 25 and charged him with assault to rape, rape, indecent assault and battery on a person 14 years or older, and indecent exposure. ICE alleged he entered the United States illegally and served him with a notice to appear before an immigration judge; he remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings, which run alongside the pending state case. Four days after the arrest, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed a law restricting how ICE can operate within the state.

An Indian national who entered the U.S. in September 2022 was arrested by ICE on July 21, 2026, immediately after an Immigration Judge ordered his removal at a scheduled hearing in Sacramento Immigration Court. He had been released on recognizance and enrolled in an Alternatives to Detention program, where he maintained lawful employment and complied with all requirements. On July 22, 2026, he timely appealed his removal order to the Board of Immigration Appeals, making it not administratively final. 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 his immediate release.

Eduard Portillo, described by his mother Fanny as a dedicated father, son, brother, and friend who works hard to support his child, was arrested by ICE. His family is raising money to cover legal expenses needed for his immigration release and to help reunite the family.