Human Impact Project

A high school student was detained by ICE on June 2, 2026, while on his way to work. At the time of detention, he was in the process of adjusting his immigration status with legal representation. A fundraiser was organized to cover attorney fees, detention facility costs, and communication expenses with family.

Susana, a 25-year resident of the United States who raised her family and volunteered in her community, was detained by ICE during a U.S. residency interview on June 2, despite holding parole status. She was deported to Tabasco, Mexico one week later. Her son, a U.S. Air Force veteran, was sponsoring her application. Susana missed her youngest son's high school graduation while detained, and her 9-year-old child is now separated from his mother.

ICE apprehended Marcos Delacruz, a Salvadoran national, in Newark based on a removal order issued by a federal immigration judge in 1997. Delacruz had remained in the United States for nearly three decades despite the active order. The case illustrates ICE's renewed focus under current administration policies on executing long-standing removal orders from the immigration court backlog.

Boanerges Flores-Bravo, a Nicaraguan asylum seeker who entered the U.S. in 2022 with his wife and 8-year-old daughter, was detained on May 18, 2026, during a scheduled immigration check-in appointment despite being told he would not be arrested. He was transferred from a Missouri detention center to Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, Louisiana. According to Rep. Wesley Bell, Flores-Bravo was coerced into signing voluntary self-deportation paperwork under threat that his family would be detained if he refused. Flores-Bravo was deported to Nicaragua in June 2026. His wife was released with an ankle monitor and later signed up for voluntary departure, scheduled to leave the country in summer 2026 with their daughter.

Cristian Romario Saenz-Argueta, a 31-year-old noncitizen from El Salvador, was arrested after an investigation into reports that he sexually assaulted a girl under 15 in a parking lot in November 2025. He is charged with three felony counts including rape and carnal knowledge of a child. According to authorities, Saenz-Argueta used social media to connect with the victim, falsely portraying himself as 18 years old before arranging an in-person meeting where the assault occurred. ICE lodged an immigration detainer against him, claiming he entered the U.S. without legal documentation. DHS used the case to criticize Virginia's sanctuary policies and the expiration of Prince William County's 287(g) agreement with ICE.

Alexander Jose Regnault-Avila and his 4-year-old daughter Alexandra were detained by ICE agents on Friday, May 31, 2026, in Albany while walking to the girl's pre-school. The family had entered the U.S. without authorization in 2023, and an immigration judge ordered their removal in 2024. The pair were held for 4 days and deported to Venezuela on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, just days before Alexandra's pre-K graduation. Regnault-Avila's partner and 1-year-old daughter remain in the United States. The detention sparked protests in Malta and Albany and is being cited in advocacy for the Access to Representation Act, which would provide free immigration attorneys to immigrant residents in New York.

Juan Ayala-Montero, a 60-year-old Mexican national with an extensive criminal record including prior homicide and assault convictions, was arrested on May 23, 2026, after allegedly shooting multiple people in New Caney, Texas over the Memorial Day weekend. He was charged with unlawful firearms possession as a noncitizen and faces federal charges related to the shooting. ICE lodged a detainer seeking custody of Ayala-Montero from Montgomery County authorities, and he is currently in custody pending federal court appearance.

A man living with HIV was held for about two weeks at the Florence Staging Facility and went without his HIV medication for the first two days even though ICE knew of his condition. Soon after arrival he developed a high fever and chest pain and was told by guards to submit a written request for care. He says he requested care every day for almost two weeks, reporting chest pain and trouble breathing, and medical was very slow to respond; when he was finally seen he was given only aspirin and water.

A man with Type 1 Diabetes was held for about eight days at the Florence Staging Facility, a unit meant for processing people for no more than 72 hours. He received one medical intake from a nurse and was never given his Metformin. He sent at least four requests for medical care and medication and got no response. When he was examined at another facility, his blood sugar was dangerously high at 499, compared with a normal non-fasting level around 140 mg/dl.

Hector Saul Iraheta-Mercado, a Salvadoran migrant living in East Wenatchee, Washington, was arrested by ICE officers on July 8, 2025, based on a 17-year-old warrant for unlawful entry. During the arrest, he was accused of assaulting ICE officer Jaimie Waite by trapping the officer's arm in a car window. A state court jury deadlocked in a mistrial in March 2025, and Iraheta-Mercado was acquitted of the assault charge at a second state trial in June 2025. He is now facing a federal jury trial on the same assault allegation, which began in June 2026 and includes video evidence of the arrest and testimony regarding Officer Waite's social media posts and history of collaboration with Washington law enforcement. A judge in the federal case ruled that evidence showing Washington's Department of Licensing illegally shared Iraheta-Mercado's personal data with ICE was inadmissible, barring the defense from using it as impeachment evidence. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help him secure immigration legal representation.

Jesus Ramirez Ramos was detained by ICE at North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, for nine months. Upon release, he had no way to return to his home in Salina, Kansas, and ICE had lost his cellphone and his clothes remained unwashed in storage. Delight Lester, a 66-year-old volunteer with Hope for Neighbors advocacy group, picked him up and drove him more than 900 miles home in her Toyota Prius, providing him with fresh clothes, snacks, and a phone for the journey.

