Human Impact Project

David Cardenas, 54, a Raleigh resident who fled Nicaragua and sought asylum in 2022, was detained by ICE during a routine yearly check-in appointment with USCIS in Charlotte. He suffered a medical emergency shortly after detention and was hospitalized at Atrium Health in Pineville, where ICE and the hospital initially blocked visits from his wife and children for a week. Following advocacy efforts and a press conference by immigrant rights groups and local leaders, ICE announced it would release Cardenas due to his severe health condition, potentially using alternative detention such as an ankle monitor.

A Guatemalan asylum seeker who fled to the U.S. in April 2024 was arrested on December 11, 2025, while attending a scheduled ICE check-in at 630 Sansome Street in San Francisco. She had been released on her own recognizance, complied with all supervision conditions, and had no criminal history. The court granted a temporary restraining order requiring her immediate release, finding her detention likely violated her constitutional due process rights.

Andrei Bankevich, a Belarusian migrant granted relief from deportation, was detained by ICE in December 2025 despite having no legal authority to hold him. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger ruled in March 2026 that federal officials violated his due process rights by keeping him incarcerated in Muscatine County Jail for over a year, stating it was "untenable" that officials refused to comply with the law without a court order.

Santiago Zamora Perez, a 17-year-old Detroit student at Western International High School, was arrested by ICE on Sunday after Fraser police pulled him over for driving under the speed limit and called federal agents. Zamora and his mother were detained; he is a Venezuelan asylum seeker who entered the U.S. last year. At least four Detroit teens are currently held in ICE detention facilities.

ICE detained a mother with a pending asylum petition and visa for crime victims days after she had an emergency C-section, leaving her newborn alone in a NICU on a ventilator. She was held at Broadview Processing Center where she was denied postpartum medical care, a breast pump, adequate food and water, and received minimal care despite agents knowing she had recently given birth.

Omar Ramos Jimenez, 50, a Mexican national who has lived in Rochester since 2004 and co-founded the La Casa restaurant, was detained by ICE on Wednesday after being lured to their Buffalo field office under the pretext of installing a new reporting app. Ramos Jimenez, who has an ongoing appeal for asylum and has been complying with ICE check-ins for five years, was arrested upon arrival. His attorney filed a federal complaint alleging denial of due process and seeking his immediate release or a bond hearing.

Stephanie Velasquez, a Venezuelan woman seeking asylum, was detained by ICE on December 5th, 2025 during one of her appointments. She was married to a U.S. citizen at the time of her detention.

Victor Peralta Perez, a Venezuelan electrician with a pending asylum case and no criminal record, was detained by ICE on December 4, 2025, during a mandatory annual immigration check-in. He was transferred multiple times between detention facilities including Bluebonnet, Eden, Fort Bliss, and Florence over nearly three months. Peralta Perez reported poor detention conditions including mold, contaminated food and water, and lack of medical care. He was granted voluntary departure by an immigration judge on February 12, 2026, and left the United States on February 28, 2026 (according to DHS) or March 3, 2026 (according to his wife), citing inability to endure the detention conditions and uncertain timeline.

An asylum seeker from Ecuador who fled extortion and death threats was detained by ICE on December 3, 2025 during a routine check-in at 630 Sansome Street in San Francisco. Despite having no criminal record and consistently appearing for immigration hearings, ICE alleged she missed a July 23, 2025 check-in that was not visible on her application. The court granted a temporary restraining order requiring her immediate release and prohibiting re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing.

A Mexican citizen who entered the U.S. in 2015 and was released on parole under the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) was re-detained by immigration officials on December 2, 2025, after missing mandatory check-ins. She had voluntarily presented herself at an ISAP appointment when she was taken back into custody. The court ordered her immediate release, finding the re-detention violated due process because she was not provided notice or a hearing before being detained.

Noemi, a Guatemalan asylum seeker, witnessed ICE agents smash a window of her family's car and forcibly remove her Mexican national partner from the vehicle while she and their three children (ages 1, 7, and 9) were inside an ICE office for a check-in appointment in December. Her partner was sent to Adelanto ICE Processing Center. The three children subsequently experienced significant emotional and behavioral regression, including depression, sleep disturbances, developmental regression (the 1-year-old returned to crawling), and academic decline.

