Human Impact Project

An Afghan asylum seeker was assured by ICE that two missed check-ins would not be held against him—one due to a double-booked appointment and another due to hospitalization for a heart arrhythmia. Two months after the hospitalization, ICE detained him at work, claiming he was a flight risk for missed check-ins and failing to report a move to Portland. ICE provided no documentary evidence of the violations. U.S. District Judge Kymberly K. Evanson ruled in his favor and released him after 41 days of detention at the Northwest Detention Center.

An Iranian native who entered the U.S. as a child in 1993 and was granted withholding of removal in 1999 was detained by ICE at Los Angeles International Airport on March 18, 2026 while attempting to fly to Chicago for his father-in-law's funeral. He had been on supervised release for over 12 years and is married to a U.S. citizen with two U.S. citizen children. The court granted his temporary restraining order and ordered his immediate release, finding that ICE failed to follow proper procedures for revoking his supervised release.

Ben and five other people in Illinois, Oregon, and Minnesota were arrested while protesting at ICE facilities and had DNA swabs taken without clear consent. Ben was arrested during a protest at Chicago's Broadview ICE facility during Operation Midway Blitz; video reviewed by NPR shows a masked federal officer slamming him to the ground while three immigration officers pinned him down and dragged him to their vehicle. He was held in custody for approximately three hours, then photographed, fingerprinted, and had a DNA swab collected from inside his cheek without clear explanation. The six cases, reported in recent months across three states, are now part of litigation challenging the Department of Homeland Security and FBI DNA database collection practices as violations of First and Fourth Amendment protections.

Rafael Rubio, a New York City Council data analyst, was ordered deported to Venezuela by a federal immigration judge after being detained by ICE for more than two months. The judge deemed Rubio's asylum application abandoned due to a missing signature on paperwork. Rubio had overstayed a 2017 tourist visa. According to DHS, he has a prior arrest for assault.

Wilfredo Castillo, a Venezuelan who fled political persecution and violence, was arrested at an immigration check-in appointment in Tukwila in March 2025 after being told by ICE he would be detained. ICE claimed he missed nine SmartLink app check-ins, but Castillo says the app malfunctioned and he never missed in-person appointments. He spent 11 months at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, where he was stabbed multiple times by another detainee. A federal judge released him after finding the government lacked justification for his prolonged detention.

Jose Eliezer Martinez-Andino, a 20-year-old mechanic living in Raleigh, North Carolina, and father to a U.S.-citizen daughter, was stopped by Border Patrol agents in Montana in March 2026 while riding in a car with a forged license plate. He had entered the U.S. in 2020 as an unaccompanied minor and held Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, deferred action, and a work permit, with his removal proceedings previously dismissed by a judge. Despite this status, he was pressured into signing a voluntary-departure form, moved between at least six detention centers, denied contact with his attorneys for more than ten days, and deported to Honduras in April after his attempts to revoke the agreement were allegedly ignored. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell found the removal was carried out "in a manner that boggles the mind" without due process and ordered the government to facilitate his return along with his daughter. He was flown to Harlingen, Texas in August but remained in CBP custody as DHS filed a new removal case against him.

Jose Martinez-Andino, a 20-year-old Honduran who entered the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor in 2020 and obtained Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, was apprehended by immigration officers on March 18, 2026, while traveling in Montana. He was held in six detention centers over 10 days without access to his two retained attorneys, despite repeatedly requesting counsel and his attorneys' attempts to locate him. Within 24 hours of detention, Martinez-Andino signed a voluntary departure agreement that he says was never properly explained and signed under coercion. He was deported to Honduras on April 10, separating him from his 3-year-old U.S. citizen daughter and his job as a mechanic in Raleigh, North Carolina. Federal Judge Beryl Howell found he was likely denied due process and ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the United States.

Multiple Ohio organizations filed a lawsuit on March 18, 2026, against the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection, alleging federal agents illegally arrested people without proper arrest warrants or probable cause since April 22, 2025. The lawsuit represents all people in Ohio subject to such arrests and includes a specific case from December 2025 in which plainclothes agents in an unmarked vehicle arrested a man outside a home improvement store without displaying a warrant. The man had an active asylum case, a valid work permit, and a social security number.

