Human Impact Project

Seven ICE vehicles conducted an early-morning enforcement operation on Santa Barbara's Westside and Eastside on Father's Day, June 21, 2026, detaining 9 to 11 individuals on unspecified immigration-related charges. Three mariachi musicians were apprehended near San Pascual and Mulberry streets, either while performing or en route to perform Father's Day serenades. A fourth musician reportedly escaped. ICE agents were observed traveling at high speeds, exceeding 100 miles per hour on the freeway.

José de Jesús Cortez Delgado, a Mexican national, was detained on June 20 after federal marshals dressed as municipal electrical workers approached him in South Los Angeles, claiming they needed him to move his vehicle so they could work on a light pole. When Cortez Delgado moved his truck, armed agents emerged from unmarked vehicles and arrested him at gunpoint. According to DHS, Cortez Delgado had been wanted on a murder charge from December 2020 in Nevada and had remained in the United States without authorization since his tourist visa expired in October 1999. However, activist Ron Gochez reported that Cortez Delgado's wife claimed the charges had been dropped and her husband had no outstanding legal issues. After his arrest, Cortez Delgado was transferred to ICE custody.

A man was arrested after ICE officers disguised as electric company workers knocked on his door and asked him to move his pickup truck under the pretense of fixing streetlights. When he stepped outside, approximately eight additional officers emerged and apprehended him.

Two fathers were detained on their way to work on Thursday morning after recently relocating from Encinitas to San Marcos. One of their children received a Student of the Year award at elementary school graduation the same day. One mother was pregnant and due to give birth shortly after the detention, leaving two mothers together responsible for six children ages 4–11 without household breadwinners. The family faced immediate crisis with medical needs, baby supplies, food, housing, and childcare expenses.

A Mexican national who fled Mexico in 2024 due to extortion threats and entered the U.S. without inspection was detained by ICE on June 18, 2026, pursuant to a warrant issued June 8, 2026. He had arranged for his young son to join him in the U.S., and the son was detained by immigration authorities upon entry in January 2026 before being released to his father's care as ORR sponsor. During the June 18 detention, approximately five vehicles surrounded the father and his son as they left their home; agents pointed guns and arrested him while his son remained in the vehicle. The court granted his emergency motion for temporary restraining order, ordering his immediate release and prohibiting re-detention without notice and a pre-deprivation hearing before a neutral decisionmaker.

Daniel, a man with severe intellectual disabilities (IQ of 47) and limited English proficiency, was arrested by ICE agents on June 17, 2025, while collecting recyclables in his east Los Angeles neighborhood. Under the conservatorship of his siblings for decades, Daniel understood Spanish but struggled with English and could not cope with loud noises or routine disruptions. Despite his inability to understand removal proceedings or consent documents presented in English, and without involvement of his conservator or judicial review, he was deported to Mexico under claimed voluntary departure. His nephew Christopher, a U.S. citizen, launched an extensive search using ICE's online tracker and contacted federal authorities, eventually working with legal aid group ImmDef to locate Daniel at Adelanto detention center. Daniel ended up in a hospital in Tijuana with no awareness his family was searching for him. After more than nine months, lawyers secured his parole and return to the U.S. A federal judge subsequently issued a temporary restraining order blocking ICE from detaining him if he returns, ruling that his deportation raised serious due process concerns.

Polina (born 2002) and Alexandra (born 2005), sisters from Belarus, have been detained at the California border for over 9 months. Their initial lawyer failed to properly defend them in court and stopped cooperating with the family. The sisters were denied habeas corpus twice due to legal errors and now face deportation to Belarus while awaiting a new asylum application. They have documented health issues and are seeking legal and financial support to continue their case.

An older Russian man who crossed at a port of entry and requested asylum in August 2024 was hospitalized days later for stroke-like symptoms while detained at Otay Mesa. He was cuffed to his hospital bed despite half his body being paralyzed, and upon return to detention received no mobility support until other detainees filed grievance reports on his behalf. He continued to lose consciousness regularly and was eventually released on parole in February 2025 after six months in detention.

A 39-year-old Russian man held at Otay Mesa Detention Center for 17 months filed multiple grievance reports documenting severe sanitary conditions, including only two working urinals and one sink for over 100 detainees, which led to an outbreak of eye infections. He also filed grievance reports on behalf of other detainees, including an older man who needed mobility support after a stroke. He was released in 2026 after exhausting oversight channels that were subsequently gutted under the Trump administration.

