Human Impact Project

An activist Instagram post calls for the release of Ender Cardenas Chacon and other people granted asylum from Karnes ICE detention center. The post urges followers to contact the Department of Homeland Security and Congress to demand their release.

A citizen of India who entered the U.S. in 2019 and was released on bond with supervision was arrested by ICE officers on March 20, 2026, while waiting in line to enter the Fresno Superior Courthouse. He had been charged with removability and placed in expedited removal in 2019, and was recently arrested for driving on a suspended license and carrying a concealed firearm. The court granted a preliminary injunction ordering the government to provide him with a bond hearing within 14 days or immediately release him from detention.

Andrei Bankevich, a Belarusian asylum seeker who had been granted relief from deportation to Belarus under the Convention Against Torture, was arrested on a drunken driving charge in Minnesota in February 2025 and transferred into ICE custody. After ICE detention facilities filled during Operation Metro Surge, he was moved to the Muscatine County Jail in Iowa in December 2025, where he was held for more than a year despite officials lacking legal authority to continue detaining him. ICE claimed it had been pursuing potential third-country removal options since September 2025 but provided no documentation to support this. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger ruled that ICE had detained Bankevich beyond the six-month legal limit, violating federal law and his due process rights, calling the detention "prolonged and seemingly interminable" and "untenable," and ordered his immediate release.

Pastor Steven Tendo, a Pentecostal minister and asylum seeker from Uganda who worked as a licensed nursing assistant at the University of Vermont Medical Center and a long-term care facility, was detained by ICE agents on February 4, 2026 as he left work at a Shelburne, Vermont assisted living facility. He said officers surrounded his car at gunpoint, pulled him out, slammed him on icy ground, and cuffed him as patients watched. Tendo was held for 16 days at the Strafford County Jail in Dover, New Hampshire, where he said he was initially denied diabetes, cholesterol, and allergy medications and described conditions including 40 men sharing one bathroom; a federal judge ordered his release on February 20 after ruling ICE had violated its own regulations by failing to provide an individualized basis for re-detaining him. Tendo fled Uganda in 2018 after he said government-aligned forces tortured him, cut off two of his fingers, and killed his brother and uncle over his political and voter-education work; his asylum claim was later denied, and he previously spent about three years in ICE detention in Texas, where he said he was denied insulin and later sued DHS, whose own investigators acknowledged wrongdoing. Colleagues and the Vermont AFL-CIO said he had complied with all required ICE check-ins, and Vermont's congressional delegation, including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch and Rep. Becca Balint, called for him to be returned and afforded due process. Supporters raised more than $35,000 through a GoFundMe campaign for his legal bills and lost wages, and on March 20 about 200 supporters rallied outside the ICE office in St. Albans as he reported for a scheduled check-in, which passed without incident though he was ordered to check in again a month later.

Misslenys Hernandez Zabala, a Venezuelan asylum seeker with a valid work permit and Social Security number, was detained by ICE on March 20, 2026, after dropping her 10-month-old son, Maximiliano, off with his nanny on her way to work in Nashville. She also has a 12-year-old daughter and cares for a 9-year-old niece, and she and her partner, Maximiliano's father, say they had been under surveillance before her arrest and have received no reason for her detention. The family came to the U.S. in 2021 seeking asylum and has attended all required court dates, with their next hearing scheduled for 2028. Advocates brought the baby to DHS offices requesting her release as a breastfeeding mother, but ICE refused, amid reports that ICE has deported 363 pregnant, postpartum, or nursing women in the past 13 months.

A Vietnamese national who entered the U.S. as a refugee in 1988 was re-detained by ICE on March 20, 2026, during a routine check-in. He had a valid removal order issued against him in 1997, but removal efforts failed at that time and he was released on an Order of Supervision. The court denied his habeas petition on July 16, 2026, finding that changed circumstances—including improved U.S.-Vietnam diplomatic relations and deportation protocols—created a significant likelihood of his removal in the reasonably foreseeable future.

