Human Impact Project

A noncitizen was re-detained on April 30, 2026, at Golden State Annex after having been previously released on bond or conditional parole. The court found that the government violated his due process rights by failing to provide a pre-deprivation bond hearing before a neutral arbiter before re-detaining him. The court ordered his immediate release with the same conditions he was subject to prior to his April 30 detention, and required that any future re-detention must be preceded by at least seven days' notice and a constitutionally compliant pre-deprivation bond hearing.

Anita Garcia, a volunteer with SBResiste rapid response network, was physically restrained and allegedly punched by ICE agents while observing an enforcement action at the Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor office in Santa Barbara on April 30. Garcia had arrived after receiving a tip about ICE activity and entered the building to document the agents' activities. The agents accused her of impeding their work and physically restrained her against a wall, according to Garcia's account.

A Nicaraguan citizen was placed in removal proceedings in December 2022 and charged with inadmissibility for entering the United States without inspection. She was initially released on an Order of Recognizance but was recently re-detained and held at the Adelanto ICE Detention Facility. The court granted her temporary restraining order requiring an individualized bond hearing within 7 days.

A Mexican citizen who had lived in the U.S. for over 16 years was detained by ICE after being pulled over for speeding on April 29, 2026. He had approved immigration applications and no criminal history but was held without a bond hearing under a new government interpretation of detention law. The court ordered his immediate release, finding his detention violated due process rights.

A man was lawfully admitted to the United States on a C-1 crewman visa with authorization to remain until April 12, 2021. He stayed in the country after his visa expired and filed an asylum application in June 2021. On April 29, 2026, more than five years after his visa expiration, immigration officials arrested him. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California granted his petition for writ of habeas corpus, finding that his five-year period of continuous release after visa expiration created a protected liberty interest. The court ordered his immediate release from custody at the Central Valley Annex detention facility and enjoined respondents from re-detaining him without notice and a hearing before an immigration judge pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a).

Jaime Ernesto Alvarez-Gonzalez, 53, pleaded guilty to impersonating a U.S. Border Patrol agent and disrupting deportation operations in San Diego on January 8. He modified a black Ford F-150 with law enforcement-style features and followed a real Border Patrol agent, causing the officer to abandon his mission for safety. Alvarez-Gonzalez coordinated multiple vehicles to harass and chase federal agents onto the highway and possessed firearms despite being prohibited from doing so.

A non-citizen woman was detained at Adelanto ICE Processing Center for entering the United States without inspection. She was denied bond eligibility under a recent immigration decision but challenged her continued detention. The court granted her petition and ordered that she be provided a bond hearing within seven days or be released.

Santiago Medrano was detained by ICE on April 28th, the same day his family received keys to their new home. His wife and their five children are fundraising to cover legal immigration expenses and other costs while he remains in detention.

A habeas corpus petitioner filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Eastern Division against Shannon Dicus and other respondents. On May 26, 2026, the court issued an order granting his petition for writ of habeas corpus. On May 29, 2026, the court entered final judgment granting the habeas corpus petition without requiring any further proceedings. The judgment was consistent with the reasons and findings set forth in the May 26, 2026 order. The case was decided by United States Magistrate Judge Angela C. C. Viramontes.

ICE arrested Rafael Garcia, a Mexican national, along with multiple other individuals convicted of serious crimes including child sexual abuse, assault, and kidnapping. Garcia was specifically convicted of continuous sexual abuse of a child in Fresno County. ICE stated it would continue enforcement targeting individuals it described as threats to public safety.

Isaac Antonio Villegas Molina, a Pasadena construction worker and day laborer originally from Panama, is the lead plaintiff in a federal lawsuit challenging ICE enforcement practices in Los Angeles, backed by the ACLU. He was first arrested by federal agents at a bus stop on June 18, 2025, along with two other day laborers, and was released on bond the following month. After the Supreme Court declined to hear his legal challenge against ICE, he was detained again on April 17, 2026, during a check-in with an Alternatives to Detention program. His attorney, Stacy Tolchin, filed a habeas petition arguing the arrest was unlawful and retaliatory, intended to shift his case to a more government-friendly immigration court in Adelanto; the Department of Homeland Security said the redetention followed missed check-ins, which Tolchin disputed. U.S. District Judge Michelle Williams ordered his immediate release, barring the government from redetaining him without notice and a hearing, and he was freed from Adelanto Detention Center following advocacy from local officials and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. Villegas is scheduled to appear before an immigration judge to seek termination of his removal proceedings.

