Human Impact Project

Federal immigration enforcement in the San Antonio region has intensified, with ICE data showing nearly 1,500 arrests since January 2025. The arrests include approximately 900 people with criminal convictions, over 400 facing pending criminal charges, and about 140 accused of other immigration violations. Local families report increased pressure and concern, particularly after recent enforcement operations at Hardberger Park and plans for a new ICE detention facility on the East Side. One woman described her husband's arrest after he and coworkers were stopped while leaving a city work site, noting that workers have become targets at job locations.

Three men who were riding in the van when ICE fatally shot driver Lorenzo Salgado Araujo have all been released from federal custody, including his brother Victor Salgado Araujo, who witnessed the shooting from the passenger seat and spent more than 50 days in detention. One of the men, identified by his stepdaughter Juana Degollado as Daniel Tirado Pantoja, has no legal permission to live in the U.S. but no criminal record, according to his family. Attorney Hugo Balderas-Ibarra and Degollado have said the men faced pressure from ICE to self-deport, which would have prevented them from testifying about the shooting; DHS has called the allegation "categorically false." The Harris County District Attorney's Office is now moving toward presenting the investigation to a grand jury.

Hebert Kaleth Ibarra Castro, a 20-year-old mariachi musician, was arrested by ICE on June 25, 2026, at a traffic stop in China Grove, Texas, while returning from a musical performance in his mariachi outfit. Castro arrived in the U.S. at age 4 on a B-2 visa fleeing violence in Mexico; ICE claims he entered illegally, though his wife states the visa expired in 2020. He was detained at a South Texas ICE facility where he remained in his mariachi attire for nearly 18 hours before being allowed to change clothes. ICE agents allegedly mocked and discriminated against him because of his traditional mariachi clothing. While in custody on July 4, Castro performed 'The Star-Spangled Banner.' His wife, Marisol Pantosi, is a U.S. citizen and filed his green card application shortly before his detention. State and federal lawmakers, including State Rep. Barbara Garvin Hawkins and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, have publicly called for his release, and mariachi artists nationwide have rallied to demand his freedom.

A Venezuelan family of three — father Freddys Padilla Revilla, pregnant mother Edgarianny Gervis, and their 7-year-old daughter — remain held at the Dilley Detention Center more than a month after attempting to self-deport to Venezuela. The couple had lived legally in Pecos, Texas for three years, working and maintaining ICE check-ins, and sought to leave voluntarily after discovering Edgarianny was pregnant, but say they were arrested at a July 6 ICE check-in after signing forms waiving their rights. On August 13, the family sent Sen. Katie Britt a letter, including a drawing from their daughter, asking for help returning to Venezuela, saying they were inspired by Britt's reported sympathy for another detained child. The family says Edgarianny has not received proper medical care and their daughter has said she 'wants to die' while detained.

Miguel Angel Gomez Alvarado, who had lived in the United States for 14-15 years as an undocumented immigrant, was stopped by police during a traffic stop between November 2025 and February 2026 and turned over to ICE, which held him in deportation proceedings without a bond hearing. Gomez had no criminal record and was raising American citizen children. A federal judge found that holding him without a bond hearing violated his due process rights and ordered his release. The Trump administration appealed the decision to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled on July 2, 2026, that the government cannot hold undocumented immigrants for more than 90 days without a bond hearing and must articulate individualized justification for detention.

A mother and her child were detained by ICE agents in Houston, Texas on July 2, 2026. According to the post, ICE agents used two vehicles to stop the mother's car in a parking lot near an apartment complex around 2:30 p.m. A video of the incident shows the child pleading for help as her mother was taken into custody.

Victor Luna Lopez, a Mexican national residing in the U.S. since 2004, was detained by ICE while working as a roofer after agents observed workers on a private property roof using a drone and conducted document verification. Luna Lopez holds military parole status due to his daughter's active service in the U.S. military, which his family and attorney argue should protect him from detention. He is being held at El Valle Detention Center while his family pursues legal action and public support for his release.

Jesus Eduardo Reyes Hermes, a Venezuelan national with valid Temporary Protected Status, was arrested by ICE on April 28, 2026, while working on his car outside his South-Central El Paso home. His 11-year-old son, identified in court records as J.R.C., was also detained during the incident despite both having pending asylum claims; the boy told El Paso Matters he believes the arrest stemmed from a neighbor's noise complaint to ICE. Reyes Hermes had lived in El Paso for nearly four years and was in the process of applying for a TPS exemption at the time of his arrest. He was transferred to the Camp East Montana detention facility at Fort Bliss and separated from his son. After attorneys filed federal habeas corpus petitions, a federal judge ordered bond hearings, and an immigration judge set a $5,000 bond on June 16; Reyes Hermes was released on June 24, the same day USCIS issued a negative credible fear determination triggering expedited removal proceedings against him. In July, his son requested voluntary deportation to reunite with his mother in Venezuela after three years in El Paso.

A Honduran woman entered the United States without inspection near Presidio, Texas on May 6, 2019, and was encountered by U.S. Border Patrol. She was released from custody at that time with no Notice to Appear. She was subsequently placed in removal proceedings and issued an Order of Release on Recognizance in 2019. As of July 2026, she is detained at Richwood Correctional Center in Louisiana. The court denied her motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent her transfer or deportation, finding that such relief would circumvent the habeas corpus process and that she failed to meet the legal requirements for emergency injunctive relief.

