Human Impact Project

Cary López Alvarado, a U.S. citizen, was arrested by ICE while nine months pregnant after exiting immigration court in New York City alongside her husband, a Guatemalan immigrant. ICE detained her overnight but released her after discovering her citizenship status. She experienced sharp stomach pains immediately after release and gave birth days later. She has filed a claim against the federal government seeking $1 million, citing unlawful arrest and unconstitutional conduct. Her husband has since been deported, leaving her without income and uncertain about childcare arrangements.

Jorge, an Ecuadorian national, was detained by ICE agents at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan on September 6, 2025, while his eight-month pregnant wife Jessica waited outside. Three days later, their daughter was born, and Jorge was deported to Ecuador without meeting her. Jorge had fled Ecuador after his brother was killed by gang members and faced continued danger there. He was attempting to resolve his immigration status after marrying Jessica, a U.S. citizen who had become a citizen in 2023, and was wearing an ankle monitor when arrested during a required court appearance. Jessica, now caring for their newborn daughter Maite Cristina, their 9-year-old son Dylan from her previous marriage, and Jorge's daughters from a prior relationship, faces financial hardship and fears for Jorge's safety in Ecuador. They are waiting for an I-130 family petition to be approved to reunite.

Orville Etoria, a 62-year-old Jamaican man with legal permanent residence in the U.S., was deported to Eswatini in July 2025 despite serving his sentence and complying with ICE supervision orders. After his release from prison in 2021, he lived in New York, obtained a master's degree in theology, and worked at a men's shelter while reporting regularly to ICE. When ICE requested he obtain a Jamaican passport earlier in 2025, he complied, but was instead sent to Eswatini rather than Jamaica. His family did not know his whereabouts for several days, and his attorneys report they have been unable to contact him and fear for his safety. Jamaican officials stated their country does not refuse repatriation of its nationals.

Sergio Ayala Mejia, a 36-year-old who arrived in the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor fleeing MS-13 gang pressure in Guatemala, was detained by ICE in September 2025 while dropping off his sister at work, separated from his newborn daughter Ailany and two other children. He was deported to Guatemala without a court hearing despite a pending appeal to reopen his case—the same day an immigration judge granted his motion to reopen and rescinded his 2007 deportation order. After four months in Guatemala, he was brought back to the U.S. on humanitarian parole in December 2025 but re-detained in New York for three additional months before being released on bond in March 2026. Ayala Mejia now fears driving and worries about the lasting impact on his children, including his 3-year-old son who developed anxiety during his absence.

Joaquin Herrera Avila, a Mexican national, was detained in Minneapolis by ICE without bond after failing to produce legal credentials. A lower court in Minnesota had granted his habeas petition, but the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that decision, ruling that immigrants in removal proceedings are not entitled to bond hearings and can be held in mandatory detention without judicial intervention.

Jemmy Jimenez Rosa, a 42-year-old legal permanent resident from Peru with a valid green card for over 20 years and mother of four, was detained by CBP and ICE for 10 days after returning from a family vacation in Mexico on August 11, 2025. Her detention was based on a marijuana possession conviction from over 20 years ago that had been pardoned and her record sealed. Rosa was initially held at Boston Logan International Airport for four days without proper medication or access to basic necessities, then transferred to a detention center in Maine without being informed she had legal representation despite CBP agents promising to relay that information. She experienced an anxiety attack during detention. She was not entered into any federal detainee database for three days, making it difficult for lawyers to locate her or seek a bond hearing. Her attorney challenged the detention as unconstitutional, leading to her release on August 28, 2025.

On August 27, 2025, Vasquez (49) and Ramirez (40), a married couple from Mexico, were arrested by ICE during a traffic stop in Tulsa despite having pending U visa applications and federal deportation protections as crime victims who assisted law enforcement in prosecuting a serial rapist. Ramirez was held for four months at Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Texas, where she was denied access to seizure medication for her epilepsy. Vasquez was detained for over seven months at a CoreCivic facility in Cushing, Oklahoma, and attended 13 immigration court hearings before winning a habeas corpus lawsuit granting him a bond hearing. The prolonged separation and detention resulted in job loss, eviction from their home in Broken Arrow, and approximately $12,000 in accumulated legal debt. Vasquez was released in April 2026 on deferral of removal grounds, followed by Ramirez's release. Both remain without legal status and are working to recover financially while awaiting U visa hearings.

Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry, a disabled U.S. Army veteran from Pakistan who has lived in the United States since 2000, was detained by ICE on August 21, 2025, when he arrived for a citizenship interview in Tukwila, Washington. Chaudhry served in the Washington Army National Guard from 2001 to 2005 and was honorably discharged due to a back injury sustained during training; the injury left him using a wheelchair and experiencing severe pain. He has been living in Lacey with his wife Melissa and their two children, and has dedicated his post-military life to activism, serving on former Governor Jay Inslee's Committee on Disability Issues and Employment and as president of Veterans for Peace Olympia. Federal officials say Chaudhry failed to initially disclose fraud convictions from Australia in 1996 related to using documents that were not his to open a bank account and obtain benefits; Chaudhry's wife states he was coerced into pleading guilty and was told there would be no criminal record, and that the convictions carried a lenient sentence. An immigration judge denied his bond on August 29, 2025, leaving him detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma while his removal case moves through the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, where he has an ongoing appeal challenging a 2020 Board of Immigration Appeals decision that overturned an immigration judge's 2018 ruling allowing him to keep his green card.

ICE agents confronted Francisco Longoria and passengers in San Bernardino on August 16, 2025. Masked agents in an unmarked vehicle surrounded the car and fired at least three shots. According to the family, the agents did not identify themselves before smashing the driver's window and opening fire, with bullets striking near where Longoria's teenage son was seated. ICE claimed Longoria drove toward officers. The family and their attorneys dispute this account and are requesting a criminal investigation. Francisco Longoria was stopped by ICE and CBP agents without a warrant on August 16, 2026. When agents smashed his truck window and drew guns, Longoria drove away and agents fired three shots, hitting the vehicle. He was subsequently charged with weaponizing his vehicle against officers and detained for months before charges were dropped. Longoria's family has filed a lawsuit alleging the shooting violated use of force policy and a court order against racial profiling.

On August 16, 2025, ICE conducted enforcement operations at a Home Depot and car wash in Anaheim, detaining at least five people despite a federal court order prohibiting indiscriminate sweeps. At the Euclid Car Wash, ICE deployed tear gas against a crowd of bystanders and arrested Isaac Dominguez, an uninvolved Black bystander who was there to wash his car, after he reportedly confronted the agents.

Alejandra Juarez, a Colombian national who lived undocumented in Florida for 20 years, was deported to Mexico, leaving behind her 16-year-old U.S. citizen daughter Pamela and her husband Temo, a naturalized U.S. citizen and former Marine. Her deportation was initiated following a 2013 traffic stop that exposed her undocumented status. A 2001 citizenship petition was rejected after she was accused of making a false statement during an asylum claim in 1998. Juarez chose to self-deport rather than face forcible removal, settling in Merida in the Yucatan with plans for her younger daughter Estela to join her. Temo remained in Florida to care for Pamela and maintain their roofing business.

US Border Patrol agents conducted a raid outside a Home Depot in Los Angeles's Westlake neighborhood using an unmarked Penske rental truck, with masked officers jumping out and arresting 16 people. The operation, called 'Operation Trojan Horse,' occurred despite a federal court order prohibiting indiscriminate raids in the region due to evidence of racial profiling and targeting based on appearance, language, and location.

Beata Siemionkowicz, a Polish-born green card holder who legally immigrated to the United States in 1995 and obtained her green card in 2003, was arrested by ICE agents on August 2, 2025, while gardening in her daughter's backyard in Des Plaines, Illinois. She was detained based on retail theft convictions from 2005 and 2011, and allegations of document fraud related to immigration benefits in 2001. Siemionkowicz worked as a commercial cleaner and hospice caregiver and was the sole provider for her household of two adult daughters, Claudia and Gabi. Since her arrest, she has remained in custody at Campbell County Detention Center in Kentucky, where detainees reported conditions including black mold and dead bedbugs. Her daughter Gabi temporarily dropped out of nursing school to cover her mother's mortgage, utilities, and legal fees. An immigration judge issued a removal order on December 9, 2025, but her family has filed an appeal and is working with Senator Dick Durbin to seek her release.

