Human Impact Project

A man was detained by ICE agents in The Colony, Texas after a customer called ICE to avoid paying for auto repair work. According to his daughter, agents pepper-sprayed the man after he was already on the ground and handcuffed. The incident involved an alleged dispute over payment for completed vehicle repairs.

A Honduran immigrant alleges that improper placement of an electronic ankle monitor by ICE resulted in a skin infection and emotional distress after extended wear of the device. The incident highlights concerns about the physical and psychological effects of electronic monitoring on detained immigrants.

A noncitizen is currently detained at the Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, Colorado. He filed a habeas corpus petition seeking immediate release from custody along with a motion for temporary restraining order. The court ordered that respondents cannot remove him from Colorado or the United States until the court or appeals court vacates the order.

Patricia Balbuena Soto, a 49-year-old mother who had lived in New Jersey for roughly 30 years since age 19, was arrested in Atlantic City on July 24, 2025, on charges including home invasion burglary, weapon possession, criminal mischief and property damage. She was transferred to ICE custody the next day and held at Elizabeth Detention Center before being moved to Port Isabel in Texas. DHS said she had previously been removed from the country four times and illegally reentered a fifth time, a felony. She was deported to Mexico on August 5, 2025, leaving behind her 17-year-old daughter, Allison Garcia, a U.S. citizen and honors student with a 4.8 GPA. Garcia told reporters she felt alone navigating daily life without her mother, missed 21 school days, dropped two AP classes, saw her GPA fall to 3.5, abandoned her college plans, and depleted her $10,000 college fund to cover her mother's legal defense while managing the family's mortgage and finances alone.

A Cuban national ordered removed in 2019 was released on supervised release due to medical concerns after DHS detained him to execute his removal order. On May 12, 2026, DHS revoked his supervised release without demonstrating changed circumstances or that his removal was reasonably foreseeable. The court found the revocation unlawful and ordered his immediate release, finding that DHS failed to meet its burden under 8 C.F.R. § 241.13(i)(2) to show a significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future.

Dionel Florian-Garcia, a Guatemalan citizen who worked at an Arlington grocery store for 12 years, was arrested by ICE on January 14, 2026, outside his workplace on a charge of illegal reentry subsequent to a felony conviction. Florian-Garcia had been removed from the U.S. twice previously (in 2010 and 2012) and reentered the country. He was indicted on February 12 and pleaded guilty in federal court on February 24, 2026. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 12, 2026.

Jesus Hernandez, a single father of six children including two U.S. Marines, was detained by ICE on May 12, 2026, despite having spent seven years in immigration court proceedings to pursue legal citizenship. His family launched a fundraising campaign to secure legal representation, pay an immigration bond, and cover household expenses during his detention. The family believes he has a strong case to remain in the United States.

A long-term U.S. resident who has resided in the United States since 1999 was detained by immigration authorities on May 12, 2026, and had not received a bond hearing. The court converted his motion for temporary restraining order to a preliminary injunction motion and ordered that he be provided an individualized bond hearing within ten days, but denied his request for immediate release.

A Mexican agricultural worker first entered the United States in 1989 and most recently in 2000. He has lived in Napa, California with his wife, a U.S. permanent resident, and four U.S. citizen children, working as an agricultural worker. He was arrested by DHS in April 2016 and placed in removal proceedings under INA § 240; he was released on bond by an immigration judge that same year. In 2017, he filed an EOIR-42B application for cancellation of removal, noting his youngest son's emotional and behavioral health problems and the hardship his family would experience upon his removal. On May 12, 2026, he was detained by ICE without a pre-detention hearing and taken to the ICE Detention Facility at 630 Sansome Street in San Francisco. He filed a habeas corpus petition and motion for temporary restraining order seeking release and an injunction preventing re-detention without a hearing. On May 21, 2026, the federal court granted a preliminary injunction, finding that he has serious questions going to the merits of his Fifth Amendment due process claim and that he is likely to suffer irreparable harm. The court ordered that he cannot be re-detained without notice and a pre-deprivation hearing before a neutral immigration judge at which the government must establish by clear and convincing evidence that re-detention is warranted.

Jennifer Santos, a Colombian national with valid work authorization through 2029, was detained by ICE after attending a routine immigration appointment in Texas on October 15, 2025. She was held for seven months and then transported while shackled at the neck, hands, and feet for 30 hours from Texas to Louisiana for deportation to Honduras. Honduras did not authorize her entry, and she was returned to Texas. Her family alleges ICE subjected her to inhumane treatment and reports she was pursuing permanent residency. Her deportation was subsequently postponed, and her family is requesting she be deported to Colombia instead.

