Human Impact Project

Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez, a data analyst employed by the New York City Council, was detained by ICE on January 12, 2026, when he appeared for a routine asylum appointment at the Bethpage Asylum Office on Long Island. Bohorquez, a Venezuelan national with Temporary Protected Status and no criminal record, was held at multiple detention facilities including Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, Orange County, and Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey. An immigration judge initially denied him bond on February 2, but he was granted asylum in immigration court on May 2, 2026. He was released on a $5,000 bond on June 19 after 158 days in detention. City Council Speaker Julie Menin stated that Rubio "had done nothing wrong" and was "wrongfully in ICE detention for months on end." The Department of Homeland Security appealed the asylum ruling.

Dame Ka, an Upstate Medical University worker from Senegal who arrived in the U.S. in 2023, was detained by ICE at Syracuse Airport while traveling to Atlanta to watch World Cup games. Ka said plainclothes immigration officers approached him after he picked up his boarding pass, placed him in handcuffs (concealing them with a cloth), and took him to an office. He was released the same day with an ankle monitor. This is the fourth Upstate Medical University worker detained by ICE in the last year, according to union officials.

Carol Black, a Jamaican-born lawful permanent resident who moved to New York in 1983, was detained by ICE in 2019 for seven months without a bond hearing following a 2000 sex abuse conviction for which he had completed probation. Unable to obtain a hearing to post bond while deportation proceedings continued, Black filed a federal habeas petition arguing the detention violated his constitutional due process rights. During the proceedings, Black sold his home and business and voluntarily left the United States after 40 years of residency. His case is now before the Supreme Court, which will decide whether ICE can hold lawful permanent residents indefinitely without bond hearings.

Keisy G.M., a lawful permanent resident from the Dominican Republic who has lived in New York City since 2011, was detained by ICE for 21 months without receiving a bond hearing. G.M. was arrested in October 2020 after being charged with assault following a fight and served a two-year sentence. Throughout his detention, the government sought to deport him without providing an individualized bond hearing to determine whether continued detention was justified. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2024 that his prolonged detention violated due process, and G.M. was ultimately released following a court order. The Supreme Court agreed to hear Genalo v. Black, which will determine whether the Constitution requires the government to provide bond hearings for lawful permanent residents in deportation proceedings and whether due process requires the government to justify continued detention by clear and convincing evidence.

Michel Manuel Garcia Rojas, a 39-year-old Nicaraguan national who entered the U.S. illegally in 2023, was arrested on March 5, 2025, when Homeland Security Investigations agents attempted to detain him for deportation. During the arrest, Garcia Rojas resisted and assaulted a federal agent, striking him in the face and throwing him repeatedly into a door, causing injuries including jaw bruising and a back injury. It took six officers and a Taser to subdue him. Garcia Rojas pleaded guilty on February 9, 2026, to resisting, impeding, and assaulting a federal officer and inflicting bodily injury. He was sentenced on June 17, 2026, to 51 months in federal prison, after which he will face deportation to Nicaragua.

Scarleth, 10 years old, called out in distress—'Why are you taking my papa from me? He's the only one I have'—as ICE agents arrested her father outside a New York immigration court. Photographer Carol Guzy documented the incident as part of her year-long coverage of families affected by immigration enforcement.

Juan Bonilla Lagos, a 32-year-old Colombian national, was arrested by ICE agents in Plainview in October 2024 while sitting in his car with his wife and 5-year-old son during what his family says was a trip to a doctor's appointment. During the arrest, agents threatened to break the car window as his child clung to him and pleaded with agents not to take him away. Bonilla Lagos, who entered the U.S. in 2022 fleeing gang violence in Colombia, was detained at an ICE facility in Batavia, New York, where he attempted suicide three times during his nine-month custody. He has no criminal record and has filed an asylum petition. On July 7, 2026, he was released and reunited with his wife and two children at Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan. The prolonged separation caused severe mental health trauma to his family, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress.