Juan Antonio Maldinera Guzman was detained on March 17, 2026, after having been previously released on bond or conditional parole. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California found that the government violated his Fifth Amendment due process rights by re-detaining him without first providing a pre-deprivation bond hearing before a neutral arbiter. The court determined that the Due Process Clause requires such a hearing to consider a noncitizen's eligibility for bond before re-detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) or § 1182(d)(5). Following prior precedent established in Selis Tinoco v. Noem, Labrador-Prato v. Noem, D.L.C. v. Wofford, and Altin v. Chestnut, the court granted Maldinera Guzman's petition for writ of habeas corpus and motion for temporary restraining order. He was ordered released immediately from the California City Detention Facility with the same conditions he was subject to prior to his March 17, 2026 detention. If the government seeks to re-detain him, it must provide seven days' notice and hold a constitutionally compliant pre-deprivation bond hearing.

San Diego County's Immigrant Legal Defense Program, which provides free legal counsel to detained immigrants and unaccompanied minors, faces significant funding gaps as costs are expected to reach $13.4-$18 million annually while the budget remains at $5 million. The increased demand is driven by a nearly 200% increase in detention levels at the Otay Mesa Detention Center under the Trump administration. Without additional funding from philanthropic and state sources, the program may be unable to maintain current service levels.

Leqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old Palestinian woman from Paterson, New Jersey, was detained by ICE in March 2025 after attending a voluntary check-in at the Newark ICE office. She had participated in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University in April 2024, though those charges were dismissed the next day. At the time of her ICE detention, Kordia had a pending green card application through her U.S. citizen mother and a pending asylum application. She was held at Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas for over one year. In February 2026, while detained, Kordia suffered a seizure and was hospitalized but remained shackled to her hospital bed and was prevented from contacting family or attorneys. She experienced additional health complications including dizziness, fainting episodes, and significant weight loss, along with reports of overcrowded conditions and inadequate food at the facility. On March 16, 2026, an immigration judge ordered her release on a $100,000 bond, citing minimal flight risk and serious medical concerns. The government did not appeal the decision. Her attorneys contend she was targeted for her pro-Palestine advocacy.

A DACA recipient who has lived in the U.S. for an extended period was detained by immigration authorities immediately upon his release from local criminal custody at the Santa Barbara County jail on March 15, 2026. He was held for over a month without a bond hearing despite being eligible for one under immigration law. The federal court ordered his immediate release and prohibited re-detention without a pre-deprivation bond hearing.

Patience Gore, a 44-year-old Zimbabwean national who had lived in the U.S. for about 24 years, was detained by undercover ICE agents at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport after a United Airlines gate agent announced her name over the loudspeaker, according to a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. Gore, who had been granted withholding of removal to Zimbabwe and had no criminal record, was traveling home to Maryland with her partner after attending a friend's wedding when she was surrounded by three plainclothes agents without visible identification and told she was not free to leave. She was held for nearly two weeks in what the lawsuit describes as degrading conditions, including sleeping on a mattress on the floor and being denied a change of clothes, before a federal judge ordered her release. The lawsuit alleges the detention caused her to miss a scheduled IVF treatment, and a subsequent replacement cycle did not result in pregnancy.

Zahid Chaudhry, a disabled U.S. Army veteran and lawful permanent resident from Pakistan, was detained by ICE at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma in August 2025 after being arrested during a citizenship interview at a USCIS office. ICE cited undisclosed criminal charges from Australia in the early 1990s involving financial deception and passport-related offenses. After 124 days in custody, a federal judge ruled the detention was wrongful, finding that the government failed to provide Chaudhry notice or opportunity to be heard before detaining him, violating his constitutional rights. A government attorney apologized during the habeas hearing. In December 2025, Judge David G. Estudillo ordered Chaudhry's release.

Jonatan, a legal resident with an upcoming asylum hearing, was detained by ICE and held in a local jail in Virginia for three weeks before being released on March 14, 2026. His partner Kirby credits community organizing and intervention by people tracking ICE movements with preventing his disappearance and securing his release. The incident left lasting psychological and financial impacts on both of them.

