Human Impact Project

Vova, a 23-year-old Ukrainian man seeking asylum in the U.S., was detained by ICE while traveling to Los Angeles. He is now held in a detention facility, sleeping in a large cell with other detainees, and faces an immigration hearing on October 1st. Friends describe him as quiet and kind, with interests in bow hunting, jiu-jitsu, aviation, and cars, and note that his mother and brother live in Poland while he has been building a life on his own in the United States. A GoFundMe campaign is raising money to cover his legal representation.

A Colombian asylum seeker who fled to the United States in 2022 was detained without warning while attending a routine ICE check-in in San Francisco. He had previously been released from custody after DHS determined he posed no danger or flight risk, and he attended every scheduled check-in since then. He held employment authorization and a Social Security number, worked assembling ventilation and refrigeration equipment, filed federal tax returns for two years, resided in Fremont, California, had a partner of one year, and regularly attended a Mormon temple. In June 2026, he was arrested for an alleged DUI after being found sleeping in his parked car outside his home. He was not shown a warrant at his re-arrest and was subsequently transferred to the Central Valley Annex detention facility in McFarland, California. He filed a habeas petition and motion for a temporary restraining order, arguing his detention violated due process because he was not given a pre-detention bond hearing. The court granted the TRO, ordering his immediate release and barring re-detention pending further briefing and a hearing scheduled for October 8, 2026.

Arsalan Saleh Fard (referred to as "Ali" in one account), a 25-year-old Christian convert from Qazvin Province, Iran, fled after being pursued by Iran's intelligence services and the Basij paramilitary force. He struggled to find work because of tattoos, and when a bank refused to hire him over them, he burned one off himself — only to then be rejected for appearing mentally unstable. After crossing the U.S. border to seek asylum, he was expelled to Panama on a military flight in January/February 2025 without an asylum hearing, as part of a group of 299 migrants deported there weeks after President Trump's inauguration. Eighteen months later, he remains stranded in Panama with no clear path to permanent refuge, at times sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Bella Mosselmans, a human rights lawyer who directs the Global Strategic Litigation Council and represents deportees sent to Panama, said such outcomes are an inevitable result of sending migrants to a country with a nonfunctioning asylum system, language barriers, and little access to legal counsel.

Unmarked vehicles carrying agents wearing 'ERO' patches, identifying them as ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers, entered a Home Depot parking lot in Concord early one morning and detained up to five day laborers who were waiting for work. Advocates with the Concord Immigrant Protections Network said the detained individuals' names and whereabouts remain unknown, and that ICE has not responded to requests for information. Advocates and community members rallied outside the store the following day, calling on Home Depot and city officials to take action to protect immigrant workers.

Guilherme, a husband and father of 5-year-old twins, was detained by ICE according to his wife Camila. She says he had no criminal history and was not out of status, which made his detention especially shocking. Guilherme was the family's main provider, and his wife is now raising funds to cover attorney fees and household expenses while he is held.

Nika, a 32-year-old Iranian woman who fled Iran after protesting the regime and losing friends in the government's crackdown, had been granted 'withholding of removal' by a US immigration judge to prevent her return to Iran. She was released from ICE custody on May 28, 2026, but days later was re-arrested during what officers called a routine check-in in California. She was handcuffed, shackled, and placed on a deportation flight with 17 other migrants to the Central African Republic, a country she said she had never heard of or visited. Since arriving in Bangui, she has largely stayed indoors out of fear, been stopped by local police demanding bribes, and was hospitalized after contracting malaria. Her immigration lawyer is now filing a federal lawsuit seeking to bring her back to the US and reopen her asylum claim.

Jorge (a pseudonym), a Guatemalan man who fled gang extortion threats and joined family in San Diego, was arrested by ICE during a raid on his construction worksite after working there for five months. He spent three months in detention, much of it in frigid holding cells where he slept on bare concrete with only a foil sheet, and developed bronchitis after officers allegedly made cells colder in retaliation for complaints; staff denied him hospital care. He said he signed English-language deportation papers he could not read after being threatened with years in federal detention, later learning the signing carried a 10-year reentry bar, and described being shackled during his deportation flight to Guatemala.

