Federal prosecutors have dismissed charges against 14 of 36 people who were arrested and charged with assaulting immigration agents during a winter enforcement operation. Prosecutors are continuing cases against the remaining defendants, including one case a judge has described as "perplexing."
ICE agents raided OK Service, a gutter company in Mount Oliver, Pennsylvania, on the morning of May 6, 2026, detaining six workers at a job site. Surveillance video captured employees running as agents chased them near the work location. The business owner stated that the workers had documentation showing they were in the immigration process, with at least one holding a valid green card. At least three of the detained workers were released within hours of the detention.
Yenniffer Natalia England, a 32-year-old DACA recipient and nurse's assistant with valid work authorization through 2027, was detained by Texas state troopers on February 16, 2026, after a traffic stop for a suspended driver's license. She was transferred to ICE custody and held at El Valle Detention Facility in Raymondville, Texas. During her nearly three-month detention, her two daughters, ages 12 and 14, remained without her care. Community supporters and family members organized protests calling for her release. On May 21, 2026, a federal judge granted England a writ of habeas corpus, ordering her release. She was released with the condition of wearing an ankle monitor. Yenniffer England, a 32-year-old DACA recipient and nursing assistant, was pulled over by Texas state troopers for an expired license in February 2026. She was arrested and subsequently detained by ICE agents after being tipped off by county jail staff. An immigration judge denied her bond and issued a deportation order, despite her legal DACA status and 28-year residence in the United States.
Jose Arnulfo Guerrero Orellana, an unauthorized immigrant from El Salvador who entered the U.S. unlawfully in 2013, was arrested at a traffic stop in Massachusetts. He is challenging the Trump administration's policy of mandatory detention for all unauthorized immigrants without bond hearings through a class action lawsuit, Guerrero Orellana v. Moniz et al. The case argues the policy contradicts the Immigration and Nationality Act and long-standing government practice. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on the case, with federal appellate courts currently split on the issue and Supreme Court review increasingly likely.
Hector Beltran Simental, a 44-year-old Mexican citizen who entered the U.S. on an H2B work visa in 2004 and had lived in Colorado for over 20 years, was detained by ICE on May 5, 2026, following a petty offense arrest. Despite demonstrating strong ties to the community through business ownership, tax compliance, and custody of a U.S. citizen daughter, an Immigration Judge denied his bond on June 3, 2026. The federal court granted his habeas corpus petition, finding he was improperly detained under § 1225(b) and ordered a bond hearing by July 7, 2026, where the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that he poses a flight risk or danger to the community.
ICE arrested Gabriel Maror Ayuel, 55, a Sudanese national, in Nashville on May 5, 2026, following a months-long investigation. Ayuel was convicted of first-degree attempted murder in 2003 and sentenced to 20 years in prison, with additional convictions including aggravated assault, DUI, and felony flight to avoid prosecution. An immigration judge issued a final removal order in July 2008, but Ayuel remained in the United States for over 17 years in violation of that order. He remains in ICE custody pending removal.
Anton Bulgakov, a Russian national who entered the U.S. on a B-2 visa and filed for asylum, was detained by Arkansas police during a traffic stop on May 5, 2026. The officer stated Bulgakov had violated immigration law and took him to county jail, where ICE later transferred him to Jackson Parish Correctional Center in Louisiana. The court granted a temporary restraining order preventing his removal before his June 15, 2026 asylum hearing.
Sandra Orozco Velazquez was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in San Francisco. She filed a habeas corpus petition challenging her detention on due process grounds. The federal court granted a temporary restraining order for her release and then issued a preliminary injunction requiring ICE to provide her a pre-detention hearing before a neutral decisionmaker.
Cecilia, a 29-year-old pregnant Venezuelan asylum seeker, voluntarily surrendered to ICE with her three sons (ages 6, 9, and 12) on May 5, 2026, at the Centennial field office in Colorado. The family had walked to the U.S. in 2024 seeking stability, but lost their apartment and income after Cecilia's husband Ronald was arrested at an ICE appointment in November 2025. Facing homelessness and unable to support her children as her pregnancy became visible, Cecilia chose assisted voluntary departure. The family arrived in Caracas, Venezuela on May 13, 2026.