On March 14, 2026, Gerardo Gonzalez Reyes, 44, and his 17-year-old son Esteban were arrested during a traffic stop in San Marcos after police responded to a false report. Police confirmed no crime had occurred. Esteban was released, but ICE placed a detainer on Gonzalez Reyes based on prior DWI convictions from 2004 and 2005 and transferred him to T. Don Hutto Detention Center. Despite over two months of community advocacy, vigils, and petitions to drop criminal charges by his family—including U.S. citizen children and a disabled wife who depends on him as a caretaker—an immigration judge ordered his deportation to Mexico in May 2026. His family plans to appeal.

An Eritrean national entered the United States without inspection on March 9, 2023, and has resided in the country for approximately three years. On March 13, 2026, ICE arrested him and placed him in removal proceedings under 8 U.S.C. § 1229a, detaining him pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2) as a person who entered without inspection. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention and sought either an individualized custody determination or release, arguing he should be detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), which permits bond hearings. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma denied his motion for temporary restraining order, finding that he failed to demonstrate likelihood of success on the merits, irreparable harm, or that the equities favored release. The court determined his detention under § 1225(b)(2) was lawful and his due process claims were either premature or inadequately argued.

An individual who entered the U.S. in December 2023 was initially detained by immigration authorities, then released on their own recognizance after approximately one month. On March 13, 2026, they were taken into custody for a traffic violation and subsequently detained again by immigration authorities. The court ordered their immediate release, finding that their prior release created a liberty interest and that continued detention violated due process.

A 42-year-old Guatemalan man who has lived in the United States since 2004 was detained by ICE on March 13, 2026, while attending a court hearing for the dismissal of a criminal offense. He is engaged to a U.S. citizen and is the father of three U.S. citizens. Following his detention, he was transferred to the San Bernardino Sub Office and held at Adelanto Detention Facility. On March 31, 2026, he filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus seeking immediate release or a bond hearing within seven days, raising claims of unlawful denial of a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), violation of Fifth Amendment due process rights, and violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. On April 13, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted his Petition for Temporary Restraining Order, finding that he is entitled to an individualized bond hearing as a member of the Bond Eligible Class established in Bautista v. Santacruz. The court ordered respondents to either provide evidence that he received a bond hearing or release him from custody within 48 hours, with no release restrictions such as electronic monitoring unless deemed necessary at a future bond hearing.

Virginia Lissbeth Pineda Lemus, a 21-year-old Salvadoran woman who crossed the U.S. border as an unaccompanied minor at age 16, was arrested on domestic assault charges in January 2026 and taken into ICE custody after posting bond on those state charges, which were later dismissed. She was held at Lincoln County Jail on an ICE hold for two months before U.S. District Judge John Gerrard ordered her outright release on March 13, 2026. Pineda described her detention as traumatizing, saying she was treated "more like an animal than a person." She remains in deportation proceedings but has reunited with her boyfriend and is building her case outside of jail.

A whistleblower at the Baltimore ICE detention facility alleged severe conditions including use of a restraint chair and unsanitary environments. A video documented overcrowding in January 2026, prompting Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen to raise concerns. ICE transferred approximately 100 detainees from the facility to Arizona on March 12, 2026, the day before a congressional oversight visit. A federal judge subsequently ruled in March 2026 that ICE must limit capacity at the downtown Baltimore holding facility to 56 people across five cells, citing health and safety risks. The court ordered ICE to conduct medical screenings within 12 hours of arrival, clean cells daily, and ensure access to hygiene supplies and medication within 24 hours.

The Gámez-Cuéllar family—parents Luis Antonio Gámez Martínez and Emma Guadalupe Cuéllar López, and their three sons Antonio (18), Caleb (12), and Joshua (14)—were detained by ICE on February 25, 2026, during a routine immigration check-in in Edinburg, Texas. The family had legally entered the U.S. in May 2023 through the CBP One asylum app and were in active asylum proceedings with a final hearing scheduled for September. Antonio was separated from his family and shackled during transport to an adult detention facility in Raymondville, while his younger brothers and parents were held at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley. Two of the brothers are award-winning mariachi musicians with McAllen High School's Mariachi Oro band, which has performed at the White House and Carnegie Hall and won eight state championships. After approximately 13 days in detention, bipartisan congressional pressure from lawmakers including Rep. Monica De La Cruz and Rep. Joaquin Castro, combined with a successful parole request by their attorneys, resulted in the family's release on February 28, 2026. The parents were required to wear ankle monitors and restrict travel to 75 miles from their home.

