Human Impact Project

Carlos Tellez Sánchez, a 35-year-old Venezuelan man living in Texas, was deported to Liberia after more than seven months in ICE custody. He was detained after attending a routine immigration check-in appointment in December, despite holding a Withholding of Removal order and having an active habeas corpus petition pending in a federal court in southern Texas. His third child was born while he was detained, and he has only been able to see the baby through a video call. Family members say Tellez, the family's main provider, was placed on a flight to Liberia with 19 other deportees, several of whom were restrained after resisting the transfer, and he is now staying at a hotel there while deciding whether to seek asylum or travel elsewhere.

An Iraqi man showing early signs of dementia was arrested by ICE agents in his front yard after living in the United States for more than 30 years. A judge had previously ruled he would likely face persecution or torture if deported to Iraq, granting him legal protection from removal to his home country. Despite that ruling, he was taken into custody and held in Arizona ICE detention facilities. He was among a group of immigrants who remained detained even after winning protection from deportation to their home countries, according to an analysis of habeas corpus petitions.

A Colombian mother was separated from her two young children during a routine ICE check-in in Baltimore, despite a judge having ruled she would likely face torture or persecution if deported to Colombia. She was transferred to the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona. An Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting analysis identified her as one of a group of immigrants ICE continued to detain in Arizona even after judges had barred their deportation to their home countries due to humanitarian protections.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national living in Maryland with his U.S. citizen family, was unlawfully deported to El Salvador's CECOT prison in March 2025 despite a 2019 court order protecting him from removal due to gang violence risks. The Supreme Court unanimously ordered his return, and he was brought back to the U.S. in June 2025, after which federal prosecutors indicted him on human smuggling charges in Tennessee. Costa Rica offered him refugee status in August 2025, but the administration instead pursued deporting him to African nations, including Liberia, which have resisted. A judge ordered his release from ICE custody in December 2025 after finding government lawyers misled the court, and later blocked his re-detention and deportation to Liberia. A federal judge dismissed the smuggling charges in May 2026 as vindictive retaliation for his legal challenge, but in August 2026 the Justice Department asked the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate the charges, a move his attorneys are contesting.

Alex Pereira-Alves, a Brazilian immigrant who has lived in West Hollywood for over a decade, was detained by ICE agents on August 12, 2026, during a sudden summons to a federal building downtown. Pereira-Alves had been working legally as a security guard and personal trainer since 2018, when a judge granted him withholding of removal from the country. His attorney, Jane Oaks, says he was not scheduled to check in until November but received an unexpected call ordering him to report the next day. Within minutes of arrival, ICE agents handcuffed and detained him, telling him he would be deported to Guyana, despite having no connection to that country. His friend Jeff Markwardt expressed concern for Pereira-Alves' wellbeing and noted that his beloved dog, Bella, remains in the community. Pereira-Alves' attorney is filing an emergency habeas corpus petition, arguing he was denied due process.

Petitioner Adelda Mercado Posas, a national of Honduras, is currently detained at ICE's Washington Field Office in Chantilly, Virginia under 8 U.S.C. § 1231 pursuant to a final order of removal. An Immigration Judge previously granted her application for Withholding of Removal, which legally prohibits her removal to Honduras. Despite this protection, she remains in ICE custody and fears she may be removed to a third country instead. She filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 arguing that her continued detention violates her due process rights under Zadvydas v. Davis. She also filed a Motion for Temporary Restraining Order seeking to block her removal to a third country while her habeas petition is pending. The court granted the TRO, enjoining respondents from removing or transferring her from the district, and ordered respondents to show cause by August 17, 2026 why the habeas petition should not be granted, with any reply due by August 21, 2026.

