Human Impact Project

Raul Raagas, a 63-year-old Filipino immigrant from Cebu City who has lived in the U.S. for over three decades and worked in sanitation in Jersey City, was detained by ICE on July 24, 2026, and held at the CoreCivic Elizabeth Detention Center. As of August 22, 2026, advocates with the Tanggol Migrante Movement said they could no longer locate Raagas through ICE's custody information and that his attorney believes a transfer out of state, possibly to Louisiana, may be imminent. Supporters monitored activity at the Elizabeth facility and Newark Liberty International Airport while the group contacted the Philippine Consulate General in New York for assistance and planned a protest outside the consulate. Raagas's family and local officials, including Jersey City Councilman Rolando R. Lavarro Jr. and Assemblymember Steven Raga, continue pushing for his release amid concern that a transfer could hinder his contact with family and legal counsel.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested at least six people in Western Kentucky on Thursday. Several of those arrested are now being held at the Hopkins County Jail, where 185 other immigrants are awaiting deportation. Community members, including a former Hopkins County judge, have criticized the arrests, raising concerns about racial profiling and due process.

During a traffic stop in Fort Pierce, Florida, ICE officers allegedly crashed their vehicle into a man's car. The man's 18-month-old child was left unattended in the back seat after the father fled the scene. Strangers found the child at La Central & American Grocery store on Okeechobee Road and are attempting to locate the family.

Jesus Acevedo Sanchez, a 39-year-old father of two U.S. citizen daughters from Mexico, was arrested by ICE agents on June 11 outside Commodore John Rodgers Elementary/Middle School in East Baltimore while dropping off his children. Unmarked ICE vehicles cut off his SUV at Dundalk Avenue and O'Donnell Street; armed agents in plain clothes with guns drawn broke his driver's side window. Believing he was being carjacked and fearing for his children's safety, Acevedo Sanchez drove to the school seeking protection. He sustained injuries including bleeding from his leg and face during the extraction. His partner, Adriana Gavilan Sanchez, 37, a mother of two U.S. citizen daughters from Mexico, was also detained by ICE that same day outside the school. She reported feeling terrified and experiencing nightmares following her detention. U.S. District Judge Julie Rubin ruled that ICE lacked probable cause and violated due process in Acevedo Sanchez's arrest, calling it a "stomach churner" and stating his detention was not justified. Judge Rubin ordered his release from Farmville Detention Facility. His attorney Rachel Girod said the judge reached the right result, noting that any other outcome would have been "rubber-stamping lawlessness." U.S. District Judge Matthew Maddox ordered Gavilan Sanchez's release from immigration detention, and she was freed on July 15 from Caroline Detention Facility in Virginia.

Dr. Badar Khan Suri, an Indian postdoctoral fellow and peace scholar at Georgetown University, was arrested without a warrant by ICE agents in March 2025 after expressing pro-Palestinian views on social media. He was held in multiple detention facilities for nearly six weeks and subjected to conditions including denial of religious accommodations. A federal court ordered his release on bail. The Trump administration attempted to re-detain him, arguing federal courts lacked jurisdiction to review his case. In July 2026, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the administration's re-detention attempt, upholding habeas corpus protections that allow immigrants to challenge their detention in federal court.

More than 50 employees of Premier Packing, a seafood processing plant in Lynden, Washington, have been detained by immigration agents since March 2026, with advocates estimating around a dozen have since been deported. According to the nonprofit Racial Unity Now, agents tracked workers' commute routes, conducted roadside stops with unmarked vehicles, and on July 22-23 posed as a religious group handing out free water to lure employees off company property before detaining several. The organization's executive director, Jeremy Dorrough, called it the first 'soft raid' in Whatcom County, said agents appeared to come from multiple federal agencies under the Department of Homeland Security, and expressed concern that children of detained parents could face poverty, trauma and hunger. Neither ICE nor Premier Packing responded to requests for comment, but the business owner acknowledged that while some detainees may have committed crimes, 'a lot of people that haven't done anything wrong are getting picked up too,' adding there is 'a better way.' Local volunteers reported detentions in Whatcom County rising from two to four per week to about two per day.

