Human Impact Project

Ernesto, a construction worker, was detained by ICE on December 10 while traveling to his job in Washington, DC. He was transferred to a detention center in Texas, leaving his wife Ana and their three children (ages 3, 7, and 8) without their primary source of income. Ana now works nights as a university cleaner and relies on a moped for transportation while struggling to afford rent, groceries, medical bills, and legal fees.

A man detained by ICE in March after 30 years in the U.S. was released this month after an immigration judge vacated a decades-old drug conviction from 1999 and restored his lawful permanent resident status. The judge found he had not been informed of immigration consequences when he entered the plea. His case is among roughly 19 Laotian cases handled by the Seattle Clemency Project this year, part of a broader enforcement sweep affecting longtime residents in the region.

An uncle and aunt who had attended yearly ICE check-ins since the early 1990s were suddenly detained during a routine check-in and held for over four months. During detention, they were denied access to medications for serious health conditions, and the aunt was transferred to Florence, Arizona without family or attorney notification. Both are stateless individuals from the former USSR facing potential deportation to an unknown country. They were released on January 16, 2026, and are now pursuing a legal appeal.

Obi, who arrived legally on a visa and was in the process of obtaining a green card, was detained by ICE on October 20th without due process. He was held in a detention facility for ten days after a judge ordered his release and bond was posted. His wife, who relies on him as her caregiver due to chronic illnesses, was forced to attend their green card interview alone while he remained detained. He was released with conditions including GPS monitoring and travel restrictions.

The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas granted provisional class certification and a preliminary injunction blocking four key provisions of Texas Senate Bill 4, a 2023 law the court found could allow states to pass their own immigration laws and undermine federal uniformity. The blocked provisions include a reentry crime applicable to anyone reentering Texas even with federal permission, magistrate power to issue deportation orders, criminalization of failing to comply with removal orders, and requirements that magistrates continue prosecutions despite pending federal immigration cases. The class-action lawsuit, filed by the ACLU of Texas and Texas Civil Rights Project on May 4, represents thousands of people across the state, including a lawful permanent resident and a person provisionally approved for a U Visa after assisting law enforcement.

Nine West African migrants were deported from the United States and arrived at Sierra Leone's international airport on Wednesday as part of the Trump administration's expanded deportation program. The group of seven men and two women—five from Ghana, two from Guinea, and one each from Nigeria and Senegal—were flown to Sierra Leone under a new agreement allowing the country to receive up to 300 deportees annually. Sierra Leone is the latest African nation receiving U.S. deportees sent to third countries where they did not previously reside; the administration has spent over $40 million on such third-country deportations since January 2025, raising concerns from human rights advocates about violations of international standards.

Carlos Alborozo was detained by ICE while working in a construction job. His family launched a fundraising campaign to help cover legal expenses and immigration lawyer costs to support his case.

Deisy Rivera Ortega, wife of active-duty U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Jose Serrano, was detained by ICE on April 14, 2026, while attending a parole-in-place interview at USCIS in El Paso, Texas. Rivera Ortega, a native of El Salvador who had lived in the U.S. for roughly a decade, held a 2019 court order granting her withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture. Despite this order, ICE indicated plans to deport her to Mexico under third-country removal procedures. She was released on May 15 after one month in custody and is subject to GPS monitoring with mandatory ICE check-ins and home visits.

Juan Nasario-Reyes, 43, from Beaver, Oklahoma, was arrested at a Border Patrol checkpoint in Sarita after authorities discovered 42 undocumented immigrants in his tractor-trailer, which was sealed shut with no means of escape and an internal temperature of 92.5 degrees. He also faces charges for possessing approximately 16 grams of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. If convicted on smuggling charges, Nasario-Reyes could face up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine; drug charges carry a maximum sentence of 40 years.

Wendy Hernandez Reyes, a 29-year-old undocumented immigrant and domestic violence survivor with no criminal record, was detained by Baldwin County sheriff's deputies in Alabama on January 8, 2026, during a traffic stop. After ICE was contacted, Hernandez repeatedly requested her release to care for her 2-year-old U.S. citizen son, Orlin, but was denied. She was deported to Honduras on January 26, 2026, without her son and was forced to leave him in the care of her brother-in-law, Samuel Maldonado Erazo. On March 4, 2026, Orlin died from multiple blunt force traumas inflicted by Maldonado, who was charged with first-degree murder. A federal court reopened a case against the Department of Homeland Security alleging ICE officials failed to follow safety protocols during separation and lacked a reunification plan, while ICE blamed Hernandez for leaving her son with the relative.