A man with a clean police record, an employment letter, and a rental lease filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan on March 20, 2026, challenging his detention. The petition includes motions for temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, and immediate release, with supporting documentation including passport, employment letter, rental lease, and clean police record.

An Irving police officer conducted a traffic stop of a white Nissan pickup truck on March 20, 2026, after observing an obscured license plate and evasive driving. A K-9 unit alerted to narcotics, leading to a probable cause search that discovered cocaine, marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms, and a THC vape pen. Two individuals, Mitchell Kvaal and Karen Sarahi Duran-Quintero, were arrested and transported to Irving Jail.

Amanda Ungaro, a 41-year-old Brazilian former model who had lived in the U.S. for over two decades, was arrested in June 2025 on fraud charges tied to unlicensed cosmetic procedures at a Florida wellness center. She was held for roughly three and a half months at ICE facilities in Miami and Louisiana before being deported to Brazil in October 2025. Ungaro alleges her ex-partner Paolo Zampolli, a Trump associate and presidential special envoy and the father of their teenage son, contacted senior ICE official David Venturella to ensure she was detained and removed amid a bitter child custody dispute. Zampolli and the Department of Homeland Security denied the allegations, with DHS saying her removal was based on a visa overstay and the fraud charges. An arrest warrant remains open should she return to the United States.

Igor Babkin, a Russian art teacher who fled political persecution, entered the U.S. legally under humanitarian parole in 2024 and was released under supervision. On February 3, 2026, ICE detained him during a routine annual check-in appointment despite his legal status and prior release. Held at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall for approximately six weeks, Babkin's attorney challenged the detention as violating due process rights. On March 17, 2026, U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia ordered Babkin's release, finding that ICE had violated his due process rights by reversing its earlier discretionary decision to release him without providing individualized assessment or evidence of changed circumstances. Babkin was released on March 20, 2026.

Three people were detained during an ICE raid on a South Burlington home on March 11, 2026. The detainees were Daysi Camila Patin Patin, 20, from Ecuador; her sister Jisella Johana Patin Patin; and Cristian Humberto Jerez Andrade. None of the three were named in the warrant that authorized the raid. Following federal court hearings, all three were ordered released by a judge, with Daysi Camila Patin Patin's release ordered on March 20, 2026.

Jiaye You, a fourth-year Chinese-American student at University at Buffalo, was arrested by ICE after attending a routine immigration hearing in New York City and is currently held at Jackson Parish Correctional Center in Louisiana. The reason for his detention remains unclear. His professor has launched a GoFundMe campaign that has raised over $24,000 for legal fees, and the university has expressed support for his case.

Royer Pérez-Jimenez, a 19-year-old indigenous Tzotzil Mayan from San Juan Chamula, Chiapas, Mexico, died on March 16, 2026, at Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven, Florida, while in ICE custody. He had immigrated to the United States at age 15 to join an uncle but was left on his own after the uncle was deported. He worked continuously in a restaurant but earned minimal wages. On January 21, 2026, he was arrested during a traffic stop after giving a false name and was convicted of misdemeanors on February 19. He was transferred to ICE custody on February 21 and moved to the Moore Haven facility on February 26. On March 16 at approximately 2:34 a.m., he was found unresponsive in his dormitory; despite CPR efforts by detention staff and emergency responders, he was pronounced dead at 2:51 a.m. ICE stated the death was a presumed suicide, though the official cause remained under investigation. His father Manuel Pérez rejected the suicide conclusion and called for a thorough investigation. His death was one of at least 13 to 14 acknowledged deaths in ICE detention occurring between January and late March 2026.

Jose Valera Vera, a medical assistant at a Memphis clinic, was detained by ICE after traveling to Nashville for an immigration hearing. Vera, a former doctor from Venezuela seeking political asylum, was taken into custody at the hearing despite having a pending petition filed by his wife, who is a permanent resident. He has since been transferred to a facility in Mason, Tennessee.