Ibrahim Mohammed, a 43-year-old Ethiopian national who legally entered the U.S. in 2014 and was granted asylum, was ordered deported following a child sexual abuse conviction. Federal officials attempted to deport him to third countries (Eswatini, Equatorial Guinea, and Central African Republic) rather than his country of origin. U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles ordered Mohammed released from Angola's Camp 57 immigration detention facility in February after finding ICE had no viable deportation plan and violated his due process rights. Despite the judge's explicit warnings and orders, ICE agents rearrested Mohammed twice more in subsequent months—in April after two African nations agreed to accept him, and again last week in Maryland—each time failing to serve required deportation papers or conduct credible fear interviews. Judge deGravelles held a hearing on whether to hold DHS officials in civil contempt for repeatedly defying his court orders.

Blerim Skoro, a citizen of Kosovo, was granted deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) on November 9, 2022. He was detained by immigration authorities at the Newark Field Office and filed a habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 on August 3, 2026, challenging the legality of his detention. Skoro argued he is being wrongfully held under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b) and sought release or a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a). The court noted there is no indication Skoro is currently in removal proceedings, and clarified that a CAT grant does not preclude detention or removal to a third country. The court denied Skoro's motion for a temporary restraining order without prejudice, finding insufficient facts to determine whether his detention is lawful under 8 U.S.C. § 1231. The court declined to dismiss the petition and ordered an expedited briefing schedule, requiring the government to file a full answer within 7 days addressing the statutory basis for detention. A prior stay of transfer from the District of New Jersey, entered by the Chief Judge, remains in effect during the proceedings.

Jorge Luis Eliecer Ruiz, a 36-year-old Venezuelan national, was detained by ICE on August 3, 2026, after being stopped near the intersection of Wiles Road and State Road 7 in Coconut Creek. He is married to Courtney Walter, a U.S. citizen who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The couple married in 2025 and filed an I-130 family-based petition in September 2025 to establish Ruiz's lawful permanent residency. Walter said the stress of her husband's detention has worsened her health, causing her to lose weight and struggle to eat. Ruiz is being held at the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach. His attorney, David Estrella, is pursuing a habeas corpus petition and argues that Ruiz has withholding of removal protection that prevents his return to Venezuela.

Paul, an Indian national with an order withholding his removal based on Convention Against Torture protections, was detained by ICE officers at Dulles Airport after returning from a family trip to Hawaii. As he was being processed at an ICE field office in Virginia, Paul suffered a heart attack, was hospitalized and treated, then released back to ICE custody. He was subsequently released under a preexisting ICE supervision arrangement with his next check-in scheduled for September. His attorney, Jay S. Marks, noted that Paul has protection from removal to India but could be deported to a third country.

Zena Gebrgzabher, a 39-year-old Eritrean truck driver who lived in Maryland, was deported by the Trump administration to the Central African Republic after being arrested during a routine ICE check-in appointment. He had won protection under the Convention Against Torture in 2017 barring his deportation to Eritrea, after fleeing forced military conscription and imprisonment there, but that protection did not prevent officials from sending him to a third country. His wife and 5-year-old son, both U.S. citizens, live in Maryland; his wife, Yrgalem Gehrehiwet, called the deportation "unfair and inhumane" and said their son has been deeply affected by his father's absence. CBS News found no criminal record for Gebrgzabher beyond traffic and immigration violations, and he is now stranded in Bangui without documents.

Jaciel Cirrus Rojas, a Mexican national and Chatino-language speaker from rural Oaxaca, came to Racine in 2018 to reunite with his brother. In June 2025, ICE agents arrived at his home searching for a prior tenant and detained him as "collateral" despite no prior criminal convictions or civil citations. Held at Dodge County jail for nine months and separated from his partner and child, Rojas filed for asylum citing fear of torture if returned to Mexico. His attorney Jennifer Bizzotto challenged his detention through a federal habeas petition. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in his favor on July 31, 2026, rejecting the Trump administration's mandatory detention policy and allowing detainees like Rojas to seek bond hearings in immigration court.