Oriana Korol, 38, a clarinet player with the Unpresidented Brass Band and a child and family therapist, was pepper-sprayed twice in the face and tackled by federal officers moments after her band finished playing the "Ghostbusters" theme during a protest outside Portland's ICE facility on October 12, 2025. Video shows her dragged to the ground, her glasses and clarinet broken, as she pleaded that she has asthma and was struggling to breathe. She was transported across state lines to Clark County Jail in Vancouver, Washington, where she was held for roughly three nights before her husband learned of the transfer; she was reunited with her partner and 3-year-old child upon release. Prosecutors initially charged her with felony assault, alleging she kicked and bit an officer, which carried up to eight years in prison, while she maintained she acted defensively after being shoved and pepper-sprayed. Band founder Miles Thompson called the felony charge "absurd" and said he saw nothing warranting her arrest. After a trial in which she testified she never kicked or bit the officer, Korol later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for trying to kick an officer and faces sentencing with a maximum of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

A Mexican citizen was detained by ICE officers in Wyoming on July 23, 2026, following her arrest for driving under the influence. She was not provided with a warrant for her arrest or a Notice to Appear, and immigration officers made no individualized determination that she was likely to escape before a warrant could be obtained. She was subsequently transferred to and held at the ICE Detention Facility in Aurora, Colorado. On August 28, 2026, she filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus seeking release, a prohibition on her removal from the state, and attorney fees. The government did not contest the facts or argue that the warrantless arrest was lawful, instead requesting only a bond hearing. The court found the warrantless arrest and continued detention unlawful because officers lacked probable cause to believe she was a flight risk, and ordered her immediate release within 24 hours rather than a bond hearing.

Five landscaping workers were arrested by ICE on July 23, 2026, during operations on Rutgers Street and Van Reyper Place in Belleville. Each person is accused of being unlawfully present in the United States. ICE stated all will remain in custody pending removal. Belleville Mayor Frank Vélez confirmed that township officials were not given advance notice of the arrests or ICE presence, and the town's police department was not involved in the operation.

Chansareth Hong, 50, a Cambodian refugee who arrived in the United States as an infant in 1978 and has lived in Rhode Island for nearly 50 years, was taken into ICE custody on July 22, 2026, while attending a required in-person check-in at the Warwick field office—a practice he had maintained for nearly 28 years. Hong is the sole caretaker of his nonverbal 9-year-old autistic son and his elderly mother; his son's mother died in 2025 and Hong's father died in June 2026. In his late teens and early 20s, Hong pleaded no contest to drug-related charges but maintained a clean record for three decades without missing a single ICE check-in. He was transferred to the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls. Over 100 community members, including members of the Cambodian Society of Rhode Island and other refugee advocacy organizations, gathered outside the ICE office to protest his detention. Governor Dan McKee, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley, 13 members of the Providence City Council, and U.S. Representative Seth Magaziner sent letters to ICE urging his release, citing his rehabilitation and essential role as family caretaker. Over 2,000 people signed a petition on his behalf. A federal judge ordered that Hong cannot be moved out of Rhode Island without 72 hours notice, and his legal team filed a habeas petition in federal court challenging his detention.

Marlon Andres Torres Gomez, a Colombian national, had been in ICE custody since March 18. An immigration judge granted him voluntary departure on May 12 and ordered him to leave the United States by June 11. Torres Gomez purchased a one-way ticket from New York to Colombia for June 10 and his attorney repeatedly contacted ICE to coordinate his departure, but immigration officials detained him and prevented him from boarding the flight. After the deadline passed, the government argued he was subject to mandatory detention, a position U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz called an 'after-the-fact justification' rather than a genuine basis for custody. Farbiarz noted an immigration judge had previously found Torres Gomez did not pose a danger to the community, and on July 22, 2026, ruled that ICE violated his due process rights, ordering his immediate release and stating he expected Torres Gomez to promptly leave the country voluntarily.

Eight people were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Thursday morning in Henderson. At least three of those arrested are members of Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, described by the pastor as prominent and longstanding members of the Spanish-speaking Catholic community. Henderson County sheriff's deputies assisted federal agents in the operation, which lasted from approximately 5:30 a.m. to noon.