Raúl Tapia, a Mexican immigrant who has lived in the United States for about 25 years, was detained by ICE agents while driving to work with his son near their home in Georgetown, Delaware. According to his family, three unmarked black trucks surrounded their van at a stop sign, and six masked agents broke the van's windows and forcibly removed Raúl without presenting a warrant. His son Dante said agents questioned him about his birthplace before releasing him and detaining his father. Delaware court records show Raúl has no criminal history, and his wife Beth said the family had recently begun working with a new attorney to resolve his immigration status. He is being held in a detention center in Philadelphia and is expected to be transferred to Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania, with an immigration hearing scheduled. Community organizations including La Esperanza and the ACLU of Delaware raised concerns about the warrantless stop and tactics used.

A 21-year-old Indian citizen entered the U.S. without inspection in June 2024 and was released on his own recognizance with removal proceedings pending. He complied with all release conditions and filed for asylum. Immigration authorities re-detained him on March 19, 2026, without notice or opportunity for a hearing. The court granted his habeas petition and ordered his immediate release, finding the government violated his due process rights.

A 23-year-old woman was detained at a Border Patrol checkpoint on State Route 94 after agents suspected her of smuggling undocumented migrants but found no evidence of a crime. An agent falsely told her he found "deleted evidence" on her phone; when she grabbed it back, agents twisted her arm and wrestled the phone from her. As she turned to walk into a holding cell, an agent Tasered her, striking her breast. She was pregnant with a 2-month-old baby at the time and was hospitalized to have the Taser prong removed; her breastmilk was bloody for weeks. Federal prosecutors charged her with assaulting a federal officer but dismissed the charge in August after body camera footage contradicted agents' allegations and her attorney argued agents violated her constitutional rights by arresting her without probable cause and using excessive force.

Alvaro Velasquez, a high school senior at Roosevelt Schools in Nassau County, New York, was detained by ICE in May 2025 weeks before graduation. He was held at a detention center in Texas for several months before self-deporting to Guatemala. Superintendent Dr. Shawn Wightman traveled to Guatemala at his own expense to deliver Velasquez's cap, gown, and diploma in person after being denied access to him at the detention facility.

Chih-Ming 'Petey' Feng, a Taiwanese line cook who worked at well-known Dallas restaurants including Bullion, Georgie, Quarter Acre, Carte Blanche, CBD Provisions and Charlie Palmer, was detained by ICE on November 6, 2025 during a routine check-in tied to a visa overstay dating to 2010 and a 2023 DWI misdemeanor. He was denied voluntary departure and inadvertently signed away his right to appeal, resulting in more than 130 days in ICE detention facilities in southwest Texas. Dallas restaurant consultant Leslie Brenner and members of the local restaurant community rallied to help secure him legal representation and financial support during his custody. Feng was deported in March 2026 and arrived in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, where he now cares for his aging parents and his mother and sister, who are being treated for cancer.

Two individuals were detained by ICE and subsequently released on bond following legal proceedings. Estefany María Rodríguez Flores, a Colombian journalist for Nashville Noticias, was detained during a traffic stop on March 4, 2026, and released on March 19 after an immigration judge granted bond. Leqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old Palestinian woman, was detained in March 2025 after meeting with immigration authorities and held for over a year at Prairieland Detention Facility in Texas before being released on March 16, 2026, following a judge's bond order that the Department of Homeland Security declined to appeal. Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian woman and visible campus advocate, was detained in March 2025 for staying in the U.S. on an expired F-1 student visa. While in detention, she experienced her first-ever seizure and was handcuffed to a hospital bed for 72 hours. An immigration judge ordered her release on bond twice before the government kept her detained through automatic stays. A Texas judge ordered her release a third time on March 16, 2026, setting bond at $100,000.