Human Impact Project

ICE conducted a workplace raid at a mushroom farm in Chester County, Pennsylvania, resulting in the arrest of approximately a dozen workers. The incident appeared to be the first major workplace raid in the region's mushroom industry since the 1990s and signaled an intensified enforcement effort targeting undocumented immigrants. The raid prompted heightened anxiety among immigrant workers in the area.

A Mexican citizen who entered the US as a minor in 1996 and lived continuously in the country for 30 years with two US citizen children was arrested and detained by ICE on May 18, 2026. He was transferred to the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia under mandatory detention provisions. The court ruled his detention unlawful and ordered his immediate release, finding that the detention statute does not apply to long-term residents arrested in the interior.

Juan David Arango-Caicedo, a 28-year-old Colombian immigrant who had lived legally in the U.S. for over three years, was detained by ICE at a check-in appointment in May 2026. He became temporarily out of status when his lawyer failed to meet a deadline to file necessary paperwork following his marriage to a U.S. citizen, Nicole, despite having an approved green card petition from USCIS and valid work authorization. He was held at Moshannon Valley Processing Center while his wife pursued legal proceedings for his release. Arango-Caicedo was among 4,400 people whom federal judges determined were unlawfully detained by ICE during President Donald Trump's administration.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed rulings ordering the release of two long-time U.S. residents detained by ICE without bond, finding that mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) applies only to noncitizens actively "seeking admission," not those apprehended in the interior years after entering the country. The court also held that detaining such long-resident noncitizens without a bond hearing violates due process protections under the Fifth Amendment. Judge Mascott dissented, arguing the statute should be read more broadly to permit detention without bond. The ruling addresses the cases of two individuals previously ordered released by federal judges in Philadelphia after more than a decade in the United States.

Carlos Della Valle, a Mexican national and long-term resident of Chester County, Pennsylvania, was detained by ICE in December 2024 after being arrested at an airport in St. Thomas while on family vacation. He was held across 12 different detention facilities, including centers in Louisiana and Florida, and reported inhumane conditions during his confinement. Despite claiming a judge had declared him not guilty, Della Valle was detained under a 1997 deportation order. His wife Angela, a U.S. citizen, and supporters rallied for his release. He was released in late April 2026 after 258 days in custody and returned to his home in Chester County.

ICE agents raided OK Service LLC, a gutter and roofing construction company, on the morning of May 6, 2026, detaining at least six or seven workers in a parking lot across from Hilltop Community Children's Center in Pittsburgh's Knoxville neighborhood. Surveillance video showed masked agents chasing employees as they ran, creating a chaotic scene while parents were dropping children off at a nearby elementary school. Daycare staff used whistles and a toy drum to alert neighbors to the operation. The business owner said the workers had documentation showing they were in the immigration process, with at least one holding a valid green card. Three of the detained workers were released within hours, while several others remained in custody. ICE officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Luis Gilberto Loja Mayancela, a 24-year-old Ecuadorian immigrant living in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, held Special Immigrant Juvenile status and valid work authorization when he was detained by ICE. His detention separated him from his wife and their 3-month-old son. A local congressman investigated the case and confirmed Mayancela's valid work authorization at the time of his arrest. He was held at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center. A U.S. District judge ruled that he is entitled to a bond hearing in immigration court, giving authorities seven days to schedule it or release him.

Ian Hill, a Springdale resident protesting the borough's ICE partnership, was confronted by a passing ICE supporter who stopped his car; the supporter punched a different protester while video showed Hill neither striking nor being struck. Nearly three months later, Hill was charged with simple assault and terroristic threats over social media posts, but all charges were later dropped.

A vigil titled "Disappeared in Berks" was held at the First Unitarian Universalist Church in Reading to commemorate 75 immigrants discharged from Berks County Jail to ICE between March 2025 and March 2026. Seventy-five pairs of empty shoes were displayed to represent those taken. The event featured testimonies including a letter from Gladis Garzon about her husband Carlos Gonzalo, who has been in ICE custody for eight months after being transferred from the county jail, and has been moved between detention facilities in multiple states.

A federal judge in Philadelphia ordered the Trump administration to pay nearly $40,000 in legal fees to an immigrant who sued ICE over its attempt to require him to wear an ankle monitor. U.S. District Judge Kai N. Scott found that ICE's actions were unlawful and that the agency offered no factual basis to justify requiring the monitor as the man's immigration case proceeded. The man, identified only by his initials N.N., had been released on bond by an immigration judge who determined he was neither a safety nor flight risk.

Ulugbek Badalov, held at Philadelphia Federal Detention Center, filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus challenging his mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225. On April 27, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted his petition, finding he was not subject to mandatory detention. The court ordered Badalov's immediate release from custody and temporarily enjoined the government from re-detaining him for seven days. If the government seeks to re-detain Badalov after the seven-day period, it must first provide him with a bond hearing before a neutral immigration judge to determine whether detention is warranted pending resolution of his removal proceedings.

