Human Impact Project

Mouhamed Nasim Asmi Toloza is being detained at the Dodge County Detention Facility in Juneau, Wisconsin by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention, arguing he is properly categorized under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) rather than § 1225(b)(2), and that his continued detention without an individualized assessment of flight risk or danger to the community violates the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause, and the Fourth Amendment's Search and Seizure Clause. Along with his petition, Toloza filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent his transfer to another detention facility during the litigation. On April 9, 2026, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin denied the motion for temporary restraining order, finding that Toloza failed to make a specific showing of immediate and irreparable harm before the respondent could be heard in opposition, beyond the harm inherent in being detained unlawfully. The denial was issued without prejudice, allowing Toloza to renew the request if warranted.

Mikayel Mikoyan, an immigration detainee held in ICE custody at the Adelanto Detention Facility in California, filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 on April 1, 2026, challenging the lawfulness of his detention. Mikoyan argued that his continued detention violated his Fifth Amendment right to due process. On April 3, 2026, the respondents (represented by Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche) filed a response expressly stating they did not oppose Mikoyan's motion for a temporary restraining order. United States Magistrate Judge Alka Sagar found the requested restraining order was warranted based on the motion and record. The court granted Mikoyan's motion and ordered his immediate release from immigration detention.

Jose Yugar-Cruz, a Bolivian citizen and torture survivor, entered the U.S. through Arizona in summer 2024 and was immediately detained by border officials. Although his asylum application was denied, a federal judge granted him withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture, which prevents his deportation to Bolivia. While detained, DHS attempted to send him to Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Mexico, and Canada. After filing a writ of habeas corpus, he was released and began rebuilding his life in Iowa. On April 8, 2026, during what he believed was a routine ICE check-in, officers re-detained him and placed him on a manifest for deportation to the Democratic Republic of Congo—a country experiencing war and an Ebola outbreak where he had no ties and was scheduled for removal on April 15. His attorney filed an emergency motion the same day; a federal judge barred DHS from removing him outside the country pending further notice, and he was released on May 29, 2026. At his next ICE check-in, over 250 supporters, including activists, clergy, and elected officials, attended to prevent further detention.

Octavio Andrade-Aguilera, a Mexican national, was transferred to ICE custody at the Etowah County Detention Center in Alabama on April 5, 2026, after a federal judge in Chattanooga had ordered his release to avoid harming his wife and disabled American citizen daughter. Andrade-Aguilera is the sole financial support for his family and faces federal charges for reentering the country without authorization.

Juan Chavez Velasco, a 35-year-old DACA recipient who arrived in the U.S. from Colombia at age 8, was detained by ICE agents on February 18, 2026, while driving to deliver breast milk to his premature daughter in a hospital NICU in Weslaco, Texas. Chavez Velasco holds two bachelor's degrees and works as a medical laboratory scientist with no criminal history. He is married to Stephanie Villarreal, a U.S. citizen, and has three U.S. citizen children. His DACA renewal application, submitted in November 2025, remained unanswered and his status expired on March 10, 2026, while he was in custody. DHS cited a 2005 removal order issued before his DACA approval in 2012, arguing that DACA does not confer legal status. He is detained at Webb County Detention Center in Laredo, Texas.

Godfrey Wade, a 65-year-old Jamaican-born U.S. Army veteran and lawful permanent resident who came to the U.S. at 15 in 1975 and lived in the country for over 50 years, was deported to Jamaica on February 5, 2026, while his appeal remained pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals. Wade worked as a chef, tailor, tennis coach and fashion designer while raising six children and three grandchildren with his fiancée April Watkins. He was detained by ICE for nearly five months after a September 2025 traffic stop for driving without a valid license, held first at Stewart Detention Center in Georgia and later Richwood in Louisiana, where he endured overcrowding, inadequate food, a 48-hour water outage, and illness that caused him to lose 20 to 30 pounds. His deportation stemmed from a 2014 removal order based on 2006 misdemeanor convictions and a 2007 bad check charge, which his legal team says he never received proper notice of due to a mailing error. His daughter said he was removed without warning or signing paperwork, arriving in Jamaica with only the clothes he wore before being hospitalized for pneumonia. His fiancée and daughter, who visited him weekly, said he drew portraits of fellow detainees to lift their spirits and are now raising funds and a petition seeking him a day in court.

