Human Impact Project

A Haitian father was detained by ICE in Salisbury, Maryland, while driving home from the grocery store with his 17-year-old daughter, Maggie. Vehicles surrounded their car and forced them to pull over, and roughly half a dozen agents demanded their immigration status; officers told Maggie they would not take her because she is a minor, and her father told her he loved her and to take care of herself before being led away. The family had Temporary Protected Status and had applied for asylum after fleeing Haiti in 2021, when gang members burned down their home. His detention comes after more than 350,000 Haitians nationwide lost TPS, and community members in Maryland report growing fear of leaving their homes for work, church, or errands.

A Maryland federal judge held ICE in civil contempt for wrongfully deporting more than 50 unaccompanied minors in violation of a blanket court order barring their removal. The judge found that subsequent efforts to bring some of the minors back did not remedy the initial violation.

A Guatemalan man who has lived in the United States since 2018 and works as a waiter in Baltimore, Maryland, was detained by ICE officials in Maryland on August 5, 2026. He was subsequently transferred to the Caroline Detention Center in Virginia, where he remained held for about three weeks. DHS classified him as an 'applicant for admission' under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(a), subjecting him to mandatory detention without bond under § 1225(b)(2). He filed a habeas corpus petition arguing this classification violated the Immigration and Nationality Act, his due process rights, and the Administrative Procedure Act, and sought release and a bond hearing. The federal court found that because he was already present in the U.S. rather than arriving at the border, his detention was governed by the discretionary detention provisions of § 1226(a). The court granted his petition, ordering his prompt release and a bond hearing before an Immigration Judge within 14 days, and enjoined the government from re-detaining him absent specified circumstances.

A Mexican man in his late 40s, identified only as 'John Doe,' lived in Maryland with his wife and two children and had cooperated with federal prosecutors by testifying against Mexican drug cartel members. He was granted deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture in 2024 after an immigration judge found he faced likely torture or death in Mexico. In January 2026, ICE detained him during a routine check-in and held him for six months at a Louisiana detention facility. He was deported multiple times beginning July 10, first to Guatemala, which refused him and turned him over to Mexican officials, and then to Mexico, including a final removal on August 1 after Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Acting ICE Director David Venturella intervened to override his torture protection. He has since gone into hiding in a region with active cartel activity, without money, belongings, or his phone, fearing the cartels he testified against will find and kill him. U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher ruled the termination of his protections likely violated due process, citing the 'immense public interest' in protecting those who assist government prosecutions, and ordered the government to facilitate his return within 14 days, directing he be held near Baltimore with attorney access if detained again.

A Mexican national living in Maryland, whose testimony for the Justice Department against drug cartels led an immigration judge to bar his deportation to Mexico under the Convention Against Torture in July 2024, was released from custody that November but re-detained during a routine ICE check-in in January 2026 and held for six months in a Louisiana detention facility. In July 2026 he was deported three times in two weeks: first to Guatemala, which refused him and handed him to Mexican consular officials who also declined to take him; then directly to Mexico twice more after officials there initially refused him, and again after the administration terminated his CAT protection based on diplomatic assurances it said were provided by the Mexican government and deemed reliable by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and acting ICE Director David Venturella. He has been in hiding in Mexico since Aug. 1 fearing retaliation from the cartels he testified against, and U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher found the government likely violated his due process rights, ordering it to take immediate steps to facilitate his return within 200 miles of Baltimore.

Zena Gebrgzabher, a 39-year-old Eritrean truck driver who lived in Maryland, was deported by the Trump administration to the Central African Republic after being arrested during a routine ICE check-in appointment. He had won protection under the Convention Against Torture in 2017 barring his deportation to Eritrea, after fleeing forced military conscription and imprisonment there, but that protection did not prevent officials from sending him to a third country. His wife and 5-year-old son, both U.S. citizens, live in Maryland; his wife, Yrgalem Gehrehiwet, called the deportation "unfair and inhumane" and said their son has been deeply affected by his father's absence. CBS News found no criminal record for Gebrgzabher beyond traffic and immigration violations, and he is now stranded in Bangui without documents.

Fatima Ameaka, a public health researcher at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health and a native of Cameroon who previously held a Fulbright scholarship, was detained by ICE agents at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport while attempting to board a domestic flight. Officials cited an alleged overstay of a visa she entered on in June 2023, which had permitted her to stay until mid-2024, with her arrest reportedly facilitated by a data-sharing agreement between the TSA and ICE. She had a pending asylum application and was rapidly transferred through multiple facilities, from Maryland to Virginia, then to Louisiana, and finally to Texas, all within days. She was released shortly after and returned to Maryland, where she awaits her next court hearing. Johns Hopkins University described her as 'a respected member of our community,' said it was troubled by her arrest and the anxiety it caused, and stated it is providing her legal representation and support.

A native and citizen of Mexico has been present in the United States since 2018. On July 24, 2026, he was detained by immigration officials in Ocean City, Maryland and taken into custody at the Farmville Detention Center in Virginia, where he remained for over a week. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his classification as an "applicant for admission" subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2), arguing instead that he should be subject to discretionary detention under § 1226(a) with the right to a bond hearing. The federal government argued that anyone in the United States without lawful admission is subject to mandatory detention. The district court agreed with him, finding that § 1226(a) is the applicable detention scheme for noncitizens already present in the country. The court granted the habeas petition, ordering he be released from custody and provided an individualized bond hearing before an Immigration Judge within 14 days, where the judge must determine whether he poses a danger or is a flight risk.