Sorayda Noyola, 31, and her siblings Claudia, 19, and a third sibling were arrested by ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents during a construction site raid near their mother's home in Texas. Sorayda was documenting the raid when an agent grabbed her arm and attempted to seize her cell phone; when she objected, agents tackled all three siblings to the ground, handcuffed them, and arrested them. Sorayda and Claudia were detained for hours at the ICE Field Office in Harlingen, and agents confiscated both of their phones without returning them. MALDEF filed a Federal Tort Claims Act administrative claim seeking $2.5 million in damages for personal injury and $2,000 for the lost phone for each sibling, alleging unlawful assault, arrest, and detention in violation of their constitutional rights.

A federal judge placed U.S. Army veteran Ian Davis Austin on probation with restricted travel to Pennsylvania and Minnesota, mandatory mental health assessment, and suspended firearm access following a disorderly conduct charge stemming from anti-ICE protests. Austin was arrested twice during clashes between state police and protesters outside a detention facility in Newark, New Jersey on Memorial Day weekend. He is one of 39 defendants charged under the Face Act following a January 18 protest at Cities Church in Saint Paul during Trump administration immigration enforcement actions.

Lewelyn Dixon, a lab technician at UW Medicine who arrived from the Philippines at age 14 and held a green card for more than 50 years, was detained by Customs and Border Protection at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Feb. 28, 2025, while returning from a family trip to the Philippines. Her attorney said the detention stemmed from a 2001 nonviolent embezzlement conviction for which she had already served her sentence and paid restitution, though it had never before affected her travel or green card renewals. She spent nearly three months at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, where she described conditions as 'horrific' and 'super crowded' and spent time helping other detainees and forming friendships, including with an Afghan woman who gave her a beaded bracelet. Immigration Judge Tammy Fitting ruled on May 29, 2025 that Dixon should not be deported, citing her decades as a lawful permanent resident, community ties, and arrival as a child. Family, coworkers, and union supporters from SEIU Local 925 rallied outside the detention center and celebrated her release. About a month later, Dixon applied for U.S. citizenship, passed her interview in October, and took the Oath of Allegiance on July 20. Her niece, Donna Cristobal, said, 'I'm relieved now that she's documented and doesn't have to go through this again... It was a really bad time for us, the whole family.'

More than 230 Venezuelan men held in U.S. immigration custody were expelled to El Salvador in March 2024 by the Trump administration and detained for four months in a maximum security terrorism prison where they alleged torture. A lawsuit filed in federal court accuses aviation companies CSI Aviation and GlobalX of violating civil rights and deliberately transporting the men despite a federal judge's order to return the flights and knowledge they would likely be tortured. The suit claims the private contractors worked in concert with the U.S. government in flagrant violation of U.S. and international law.

Zia S., 35, an Afghan immigrant and father of five who served as a translator for U.S. troops for five years, was detained by ICE agents on Wednesday outside a USCIS office in East Hartford while submitting biometric information for his green card application. Zia, his wife, and children fled Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in 2021, fearing retribution for his work with U.S. forces. The family arrived legally in the U.S. in October 2024 on humanitarian parole and "boarding foils" from the U.S. embassy in Islamabad, and all seven family members had approved Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applications granting them a pathway to permanent residency. ICE transported Zia to a detention facility in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and issued an expedited removal order claiming he did not enter the country legally—a claim his attorney, Lauren Cundick Petersen, disputes. Petersen said Zia told her he feared returning to Afghanistan, where he faced death threats for his service to U.S. forces; according to No One Left Behind nonprofit, more than 300 Afghan translators and their family members were killed between 2014 and 2021.

Hamza Mohamed Al-Kashif, born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents and thus stateless, entered the United States on September 5, 1982 with an F-1 student visa. He was ordered removed on July 18, 2007, with his removal order becoming final on December 12, 2007 when the Board of Immigration Appeals denied his appeal. He was designated for removal to Kuwait with Egypt as an alternative destination. After being released from ICE detention on July 3, 2008, Al-Kashif was re-detained on July 7, 2025 at a routine ICE check-in without notice or opportunity to contest the revocation of his release. Over nine months of continued detention, ICE made only one documented effort to secure travel documents—a letter sent to Egypt in January 2026, six months after his re-detention, with no response received. The court found no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future and granted Al-Kashif's habeas corpus petition, ordering his immediate release on the same conditions as before his re-detention, with protections against re-detention without a pre-detention hearing and restrictions on removal to a third country without due process.