A Russian citizen was detained by ICE on April 24, 2026, during a routine check-in after living freely in the United States for four years since her 2022 release. She had been released on parole/supervision in April 2022 after ICE determined she was not a flight risk or danger to the community, and had been attending yearly check-ins with no criminal record. The court granted a temporary restraining order requiring her immediate release, finding her detention violated due process rights as she received no notice or hearing before re-detention.

A teacher in California's Central Valley with DACA status has been placed on unpaid leave as her work authorization renewal has stalled in processing for over five months, well beyond the typical timeline. Thousands of DACA recipients nationwide, including an estimated 6,784 educators in California, face extreme renewal delays that leave schools vulnerable to sudden staffing disruptions and put individuals at risk of losing work authorization and deportation protection.

Ten crew members from Disney Cruise Line were arrested by ICE agents on April 23, 2026, as the Disney Magic ship was being unloaded at the B Street Cruise Terminal in San Diego. The arrests occurred in full view of disembarking passengers, including children. Two days later on April 25, ICE returned to the same terminal and arrested four additional crew members from Holland America's MV Zandaam.

ICE agents detained a man on April 23, 2026, at the Sonoma County Jail while he was being released after a court hearing, taking him from the transportation hall between the release area and the public lobby where his sister was waiting. He has since been transferred to the ICE Detention Center in California City, a facility reactivated in 2025 in the Mojave Desert. His sister, using the pseudonym "Yohanna" to protect her family from retaliation, described the detention at an April 27 press conference organized by immigrant rights groups outside the Sheriff's Department. On April 28, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a new immigration ordinance providing $1.5 million to community organizations supporting immigrants, though it stopped short of declaring Sonoma County a sanctuary county.

A Mexican citizen who has resided in the United States since at least 2018 was granted withholding of removal to Mexico by an Immigration Judge that year based on his well-founded fear of persecution as a gay man, and he was released on an Order of Supervision. On April 22, 2026, he appeared at the ICE Los Angeles Field Office for his routine annual check-in, as he had done every year since 2018, but was detained by ICE officers and transported to Adelanto ICE Processing Center, where he remained detained. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention, alleging violations of regulatory procedures requiring notice of revocation and an informal interview, as well as Fifth Amendment due process violations. On May 1, 2026, the court granted the petition without opposition from respondents, ordering his immediate release from ICE custody and requiring respondents to file a status report by May 8, 2026.

A Peruvian national with a pending asylum application was detained by ICE on April 21, 2026, during a scheduled check-in appointment in San Francisco. He had been previously released on recognizance but was re-detained after being charged with identity theft and failing to appear for his criminal arraignment. The court granted his habeas petition in part and ordered ICE to provide him with a bond hearing within 14 days.

The petitioner was detained by immigration authorities immediately following his April 20, 2026 arrest for indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over; the criminal case remains pending. He is currently held in immigration custody, reportedly at the California City Detention Facility. He filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus and a motion for a temporary restraining order, arguing he is subject to discretionary detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) rather than mandatory detention, and is entitled to a bond hearing. The government opposed immediate release, arguing his pending criminal charge presents a non-pretextual basis for detention and a danger to the public, but did not oppose the court ruling on the papers. The court agreed that his pending criminal case distinguished his case from others where petitioners were immediately released, and instead ordered a post-deprivation remedy. The court granted the habeas petition and TRO, ordering that he receive a bond hearing before an immigration judge within 14 days, or be released from custody if no hearing is held in that time.

Dzhokhar Gutsiev, a Russian citizen who entered the U.S. in 2022 seeking asylum and was released on humanitarian parole, was detained by DHS in April 2026 while traveling for work in Imperial County, California. Gutsiev had been living in the community for 46 months with work authorization and no criminal history when his parole was abruptly revoked without notice. The federal court granted his habeas petition and ordered his immediate release, ruling that the government violated his due process rights by revoking parole without justification or hearing.

Gilberto García (also known as Gilberto Garcia Cruz), a 26-year-old DACA recipient with autism and an intellectual disability, was forcibly detained by ICE agents at his home in Hendry County, Florida on April 8, 2026, while his DACA renewal was still being processed after his status expired on April 1. According to family accounts and police reports, agents entered his yard without a warrant and placed him in a chokehold, leaving marks on his arms; when his mother tried to intervene, agents allegedly threatened to tase her and pushed her back. García was transported to Hendry County Jail and charged with resisting arrest without violence, though his public defender argued his disability prevented him from understanding or identifying law enforcement. He was released on April 10, 2026, following family intervention and advocacy from the Florida Immigrant Coalition and United We Dream, who called the detention "deeply troubling and potentially unlawful." After his release, García expressed fear about possible deportation and separation from his mother, and the family has since faced housing instability.