Human Impact Project

A man was arrested by ICE agents alongside Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers near 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Miami Beach. According to a witness account, two unmarked vehicles and a Florida Fish & Wildlife truck were used in the operation, and children were reportedly present as a school crossing guard had to stop traffic during the arrest. The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission has a 287(g) agreement with ICE authorizing its officers to conduct immigration arrests.

Marianela Pujol and Nelson José Díaz, a Venezuelan couple originally from Ciudad Ojeda, Zulia, were detained by ICE agents on the night of Sunday, September 6, while stopped at a Wawa charging station on 87th Avenue in Doral, Florida, to recharge their electric vehicle. The couple, who work as insurance agents, entered the U.S. legally in 2021 on a visa and have a still-pending asylum application. Their 21-year-old daughter, Daniela Pujol, said an officer told her mother there was no specific infraction but that she was being taken into custody because of the pending asylum case, leaving Daniela alone in the country. Family members said the couple has no criminal record, and Daniela has sought legal representation, appealed to a local council member and advocacy organizations, and started a GoFundMe campaign to cover legal defense costs.

César David Miranda Pinedo, a Venezuelan father with a pending asylum case, was detained by ICE agents in South Florida on August 25 while returning from the pharmacy with medication for his 6-year-old daughter, who had been treated at a hospital the night before for a severe ear infection. His wife, Paola Álvarez, said he texted her 'ICE detained me' and left the medication and their car at Central Park before being taken into custody. Miranda Pinedo entered the U.S. legally in 2018 and had waited about eight years for a decision on his asylum application. He was transferred to the Krome Detention Center, and his attorney filed a habeas corpus petition arguing he should not be held without a formal charging document. His wife, whose own immigration status is also pending, said she has prepared a legal power of attorney for their two daughters in case she too is detained. Immigrant rights organizations in South Florida are calling for prosecutorial discretion so he can continue his immigration case while free to care for his daughter.

Luis Alejandro Olarte Gosling, a 19-year-old Washington and Lee University sophomore attending on a full QuestBridge scholarship, and his father Luis Felipe Olarte Lugo, 55, were detained by ICE and Border Patrol agents during a traffic stop on Interstate 95 in St. Johns County, Florida. The two were driving from Orlando to Virginia so Luis Alejandro could begin his sophomore year, having chosen to drive rather than fly due to fears about ICE activity at airports. The family are Venezuelan asylum seekers with a pending immigration court case who say they held valid work permits, attended every required appointment, and have never been arrested. Their car was towed, and both remain held at Baker Correctional Institute in Sanderson, Florida, where they have reported extreme heat and insufficient food. A GoFundMe was set up by the family to support them, and Washington and Lee University said it is 'aware of the situation and concerned for the individual and his family.'

A Honduran mother and her son, who entered the United States in 2012 when he was one year old, have remained under an Order of Supervision and complied with reporting requirements for over a decade. The mother also has two other children who are U.S. citizens. In May 2026, she and her attorney submitted a written request seeking referral to an asylum officer based on her fear of returning to Honduras, but the government never scheduled an interview. When she tried again in person in September 2026, an ICE officer refused to discuss the request and instead instructed her to appear with travel tickets for herself, her son, and her two citizen children, warning that the family would be detained and deported if she failed to comply. No formal notice revoking their release was ever provided. The mother and son filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order and an underlying habeas petition to halt their removal. The court found they showed a likelihood of success because the government failed to follow regulations requiring notice and an informal interview before revoking supervised release, and found they would suffer irreparable harm without relief. The court granted a temporary restraining order barring removal pending resolution of the habeas petition and ordered the government to respond by September 16, 2026.

Humberto Castro, a 59-year-old Venezuelan who has lived in Doral, Florida for eight years, was detained by ICE agents while driving to work. His daughter, Arianna Castro, said he holds a work permit valid until 2030 and has a pending asylum application, with no criminal record. He is being held at ICE offices in Miramar while his daughter tries to secure his release on bond. His case comes amid a wave of arrests of Venezuelans in South Florida that prompted two exile organizations to send Congress a report demanding oversight hearings and data on detainees with pending immigration cases.

Fernando Armando Valdes Perez, a 61-year-old man holding Cuban and Guatemalan citizenship who lived in Kendall, Florida, was arrested at Miami International Airport on July 10, 2026, during a joint operation involving ICE, the FBI, and CBP. Investigators alleged Valdes had been a Cuban intelligence asset since the mid-1990s, using his position to infiltrate Cuban exile and dissident communities while concealing his affiliation with the Cuban government. Authorities said he fraudulently obtained lawful permanent resident status by hiding these ties. He was placed in removal proceedings and deported from the United States on August 7, 2026.