Carmen, a woman who fled domestic violence and obtained a restraining order against her abusive husband, applied for a U-Visa in March 2025 after he was deported. Despite having a pending U-Visa application and valid work authorization, she was detained during a June 2025 immigration check-in and deported in July 2025 along with her 8-year-old son. Upon arrival in her home country, her husband was waiting for her at the airport. She is now controlled by him—he confiscates her passports and phone, forbids her from leaving the house without permission, and she lives in constant fear.

Marvin Isaac Caceres Maradiaga, a Honduran citizen with a 2023 removal order, was surveilled at his Tampa home by ICE agents who suspected his residence. When ICE confronted him, relatives emerged and an altercation began. ICE agents entered the home without a judicial warrant, obtaining only verbal "consent" after threatening to break down the door. Caceres fled but was later apprehended.

Kenia Perez, mother of two US citizen children ages 6 and 9, was arrested by ICE agents at her home in Texas. She was the sole parent since their father died five years ago. Despite telling her attorney she wanted to see her children as soon as possible, she was deported to Honduras only three days after her arrest, leaving her two young sons without a caregiver.

Nancy Martinez, a 37-year-old factory worker and 15-year resident of New Haven, was arrested by ICE agents on June 9, 2025, while driving her two U.S. citizen children—13-year-old Monse and 8-year-old son—to school. Masked and armed agents in three unmarked vehicles boxed in her car, handcuffed her in front of her children, and did not present a judicial warrant or identify themselves as ICE. Martinez's grandmother came outside to help the children after her arrest. She was detained in multiple facilities across Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, and Texas before being deported to Mexico approximately one month later. Martinez subsequently filed a federal civil lawsuit against ICE and the federal government alleging violations of her constitutional rights, including assault, recklessness, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and unlawful detention.

A single mother of three granted legal status under the child separation settlement was deported to Honduras in July 2025 along with her children, despite possessing protections under the federal settlement agreement. According to court records, she has received death threats from local men seeking to extort money since her return.

Fernando Eduardo Artese, 63, a dual Italian-Argentinian citizen working as a security camera technician, was stopped during a routine traffic stop on June 25, 2025, while driving with his family in a camper van. Officers discovered an outstanding warrant for failure to appear in court for a driving violation. Artese had been living legally in the US since 2018 under the Visa Waiver Program and was planning to self-deport and relocate to Argentina with his family. He was detained and transferred to the ICE facility known as "Alligator Alcatraz" in the Florida Everglades, where his family reports he has been denied information about his case and access to legal representation.

Felipe de Jesus Hernandez Marcelo, a 28-year-old father from Mexico, was shot twice during an attempted robbery in Muscatine, Iowa on June 21, 2025, suffering injuries to his arm and leg that nearly killed him. After recovering in the hospital, he visited the police station on June 24 to retrieve his seized belongings. Police arrested him on an old traffic warrant and transferred him to ICE custody within hours. He has been detained since late June pending removal proceedings. His case is among a growing number of crime victims arrested and detained for removal following the Trump administration's January 2025 rescission of a policy that had shielded many victims from detention.

Claudia Alvarenga España, a Guatemalan woman living in Manassas, Virginia, with her husband Jhoan Mesen and four U.S.-born children, was taken into ICE custody on June 3, 2025, during a required check-in at an ICE office in Chantilly while pursuing withholding of removal protection. She fled Guatemala in 2010 to escape domestic abuse and human trafficking, has no criminal record, and was in compliance with her order of supervision. Despite a federal judge's order prohibiting her removal, she was deported to Guatemala on June 10 but returned to the U.S. the next day after a Guatemalan official informed her of a pending hearing. She has since requested voluntary deportation and remains in ICE detention in Texas with no clear timeline for processing her request. Unable to endure continued family separation, her husband announced in mid-June that the family has decided to voluntarily leave the United States and relocate to Costa Rica to reunite with her, ending their 15-year residence, and has begun preparations to sell their home.

Sergei Izbitski, 46, has lived in the U.S. for 34 years after leaving Kazakhstan as a boy. He built a successful painting and remodeling business in New Jersey and maintained a home there with no criminal history. On June 9, 2025, ICE arrested Izbitski and transported him to Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia, New Mexico. He cannot be deported because Kazakhstan will not recognize him as a citizen, and no other country will accept him, yet he remains detained without bond hearings under the Trump administration's interpretation of immigration law subjecting long-term non-citizen residents to mandatory detention. His case is one of more than 100 similar cases in New Mexico where individuals face indefinite detention while challenging the government's detention policy.