Fadel Cherif, 56, a Philadelphia resident with 20 years of legal status in the United States under Withholding of Removal protection, was arrested by ICE and detained at Moshannon Valley Processing Center in central Pennsylvania. An immigration judge granted Cherif's petition for asylum on December 18, 2025, though the Department of Homeland Security has appealed that decision. On January 29, 2026, a federal judge granted Cherif's habeas corpus petition, ordering that he receive an individualized bond hearing before an immigration judge by February 9, 2026, or be released from custody. Cherif was represented by attorney Rafael Urena in his legal challenge to his detention. His eldest son Ahmad, 22, expressed concern about the impact on his younger brothers, ages 13 and 15, saying his father's presence is important to them.

Ibrahim Mohammed, a 44-year-old Ethiopian national who came to the U.S. in 2014, was granted protection from deportation in 2024 under the Convention Against Torture after an immigration judge found he would likely face torture or persecution if returned to Ethiopia. Despite federal court orders in February and March requiring his release, roughly 10 ICE agents arrested him a third time on July 28, 2025, at his Baltimore-area apartment after falsely telling him and his attorney his ankle monitor was malfunctioning. Agents shoved his head into a car and gave him documents referencing Eswatini, a country ICE had previously tried unsuccessfully to deport him to. A judge again ordered his immediate release the same day, and U.S. District Judge John deGravelles later held then-ICE deputy field office director Vernon Liggins, who ordered the arrest on his last day in that role, in civil contempt, ordering ICE to pay Mohammed's attorney's fees and $180 for lost time. Mohammed, who spent 13 months in and out of ICE custody, testified the repeated detentions caused him nightmares and led his landlord to force him to move out.

Rosabel Rozana Moreira Ventura, a Guatemalan national, was ordered removed to Guatemala but granted withholding of removal on September 17, 2018. She was released on an Order of Supervision and granted employment authorization by the Department of Homeland Security. She complied with all immigration requirements, including scheduled check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). On July 24, 2026, while attending a scheduled ICE check-in, she was detained by ICE and presented with a Notice of Removal to Mexico, which she was forced to sign. Petitioner contends she received no meaningful notice or opportunity to present a fear-based claim to challenge her removal to Mexico. ICE scheduled her removal for August 8, 2026. On August 5, 2026, the court issued a temporary restraining order preventing her removal from the United States and prohibiting her transfer outside the Central District of California pending resolution of her habeas corpus petition.

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.

James Youboty, a Liberian national, has lived in Philadelphia under an Order of Supervision (OSUP) since 2000 after receiving withholding of removal due to danger he would face in Liberia, a status reaffirmed in 2025. ICE recently revoked his OSUP, citing a significant likelihood of removal in the near future based on a new agreement between the United States and Ghana to accept deportees from West African nations. Youboty was taken into custody and given a revocation notice citing only vague 'changed circumstances' and the securing of a travel document, with no mention that Ghana was the intended destination. An ICE informal interview conducted with him also failed to address Ghana or any third-country removal plan. Youboty filed a habeas petition arguing due process violations, including mandatory detention without individualized review and lack of notice regarding his destination country, which would prevent him from raising claims about the safety of removal to Ghana. The court found that ICE's revocation procedures failed to comply with due process and its own regulations because Youboty was never properly notified that Ghana was the target country, denying him a meaningful opportunity to contest that designation. The court noted unresolved concerns, including litigation before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice alleging Ghana quickly repatriates deportees to their countries of origin despite persecution risks. The judge ruled that ICE's procedures did not comport with due process, rendering Youboty's removal unlawful at this time.

Celestin Dima, a gay asylum seeker from Burkina Faso, fled kidnapping, military persecution and police torture after being outed before crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in 2024. In August 2025, an Arizona immigration judge granted him withholding of removal, finding he would likely face persecution if deported home, but ICE continued holding him at the Eloy Detention Center for nearly two years while searching for a third country willing to accept him, considering Ghana, Cameroon and Uganda—all countries where homosexuality is criminalized. While detained, he stopped eating and was placed in solitary confinement for two weeks. A federal judge ordered his release in June 2025 after granting a joint habeas petition, but ICE redetained him on July 17 during a mandatory check-in at a field office in Lower Manhattan. He was then transferred through detention facilities in New Jersey and near Dallas, fitted with a GPS ankle monitor, and later scheduled for deportation to the Central African Republic without being told in advance where he would be sent.