William 'Danny' Rosenmund, a Springdale library board member who regularly spoke at borough council meetings, was forcibly pulled from the podium and taken to the ground by police during an April 21 meeting. He had been questioning the borough's 287(g) agreement with ICE and criticizing officials for approving it without a public vote, continuing to speak after exceeding his three-minute limit and being ordered to stop. He was charged with two counts of aggravated assault and five misdemeanors. The county's acting chief public defender called the charges 'inappropriate' and said he would push to have them dropped or reduced.

Nearly 100 detainees at Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County launched a hunger strike between April 16-19, 2026, to protest detention conditions and medical care. The strike began after a detainee became ill with influenza on April 16, with 50-70 detainees in the same housing pod initially refusing an evening meal due to food contamination concerns. Advocacy groups reported that detainees were protesting unsafe living conditions, including contaminated food, inadequate medical care, and staff indifference to medical emergencies, with reports of a recent medical emergency in which a detainee lost consciousness without receiving proper care. Advocacy group Frontline DIGNITY called for the facility's shutdown and independent investigation. Clearfield County commissioners met with GEO Group leadership, the facility operator, to address the incident.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained two Bhutanese refugees from Central Pennsylvania over the weekend. Both men are permanent residents on a path to U.S. citizenship. The detentions are part of an ongoing pattern where the Trump administration is deporting Bhutanese refugees back to Bhutan, which then re-deports them to India without travel documents, leaving them stateless.

Bruno Guedes da Silva, a Brazilian man who fled to the U.S. in 2022 seeking asylum, was detained by ICE agents in Sewickley, Pennsylvania on February 21, 2026, despite possessing valid work authorization, a Social Security number, and a driver's license. ICE cited a warrant for felony charges related to firearms and falsification of documents, though those criminal charges were later dropped related to allegedly lying about his immigration status on a firearm purchase application in July 2024. His 6-year-old daughter, Maria, began chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma shortly after his detention. Da Silva was held at Northern Regional Jail in Moundsville, West Virginia, until a judge granted him bond on immigration charges in April 2026, allowing him to reunite with his daughter.

On April 4, 2026, ICE agents arrested 13 undocumented individuals from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan at a PennDOT driver's license center in Kittanning, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. A website error had directed individuals seeking commercial driver's license renewals to the facility, resulting in an unusually large crowd of over 100 people. East Franklin Police received reports of the gathering and contacted ICE. During the operation, multiple people fled the scene, some abandoning vehicles and running through residential yards to evade agents. One person resisted arrest and allegedly assaulted a law enforcement officer. PennDOT stated it follows federal law and uses the SAVE database to verify legal presence for license applicants.

A 76-year-old Indonesian father was detained by ICE agents outside the Philadelphia Criminal Justice Center on April 7 while attempting to drop assault charges against his 47-year-old son in court. The father was released shortly after his detention, but his son remained in immigration detention over two weeks later. The incident has raised concerns among advocates about immigrants risking deportation when participating in the justice system. Advocates have called for restrictions on ICE activity at the courthouse, where dozens of immigrants have been arrested in the past 15 months.

A man detained under immigration law filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging his detention. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted his petition on April 7, 2026. The court ordered respondents to immediately release him from custody and return all personal belongings and identification documents confiscated during his detention. The court enjoined respondents from detaining him for seven days following his release based on 8 U.S.C. §§ 1225 or 1226. If the government seeks to detain him after seven days, it must provide a bond hearing within 48 hours or his remedy will recur. The petitioner may submit a motion for attorney fees within 60 days of the order.

Subramanyam 'Subu' Vedam, 64, a legal permanent resident from India, spent more than 40 years in prison after a murder conviction that was later vacated amid findings that prosecutors had withheld ballistics evidence. Upon his release, ICE took him into custody based on a longstanding deportation order tied to an early-1980s drug conviction, even though he was days away from becoming a naturalized citizen. Immigration Judge Adam Panopoulos ruled that Vedam could remain in the United States, citing his spotless prison record, rehabilitation, academic study, and mentoring of nieces he came to know only while incarcerated. His sister testified in support of him, and Vedam said in a statement he was grateful for the support of his family and friends. DHS has until May 4 to appeal the ruling, and Vedam must still file a bond request before being released from custody.

Nine clergy members and one immigration activist were arrested on Monday morning while blocking the ICE headquarters garage in Center City Philadelphia as part of a "Week of Action Against ICE and Collaborators." Homeland Security officers forcibly removed the protesters from the garage doors and took them into custody around 9:45 a.m. All were charged with obstructing access to the garage under federal security infrastructure rules and issued violation notices requiring $530 in penalties or a federal court appearance.