ICE agents arrested Mosiah Wright, a Jamaican national, during enforcement operations in the New York City metropolitan area targeting what the agency described as noncitizens with criminal records and immigration fugitives. Wright had been previously removed from the country and was convicted of murder in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. ICE said he was also arrested for carrying a concealed weapon, drug possession, resisting arrest, and probation violations. Several other noncitizens from El Salvador, Ecuador, and Honduras were also apprehended during the operation.

Georgii Gabiev, a Russian national from Brooklyn, was arrested by ICE on June 9, 2026, after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in a March 2024 crash near Maynard, Minnesota that killed semi-truck driver Tim Tarnowski. Investigators determined Gabiev ran a stop sign while watching a YouTube video on an iPad, causing the fatal collision. He served 120 days in jail before his release and subsequent ICE arrest. Gabiev is now in federal custody pending removal proceedings.

Mohamed Fofana, a 22-year-old asylum seeker from Guinea employed at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, was detained by ICE on November 11, 2025, near his home. He was held for seven months in detention facilities in Batavia and La Salle County, Texas. In February 2026, his attorney reported losing contact with him for a month due to facility transfer confusion, and an immigration judge granted a 45-day continuance. An immigration judge ordered his deportation in May 2026, but a federal judge vacated that order and approved his habeas corpus petition in June 2026. Fofana was released and returned to Syracuse on June 7-9, 2026, to reunite with his family.

On June 2, 2026, ICE agents detained seven employees from Indian Heritage restaurant in Lake Placid during a traffic stop near Fowler's Crossing on State Route 86 as they traveled to work. According to North Country Immigrant Allies and other advocacy groups, all seven detainees possessed work authorization and legal status to live and work in the United States. The detainees were transported to a detention facility in Batavia, approximately 300 miles away. Local law enforcement was not aware of the operation.

ICE conducted raids at a metal casting plant in Abbeville, South Carolina and worksites in Lake Placid, New York in late May and early June 2026, detaining 48 workers at Burnstein von Seelen Precision Castings and 21 workers in New York. According to activist groups, many of the detained workers had legal permission to work in the U.S. and were not given the opportunity to provide documentation. The plant manager and HR director were also detained on charges of knowingly hiring undocumented workers.

Alexander Jose Regnault-Avila and his 4-year-old daughter Alexandra were detained by ICE agents on Friday, May 31, 2026, in Albany while walking to the girl's pre-school. The family had entered the U.S. without authorization in 2023, and an immigration judge ordered their removal in 2024. The pair were held for 4 days and deported to Venezuela on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, just days before Alexandra's pre-K graduation. Regnault-Avila's partner and 1-year-old daughter remain in the United States. The detention sparked protests in Malta and Albany and is being cited in advocacy for the Access to Representation Act, which would provide free immigration attorneys to immigrant residents in New York.

Hermel, a migrant from Ecuador, was arrested by ICE and detained for nearly four months before signing voluntary departure paperwork and being returned to Ecuador. His wife Anita and two children—Scarleth, now 11, and Ashley, 3—remained in New York. Hermel's deportation devastated the family: Hermel reported his house is half-built and he is struggling emotionally. Anita has ended their four-year relationship, cannot find full-time work, and her debts are mounting as she struggles to support their children alone.

An 8-year-old U.S. citizen was detained in a federally contracted shelter in Brooklyn for nearly seven months after being picked up at the Mexico-U.S. border. Despite his grandmother providing federal officials with his birth certificate establishing his U.S. citizenship through his mother, the Office of Refugee Resettlement did not investigate his citizenship status. An advocate documented that the child appeared sad, isolated, and reluctant to engage during detention. He was released only after an immigration judge ruled him a U.S. citizen and a federal lawsuit was filed. He was subsequently placed with his grandmother in Brooklyn.

Leo Argoti Rubio, a pastry chef at Fauborg restaurant in Montclair, New Jersey, was detained by ICE on June 1, 2026 while entering a shopping center in Buffalo, New York. He had a valid work visa, a pending asylum case, a Social Security number, and a clean record. His community, including the organization Latinos of Montclair, launched a legal defense fund to support his bond costs, court fees, and emergency expenses while his asylum case proceeds.

