Human Impact Project

ICE conducted an enforcement operation on May 29, 2026, targeting foreign nationals with criminal convictions. The operation resulted in five arrests: Javier Moya-Tentory, a Mexican national previously convicted of murder in Harris County, Texas; Reinerio Mendoza-Diaz, a Honduran national convicted of second-degree sexual assault on a child under 14 in Fort Smith, Arkansas; Gary Smith Apolinanario-Apolinario, a Peruvian national convicted of fourth-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a child in Stamford, Connecticut; George Abdalla, a Sudanese national convicted of sexual assault in Salt Lake City, Utah; and Jairo Cardenas-Fonseca, a Colombian national convicted of procuring an adult for prostitution in San Jose, California.

Jose Luis Leon was detained by ICE on May 28, 2026, while working. He is the primary provider for his family, which includes his wife who has Lupus and two children ages 3 and 14. His family is fundraising to cover legal expenses and support costs during his detention.

Under a $7.5 million Trump administration agreement, Equatorial Guinea has detained at least 32 asylum seekers at the Bamy Hotel on Bioko Island since November 2025. All detainees had previously been granted some form of protection by U.S. judges. Twenty-five have been forcibly returned to their African countries of origin—Angola, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Mauritania—where they face persecution, while others remain detained and under pressure to leave. Detainees report psychological distress, inadequate medical care, threats from authorities, and monotonous conditions. Human rights advocates argue the deal exploits a loophole to circumvent U.S. court protections and international asylum norms.

Sister Agnes, a Catholic nun from China who had won asylum in the United States, was detained by ICE earlier this year. Even after she won bond in court, ICE refused to release her and kept her in prison for months. She was eventually released to be with her religious community.

Marcelo Jerez, a Dominican Republic national who entered Puerto Rico in 2001 without proper admission, was stopped by four ICE vans on May 11, 2026 while driving to work, despite having no traffic infractions or criminal history. He is married to U.S. citizen Laura Maria de Jesus Rosario and is the father of a one-year-old U.S. citizen daughter with a serious medical condition requiring ongoing monitoring and care. Jerez says ICE officers had him sign documents he did not understand, which he has since tried to retract, and he is being held at the San Juan Staging Facility in Guaynabo. He filed an emergency federal habeas corpus petition seeking release, but a federal court denied his motion for a temporary restraining order, ruling he is subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225 and is not entitled to a bond hearing. The court ordered him to show cause by May 27, 2026 why his habeas case should not be dismissed.

Harold A., a 58-year-old Cuban national, was arrested during a routine ICE check-in, detained for several months, and deported to Mexico without documentation, money, or personal belongings. He arrived in Mexico unable to afford food or rent. According to a Human Rights Watch report, Harold A. was one of more than 4,300 Cubans deported to Mexico between January 2025 and March 2026 under the Trump administration's expanded mass deportation plan, most of whom were never taken before a judge to contest their deportation despite expressing fear for their safety.

A man who entered the United States as an unaccompanied child in 2016 was initially placed in Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) custody. He was released after ORR determined he posed neither a flight risk nor danger to the community. On May 27, 2026, ICE re-detained him following multiple law enforcement encounters. The court granted his habeas corpus petition, finding that his prior release created a protected liberty interest requiring a pre-deprivation hearing before re-detention, and ordered his immediate release.

A Mexican national entered the United States without inspection on June 24, 2021. He was not encountered by immigration authorities at the time of entry, and his first interaction with the Department of Homeland Security occurred during his arrest on May 27, 2026, when he was stopped by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and taken into custody. He was detained without being provided a bond hearing, with the government arguing he was subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2). On June 25, 2026, he filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the lawfulness of his detention and seeking either immediate release or a bond hearing. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California granted his petition, finding that he is not subject to mandatory detention under § 1225(b)(2) and that his detention is instead governed by § 1226(a), which requires a bond hearing. The court ordered his immediate release and stated that if the government seeks to re-detain him, it must provide seven days' notice and hold a pre-deprivation bond hearing before a neutral arbiter.

Oscar Andres Moreno Castrillon, a Colombian father, is urgently seeking legal help to establish paternity of his biological daughter before her mother is deported by ICE. The child's mother, who is currently detained by ICE and faces potential deportation, never allowed Moreno Castrillon to be fully involved in the child's life or have his name placed on her birth certificate. Moreno Castrillon fears his daughter may be taken out of the country before he can legally establish his parental rights and ensure she remains in the United States with family.

A Human Rights Watch report documents that the Trump administration deported over 4,300 Cuban nationals to Mexico between January 2025 and March 2026, many sent to high-violence border areas where they lack legal status, citizenship, or prior ties. Based on interviews with 41 deported Cubans and migrants from other countries, the report reveals that deportees experienced inhumane detention conditions in U.S. facilities, were pressured into going to Mexico under threat of prolonged detention or deportation, and now face severe conditions including homelessness, lack of access to food and healthcare, vulnerability to violence from organized crime, and inability to regularize their status or return to Cuba. The U.S. and Mexican governments maintain an undisclosed agreement to deport Cubans to Mexico despite Cuba's refusal to accept such deportations.