Giovanni Henriquez-Osorio, a native of El Salvador, was arrested in Provo, Utah and held at Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump. Federal authorities asserted he was a member of MS-13 gang, but U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware found no evidence supporting the claim. Boulware noted Henriquez-Osorio feared torture and persecution if deported and that his detention caused financial harm to his family — a partner and infant son facing eviction. After initially denying him a bond hearing, the judge in March ordered he be released or receive a constitutionally adequate hearing. When an immigration judge again ruled him dangerous based on prior DUI and domestic violence convictions, Boulware found the decision misstated the record and misconstrued facts. The judge ordered his release on July 17, 2026, threatening contempt sanctions against ICE and DHS if they did not comply.

Maikel Guerra Morales, a Cuban national convicted of aircraft piracy in 2003 after hijacking a commuter plane, was released from ICE custody by Senior U.S. District Judge John E. Steele on July 8, 2026, after more than six months in detention. Judge Steele ruled that ICE lacked a concrete plan to deport Morales and was violating the 2001 Supreme Court decision in Zadvydas v. Davis against indefinite detention. Morales had been released under supervision in March 2023 but was re-arrested in December 2025 despite complying with all supervision terms. Judge Steele ordered ICE to release Morales within 24 hours under the same conditions that had previously applied. In an exclusive statement, Morales expressed gratitude for Judge Steele, saying he would "always remember Judge Steele as a man who honored the oath he took" and calling him someone who applied "the law with independence, integrity, and justice." Judge Steele died at age 77 days after issuing the ruling. U.S. Rep. Greg Steube subsequently filed articles of impeachment against the deceased judge, making Judge Steele the first federal judge to die during impeachment proceedings.

Jacob Zapeta-Castro, a Guatemalan national and owner of El Quetzal Bakery in Lake Worth Beach, was detained by ICE agents on July 9, 2026. According to his family and advocates, Zapeta-Castro locked himself and his coworkers inside the business to protect undocumented employees from detention. ICE characterized his actions as fleeing agents. At the time of arrest, Zapeta-Castro held a valid work permit, Social Security number, and driver's license, and had filed for asylum in June 2024 and a withholding of removal petition. Multi-agency law enforcement—including ICE, Florida Highway Patrol, and Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office—surrounded the business with approximately 50 officers while roughly 50 community members protested outside. The standoff lasted hours in extreme heat. He was charged with re-entering the country after deportation and held in ICE detention in Stuart, with his arraignment scheduled for July 29 in federal court in West Palm Beach. His arrest occurred during a four-day ICE operation in Palm Beach County that resulted in 309 total arrests.

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.

Juan G.S., a noncitizen subject to an order of supervision under 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b) since 2013, was informed by an ICE officer at a routine check-in on June 16, 2026, that ICE planned to remove him to a third country and instructed him to return with a plane ticket for El Salvador, Guatemala, or Mexico, with threats of deportation to Africa if he did not cooperate. An Immigration Judge had previously granted G.S. withholding of removal in 2022, finding he would likely face persecution in Honduras based on his sexual orientation. The court is examining whether G.S. received proper notice and due process protections regarding the threatened removal and whether a bond hearing is required before any detention.

Adriana Quiroz Zapata, a 53-year-old Colombian national and torture survivor with New Jersey ties, was detained by ICE in August 2024 after re-entering the United States despite a prior removal order. In February 2025, she passed a Reasonable Fear Interview and received withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Despite these protections, ICE deported her to the Democratic Republic of the Congo on April 16, 2026—a country where she has no ties and where she cannot receive adequate medical care for her chronic conditions. On May 14, 2026, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to return her, ruling the deportation likely illegal. However, on June 15, 2026, the judge reversed that order after the administration produced evidence claiming the DRC had agreed to accept her, leaving Zapata in the DRC.