Samuel Martínez Gutiérrez was detained by ICE agents on September 4, 2026, while returning home from work. He has lived in the United States for eight years and is described by his family as a hardworking, respectful man committed to his family and community. He is currently held at the ICE Processing Center in Aurora, Colorado, and his family has launched a fundraiser to cover legal fees and commissary funds ahead of an immigration court hearing.

Leonardo Sánchez, a 49-year-old Cuban national and lawful permanent resident who arrived in the U.S. in 2010 under the Cuban Adjustment Act and worked as a welder, was deported to Liberia and then Equatorial Guinea after ICE detained him at a gas station. Sánchez suffers from a severe abdominal hernia caused by a stabbing that once left him in a coma for 40 days, and had reconstructive surgery scheduled at Jackson Memorial Hospital before his removal. He said agents refused to remove his shackles or let him use the bathroom during the 14-hour flight, and when he refused to disembark in Liberia out of fear of being abandoned, agents allegedly threw him down the aircraft steps and knelt on his exposed hernia. In Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, doctors refused to treat him without documents, leaving him only paracetamol for pain, and he is now held with five other deportees at a former hotel under armed guard, unable to contact family. His mother and sister in Florida say a lawyer they hired to help him was a scam, and Equatorial Guinea has no asylum framework, leaving him facing indefinite detention or return to Cuba. DHS said Sánchez was ordered removed following a cocaine possession conviction and denied mistreating him.

The petitioner, an immigration detainee, filed a habeas corpus petition arguing he is not subject to mandatory detention under immigration law and is entitled to an individualized bond hearing. He is currently held at the Florida Baker Correctional Institute. Along with the petition, he filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order seeking to prevent his transfer outside the court's jurisdiction while the case is pending. The court found he showed a substantial likelihood of success on his claim that his mandatory detention is unlawful. The court granted the TRO, barring immigration officials from removing him from the Middle District of Florida through September 21, 2026, and construed part of his request as a motion for preliminary injunction. The court ordered the government to respond by September 11, 2026, and consolidated the injunction request with merits review of the habeas petition.

Sebastian Jimenez Peroza, a 17-year-old Venezuelan senior at Gainesville High School who plays football, soccer and baseball, was detained by ICE agents along with his mother Antmary Peroza Barrios, stepfather, and sister Fabiana Morillo Peroza at their Gainesville apartment complex days before the school year began. The family had fled Venezuela due to his mother's activism against the government and had been pursuing asylum after their visa expired. Football coach Ashour Peera rallied community support, describing Jimenez as 'a remarkable young man' who 'lights up a room' and a teammate who checked in on others; students displayed a Venezuelan flag with his jersey number, and a GoFundMe raised more than $20,000. After two weeks at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, Sebastian and his mother were released on $5,000 bonds each and flew back to Jacksonville, where they were greeted by his coach and classmates; his stepfather was released separately on a $6,500 bond, his location undisclosed. His sister's case remained open, with a bond hearing scheduled for Sept. 9, and ICE has not explained why the family was detained.

Daniela Fuentes, a 32-year-old transgender Cuban immigrant who worked as a hairstylist and drag performer at Club Azúcar in Miami, was deported to the Central African Republic, a country she had never visited and first learned of while already on the deportation flight. She had requested her asylum case be moved from Texas to Florida, never received a response, missed her Texas court date, and was subsequently detained by ICE and held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center and Lake County Detention Center, where she says she was forced to remove her wig and clothing, cut her hair, and alter her voice and mannerisms to survive among male detainees. She was flown roughly 22 hours to Bangui alongside a group of chained men, with officers confirming the destination only hours into the flight. She now lives on a government compound in Bangui, sharing a room with four Cuban men also deported from the U.S., has no identification, cannot work, and hides her gender identity out of fear for her safety. Advocacy group Immigration Equality says it has identified a disproportionate number of LGBTQ+ people being sent to third countries where they may face persecution.

Hleb Matskevich, who came to the U.S. from Belarus at age 14 under asylum protections and later built a life in Palm Coast, Florida, where he owns two businesses, was detained by ICE agents at a Pennsylvania airport after flying in for his fiancée's grandfather's funeral. His fiancée, Alessandra Robinson, said agents cited an expired visa despite his pending case with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Matskevich is being held at Pike County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania while the couple pursues a bond request and plans to marry while he remains in custody.

