Human Impact Project

A foreign national in removal proceedings was initially released by immigration authorities on October 4, 2023, and enrolled in alternatives to detention. He was re-detained by ICE on December 15, 2025, while attending a scheduled immigration appointment. After being ordered removed on June 8, 2026, he filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his re-detention. The court granted his petition, finding that his re-detention without notice and a pre-deprivation hearing violated due process, and ordered his immediate release on the conditions he was subject to prior to re-detention.

A Colombian citizen who entered the U.S. in June 2022 to seek asylum was redetained by ICE on December 14, 2025 at a gas station after being convicted of DUI and petty theft. She had been previously released on supervision with GPS monitoring and weekly check-ins while her asylum case was pending. The court ordered that she be provided with a bond hearing within seven days but denied her request for immediate release.

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

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

A Chinese activist who entered the U.S. on an F-1 student visa in May 2016 and engaged in publicly documented activism against the Chinese Communist Party was arrested on December 9, 2025, during a traffic stop in Yermo, California after immigration agents conducting surveillance identified him from a photograph. He had lived openly in the U.S. for over nine years without immigration enforcement contact. He was charged as deportable for visa overstay and detained at Adelanto ICE Processing Center. On June 16, 2026, an immigration judge denied his bond request, finding him a flight risk. The federal court denied his habeas petition seeking immediate release, finding that a post-deprivation bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) satisfied his due process rights.

Kamel Maklad, a Syrian man who migrated through Venezuela, was released from Eloy Detention Center on December 9, 2025, after spending 14 months detained. He had won his immigration court case in November 2024 where he was granted withholding of removal. His release came after a federal judge granted a habeas corpus petition filed on his behalf.

A Mexican citizen who entered the U.S. on a B-2 visa in 2019 and overstayed was arrested during a targeted ICE raid in Los Angeles on December 8, 2025, without an arrest warrant. He was detained and received a bond hearing on April 30, 2026, where bond was denied. The federal court granted his habeas corpus petition, finding the arrest violated 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) requirements and ordered his immediate release, prohibiting re-detention without a pre-detention hearing before an immigration judge.

A lawful permanent resident who has lived in the U.S. since 1966 was arrested by Las Vegas police for driving under the influence on December 8, 2025. He was released into ICE custody the next day and has remained in immigration detention since, despite Jordan declining to accept him for removal. The court ordered his immediate release, finding his detention violated due process after over six months in custody with no reasonably foreseeable removal.

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

A Ukrainian immigrant who has been on supervised release since 2001 was re-detained by ICE on December 2, 2025, during a routine check-in. He had been living in Santa Monica with his sister for 25 years without violations after Ukraine refused to accept him as a citizen. The court ordered his immediate release, finding no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future.

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

Dulce, a Guatemalan mother without legal status in Virginia, had her 8-year-old son placed in federal shelter after he was detained during a traffic stop while visiting family in another state in summer 2024. Although she had previously passed sponsorship requirements and reunited with him within weeks of his initial border crossing, resettlement officials required her to repeat the entire application process. After eight months, she recovered her son in February 2025 following a lawsuit filed by his attorneys. Dulce feared attending an ICE office for an identification interview and avoided her home for days due to fear of deportation.

A Venezuelan citizen who entered the U.S. through CBP One and received humanitarian parole in November 2024 was arrested by ICE in December 2025. DHS terminated his parole via email in April 2025 while he was living in Denver, working lawfully, and complying with parole conditions. The court granted a temporary restraining order preventing his removal, finding he is likely a member of a class whose parole terminations were ruled unlawful in a Massachusetts federal court case.

Elias Perez-Zuazo, a Panamanian national, was detained by ICE in December 2025 during a scheduled check-in appointment at a Chantilly, Virginia office that he had previously attended without incident. Perez-Zuazo entered the U.S. in November 2021, was processed at the southern border, and married his U.S. citizen husband Jonathan Blanco Gallegos in February 2024. They had begun applying for a green card when Perez-Zuazo was taken into custody without warning. A federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia has issued an order barring ICE from removing him from the judicial district while the court reviews the legality of his detention, which his attorney is challenging via habeas corpus petition.

Elías Pérez-Zuazo, a Panamanian national, was detained by ICE on December 10, 2024, during a scheduled appointment at an ICE office in Chantilly, Virginia, where he had checked in without incident in prior years. Pérez-Zuazo entered the U.S. in November 2021 and married his U.S. citizen spouse, Jonathan Blanco Gallegos, in February 2024; the couple had an approved I-130 family petition pending for his green card. ICE claimed a prior deportation order existed from November 2021, but his attorney contested this, stating case records do not reflect such an order and questioning the legality of the detention. Pérez-Zuazo was held at Farmville Detention Center in Virginia. A federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia issued an order barring ICE from removing him from the judicial district and ordered ICE to respond to a habeas corpus petition while the court reviews whether his detention is lawful.

A 32-year-old Turkish man was detained and transferred to ICE custody while working as a driver, before he could receive follow-up medical care despite blood tests indicating he needed prompt treatment. He has rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic autoimmune disease causing intense pain in his neck and ankles. His family attempted to deliver medication to Otay Mesa but was turned away. His sister, brother-in-law, cousin, uncle and a family friend submitted court declarations supporting his release and attesting to his community standing. A judge granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered a bond hearing within seven days, considering his documented medical conditions.

Kevin Isaac Montoya Palacios, a citizen of El Salvador with withholding of removal protection granted in September 2023, was arrested by ICE agents in December 2025 during a routine check-in appointment after meeting with ICE officials for over two years. He filed a habeas petition challenging the legality of his detention, which was granted by U.S. District Judge George Russell. However, the judge denied his request for attorneys' fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act, citing the 4th Circuit's position that habeas claims related to immigration detention are not civil actions. The case has been appealed to the Supreme Court.

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

A man held in federal immigration custody has been detained since November 29, 2025, a period of six months. He is detained at the Otero County Processing Center and is assumed to be subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b). He filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus on May 7, 2026, challenging the legality of his prolonged detention. The federal respondents filed a response on May 26, 2026. The court determined that his indefinite, prolonged detention may violate his substantive due process rights under the Fifth Amendment, citing precedent from Mardanpour v. Warden. The court ordered him to file a supplemental reply by June 3, 2026, addressing whether he is entitled to habeas relief based on the six-month detention threshold established in Zadvydas v. Davis.

Edwin Josue Padilla Molina, who entered the U.S. in 2013 as a 14-year-old and has lived continuously in Central Islip for twelve years, was detained by ICE on November 23, 2025 while driving his pregnant partner and mother-in-law. A federal judge granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release, finding that his detention without an individualized custody determination violated federal law and constitutional due process rights. The court rejected the government's argument that he was subject to mandatory detention, ruling instead that he was entitled to a bond hearing.