Federal agents stopped a man in Cathedral City, California and attempted to forcibly remove him from his vehicle despite his attempts to show valid driver's license identification. Agents dismissed his ID as fake and proceeded to pull him from the car. He was released only after his wife arrived with additional documentation. The man's hand was left bruised and bleeding during the encounter. The Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice reports this is part of a pattern of targeting individuals based on appearance.

Darwin Andres Gordon-Ruiz, 20, a Pittsfield High School 2025 graduate originally from Colombia, was arrested by ICE on Tuesday outside a Burger King parking lot, the same morning he was scheduled to appear at Berkshire County Superior Court. Witnesses described the arrest as violent and chaotic. He is currently being held at Plymouth County Correctional Facility and filed a habeas corpus petition. Gordon-Ruiz faces charges including two counts of rape and one count of providing alcohol to a minor, to which he pleaded not guilty after his November arrest; his bail was set at $20,000.

Ramon Santoyo-Cristobal was a convicted Sinaloa Cartel trafficker sentenced to eight years in prison after law enforcement extradited him to the U.S. in 2020. Two years into his prison stint, ICE moved him into deportation proceedings.

Juan Benitez-Ortega was deported two weeks before his arraignment in Colorado on charges that he strangled his girlfriend. He was charged with second-degree assault but the case has been abandoned.

Elder Lopez-Avalos, a 27-year-old undocumented immigrant, was arrested by Nassau County police on May 10 on fire and arson charges connected to multiple vehicle fires in Freeport, including fires near a children's center parking area. ICE took him into custody on May 12 with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and he remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

Wualter Jesus Travieso Soto, 29, was arrested February 1, 2025, and charged with felony sexual intercourse without consent with a child under 16 after the victim's aunt obtained guardianship and the girl reported multiple assaults. Soto, who entered the U.S. without authorization in 2023, remains in Flathead County jail on $200,000 bail with an ICE detainer. He pleaded not guilty at his April 9 arraignment, with his next court date scheduled for August 3, 2026.

Dinh Quy Nguyen, a Vietnamese national convicted in 1989 of attempted capital murder of a police officer and burglary, was arrested by ICE in Houston on May 5, 2026. Despite being ordered deported in 1997, he remained in the U.S. for over 15 years due to Vietnam's refusal to repatriate nationals who arrived before July 1995; he was released back into the community in 2011 after the initial removal order. He is currently held at Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, Texas, with preparations underway for his removal to Vietnam.

Carmelo Gonzalez, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, discovered his 11-year-old daughter Maria murdered in their Pasadena, Texas apartment in August 2023. Maria had been sexually assaulted and strangled; a neighbor was arrested and charged with capital murder. Gonzalez is a crucial witness in the case and had filed a U-Visa application, which is granted to crime victims and witnesses who assist law enforcement investigations. On January 26, 2025, Gonzalez was arrested for a first-time misdemeanor DWI offense and flagged by ICE. Despite his pending U-Visa application, he was taken into ICE custody upon bond release and placed on a deportation flight within a week. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare expressed alarm, stating he had never seen a witness with a pending U-Visa application removed so quickly, and warned that such enforcement policies are deterring witnesses from cooperating in criminal prosecutions.

Miami Correctional Facility in Indiana received its first 15 ICE detainees as part of the "Speedway Slammer" agreement, a two-year contract to house up to 1,000 immigrant detainees. The facility, which sits on a former air force base near Kokomo, has a history of violence and understaffing, with over 400 violent incidents logged annually in 2019-2021 and custody staff declining from 367 in 2015 to 288 as of 2025. Indiana has spent at least $12.5 million on the arrangement but received less than $5.1 million in federal reimbursement.

Juan David Arango-Caicedo, a 28-year-old Colombian immigrant who had lived legally in the U.S. for over three years, was detained by ICE at a check-in appointment in May 2026. He became temporarily out of status when his lawyer failed to meet a deadline to file necessary paperwork following his marriage to a U.S. citizen, Nicole, despite having an approved green card petition from USCIS and valid work authorization. He was held at Moshannon Valley Processing Center while his wife pursued legal proceedings for his release. Arango-Caicedo was among 4,400 people whom federal judges determined were unlawfully detained by ICE during President Donald Trump's administration.