Human Impact Project

Liam Azizi and his wife Hananeh Alikaram, Iranian converts to Christianity fleeing religious persecution, were separated after only Azizi received asylum approval. Alikaram's asylum request was denied and she is being held in Louisiana awaiting deportation to Iran, where she faces prosecution for her religious conversion.

Juan Parra, a tattoo artist, provided services at ICE protests and donated half the proceeds to support protesters. He was assaulted and detained for participating in a protest. He later spoke at a Pro-Palestine rally and encouraged support for protesters outside a detention center.

A mother of three was detained by ICE on February 18, 2026 at her workplace. She is being held in Adelanto, California, miles from her family who depend on her as their main provider. Her family states she has no criminal record and is fundraising for legal representation and bond to secure her release.

A noncitizen single mother of two US citizen children was arrested by ICE on February 17, 2026 in Victorville, California. She was charged as inadmissible under Section 212(a)(6)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and detained at the Adelanto Detention Facility without being afforded a bond hearing. The court ordered that she must be provided an individualized bond hearing before an immigration judge within 7 days.

Three women employed at The Dots Corp, a printing and marketing business in Irvine, were detained by ICE officers on February 17, 2026, when four tinted SUVs surrounded their vehicle in the parking lot at 8:30 a.m. Officers showed a purported warrant through the vehicle's window before taking the women into custody. The City of Irvine stated its commitment to providing services to all residents regardless of immigration status.

Omar, a 22-year-old man, is raising funds after his father was detained by Customs and Border Patrol in Ontario, California on January 26th. Omar describes his father as his only source of financial support. The fundraiser aims to cover legal costs for the father's case as well as Omar's housing expenses.

Detainees at the CoreCivic-run Otay Mesa Detention Center threw handwritten notes attached to lotion bottles, deodorant bottles, and batteries over the facility fence to reach organizers and protesters holding weekly vigils outside. The notes alleged harsh conditions including going 280 days without fresh fruit, constant sickness, cold temperatures, inadequate medical care, confinement in small cages for discipline, and indefinite detention without court hearings. Detainees described living in one large room with no windows. Rep. Juan Vargas attempted to inspect the facility to investigate the allegations but was denied entry by officials citing ICE authority, and San Diego County supervisors were similarly denied access. The notes stopped after ICE restricted detainees' outdoor recreation time during the vigils.

Arturo Gonzalez, a San Diego community patroller, was arrested in Logan Heights. The San Diego ICE/ERO Office had previously released a statement regarding Gonzalez's alleged criminal history, which appears to be unrelated to the arrest.

A man was arrested by ICE at his family home in San Jose on February 14, 2026, following an Immigration Judge's decision ordering his detention without bond. The IJ found by clear and convincing evidence that he was a danger to the community based on recent incidents involving law enforcement in 2025. He challenged his detention claiming violations of his procedural and substantive due process rights, but the court denied his habeas petition.

A judge dismissed the deportation case of Narciso Barranco, an Orange County landscaper and father of three U.S. Marines, who was detained by Border Patrol agents in June 2025. Video showed agents pinning him to the ground and punching him during the detention in Santa Ana. The judge ruled Barranco is eligible for lawful status due to his three sons serving in the military, and his attorney is now working to secure permanent residency and a work permit.

A Chinese national who arrived in the U.S. in 2014 on a visitor's visa was detained by ICE at the Adelanto Detention Facility on February 13, 2026. He has lived in the United States for over eleven years, has a wife and two U.S. citizen children ages 4 and 1, and has a pending asylum case seeking protection under the Convention Against Torture. The court ordered his immediate release and enjoined the government from re-detaining him without a proper bond hearing.

Yebio Kifle, a 48-year-old intellectually disabled man with congestive heart failure, was detained at California City Detention Facility in Kern County in November 2025 after arrest in Sacramento. His sister reported severe medical neglect, including jaundiced eyes, swollen legs, inability to urinate, and vomiting blood. Medical experts stated he required immediate hospitalization and risked death without urgent care. In February 2026, U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney issued a ruling in response to a class-action lawsuit filed by detainees, ordering ICE to provide constitutionally adequate healthcare, legal representation access, temperature-appropriate clothing, and daily outdoor recreation at the facility. The judge appointed an external monitor to oversee compliance through medical record reviews and on-site inspections.