Wilber Urbina Garcia, an 18-year-old honors graduate from Jordan High School in South Los Angeles, was detained by ICE on June 10, 2026, during a routine check-in appointment at a federal courthouse the morning after his graduation ceremony. Garcia's family fled Nicaragua in late 2022 seeking asylum due to political persecution and were in asylum proceedings with valid work permits at the time of his detention. Teachers described Wilber as shy but disciplined, with leadership roles by senior year, and he had dreamed of becoming a doctor and registered for fall classes at El Camino College. During the check-in, ICE agents separated Wilber from his mother in an interview room and took him into custody. His attorney stated that ICE agents told the family Wilber was no longer covered under his mother's asylum case because he had turned 18, though as a derivative applicant filed before age 21, he should remain tied to the case. Wilber was detained at Adelanto ICE Processing Center. His mother and eldest brother subsequently entered removal proceedings and were fitted with ankle monitors. An ICE agent told the family that Wilber's 17-year-old sister would face detention when she turns 18.

Hanne Engan, a 24-year-old Norwegian citizen applying for a green card through her U.S. citizen husband, was arrested by ICE agents on November 17, 2025, during a green card interview at a San Diego facility and held at Otay Mesa Detention Center for eight to nine days. Despite her Type 1 diabetes diagnosis, ICE confiscated her insulin and continuous glucose monitor, misclassified her condition in detention records, and denied her mealtime insulin despite repeated requests, resulting in dangerously elevated blood sugar levels (508 mg/dL), weight loss, infections, and suicidal ideation. She was placed in solitary confinement for five days. A federal judge found no flight risk, ordered her release on a $1,500 bond after nine days, and later terminated her deportation case after ruling ICE lacked jurisdiction to detain her.

Kyon Shakeel Swaso, a 35-year-old Belizean immigrant detained at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, organized a hunger strike to protest conditions at the facility. After speaking with members of Congress about inhumane conditions at Adelanto, Swaso was transferred to facilities in Texas and Louisiana without notice, then deported to Belize. Immigrant rights groups and advocates alleged the deportation was retaliatory action by the Department of Homeland Security in response to his activism and congressional testimony.

An immigration detainee held at California City Corrections facility is the subject of a habeas corpus petition. The court granted his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, ordering respondents to provide him with a bond hearing before a neutral arbiter pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) within ten days of the order dated June 18, 2026. Respondents must provide him with 48 hours' written notice before the hearing, or release him if the hearing is not provided within the ten-day deadline.

An Amazon delivery driver was detained by ICE after making a delivery to a military base in the Los Angeles area, according to legal aid attorneys. The arrest occurred as immigration enforcement continued in the LA region following the June 2025 raids.

A Colombian national fleeing persecution by the Clan del Golfo entered the United States without inspection in May 2023 and was released on parole. He obtained employment authorization, maintained steady work, filed taxes, and complied with parole conditions for three years while his asylum application was pending. On June 12, 2026, ICE arrested him in Rialto, California without providing notice or basis for arrest. The court ordered his immediate release, finding his re-detention violated due process rights and that no legitimate government interest supported his detention given his established ties and compliance history.

A man was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the San Jose Field Office on June 12, 2026. He filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus and motion for a temporary restraining order challenging his continued detention at a facility in the Eastern District of California. The Northern District of California court transferred the case to the Eastern District of California, finding it lacked jurisdiction because the petitioner was being held in custody outside its territorial bounds.

ICE agents chased a day laborer into a Home Depot and took him away bloodied and in handcuffs, according to Jorge Nicolás, a senior organizer at the Central American Resource Center (Carecen), who witnessed the arrest. This occurred as enforcement continued in LA neighborhoods a year after the initial June 2025 raids.

Parminderpal Singh, a 26-year-old Indian national, was arrested by ICE in Los Angeles. Reports describe his criminal history as including vehicle theft, grand theft, trespassing, and vandalism, with one source additionally citing robbery and assault-related charges. He remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

Nikolas De Bremaeker, a 38-year-old immigration attorney at Centro Legal de la Raza in Oakland, was pulled aside for enhanced screening by TSA at San Francisco International Airport on June 10, 2026. During a 45-minute search, agents examined his belongings, phones, and laptops. When De Bremaeker asked why, a TSA agent stated it was "not random" and that he was on a "watch list" but provided no further details. De Bremaeker was ultimately allowed to board his flight to Boston. The incident prompted him to cancel a planned trip to Belgium and raised questions about federal surveillance of immigration attorneys.

Elipidia Aguirre-Romero, a Mexican national, was arrested by ICE in Fresno, CA. She has a prior criminal conviction in California. Jose Alfredo Patino-Avelino, a Mexican national, was arrested by ICE in Santa Barbara, CA. He has prior criminal convictions in California. Saul Alberto Garay-Amaya, a Salvadoran national, was arrested by ICE in Fairfax, VA. He has prior criminal convictions in Virginia. Fidel Larreta-Boltor, a Mexican national, was arrested by ICE in Forsyth County, NC. He has a prior criminal conviction in North Carolina. Yeison Beltran-Avila, a Colombian national, was arrested by ICE. He has a prior criminal conviction.