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.

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.

Styrobert, a defected Venezuelan military officer who fled Venezuela in 2019 after opposing government corruption and human rights violations, was taken into custody at his routine ICE check-in appointment on July 14, 2026, despite appearing with his attorney and having a pending asylum petition. The ICE officer aggressively confined him to a separate room, insulted his attorney, and confiscated his phone, wallet, and clothing. Styrobert was transferred between multiple detention facilities—ICE Baltimore to Farmville, Virginia; then to Richmond ICE processing center; and finally to Wynn Detention Center in Louisiana. His attorney filed a Habeas Corpus Petition on 7/17 and a Temporary Restraining Order on 7/19 to prevent further transfers or deportation. Styrobert faces grave danger if deported to Venezuela, where he is considered an "Enemy of the State" and would face imprisonment and torture in the country's notorious prisons.

Yeferson Jose Canamo-Jordan, a 28-year-old Venezuelan national, and Felipe Fernando Reymundo, a 23-year-old Guatemalan national, were arrested by ICE during vehicle stops in Upper Marlboro on July 9, 2026, after being released from Prince George's County Detention Center. Both men had been released from county custody after their charges were dismissed or resolved. Canamo-Jordan entered the U.S. in August 2022 and has been convicted of driving without a valid license and recently charged with assault. Reymundo entered without inspection and has faced arrests since 2025 on charges including arson and motor vehicle theft. ICE alleged Canamo-Jordan was affiliated with Tren de Aragua. The arrests followed Prince George's County's decision to decline ICE detainers; the county executive signed an executive order in February banning the use of county property as immigration detention facilities.

Arturo, a Guatemalan man who fled extortion and violence, was detained by ICE while returning home from a work shift. He was scheduled for hernia surgery and has Type II diabetes, but is receiving no medical attention in out-of-state detention. His family—wife Maricel and three children—faces financial hardship due to loss of his income.

Gavilan Sanchez, a Mexican national without legal immigration status and mother of U.S. citizen children, was arrested by ICE agents during the same June 11 operation that led to the detention of her husband, Jesus Acevedo Sanchez, outside a Baltimore school. Her attorney said agents threatened to do to her "what we did to your husband or worse," and ICE initially accused her of punching officers, though a later affidavit described only "minimal physical resistance." A federal judge ordered her release in early July, and since then her daughters have been staying with relatives. On July 23, a separate judge ordered ICE to release Acevedo Sanchez as well, calling the case a "stomach churner" and finding that ICE lacked probable cause and failed to follow due process procedures during the arrest.

Activists from People Over Papers shared video footage claiming ICE agents detained a documented U.S. Army veteran in Marydel, Maryland on June 23, 2026. The man's brother, who filmed the encounter, said officers restrained the veteran in retaliation for observing them, shouting that he was "fully legal" before officers allegedly threatened to tase him for filming. ICE had not publicly commented on the allegations, and it remained unclear why the man was detained or whether charges had been filed.

A Guatemalan citizen who entered the United States 22 years ago on a temporary visa was arrested by ICE on June 22, 2026, while on his way to work in Baltimore. He is married with a child who has special needs and requires frequent medical care. He is the sole financial provider for his family. He was arrested without a warrant and has not been presented with one. He filed a habeas corpus petition and application for temporary restraining order challenging the lawfulness of his warrantless arrest under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) and § 1357(a)(2). On August 7, 2026, the federal court granted his petition, finding that his warrantless arrest was unlawful because no statutory exception applied. The court ordered his immediate release and converted his temporary restraining order application into a preliminary injunction, also waiving bond requirements.

Joel, a 25-year-old landscaper and father of a 10-month-old U.S. citizen daughter, was detained by ICE in an unmarked vehicle stop while en route to work. He was held for five days in an unapproved Baltimore detention facility where he reports being denied food and water and forced to sleep on the floor. He was subsequently transferred through Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and back to Pennsylvania before being deported to Guatemala without opportunity to say goodbye to his daughter, leaving his 22-year-old partner and infant child without income or support.

César was detained by ICE and subsequently deported to Mexico, leaving behind his wife Gloria and their 9-month-old son Abel. Gloria now struggles financially without César's income, faced eviction, and is seeking funds to cover living expenses and travel costs to depart the U.S. and reunify the family in Mexico.

Montgomery County Sheriff Maxwell Uy admitted that his office improperly transferred a person to ICE custody on June 18, 2026, in violation of the Maryland Community Trust Act, which prohibits local law enforcement from transferring individuals to ICE without a judicial warrant. After receiving backlash from Montgomery County Council President Natali Fani-González, Uy stated the transfer did not meet the act's exceptions and pledged to implement additional measures to prevent similar incidents.

A Salvadoran citizen who received withholding of removal in 2024 and was released on supervision was detained without warning on June 12, 2026, when he reported to the Baltimore ICE Field Office as directed. ICE revoked his release and prepared removal documents intending to deport him to Mexico without following required procedural safeguards or providing notice and opportunity to be heard. The court granted his habeas corpus petition, finding ICE violated due process and the Accardi doctrine by failing to follow its own regulations, and ordered his immediate release on the previous supervision conditions.