Bakur Japharidze, a Russian citizen, arrived in the United States on April 6, 2023, at San Luis, Arizona, without inspection. He was released into the interior and served with a Notice to Appear charging him as inadmissible. Japharidze filed for asylum with the Immigration Court, and his application remains pending. On April 4, 2026, he was detained by police for driving with a suspended driver's license. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers assumed custody and transferred him to the West Tennessee Detention Facility. Japharidze filed a habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 challenging his detention without an individualized bond hearing and sought a temporary restraining order to stay his removal from the United States. The federal court denied both the petition and the motion, finding that Japharidze remains an "applicant for admission" subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2), that he failed to exhaust administrative remedies, and that neither statute nor the Constitution provides him a right to a bond hearing.

Ever Alvarenga Rios, a 32-year-old Honduran immigrant who had been seeking citizenship for eight years, was injured when an ICE vehicle allegedly rammed his van on Thursday morning in Baltimore. He suffered significant injuries to his head, chest, back, and hands and was hospitalized. His wife, Lurbin Vasquez, said her husband has no criminal record in Honduras or the U.S., operates his own flooring business, and obeys all laws. After his release from the hospital, Alvarenga Rios was taken into ICE custody. His attorneys reported being denied private access to him while he was hospitalized and raised concerns about whether all his injuries resulted from the vehicle collision or from physical interaction with ICE agents.

Brian Jose Morales Garcia, 25, was deported by ICE after being detained during a traffic stop near Fredericksburg, Texas on April 3, 2026. Garcia claims he is a U.S. citizen born in Denver and provided documents including a birth certificate, hospital records, and baptismal record to support his claim. Despite his assertions of citizenship and documents at home, ICE deported him four days after his arrest after he allegedly made an admission of illegal entry under what he says was intimidation.

Maylen Borrego-Nunez is a Cuban citizen who entered the United States from Mexico on March 24, 2022, and was issued a Notice to Appear for removability under immigration law. She was released on her own recognizance and complied with all conditions of her release. She filed applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture; an immigration judge denied her asylum application, and her appeal remains pending. On April 3, 2026, local police in Odessa, Texas arrested Borrego-Nunez for an alleged local ordinance violation, and ICE took her into custody on April 6, 2026, transferring her to the Otero County Processing Center. The petitioner, who is approximately ten weeks pregnant and has been diagnosed with diabetes during detention, filed a habeas corpus petition challenging her continued detention without a bond hearing. The U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico granted her petition, finding that 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) governs her detention and that continued detention without a bond hearing violates her Fifth Amendment due process rights. The court ordered her immediate release and prohibited re-detention without a pre-deprivation bond hearing before a neutral Immigration Judge.

Antonio Cuni Medina, a Cuban national with a final removal order from November 1987, was re-detained by ICE on April 2, 2026, after not being in immigration custody since that time. ICE sought to hold him under 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(6) and evaluate him for third-country removal to Mexico without his consent. The court found ICE failed to demonstrate changed circumstances justifying revocation of his release and did not comply with procedural requirements. The court ordered his immediate release to the conditions he was subject to prior to detention.

A federal judge ruled that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents violated a court order during a July 2025 enforcement operation at a Sacramento Home Depot parking lot by conducting warrantless arrests without individualized assessments. Judge Jennifer Thurston found that agents submitted virtually identical detention forms for 11 people, detaining them based on assumptions about their immigration status rather than reasonable suspicion or probable cause of flight risk.

Chicago area officials accused ICE of violating Illinois state law and a Cook County court order that prohibit immigration arrests at courthouses. ICE agents allegedly appeared at the Cook County Domestic Violence Courthouse on Thursday and arrested a woman there on March 13, defying protections signed into law by Governor Pritzker in October.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston ruled that Border Patrol agents violated a preliminary injunction by detaining day laborers at a Sacramento Home Depot in July 2025 without specific evidence of immigration violations, relying instead on broad assumptions about workers in the parking lot. The judge found agents "again detained people without reasonable suspicion" and demanded to see identification from individuals based solely on their appearance. Thurston's ruling, granting a United Farm Workers motion to enforce the injunction, requires agents to document specific facts and reasoning for detentions and prohibits warrantless arrests without assessing flight risk.

