Human Impact Project

The petitioner, born in a Philippine refugee camp to parents who fled Laos, entered the United States as a refugee at one month old and later became a lawful permanent resident. He has lived in the U.S. for over 40 years, is the primary breadwinner for his family as a certified glazier, and cares for his U.S. citizen partner, her three children, their shared five-year-old autistic son, and his elderly disabled U.S. citizen mother. After a 2002 robbery conviction, he was ordered removed to Laos in 2017 but released on an order of supervision because Laos would not accept him as it does not recognize stateless former refugees as citizens; he complied with ICE reporting requirements without further arrests for nearly nine years. In March 2026 a state court vacated his underlying conviction as unconstitutional, and he filed a pending motion to reopen his immigration case. On September 3, 2026, he was abruptly re-detained at a routine ICE check-in after Laos reportedly issued a travel document that ICE refused to show him or his attorney, and he was denied a proper informal interview before being served a removal warrant. He filed a habeas petition and TRO motion the same day seeking immediate release and protection from removal, and the court granted the TRO, ordering his immediate release, barring re-detention without notice and a hearing, and prohibiting his removal pending further proceedings, with a preliminary injunction hearing set for September 21, 2026.

Noune Phompor, 47, a Laotian refugee who has lived in the U.S. since 1981 under indefinite refugee status, was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents during his lunch break at the Chipotle where he has worked since May 2025. Phompor's family says he committed crimes in his 20s while struggling with methamphetamine addiction but has not committed a crime since at least 2014, completing his supervision requirements. He is the sole provider for his partner, Joanna Mabrey, and their 1-year-old son, and is now held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma awaiting removal proceedings with a deportation date of October 20. Friends, family, and Port Angeles Mayor Kate Dexter have been working to secure him legal representation and intervene with lawmakers.

A federal judge ordered the immediate release of Nyamuoch Thomas Duoth, a lawful permanent resident born in a refugee camp in Ethiopia who arrived in the U.S. as a refugee in 1994, from an Iowa jail where she was held by ICE. Duoth, a citizen of South Sudan, had been detained since March 2025 after ICE said it intended to deport her to South Sudan or Ethiopia, though officials failed to show progress toward removal for more than six months after her removal order became final. U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher said the government's argument that her past criminal history justified continued detention was 'hard to take seriously,' noting she had lived in the community without incident for years after her convictions. Duoth's attorneys are now seeking reimbursement of legal fees from the federal government.

Abdullahi Mohamed, a Somali refugee who had lived in the U.S. for decades with his family, was detained and then rapidly transferred within five days across Massachusetts, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas before being deported to Somalia. He reported being beaten and shackled during transfers and enduring long periods without food or water. ICE did not respond to his lawyer's requests for release and ignored habeas petition efforts. Mohamed has no family or means of support in Somalia and his wife remains in hiding due to her immigration status.

Thien, who arrived in the U.S. as a refugee in 1984 at age 3 and became a permanent resident, lost his green card status at 16 due to a mistake. After serving his sentence, he was placed on an order of supervision rather than deported because Vietnam was not accepting deportees. For 24 years, he complied with every condition of the order, maintained work authorization, built a business, and raised a family. When he attended a scheduled immigration appointment, he was detained within 10 minutes without an interview and is now facing deportation.

Dy Nguyen, a Vietnamese refugee who lived in the United States for 27 years, was detained by ICE for almost 8 months beginning in October 2025 before being deported to Vietnam. During his detention at Stewart Detention Center in Atlanta, his newborn son was born, whom he never physically held. His attorney at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund pursued legal action for his release, but the case was delayed for over six months. Nguyen was shackled for 35 hours during flights and spent an additional 30 hours on buses traveling through Vietnam after deportation, separated from his family of five and his church community.

Chanh Phansisay, a Laotian refugee who arrived as a baby, received an ICE letter around the same time as his uncle Ky Sengdara in March 2026. With legal assistance from the Seattle Clemency Project, Phansisay avoided deportation to Laos, a country he has never known and where he has no meaningful family connections.

A 53-year-old Laotian refugee and lawful permanent resident was abruptly re-detained by ICE on May 19, 2026, during a routine check-in after being on supervised release for over 20 years. He came to the U.S. as a child refugee in 1979 due to his father's service with the CIA in the Secret War in Laos. The federal court granted a temporary restraining order and ordered his immediate release, finding violations of due process and ICE regulations.

A California man who arrived in the U.S. as a young boy with refugee status and held a green card had his sentence commuted in 2018. Instead of being released, he was shackled and transferred to an ICE processing center. After spending close to a year in ICE detention, he was released to continue his immigration case through the courts. In subsequent years he started a family and obtained employment. After the courts vacated his conviction last year, ICE has not recognized the case as cleared and a final deportation order remains in effect.