Luis, a 25-year-old tile installer from Ecuador, was arrested by ICE agents in the parking lot of Tanger Outlets in Deer Park while sitting in his car. ICE agents ran his out-of-state license plates without his knowledge, identified him as an Ecuadorian citizen, obtained a warrant, and arrested him within 20 minutes without giving him an opportunity to explain that he had a valid work permit and federal status protecting him from deportation. A judge later freed him from custody. Luis's arrest occurred as part of a broader enforcement pattern: Newsday's investigation found ICE has arrested over 2,000 people on Long Island since Trump's second term began, primarily through parking lot surveillance and traffic stops rather than coordinated raids. At least 84 of 400 reviewed cases involved immigrants arrested while using vehicles, despite New York state law barring ICE from accessing DMV records.

U.S. Park Police and federal officers, including ICE, conducted a commercial vehicle enforcement operation Wednesday near Lock 10 of the C&O Canal and Clara Barton Parkway in Montgomery County, Maryland, after protesters had warned of ICE presence nearby. Three occupants of a stopped vehicle, reportedly from Mexico, fled on foot, with two heading toward the Potomac River. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue used boats to pull the two individuals from the water, and they were taken into ICE custody pending deportation. A third person swam across the river and escaped; a search for that person was later 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 arrested by federal agents in the parking lot of a Walmart in Yakima, Washington. A witness recorded video of the arrest, capturing agents subduing the man as he repeated "Estoy sangrando" (I am bleeding). The incident occurred amid growing concern over deaths during immigration enforcement operations. A man was detained by ICE agents in a Home Depot parking lot in Yakima, Washington. According to Jamie Angel, who recorded the detention, agents blocked the man's vehicle from multiple sides before removing him from the car. Angel reported seeing several ICE vehicles parked and concealed in various points of the parking lot when he arrived at the store. Home Depot stated it is aware of agent presence at some of its locations and said it seeks to maintain a welcoming environment while complying with applicable laws.

A man held in immigration detention in Minnesota filed a habeas corpus petition in the District of Minnesota on July 22, 2026, challenging his detention by ICE. The petition names as respondents Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, ICE and DHS officials, and detention officials. The case was assigned to Judge John R. Tunheim and referred to Magistrate Judge Shannon G. Elkins under the court's detainee habeas case list.

Nuria, a Houston-area mother of four, was detained by ICE agents on July 22 at a Sam's Club in the Spring area. Her fiancé, Kibwe Dixon, described her as a devoted mother and caring partner and said all four of her children are U.S. citizens. The family has started a GoFundMe and is asking the public for help.

The petitioner entered the United States on a B-2 visa on July 2, 2024, and has lived continuously in Illinois since then. He filed a timely asylum application in December 2024 that remains pending, and after his visa expired, USCIS granted him an Employment Authorization Document valid through 2030. He worked two jobs, providing transportation services as an independent contractor and performing carpet cleaning work, held an apartment lease and Illinois driver's license, and was an active church member with no criminal history. He was detained by ICE on July 22, 2026, at Los Angeles International Airport while preparing to board a flight home after a vacation, then transferred to and held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. He is the primary financial support for his mother, who recently had back surgery, and he missed the birth of his niece while detained. He filed a habeas corpus petition arguing his detention without notice or a pre-deprivation hearing violated procedural due process, and the court granted the petition, ordering his release within 24 hours and the return of his seized personal documents.

A transgender woman detained at Eloy Detention Center in Arizona reported being strapped into a wheelchair, handcuffed, and interrogated for hours by detention officers. The account was shared by U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari and represents one of multiple allegations of human rights abuses at the facility, including solitary confinement, inadequate water and food, and extreme temperatures. ICE has disputed many of the allegations, and the incident highlights ongoing concerns about how transgender people are treated in immigration detention.

A Guinean woman is a national of Guinea currently detained by U.S. immigration authorities at the Port Isabel Service Processing Center in Cameron County, Texas. She has protection from removal to Guinea. Respondents intend to remove her imminently to Ghana, a third country, without providing her a reasonable fear interview regarding removal to that country. She filed a verified petition challenging her removal as violating her constitutional rights and seeking a temporary restraining order. The court found that her removal would cause immediate and irreparable injury, as she would be unable to seek habeas relief if removed. On August 5, 2026, the court issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting removal to a designated third country less than seven days after providing notice, requiring compliance with March 2025 Guidance procedures regardless of diplomatic assurances, and prohibiting transfer outside the Southern District of Texas except to a third country subject to the order's conditions. The court ordered her to file a response to the motion to dismiss by August 14, 2026, clarifying jurisdictional bases for her claims.