Luis Rene Chavaloc Tzaj, a noncitizen who had lived in the United States for an extended period without having been admitted, was detained by U.S. immigration authorities during removal proceedings at the California City Detention Facility. A federal court found he was entitled to a pre-deprivation bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) and ordered his immediate release. The court ruled that if the government seeks to re-detain him, they must provide a proper bond hearing where he can contest flight risk and community safety concerns.

S.M.H., a 16-year-old Los Angeles high school student and aspiring tennis player whose parents are college psychology professors, was arrested by ICE in April 2026 along with his family after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked their green cards based on foreign policy concerns. S.M.H. and his mother have been held at the Dilley family detention center for 123 days—more than six times the federally-mandated 20-day limit—in conditions he described in a sworn affidavit as infested with cockroaches, spiders, and mosquitoes. He reports staff yell at children, deny food requests, serve unhealthy meals, and provide inadequate education compared to his California school. S.M.H., who considers himself an "average American kid" and has never been charged with a crime, has lost 10 pounds and says the experience is "terrifying." His father is detained separately at another Texas facility, and the family is allowed to speak for only 10 minutes every two weeks under supervision. The family's lawyers argue the prolonged detention violates the Flores settlement, a federal court agreement limiting child detention to 20 days.

Everlee Wihongi, a New Zealand citizen and long-term U.S. resident with a green card, was detained by ICE in early April after returning from New Zealand. She was held for more than 70 days because of a 2016 cannabis conviction that was later thrown out by the courts in June. During her detention at facilities in California, Arizona, and Texas, Wihongi described dehumanizing conditions including being referred to by her bunk-bed number rather than her name, extremely early meal times (3:45 a.m. in Arizona), shackling during transit, and witnessing children and pregnant women being shackled and moved between facilities. She has since been released and returned to Wisconsin with her family.

Jose Enrique Ojeda Duarte, a 31-year-old Venezuelan asylum-seeker who legally entered the U.S. in 2024, was arrested in September 2025 during Operation Midway Blitz and spent seven months in detention centers, including Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, where he reported inhumane conditions including frozen food, lack of medical care during COVID, and minimal daylight. He was deported to Venezuela in April 2026 despite having pending legal cases, but the Department of Homeland Security admitted the deportation was an error caused by a data systems failure. After intervention by his attorneys and his partner Leydimar Castillo, Ojeda Duarte was returned to the U.S. in June and released by a federal judge. Now reunited with his family in Chicago, he struggles with anxiety, insomnia, and trauma, afraid to leave his house or play with his children, fearing another mistake will lead to his arrest and deportation again.

Dy, a Vietnamese refugee with an order of supervision, was arrested by ICE in November 2017 during a home visit and detained for five months and twenty-one days before being released following public attention and a habeas corpus petition. In fall 2025, during Trump's second term, Dy was arrested again after attending an ICE check-in appointment at the Atlanta field office, where he was sent on what he describes as a trap involving confusing directions between floors. He was transferred to Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, where he remained in detention as of April 2026. Dy is a former incarcerated person who turned his life around, became a Christian, married Tammy, and together they own a home and are raising three children with a fourth on the way. His wife and community have organized to support him, including celebrating a gender reveal party during his detention via video call with commissary materials.

Armando Gonzalez Procopio, 49, a Mexican citizen who worked as a handyman and house cleaner in Big Bear, California for over 20 years, was detained by ICE agents on March 31, 2026, while on his way to work on Big Bear Boulevard. He was placed in removal proceedings at the ICE Desert View Annex Detention Facility in Adelanto. Gonzalez's three daughters—Adriana, 20, Citlalli, 26, and a 16-year-old—are now caring for their mother, Erika, who has Stage 4 brain cancer and is in hospice care. The daughters describe their father as the family pillar who put them through college and ensured their mother reached medical appointments during her five-year cancer battle. DHS cited a 2011 infraction for operating a vehicle without a valid driver's license (Gonzalez pleaded guilty and paid over $400 in fines), though court records show no conviction. A court granted Gonzalez's temporary restraining order and ordered his immediate release from immigration custody.