María, a 35-year-old Indigenous Mixtec farmworker from Oaxaca who has lived in Oxnard, California since 2007, is a single mother of four U.S.-born children ages 17, 12, 10 and 2. She was detained by ICE agents after questioning why they were arresting a friend who was driving her to look for farm work; agents told her she would be arrested for 'asking questions and complaining' and took her to ICE facilities in Camarillo and then Thousand Oaks, where she was told she might spend three months in detention before deportation. She was released after seven hours with an ankle monitor and a phone app tracking required check-ins, after agents warned that missing an appointment would result in her entire family being deported. An activist who met her after release said she lives in an apartment complex where ICE agents regularly wait outside for immigrants to leave, and an advocate who helped her access legal assistance described her release as an unusual outcome.

Walto Deshommes, a Haitian father, was detained by ICE agents just outside a North Park Head Start daycare in San Diego moments after walking his 2-year-old daughter into her classroom. A family advocate said the arrest occurred off school grounds, and Deshommes managed to throw his car keys and ID to daycare staff as he was taken into custody. Staff at the center, operated by the Neighborhood House Association, followed emergency procedures to hand the toddler off to a designated contact. Deshommes and his partner, Suze, had been living in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status until the Trump administration ended TPS for Haitians in July following a Supreme Court ruling; both have pending asylum cases with an upcoming immigration court date. Suze said she remains committed to appearing at that court date despite facing the process without Deshommes. A family advocate said the arrest reflects a recent trend of ICE targeting Haitians who have fallen out of status but still have pending cases.

Iryna Gorb, a 38-year-old Ukrainian photographer and barista who worked at Better Half Cafe in San Francisco's Polk Gulch neighborhood for over 15 years, was arrested by plainclothes ICE agents at San Francisco International Airport on July 22, 2026, as she returned from Portland. Video recorded by Richmond City Councilmember Doria Robinson showed agents pinning Gorb to the ground while she screamed for help; witnesses said the agents did not display clear identification. She was transferred to California City Detention Facility in the Mojave Desert, where DHS said she had overstayed a visa from 2010 and alleged she resisted arrest, though she has no criminal record. Her family home in Kharkiv was destroyed in Russian attacks, and friend Andy Eblin described her as 'fiercely loyal, always willing to help friends.' State Sen. Scott Wiener condemned the arrest, noting deportation would send her to a war zone. After seven weeks in detention, Gorb was released and still awaits an immigration court hearing; she thanked fellow detainees and said she plans to share proceeds from her GoFundMe, which raised over $47,000, with other detained women lacking similar resources.

Jesus Israel Garcia-Cobarruvias, a Mexican national who had previously been deported three times, was arrested by Homeland Security Investigations agents on September 17, 2026, in Martinez, California. The arrest followed an August 31, 2026 incident in which he allegedly accelerated his vehicle at his driveway as officers tried to detain him, crushing one officer's foot and damaging a government vehicle before fleeing. He has since been charged with assault on a federal officer, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison if convicted. During the September arrest, he refused commands to exit his vehicle, and agents used force to remove him and take him into custody.

Bryan Sanjose was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California, on September 5, 2026, while preparing to board a flight with a friend. A friend said the detention was related to his immigration status and records. Bryan serves as the primary caretaker for his mother, who lives with dementia and Alzheimer's and cannot care for herself independently. His family launched a GoFundMe campaign titled "Help Bryan and His Mother" to raise funds for his legal costs and his mother's care needs while he remains in custody.

Santiago Merlo, a Colombian man living in California, posted his car for sale on Facebook Marketplace. Months later, a purported buyer using the name "Brian" arranged to meet him to see the vehicle. When Merlo arrived, he says about 10 patrol units with federal agents were waiting, and he was handcuffed and detained. Merlo says he had a valid work permit and a pending asylum application at the time he was later deported to Colombia.

