Human Impact Project

Ibrahim Mohammed, a 43-year-old Ethiopian national who legally entered the U.S. in 2014 and was granted asylum, was ordered deported following a child sexual abuse conviction, but ICE sought to send him to third countries rather than Ethiopia due to torture risk. U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles ordered Mohammed released from Angola's Camp 57 detention facility in February after finding ICE had no viable deportation plan, and ICE rearrested him twice more without properly serving deportation papers, most recently in Maryland in July. On August 20, deGravelles held an ICE field office director in contempt for repeatedly violating his orders, ordering officials to pay Mohammed's attorneys' fees and $180 in compensatory damages.

Andrey Kalyakin, who entered the United States legally on a J-1 exchange visitor visa more than sixteen years ago and is married to a U.S. citizen, is being held by ICE at the Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana. In a letter, Kalyakin describes his years living in the U.S. and details conditions in detention, stating he has been denied basic medical care and given spoiled milk and brown tap water.

A citizen of Mali who has lived in the United States since January 2001 was granted withholding of removal to Mali by an immigration judge in March 2013. He was detained by immigration officials on August 3, 2026 during a routine check-in, at which point he was given a Notice of Imminent Removal indicating he would instead be removed to Cameroon. He alleges he expressed a fear of persecution in Cameroon and requested a third-country screening interview with his immigration counsel present. He is currently detained at the Alexandria Staging Facility, where officials told him removal was scheduled for August 19, 2026. He filed a habeas petition alleging due process violations for being denied an opportunity to challenge his removal to Cameroon, along with an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to halt his removal. The court denied the motion, finding it lacked jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(g) to stay the removal and that he failed to provide evidence, such as travel documents, substantiating that removal was truly imminent.

A woman was detained by ICE agents during a traffic stop in Kenner on a Wednesday morning with at least two of her three young children (ages 14, 10, and 2) in the vehicle. According to ICE, the woman had reentered the country illegally and faced a final removal order. Her employer and family members said the woman has minimal family support in the U.S. and that a close friend is now caring for all three children, who are scared and in need of basic necessities. The youngest child was born in the United States. The case illustrates the challenges families face when a parent is detained by immigration authorities.

ICE conducted a raid at an Abbeville manufacturing facility in Louisiana. A warehouse manager described the operation as chaotic, though specific details about the number of people detained, their identities, or the circumstances of their apprehension are not provided in the available article text.

In a smuggled video from the 1,000-bed South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, run by GEO Group, detained women describe abuse, medical neglect and family separation. Larina says ICE separated her from her five-month-old daughter after she called police during a domestic violence incident and was arrested instead of her husband; she says she has been ordered deported but has remained detained for three months. Other mothers at the facility say they do not know where their children were taken after being separated, and one Cuban woman remained detained even after winning her case because the Department of Homeland Security appealed. Kelly, a Venezuelan woman with one failing kidney, says the facility denies her testing, medication and specialist care, leaving her with painful urination and fluid retention, unsuitable frozen food and no clean water; other women describe a miscarriage, pregnancy without adequate care, an amputation, and say one detainee was placed in solitary confinement after recording video while others faced hitting and threats for speaking out.

A Nicaraguan man is a native and citizen of Nicaragua who was ordered removed from the United States in 2012 and appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals. The removal order became final in 2014. After 2014, he was released under an Order of Supervision and remained under supervision for nearly fifteen years. On July 27, 2026, he reported for a routine ICE check-in, where he was detained and subsequently transferred to River Correctional Facility where he remains. He filed a motion for a temporary restraining order seeking release under supervision, a detention hearing, and an injunction against removal from the United States or outside the Western District. The court denied his motion, finding that the requested preliminary relief mirrored the ultimate relief sought in his habeas corpus petition and should be addressed through standard habeas procedures rather than as an emergency TRO.

The petitioner, a native of Venezuela, was released under an order of supervision in the United States in August 2011 after applying for withholding of removal, though her exhibits do not confirm the withholding was actually granted. She was detained by ICE during a scheduled check-in appointment on July 17, 2026, and was told her order of supervision had been revoked. She is currently held at Richwood Correctional Center. She filed a habeas corpus petition arguing that revocation of her supervision order violated her due process rights and that authorities were unlikely to deport her to a third country within a reasonable timeframe. She later filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order after being informed she was scheduled for removal to either Venezuela or Mexico, seeking immediate release or an order blocking her removal pending review of her habeas claims. The court denied the TRO motion, finding no threat of imminent harm beyond her impending removal and ruling that federal courts lack jurisdiction over claims tied directly to execution of removal orders.

A Border Patrol agent stopped a 20-year-old driver at a Slidell, Louisiana gas station, citing a vehicle light violation, before shifting to immigration questioning. The driver livestreamed the encounter on Facebook and refused to provide identification, prompting the agent to turn to the driver's 13-year-old stepbrother in the passenger seat, demanding his name, birth date and citizenship. The boy, born in Pearl River, confirmed he was a U.S. citizen; both occupants were eventually released. An immigration attorney who reviewed the footage characterized the stop as an illegal detention, noting Border Patrol lacks authority to conduct traffic stops for vehicle code violations.

Yeison Saúl Menjívar Portillo, a boy with Down syndrome and epilepsy who is nonverbal and hearing impaired, was detained by ICE in Bridge City, a suburb of New Orleans, Louisiana. His family says they do not know where he is or whether he is safe. His mother stated he requires specific medication for epileptic seizures and cannot survive or care for himself without her presence, and she is asking authorities to either tell her where he is or deport her with him.