Ali and Adel, an Iranian gay couple in their late 30s and early 40s, fled Iran in 2021 after being arrested by Iran's morality police for their relationship. They entered the United States at the El Paso, Texas border in early 2025 seeking asylum, but their claims were denied. The men are now separated in ICE detention facilities—Ali in Arizona and Adel near El Paso—facing deportation under a Trump administration policy reversing decades of allowing Iranians fleeing persecution to remain in the country. Adel has suffered severe organ damage and medical deterioration in detention, including significant weight loss and fainting episodes. Court orders have so far prevented their deportation, though both men have been moved to deportation staging facilities multiple times, and the Trump administration has not clarified whether deportation flights to Iran will resume.

Since January 2025, ICE has detained at least 500 babies and toddlers, with an average of 25 children aged 3 or younger held in custody daily between January and March 2026—a tenfold increase compared to fewer than three young children detained daily during the previous 12 months under Biden. At least 175 infants and toddlers were held beyond the court-mandated 20-day limit established in the Flores v. Reno settlement. Children at facilities including the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas experienced developmental delays, malnutrition, untreated illnesses, and behavioral regression. Medical professionals reported that large numbers of children in detention settings are vulnerable to fevers, vomiting, diarrhea, and coughing, with inadequate medical care provided.

Ryan Amilkar Perez Bello, a Guatemalan national, entered the United States on December 5, 2022. He was issued a Notice to Appear for removal proceedings and released on his own recognizance on March 2, 2023. On March 31, 2026, Perez Bello was re-detained by ICE when he reported for an appointment at Mesa Verda Detention Center. He filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging his detention, arguing that his prior release created a liberty interest in continued release and that his re-detention violated due process. On April 22, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California granted his habeas petition and ordered his immediate release on the same conditions as his prior release. The court also enjoined ICE from re-detaining him absent exigent circumstances without providing notice and a pre-detention hearing before an immigration judge, with the government bearing the burden of proving he is a danger or flight risk by clear and convincing evidence.

Maria, a 38-year-old thyroid cancer survivor from Brazil, was detained at Delaney Hall ICE detention center for roughly two weeks where medical staff did not provide her prescribed daily hormone supplements and also provided incorrect medication, leaving her unable to urinate for at least four days. Her attorney filed an emergency letter to a federal judge on March 31, 2026, raising concerns about the possibility of irreparable harm including organ failure or sepsis. The judge ordered her release the next day, in part due to these medical concerns. Her case is among over 70 lawsuits filed by Delaney Hall detainees alleging medical neglect.

Elmer Pompilio Gonzales Sifontes, a citizen of Honduras, has lived in the United States for over twenty years. He is married and the father of United States citizen children, has maintained steady employment, filed federal income tax returns for many years, owns a home, and has no criminal history. He filed an application for asylum on July 14, 2023, which remains pending. On March 30, 2026, ICE arrested him at his residence in Fort Pierce, Florida, served him a Notice to Appear, and initiated removal proceedings; he has been detained ever since at the Aurora ICE Processing Center. He requested a custody redetermination hearing, which Immigration Judge Masters denied without addressing danger or flight risk. He filed a habeas corpus petition and a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction seeking immediate release or a new bond hearing before a different judge. The court found he was improperly detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2) because that provision applies only to noncitizens seeking admission at the border, not those residing in the interior. The court granted the habeas petition and ordered his immediate release on his own recognizance without onerous conditions, enjoined his re-detention absent a compliant bond hearing, and denied the TRO motion as moot.

Reza Zavvar, a 52-year-old Iranian green card holder who came to the U.S. as a student 40 years ago, was detained by ICE agents on June 28, 2025, while walking his dog near his Gaithersburg, Maryland home. Zavvar was granted withholding of removal to Iran in 2007 and has lived and worked legally in the U.S. for decades. He is currently held in a detention center in Texas and faces deportation. His family and attorney say they do not understand the legal basis for his detention. His case occurred as part of a surge in arrests of Iranian immigrants under the Trump administration's hardline immigration policies.