Sergei Izbitski, a 46-year-old who has lived in the U.S. for 34 years after leaving Kazakhstan as a boy, was arrested by ICE on June 9 and transported to the Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia, New Mexico. Izbitski is not a Kazakhstani citizen, making deportation impossible. He has no criminal history and operated a successful painting and remodeling business in New Jersey. After a prior deportation attempt failed, he was placed on immigration supervision. A U.S. Magistrate Judge recommended his release on conditions, though his case remained pending. Izbitski is among more than 100 individuals detained in New Mexico challenging the Trump administration's interpretation of immigration law that subjects long-term residents to mandatory detention without bond hearings.

Sergei Izbitski, a 46-year-old who has lived in the U.S. for 34 years after fleeing Kazakhstan as a boy, was arrested by ICE on June 9 and transported to the Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia, New Mexico. Izbitski cannot be deported because he is not a Kazakh citizen and no country will accept him. He ran a successful painting and remodeling business in New Jersey, has no criminal history, and had been complying with immigration supervision. Despite a federal magistrate judge recommending his release on conditions, he remained detained indefinitely as of the article's publication. His case is among more than 100 similar cases in New Mexico where long-term residents are being held without bond hearings.

Miguel Lopez, a Livermore father of three, was detained during a routine ICE check-in in May 2025 and deported to Mexico in June 2025 despite a judge's order to allow him to stay. On March 17, 2026, supporters gathered outside federal court as Lopez awaited a judge's decision on whether his permanent resident status was wrongfully stripped in 2014. Lopez's attorney argues the government never provided valid reason for revoking his residency.

Valentina Galvis, a Colombian asylum seeker, appeared at Chicago Immigration Court on June 5, 2025, hoping for a hearing on her asylum case. Her husband Camilo had been granted asylum in the same court two weeks earlier after they both fled far-right paramilitary violence in Colombia in 2022; Galvis had also survived a brutal assault from the paramilitary group. Instead of a hearing, federal prosecutors asked the judge to dismiss her case. Plainclothes agents detained her immediately upon leaving the courtroom. Galvis and her seven-month-old son Naythan, a U.S. citizen, were taken to the Sonesta Chicago O'Hare Airport Rosemont hotel, where they were confined to a two-room suite for five days with the phone removed, monitored by private guards contracted by ICE, and given no information about their whereabouts or release. Her attorney filed a habeas corpus petition and a judge ordered her not be removed from Illinois, but ICE did not inform her of these legal developments. On the fifth day, she was released to ICE's Intensive Supervision Appearance Program office in Chicago and fitted with an electronic monitoring bracelet. The contractor MVM Inc. transported her during her detention. Her original asylum case dismissal is now on appeal and she has a new case pending.

Mehrzad Asadi Eidivand, a 41-year-old undocumented Iranian resident, was arrested by HSI agents at his home in June without a warrant. He pleaded guilty on August 21 to possessing firearms and ammunition. His attorney claims he faces an execution order in Iran due to his views against the country's Islamist regime. After taking a plea deal with time served and two years' probation, Eidivand was immediately detained by ICE and has been held at Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico, California for three months, where ICE agents have allegedly pressured him to sign a deportation order without legal representation.

Sinri Baltazar, a member of the Afro-indigenous Garifuna community from Honduras, was first separated from her then-5-year-old daughter in 2018 under the Trump administration's family separation policy. In 2024-2025, immigration officials presented her with a document they claimed would allow her family to stay together, but it actually facilitated their removal. She was deported with her three children, including one who is a U.S. citizen. Under a federal judge's order in April 2026, she was allowed to return to Louisiana with her three children. The family is currently living with an acquaintance from church while working to reestablish stable housing. Baltazar expressed gratitude that her children could seek a better life but emphasized the family's desire for a safe home of their own.

