Human Impact Project

Alberto Rodríguez, 73, a Cuban who had lived nearly 50 years in the United States, was deported to Mexico as part of the Trump administration's third-country deportation program. He arrived in Villahermosa at 2 a.m. in prison garb and spent his first nights sleeping in a park. Rodríguez, who uses a cane due to a stroke that leaves him perpetually foggy, now sits outside a Catholic shelter with limited prospects for work or medical care. He has expressed suicidal ideation since his arrival.

A woman who entered the United States on August 2, 2021 on a B-2 visitor visa filed an I-485 application for adjustment of status on February 27, 2026. On March 26, 2026, she attended a biometrics appointment scheduled in connection with her pending adjustment of status application when she was detained by ICE authorities at that appointment. Following her detention, she was provided a bond hearing where an immigration judge concluded she posed a flight risk and danger to the community based on a dismissed misdemeanor charge. She filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus and motion for temporary restraining order challenging her detention. On May 5, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California granted her habeas corpus petition, finding that ICE improperly used the adjustment of status process as a vehicle for "gotcha law enforcement" in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The court ordered her immediate release on the conditions she was subject to prior to her detention and enjoined respondents from re-detaining her through the adjustment of status process.

Neysis was detained by ICE while six months pregnant with twins. When she began experiencing painful contractions, she was shackled to a hospital bed instead of receiving compassionate medical care. The incident has prompted calls for Congressional investigation into detention facility conditions.

The Trump administration's crackdown on student visas has resulted in cancellations affecting some of Africa's best and brightest students. The policy has separated at least one Iranian couple, with the wife on a student visa unable to reunite with her husband due to the travel ban.

Martha Ruiz, a Salvadoran immigrant arrested in Austin last October, suffered a stroke while in ICE custody and is now recovering in an Austin hospital. Her family said they received no updates on her health for months and learned she was ill through a cellmate, with agents preventing them from visiting until a legal relief allowed a reunion. Ruiz said she was not given needed medical care despite having had surgery shortly before her arrest, and spent nearly a week in intensive care after collapsing. The Department of Homeland Security said she was detained over an outstanding warrant in her home country for conspiracy to commit murder, a claim her family denies, and said ICE provides adequate medical care to those in custody.

A U.S. lawmaker confronted the Border Patrol commissioner during a Congressional hearing about an incident where Border Patrol agents allegedly pepper sprayed a U.S. citizen family—including a baby—through their vehicle window as they attempted to leave a parking lot. The commissioner acknowledged that pepper spraying into a moving vehicle window is not proper procedure and said he would follow up on whether any agents were investigated or disciplined.

Ciocolata Munteanu, a 25-26-year-old Irish citizen, was deported by ICE from Los Angeles to Dublin on March 24, 2026, after living in the U.S. for five years. Before her deportation, ICE confiscated her car and $20,000 in savings, leaving her with $200. Upon arrival at Dublin Airport, she was arrested on outstanding shoplifting charges from 2018-2019 for stealing two hams and cosmetics when she was a teenager in Cork. She pleaded guilty in Cork District Court, paid €380 in compensation, and received fines totaling €200 (€100 per theft).

An Indian immigrant who has lived in the US for 25 years was first detained by ICE in March 2012 following a 2007 conviction for attempted lewd acts with a minor. He lost his lawful permanent resident status and has been under Orders of Supervision since 2017, requiring regular ICE check-ins. A court granted a temporary restraining order preventing ICE from re-arresting him without notice and a hearing before a neutral adjudicator.

A Guatemalan citizen who had been released on bond and granted withholding of removal in 2013 was detained on March 24, 2026 during a routine ICE check-in. He had fully complied with his supervision order for over 12 years with no new criminal history. ICE agents told him he was being arrested because of the new administration and they would find a third country if they couldn't send him to Guatemala. The court granted a temporary restraining order requiring his immediate release.

A 70-year-old Iranian woman who had resided peacefully in the United States for 26 years was detained by the Trump administration without valid legal justification. Federal Judge Gary Klausner expressed shock at the government's inability to provide adequate cause for her detention and ordered her release. Her case exemplifies a pattern in which the Department of Justice has failed to present valid arguments to justify detentions across numerous cases.

An undocumented individual with a felony conviction has been sentenced to more than 15 years. No additional details about the nature of the conviction, jurisdiction, or circumstances are provided in the available text.