Johnny Rondón Rodríguez, a Venezuelan with a pending asylum case and brain tumor, was pulled over on Interstate 75 and detained despite having no criminal charges. He was held in Orange County jail for 25 days without receiving his medication to treat the tumor, violating ICE guidelines limiting such holds to three days. A federal judge granted his immediate release after a federal prosecutor declined to argue for continued detention.

Argam Nazarian, a 27-year-old Iranian Christian who fled religious persecution and arrived in the U.S. as a refugee in 2008, was arrested by ICE on June 23, 2025, while heading to work in Los Angeles. He had lived legally in Los Angeles for four years, working as a delivery driver and in air conditioning while supporting his wife and serving as a caretaker for his mother, who has chronic health conditions. An immigration judge ordered his release on bond in August 2025, finding he posed neither a flight risk nor danger to the community, but the federal government refused to release him, arguing his classification as an "applicant for admission" requires mandatory detention. Nazarian was held in ICE detention in El Paso and later transferred to Cibola County Detention Center in New Mexico, where his knee injury requiring ACL reconstruction remained untreated. The Texas Civil Rights Project challenged his detention through habeas corpus petitions. After nearly 10 months in custody, a federal judge ruled on April 17, 2026, that his detention violated his Fifth Amendment rights, and Nazarian was released. War between the U.S., Israel, and Iran beginning February 28, 2026, had disrupted ICE's deportation plans, with charter flights to Iran temporarily ceased.

Suraj Vasal, an Indian national seeking asylum, was arrested by ICE agents on February 11, 2026, while driving a commercial truck at a weigh station near Mitchellville, Iowa, as part of "Operation ICE Wall," a joint operation between the Iowa State Patrol and ICE targeting commercial drivers near Interstate 80. Vasal was detained and held in Polk County Jail. Federal court records indicate ICE and the Iowa State Patrol were collaborating to check drivers' legal status at weigh stations. A federal judge ruled that the government violated Vasal's due process rights by conducting his bond hearing with only 30 minutes' notice and denying him adequate time to obtain legal representation, finding the agencies acted in bad faith. Vasal sued the federal government over the alleged violations of his rights.

Gerannys Yeraldin Lopez Espinoza is a Venezuelan asylum-seeker who fled political persecution and entered the United States in September 2023. On January 30, 2024, she applied for admission at the Nogales, Arizona port of entry, was charged with inadmissibility, and was paroled for two years. During her parole, she was authorized to work, support her family living in the United States, and filed an asylum application. On March 26, 2026, she was arrested by Utah law enforcement based on an outstanding warrant for a domestic violence matter that was ultimately resolved without charges or conviction. She was then transferred to Department of Homeland Security custody and transported to California City Detention Center. On May 19, 2026, she filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging her re-detention without a bond hearing. The court granted her petition, finding she has a protected liberty interest in her release and is entitled to a pre-deprivation bond hearing before re-detention can be justified.

Lorena Hidalgo Garcia, who entered the United States on August 2, 2021 on a B-2 visitor visa, filed an I-485 application for adjustment of status on February 27, 2026. On March 26, 2026, she attended a biometrics appointment scheduled in connection with her pending adjustment of status application when she was detained by ICE authorities at that appointment. Following her detention, she was provided a bond hearing where an immigration judge concluded she posed a flight risk and danger to the community based on a dismissed misdemeanor charge. Garcia filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus and motion for temporary restraining order challenging her detention. On May 5, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California granted her habeas corpus petition, finding that ICE improperly used the adjustment of status process as a vehicle for "gotcha law enforcement" in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The court ordered her immediate release on the conditions she was subject to prior to her detention and enjoined respondents from re-detaining her through the adjustment of status process.

Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano, a 52-year-old Mexican national married to Antonia Tovar for 28 years with two adult children, died of COVID-19 pneumonia at Adelanto ICE Processing Center on March 25, 2026. He was arrested by ICE on February 23 after appearing at a courthouse in Torrance for a traffic ticket, following a conviction for possession of a controlled substance and theft. During intake screening, staff documented pre-existing medical conditions including diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension. His wife reported that despite these documented conditions, he did not receive adequate medical care during his month-long detention, complaining of poor food, crowded conditions, and lack of medicine for minor ailments. On the evening of his death, he removed his shirt while feeling feverish, lost consciousness, and was pronounced dead at Victor Valley Global Medical Center approximately one hour after emergency services were called. His death was one of at least 14 ICE custody deaths reported between January and late March 2026. A federal judge subsequently ordered sweeping improvements to Adelanto, including potable water, adequate sanitation, improved medical care, and appointment of independent monitors.