Ribelino B. Barahona Jovel, a Salvadoran citizen who received withholding of removal in 2024 and was released on supervision, was detained without warning on June 12, 2026, when he reported to the Baltimore ICE Field Office as directed. ICE revoked his release and prepared removal documents intending to deport him to Mexico without following required procedural safeguards or providing notice and opportunity to be heard. The court granted his habeas corpus petition, finding ICE violated due process and the Accardi doctrine by failing to follow its own regulations, and ordered his immediate release on the previous supervision conditions.

C.M., a noncitizen, was detained at the Aurora Contract Detention Facility and received a removal order on March 11, 2026. The immigration judge ordered deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture. C.M. sought immediate release via habeas corpus petition and Rehabilitation Act claim, arguing she needed release to meaningfully participate in immigration proceedings. The district court denied her petition, finding her removal order became final on April 11, 2026, placing her within the permissible 90-day removal period, and that immediate release is not a proper remedy under the Rehabilitation Act.

Hamilton Ismael Padilla Mendoza, a Nicaraguan national, was arrested and re-detained on June 4, 2026, while attending a routine ICE check-in in Los Angeles. He had been released on supervised release in 2024 after the Immigration Court granted him withholding of removal to Nicaragua, but was arrested without prior notice explaining the basis for revocation. ICE indicated he could not be removed to Nicaragua but would be sent to an unspecified third country. The court issued a temporary restraining order on June 13, 2026, blocking his removal from the United States pending resolution of his habeas corpus petition challenging the legality of third-country removal.

Miguel Angel Tercero Raudes, a Salvadoran national who had been living and working legally in the United States for over a decade with a 2023 Withholding of Removal court order, was detained at a routine ICE check-in on May 29, 2026. He is married to a U.S. citizen and is the father of two U.S. citizen daughters. The government has indicated plans to remove him to a third country where he has no family or legal status, in apparent violation of his court-ordered withholding of removal protection.

José Yugar-Cruz, a 37-year-old Bolivian asylum-seeker, was granted temporary release from ICE custody on May 29, 2026, after an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo suspended deportations to that country. An immigration judge had ruled in January 2025 that Yugar-Cruz faced likely torture if returned to Bolivia and granted him withholding-of-removal relief under the Convention Against Torture, yet ICE detained him at an April 2026 check-in appointment and attempted to deport him to the DRC despite his court protection and lack of connection to that country. After being held for 17 months while ICE sought third countries willing to accept his deportation—including Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Mexico, and Canada—Yugar-Cruz challenged his indefinite detention in court in December 2025. The WHO declaration of an Ebola emergency in Congo on May 17, 2026, forced suspension of deportations to that destination, resulting in his temporary release following legal challenges and community advocacy.

Yessenia Ruano, a teacher's aide at a bilingual public school in Milwaukee who fled El Salvador in 2011 to escape gang violence, was later victimized by human trafficking in the United States. She had a pending T-visa application for trafficking survivors when immigration officials told her she would be removed from the country. Facing the prospect of arrest and separation from her twin daughters, who are U.S. citizens, Ruano chose to self-deport to El Salvador in June 2025 after 14 years in the U.S., taking her daughters with her. In May 2026, a federal judge ordered that Ruano and two other plaintiffs must be allowed to return to the United States, finding that immigration officials had violated federal law and due process rights by automatically deporting crime victims without considering their applications to remain. Her attorney stated that once Ruano returns, the government is obligated to review her T-visa petition.

Jorge Cubillos, a Colombian who spent eight years in the U.S. after fleeing threats from a criminal group in his home country, was deported to the Democratic Republic of Congo on April 15, 2026, despite holding a work permit and withholding of removal protection granted by an immigration judge in 2022 under the UN Convention Against Torture. He was arrested on a domestic battery charge in 2026, after which ICE lodged a detainer that was honored by jail authorities. Cubillos was separated from his wife and four children in St. Cloud, Florida, and put on a flight to Congo without being informed of his destination until shortly before departure. He is now housed in a hotel in Kinshasa with 14 other Latin American deportees and reports poor conditions including frequent power cuts, lack of drinking water, and illness. The Trump administration defended the deportation as lawful under a third-country deportation policy, arguing that withholding of removal protection bars return to Colombia but not transfer to third countries.