ICE, the Florida Highway Patrol, Lee County Sheriff's Office, Florida National Guard, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other state and local agencies arrested more than 500 people during a four-day immigration enforcement operation in the Fort Myers area of southwest Florida, conducted between Aug. 24 and Aug. 27 under Florida's 287(g) program. Officials said those arrested included people with final orders of removal, repeat immigration violators, and individuals with criminal histories involving domestic violence, drug offenses, DUI, assault, and other offenses. ICE publicly detailed 10 individuals arrested, mostly from Guatemala and Honduras, including a Haitian national facing charges connected to a premeditated murder case and a Honduran national accused of molesting two children. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis credited the operation's success to the state's 287(g) Task Force Model, which allows cooperation between ICE and state and local law enforcement across all 67 county sheriffs.

Aracelio "Mike" Hernandez, who came to the United States at age 4 and has lived there for 60 years, was picked up by ICE and is being held for deportation. His family describes him as a dependable, hardworking community member, a devoted husband to his wife Katie, and a loving father and grandfather. His family is raising funds for legal fees to fight his deportation and to support his wife and family during the ordeal.

Soumia Bensalah, a French Moroccan immigrant with a pending green card application, was repeatedly released from Pinellas County Jail and rebooked every 72 hours over five cycles in December, shackled and transported to an ICE office and back, totaling 26 days in custody that she said left her exhausted and humiliated. Legal experts say these 'rebookings' circumvent federal rules limiting how long county jails can hold immigrants for ICE. ProPublica found Pinellas County rebooked 174 immigrants and Orange County, Florida rebooked 559 immigrants this way, far more than any other jails nationwide, due to a shortage of ICE detention space. After the story's publication, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office provided an ICE memo dated Dec. 11, 2025, redesignating the jail as an 'over-72-hour facility' due to 'increased operational tempo,' after previously declining to clarify its earlier statement that the jail was meant to hold ICE detainees for only up to 72 hours.

Wilmer Solano, a 59-year-old Venezuelan journalist with over 20 years of professional experience, was detained by CBP/ICE agents on July 26-27, 2026, during a traffic stop while working as a private transport driver at Haulover Beach in Miami Beach. Solano entered the United States legally in January 2015 on a journalist visa and filed for asylum in December 2015 after being persecuted in Venezuela for his journalism covering opposition political campaigns and figures including Henrique Capriles and Julio Borges. In August 2011, he and his cameraman were beaten by municipal officials while covering news. He previously worked for Globovisión from 2002 to 2008 and founded and directed the news agency Zorro Comunicaciones. At the time of his detention, Solano held a valid Florida work permit and driver's license. He had been granted Temporary Protected Status beginning in 2021, which expired in September 2025. According to his wife María Moreno and the Venezuelan Journalists Abroad Association (Apevex), officers detained him without a judicial warrant and without criminal charges, telling him his asylum case could take another decade and that he was in irregular immigration status. DHS confirmed the arrest and stated Solano has no immigration status allowing him to remain in the U.S. He was transported to CBP headquarters in Dania Beach with removal proceedings and an immigration court hearing scheduled for August 26, 2026.

Jorge Guzmán, a Venezuelan father of four who arrived in the United States five years ago seeking a better future for his family, was unexpectedly arrested by ICE while returning home from work in Miami. He was subsequently transferred to a detention center in another state, far from his children and family. His family is raising funds to hire an immigration lawyer to fight his deportation and secure his release.

A Mexican woman who was eight months pregnant was pulled over by Lee County deputies over her vehicle's dark window tint, and her nephew, a U.S. citizen, was called to the scene to translate. The nephew said ICE agents then grabbed him and placed him in handcuffs without cause, telling the story of protesting his detention by saying he would sue. The incident occurred amid a broader wave of ICE arrests across Lee County neighborhoods that week.

Ledgar Ramses Delgado-Reyes, a 25-year-old Venezuelan man who entered the U.S. seeking asylum in 2023 and was granted work authorization, was reunited with his wife, Madeline Ramos-Delgado, in Las Cruces after posting a $14,000 bond following nearly a year in immigration detention. Reyes said he was called in to sign paperwork correcting an address discrepancy and was told it would be quick, but was instead detained by ICE officers. His attorney said an immigration judge found he had no criminal history, was not a flight risk given his U.S. citizen wife had relocated to be near him, and had a possibility of success in his pending asylum claim. His family raised the bond money through a GoFundMe campaign.