High school students in Clovis, California walked out of class on February 10, 2026 in response to Trump administration immigration enforcement. The action followed the death of an ICU nurse during an immigration raid. The Clovis Police Department announced it was investigating up to six adults, including Fresno Resistance co-founder Alfred Aldrete, for potentially violating state law by inducing student truancy, though no arrests or charges have been filed. The LAPD also issued similar warnings to adults in Los Angeles who helped organize school walkouts, but only Clovis publicly named its investigation.

The petitioner entered the United States on a visitor visa in October 2017, authorized to stay until April 2018. He filed for asylum in March 2018, shortly before his visa expired, and has since been granted work authorization multiple times, with his most recent authorization valid from August 2022 through October 2028. On February 9, 2026, he was transferred from local custody into ICE custody, where he was held under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) at a detention facility. He filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging his detention on procedural due process grounds and sought a temporary restraining order for immediate release. The government argued he should be required to exhaust administrative remedies and that he had received all process due under the statute, but failed to fully respond to the court's requests for documentation about his asylum status, work authorization, and custody determination. The court found that immigration authorities had been aware of and had authorized his continued presence in the U.S. for years after his visa expired, giving him a protected liberty interest in his continued release. The court granted his habeas petition, ordered his immediate release, and barred future re-detention without a pre-detention hearing unless exigent circumstances exist.

Fernando Viera Reyes, a 50-year-old detainee transferred to California City ICE Detention Facility in August 2025, was denied specialist care despite showing symptoms of prostate cancer. While at a previous ICE facility, Viera Reyes had been scheduled for a urologist-recommended prostate biopsy in March 2025. After his transfer, despite experiencing bloody urine, pain, difficulty urinating, and blood in stool, medical staff provided only Flomax intermittently and vitamin C instead of connecting him with a urologist. His PSA levels rose from 6.3 to 74 between January and October 2025, indicating very high likelihood of prostate cancer. A medical expert review described his treatment as "a complete dereliction of duty." On November 12, 2025, Viera Reyes filed an emergency motion and joined seven other detainees in a class-action lawsuit against the Trump administration alleging severe medical neglect at the privately-owned CoreCivic facility. By February 2026, the case was being heard in federal court in San Francisco.

Hundreds of high school students organized a peaceful march from City Hall to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center on February 5, 2026 to protest ICE raids. LAPD in riot gear formed skirmish lines and charged at the students multiple times throughout the afternoon, resulting in at least two arrests. Officers were documented using force against minors, including throwing students to the ground and striking a protester with a baton, while ICE agents were observed coordinating with LAPD at the detention center.

Ivan Garcia, a father and North Venice Little League community member, was detained by ICE while attending a scheduled immigration appointment related to his citizenship case. He was subsequently transferred to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino County. His family has launched a fundraiser to cover legal fees and living expenses, with community support from the local youth sports league.

Carlos Chavez, a taco vendor and father of three active in children's ministries at North Hills United Methodist Church in Los Angeles, was chased and detained by masked, armed ICE agents on January 29 during a raid on church grounds. The raid occurred while the church was hosting a food distribution ministry and an event for mothers and children, forcing attendees to shelter in a secure room for over four hours. Chavez had no criminal record or outstanding warrant, and church leaders described him as a devoted participant in the church's children's programs. He said he was denied medical treatment for a respiratory illness and anxiety while in custody and, out of fear, signed a self-deportation order, resulting in his deportation to Mexico within a day of his arrest. His wife and children have not seen him in person since, and the church has since moved its food ministry and after-school programs online. The raid followed a 2025 policy change rescinding the federal 'sensitive locations' protections for houses of worship, which religious organizations have challenged in a lawsuit.

Medina, an asylum applicant with a valid work permit, was detained by ICE on February 2, 2026, after appearing at a scheduled court date in San Diego. He was transferred to Otay Mesa Detention Center and is scheduled to remain detained at least until his next court date on February 24. Medina has lived in the United States since adolescence, is married to a U.S. citizen, and has two U.S. citizen children. His detention has caused financial hardship for his family, who lost his primary income.

Federal ICE agents were present outside the Ventura County Sheriff's Office on Monday, February 2, 2026, where protesters and observers had gathered. During the encounter, an ICE agent threw a woman to the ground and subsequently used pepper spray on the crowd. Witnesses stated they were documenting the ICE operation and posed no physical threat to officers. At least one person was detained during the incident. The woman who was thrown to the ground declined to speak about what happened.