Deisy Fidelina Rivera Ortega, wife of active-duty U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Jose Serrano stationed at Fort Bliss, was detained by ICE agents on April 14, 2026, while attending a USCIS appointment in El Paso, Texas to apply for Parole in Place. A native of El Salvador who had lived in the U.S. for approximately a decade, Rivera Ortega held valid work authorization and a 2019 court order granting her withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture. Despite these legal protections, ICE arrested her based on a December 2019 removal order for illegal entry and indicated plans to deport her to Mexico under third-country removal procedures. After approximately one month in custody at the El Paso Service Processing Center, Rivera Ortega was released on May 15, 2026, following media reporting and personal intervention by U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat and combat veteran who contacted the Department of Homeland Security on her behalf. She remains subject to GPS monitoring, mandatory ICE check-ins, home visits, and travel restrictions while facing potential deportation.

M.P.P.P., who was previously under an order of supervision and had been granted withholding of removal to El Salvador, was re-detained by ICE on May 14, 2026 after her supervised release was revoked. The court found that ICE violated federal regulations by failing to provide adequate notice of revocation reasons and conducting the required informal interview on the same day as detention. The court ordered her immediate release, finding the revocation procedures unlawful.

Hubert George Cole, a Honduran citizen who immigrated to the U.S. at age 11, was detained by ICE during his regular check-in on May 8, 2026, after 12 years of complying with supervision conditions. ICE served him with a Notice of Removal stating intent to remove him to Mexico, not his home country of Honduras where removal had been deferred under the Convention Against Torture. The court granted a temporary restraining order requiring his immediate release and prohibiting removal without proper procedures.

Meenu Batra, a 53-year-old certified court interpreter fluent in Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu, was detained by ICE agents on March 17, 2026, at Valley International Airport in Harlingen, Texas while traveling for a court assignment in Milwaukee. Batra fled India approximately 35 years ago after her parents were killed in violence connected to their Sikh religion and was granted withholding of removal status by an immigration judge in 2000. She has maintained valid work authorization that she regularly renews and continues to be valid for several more years, and has worked in immigration courts for over 20 years. Batra is a single mother of four U.S. citizen children, including youngest son Jasper Batra, who joined the U.S. Army shortly before her arrest. 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. Her attorney noted she has had only one speeding ticket in the last 30 years.

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.

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.

Jorge Cubillos and Carlos Rodelo, Colombian nationals who fled armed groups and extortion, were deported to the Democratic Republic of Congo despite holding legal protections including withholding of removal and Convention Against Torture (CAT) protections that prevented their return to Colombia. Cubillos, who had built a life in the U.S. over eight years and held a work permit, was physically restrained around his waist, feet, and hands for 24 hours during the deportation flight and reported feeling imprisoned upon arrival in Kinshasa. Rodelo was arrested in August 2025 and detained for eight months across multiple ICE facilities; Cubillos was held in Florida, Louisiana, and at Alexandria airport. Both were deported without formal removal orders and without being informed of their destination, health requirements, or mandatory vaccinations. At least 15 Latin American migrants were sent to Kinshasa under a U.S. agreement with the Congolese government, with deportations costing over $130,000 per person.

A 23-year-old South American woman was deported to the Democratic Republic of Congo after being detained in Louisiana for 15 months by ICE. An immigration judge had previously granted her protection from removal to her home country after she claimed persecution based on her LGBTQ+ status. Despite a federal magistrate judge's recommendation for her release in a lawsuit filed in December, she was deported before a district judge could approve the recommendation as part of a third-country deportation agreement.