A Cambodian refugee who entered the US as a child in 1982 was detained by ICE on May 4, 2026, after 25 years on supervised release. He had been living in the US under Orders of Supervision since 1999 following a 1997 drug conviction, but Cambodia has consistently refused to issue travel documents for his removal. The court granted a temporary restraining order requiring his immediate release, finding that ICE violated its own regulations by having an unauthorized officer revoke his supervision.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained two Bhutanese refugees from Central Pennsylvania over the weekend. Both men are permanent residents on a path to U.S. citizenship. The detentions are part of an ongoing pattern where the Trump administration is deporting Bhutanese refugees back to Bhutan, which then re-deports them to India without travel documents, leaving them stateless.

Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a 56-year-old nearly blind Rohingya refugee from Myanmar who spoke little English and relied on a cane to walk, was released from Erie County jail on February 19, 2026, after Border Patrol agents determined he was ineligible for deportation. Agents dropped him off at a Tim Hortons north of Buffalo without notifying his family or attorney. Surveillance footage contradicted DHS claims that the location was safe and open, showing the store was closed except for its drive-thru. Alam went missing for several days before his body was found on February 24 near KeyBank Center, about four miles from where he was left. Local officials ruled his death a homicide, caused by complications of a perforated duodenal ulcer worsened by hypothermia and dehydration. Governor Kathy Hochul later cited his death as an example of harm caused by federal immigration enforcement.

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.

Over 1,100 Afghan refugees, many of whom served alongside U.S. forces, are at Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar. Since February 28, 2026, residents have experienced missile attacks and are housed in shipping containers. President Trump suspended their refugee resettlement program in 2025. The refugees remain in Qatar with unresolved immigration status.

A teenage girl who entered the United States as a refugee was arrested and detained overnight by ICE agents in a hotel room in Minneapolis. According to her allegations, immigration authorities separated her from her family and forced her to share a room with federal agents during the detention. The incident prompted protests outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, with demonstrators opposing the enforcement action.

Ta Eh Doh Lah, a Burmese refugee mother of four lawfully admitted to the U.S. in November 2024, was arrested by ICE agents at her St. Paul apartment on January 10, 2026, while breastfeeding her five-month-old baby. The arrest occurred one day after USCIS announced Operation PARRIS to re-examine refugee cases. She was immediately transferred to Texas despite having a pending adjustment of status application and no criminal record. Ta Eh Doh Lah has congenital heart disease requiring expert medical care. A federal magistrate judge found her detention was not authorized under federal law and recommended her release. The federal court ordered her immediate transfer back to Minnesota and release, and blocked Operation PARRIS across Minnesota, preventing the arrest or detention of refugees solely because they are awaiting status adjustment.

Fong Khang, a Cambodian immigrant, was pardoned by the Minnesota Board of Pardons on January 20 for convictions from nearly 20 years ago. Less than 24 hours later, ICE detained him, threatening his ability to remain in the United States. The article also describes the case of Sithy Yi, a Cambodian genocide survivor and refugee, who was detained by ICE after 10 years of compliance with immigration instructions.

Ricky Chandee, an engineering technician for Minneapolis, was detained by ICE agents at his home in Brooklyn Park on January 24 during a surge of federal enforcement in Minnesota. Chandee, a Laotian refugee who was convicted of a drive-by shooting decades ago and never naturalized as a U.S. citizen, was transported to El Paso, Texas, where he faces possible deportation to Laos. The article describes how Laotian refugees who arrived after the Vietnam War are being deported at unprecedented rates under the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda, despite having built lives in Minnesota for decades.

Khadra Muse Mohamed, a 25-year-old Somali refugee and single mother, was pulled over by undercover ICE agents on January 10, 2026, one day after Operation PARRIS began. She had legally arrived in the U.S. in April 2024, passed security screenings, and was living in St. Cloud with her 7-year-old son and extended family including her disabled stepfather. After her arrest, she was transferred to a detention facility in Texas before her family could secure legal representation, separating her from her young son and elderly relatives who depend on her care. She was released on January 19 after nine days in detention.

Parady La, a 46-year-old Cambodian refugee and longtime Philadelphia-area resident, died in January 2026 after being detained by ICE. La was arrested by ICE on January 6 outside his home and held at the Federal Detention Center (FDC Philadelphia), where he was treated for severe drug withdrawal. On January 7, officers found him unresponsive in his cell, administered CPR and Narcan, and transported him to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he was diagnosed with anoxic brain injury, shock, and multiple organ failures. He died on January 9. His family and organizations including the ACLU of Pennsylvania and CAIR-Philadelphia demanded accountability and transparency, with the ACLU filing a Freedom of Information Act request for records related to his detention, medical treatment, and death.

Oudone Lothirath, a 57-year-old Laotian refugee who arrived in the U.S. in the early 1980s, was detained by ICE in January 2026 during an immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota. While held for 10 days at a detention facility in El Paso, Texas, he missed vital chemotherapy sessions for terminal Hodgkin's lymphoma and received no medical care for his diabetes and heart condition. After his release, he was too weakened to continue his remaining chemotherapy treatments, and his cancer subsequently spread to his bone marrow. His care assistant, Christina Vilay, said he would have had "many more months" to live had he completed his scheduled chemotherapy. Lothirath, a working member of the Minneapolis Lao community who attended a local Buddhist temple and held a current work authorization card issued in 2023, is now receiving hospice care.