Elvira Benitez-Suarez, 51, fled sexual assault and domestic violence in Mexico at age 15 and has lived in Wisconsin for over 35 years, raising four U.S. citizen children with no criminal record. After she accidentally crossed into Canada during a family road trip in July 2025 and reentered the U.S., an immigration judge ruled in fall 2025 that deporting her would cause exceptional harm to her children, canceled her deportation order, and approved her green card application, leading to her release in December. On March 10, 2026, ICE agents detained her again during a routine check-in at the Milwaukee DHS office after the Department of Homeland Security appealed the ruling on the final day allowed, transferring her to Campbell County Detention Center in Kentucky. Her family and local activists held a press conference calling for her release, and her attorney filed a habeas petition. A 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling against mandatory detention policy opened the door to a bond hearing, and on May 21, 2026, an immigration judge granted her $1,500 bond. She was released and checked in at the Milwaukee DHS office on June 1, 2026, with continued check-ins required while the Board of Immigration Appeals considers DHS's appeal.

Robert 'Bob' Peck, a U.S. citizen acting as a citizen observer monitoring immigration enforcement in South Portland, Maine, was confronted by masked ICE agents on January 22, 2026 while following and filming their vehicle on Route 1. Deportation officers Nicholas Lapointe and Christopher Semler threatened to arrest him if he continued observing them. The incident occurred amid a broader surge of ICE operations in Maine that week, including agents firing paintball-like projectiles at vehicles driven by observers in a Home Depot parking lot. Peck filed a notice of claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act on February 1, 2026 seeking $7.5 million in damages, and later filed a civil complaint under Maine's civil rights act alleging violations of his First and Fourth Amendment rights. His attorney, David Webbert, said it is the first time a Maine legal observer has sued ICE officers under the state's civil rights law. The case is among multiple reports of ICE agents intimidating observers, including threats to add them to watchlists and agents driving to observers' homes.

The Andre family—Carine, an activist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and her three children Estafania, Olivia, and Joel—fled persecution and were initially vetted and released in 2022 to await asylum hearings. After deportation and denied entry to Canada, they were returned to the U.S. and detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley beginning in November 2025, violating the Flores Settlement requiring prompt release of children. Carine and Joel (17) were released in March 2026 after nearly four months in detention; Olivia (19) was released in June 2026 after over five months. Detainees reported inadequate conditions including contaminated food and water, mold, and sleep disruption.

Maria Alejandra Gomez-Quiroz, a 21-year-old pregnant woman from Colombia, has been held for more than 40 days at the Dilley family immigration detention center in Texas after being arrested by Border Patrol at the border. She and her partner had been fleeing violence from guerrillas in Colombia and planned to apply for asylum. Her sister, Kelly Ocampo, said the family paid more than $3,000 to someone posing as an immigration lawyer who sent a fake letter on ICE letterhead falsely claiming her bond had been approved, but she remained in custody. Her family says she has experienced lower abdominal pain and depression while detained. DHS says she was convicted of illegal entry and remains in custody pending removal proceedings. She is one of at least 500 people detained at Dilley and one of four pregnant women held there, according to lawmakers, and a federal judge in California has ordered a special master and independent monitor to examine time in custody and medical care at the facility.

Javier (pseudonym) left Colombia in 2023 with his wife and two children due to threats from armed groups where he worked in the medical field, and the family applied for asylum in the U.S. After he obtained a work permit, and while his wife was pregnant and the family awaited their merits hearing in immigration court, ICE detained him. He was held for three months, denied asylum, and deported to Colombia in March 2026 despite significant evidence of the dangers he faced there. While he was in Colombia, his son was born and placed in the NICU. Desperate to reunite with his wife, children, and newborn, he reentered the U.S., was detained at the border, and was quickly deported to Costa Rica in June 2026. He has yet to meet his third child and is applying for asylum in Costa Rica, hoping to reunite with his family there.

A noncitizen who entered the United States in December 2024 and resided here for over one year is at the center of this case. He was served with a Notice to Appear and paroled from custody into the United States. In June 2026, he was apprehended by immigration authorities and taken into ICE custody. An Immigration Judge ordered his removal, and he had until August 20, 2026 to appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals. He filed a pro se habeas corpus petition challenging his mandatory detention as violating his Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights. The court found that because he was previously paroled from custody and had established ties to the United States through his residency, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment guaranteed him an individualized assessment of his flight risk and dangerousness before detention. The court granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release from custody under reasonable conditions, with a requirement that respondents submit a status report by August 11, 2026, and return all identification documents and personal belongings.

Hermel, a migrant from Ecuador, was arrested by ICE and detained for nearly four months before signing voluntary departure paperwork and being returned to Ecuador. His wife Anita and two children—Scarleth, now 11, and Ashley, 3—remained in New York. Hermel's deportation devastated the family: Hermel reported his house is half-built and he is struggling emotionally. Anita has ended their four-year relationship, cannot find full-time work, and her debts are mounting as she struggles to support their children alone.

A prominent photographer, who requested anonymity, had the top of his camera smashed by ICE agents while covering anti-ICE protests outside Delaney Hall detention center in Newark. The incident occurred during clashes between protesters and federal agents over the weekend.

Photographer Madison Swart, a frequent contributor to The New York Times, was deliberately pushed to the ground and struck with a baton by a federal officer while documenting anti-ICE protests outside the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark on May 28, 2026. Swart said she had been standing apart from the crowd for nearly an hour, clearly identifiable as press, when an officer rammed into her with an expandable baton, causing her to fall; another agent then helped her up and asked if she was okay. The protests began May 22 after detainees at the facility started a hunger strike, with lawmakers and rights groups alleging poor conditions, while the Department of Homeland Security has denied mistreatment and said it would prosecute anyone who obstructs law enforcement operations.