Noemi, a Guatemalan asylum seeker, was at an ICE check-in appointment when immigration agents smashed the car window and forcibly removed her Mexican national partner, who had lived in the U.S. for nearly 20 years. Officers attempted to separate Noemi from her three young children (ages 1, 7, and 9) but the children's screams prevented separation. Her partner was sent to Adelanto ICE Processing Center. Since the detention, the couple's children have experienced depression, eating disorders, sleep disturbances, regression (including a 1-year-old reverting to crawling), and cognitive decline.

Angel, a Nicaraguan political activist and LGBTQ community member who fled Nicaragua in 2019 after nearly being killed by the government, was detained by ICE in late December 2025 while driving to work. He holds official work authorization from USCIS. He is being held in ICE custody and facing removal proceedings while seeking funds for legal representation in a habeas petition to challenge his detention.

Diana Sanchez, a Stockton-area resident with pending asylum and U-visa applications, was detained by ICE officers at a check-in appointment in mid-December 2025 at Otay Mesa Detention Center. During her nearly four-month detention, she witnessed multiple medical emergencies including strokes and fainting, reported inadequate medical response and poor food quality, and experienced retaliation from guards after filing grievances about treatment. A federal judge ruled in her favor in April 2026, finding ICE lacked authority to detain her, and she was released.

Viktoriia Bulavina, 46, a Ukrainian who entered the US in September 2022 under the Uniting for Ukraine program and obtained a Green Card, was detained by ICE on December 4, 2025, during a scheduled green card interview in San Diego. She is married to US citizen Victor Korol and remains in federal custody. DHS claims her Temporary Protected Status expired in April 2025, while her legal team states her TPS application was approved in June 2024.

Carlos, a Venezuelan man with temporary protected status, was detained by ICE at a New Mexico immigration office in December 2025 after being called for what he believed was a reunification meeting with his 14-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter. Federal officials had previously vetted Carlos and told him his custody case was complete. When he arrived at the ICE office, officers attempted to force him to sign documents he did not understand. After refusing to sign, officers stripped his clothes, seized his belongings, and chained him by the neck, waist, and legs. Carlos said he felt "tricked" and that ICE "used my children to grab me." His two children had been in a federal shelter in Texas for nearly a year after crossing the border to reunite with him. According to reporting, the Trump administration's Office of Refugee Resettlement has begun coordinating with ICE to arrest parents and caregivers seeking custody of unaccompanied migrant children, reversing Obama-era restrictions on data sharing between the resettlement office and immigration enforcement.

Jeffrey Lopez-Suazo, 26, was arrested during an ICE raid on November 25 after allegedly ramming his vehicle into an ICE agent's van while attempting to flee. The raid drew hundreds of protesters who clashed with police and federal agents. Lopez-Suazo, seeking asylum from Honduras, was charged with assaulting an ICE agent and was subsequently held for immigration proceedings.

Two 16-year-old Venezuelan cousins were detained by ICE agents during a raid on their Detroit home in late November 2025. The teens arrived in the U.S. in 2023 and were formally seeking asylum with valid work permits. Both were students at Western International High School, where a teacher described one cousin as an excellent student eager to learn English. One cousin worked at Chili's. During the raid, agents also detained two of the teens' parents while searching for a different individual. All four family members were transferred to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Texas, hundreds of miles from their support network. Both teens had pending asylum cases scheduled for immigration court. Community members, students, and advocates held a rally at Clark Park calling for their immediate release.

Thi Dua Vang and her family found asylum in the U.S. in 2023 and she applied for her green card, which is awaiting final approval. ICE agents showed up at her doorstep, which Vang believed to be a mistake given her pending legal status.

Mor Ba, a 19-year-old asylum seeker from Senegal, was detained by ICE on the morning before Thanksgiving while entering his car to go to work. Ba, who had no criminal record and was months away from his asylum hearing, was taken to the North Lake Processing Center in northwest Michigan. His aunt, Seydi Sarr, a Detroit-based immigrant rights advocate, learned of his detention when he called her from the ICE office and eventually posted a $10,000 bond for his release in January.

Alejandro Orrego Agudelo, a 27-year-old Colombian asylum seeker, was arrested by Boston police on November 21 after a dispute over a parking space on Falcon Street in East Boston. He was charged with assault and battery on a police officer and released by a judge that same day at East Boston District Court. However, ICE agents arrested him in the courthouse lockup and detained him for four months at Plymouth County jail under the Laken Riley Act. After legal challenges including a habeas corpus petition and dismissal of criminal charges, an immigration judge granted him bond, and he was released.