Jean Manuel Izquierdo, a 49-year-old Venezuelan father, was detained by ICE in Herriman, Utah, on May 5, 2026, as he was leaving his apartment complex to go to work. He is currently held in an immigration detention facility. According to his family, Izquierdo has no criminal record, holds valid work authorization, and is an active asylum applicant, but remains out of legal status. His family has launched a GoFundMe fundraising campaign to raise money for his bond and to support his case as it proceeds through immigration proceedings.
Bryan Rafael Gómez, a 27-year-old undocumented immigrant, was detained by ICE at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Rhode Island following his arrest by Worcester police on assault and battery charges. On April 28, 2026, a federal judge ordered his release after ICE and the U.S. attorney's office withheld information about an active homicide warrant from the Dominican Republic. After his release, Gómez disappeared and failed to report to ICE as expected. On May 5, 2026, a federal judge ordered Gómez re-detained after the withheld warrant information emerged. The judge criticized the conduct as a breach of trust and ordered a disciplinary review of the U.S. attorney's office, noting that had she known about the warrant, she would not have granted Gómez's habeas corpus petition.
Diego Armando Escalona Polanco, a 19-year-old Chipotle cook in Orlando, was detained by ICE agents following a Florida Highway Patrol traffic stop for a vehicle registration issue. Unable to afford legal representation and facing unfavorable odds in his case, Escalona signed paperwork to self-deport. He spent 42 days at Krome North Service Processing Center in Miami before being transported through four states in shackles and flown to Venezuela, where he reunited with family in Maracaibo after 11 years living in the United States.
Owen Ramsingh, a 45-year-old legal U.S. resident with a green card, was detained at O'Hare Airport in September 2025 after Border Patrol discovered a felony drug conviction from nearly 30 years prior. His green card was revoked, and he was deported to the Netherlands in February 2026, separated from his wife and teenage daughter in Columbia, Missouri. Ramsingh, who had not lived in the Netherlands since age 5, is now adjusting to life there while learning Dutch and living with his reconnected father.
Meenu Batra, a 53-year-old certified court interpreter with 35 years of U.S. residence and valid withholding of removal status, was detained by ICE agents on March 17, 2026, at Valley International Airport in Harlingen, Texas while traveling for a court assignment in Milwaukee. Despite holding work authorization and serving as a licensed interpreter for over 20 years in Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu, plainclothes agents arrested her based on a 2000 removal order. She was held at El Valle Detention Center in Raymondville for 45 days, during which she alleged denial of food, water, and medication. On April 30, 2026, federal judge Rolando Olvera in Brownsville issued a temporary restraining order ordering her release, finding the government lacked proper justification and had violated procedural protections and due process. Batra, a single mother of four U.S. citizen children, continues pursuing permanent residency through military parole based on her son's U.S. Army service.
Ytalo Pierre Montalvan Vasquez, a Peruvian citizen who was paroled into the U.S. to pursue asylum in March 2022, was re-detained at Adelanto ICE Processing Center. The petitioner had complied with all immigration procedures and had no criminal history. The court granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release, finding his detention violated due process rights.
Estuardo G.C., who entered the U.S. as a 10-year-old unaccompanied minor in 2018 and was paroled into the country, was arrested in February 2026 during a Border Patrol roving patrol stop while driving. He has been detained ever since and has no criminal history. The court granted his habeas petition and ordered his immediate release, finding his detention without pre-deprivation process violated his constitutional due process rights. Madina Almazova, who entered the United States without inspection in 2023 with a valid I-94 and California driver's license, was served with a Notice to Appear in April 2023 for removal proceedings. She was taken into custody by immigration officials on December 13, 2026, and detained at the Karnes County Immigration Processing Center. The court granted her habeas petition and ordered her immediate release, finding her detention violated due process rights.
Chansarath Duong, a Cambodian refugee who entered the US as a child in 1982, was detained by ICE on May 4, 2026, after 25 years on supervised release. Duong had been living in the US under Orders of Supervision since 1999 following a 1997 drug conviction, but Cambodia has consistently refused to issue travel documents for his removal. The court granted a temporary restraining order requiring his immediate release, finding that ICE violated its own regulations by having an unauthorized officer revoke his supervision.