Nuvia Martinez was detained after attending a routine ICE check-in appointment at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan and held in severely overcrowded conditions for days. Martinez, who has diabetes, was denied access to her required medication despite medical need. She described the facility—designed to hold people for only 12 hours—as holding dozens of detainees in small rooms with no beds or full-time medical staff. In sworn testimony, Martinez reported that women who were menstruating were bleeding through their clothes, almost no food was provided, there were no showers available, and detainees had no access to basic hygiene. She stated: "I was just a body that they crammed into a room, almost as if to be forgotten." The detention occurred as ICE arrests surged.

A federal court in Manhattan ruled that local police officers' Fourth Amendment violations against a migrant were so egregious that ICE was required to release him from immigration detention. Public interest and Gibson Dunn attorneys secured the habeas corpus decision, which they believe marks the first time a federal court has forced ICE to release a detainee based on Fourth Amendment violations committed by local law enforcement.

A Venezuelan maintenance worker at Grandview Resort in Lake Placid was arrested by ICE agents on May 28 when he arrived for work. He has lived in Lake Placid for over two years, holds valid work authorization through a five-year work permit tied to temporary protected status, has never missed an immigration check-in, and has no criminal history. He was one of 14 workers detained during the operation at the resort and was transported 12 hours to Batania Detention Center near Buffalo, where agents restrained detainees and he was held with only water for the journey. Unable to contact his family for three days, he was released on bail after approximately two weeks in detention and now wears an ankle monitor. His wife collapsed upon learning of his arrest. He is pursuing a pending political asylum case and reported experiencing daily fear and trauma, avoiding locations where he was detained.

On May 28, 2026, ICE agents from the Champlain sub-office detained 14 people in a raid at a parking lot on Mirror Lake Drive in Lake Placid. The detainees included approximately a dozen roofers working on a short-term roofing project for a local business and staying in employer-provided workforce housing, as well as a local man with several years of community ties, valid work authorization, and a pending asylum case. According to advocacy groups including North Country Immigrant Allies, all detainees possessed work authorization and were legally permitted to reside and work in the United States. All detainees were transported to a detention facility in Batavia, approximately 300 miles away. Local law enforcement was not aware of the operation.

Dolores Bustamante Romero, a 54-year-old apple picker and farmworker advocate from Wayne County, New York, was detained by ICE on April 22, 2026, during a mandatory check-in appointment at the Buffalo office without notice that her supervised release was being revoked. A Mexican national who fled gender violence in 2003 and arrived in the U.S. seeking asylum, Bustamante has lived in upstate New York since 2012 and was a well-known advocate for migrant farmworkers and member of Alianza Agricola. She was instrumental in securing New York's Green Light Law and an executive order banning State Police from inquiring about immigration status. She had no criminal record and had attended four previous check-in appointments without incident while enrolled in an alternatives-to-detention program under the Biden administration. U.S. District Judge Meredith Vacca ordered ICE to return her to Western New York and held an evidentiary hearing on May 26, 2026, to review whether ICE violated her due process rights by detaining her without proper notice.

Jairo Antonio Molina Moron, a 38-year-old Venezuelan national, was arrested by ICE Buffalo's Fugitive Operations Team and U.S. Marshals Service deputies during a targeted operation in Albion on May 24, 2026. Molina had been arrested by Yonkers Police Department in February 2025 for felony assault, and ICE lodged an immigration detainer, but local authorities refused to honor it and released him. He is now detained in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings.

Mosaih Omar Wright, a Jamaican national previously deported from the U.S. in 2013 after serving a murder sentence, was taken into custody at a federal prison in New York on May 22, 2026. Wright had entered the U.S. as a stowaway in 1995, was convicted of murder in Minnesota in 1997, and later re-entered the country illegally after his 2013 deportation. He now faces removal proceedings for a second time.

A man was detained by ICE in Buffalo, New York on May 21, 2026, while traveling for work. His family is raising funds to cover legal fees and expenses to defend his case.