Sergio Ivan Chaparro Ayala, a longtime shift supervisor at Oceanview Diner in Berkeley who lives in Richmond and supports two children, was detained by federal immigration agents at Oakland International Airport on August 28, 2026, while preparing to board a flight to Las Vegas for an anniversary trip with his partner, Estefani Montes. Chaparro, who entered the U.S. on a tourist visa that expired in 2020, has no criminal record and suffers from severe sleep apnea requiring a CPAP machine; he was moved between several detention facilities in California and Washington state, and Montes struggled to get him access to his medical equipment. Restaurant co-owner Will Bishop described him as friendly and well-liked by customers and coworkers. Attorneys from Centro Legal de la Raza filed a habeas corpus petition arguing his detention violated due process, and a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order ordering his immediate release and barring ICE from re-detaining him without a hearing before a neutral decisionmaker. Coworkers and community members raised more than $25,000 through a GoFundMe to cover his legal costs, and a preliminary injunction hearing was scheduled for September 15, 2026.

Zach Cosseboom, a 37-year-old UC Santa Barbara employee and U.S. citizen, was pepper-sprayed by a federal immigration agent while volunteering as an observer with immigrant advocacy group SB Resiste at the Santa Barbara County Jail. Cosseboom, a 12-year Santa Barbara resident, was watching ICE agents in the jail's lobby when an agent sprayed him at close range in an incident captured on video, also hitting his wife, Ana Garcia. He was treated at Cottage Health's emergency room afterward and described feeling 'a little helpless' during the incident.

Rodrigo, a lawful permanent resident living with advanced throat cancer and other serious medical conditions, endured what his attorneys describe as substantial medical neglect during nearly a year in ICE custody at the California City Detention Facility. He suffered two strokes while detained, and his throat tumor grew to the size of a lemon without proper treatment. Senior Staff Attorney Victoria Petty filed a habeas petition on his behalf and secured his release, after which Rodrigo began speaking publicly about the medical neglect and dangerous conditions he experienced in ICE custody.

Angie, 26, learned she was pregnant a few weeks after being booked into the Mesa Verde detention center in California. A few weeks later she woke up passing large amounts of fluid, and medical staff at the facility told her she had miscarried and that it was not her fault. She is among at least 18 women ICE recorded as having miscarried in custody during the first nine months of the Trump administration, though the agency says it has no data on miscarriages after October 2025.

Maureen Wanjiru Ngure, a 38-year-old public health nurse from Concord, California, was detained by ICE on August 14 during a routine check-in at the federal immigration office in San Francisco. Ngure came to the U.S. from Kenya in 2006 on a visitor's visa, became a nurse, married, had two children, and volunteered with Contra Costa County's COVID-19 response team, never missing a check-in in nearly two decades. She and her husband, Peter Mang'ara Muchendu, both U.S. citizens raising their children in the Bay Area, had been planning to relocate the family to Canada after she was offered a healthcare job there. Following her detention, she was transferred through facilities in California, Arizona, and Louisiana, at times sleeping on floors and losing her ID, phone, and wallet. She was served a third-country deportation order and ultimately deported to Kenya. "I felt depressed, I felt confused, I was asking the question: why," Ngure said.

A Colombian mother seeking asylum after fleeing domestic violence says she has suffered months of delayed and inadequate medical care for a serious kidney and urinary tract infection while detained at Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego. She crossed the border in the San Diego-Tijuana area in September 2025 and has been held since October while her asylum case, which the government sought to redirect to Honduras, remains on appeal. Medical records show repeated visits for pain, bleeding, and blood in her urine that went undertreated for months, including delayed antibiotics, a delayed ultrasound and CT scan, and two emergency room visits before she was hospitalized and diagnosed with pyelonephritis. She said a guard mistreated her, including a 30-day suspension of her phone privileges that cut off contact with her two children.

Renatho Kemsley Casseus, a Haitian national described by San Diego City College as a student, was arrested by ICE agents on September 8, 2026, after unmarked vehicles boxed in his car near campus at 16th and C Street. A passenger, also said to be a student, fled on foot onto campus grounds, with agents pursuing him before retreating once they realized they had entered college property. DHS disputed that Casseus was a student, stating he entered the U.S. without authorization through El Paso, Texas, in May 2023 and was released into the country under the Biden administration, with his case now before an immigration judge. San Diego Community College District Chancellor Greg Smith denounced the incident, and officials said the college, district, and campus police do not cooperate with ICE enforcement. The college offered counseling and legal support to affected students, who organized a rally, and elected officials condemned the arrest.