Human Impact Project

Hleb Matskevich, who came to the U.S. from Belarus at age 14 under asylum protections and later built a life in Palm Coast, Florida, where he owns two businesses, was detained by ICE agents at a Pennsylvania airport after flying in for his fiancée's grandfather's funeral. His fiancée, Alessandra Robinson, said agents cited an expired visa despite his pending case with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Matskevich is being held at Pike County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania while the couple pursues a bond request and plans to marry while he remains in custody.

A video circulated by Yakima Community Aid showed a person detained by immigration enforcement agents immediately after being released from Yakima police custody on a Monday. The video, originally posted by a community member, has drawn more than 80,000 views on Instagram and sparked concerns that police and ICE were collaborating. Yakima Police Chief Shawn Boyle said the person had been held on a DUI charge and that a corrections officer handed over his bag of belongings to an ICE agent only because agents took him into custody before the officer could return the property through normal procedure; the department has since changed that procedure to return belongings before opening the gate. Boyle said officers did not coordinate with ICE, explaining that ICE and other agencies monitor publicly available jail and court release schedules, and the incident prompted discussion at a town hall about the Keep Washington Working Act, which restricts local law enforcement from assisting federal immigration enforcement.

A relative of Brenda Dumas who holds a valid work permit was detained by ICE in Port Isabel and, after being held, was released with an ankle monitor, becoming one of more than 50,000 people the agency is tracking with the devices. The family member requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation from the federal government. Dumas said she now uses a phone app to track family members' locations and stays in constant communication with them out of safety concerns.

A court filing revealed that earlier this year four ICE vehicles sped past a stopped school bus with its lights flashing in New Jersey before heading toward an apartment complex where elementary school children were waiting for another bus. The children scattered and ran away in fear. Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of America's Voice, said the incident showed immigration agents treating young children on their way to school as targets.

Bill Bassikissa Bounguiena, a Cumberland County corrections officer, was detained by ICE in South Portland, Maine in June 2026. He had been hired by the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office in August 2024, had no disciplinary issues, and the Sheriff's Office said he 'demonstrated dedication to his duties' by frequently working overtime. He held an employment authorization document confirming he could legally work in the United States until 2030. The Sheriff's Office said it had no further information explaining why ICE detained him.

Jesús Bracho, a San Antonio father, and his 9-year-old daughter Katherine, a student at Bonnie Ellison Elementary School, were detained near Loop 410 and U.S. Highway 90 in San Antonio. Bracho said ICE agents arrested him during a traffic stop, then released him and forced him to lure Katherine out of their home so agents could detain her as well. The two were held together for more than a month at the South Texas Immigrant Processing Center in Dilley. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro visited the family and said Bracho was moved to tears with guilt, believing he was responsible for his daughter's detention. Their case drew concern from family members, activists, and Katherine's classmates before the two were released together from Dilley.

A 51-year-old native of Mexico who entered the U.S. lawfully in 1993 and remained for 33 years while raising a family was detained on May 29, 2026, during a routine traffic stop after local law enforcement learned of his immigration status. He had been cooperating with immigration authorities, submitting applications for lawful permanent residency that were approved by USCIS and appearing for required biometrics appointments. The court granted his preliminary injunction petition, finding he possessed a constitutionally protected liberty interest and was entitled to pre-deprivation process before detention, ordering his immediate release.

Johnny Queda, a 28-year-old construction worker from Ecuador, was pulled from his truck by ICE agents on August 27, 2026, while driving home from a job site in Danbury, Connecticut. His fiancée, Kimberly Rivas, said Queda has lived in the U.S. for five years while working toward citizenship, pays taxes annually, has retained an attorney, and had no criminal record. "It's just so sad because he had nothing criminal going on. He pays his taxes every year. He has a lawyer. He does everything right," Rivas said. The arrest was captured on video by a local shop owner and occurred as part of a broader ICE enforcement operation in the Danbury area that detained more than 50 people within a week.

