Human Impact Project

Dhaval Amratbhai Patel, an Indian national living in the U.S. without authorization, was arrested by Worcester Police on May 16, 2026, for assaulting a customer with a baseball bat at a liquor store where he worked. Local authorities released him from jail without notifying ICE. Federal immigration officials arrested Patel on May 18 after his release. DHS subsequently criticized Massachusetts sanctuary policies for the lack of cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

Karliana Yosdeylin Perdomo-Gotopo, a 20-year-old women's soccer player and business major at Cleary University in Michigan, was detained by ICE on May 26, 2026, during a traffic stop in Lincoln Park. Perdomo entered the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor in September 2022 at age 15, fleeing political persecution in Venezuela, and graduated high school with honors in Detroit in 2023. She had a pending asylum application and her mother believed she held valid Temporary Protected Status documentation through October 2026, though the Trump administration had previously ended TPS protections for Venezuelan nationals. A witness reported the stop appeared targeted based on her Latina appearance. Perdomo was transferred to North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan.

ICE agents in unmarked gray and blue SUVs conducted a roundup operation in McMinnville, Tennessee on May 27, 2026, detaining multiple people. Initial reports indicated at least 6 people were taken into custody, with subsequent reports showing 11 people detained and one released. Video footage showed agents exiting unmarked vehicles, handcuffing individuals, and approaching workers outside a Lowe's store, and those taken into custody were transported to Putnam County Jail and held overnight before potential transfer to other facilities. On June 29, 2026, a Cookeville chancellor ruled that Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris can withhold jail records identifying people held there on federal immigration charges, citing a 2002 federal regulation as an exception to the Tennessee Public Records Act. The ruling dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition and a University of Tennessee sociology professor who had sought intake records identifying those detained.

Alina Rosales Aguirreurreta, a physician and daughter of historic Cuban general Ulises Rosales del Toro, was detained by ICE in South Florida in May 2026. She had entered the United States in 2023 on a B1/B2 tourist visa issued at the U.S. Embassy in Havana and was living in South Florida while seeking to regularize her immigration status. ICE confirmed her detention but did not publicly disclose the specific reason for the detention or the facility location.

Herber Aquino, a father of four with no criminal record and an ongoing immigration case, was detained on May 27th by multiple armed, masked agents in unmarked vehicles during a work stop in Riverside. According to accounts, agents surrounded his work truck, forcibly removed him from the vehicle, drew weapons, struck his head, and transported him and his work crew in unmarked vehicles. His family launched a fundraising effort to cover legal defense costs, bond, and living expenses while his wife recovered from childbirth.

Federal officers in tactical gear and unmarked vehicles arrested a man outside his home in San Francisco's Sunnyside neighborhood on a Wednesday morning. Witnesses reported the officers, wearing vests identifying themselves as federal and police, restrained the man and transported him in vehicles without license plates. An activist later observed the man being escorted into the ICE field office on Sansome Street.

A father was detained by ICE agents on May 27, 2026, at 5:40 AM in Eastvale during a traffic stop while traveling to work with two of his brothers. Agents initially confused him with his older brother due to sharing the same name before ultimately detaining him. The father is the primary financial provider for his family, which includes his mother and three younger brothers, one of whom has autism. He has severe diabetes and requires daily medication. His family is seeking legal representation and financial assistance to secure his release and ensure he receives necessary medical care.

U.S. Representatives Wesley Bell and Nikki Budzinski visited Ste. Genevieve County jail on May 26-27, 2026, and found ICE detainees in overcrowded conditions, some sleeping on thin trays instead of beds, with insufficient access to clean water, medical care, and legal representation. The facility, which houses over 150 ICE detainees on contract, was found to have gaps between stated conditions and detainee experiences, with particular concerns raised about a pregnant detainee's lack of prenatal care and vitamins. Both representatives committed to following up with jail staff and detained constituents to ensure improved conditions and fulfillment of commitments made during the visit.

A Human Rights Watch report documents that the Trump administration deported over 4,300 Cuban nationals to Mexico between January 2025 and March 2026, many sent to high-violence border areas where they lack legal status, citizenship, or prior ties. Based on interviews with 41 deported Cubans and migrants from other countries, the report reveals that deportees experienced inhumane detention conditions in U.S. facilities, were pressured into going to Mexico under threat of prolonged detention or deportation, and now face severe conditions including homelessness, lack of access to food and healthcare, vulnerability to violence from organized crime, and inability to regularize their status or return to Cuba. The U.S. and Mexican governments maintain an undisclosed agreement to deport Cubans to Mexico despite Cuba's refusal to accept such deportations.

Henry Morales Hernandez, 55, a former Venezuelan Army Major with an active asylum case, has been detained by ICE since May following a traffic stop in Florida. Prosecutors dismissed the driving under the influence charge, with breath test results below the legal limit. Morales Hernandez arrived legally on a tourist visa in 2021 and has been granted Temporary Protected Status while his asylum case proceeds in immigration court.