Tuan Van Bui, a 55-year-old Vietnamese national who legally entered the U.S. in 1990 under the Amerasian Homecoming Act, died on April 1, 2026, at Miami Correctional Facility in Bunker Hill, Indiana while in ICE custody. Staff found him unresponsive, initiated CPR, and called emergency services; he was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. His autopsy ruled the death natural, caused by hypertensive arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Bui had been ordered removed from the country by an immigration judge in 2005 and was challenging his detention through a habeas corpus petition at the time of his death. His death was the second at the facility since October 2025, prompting the ACLU of Indiana to call for transparency and advocates to organize a statewide day of action on May 16, 2026, with over 70 protesters rallying at the Allen County Courthouse in Fort Wayne.

Mario Rojas Salazar, a Mexican citizen who entered the United States without inspection via Arizona in 1998, was detained by ICE on May 15, 2026, after being stopped by local law enforcement in Utah for a broken taillight. The federal court granted his habeas corpus petition on June 29, 2026, finding his detention violated procedural due process rights, and ordered his immediate release and enjoined re-detention without notice and a pre-detention hearing before an immigration judge.

Alejandro Mauricio Valerio-Reyes, a Honduran citizen who entered the United States in August 2023, was paroled on September 21, 2023 with reporting requirements. On May 15, 2026, he appeared at his scheduled ICE check-in appointment in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where he was taken into immigration custody. The court found that respondents failed to provide written notice of the reason for parole revocation and that the mandatory detention statute did not apply to paroled individuals. The court ordered his immediate release on his prior parole conditions and enjoined respondents from re-detaining him without notice and a pre-detention hearing before an immigration judge.

Isidro Cabanas Reyes, a Mexican citizen who has resided in the United States since 1997, was arrested by ICE on May 15, 2026 and detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center. He has no criminal convictions and works as a skilled electrician with deep family ties in the U.S. The federal court ordered his immediate release, finding his detention without a pre-deprivation bond hearing violated his Fifth Amendment due process rights.

Justo Betancourt, a 54-year-old Cuban national who entered the U.S. in 1990 and held lawful status, was detained by ICE on October 29, 2025, during a routine annual immigration check-in. He was held for approximately seven months at the South Florida Detention Facility (Alligator Alcatraz) in the Florida Everglades, despite being unable to be readily deported to Cuba. During detention, he was shackled up to 23 hours daily and denied proper medical care despite having diabetes, neuropathy, heart and blood pressure issues, suffering strokes, cardiac arrest, and significant health deterioration. His daughter Arianne organized weekly vigils outside the facility for 44 weeks to advocate for his release. On May 13, 2026, U.S. District Judge Kyle Dudek granted his habeas corpus petition, finding his detention was erroneous and unlawful, and ordered his release within 48 hours. Betancourt was released on May 14-15, 2026.

Javier Anibal Melgar was detained by ICE officers on May 15, 2026, while sitting in his vehicle with his 16-year-old son waiting for a school bus on Park Avenue in Bridgeport, Connecticut. ICE stated that Melgar is from El Salvador, entered the country illegally in 2005, and had a final removal order issued by an immigration judge in October 2006. Officers allowed Melgar to contact his wife to arrange transportation for their son before taking him into custody. Connecticut lawmakers condemned the arrest as a violation of ICE's sensitive location policies and called it executive overreach. Melgar's current location remains unknown.

Loba, a transgender woman from El Salvador, was detained at California City ICE detention center for six months in 2025. She experienced sexual harassment and intimidation from guards while housed in male dormitories. Due to the traumatic conditions and lack of support for LGBTQ+ detainees, she signed voluntary departure paperwork and self-deported to El Salvador.

Edual Rafael Ulloa, 25, of Framingham was arrested by Brookline Police on Thursday on assault and battery, failure to stop for police, and possession of a forged license plate charges. After being released on bail that evening, ICE agents detained him near Boylston and Eliot streets in Chestnut Hill. Video showed agents forcibly placing him into a vehicle as he shouted for help and asked for water, claiming he had asthma and needed a hospital. ICE later reported that Ulloa became disruptive and caused a public safety issue while being transported, though Brookline Police did not directly assist in the detention per department policy.