Four Kenyan nationals—Newton Njuguna Githiri, Mohamed Chekchekani, Ian Mwangi Irungu, and Said Salat Yarow—are facing deportation from the United States after ICE determined they are removable under federal law. Githiri was arrested in New Orleans and is in removal proceedings after being convicted in Alabama of sexually abusing a child and burglary. Chekchekani is in ICE custody awaiting deportation to Kenya following convictions in Los Angeles for kidnapping a minor and RICO violations. Each man remains subject to immigration proceedings that could result in removal from the country.

A Mexican migrant identified in court filings as 'John Doe,' a father of two who cooperated with the U.S. Department of Justice and testified against members of Mexican drug cartels, was deported three times by ICE despite holding protection under the Convention Against Torture. He was first removed to Guatemala on July 10, then twice to Mexico, most recently to an area with significant cartel activity, where he has been in hiding fearing torture or death. U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher ordered the government to take active steps within 14 days to facilitate his return, writing there is an 'immense public interest' in protecting those who risk their safety to assist government prosecutions. Before his deportation, he had been held for six months at a Louisiana detention center after ICE detained him during a routine immigration check-in.

The petitioner, a citizen of Colombia, entered the United States in June 2017 and filed an asylum application in December 2017. She was detained by ICE on July 9, 2026, and has been held since at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana. There is no final removal order in her case. On July 24, 2026, an Immigration Judge denied her request for release on bond. She filed a habeas petition seeking immediate release, or alternatively a transfer to a facility in South Florida, or alternatively a new bond hearing. She also filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction seeking the same relief. The federal district court denied the emergency motion, finding it was essentially an attempt to obtain a merits ruling on the habeas petition through injunctive relief, and stated the issues should be addressed through ordinary adjudication of the habeas petition.

Karina Alvarez San Juan, a Mexican national who has lived in the U.S. since age 12, was arrested during a traffic stop in Florida on May 6, 2026, for an allegedly broken taillight. She is the mother of four U.S. citizen children and was nursing her youngest child, born on January 7, 2026, at the time of her arrest. ICE transferred her to South Louisiana Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana, where she remained detained for over three months. Her attorney Michelle Borton reported that conditions at the facility were inadequate, with detainees lacking sufficient clean water for basic hygiene including bathing and flushing toilets. San Juan alleged due process violations, including a cancelled bond hearing and a denied emergency motion without explanation. On July 8-9, 2026, U.S. District Judge David C. Joseph, a Trump appointee, ordered ICE to release her within five business days after finding that the agency violated its own Directive 11032.4, which prohibits detention of postpartum and nursing mothers unless release is prohibited by law or exceptional circumstances exist. ICE officials stated they had no additional evidence to justify her continued detention.

Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo, who has served in the Army for more than a decade, was forced to take administrative leave from his job training soldiers at Fort Polk, Louisiana after his Brazilian wife, Maisa Lopes Eliaser, was detained by ICE in early July 2026 following a missed asylum appointment. Eliaser is being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana and faces deportation. Jaramillo now cares alone for their 5-year-old son, Noah, who is missing his mother. Jaramillo said the situation is "really overwhelming" without family support and emphasized that his wife "is not a criminal" and is "trying to do the right thing to get a better life." He has applied for legal protections available to spouses of active-duty service members. Immigration attorney Aaron Cash noted that while some protections exist for military spouses, "ICE or whomever seems to be ignoring that these days." Jaramillo's case is one of at least 52 parents and spouses of active-duty service members detained since Trump took office for a second term.

A Georgian citizen who was paroled into the United States on May 8, 2023 to pursue a pending asylum application was detained by ICE on July 6, 2026 at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana. She filed a habeas petition challenging her detention and seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent removal, arguing violations of due process rights and procedural requirements under immigration law. The federal court denied her emergency motion for a temporary restraining order and stay of removal, finding it lacked jurisdiction over the removal order and finding insufficient grounds for the extraordinary relief sought.

An Eritrean asylum seeker entered the United States in September 2023 and has a pending asylum application. He was detained on July 5, 2026, and is currently held in ICE custody at the Jackson Parish Correctional Center in Jonesboro, Louisiana. He filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus arguing that his continued detention without an individualized custody determination violates his due process rights. He also moved for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction seeking either a custody redetermination hearing or immediate release, and requested an expedited hearing. The court denied the motions, finding that he showed no threat of imminent harm beyond ordinary detention hardships and was effectively trying to obtain the ultimate relief sought in his habeas petition through emergency motions. The court noted he had only been detained for one month and provided no basis to prioritize his case over the 1,406 other alien detainee habeas petitions pending in the district.

A Pakistani national was held in an ICE facility in Louisiana for approximately 21 months without removal. ICE attempted to transfer him to the UAE, which declined, and sought responses from Saudi Arabia, China, Kosovo, and Moldavia without success. A federal court ordered his immediate release, ruling the prolonged detention unconstitutional under Zadvydas v. Davis because removal was not likely in the foreseeable future.

A detained immigrant was held pending removal proceedings without being afforded a bond hearing. He challenged his detention through a habeas corpus petition in federal court. Following the Sixth Circuit's decision in Lopez-Campos v. Raycraft, the court granted the petition and ordered respondents to provide him with a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) within ten days or release him from custody.

Orolua Eluonyechie, a Nigerian national, has been held in immigration detention for over two years, initially detained in Atlanta in April 2024 and later transferred to Allen Parish in southwest Louisiana. While detained, he has been injured by guards and placed in solitary confinement. He filed a federal habeas petition seeking release or deportation but remains waiting for judicial action as federal courts in Louisiana become overwhelmed with habeas petitions from detainees held in prolonged detention.