Jackson Kabut Gichema, a 48-year-old Kenyan national, was arrested by ICE on March 24, 2026, and ordered deported following a conviction in Baltimore County. Gichema entered the United States legally on a visitor's visa in 2003 but remained without legal status after his authorization expired. A 2011 Maryland Court of Special Appeals decision upheld his conviction, triggering mandatory deportation proceedings as the offense qualifies as an aggravated felony under U.S. immigration law.

Jovanni Paola Garcia-Aburto, who has resided in the United States since 1996, was arrested by ICE in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 24, 2026. The government detained her under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2), but the court found this violated immigration law since she had no prior ICE encounters. The court ordered her immediate release and prohibited re-detention without proper legal authority.

A 70-year-old Iranian woman who had resided peacefully in the United States for 26 years was detained by the Trump administration without valid legal justification. Federal Judge Gary Klausner expressed shock at the government's inability to provide adequate cause for her detention and ordered her release. Her case exemplifies a pattern in which the Department of Justice has failed to present valid arguments to justify detentions across numerous cases.

Gael, a nonverbal 5-year-old boy from Colombia with significant developmental delays undergoing autism evaluations, was detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas for three weeks along with his asylum-seeking parents, Leonardo and Nelsy. The family was arrested on March 3 during an immigration check-in in El Paso. During his confinement, Gael's health deteriorated severely: he struggled to eat, experienced constipation lasting over a week with visible abdominal swelling and pain, and began engaging in self-harm behavior by hitting himself as his distress increased. Before detention, Gael had been receiving therapy in El Paso while the family pursued their asylum case. His attorney, Elora Mukherjee, requested his release on medical grounds after a video call with children's entertainer Ms. Rachel, arranged by a journalist, drew public attention to his condition. The family was released days later and returned to El Paso with required ICE check-ins to continue their asylum proceedings.

ICE agents raided a home in South Burlington, Vermont on March 22, 2026, searching for Deyvi Daniel Corona Sanchez but arrested three other people instead: Ecuadorian sisters Jisella Johana Patin Patin and Camila Patin Patin, and Christian Humberto Jerez Andrade from Honduras. The operation became chaotic when hundreds of protesters surrounded the Dorset Street building, and federal agents used flash bangs and tear gas to clear the crowd and attempt to leave the scene. Local and state police were called to assist, creating conflict between police departments—Vermont officers were skeptical of ICE's actions and some questioned whether the target was even in the home. Federal judges granted release to the two sisters; Jerez Andrade was released on bond. Their attorneys say ICE violated their civil rights by arresting them.

Usiel Sanchez Romero, an Omaha contracting business owner who came to the United States without authorization in 2013, was detained by ICE during a traffic stop on March 21, 2026. Romero, who has no criminal record and is married with an 8-year-old son, has operated his contracting business for seven years. Following his detention, he was taken to Pottawattamie County Jail and held without a bond hearing. Romero is suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Pottawattamie County, seeking either his release from custody or a bond hearing in immigration court.

Valeria Mendoza Santiago, a 25-year-old pregnant woman from Oaxaca, Mexico, was arrested by ICE agents at a bus stop in Anchorage on March 20, 2026, and transferred to Hiland Mountain Correctional Center. She was scheduled for transfer to federal detention in Tacoma, Washington, but her lawyers obtained a temporary restraining order citing ICE's own guidelines against detaining pregnant women, resulting in her release. Santiago remains in federal immigration removal proceedings and lives at home with her son.