Mohan Karki, a 30-year-old refugee born in a Nepal refugee camp whose family fled persecution in Bhutan in the 1990s, faces deportation to Bhutan by the U.S. government despite having no passport or birth certificate from that country. He has been detained for over eight months pending removal proceedings stemming from a teenage burglary conviction. His attorneys have stated that deportation could result in statelessness, as Bhutanese authorities have previously denied entry to other deportees.

Melissa Tran, a Maryland mother who came to the U.S. from Vietnam in the 1990s as a refugee with a Green Card, was deported to Vietnam after being detained by ICE in May. Though a judge ordered her release in October, she still faced deportation due to a 2003 removal order stemming from a 2001 conviction for stealing checks as a teenager. Vietnam had previously refused to accept her, allowing her to remain in the U.S. for over 20 years while completing regular immigration check-ins, until her detention during a check-in in Baltimore.

Illinois state representative Hoan Huynh, a Vietnamese refugee, reported being confronted by ICE and Customs and Border Patrol agents who pointed a gun at his head while he monitored immigration enforcement operations on Chicago's North Side. Huynh was documenting the agents' activities and informing residents of their rights when the incident occurred. ICE enforcement operations in Chicago have separated families from their communities. Gerardo Perez's mother was arrested and deported in June.

Ali Faqirzada, an Afghan refugee and Bard College student, was detained by ICE following a credible fear interview in his asylum case. He was held for six months before being released and reunited with his family in New Paltz.

Melissa Tran, a Vietnamese refugee and Maryland mother of five who legally immigrated in 1993, was detained by ICE for over five months following a routine check-in due to a non-violent theft conviction from 2001. After a federal judge ordered her release, finding the detention unnecessary, Tran was freed and required to wear an ankle monitor while reporting to ICE authorities. She described harsh detention conditions including poor hygiene facilities and being transported shackled across multiple states, though she now faces potential deportation despite her two decades of clean immigration status.

P.R., a 42-year-old Cambodian national, was born in a refugee camp in Thailand after his family fled the Cambodian genocide. He entered the United States in 1985 at age three and lived there for 40 years. In 2010 he was ordered removed to Thailand, a country where he is neither citizen nor national. After completing his sentence in January 2025, he was held by ICE nine additional months before being deported to Eswatini on October 6, 2025.

Alan Phetsadakone, who arrived in the United States as a toddler, was detained by ICE during a routine check-in in Tukwila, Washington in July 2025 and released in September following an order by US authorities. As deportation flights to Laos resume for the first time in years under a new immigration enforcement effort, Phetsadakone now faces renewed threat of deportation despite decades of residency in the country.

Pang Nhia Hang-Bailey, a Hmong refugee who arrived in the United States in 1978, was detained by ICE on July 30, 2025, during a routine annual check-in visit and is currently held at South Louisiana ICE Processing Center. Her green card expired in 1995 and was revoked in 2007 following a guilty plea to bank fraud charges in 2000. She faces deportation to Laos despite having lived in the U.S. for 47 years and having four adult children born in the country.

A Laotian refugee who entered the U.S. in 1981 was detained by ICE in July 2025 after 25 years of supervised release following a removal order. The court found the government failed to demonstrate changed circumstances or significant likelihood of removal, violating immigration law. Chief Judge Stephanie Rose ordered his immediate release and restoration to supervised release status.

Tenzin, a 29-year-old Tibetan refugee originally from Nepal, arrived at Newark airport on July 12 and was detained after attempting to cross into Canada. He spent over six months in ICE detention in Batavia, NY, where his asylum case was dismissed by a judge due to an interpreter's illness, then targeted for deportation to Uganda under the Trump administration's pretermission policy. His attorney successfully intervened to have him deported to Canada instead, where he arrived on February 19.

Paul John Bojerski, 79, a Polish-born refugee who legally immigrated to the U.S. in 1952 and lived there for over 70 years, was detained by ICE in late October 2025 based on a decades-old deportation order from 1968. Despite having no passport and no country to return to, Bojerski was taken into custody after attending a routine ICE check-in and transferred to Alligator Alcatraz detention facility. His family reports his health has deteriorated significantly during detention, and he now awaits resolution of his case.

Arpineh Kamal Masihi, an Iranian-born refugee with a prior theft conviction, was detained by ICE for 187 days at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center after her green card was revoked. Her husband Arthu Sahakyan has stated he would continue to support Trump and his immigration enforcement policies.

Dong Van Nguyen, a 64-year-old Vietnamese refugee who fled to the U.S. in 1980, was detained by ICE on May 21, 2025 during a scheduled check-in appointment at the Burlington ICE office. He was enrolled in the alternatives to detention program. Greater Boston Legal Services filed a habeas corpus motion to challenge his detention. Nguyen now faces deportation to Vietnam after 45 years in the United States.

Sergey Kostenyuk, a Ukrainian refugee who came to the U.S. as a child and is a legal permanent resident with a green card, was arrested by ICE agents posing as customers interested in buying a chicken coop. He was detained for over two months based on two 2018 felony convictions for theft, but was eventually released when a judge ruled he did not meet the federal criteria for deportation.