Dylan Lopez Contreras, a 21-year-old Venezuelan student at ELLIS Preparatory Academy in the Bronx, was detained by ICE in May 2024 after attending a mandatory immigration court hearing in Lower Manhattan. He was transferred to Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania, where an immigration judge denied his asylum claim in September 2024 and ordered his deportation to Venezuela. After nearly 10 months in detention, Contreras was released on March 18-19, 2025, while his legal team pursued an appeal of the deportation order. He returned to school while applying for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, subject to an ankle monitor and ICE check-ins as his asylum appeal remains pending. Dylan Lopez Contreras, a 20-year-old high school student at Ellis Preparatory Academy in the Bronx, was arrested by ICE agents in May 2025 at a Lower Manhattan courthouse after attending a mandatory immigration hearing. He was held in federal custody for nearly 10 months before being released on March 18, 2026, on his own recognizance with an ankle monitor. His detention was notable as the first widely documented case of a public school student in New York City being detained by federal agents under the Trump administration. A teenager named Ricardo was held in ICE detention and spent time in solitary confinement, prompting outrage from the Chicago community. His mother, Martha Liliana, and community members organized a rally calling for his release. Dylan, a 16-year-old high school student in the Bronx, was arrested by ICE when attending a routine court date at an immigration courthouse in New York City. The arrest occurred as part of ICE's campaign of arresting people at mandated immigration court hearings and fast-tracking deportations. Dylan, a 20-year-old student from Ellis Prep High School, was detained by ICE in May during an asylum hearing. He remains in ICE custody. This case is part of a pattern of ICE detention of NYC public school students attending legal hearings.

A Dominican man was detained by plainclothes ICE officers immediately after an immigration hearing at the immigration court inside the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York on June 6, 2025. This arrest occurred one day after a federal judge issued a ruling barring federal agents from routinely detaining people who appear for immigration court proceedings in New York City, finding that people should not have to risk arrest to exercise their legal right to pursue asylum claims or attend deportation hearings.

Oliver Mata Velazquez, a 19-year-old living in Buffalo, was arrested by ICE at an immigration courthouse, detained, and fast-tracked for deportation. The NYCLU filed a lawsuit challenging his arrest and secured his release.

William Fabian Peralta-Malla, an Ecuadorian, was detained by ICE after being charged, but not convicted, in a vehicular manslaughter case. The government invoked the Laken Riley Act to justify mandatory detention based on the unproven charge alone. U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres ruled that detention without an individualized bond hearing violated due process, ordering a bond hearing within seven days and requiring the government to demonstrate clear and convincing evidence to justify continued detention.

Allan Dabrio Marrero, a gay asylum seeker from the Cayman Islands, was detained by ICE on November 24, 2024, immediately after attending a marriage-based green card interview at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City with his U.S. citizen husband Matthew. Although USCIS approved his marriage petition, ICE agents arrested him outside the building after discovering a 2022 removal order that Marrero claims he never received—he states he was in a rehabilitation center when the hearing occurred. Advocates and faith leaders, including Make the Road New York and Middle Collegiate Church, called for his release, citing ICE's failure to provide prescribed medication for anxiety and depression and the lack of notice regarding the original hearing. A motion to reopen his deportation case paused removal proceedings but did not secure immediate release. A judge granted Marrero release on $6,000 bond on January 27, 2026, finding no flight risk given his clean record and marriage to a U.S. citizen. However, ICE refused to accept the bond payment and continued his detention across five facilities. Marrero was finally released on May 15, 2026, reuniting with his husband at Middle Collegiate Church after nearly five months in custody.

On May 14, 2026, ICE allegedly arrested at least five people in Geneva, New York, including a U.S. citizen at a Byrne Dairy gas station and four men stopped while driving to work. One person was later released after providing proof of citizenship. Community protests and rallies organized by local advocacy groups, including the Finger Lakes Rapid Response Network and Geneva Women's Assembly, continued into late May with marches to the arrest locations.

Elder Lopez-Avalos, a 27-year-old undocumented immigrant, was arrested by Nassau County police on May 10 on fire and arson charges connected to multiple vehicle fires in Freeport, including fires near a children's center parking area. ICE took him into custody on May 12 with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and he remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

A young dairy worker was detained by ICE agents at a Hispanic-owned convenience store in King Ferry on Friday morning, marking the third immigrant detained in the area in approximately six weeks. The detentions have affected dairy farm workers in Cayuga County, prompting community members to organize a rally and march on Saturday to protest the increased enforcement actions.