Moises Velasquez, a 23-year-old Venezuelan asylum-seeker who entered the U.S. legally through a CBP appointment in 2023 and held a work permit while awaiting a December 2026 asylum hearing, was pulled from his car by ICE agents in Lakewood, Washington while waiting to start his shift at a barbershop. Agents had been searching for a Mexican national with a final deportation order who drove the same make and model car. Cellphone video shows agents smashing his car windows and dragging him out; his fiancée, who was eight months pregnant, heard him screaming for help over the phone during the arrest. His attorney, Bart Klein, said ICE realized they had detained the wrong person but sent him to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma anyway. A federal magistrate judge called the arrest 'egregious' and granted a habeas corpus petition, and Velasquez was released after about a month in detention and has returned to work.

A Haitian couple and their two sons, ages 5 and 3 — the youngest a U.S. citizen — were deported to Haiti on August 27, 2026, after Canadian authorities returned them to the United States. The parents and older son were TPS beneficiaries who had also applied for asylum, with a court hearing scheduled for 2029; fearing detention when Haiti's TPS designation ended on July 27, the family crossed into Canada on August 14 to seek asylum there but was handed back to ICE. ICE held the family at a detention center in New York state, separated the father from his wife and children, and did not allow him to call a lawyer, he told a Human Rights Watch researcher, recalling an ICE officer telling him his youngest son could stay in the United States only in government custody, saying, "You will lose him." The family's flight landed in Cap-Haïtien, where Human Rights Watch researchers were present and documented the reception process; the organization said more than 450 people had been deported to Haiti since July.

ICE, the Florida Highway Patrol, Lee County Sheriff's Office, Florida National Guard, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other state and local agencies arrested more than 500 people during a four-day immigration enforcement operation in the Fort Myers area of southwest Florida, conducted between Aug. 24 and Aug. 27 under Florida's 287(g) program. Officials said those arrested included people with final orders of removal, repeat immigration violators, and individuals with criminal histories involving domestic violence, drug offenses, DUI, assault, and other offenses. ICE publicly detailed 10 individuals arrested, mostly from Guatemala and Honduras, including a Haitian national facing charges connected to a premeditated murder case and a Honduran national accused of molesting two children. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis credited the operation's success to the state's 287(g) Task Force Model, which allows cooperation between ICE and state and local law enforcement across all 67 county sheriffs.

John Phillips, a U.S. citizen and frequent traveler with TSA PreCheck, was handcuffed by ICE agents at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport while boarding a Delta flight to Las Vegas. Delta employees had directed him to board last, citing technical issues, before agents stopped him on the jetway, pinned him against the wall, and handcuffed him despite his telling them he was a citizen. Agents held him for several minutes, using facial recognition on his phone and showing him a photo of a British national who shared his name and birthdate, before confirming his identity and releasing him to board his flight. Phillips said the experience was a "big awakening" that gave him new empathy for immigrants who fear being targeted by ICE. He is seeking clarification about Delta's role in the incident, including what information the airline may have provided to ICE. DHS acknowledged the case, saying the agency takes responsibility for protecting the public and conducting operations professionally and lawfully.

An Ecuadorian man who entered the U.S. in October 2022 and was released the next day on conditional humanitarian parole had lived in Long Beach, California with his wife, two daughters, and several U.S. citizen family members, including grandchildren. He worked as a cleaner at a laundromat and in production at a seafood company, attended church weekly, cared for his family, and sent money to his ailing mother in Ecuador. He is a derivative of his wife's pending asylum application based on gang violence and retaliation in Ecuador. He was detained by ICE on August 27, 2026 after appearing for a scheduled check-in, despite having complied with all reporting requirements and having no criminal history. He is held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, where he has not received medical care for back and hip pain following a recent surgery. He filed a habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 arguing his re-detention violated procedural and substantive due process, and because the government failed to respond, the court granted the petition on procedural due process grounds and ordered his release within 24 hours.