Gladys Tentes-Pitiur, a 25-year-old Indigenous Shuar woman from Ecuador, was detained by ICE for 135 days at Richwood Correctional Center in Louisiana after being arrested outside a courthouse in New Haven on July 7, 2025. She had fled Ecuador due to persecution and traveled through seven countries with her two young sons, surviving cartel kidnapping in Mexico before arriving in New Haven in November 2023. After an immigration judge granted her asylum on October 17, 2025, based on the violence she experienced in Ecuador, she was released on November 19 and reunited with her children. Her lawyer noted this was an increasingly rare outcome, with Tentes-Pitiur's case being the only successful asylum grant her office had achieved in 2025.

A native of India who entered the U.S. without inspection in 2004 was re-detained by ICE at a New York office during a scheduled check-in on November 18, 2025. He had been previously detained, placed in removal proceedings, and released, with an asylum application pending since 2024. The court ordered respondents to provide him with a bond hearing within seven days or release him.

Community organizers and immigration attorneys report an uptick in detainments at the Dallas ICE Field Office during routine check-in appointments. Multiple immigrants, including those with pending asylum cases and proper documentation, have been detained during check-in appointments.

Manuel Ndongala, an asylum seeker from Angola, was detained by ICE on November 18, 2025, during what he expected to be a routine check-in at the Scarborough, Maine ICE office. His car was left in the office parking lot and was towed under Maine's abandoned vehicle law while he was detained for over 80 days. The incident prompted Maine's Secretary of State to temporarily adjust the state's process for transferring ownership of abandoned vehicles to better protect detained immigrants.

Harrinson Jose Osuna Benitez, a Venezuelan tattoo artist seeking asylum over fears of torture and persecution, was released on parole when he arrived at the U.S. border in September 2024 after ICE found no criminal history. He moved to Portland with his partner, who gave birth to their son in December 2024. On November 17, 2025, when Osuna Benitez appeared for an immigration court appointment in Portland, ICE detained him. Court documents indicate ICE later reassessed his tattoos as a security concern, despite having cleared him on the same basis at entry. He spent two months in detention while his family struggled financially without his income as primary breadwinner.

José Barco, a 39-40-year-old decorated Iraq War veteran who received a Purple Heart after suffering traumatic brain injury in combat, was deported in November 2025 despite serving in the U.S. Army since age 4. After his release from prison in January 2025—following 15 years served for a 2008 shooting conviction—ICE detained him immediately. His 2006 citizenship application while stationed at Fort Carson was lost in the system. Venezuela initially ordered him deported there but refused to accept him at the Honduras border, citing documentation concerns. He was eventually deported to Mexico in November 2025, a country he had never visited, where he is now seeking asylum.

A Venezuelan asylum seeker, an undocumented immigrant with pending asylum applications, was detained by ICE officers on November 13, 2025, during a routine check-in at the ICE field office in San Francisco. She had been released on an Order of Recognizance after arriving at the border in June 2024 and had complied with all release requirements and court hearings. The court granted a temporary restraining order requiring her immediate release from custody and prohibiting re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing.

Carine Balenda Mbizi, a Congolese mother, was detained by Customs and Border Protection on November 12, 2025, at the Champlain Port of Entry in New York after attempting to seek asylum in Canada with her three teenage children. The family had entered the U.S. without authorization in 2022 and was transferred to the Dilley family detention facility in Texas. An immigration judge issued a deportation order in February 2025, and her appeal was dismissed in October. Online immigration court records show she remains in the facility while her case is pending.

Joel Andre, a 16-year-old Deering High School student from Congo, was detained by Customs and Border Protection on November 12, 2025, at the Champlain Port of Entry in New York after his family attempted to seek asylum in Canada. The family had entered the U.S. without authorization in 2022 and was transferred to a family detention facility in Dilley, Texas. An immigration judge issued a deportation order for the family in February 2025, and their appeal was dismissed in October. Joel is a well-known member of Portland's Kennedy Park pickup soccer community, and his detention prompted his school district and congregation to mobilize support.

A Georgian citizen who entered the U.S. in 2022 and filed an asylum application was detained by ICE in November 2025 during a routine check-in. He had originally been released on his own recognizance after being apprehended by Border Patrol. The federal court ruled his detention unlawful and ordered his immediate release, finding he did not meet the criteria for mandatory detention under immigration law.