ICE agents arrested multiple individuals outside the Phoenix immigration court on Tuesday, May 21, 2025, including at least two people immediately after their court hearings. One documented case involved a Venezuelan man in his 20s who had entered through the CBP One program and was preparing for a credible fear interview. Attorneys noted that some individuals whose cases appeared to be dismissed were taken into custody. The arrests followed a January DHS directive that reversed protections for courthouse arrests, a policy that had previously restricted ICE enforcement in sensitive locations. Similar enforcement actions occurred at immigration courts across the country, with agents in Los Angeles positioned to coordinate notifications when cases were dismissed. The Trump administration has expanded immigration enforcement by enlisting agents from multiple federal agencies including the U.S. Marshals Service, DEA, ATF, and FBI.

A.D., a 16-year-old from Guinea, was arrested by Suffolk County Police on May 16, 2025, and transferred to ICE, which held him in an adult detention facility at Moshannon Valley Processing Center for nearly two months due to a clerical error. ICE mistakenly believed he was 26 years old based on a secondary school entrance exam document from Guinea that erroneously listed his birth year as 2000, despite multiple federal and state documents—including his passport, birth certificate, and HHS records—showing he was born in May 2009. Federal Judge Marilyn J. Horan ordered ICE to transfer A.D. into the custody of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement while conducting an age reassessment. A.D. had fled Guinea in December 2023 after local police threatened to burn down his family home due to their Fulani heritage, and had been living in a foster home overseen by New York City's Administration for Children's Services when he was arrested.

V.M.L., a 2-year-old U.S. citizen born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on January 4, 2023, was detained by ICE on April 22, 2025, during a routine check-in at an Intensive Supervision Appearance Program office in New Orleans. She was apprehended alongside her undocumented mother and 11-year-old sister. When her father provided citizenship documents and his attorney filed emergency motions for habeas corpus and a temporary restraining order to prevent deportation, an ICE officer told the father they would deport his family anyway. The child and her mother were deported to Honduras on April 25, 2025, before the court could rule on the legal motions. The mother was held in an undisclosed location, cut off from family and counsel, and reportedly coerced into accepting deportation under duress. Federal Judge Terry Doughty expressed strong suspicion that the government deported a U.S. citizen "with no meaningful process" in violation of due process protections and scheduled a hearing for May 16 to investigate.

Dr. Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national and postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University on a valid research visa, was arrested by federal agents on March 17, 2025, outside his home in Arlington, Virginia. Plainclothes ICE agents detained him and transported him over 1,300 miles to detention facilities in Texas, where he remained for nearly two months in poor conditions. The Trump administration cited his social media posts supporting Palestinian rights and his wife's family connection to Gaza as grounds for visa revocation. On May 14, 2025, Federal Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles ordered his release on bond, ruling that his statements constituted constitutionally protected political speech, that the First Amendment applies to noncitizens, and that his detention violated due process protections with no evidence of wrongdoing.

Akbor Miah, a Bangladeshi national, was arrested by U.S. Marshals in New York on May 6, 2025, and extradited to Florida to face first-degree murder charges in the shooting death of Monica Islam, his sister-in-law, whose body was discovered along a road in Mount Dora in May 2025. Investigators found evidence linking Miah to the crime. Federal immigration officials have lodged a detainer on Miah with the Lake County Jail, requesting his transfer to federal custody if released. Records show Miah was previously deported in January 2019 after an immigration judge issued a removal order, but later re-entered the United States illegally and was released by federal authorities in March 2022.

ICE officers arrested dozens of delivery and rideshare drivers at the gates of Camp Pendleton military base in California as part of an "interagency security initiative" launched in May 2025. Many of those detained had temporary permission to work in the U.S. and were employed by apps like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and GrubHub. Federal judges have repeatedly found the detentions violated due process, yet the base and ICE continue the practice.

Mohsen Mahdawi, a lawful permanent resident and Columbia University student, was detained by ICE on April 14, 2025, immediately after his naturalization interview at a USCIS field office in Vermont. Federal Judge Crawford ordered his release on April 30, 2025, after finding that the government arrested him in retaliation for his pro-Palestinian speech and activism, violating his First Amendment and due process rights. The Trump administration had targeted him for lawful political speech deemed contrary to U.S. foreign policy. Mahdawi was released on bail pending resolution of his habeas petition, though he may still face deportation proceedings.

America Perez Ramirez, 52, was ordered by DHS to check in at an ICE field office and bring airline tickets for deportation to Mexico with her 11-year-old U.S. citizen daughter Yoselin, who has Maple Syrup Urine Disease, a life-threatening rare genetic disorder. Yoselin requires her mother's care to survive and her University of Florida doctor stated she cannot live without current treatment. Perez Ramirez, who came on an H2-B labor visa and was trafficked by her employer, had received four previous stays of deportation under prior administrations, but was denied another stay this time.