A man who had been granted parole on August 15, 2024, was re-detained by ICE on March 22, 2026, without notice or an opportunity to be heard. Respondents stated he was re-detained after violations of his conditions of release. The court granted his habeas petition, ordered his immediate release on the same conditions as before his re-detention, and enjoined respondents from re-detaining him without providing notice and a pre-detention hearing.

A Venezuelan citizen entered the U.S. on June 21, 2022, was initially detained by immigration authorities, then released on his own recognizance on June 24, 2022. He was re-detained by ICE on March 22, 2026, without notice of the reason for his re-detention or opportunity to contest it. The court granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release, finding that his re-detention without notice and hearing violated due process.

A Vietnamese national who entered the U.S. as a refugee in 1988 was re-detained by ICE on March 20, 2026, during a routine check-in. He had a valid removal order issued against him in 1997, but removal efforts failed at that time and he was released on an Order of Supervision. The court denied his habeas petition on July 16, 2026, finding that changed circumstances—including improved U.S.-Vietnam diplomatic relations and deportation protocols—created a significant likelihood of his removal in the reasonably foreseeable future.

A 21-year-old Indian citizen entered the U.S. without inspection in June 2024 and was released on his own recognizance with removal proceedings pending. He complied with all release conditions and filed for asylum. Immigration authorities re-detained him on March 19, 2026, without notice or opportunity for a hearing. The court granted his habeas petition and ordered his immediate release, finding the government violated his due process rights.

A Trump administration rule has prevented approximately 200,000 immigrant truck drivers, including DACA recipients, asylum seekers, and refugees, from obtaining or renewing commercial driver's licenses, citing safety concerns. Texas began canceling existing licenses held by legally present noncitizens in December 2025, leaving drivers like Veronica Viera, a DACA recipient and mother of four, unemployed and forced to seek other work.

An Eritrean national entered the United States without inspection on March 9, 2023, and has resided in the country for approximately three years. On March 13, 2026, ICE arrested him and placed him in removal proceedings under 8 U.S.C. § 1229a, detaining him pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2) as a person who entered without inspection. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention and sought either an individualized custody determination or release, arguing he should be detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), which permits bond hearings. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma denied his motion for temporary restraining order, finding that he failed to demonstrate likelihood of success on the merits, irreparable harm, or that the equities favored release. The court determined his detention under § 1225(b)(2) was lawful and his due process claims were either premature or inadequately argued.

An individual who entered the U.S. in December 2023 was initially detained by immigration authorities, then released on their own recognizance after approximately one month. On March 13, 2026, they were taken into custody for a traffic violation and subsequently detained again by immigration authorities. The court ordered their immediate release, finding that their prior release created a liberty interest and that continued detention violated due process.

Alejandra Juarez, a Mexican immigrant and wife of decorated Marine combat veteran Temo Juarez, was deported during the first Trump administration, leaving behind her husband and two school-age daughters. In 2021, after lawmakers' intervention, President Biden granted her humanitarian parole to reunite with her family. However, her parole expired in June 2025, and she has no path to citizenship. She signed a document as a teenager that permanently barred her from legal status. With the administration ramping up immigration enforcement and ending parole programs, Juarez sees no viable legal option and must leave the country by July 4 to celebrate her younger daughter's 16th birthday before departing.

The petitioner was arrested on March 5, 2026, and charged with carrying a concealed firearm, a felony under Florida law. Three days later, on March 8, 2026, immigration authorities apprehended him following that arrest. On April 16, 2026, the criminal charge was dismissed via nolle prosequi. He is currently held at the Central Valley Annex detention facility. He filed a habeas corpus petition and motion for a temporary restraining order, arguing that his re-detention without a pre-deprivation bond hearing violated his due process rights. The court found that, unlike in a prior case where it ordered immediate release, the circumstances here—an immediate detention following a pending felony arrest—suggested a non-pretextual change in circumstances justifying revocation of his prior release. The court therefore granted the petition and TRO but ordered a post-deprivation bond hearing rather than immediate release, requiring the government to prove by clear and convincing evidence that he is a flight risk or danger to the community. The court ordered Respondents to provide the bond hearing within 14 days or release him immediately, with seven days' advance notice and a status report due within 17 days.