Andry Hernández Romero, a gay makeup artist from Venezuela, legally entered the U.S. in August 2024 and passed a credible fear interview for asylum. In March 2025, the Trump administration deported him to CECOT, a maximum security prison in El Salvador, under the Alien Enemies Act as part of a broader deportation of 237 Venezuelan migrants. Authorities cited tattoos allegedly linking him to gang activity, which his family disputed as relating to a local cultural festival. Hernández Romero was detained in CECOT for over four months before being released in July 2025 as part of a prisoner swap. He was subsequently returned to Venezuela rather than allowed to remain in the U.S. His case became part of a class-action lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act for deportations. A Venezuelan makeup artist was deported to El Salvador and subsequently traveled to Spain to seek asylum. The person states they feel safe in Spain and is pursuing asylum protection there.

Denis Isaías Anariba Herrera, a 24-year-old Honduran, was deported on Christmas Eve 2025 and died of heat exposure while attempting to return to his one-year-old daughter and wife in the United States. He had lived in Houston for five years before his deportation. After spending approximately two months in Mexico, Anariba boarded a Union Pacific freight train in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, headed toward Texas in May 2026. He died inside a railroad container along with six other migrants from extreme temperatures while trapped in the car. His mother, Denia Herrera, recalled his last message to her: "Never forget my little girl, always go see her, visit her." His father, Isaías Anariba, a 47-year-old farmer and construction worker, had emigrated to the U.S. when Denis was a child. His aunt Lilian described him as hardworking and quiet. His family is raising funds for his funeral, planned for May 21 in Houston.

A man who entered the United States in February 2006 was previously detained by ICE and released on bond in 2024. He was re-detained by ICE on May 21, 2026. The court granted his habeas corpus petition, finding that his re-detention violated due process because he was not provided pre-deprivation notice and an opportunity to be heard before an immigration judge. The court ordered his immediate release on the same conditions he was subject to prior to re-detention.

Barnabas Terhemba Jime, a 31-year-old Nigerian national, was arrested by ICE during enforcement operations for wire fraud-related offenses. Jime has a prior conviction for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He remains in ICE custody pending removal from the United States.

Z.M.A.V. and K.S.R.A., two individuals identified by A-numbers 208-272-491 and 208-272-492, were detained by immigration authorities on May 20, 2026. They had previously been released on an Order of Supervision. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted their habeas corpus petition and ordered their immediate release back to the same supervisory conditions that were in effect prior to their detention.

A Cuban national was initially detained upon entering the United States on March 8, 2024, then released on humanitarian parole. After living at liberty for over a year while following all conditions of release and filing an asylum application, he was re-detained by ICE on May 19, 2026, following a routine traffic stop. The court found his re-detention violated due process rights because the government provided no finding of changed circumstances showing he was a flight risk or danger to the community, and granted his habeas petition ordering his immediate release.

A man who entered the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor in 2014 and was released to his mother's custody was arrested by ICE on May 19, 2026 after a traffic violation conviction. The court granted his petition for habeas corpus, finding his detention violated due process because he had been released by immigration authorities and established a life in California with his mother and two U.S.-born children. The court ordered his immediate release and required the government to provide a pre-deprivation bond hearing with clear and convincing evidence of flight risk or danger if it seeks to re-detain him.

A Mexican national who entered the United States in 2003 at age 17 and lived in the country for approximately 23 years was arrested by ICE on May 18, 2026, and charged with inadmissibility under INA § 212(a)(6)(A)(i). He was detained without a bond hearing based on the government's interpretation of 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2). The federal court granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release, finding that his detention should have been governed by § 1226(a), which provides for a discretionary detention process with bond hearing rights.

Obi, who arrived legally on a visa and was in the process of obtaining a green card, was detained by ICE on October 20th without due process. He was held in a detention facility for ten days after a judge ordered his release and bond was posted. His wife, who relies on him as her caregiver due to chronic illnesses, was forced to attend their green card interview alone while he remained detained. He was released with conditions including GPS monitoring and travel restrictions.

The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas granted provisional class certification and a preliminary injunction blocking four key provisions of Texas Senate Bill 4, a 2023 law the court found could allow states to pass their own immigration laws and undermine federal uniformity. The blocked provisions include a reentry crime applicable to anyone reentering Texas even with federal permission, magistrate power to issue deportation orders, criminalization of failing to comply with removal orders, and requirements that magistrates continue prosecutions despite pending federal immigration cases. The class-action lawsuit, filed by the ACLU of Texas and Texas Civil Rights Project on May 4, represents thousands of people across the state, including a lawful permanent resident and a person provisionally approved for a U Visa after assisting law enforcement.