Seven more defendants were sentenced on July 1, 2026, for their roles in the July 4, 2025 protest at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. Six who had pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists received sentences ranging from 22 months to 15 years — Nathan Baumann (22 months), Seth Sikes (6 years), Lynette Sharp and John Thomas (about 9 years each), and Joy "Rowan" Gibson and Rebecca Morgan (15 years each). Ines Soto, who pleaded not guilty but was convicted, was sentenced to 50 years — matching the sentence given the previous week to his wife Elizabeth Soto, who was among eight defendants convicted at trial. Chief U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor said he factored Soto's anti-ICE views and opposition to government immigration policy into the sentence.

Isalia Martínez, a 46-year-old Mexican mother, was detained by ICE agents in the parking lot of Community Care clinic in Austin on June 29 while heading to a medical appointment. After six days in immigration custody and being transferred between two detention centers, she was deported to Michoacán, Mexico. Martínez has two sons, ages 17 and 22, who remain in the United States, and she has expressed devastation at being separated from them. CommUnityCare Health Centers' CEO later confirmed the detention occurred at its facility, said the clinic does not participate in immigration enforcement, and noted an increase in missed appointments as local groups protested the incident and broader ICE activity in Central Texas.

A woman is currently detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the El Valle Detention Center in Willacy County, Texas. She filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the government's authority to detain her without a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A), arguing that mandatory detention without a hearing violates her constitutional rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The court indicated it was inclined to deny her petition based on analogous cases but decided to postpone its final ruling pending the Fifth Circuit's decision in a similar case, Sosnava Rodriguez v. Ortega, Case No. 26-50183. The court denied her request for a preliminary injunction or other immediate injunctive relief, leaving her in detention while awaiting the appellate court's guidance on the due process question.

Tania Romero Naranjo, a 24-year-old Cuban from the Isle of Youth, was detained by ICE on June 26 while attending a routine supervision appointment in Portland, Texas. She entered the United States four years ago with an I-220A form, which allows release under conditions while immigration proceedings continue. She is the mother of a three-year-old U.S. citizen child who has been in his father's care since her detention, and had no criminal record, working in a high-risk job applying fireproofing materials at oil refineries. Her family is urging that she not be deported to Cuba; reporting notes that between 400,000 and 500,000 Cubans nationwide face similar legal limbo under I-220A status, and that ICE detentions of Cubans have risen sharply since early 2025.

The Wichita County Sheriff's Office, in cooperation with the Texas Department of Public Safety and Electra Police Department, conducted a joint enforcement operation on June 25 that resulted in 24 individuals being detained for unlawful presence in the United States. The operation, called "Operation June Bug," included 132 traffic stops and resulted in 109 equipment violations and 15 vehicle impounds. Those detained were from Mexico, India, Cuba, Algeria, Venezuela, Tajikistan, and Russia.

Leonardo Santiago "Santi" Soto Uribe, a 13-year-old 9th grader, was arrested by ICE agents in June along with his father, Benjamin Lerma-Huipio, just outside San Antonio. The boy is being held in a child welfare center in San Antonio while his father is detained at T. Don Hutto Detention Facility in Taylor. Rep. Joaquin Castro reports that ICE initially told the boy he could go home but then reversed the decision, and that the child has not showered and has only been given cookies and juice.

Miguel, 22, was taken into ICE custody while working in Houston. He came to the United States seeking better opportunities and supports himself and his mother. His partner is raising funds for legal representation to fight his detention.

A woman is detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the El Valle Detention Center in Willacy County, Texas. She filed a habeas petition challenging the government's authority to detain her without a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A). While conceding she is subject to mandatory detention under that statute, she alleges the application violates her Fifth Amendment due process rights. The court denied her request for preliminary injunctive relief and decided to await a Fifth Circuit decision in a related case before ruling on her due process claims.

Adrian Andreas Florian, an 85-year-old German national, died at Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen, Texas on June 24, 2026, after spending nearly eight months hospitalized while in ICE custody. Florian presented himself at the Colombia Solidarity Bridge port of entry in Laredo on August 28, 2025, without valid documentation and was taken into ICE custody the following day. On October 1, 2025, ICE placed him at a rehabilitation and assisted living center before transferring him to the hospital on November 4, 2025 due to dementia concerns, high blood pressure, cognitive impairment, and ulcers. He is the 21st person to die in ICE custody in 2026 and the first German national to die in custody that year, with the cause of death pending autopsy results.

A 33-year-old Venezuelan man was detained at an ICE facility in El Paso, Texas and deported on a flight to Venezuela on June 24, 2026. He was transported to a hotel in La Guaira where earthquakes struck hours later, part of a group of more than 100 deportees held there at the time. His partner, Liliana Rojas, has been unable to locate him, and search efforts continue amid rubble as survivors and bodies are recovered.

Geremy Arteaga Cruz, a 19-year-old Lamar High School junior, was detained by ICE in January 2026 after the Trump administration reversed his asylum application approval, which had been granted by USCIS in June 2025. Arteaga Cruz arrived in the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor in 2023 with his twin sister. He was arrested at a convenience store on a misdemeanor public intoxication charge, pleaded guilty, and paid fines, but was transferred to ICE custody while in Harris County jail instead of being released. Before his detention, he was a student at Lamar High School, volunteered at an English literacy program at the University of St. Thomas, and worked as a barber. He has also been identified as a victim of human trafficking and has a pending T visa application. As of June 2026, Arteaga Cruz has been held at Polk Adult Detention Facility for four months. His attorneys contend that had USCIS issued a timely notice of its asylum decision, he would not have been detained. His asylum case is scheduled to be heard by an immigration judge on June 23, 2026.