Maria, a 29-year-old woman, fled Colombia in January 2024 after being kidnapped and tortured by the FARC rebel group and abused by her ex-husband, a police officer. In May 2025, a U.S. immigration judge found she would more likely than not be tortured if deported to Colombia and granted her protection under the Convention Against Torture. While held in Louisiana, she learned only the day before her transfer that she was being sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and said she objected up until boarding the plane. ICE took her identity documents and passport, leaving her unable to travel, and she was given seven days upon arrival to decide whether to accept a voluntary return to Colombia despite the risks she faces there.

Carlos Julio Medina Garcia, a 56-year-old Colombian citizen who had been granted withholding of removal, was detained without a warrant by ICE officers in Baltimore on March 31, 2026, when he reported for a scheduled check-in. He had been complying with supervised release and had a home visit scheduled for April 1, but ICE instructed him to report in-person on March 31 instead. The court granted his temporary restraining order motion and ordered his immediate release, finding ICE violated his due process rights. Jose Manuel Garcia Salamanca was placed in removal proceedings in August 2023 and charged with inadmissibility for entering the United States without inspection. He was released from immigration custody on an Order of Recognizance but was subsequently arrested by immigration authorities and is currently detained at the Adelanto ICE Detention Facility. The court granted his temporary restraining order requiring an individualized bond hearing within seven days.

Carlos Rodelo, a 43-year-old Colombian from Barranquilla who fled extortion in his home country, was granted Convention Against Torture (CAT) protection by a federal judge, which should have prevented his deportation to an unsafe third country. On April 13, 2026, despite his CAT protection and a pending habeas corpus challenge, Rodelo was held at Alexandria airport without food for several hours while shackled, then forcibly deported to the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of a Trump Administration third-country deportation agreement. Rodelo, who had diabetes and other medical conditions, described conditions in Congo as restrictive and felt like a prisoner despite being told he was free. He subsequently returned to Colombia through the International Organization for Migration's Assisted Voluntary Return program. The Department of Homeland Security asserted he had violated the terms of his parole. Rodelo was part of the first group of 15 Latin Americans deported to the DRC under the agreement.

Dayerlin Serrano Ordonez, a Venezuelan citizen who entered the U.S. in 2023, was granted withholding of removal to Venezuela in February 2025. On April 9, 2026, he was detained by ICE during a routine check-in. His wife was informed that authorities intended to remove him to Africa, despite his withholding protection. The court issued a habeas petition order requiring respondents to show cause why the petition should not be granted and ordered advance notice of any removal.

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.

Edwin Abel Gonzalez Veliz, a Guatemalan citizen who had been released on bond and granted withholding of removal in 2013, was detained on March 24, 2026 during a routine ICE check-in. He had fully complied with his supervision order for over 12 years with no new criminal history. ICE agents told him he was being arrested because of the new administration and they would find a third country if they couldn't send him to Guatemala. The court granted a temporary restraining order requiring his immediate release.

Jose Alfredo Rivas, a Honduran national who had been living in the U.S. for over a decade with protection under the Convention Against Torture, was detained by ICE during a routine check-in on March 23, 2026. He had been living free under an Order of Supervision for 14 years without any violations. The court granted his temporary restraining order and ordered his immediate release, finding that ICE violated his due process rights by detaining him without proper notice or hearing.

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

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

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

Alisa Ramdial Shahib, a 46-year-old from Trinidad and Tobago who immigrated to the U.S. at age 19, has been detained by ICE at Chase County Detention Center since March 2026. Despite being granted a withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture by a federal judge—a legal protection that bars her deportation to Trinidad and Tobago due to fears of persecution—DHS continues to detain her while searching for a third country willing to accept her. Shahib is separated from her U.S. citizen husband Secah, a PGA golf instructor, and her two children, one of whom is attending college. Over her decades in the U.S., she worked in modeling and commercial cleaning. Prior drug trafficking convictions prevent her from pursuing legal status. She communicates with her family through drawings mailed from detention while dealing with undisclosed medical issues, and her family remains uncertain about her final destination.