Human Impact Project

José Arturo Vilchez, a Venezuelan national, was detained by police during a traffic stop in Austin, Texas and transferred to ICE. According to his sister, Vilchez was stopped while driving his daughter to a heart specialist appointment; the child was born with a heart condition. His sister stated that Vilchez has no prior legal problems, has never been a public charge, and even paid for his sister-in-law's delivery expenses. She characterized the stop as racially motivated and said the family is now without their primary source of support.

Luiz, a husband and father of four, was arrested by local police on July 24, 2026, while attending court to pay a traffic ticket. He was immediately reported to ICE and is now in ICE custody awaiting an immigration hearing scheduled for October 1, 2026. His wife Simone is left alone caring for their four children, including Lucas (16, autistic), Guilherme (13), Sarah (6, U.S. citizen), and Monica (22 months, U.S. citizen). With no family support in the U.S. and very limited income, Simone faces overwhelming financial and emotional pressure while friends work with an immigration lawyer to secure Luiz's release.

Chansareth Hong, 50, a Cambodian refugee who arrived in the United States as an infant in 1978 and has lived in Rhode Island for nearly 50 years, was taken into ICE custody on July 22, 2026, while attending a required in-person check-in at the Warwick field office—a practice he had maintained for nearly 28 years. Hong is the sole caretaker of his nonverbal 9-year-old autistic son and his elderly mother; his son's mother died in 2025 and Hong's father died in June 2026. In his late teens and early 20s, Hong pleaded no contest to drug-related charges but maintained a clean record for three decades without missing a single ICE check-in. He was transferred to the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls. Over 100 community members, including members of the Cambodian Society of Rhode Island and other refugee advocacy organizations, gathered outside the ICE office to protest his detention. Governor Dan McKee, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley, 13 members of the Providence City Council, and U.S. Representative Seth Magaziner sent letters to ICE urging his release, citing his rehabilitation and essential role as family caretaker. Over 2,000 people signed a petition on his behalf. A federal judge ordered that Hong cannot be moved out of Rhode Island without 72 hours notice, and his legal team filed a habeas petition in federal court challenging his detention.

F.S., a 32-year-old asylum seeker from Guatemala, was arrested by ICE after beginning the vetting process to gain custody of her 13-year-old son, who has been in a federal shelter for over eight months as of July 2026. F.S. fled Guatemala in 2023 due to violence and had been living in the U.S. while her asylum case was pending, making four-hour drives to visit her son weekly at the shelter. When she came forward to sponsor him, ICE arrested her as part of the Trump administration's operation targeting undocumented sponsors. Her son's mental health has severely deteriorated during his prolonged shelter stay; he has been prescribed anxiety medications and was recently admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Both mother and son have agreed to accept deportation to reunite sooner. F.S. fears retaliation for speaking publicly about her case.

An Indian national who arrived on a student visa, married to a U.S. citizen for 6 years, was arrested by ICE and detained at a facility in Tennessee. He was offered the choice to fight deportation in a Louisiana state prison for 6 months with no guarantee of legal status approval, or to self-deport. He chose self-deportation. His wife, a U.S. citizen, suffers from a debilitating medical condition and their child has special needs. With the father's self-deportation, the family decided the mother and child would relocate to India to reunite with him, leaving behind their life in Tennessee. The mother, who has no family support locally and whose husband's family lives overseas, faces the challenge of traveling internationally for the first time with her child to a country where neither speaks the language, while managing her medical condition and her child's special needs.

Emmanuel Rodriguez, a father of three who immigrated 21 years ago seeking safety, was detained by State Highway Patrol on July 18, 2026, during a family beach vacation in Myrtle Beach after being pulled over for a broken headlight. Despite being eligible for a $232 PR bond that would have allowed immediate release, he was placed on a 48-hour ICE hold due to his immigration status and Horry County's close cooperation with ICE. Rodriguez has no history of violent crimes and has spent his life providing for his family and helping those in need. His daughter, a 20-year-old biology student at UNC Greensboro, describes him as the backbone of the family—both financially and emotionally—and notes he is being deported to a country he has not visited in over 24 years, leaving his wife to care alone for their two other children, including an 18-year-old son with severe autism.

A Honduran father was detained by ICE on July 18, 2026, in Austin, Texas, in front of his young daughter who has autism. According to the source, the man is now held in immigration detention in San Antonio facing deportation. His wife stated that if he is deported, she and their daughter plan to self-deport to keep the family together.

Rosendo Lira, a 59-year-old Wise County business owner and father of five, was detained by ICE after Wise County sheriff's deputies pulled him over for a traffic violation on July 17, 2026, just three minutes from his home. Despite holding a valid work permit and driver's license, Lira was transferred to ICE custody based on a 2020 immigration court order of removal that his family says is under appeal. Lira was preparing for his daughter Bella's quinceañera celebration; Bella was born with Down Syndrome, and Lira has been her primary advocate and caregiver throughout her life. His daughter Synthia stated that Lira had no reason to be detained as he had not violated the terms of his work permit, committed no crime, and cannot legally be deported while an appeal is pending. The detention occurred following the sheriff's office's April 2026 adoption of a 287(g) agreement with ICE.

Jonathan Delgado was detained by ICE agents in a Food City parking lot in Mesa, Arizona, while his wife Cindy Mendoza recorded the encounter. Delgado is the primary breadwinner for his family and father of three children, including a 6-year-old son with autism who is nonverbal. According to Mendoza, she had only seconds to process the situation and say goodbye as her husband was taken into custody.