Jeury Concepcion, 19, was chased down and taken to the ground by ICE agents near East Gun Hill Road and Hull Avenue in the Bronx in a case of mistaken identity. He was left bloodied and bruised, requiring several stitches. Concepcion was eventually released after producing his ID to prove he was not the suspect the agents were seeking.

Chansarath Duong, a Cambodian refugee who entered the US as a child in 1982, was detained by ICE on May 4, 2026, after 25 years on supervised release. Duong had been living in the US under Orders of Supervision since 1999 following a 1997 drug conviction, but Cambodia has consistently refused to issue travel documents for his removal. The court granted a temporary restraining order requiring his immediate release, finding that ICE violated its own regulations by having an unauthorized officer revoke his supervision.

On May 2-3, 2026, ICE agents arrested Chidozie Wilson Okeke, a Nigerian national who had overstayed his tourist visa since August 2023, during an enforcement operation near Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn. Okeke sustained injuries during the arrest and was taken to the hospital's emergency room. Approximately 200-300 anti-ICE protesters gathered outside the hospital in response, resulting in a five-hour confrontation with NYPD. Nine people were arrested on charges including obstructing traffic, blocking emergency entrances, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, reckless endangerment, and criminal mischief. During the protest, ICE vehicles were damaged, pepper spray was used against agents, and an ICE vehicle struck a protester; four NYPD officers and several DHS agents sustained minor injuries. On May 4, elected officials and community leaders, including City Council Member Sandy Nurse, rallied against the incident, citing direct coordination between ICE and NYPD and demanding the city respect sanctuary city laws.

Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian citizen, Fulbright scholar, and Columbia doctoral student in urban planning, had her visa revoked by DHS without explanation. ICE agents visited her building three times, twice without a warrant. She fled to the United States and remains in Canada.

Josue Alvarado, who fled gang extortion in Ecuador with his family in 2024, was detained by ICE in 2025 after the Trump administration canceled CBP One paroles. On May 1, 2026, his scheduled asylum hearing was canceled just before trial when a judge granted the government's motion to pretermit his case within hours, denying his attorney the standard 10 days to respond. He was ordered deported to Ecuador despite his family's fear that return would result in kidnapping or death from the gang members pursuing them.

On April 28, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit unanimously ruled that the Trump administration's mandatory detention policy for immigrants without inspection—implemented in July 2025—violated federal immigration law and constitutional due process by denying bond hearings. The case centered on Ricardo Barbosa da Cunha, a Brazilian national who had lived in the U.S. for over 20 years with work authorization, a business, and a pending legal status application when detained under the policy in September 2025. The court rejected the government's statutory interpretation of 1996 immigration law, finding it improperly expanded detention to all non-citizens regardless of U.S. residence length, criminal history, or community ties. The decision created a circuit split, as two other appellate courts had previously upheld the policy, setting up likely Supreme Court review.

Alexander Jose Vizcaino Marrufo, a Venezuelan citizen, was detained by ICE and held at Buffalo Federal Detention Facility. He filed a habeas corpus petition on April 24, 2026, alleging unlawful detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225 and requesting immediate release or a bond hearing. The court granted his motion to prevent removal from the United States until an evidentiary hearing determination is made, but denied his requests for immediate release and to prevent transfer within districts.

Allan Marrero, a Cayman Islands native, was detained by ICE on November 24, 2025, after arriving for a routine marriage-based green card interview at a USCIS office in Lower Manhattan. ICE discovered a prior removal order from 2022 related to an overstayed tourist visa and a missed immigration court hearing that occurred while Marrero was in alcohol rehabilitation. An immigration judge reopened his case and granted bond in January 2026, citing his clean criminal record and community support, but ICE refused to accept bond payment and used procedural mechanisms to continue his detention. Marrero was moved between multiple facilities across Arizona, Texas, Mississippi, and New York. After 150 days in custody, he was released on April 23, 2026, following a lawsuit that challenged ICE's refusal to honor the bond order. He was reunited with his husband Matthew.