Federal immigration operations conducted by ICE and Border Patrol across the Coachella Valley beginning May 10 resulted in detentions during traffic stops and street encounters. The Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice documented more than a dozen operations in cities including Coachella, Thermal, Desert Hot Springs, and Indio. Congressman Raul Ruiz and school district officials have called for greater transparency, describing the operations as indiscriminate and citing impacts on students, families, and local businesses.

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

Six people have been federally indicted in the Southern District of Georgia on charges of re-entering the United States after prior deportations. The defendants — Alejandro Mendoza-Hernandez, Didier Mora-Tino, Marcos Saraya-Canales, Porfirio Suarez-Olan, Luis Angel Velasquez-Montes, and Kenny Omar Diaz-Diaz — were arrested across multiple South Georgia counties including Long, Ware, Evans, Atkinson, and Chatham counties. According to prosecutors, all are citizens of Mexico or Honduras and were allegedly in the United States illegally after prior removals. The charge carries a maximum penalty of up to two years in federal prison, followed by deportation proceedings.

Jose Francisco Orellana-Rivera, a Honduran who entered the U.S. as a 4-year-old in 2001 and is a DACA recipient married to a U.S. citizen with two U.S.-citizen children, was detained by ICE without a pre-detention hearing. U.S. District Judge Hernán D. Vera ruled the detention violated his constitutional rights and due process protections, ordering ICE to release him immediately and barred re-detention without a proper bond hearing. He was arrested six times as an adult between 2016 and 2025, but all charges were dismissed and he has no criminal convictions.

Arbella "Yari" Rodríguez Márquez, a green card holder, was arrested at a border checkpoint in Nogales, Arizona in February 2025 and detained at Eloy Detention Center. She has chronic lymphocytic leukemia that was in remission before her detention but has since returned and worsened while in custody. Her health has significantly deteriorated, with symptoms including weight loss (55 pounds), anemia, vomiting blood, and the development of new chronic conditions requiring a walker. Over a year into her detention, state legislators, members of Congress, civil rights organizations, and advocacy groups including Trans Queer Pueblo have called for her humanitarian release. ICE denies allegations of medical neglect, stating she has received 13 medical appointments during detention.

LT, a 30-year-old from Haiti, fled after experiencing kidnapping, rape, and violence, and after her sister was murdered. She sought U.S. asylum and gave birth to a daughter, but her asylum case was denied.

Roberto Orozco-Ramirez, a diesel mechanic from Froid, Montana, was arrested by Border Patrol on January 25, 2026, on illegal re-entry charges. After the government dropped the felony charge in April 2026, he remained detained for over 100 days under the Trump administration's expanded mandatory detention policy for undocumented immigrants. On May 14-15, 2026, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Brian Morris ruled that Orozco-Ramirez's continued detention violated due process and constitutional rights, finding the administration's mandatory detention interpretation erroneous. The judge ordered his immediate release from the Cascade County Detention Center. Orozco-Ramirez, a father of four U.S. citizen children with no criminal record, had built a successful diesel repair business after living in the United States for 25 years.

Joe Ceballos, 55, a lawful permanent resident and twice-elected former mayor of Coldwater, Kansas, who immigrated from Mexico at age four, was detained by ICE on May 13-14, 2026, after pleading guilty in April 2026 to three misdemeanor counts of disorderly election conduct for voting without U.S. citizenship. Ceballos stated he mistakenly believed his permanent residency status allowed him to vote. He voted in elections in 2022, 2023, and 2024, and disclosed his voting history voluntarily during a naturalization interview. Under his plea deal, he received one year probation with a suspended six-month jail sentence, a $2,000 fine, and court fees. ICE subsequently initiated removal proceedings, citing voting as a removable offense, and took Ceballos into custody at its detention facility in Wichita, where he now faces potential deportation to Mexico.

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

Roberto Orozco-Ramirez, an undocumented Mexican immigrant and longtime Froid, Montana resident, turned himself in to Border Patrol on January 25, 2026, after agents staked out his home. He was charged with illegal reentry and held in detention. After the government dropped the illegal re-entry charge in April, he remained in custody under the Trump administration's expanded mandatory detention policy. On May 14, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Brian Morris ruled his continued detention unlawful, finding the administration's interpretation of immigration law erroneous and violating due process rights, and ordered his release within 24 hours. The small, conservative town of Froid organized community fundraisers to support his family throughout the ordeal.