Manuela Hernandez, an asylum seeker from Colombia, was detained at California City's detention center for five months after her electronic monitoring device broke during a household accident in December 2025. She reported severe medical decline in custody, including fainting spells and a bacterial infection, while ICE pursued federal charges for property destruction. After her legal team filed a habeas corpus petition arguing the break was unintentional, she was released on May 4, 2026, and has reunited with her family while continuing her asylum case.
Diana Marquez Ruiz initially planned to self-deport with her two children on May 4, 2026, after her husband was removed from Aurora detention center. However, on the drive to the ICE field office, she became emotional and decided to turn back, unable to abandon her family dog in the United States. She and Cecilia had lived together and supported each other after their husbands' arrests.
On May 2-3, 2026, ICE agents arrested Chidozie Wilson Okeke, a Nigerian national who had overstayed his tourist visa since August 2023, during an enforcement operation near Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn. Okeke sustained injuries during the arrest and was taken to the hospital's emergency room. Approximately 200-300 anti-ICE protesters gathered outside the hospital in response, resulting in a five-hour confrontation with NYPD. Nine people were arrested on charges including obstructing traffic, blocking emergency entrances, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, reckless endangerment, and criminal mischief. During the protest, ICE vehicles were damaged, pepper spray was used against agents, and an ICE vehicle struck a protester; four NYPD officers and several DHS agents sustained minor injuries. On May 4, elected officials and community leaders, including City Council Member Sandy Nurse, rallied against the incident, citing direct coordination between ICE and NYPD and demanding the city respect sanctuary city laws.
Federal Magistrate Judge Joel Richlin ordered the release of Darwin Ortega Montufar from ICE custody on April 24, 2026, finding his arrest and detention violated his constitutional due process rights. Montufar was arrested on April 4 while going to work in Riverside County, held incommunicado for three days, and denied a bond hearing despite being compliant with ICE reporting obligations and having no criminal record.
Federal Border Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents, assisted by Texas Department of Public Safety, conducted an operation at a residence on Smith Avenue in a central Laredo neighborhood. Over 20 undocumented people were removed from the home. The condition of those found inside remained unknown.
ICE Seattle took six people into custody who have serious criminal histories and are in the country without authorization, pending their removal. Those arrested include Miguel Salamanca-Alverez from Mexico with a felony conviction for five counts of assault; Angel Negrete-Villalobos with a felony conviction for first-degree assault and protective order violations; Alfredo Gallegos-Guillen with a history of assault arrests; Karla Daniela Gallegos-Holguin with a 2025 felony conviction for bringing methamphetamine into the country; and Bounlay Siackasorn from Laos with felony convictions for dealing meth, burglary, and theft.
A father named Marcus and his daughter are seeking community support and fundraising assistance following ICE enforcement activity under Operation Metro Surge. The family appears to be displaced and living in a campsite, with urgent appeals for donations to prevent the father's deportation.
Axel Gerardo Archaga Rios, an 18-year-old junior at Dunwoody High School who arrived in the U.S. at age 4 with his mother seeking asylum, was arrested by Dunwoody Police on March 27, 2026, for running a stop sign and driving without a valid license. He was booked into DeKalb County Jail under the 287(g) program, posted bond, and was released into ICE custody on March 29. Rios was transferred to Folkston ICE Processing Center near Brunswick, Georgia. His attorney filed a stay of removal and a motion to reopen his 2015 removal order to pursue asylum relief, but both requests were denied. Rios was deported to Honduras, where he subsequently adjusted to life with his grandmother.
Stephani Espinoza Fontalvo, detained at Adelanto ICE Processing Center, filed a pro se habeas corpus petition and emergency motion to prevent her removal from the United States. The federal court granted a temporary restraining order enjoining ICE from transferring or removing her from the Central District of California pending a preliminary injunction hearing. The court ordered ICE to ensure her appearance at the May 8, 2026 hearing.
Thirteen people were arrested during May Day protest activity in Portland on May 2, 2026, at two locations. Near the ICE facility in South Portland, five were arrested around 8:30 p.m. after protesters gathered to advocate for workers' and immigrant rights; police reported that protesters threw rocks and water bottles at officers, injuring two. Seven additional arrests were made during a hotel sit-in on Southwest 2nd Avenue.
Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian citizen, Fulbright scholar, and Columbia doctoral student in urban planning, had her visa revoked by DHS without explanation. ICE agents visited her building three times, twice without a warrant. She fled to the United States and remains in Canada.
Juan Gaspar, from a village near Quetzaltenango, was deported and signed a voluntary departure agreement. He reported that officers only collected a phone number but he received no message with stipend collection details a week after his expulsion.
Portland police arrested five people during a May Day protest at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in south Portland on Friday evening. Protesters gathered to advocate for worker and immigrant rights and to push for revoking the ICE facility's permit. Police reported that protesters threw rocks and water bottles at officers, injuring two. Portland police made multiple arrests during May Day protests on Friday, May 1, 2026, near the ICE facility in South Portland. Officers arrested nine people at a hotel sit-in demonstration, and additional arrests were made throughout the day and evening during protest activities near the ICE facility. Police reported that some protesters threw rocks and water bottles at officers, with one officer sustaining a non-life-threatening injury.
Reyna Isabel Funez Veliz, a noncitizen, is detained at ICE's Denver Contract Detention Facility despite an immigration judge ordering his release on an $8,000 bond. ICE invoked an automatic stay regulation to prevent his release while appealing the bond determination. The immigration judge later reconsidered and held that the petitioner's detention is mandatory under federal law.
S.A., a noncitizen from Cameroon who entered the U.S. in 2024, was granted withholding of removal to Cameroon on September 16, 2025. Despite this protection from deportation to his home country, he remained detained at the Adelanto Detention Facility for more than six months after his removal order became final. The court ordered his release within 24 hours, finding his continued detention violated due process since removal was not reasonably foreseeable.
A Mexican asylum-seeker who fled cartel violence in Michoacan in 2019 was arrested by ICE at her check-in appointment in Santa Rosa in May 2026, separating her from her three children ages 2, 13, and 19. After texting her daughter to bring the younger children home, she was held in a freezing cell with little food before being transported toward a detention center. Attorneys from the newly created Bay Area Habeas Network, led by attorney Jordan Weiner, filed an emergency habeas corpus petition and obtained a federal judge's order for her immediate release within hours. The woman told the Chronicle: "I feel like I have no peace. But I have faith and know that there are good people who will help us."
Josseph Steeven Quimi-Arellano, a noncitizen who entered the U.S. in 2024 and was released on his own recognizance, was abruptly re-detained by ICE in May 2026 without notice or opportunity to be heard. Respondents claimed he was subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b). The court granted his habeas petition, finding that § 1226(a)—not § 1225(b)—applied to him because he had already entered the interior of the country. The court ordered his immediate release by July 4, 2026, and enjoined re-detention absent clear and convincing evidence at a pre-deprivation hearing.
Santo, a Dominican national, was recently detained by ICE agents and transferred to an ICE detention facility in Louisiana. He has no criminal record but is a diabetic who was held without his medication for ten days, causing health complications. His wife Yolanda, who declined to use her full name due to deportation fears, stated he does not have legal representation and has reported experiencing side effects from medication deprivation. The family would prefer his release or deportation to the Dominican Republic over continued detention.
Henry Morales Hernandez, 55, a former Venezuelan army major who fled the Maduro government and sought asylum in the United States, was detained by ICE following a traffic stop in Collier County, Florida in April 2026. He was charged with driving under the influence, but prosecutors dropped the charge after determining insufficient evidence—breath tests showed blood alcohol levels of 0.036 and 0.037, below Florida's legal limit of 0.08. Despite the criminal case dismissal, ICE lodged a detainer and took him into custody on May 1, 2026. An immigration judge denied his bond request in May, relying on the arrest report despite the DUI charge being dismissed. Morales Hernandez holds an active asylum case in immigration court and previously held Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans, though the Trump administration moved to terminate that program in 2025.
Ceferino V.L., who came to the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor in 2018 and was previously released by ORR to his uncle, was re-arrested by immigration officers in May 2026 in front of his home. He has a pending asylum application and removal proceedings under way. The court granted his habeas petition, finding his detention without pre-deprivation process violated his constitutional due process rights, and ordered his immediate release.