Estefany Rodríguez Flórez, a reporter for Nashville Noticias covering Spanish-language news, was arrested by ICE agents on March 4, 2026, during a traffic stop in South Nashville while her husband was dropping off their daughter at a bus stop. A Colombian citizen who entered the U.S. legally on a tourist visa in 2021, Rodríguez had fled Colombia after receiving threats for reporting on militant groups and was awaiting asylum approval. She also had pending green card applications through marriage to a U.S. citizen. ICE cited her as a flight risk for missing two meetings, though her attorney stated ICE could not locate any record of a scheduled appointment despite multiple inquiries. During her 16-day detention across facilities in Alabama and Louisiana, she reported difficult conditions including forced chemical washing, isolation, and limited access to legal assistance. An immigration judge granted her release on bond on March 16, 2026, and she was released on March 20 after a $10,000 bond was paid. Her legal team filed federal court petitions challenging the arrest as warrantless and alleging violations of her First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights, including allegations of retaliation for her critical reporting on ICE enforcement activities.

Hung Cam Chu, a Vietnamese national who entered the U.S. as a refugee in 1988, was re-detained by ICE on March 20, 2026, during a routine check-in. Chu had a valid removal order issued against him in 1997, but removal efforts failed at that time and he was released on an Order of Supervision. The court denied his habeas petition on July 16, 2026, finding that changed circumstances—including improved U.S.-Vietnam diplomatic relations and deportation protocols—created a significant likelihood of his removal in the reasonably foreseeable future.

A 23-year-old woman was detained at a Border Patrol checkpoint on State Route 94 after agents suspected her of smuggling undocumented migrants but found no evidence of a crime. An agent falsely told her he found "deleted evidence" on her phone; when she grabbed it back, agents twisted her arm and wrestled the phone from her. As she turned to walk into a holding cell, an agent Tasered her, striking her breast. She was pregnant with a 2-month-old baby at the time and was hospitalized to have the Taser prong removed; her breastmilk was bloody for weeks. Federal prosecutors charged her with assaulting a federal officer but dismissed the charge in August after body camera footage contradicted agents' allegations and her attorney argued agents violated her constitutional rights by arresting her without probable cause and using excessive force.

JeanCarlos Fiallos Manzanares, a 31-year-old DACA recipient from Miami, was detained by ICE agents following a traffic stop near his mother's house despite holding valid deferred action status. He was transferred to Otero County Processing Center in New Mexico, approximately 2,000 miles from his family. While detained, USCIS approved his deferred action renewal in January, but ICE did not release him. An immigration judge subsequently ordered his deportation to Honduras, and USCIS rescinded his approved deferred action protections. Fiallos Manzanares filed a lawsuit challenging his detention after a federal judge found merit to his petition, but he was deported after more than a year in custody, separated from his U.S. citizen wife and two young sons.

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.

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.

Five individuals previously deported from the United States were charged with illegal reentry and remanded to ICE custody in Las Vegas between March and April 2026. Juan Manuel Castellanos-Velazquez, a Mexican national, was remanded on April 13 after serving a 36-to-96-month sentence for drug trafficking and had been deported eight times between 2008 and 2016. Jimmy Jeyson Escobar-Nerio, a Salvadoran national, was remanded on April 8 after arrest by North Las Vegas police for driving under the influence and had been deported twice in 2019 and 2021. Victor Hugo Garcia-Dominguez, a Mexican national, was remanded on April 16 after serving a 19-to-96-month sentence for conspiracy to commit robbery and had been deported twice in 2020 and 2023. Marbin Alexander Ramirez-Rodas, a Salvadoran national, was arrested on March 16 for domestic battery by strangulation, battery on a pregnant victim, coercion, driving under the influence, and child abuse or neglect. Antonio Trinidad Garcia-Gallo, a Mexican national, was remanded on April 22 after serving a two-to-five-year sentence for drug trafficking and had been deported twice in 2015 and 2020. All five were charged with one count of deported alien found in the United States.

Ricardo Navarrete, an 18-year-old senior at Mather High School, was detained by ICE agents on March 16, 2026, during a scheduled check-in appointment for his pending asylum case. He had fled Colombia in 2022 seeking asylum, held a valid work permit and REAL ID, and had been accepted to play soccer at Truman College. Following his detention, Ricardo was transferred between multiple ICE detention facilities across Oklahoma, Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, where he reported sleeping on floors without blankets and spending time in solitary confinement. His attorneys filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention, and he was released on May 26, 2026, just days before his high school graduation.

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.