Curtis Wright, a 39-year-old Edmonton-born permanent resident who has lived in the United States for nearly 30 years, was detained by ICE on November 6, 2025, after returning from a business trip to Mexico through Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport. Wright works in the oil and gas sector and lives with his fiancée Kayla Thomsen, their 18-month-old daughter, and his two young sons from a previous marriage. ICE cited a drug possession conviction from when Wright was 17 years old—Xanax tablets were found in a car he was in; he had completed community service for that sentence. Wright's green card has been renewed multiple times since becoming a permanent resident in 2001, and his fiancée argues that federal law shields him from removal because more than 22 years have passed since his offense. While detained at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Wright endured harsh conditions including cold temperatures, no blankets or jackets, contaminated water that made him severely ill, poor food, and was denied his colitis medication for 41 days. His court hearings were repeatedly delayed, with his name missing from the docket on at least two occasions and a judge failing to appear for a scheduled virtual court date. On March 13, 2026, Judge Jennifer L. Mazza ordered his deportation. Wright's legal team, including attorney Matt Mendez, filed evidence supporting his case and is pursuing a habeas corpus request and plans to appeal the deportation order. During detention, Wright has been moved to seven different facilities and has helped 13 other detainees with legal and communication support. His daughter has learned to walk while he has been detained, and his fiancée described it as heartbreaking to see their daughter try to reach him through glass during visits. Wright could self-deport to Canada but fears losing custody of his two sons.

Celia, a single mother of five, was arrested by ICE at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport on March 12, 2026, while boarding a flight to San Diego after attending her stepson's military graduation. She had a pending U-visa application certified by the U.S. Attorney General's Office after coming forward with claims of sexual abuse by a former officer at Federal Correctional Institution Dublin in California, where she had been incarcerated. Despite informing ICE agents of her pending U-visa and assisting in the federal investigation, supervisors told agents to proceed with her deportation regardless of her pending immigration relief. She was sent to Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, and was deported to Mexico about a week later. Her attorney, Susan Beatty, characterized the action as "a slap in the face."

A citizen of Kyrgyzstan entered the United States without inspection on April 17, 2023, and has lived in the U.S. interior for nearly three years. DHS initiated removal proceedings and released him on an Order of Release on Recognizance (OREC) in April 2023. On February 20, 2024, he filed a pending asylum application. On March 12, 2026, Indiana State Police encountered him during a traffic stop, after which DHS revoked his OREC and ICE arrested him under an administrative warrant pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226. He has been detained at Clay County Jail in Brazil, Indiana since March 12, 2026. He is charged with inadmissibility as a noncitizen present in the United States without being admitted or paroled. The federal court granted his habeas corpus petition, finding that his detention without a bond hearing violates immigration law. The court ordered that by April 7, 2026, respondents must either provide him with an individualized bond hearing before an immigration judge or release him under reasonable conditions of supervision.

Lorenzo Chavez Rascon, a 22-year-old Utah man, was arrested on February 23, 2026, on suspicion of selling drugs, but the substances were determined to be dried pinto beans. He was released from initial criminal custody but subsequently detained by ICE based on a detainer, despite holding deferred action status from a pending U-visa petition. On March 11, 2026, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking his deportation and ordered the government to explain why he should not be released, ruling that his continued detention violated his constitutional due process rights. As of March 14, he remained in federal custody.

A 14-year-old Brazilian national was detained by ICE agents in Marlborough, Massachusetts on March 10, 2026, during an operation targeting suspected gang members. She was transferred to a juvenile detention facility in New York without following proper legal procedures. A federal judge ordered her immediate release on March 12, 2026, finding the detention and out-of-state transfer violated constitutional protections and questioning why she was not turned over to state child welfare authorities instead. She was reunited with her aunt and uncle in Massachusetts but received a notice to appear in immigration court and now faces deportation to Brazil. Her attorney plans to challenge the deportation and petition for special immigrant juvenile status.