Josue Alvarado, who fled gang extortion in Ecuador with his family in 2024, was detained by ICE in 2025 after the Trump administration canceled CBP One paroles. On May 1, 2026, his scheduled asylum hearing was canceled just before trial when a judge granted the government's motion to pretermit his case within hours, denying his attorney the standard 10 days to respond. He was ordered deported to Ecuador despite his family's fear that return would result in kidnapping or death from the gang members pursuing them.
Luis Fernando Cabrera Chavarria, an Austin ISD high school senior, was detained by ICE after a state trooper stopped him for an expired registration sticker on May 1 while he was returning home from his job at Popeyes. U.S. District Judge Jason Pulliam ordered his release before Friday, allowing him to attend his high school graduation on June 2. His family had applied for asylum in 2019, though his application was not filed correctly.
Otis Nicholas Ffriend, a Jamaican LGBTQ asylum seeker who had been granted Convention Against Torture withholding in November 2024, was arrested at his home by ICE agents on May 1, 2026 without a warrant. Ffriend had been complying with supervision requirements and living with his U.S. citizen wife in California. The federal court granted a temporary restraining order requiring his immediate release and prohibiting re-detention without a hearing.
Karina Lozano Chiriboga, Angel Granda, and their daughter Ariana Granda Lozano were deported to Ecuador on Wednesday morning despite their asylum case being denied without a hearing. The family had fled Ecuador two years prior due to violent organized crime and were going through legal channels to seek asylum. Their initial attorney missed filing deadlines, leading a judge to vacate their case, and although they obtained a temporary stay from U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin on April 24, that order was vacated four days later. ICE ordered them to the airport for a 5:30 a.m. departure, and while they were in flight, the Bureau of Immigration Appeals accepted their appeal into the record.
Juan Tablante was detained by ICE while working at his charcuterie business. His son Moisés launched a fundraiser to cover legal fees, bail, and business expenses as the family fights his case.
Rodney Taylor, a 47-year-old double amputee barber from Liberia who arrived in the U.S. as a child on a medical visa, was arrested by ICE on January 15, 2025, and held at Stewart Detention Center in South Georgia for 15 months based on a decades-old burglary conviction from his teenage years. Despite receiving a state pardon in 2010, holding a valid work permit, and having a pending green card application through his adult son, Taylor remained in ICE custody. During detention, he experienced severe medical neglect including denial of adequate food, proper prosthetics, exposure to contaminated water, and inadequate medical care for his disabilities, resulting in new health conditions such as bone spurs and neuropathy. Taylor was released in early May 2026 following sustained advocacy by U.S. Representative Lucy McBath, Senator Raphael Warnock, Representative Pramila Jayapal, additional members of Congress, his wife Mildred, community organizations, and legal representatives. His deportation case remains pending appeal.
ICE agents attempted to arrest Oscar Ocampo, a 41-year-old from Ecuador, on Exchange Street in New Haven while he was holding his seven-month-old son during a daycare drop-off. Neighbors and activists from the New Haven Immigrants Coalition emerged and recorded the encounter, urging the agents to leave. After approximately 20 minutes, the ICE agents departed without detaining Ocampo.
ICE agents conducted an operation on Brevard Street in Asheville targeting a specific individual, but detained three men total. According to a witness, agents arrested two additional men solely for being present with the targeted individual at the time. The organization CIMA activated an alert regarding the incident.
Marta Guinand, a Venezuelan national living in the U.S. since 2014 with a valid work permit through 2028, was detained by CBP agents at McAllen airport while attempting to travel to her son's graduation in Florida. She has an active political asylum case since 2015 and is being held at Ursula Detention Center without her case being presented to court; her asylum interview scheduled for April was cancelled by authorities.
Wilfredo Hoyos-Gomez, a 10-year-old Venezuelan boy, appeared alone in Houston immigration court without legal representation and faces deportation to Ecuador, a country he has never visited. His mother, Nexoli Anyis Gomez Bracho, was detained by ICE in late 2025 following a traffic stop and remains in custody at the Houston Contract Detention Facility. The mother holds a valid work permit and has a pending asylum case. With no other family in the United States, the boy's mother's former employer serves as his legal guardian. The Department of Homeland Security filed paperwork seeking the child's deportation, and Rep. Joaquin Castro called for ICE to release the mother and halt deportation proceedings against the child.
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