Erik Maradiaga Alvarado was detained by ICE without warning or judicial warrant. He is the sole provider for his family, which includes two sons, one with a medical disability (Apert Syndrome). His wife is seeking funds for legal fees, rent, and living expenses during his detention.

Juan Carlos Ramirez Diaz, a U.S. citizen from Oxnard, was pepper-sprayed, punched, kneed, tased, and slammed onto vehicle hoods by armed immigration agents while filming his father's arrest during an ICE raid at an auto body shop. He was transported to a hospital and then to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles before being released back to his family the following day. Ramirez later filed a legal claim against the federal government, seeking damages for his injuries and trauma, as part of a broader effort by people caught up in immigration raids to seek compensation.

A man who entered the United States in 2007 and had lived in the country for multiple years was detained by ICE on May 26, 2026, without being provided a warrant or notice of the reason for detention. The court found his detention unlawful due to denial of a bond hearing for over two months and ordered his immediate release, rejecting ICE's arguments for mandatory detention.

ICE agents pursued three people into Central Diner and Grille in Robinson Township after a traffic stop on Route 60. The restaurant's manager, a U.S. citizen and military veteran, refused to let agents search the kitchen without a warrant, and the confrontation escalated when an agent pinned him to the floor, injuring him; ICE said he assaulted an agent and took him into custody. The manager had been hospitalized for heart issues the week before. Employees and customers were shaken, and the restaurant closed for the rest of the day; ICE said two people, including the person originally being pursued, were arrested.

Oso, a Pomeranian, was left at a shelter after his family was deported by ICE in Prince George's County, Maryland during the current administration's mass deportation enforcement. The dog was surrendered with only his name on his collar and no explanation. Since mass deportation enforcement ramped up in early 2025, animal welfare groups across the country report a surge in pets abandoned or surrendered by deported families, with some rescues taking in three times as many animals as they did a year ago.

A Chinese national lawfully admitted on a B-2 visa in 2015 who overstayed and subsequently applied for adjustment of status was arrested by ICE officers without prior notice or warrant on May 26, 2026, during her USCIS adjustment of status interview. ICE alleged she was being arrested for visa overstay. After a bond hearing on June 17, 2026, where an immigration judge denied her release, she filed a habeas corpus petition. The federal court granted her petition on July 1, 2026, finding she had a liberty interest in remaining free from detention and ordered her immediate release, enjoining future detention without notice and a pre-detention hearing.

An Indian national who entered the United States on December 31, 2022, was detained by ICE on May 26, 2026, following a commercial vehicle inspection and transferred to Central Valley Annex Detention Facility in McFarland, California. He had no criminal history, was not subject to a final removal order, and had previously been paroled under INA § 212(d)(5). The court found his re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause and ordered his immediate release, enjoining respondents from re-detaining him without providing seven days' notice and holding a bond hearing before a neutral arbiter.

A pregnant constituent from Illinois' 13th Congressional District was detained by ICE at the Ste. Genevieve County Detention Center in Missouri and required two hospital visits for pregnancy-related emergencies while in custody. During a congressional tour on May 26, 2026, U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski and Rep. Wesley Bell observed conditions at the facility, where detainees reported serious access issues including insufficient drinking water (forcing some to drink from showers), inadequate medical care, and limited access to notaries and legal representation. The facility, which operates under a federal contract allowing ICE to hold up to 400 detainees, housed detainees in overcrowded cells with up to 48 people per room using inflatable mats or thin pads on trays for bedding. While facility operators claimed basic needs were being met, detainees—many from across Missouri and southern Illinois—reported being detained unexpectedly during their asylum process after initially being assured they would not be held.

Anabella Gyasi, 38, a pregnant Ghanaian woman, and her 4-year-old son who has a physical abnormality affecting his hands arrived at Dulles International Airport on valid tourist visas to seek medical care for her son at Akron Children's Hospital in Ohio. At customs, she disclosed a fear of returning to Ghana because of persecution she faced for her son's disability. CBP officers took them into custody as asylum seekers after she stated under oath that she did not intend to return to Ghana, which led officials to nullify her tourist visa. Gyasi, who was about four months pregnant, was held in a windowless room at the airport with her son for more than a week without adequate food or medical care. She was twice transported to a hospital for treatment. DHS denied her care was inadequate. The ACLU of Virginia filed an emergency petition, and Judge Leonie Brinkema called the detention a "terrible situation," saying Gyasi should not spend another night at the airport. A Justice Department attorney said immigration authorities were prepared to deport Gyasi and her son back to Ghana that night. CBP had interviewed her and judged she did not have a "credible fear" of returning. The judge ordered the government to confirm her departure and ruled the petition moot. Gyasi and her son were deported to Ghana.

Idaho State Police transferred 30 immigrants from state prisons and county jails to ICE custody for deportation following completion of their criminal sentences as part of Operation No Return, a state program utilizing the 287(g) partnership between Idaho law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. Officials stated the individuals had been convicted of crimes including child sexual abuse, drug trafficking, assault, and DUI. The transfer brings the cumulative total of people moved through the operation to 130.