An asylum seeker who entered the U.S. as a minor in 2021 was detained by ICE after being stopped by police while driving to work in Key Largo, Florida on March 12, 2026. He had been living in the community with a pending asylum application and no criminal history for five years. The court ordered his immediate release, finding his detention violated constitutional due process rights.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado granted a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the case of Luis Alfredo Chavelas Rosas, a Mexican citizen detained by ICE on July 16, 2025, in Aurora, Colorado. The court ruled that the detainee was improperly detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) without a bond hearing and determined that the default rule under § 1226(a) applies, requiring the government to provide a bond hearing. The court concluded that § 1225(b)(2)(A) does not authorize detention for noncitizens who have been present in the country for years and are not actively seeking admission.

On March 9, 2026, ICE detained and deported two 12-year-old twin sisters who are U.S. citizens born in Orlando, Florida, after their mother attended a scheduled immigration appointment at an ICE facility. ICE invoked a "family unity" policy to take the children into custody and deport them to Guatemala. The mother had previously submitted paperwork requesting the children remain with their grandmother, though ICE stated she verbally requested to take them with her. A federal court granted a habeas corpus petition filed by the grandmother, ordering the children's immediate return to the United States at ICE's expense and restraining ICE from rearresting them.

A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction halting construction of a planned ICE detention facility in Washington County, Maryland, finding the federal government improperly used a categorical exclusion from environmental review requirements. The judge upheld Maryland's arguments that the facility could overwhelm local water and sewer infrastructure and harm waterways and protected species like the green floater mussel. Interior repairs including HVAC and drywall work may proceed, while a decision on the proposed security fence is pending.

Andrei Bankevich, a Belarusian asylum seeker granted relief from deportation to Belarus under the Convention Against Torture, was arrested on a drunken driving charge in Minnesota in February 2025 and transferred to ICE custody. After ICE detention facilities filled during Operation Metro Surge, he was transferred to Muscatine County Jail in Iowa in December 2025. ICE claimed it had been working on potential third-country removals for Bankevich since September 2025, but provided no documentation. Federal Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger ruled on March 11, 2026, that ICE illegally detained Bankevich beyond the six-month limit in violation of federal law and his due process rights, calling his jailing "prolonged and seemingly interminable" and ordering his immediate release.

A 12-year-old Venezuelan boy was arrested at gunpoint during a home raid without a warrant by federal agents and transferred to a family detention camp in Dilley, Texas, allegedly without his inhaler. He has health concerns related to his respiratory condition. A federal judge found that the government produced no warrant to justify the arrest and ordered the boy and his father released. The boy and his father were returned to Minnesota by January 22, 2026, but remained detained for three additional days in violation of the court order.

A man from Nicaragua who surrendered at the southern border in 2022 held a valid work permit, was employed as a landscaper in Minnesota, and had a pending asylum application when immigration courts summoned him to a hearing. ICE officers arrested him in the courthouse hallway immediately after the hearing ended. His labor union helped him file a lawsuit that ordered his release, though he was held for six additional days. He now fears he cannot trust the federal government to give him a fair hearing.

A 50-year-old Mexican national who had lived in the U.S. for over three decades without criminal history was arrested by immigration officers on March 10, 2026 while going to work. Officers claimed he had a court order regarding a domestic violence case but never showed him the order. He was placed in the Adelanto Detention Center and the court ordered his immediate release, finding he was denied due process protections.

A 23-year-old Colombian man was detained on March 10, 2026, at an ICE check-in appointment in Eugene based on a pending felony domestic violence assault charge in Linn County. He is an asylum seeker who fled politically motivated violence in Colombia. The alleged victim filed a statement saying she does not fear him and that the arrest does not represent his character as a person or father. Chief U.S. District Judge Michael McShane granted his habeas petition on May 14, 2026, finding the detention unjustified and rejecting the government's broad interpretation of mandatory detention law.

A Guatemalan citizen who entered the United States in 2001 was detained by ICE officers on March 9, 2026, while on his way to work and is currently held at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield, California. A federal court granted his habeas corpus petition, finding his detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated due process, and ordered the government to provide a bond hearing within 14 days or release him.