A pregnant mother and her 2-year-old U.S. citizen daughter were deported to Honduras after the mother was given less than two minutes on the phone with her husband to decide the child's fate. Attorneys say ICE denied the family contact with lawyers and each other throughout the process. ICE produced a one-page note in Spanish claiming consent, but her attorney states she was forced to write it and did not willingly consent to the deportation.

A 4-year-old U.S. citizen child with Stage 4 cancer and his 7-year-old sister were deported to Honduras with their mother on Friday morning. ICE was aware of the child's active cancer treatment in the United States but deported him without his medication. Attorneys say the mother did not sign or write any consent, did not speak with lawyers or family before deportation, and wanted to make alternative arrangements for her U.S. citizen children.

A 2-year-old U.S. citizen was apparently removed to Honduras on Friday with her mother, who had been ordered deported, according to a federal judge in Louisiana. The child's mother, a Honduran national, was seized by ICE on Tuesday morning in New Orleans while attending a scheduled check-in appointment with an Intensive Supervision Appearance Program office. During approximately three days in ICE custody, the mother and her two daughters were separated from family and legal counsel. U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty wrote that the child was sent to Honduras "with no meaningful due process" and expressed "strong suspicion that the Government just deported a U.S. citizen." The mother's attorney stated that ICE mischaracterized the removal as the mother's voluntary choice and that she was pregnant and prevented from contacting lawyers or family to make arrangements.

The wife of an active-duty Coast Guard officer assigned to USCGC Mohawk was arrested by Homeland Security Investigations during a routine security screening at Naval Air Station Key West on Thursday. The couple had married in early 2025 and were preparing to move into on-base family housing when the woman's name was flagged during visitor control processing. Her work visa had expired around 2017, and she had been marked for removal several years prior. NCIS contacted HSI, and agents entered the base housing to take her into custody. The woman's country of origin and current detention status remain unclear, though officials believe she is still being detained.

Erasmo Zavala Almanza, a 50-year-old undocumented Mexican immigrant, was arrested by ICE agents at his home in April 2025 after cooperating with Berks County police in investigating the fatal shooting of his 20-year-old daughter and wounding of his granddaughter in February 2025. Despite applying for a U visa with support from the District Attorney's Office and receiving a favorable bona fide determination from USCIS along with deferred action and work authorization, ICE detained him at Moshannon Valley Processing Center and initiated deportation proceedings. His case reflects a shift under the Trump administration from prior guidance that discouraged arrests of crime victims and witnesses. A federal judge issued a temporary bar on removal while considering whether to grant a preliminary injunction to block deportation.

Dario Quevedo Marquez, a Venezuelan immigrant, was arrested by federal immigration agents on April 15 as he left a South Side Chicago courthouse after a hearing on a misdemeanor battery charge. His wife said agents told her to stay quiet or face arrest herself. The arrest occurred at a courthouse, violating state law and a Cook County judge's order banning civil immigration arrests without warrants at local courthouses.

Adrian Gil Rojas, a Venezuelan national, holds Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and has been detained at El Valle Detention Center for more than two months. He has a two-year-old son in the United States whose mother witnessed ICE officers illegally arrest Mr. Gil Rojas approximately two months ago, leaving their young son alone and traumatized. Mr. Gil Rojas also served as a trial witness in a murder case in Clinton County, New York, where he testified despite fears of retaliation and helped secure a conviction. He is challenging his detention through a habeas corpus petition, arguing that 8 U.S.C. § 1254a(d)(4) explicitly prohibits detention of individuals with TPS status on the basis of immigration status. The government claims it can detain him based on speculative predictions that his TPS may expire on April 2, 2025, and that a pending motion to reopen his removal case may be denied, but the petition argues this violates the TPS statute's unambiguous prohibition and that his removal is automatically stayed while the motion remains pending.

Attorneys representing detainees at an Everglades facility alleged that guards beat and pepper-sprayed detainees following a protest over lost phone access on April 2. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on March 27 requiring improved legal access and expressed frustration with slow compliance efforts during an April 13 status conference. The state and federal governments are appealing the injunction while claiming efforts to comply.