Three additional protesters, ranging in age from early twenties to late seventies, were arrested on charges of unlawful trespass and resisting arrest during a protest at an ICE digital surveillance center. The protesters blocked entrances to the facility to impede ICE operations. All four arrestees are scheduled to appear in court on June 30, 2026.

M.P.P.P., who was previously under an order of supervision and had been granted withholding of removal to El Salvador, was re-detained by ICE on May 14, 2026 after her supervised release was revoked. The court found that ICE violated federal regulations by failing to provide adequate notice of revocation reasons and conducting the required informal interview on the same day as detention. The court ordered her immediate release, finding the revocation procedures unlawful.

Victor Manuel Rocha, a Colombian national, was targeted for denaturalization after being convicted of serving as an unregistered agent for Cuba. He admitted to beginning espionage for Cuba in 1973, before naturalizing in 1978, and falsely represented under oath that he was not affiliated with the Communist Party and had not committed unreported crimes.

George Ofuan Oyakhire, a Nigerian national, was targeted for denaturalization after obtaining citizenship on March 22, 1996, under the false name Oliver Bennett Oyakhire. He first entered the U.S. in 1986 under his true name but obtained temporary resident status in 1988 and permanent residence in 1990 using the false identity.

Debashis Ghosh, an Indian national, was targeted for denaturalization after conspiring to defraud investors of $2.5 million intended for aircraft maintenance facility construction before and after naturalizing in 2012. Ghosh falsely testified that he had never committed crimes on his naturalization application.

Abduvosit Razikov, an Uzbekistani national, was denaturalized after engaging in multiple sham marriages to obtain immigration benefits. Between 2005 and 2012, Razikov paid a U.S. citizen approximately $5,000 for a sham marriage, arranged another for his partner in 2007, and orchestrated a third marriage after obtaining naturalization. USCIS and the Department of Justice filed the denaturalization lawsuit as part of a broader action against 12 individuals accused of serious offenses.

Oscar Alberto Pelaez, a former Colombian priest, is facing revocation of his U.S. citizenship after the Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit alleging he deliberately concealed his crimes during naturalization. Pelaez was granted citizenship in 2001, but pleaded guilty in 2002 to 13 felonies for sexually abusing a 14-year-old parishioner between 1998 and 2000. He had falsely attested on his citizenship application that he had no criminal record. The case was revived following a recent investigation as part of a broader effort to identify cases where immigration benefits were obtained through false information.

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

Marlon Juvenal Chavez Merchan, a native and citizen of Ecuador, is currently detained at Otay Mesa Detention Facility in ICE custody. He filed a habeas corpus petition alleging that ICE violated his due process rights by detaining him without a bond determination hearing. The court conditionally appointed counsel and issued a limited stay to prevent his removal from the district pending a reasoned decision.

Federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations executed coordinated search warrants on May 13-14, 2026, targeting VC Defensa, an immigrant rights organization in Ventura County, California. Over 100 agents raided the homes of multiple volunteers and the organization's Oxnard office, seizing electronic devices including phones, computers, and USB drives. During the operations, agents pointed guns at residents, handcuffed activist Leonardo Martinez and the 16-year-old son of volunteer Alexandria Quintanar, and broke down doors. No arrests were made and authorities did not publicly disclose the basis for the searches or specific criminal allegations. All detainees were released from federal custody, and VC Defensa and allied organizations stated they would contest the raids in court.

The ACLU of Michigan, Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, and Michigan Catholic Center filed a complaint alleging that the North Lake Processing Center ICE detention facility in Baldwin is denying adequate medical care to detainees and limiting their access to attorneys. The groups detailed cases involving delays or denials of medical care, limits on attorney-client communications, and missed immigration proceedings, and are demanding an independent medical audit, mandatory emergency protocols, free medication access, and adequate translation services.

Suzy Gerónimo, a transgender activist and founder of Fuerza y Unión Múltiple in North Carolina, was detained by ICE following a traffic stop in Franklin County in March 2026 and transferred to Stewart Detention Center in Georgia. She reported being housed in a male unit despite being a transgender woman, and faced harassment, unsafe conditions, lack of Spanish-speaking staff, and inadequate privacy. During her April 28 bail hearing, her legal team announced plans to file an asylum application. A judge ordered DHS to provide accommodations, though implementation has been inconsistent. The community organized support funds and legal defense for her case.