A federal judge in Oregon has restricted federal officers from using tear gas at protests at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland. The ruling limits law enforcement's use of force against demonstrators at the ICE facility.

A Yemeni national with Temporary Protected Status and father of four U.S. citizen children was detained by ICE on March 6, 2026, three days after his TPS status expired on March 3, 2026. He owns a car dealership in Birmingham, Alabama and his wife is a U.S. citizen pregnant with their fifth child. The court denied his motion for temporary restraining order seeking immediate release from detention.

Jose Ernesto Aparicio Almendarez, a 20-year-old Honduran citizen who entered the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor seeking asylum, was detained by ICE after being stopped for driving without a license in Orlando, Florida. He had previously been released by ORR to a sponsor and has a pending asylum application. The court ordered his immediate release, finding his detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated due process. Jose Alberto Cuellar, a 51-year-old landscaper from El Salvador who has lived in South Florida for 30 years, was detained by ICE agents during a traffic stop near Davie and Griffin roads early Tuesday morning. According to his son Justin, who was driving the landscaping truck, ICE agents approached the vehicle after it was pulled over for an allegedly obstructed license plate, and agents asked his father in Spanish whether he had papers or was "legal," using a racial slur. Cuellar has no criminal record and has worked as a landscaper six days a week for decades while attempting to legalize his immigration status since the early 2000s; his family has been unable to locate him in any detainee system and are raising funds for legal representation.

A Vietnamese immigrant who arrived in the U.S. in 1991 as a lawful permanent resident was arrested by immigration authorities outside his home on March 5, 2026. He had been living in the community on supervised release since 2006 after his removal to Vietnam proved impracticable following a 2004 conviction. The court ordered his immediate release, finding the government failed to demonstrate his removal was reasonably foreseeable and violated procedures for revoking his supervised release.

An Iranian citizen born in Germany in 1990 who has lived in the United States for over 20 years since entering at age 15. He is employed full-time as a Project Manager for J.T. Construction Group and works as an In-Home Supportive Service provider caring for his parents, who are now U.S. citizens. In 2012, he was ordered removed to Iran but granted withholding of removal, and was placed on an order of supervision (OSUP). On March 5, 2026, ICE officers arrested him at Burbank Airport without providing meaningful notice or opportunity to be heard, claiming his case was under review for removal to an unnamed third country. ICE detained him at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. A federal magistrate judge granted his habeas petition, finding no showing of changed circumstances for revocation, violation of due process procedures, and inadequate third-country removal safeguards. The court ordered his immediate release subject to his prior OSUP conditions and prohibited removal to a third country without written notice and a minimum 10-day opportunity to raise fear-based claims.

Mirna Yesenia Alvarado Benitez, a citizen of El Salvador who entered the U.S. in July 2024, was initially detained and then released with conditions. On March 5, 2026, she appeared for a routine ICE check-in appointment, at which point the government placed her in expedited removal proceedings and detained her. The court granted a temporary restraining order preventing her removal while her habeas corpus petition is pending. Mirna Benitez, a Salvadoran woman who had been living in the U.S. for nearly 13 years and working as a school custodian, was detained by ICE after attending a scheduled appointment at an ICE office in North Chesterfield on December 7, 2025. Despite having attended regular ICE check-ins for years, applied for asylum with legal representation, and obtained a temporary work permit, Benitez was taken into custody without warning. She was transferred through multiple detention facilities—Riverside Regional Jail in Richmond, an ICE facility in Texas, and another in Louisiana—over 10 days, during which she reported mistreatment by officers, inadequate medical care, unsanitary conditions, and denial of access to legal counsel. She ultimately chose to accept deportation to El Salvador rather than remain detained, departing before Christmas.