A Mexican citizen and father who has lived continuously in the United States for approximately thirty years, since his entry around 1996, is married to a U.S. citizen spouse, and together they have a 14-year-old U.S. citizen son who has learning disabilities. He has no criminal history and no final order of removal. On July 1, 2026, he was arrested and detained by ICE and was held without a bond hearing at the Pike County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania. He filed a habeas corpus petition arguing that his detention under the mandatory detention provision of 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b) was unlawful because that provision applies only to noncitizens actively seeking admission, not longtime residents, who are instead subject to the discretionary detention provision, 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), which entitles them to a bond hearing. On July 30, 2026, Judge Robert D. Mariani of the Middle District of Pennsylvania granted the petition, ordered the government to immediately release him, and permanently enjoined the government from detaining him under § 1225(b) absent a compelling change in circumstances, while requiring notice and a timely individualized bond hearing for any future detention under § 1226(a).

S, a Nigerian Christian, came to the United States in 2001 and applied for asylum based on her fear of religious persecution. A U.S. immigration judge found she would be persecuted if returned to Nigeria and granted her withholding of removal. She is the primary breadwinner for her four U.S. citizen children and her husband, who is disabled. At a routine ICE check-in in Los Angeles in July 2026, she was arrested, detained, and summarily deported to Ghana, separating her from her family and the country she called home for 25 years. Within 24 hours of her arrival, Ghanaian authorities refouled her to Nigeria, where she fears the persecution she fled.

David Cortes-Torres, a 20-year-old man and primary caregiver for his grandmother who is undergoing cancer treatment, was detained by ICE agents in Bozeman on Monday. According to a federal habeas corpus petition filed by Upper Seven Law, agents held him for more than 24 hours at Helena Airport in a small holding room with over 15 other people, pressured him to voluntarily leave the country, and limited his attorney contact to a single three-minute phone call. His lawyers allege the arrest was part of an operation targeting Latinos in the area, and a federal judge ordered him to remain in Montana pending a hearing set for the following Tuesday.

Jose David Cortes Torres, a 20-year-old noncitizen who has lived in Bozeman since 2023, was pulled over on June 29 while driving to work by ICE agents in an unmarked white Dodge Durango. According to court documents, agents asked for his driver's license, told him he had no right to be in the United States, and arrested him without charging him with a crime. He was detained for more than 24 hours in a holding room at the Helena airport with more than 15 other individuals, forced to stand for approximately six hours due to cramped conditions, and was limited to a single three-minute phone call with attorneys. He was told to voluntarily self-deport or face months of lockup. His lawyers at Upper Seven Law filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court alleging the arrest violated constitutional due process rights and was part of a dragnet operation targeting Latinos based on race and language, without individualized suspicion. Cortes Torres is the primary caretaker for his grandmother, who is undergoing cancer treatment.

A man who lived in the United States for over 25 years was stopped by police in Utah on June 28 while dropping off his son at work. He was transferred to ICE custody and subsequently moved to Golden State Annex detention facility in California before his scheduled court date. He has no criminal record. His family of seven, including a child with autism, is seeking legal representation and has organized a fundraiser to cover legal costs for his case.

A construction business owner with no criminal history was detained by ICE while traveling to work. He is the father of an 11-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old nonverbal autistic son who depends on him for daily care and support. His family is seeking legal representation to fight his detention and reunify the family.

Luis Ramirez has been held for more than two weeks at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma after being detained while driving to work. His wife, Vanessa Jimenez, confronted ICE officers at a courthouse following his arrest. The family, based in Wapato, Washington, includes a spouse and four children—among them a nonverbal three-year-old and a three-month-old infant—who have lost their primary income and face financial hardship such as wage garnishment and credit damage. Ramirez moved to the U.S. from Mexico as a teenager, has lived in the country for roughly two decades, and had worked at the same Yakima Valley fruit company for 15 years before his detention.

A Guatemalan citizen who entered the United States 22 years ago on a temporary visa was arrested by ICE on June 22, 2026, while on his way to work in Baltimore. He is married with a child who has special needs and requires frequent medical care. He is the sole financial provider for his family. He was arrested without a warrant and has not been presented with one. He filed a habeas corpus petition and application for temporary restraining order challenging the lawfulness of his warrantless arrest under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) and § 1357(a)(2). On August 7, 2026, the federal court granted his petition, finding that his warrantless arrest was unlawful because no statutory exception applied. The court ordered his immediate release and converted his temporary restraining order application into a preliminary injunction, also waiving bond requirements.

A 64-year-old certified nursing assistant from Kenya was detained by ICE on June 18, 2026, during a routine check-in in Houston after complying with mandatory immigration appointments for more than 14 years. She first entered the U.S. legally in 1995 and again in 2005 on a dependent visa tied to her husband's status; after their divorce, a final removal order was issued in 2011 and upheld on appeal in 2012, leading to her placement under an order of supervision. A court granted a stay of deportation on July 23 while a humanitarian petition remains pending, but she remains in detention and now faces a $1.8 million fine linked to her visa overstay. Her longtime employer and friend, Houston engineer Maureen Mendrek-Laske, for whom she helped raise four children, says she has shown signs of physical decline in custody, and family continue to visit her regularly.

Gordo was detained by ICE on June 5. He arrived in the United States at age 13 and has been married to his sister for 8 years. The family now faces financial hardship and emotional trauma as his wife, a stay-at-home mother, cares for their four young children alone, including one recently diagnosed with autism.

Kadeen Hunt, brought to the United States from Jamaica on a tourist visa at age 6, was detained by ICE for several months and is now facing removal proceedings. Hunt has five U.S. citizen children, one of whom is autistic and requires special support. Without legal representation, Hunt faces imminent deportation and family separation.