A 33-year-old man from the Middle East was detained by ICE in December 2024 after a scheduled check-in with immigration officials. While held in solitary confinement, he experienced panic attacks and chest pains, and repeatedly struck his head against a door. According to his brother, he is a Christian who fled religious persecution in his home country and has no criminal record. An ICE officer informed him he could be deported to Uganda. Facing indefinite detention, he chose to voluntarily depart the United States rather than continue in custody.

Seven people believed to be immigrants from Mexico and Honduras died from heat stroke while being smuggled in a sealed Union Pacific boxcar in South Texas. Six bodies were discovered inside the boxcar at a rail yard in Laredo on May 10, 2026, when temperatures reached 97–105 degrees. The victims ranged in age from 14 to 56, with three from Mexico and three from Honduras. A woman inside the container called her sister reporting dangerous heat and physical distress, prompting a police response. A seventh body was found near railroad tracks in Bexar County, approximately 150 miles north of Laredo, on May 11 and is believed connected to the incident. Authorities attributed the deaths to heat-related illness and contacted the Department of Homeland Security, with federal officials leading the investigation into the human smuggling operation.

Maria Betania Uzcategui Castillo, a Venezuelan asylum-seeker with valid work authorization through 2030, and her two elementary school-aged children—Victor Uzcategui-Labrador Jr. (age 11) and Monserrat Uzcategui-Labrador (age 8)—were detained by ICE agents on April 27, 2026, at a school bus stop in Alamo Heights, Texas. The family, who had arrived at the U.S. border in 2021 seeking asylum and had complied with prior immigration requirements with a court date scheduled for 2027, were transported to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. The children, both students at Cambridge Elementary in Alamo Heights Independent School District, were reported as deeply traumatized by the detention. Community organizing efforts, including a rally and fundraising campaign that raised over $28,000 for legal fees, followed the arrest. U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia ordered their release on May 13, 2026, and the family was released on May 14, pending immigration hearings.

Julio was detained by ICE while traveling to work. He has no criminal history and was actively pursuing naturalization. His detention has left his wife Maria managing household expenses and bills on a single income while facing legal fees and bond expenses.

Dany Donaldo Hernández, a Guatemalan man with stage 4 cancer, was detained by ICE on May 13, 2026, while en route to a chemotherapy appointment at UAB Hospital in Birmingham. Hernández, who arrived in the U.S. in 2019 seeking asylum with his son, had been undergoing cancer treatment after a 16-hour surgery two years ago and was recently found to have recurrent cancer and lymph node involvement. Since his arrest, he has missed at least two chemotherapy sessions and his family is seeking humanitarian parole to allow him to continue treatment outside of custody.

ICE agents pepper-sprayed 47 detainees in an enclosed room at the Arizona Removal Operations Coordination Center at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in late February, causing at least one detainee to experience a seizure. The incident occurred at a facility designed to hold 157 detainees but was holding 332 at the time, with detainees packed into rooms with double their intended capacity.

Two undocumented men fled from their vehicle during an ICE operation in Thousand Palms. One man was apprehended inside a business. Both men were confirmed to be undocumented; one had prior arrests for driving under the influence and drug possession, the other had two prior DUI arrests.

Dr. Rubeliz Bolívar, a Venezuelan physician working at South Texas Health System, was detained by CBP in mid-April 2026 at McAllen International Airport while attempting to board a flight with her five-year-old U.S. citizen daughter. CBP claimed she had overstayed a visa that expired in 2017, despite her holding a valid work permit and having a pending green card application and active asylum proceedings. Her daughter was held briefly before being released to her maternal grandparents. After approximately one month in El Valle Detention Facility in Raymondville, a judge ordered Bolívar's release on bail on May 13, 2026, and she was reunited with her family. Her attorneys are appealing ICE's allegations that she violated visa conditions.

Federal DHS agents conducted at least three immigration-related arrests in Waukegan on Wednesday morning. The first arrest occurred around 9:30 a.m. near Belvidere Road and Powell Avenue; the second around 11:15 a.m. at a Uline warehouse on Lakeside Drive where a man was detained and transported in an unmarked black SUV; and the third around 10:30 a.m. near Catrachos Restaurant on Green Bay Road. At least one detainee was transported to the ICE processing facility in Broadview.

A man was detained by ICE agents in The Colony, Texas after a customer called ICE to avoid paying for auto repair work. According to his daughter, agents pepper-sprayed the man after he was already on the ground and handcuffed. The incident involved an alleged dispute over payment for completed vehicle repairs.