A native and citizen of El Salvador who has resided in the United States since 2005. In 2014, an Immigration Judge ordered him removed but granted his application for withholding of removal to El Salvador. Because his removal order was not effectuated, he was placed under an Order of Supervision (OSUP) on February 2, 2016, and remained released on supervision while attending regular check-ins with ICE for approximately 10 years. On March 5, 2026, at a scheduled check-in, ICE revoked his OSUP and arrested him, providing only vague boilerplate language about enforcing his removal order without specifying concrete reasons or the destination country. The informal interview required by regulations occurred the same day as his arrest, preventing him from meaningfully responding to the revocation notice. On April 8, 2026, a federal judge granted his motion for a temporary restraining order, finding that ICE likely violated its own regulations by: failing to provide adequate notice of the reasons for revocation, conducting the informal interview immediately upon arrest without allowing time to respond, and having the revocation decision made by a Supervisory Detention & Deportation Officer rather than the required Executive Associate Director or District Director. The court ordered ICE to immediately release him under the same supervision terms that applied before his detention and enjoined ICE from re-detaining him unless it complies with proper procedures.

An asylum seeker was detained on March 4, 2026 at Eden Detention Center while his asylum application remains pending. He filed an emergency motion seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent his removal and requesting immediate release or an individualized bond hearing. The federal court denied his motion, finding he failed to meet the requirements for emergency relief.

An immigration detainee who entered the U.S. without inspection in December 2021 was initially detained then released on his own recognizance with restrictive conditions. After more than four years of compliance with all conditions, he was arrested and detained by immigration authorities on March 4, 2026, without notice or process. The court granted his habeas petition and ordered his immediate release, finding his detention violated constitutional due process rights. He was arrested and detained by immigration authorities on March 4, 2026, after previously being released under certain conditions. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his immigration detention as violations of due process and federal immigration law. The court granted his unopposed petition and ordered his immediate release under the same conditions as his prior release.

A citizen of El Salvador who has lived in the United States for approximately 20 years, having entered on November 26, 2005, has a United States citizen child and has worked in the country with no prior removal order. On March 4, 2026, ICE officers apprehended him in Simi Valley, California during a field operation as he exited his vehicle. Officers did not provide him a warrant until after arrest and did not provide a pre-deprivation opportunity to contest his detention. He has been held at Desert View Annex in Adelanto, California since his detention and has never received a bond hearing before an immigration judge, with no neutral decisionmaker reviewing whether his continued detention was warranted. He sought immediate release under reasonable conditions of supervision through an emergency motion for temporary restraining order. On August 4, 2026, the federal court granted his motion and ordered his immediate release, finding he demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of his due process claim under the Mathews v. Eldridge test and that he would suffer irreparable harm from continued unlawful detention.

Syed Abbas, an Indian national from New York, was detained by Iowa State Patrol and ICE officers on March 4, 2026, while traveling through Iowa as a commercial truck driver. Abbas had been granted work authorization in 2024 and had a pending asylum application at the time of his arrest. State troopers pulled over his vehicle after the driver failed to stop at a weigh station, checked Abbas's immigration status despite him not being the driver, and concluded he was in the U.S. without authorization, then transferred him to Polk County Jail. Abbas's attorney has filed a federal lawsuit against ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and Polk County, arguing his due process rights were violated when he was deprived of liberty without notice, hearing, or individualized justification.

Orlin Carrasco, 29, was detained by ICE agents on March 4, 2026, inside Robertson County Courthouse after appearing before a judge on traffic charges. Carrasco had entered the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor at age 17 to flee gang recruitment in Honduras. At the time of his detention, he had an active asylum case, a valid work permit, a driver's license, and was married to a U.S. citizen. He has been held in a Louisiana detention facility for over three months without a clear explanation or active deportation order. His attorney argues ICE is illegally detaining him under a void document and that his 2013 administratively closed case does not support mandatory detention.

A Guatemalan national who entered the U.S. on a Visa Waiver Program is detained by ICE and challenging his mandatory civil detention through a federal habeas corpus petition. He has a child in the United States, lives with the mother of his child, has resided at the same address for several years, and has construction employment. He was arrested following what his counsel characterizes as a selective, racially targeted ICE field operation. His only cited criminal history involves two alcohol-related driving matters: a November 2023 plea to driving while ability impaired (classified as a traffic infraction under New York law) resulting in a conditional discharge, $300 fine, and 90-day license suspension, and an earlier dismissed and sealed matter. The Immigration Judge found him a danger and flight risk and set no bond. He seeks immediate release pending adjudication of his habeas petition and asylum claim, proposing strict conditions including a $10,000 cash posting, driver's license surrender, absolute driving prohibition, home detention or curfew, and alcohol treatment and testing.