Kerrie, a transgender Guyanese asylum seeker, was detained following collusion between Nassau County Police and ICE. She is being held in a men's detention facility and is being denied gender-affirming care. Advocates are calling for her release and reunification with her community in New York City.

ICE detained five Myanmar nationals in Buffalo, New York during an enforcement operation targeting undocumented migrants. One person was arrested while waiting to deliver packages at a warehouse in Pembroke. Community members identified the detainees as asylum seekers.

A 24-year-old Hispanic man and City University of New York graduate was arrested by federal agents on his way to the Long Island Rail Road in Hempstead. He was released from federal custody after lawyers filed an emergency lawsuit challenging his arrest. The incident is part of a class action lawsuit filed by civil rights organizations alleging that ICE is unlawfully arresting immigrants in New York based solely on race or ethnicity.

A 36-year-old Hispanic man was arrested by federal agents while entering his apartment building in Bushwick, Brooklyn, after coming home from work. He was released from federal custody after lawyers filed an emergency lawsuit challenging his arrest. The incident is part of a class action lawsuit filed by civil rights organizations alleging that ICE is unlawfully arresting immigrants in New York based solely on race or ethnicity.

Juan Carlos Quintero, 41, was arrested by federal agents in three unmarked cars while watching a game of dominos in Staten Island after saying he did not have an ID. He was released from federal custody after lawyers filed an emergency lawsuit challenging his arrest. The NYCLU, Make the Road New York, and the Legal Aid Society filed a class action lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of eight immigrants, alleging that ICE is unlawfully arresting people in New York based solely on race or ethnicity.

John Bol Ajak, a 26-year-old former Syracuse University basketball player, was taken into ICE custody in early March 2026 following his arrest in Syracuse on charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. His student visa had expired in 2023 after his graduation. He was held at Buffalo Federal Detention Facility and Moshannon Valley Processing Center for over a month. During a virtual hearing with Elizabeth Immigration Court in New Jersey on April 2-3, 2026, an immigration judge found that Ajak had overstayed his visa. Ajak agreed to voluntary deportation to South Sudan and was scheduled for removal within 60 days.

Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a 56-year-old nearly blind Rohingya refugee from Myanmar, was released from Erie County jail on February 19, 2026, after U.S. Border Patrol agents determined he was ineligible for deportation. Border Patrol agents dropped him at a Tim Hortons coffee shop north of Buffalo without notifying his family or attorney. Surveillance footage contradicted DHS claims that the location was safe and open; the store was closed except for the drive-thru. Alam, who spoke little English and required a cane to walk, went missing for several days. His body was found on February 24 near KeyBank Center, approximately four miles from the coffee shop. Local officials later ruled his death a homicide, caused by complications of a perforated duodenal ulcer precipitated by hypothermia and dehydration.

Rafael Concepcion, a Syracuse University professor, developed DEICER, a crowdsourced mapping app that alerts users to ICE activity and agent locations. After the app gained 30,000 users, the Department of Justice pressured Apple to remove it from the App Store in October 2025. Concepcion lost his university job and received death threats but continued developing modified versions of the tool.

Carlos Corte-Corte was arrested on March 28, 2026, after leading a four-year-old child out of a laundromat in Patchogue, New York; the child was found at a nearby library. ICE arrested him on March 31 and initiated removal proceedings. According to DHS, Corte-Corte illegally entered the U.S. at least four times since 2020, with three prior removals. He was charged with second-degree kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child.

Adrian Ramirez, a Dominican Republic native with an approved juvenile immigrant visa, was detained by ICE on January 16, 2026, while traveling to work in Syracuse after being stopped by agents at a work site. He was held at detention facilities in Batavia and Louisiana, including Jackson Parish Correctional Center, for approximately nine weeks. With support from his Syracuse community, including All Saints Catholic Church members who raised money and wrote letters on his behalf, and assistance from strangers in Louisiana, Ramirez was released on bond with an ankle monitor and returned home to reunite with his family, including his infant son.