Juliana Milena Ojeda Montoya, 24, an Ecuadorian national with a pending asylum claim and valid work authorization, was detained by ICE on November 6, 2025, during a traffic stop on Kimball Street in Fitchburg. The detention occurred while her husband, Carlos Sebastian Zapata, 24, a Fitchburg resident, appeared to suffer a seizure while holding their 1½-year-old daughter. According to Zapata's account, an ICE agent pushed him, hit his ribs, and pressed on his neck, causing him to lose consciousness. Video of the incident captured bystanders expressing concern for his safety and went viral. The Department of Homeland Security claimed Zapata was faking a medical emergency to help his wife evade arrest, though medical examination findings are disputed. A federal judge ordered Ojeda Montoya's release on November 10, finding that her detention without a hearing violated her due process rights and citing her young daughter whom she breastfeeds and her husband's acute medical episode. Ojeda Montoya had been released on bond in March 2024.

Daniel Angel Meléndez, an immigrant from El Salvador, was detained by ICE agents on November 4 during a yearly check-in in Cedar Rapids. His wife María Lozano, a U.S. citizen, and family members appealed to U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks at a town hall on November 10 to prevent his deportation. Meléndez has a U.S.-born child and has been in the country since 2017, having applied for asylum based on gang violence threats.

A man who had lived in the United States for more than 24 years and is the husband and father of U.S. citizens was detained by ICE on November 1, 2025, and taken to Adelanto Detention Facility. He had previously been released on bond in 2013 after an earlier detention, received work authorization, and had been checking in with ICE regularly without missing appointments. The court granted a temporary restraining order ordering his immediate release, finding his re-detention violated due process since he was not informed of changed circumstances that would justify revoking his bond.

The Andre family—Carine, an activist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and her three children Estafania, Olivia, and Joel—fled persecution and were initially vetted and released in 2022 to await asylum hearings. After deportation and denied entry to Canada, they were returned to the U.S. and detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley beginning in November 2025, violating the Flores Settlement requiring prompt release of children. Carine and Joel (17) were released in March 2026 after nearly four months in detention; Olivia (19) was released in June 2026 after over five months. Detainees reported inadequate conditions including contaminated food and water, mold, and sleep disruption.

L.H., an Indigenous Quechua woman, fled Peru in 2021 with her minor son Y.V. after years of severe gender- and race-based domestic violence, including kidnapping, stalking, and a knife assault by her ex-partner. After settling in California and applying for asylum, DHS moved at a November 2025 hearing to pretermit her applications and seek their removal to Honduras under an Asylum Cooperative Agreement.

Arthur Berto, a 13-year-old asylum-seeking boy from Brazil, was arrested by Everett, Massachusetts police on suspicion of making a violent threat at school. After his mother arrived to pick him up from the police station, ICE took him to a detention facility without informing her of his location or what would happen to him. According to the police chief, this was the first occurrence of this type in Everett.

Rian Andrianzah, an Indonesian national, was arrested by ICE agents while attending what he believed was a routine biometrics appointment in Philadelphia. His arrest occurred while his wife waited in another room, and he was subsequently sent to a Central Pennsylvania detention center where he now faces deportation. The arrest is part of the Trump administration's strategy shift to apprehend green card applicants, asylum seekers, and others engaged in legal immigration processes.

Protesters gathered at the Durango ICE Facility after agents detained a father and two children (ages 12 and 15) following a traffic stop. The family possesses valid documentation and an active legal asylum process. During the demonstration, a federal agent allegedly pushed a protester. The City of Durango requested investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, which declined the request.

Fernando Jaramillo-Solano, 45, a Colombian national seeking asylum, was arrested by ICE along with his two children, ages 11 and 14, while taking them to school in Durango, Colorado on October 28, 2025. ICE stated Jaramillo-Solano had allegedly entered the U.S. unauthorized on December 22, 2024. The father was transported to a family detention center in Dilley, Texas, while the children were held in an ICE facility in southern Texas. Local police attempted multiple times to secure the children's release to their mother but were denied entry to the facility by federal agents. Colorado Governor Jared Polis expressed concern about the operation and stated ICE did not inform the state in advance.

Chanthila "Shawn" Souvannarath, 44, was deported to Laos despite a federal court order issued the day before blocking his removal so he could pursue a claim of U.S. citizenship. Souvannarath was born in a refugee camp in Thailand but has lived most of his life in the United States and had been granted lawful permanent residence before his first birthday. A federal judge had directed ICE to keep him in the country while his citizenship claim was reviewed. DHS said the court order was not received until after the deportation had already taken place, according to attorneys.