A four-day, multi-agency operation across the Fort Myers area of Southwest Florida resulted in about 500 arrests between August 24 and August 27, 2026. The operation involved U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Lee County Sheriff's Office, the Florida National Guard, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, conducted under Florida's participation in the federal 287(g) Task Force Model. Those arrested included nationals of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela and Haiti, some with final orders of removal, repeated unauthorized reentries, or criminal histories involving battery, DUI, hit-and-run, domestic violence, drug offenses, assault and sex crimes. ICE named a suspected Mexican cartel member and a Honduran man accused of molesting two children among those arrested, though it has not released a full breakdown of how many of the 500 have criminal records versus civil immigration violations. Florida has more 287(g) deputizations than any other state, with all 67 county sheriffs enrolled in the program, and ICE officials along with Gov. Ron DeSantis described the operation as an example of federal, state and local law enforcement cooperation.

A 36-year-old father who worked in a factory in Indiana and has two U.S.-citizen daughters was detained by ICE during his lunch break in early August 2026 and deported to Haiti on August 27 after the Supreme Court allowed the administration to end temporary protected status for Haitians. He fled Haiti in 2023 after criminal groups killed his parents, and he had lived and worked in the U.S. under TPS with a pending asylum application. He told a Human Rights Watch researcher he cannot return to his Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Carrefour-Feuilles: "Criminal groups control it. If I go back, they will kill me too."

On August 27, 2026, a flight carrying 57 Haitians, including five children, landed in Cap-Haïtien after the U.S. ended Temporary Protected Status for roughly 350,000 Haitians; deportees described prior work as nursing assistants, factory and farm laborers, and in construction and hotels, and said they were detained without being able to contact lawyers, some despite having pending asylum claims. According to Haiti's National Office for Migration, more than 450 people have been deported since TPS ended, with flights to Cap-Haïtien increasing from about once a month to once a week because criminal violence has made Port-au-Prince's airport unsafe. Returnees arriving at an overwhelmed outdoor reception site with one working toilet and no running water each received about $77, often without their phones, clothes, or identification, and were left without reintegration support in a city whose population has tripled amid surging violence and hunger. Human Rights Watch has called on the U.S. to halt the removals, while the Senate considers House-approved legislation to reinstate TPS for Haitians.

Aracelio "Mike" Hernandez, who came to the United States at age 4 and has lived there for 60 years, was picked up by ICE and is being held for deportation. His family describes him as a dependable, hardworking community member, a devoted husband to his wife Katie, and a loving father and grandfather. His family is raising funds for legal fees to fight his deportation and to support his wife and family during the ordeal.

Jay Dabelus, a professional boxer born in the Bahamas who left as a child and spent more than two decades living in the United States, was deported to Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, saying he has never lived there and has no family or resources to rely on. He was among more than 50 people deported on the flight, including two minors, according to Haiti's National Office of Migration. The flight landed in Cap-Haïtien rather than Port-au-Prince because the capital's main airport is considered too dangerous amid gang violence. It was the second U.S. deportation flight to Haiti since Temporary Protected Status was ended for roughly 350,000 Haitians living in the U.S.

A man detained by the Department of Homeland Security and ICE at the McCook Detention Facility in McCook, Nebraska, filed a habeas corpus petition seeking immediate release from custody. The petition does not detail his nationality, family circumstances, employment, or the circumstances of his arrest. The federal court issued an order to show cause, requiring the government to certify the cause and duration of his detention and justify why the writ should not be granted. The court ordered respondents to file a return with supporting affidavits, a legal memorandum, and copies of any arrest warrant by September 2, 2026. The petitioner may file a reply by September 9, 2026. The court also enjoined the respondents from removing him from the United States or from Nebraska, and ordered that if he had already been removed from the state, he must be immediately returned.

The petitioner filed a motion for a temporary restraining order on August 28, 2026, seeking to prevent his transfer out of the Western District of Washington. Federal Respondents confirmed that he is currently detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington. Under the court's scheduling order, immigration officials are required to give 48 or 72 hours' notice before transferring him out of the district. Because his location was confirmed and no transfer notice has been issued, both parties jointly asked the court to withdraw the pending TRO motion. The court granted the joint motion and withdrew the TRO. The order notes that the petitioner may again seek emergency injunctive relief if federal officials later provide notice of a transfer.