Fernando Jaramillo Solano, an asylum-seeker from Colombia, and his two children—12-year-old Jana Michel Jaramillo Patiño and 15-year-old Kewin Daniel Patiño Bustamante—were detained by ICE agents on October 27 while he was driving them to school near a mobile home park in Durango, Colorado. The family had lived in Colorado for more than 18 months with an active asylum case and no criminal record. Immigration officials later admitted during a federal court hearing that Jaramillo Solano was not their intended target. The family was separated from the children's mother, Estela Patiño, who remains in Durango. On October 28, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the ICE field office demanding their release; ICE agents in tactical gear used pepper spray and rubber bullets against demonstrators, breaking through a human chain protesters had formed. The family was subsequently granted voluntary departure, with ICE facilitating their return to Colombia.

Omar Viadurre Luis, a Peruvian national granted legal admission and awaiting asylum review, has been detained by ICE since October 2025 after appearing in court on traffic charges that were dropped. Now held at Lewisburg federal penitentiary, he faces deportation to Honduras under Trump administration policies despite having no criminal record, a wife, a young child, stable employment, and serious medical needs. His family was legally admitted to the U.S. in September 2022 and was on the normal path to asylum review before his arrest separated their cases.

A Venezuelan family seeking asylum in the United States self-deported after the father and 20-year-old son Anderson Contreras-Hernandez were detained by ICE. The family had fled Venezuela due to gang extortion and sought better medical care for two sons with sickle cell disease. After months in detention and legal proceedings, the family chose to return to Venezuela.

Nayra Guzmán, a 22-year-old Mexican immigrant with pending asylum and visa applications, was detained by ICE in late October 2025 while traveling to a hospital to breastfeed her newborn daughter, who was in the NICU following birth complications. Guzmán had given birth via C-section approximately 15 days prior and was experiencing severe postpartum pain and a breast infection at the time of arrest. She was held at the Broadview ICE facility alongside her brother and mother, despite all three presenting valid work permits and documents showing they had been in the U.S. since 2022 after fleeing cartel violence in Mexico. During her approximately 34–36 hour detention, Guzmán was held in overcrowded conditions without adequate medical care, blankets, food, or water. A federal judge ordered the release of Guzmán and her family members, preventing their scheduled transfer to detention facilities in other states.

A 42-year-old San Francisco tenant from Russia who fled political persecution remains in federal immigration custody at California City Detention Center while facing eviction for alleged nonpayment of rent. The Eviction Defense Collaborative has taken on his legal representation ahead of his Monday eviction trial at McAllister Street court, preventing an automatic no-show eviction. His landlord's legal firm has refused to reschedule the hearing despite awareness of his detention, and ICE has not responded to requests about allowing virtual court appearance.

Ali Faqirzada, an Afghan refugee and Bard College student, was detained by ICE following a credible fear interview in his asylum case. He was held for six months before being released and reunited with his family in New Paltz.

A Cuban national who presented himself at Miami International Airport in December 2022 seeking asylum was placed into immigration custody on October 16, 2025, after completing a criminal sentence in Pennsylvania. He had been charged and convicted of crimes in Florida, Texas, and Pennsylvania, receiving a 163-day to one-year sentence. An immigration judge ordered his removal to Ecuador on December 23, 2025, and the removal order became final on January 23, 2026. The court denied his habeas petition and temporary restraining order, finding his post-removal detention of less than six months presumptively reasonable.

A 13-year-old Brazilian boy named Arthur was arrested by Massachusetts police on a violent threat allegation and immediately taken into ICE custody, leaving his mother Josiele Berto unable to retrieve him. The Department of Homeland Security claimed Arthur had an "extensive rap sheet" and possessed a firearm, but local officials confirmed no gun was found. Arthur was transferred from Massachusetts to Virginia without notice to his family or attorney. A federal court petition was filed arguing his detention violates due process. His mother, whose family has a pending asylum application, can only communicate with him through brief phone calls.

Ali Faqirzada, 31, fled Afghanistan in 2021 and has been waiting for his asylum case to be decided since 2022. On October 14, ICE detained Ali after an Asylum Officer found he had a viable claim for asylum. Ali fled Afghanistan after he and his family received death threats from Taliban members. Every member of Ali's family, including his parents and siblings, have been granted asylum. Ali was the last family member waiting for a decision on his immigration case. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) terminated the application and instead placed Ali in expedited removal proceedings. Ali passed an initial screening by an Asylum Officer. ICE subsequently arrested and jailed him. ICE has the authority to immediately release Ali to continue his immigration case.