Human Impact Project

Amy Lucia López Belloza, a 19-year-old Babson College freshman on scholarship, was detained by ICE at Boston Logan Airport in November 2025 while trying to board a flight to surprise her parents for a family Thanksgiving reunion. She was unaware a removal order had been issued against her in 2017, when she was 11, after an immigration judge denied her and her mother's asylum claims. A federal judge in Massachusetts ordered that she not be moved out of state or deported, but ICE transferred her to Texas and deported her to Honduras, a country she had not visited since leaving at age 8; the government later conceded in court that an agent had misread the judge's order and apologized, but argued the violation should not affect her case. When offered a return flight in February 2026, she declined after ICE indicated she would be redetained in Texas and deported again. Her habeas corpus lawsuit was dismissed in March 2026 for lack of jurisdiction. She is now continuing her Babson studies remotely while living with her grandparents in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, as her attorneys argue before the First Circuit Court of Appeals that she should be allowed to return to Massachusetts.

A North African man, identified only as A.S. out of fear of being detained again, said he was pressured to self-deport while held at the Plymouth, Massachusetts ICE detention facility last winter. He said officials repeatedly suggested he could instead be sent to Uganda, a country with a third-country removal agreement with the U.S. that he had never visited and whose language he did not speak. He was eventually released from detention to his family in southeastern Massachusetts.

Gedion Masunsu, 42, a Waltham resident who spent 16 years seeking political asylum after working for American military contractors in Iraq and completing the Waltham Police Department's Citizens Academy, was deported to Uganda on September 30, 2026, after 19 months in ICE detention, most of it at the Strafford County jail in Dover, NH. He had been arrested on assault charges involving his now-wife that were dismissed by a Massachusetts judge within three months, but his paralegal, Rosette Serwanga, said the charges were not promptly removed from his record and likely influenced his case; an immigration judge denied him bond twice even after he was granted withholding of removal. A federal judge denied his habeas corpus petition challenging his detention without prejudice in December 2025. After the government appealed his withholding of removal, the judge issued a removal order and the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed his case on September 15, 2026, reportedly because his former attorney filed the appeal late. Masunsu said ICE removed him within hours of an inquiry from an aide to Sen. Edward Markey, despite telling officials at a Burlington, MA holding facility that he still had 15 days to appeal. He suffered an untreated rotator cuff injury during an ICE transport van ride, married his partner, Sylvia Mamutabi Mugisha, while detained, and her daughter Paris Kirunda wrote that he 'embraced my siblings and me with genuine love, kindness, and respect.' Fellow detainees described him as a devout Christian whose daily prayer meetings calmed tensions at the jail. He is now in a Kampala hotel with no family or friends remaining in Uganda, relying on financial assistance from the Ugandan community in Boston.

Augusto Lopes Vemba, a 40-year-old asylum-seeker from Angola, was stopped by masked ICE agents in camouflage gear at the intersection of Acushnet Avenue and Sawyer Street in New Bedford on September 22, 2026. Witnesses and video footage showed him provide his information and attempt to leave before four agents chased him down, tackled him to the ground, and tased him at the neck for about 15 seconds while restraining his hands. Alicia Lopez Gonzalez, co-director of advocacy group Mujeres Victoriosas, witnessed the arrest and said the tactics appeared intended to traumatize the community, while nearby business owners described the scene as aggressive, with one saying she locked her shop door out of fear. Vemba was among roughly 40 people detained during a week of ICE operations in the city. On September 30, federal Judge Angel Kelley ordered the government to grant him a bond hearing within 10 days, a decision the U.S. Attorney's Office did not contest.

Three undocumented brothers from Honduras, who shared an apartment in New Bedford and worked in construction and as laborers, were detained by ICE agents while doing their family's weekly grocery run at a Market Basket. Their sister-in-law Maria said federal vehicles surrounded the men as they arrived, and agents were 'pretty aggressive' toward the brother who was driving, twisting his arm behind his back. The family says none of the three have criminal records, and one had lived in the U.S. for 14 years. Maria described the brothers as 'hardworking and very kind' men who doted on their baby niece, and said their elderly mother has been especially distressed by the detentions. The brothers are being held at Plymouth's ICE detention center.

Joselito Mateo Sam, 20, was taken into ICE custody while walking down a street in New Bedford, according to court filings reviewed by The Boston Globe. Probate court records show he entered the United States in 2024 at age 18, then moved in with two uncles in New Bedford and began working at a fish processing house. He was one of at least 34 people detained during a multi-day ICE sweep across the Massachusetts coast region, part of a broader operation that left families searching for information amid a tracking blackout. Local officials warned immigrants in the New Bedford area to stay home following the surge in arrests.

A Peruvian man identified in court filings as "John Doe," who has judicial protections against deportation to Peru, has been held in ICE custody in Massachusetts since July. After a federal appeals court struck down the Trump administration's third-country removal policy, a Department of Justice attorney argued the ruling wasn't yet in effect and sought to transfer Doe to another facility to put him on a flight to the Central African Republic. Doe's attorneys, including Mary Holper, obtained an emergency clarification from the appeals court reaffirming the policy was dissolved immediately, and a judge declined to lift the stay barring his removal, though he remains in detention. DHS General Counsel James Percival publicly maintained the policy remained in effect, and the Justice Department has since appealed the underlying ruling to the Supreme Court, while flight data showed ICE charter planes continued flying to African countries used for third-country removals after the court's order.

A 21-year-old Brazilian man was arrested by ICE at 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 23, 2026, while commuting to his job at a garage in Somerset. According to his habeas petition, he cooperated and provided his license, but when told he would be detained for overstaying his visa, an agent reached into the car, unbuckled his seatbelt and dragged him to the ground while other officers shouted "Taze him!" He entered the U.S. on a tourist visa at age 11 in 2016 and graduated from Diman Regional Technical High School in Fall River. He married his U.S. citizen wife in June 2024, and she was among dozens who submitted letters urging his release, writing that he "consistently tries to do good, support others, and be a positive presence." He remains in custody at Plymouth County Correctional Facility.

Florencio de León Olmos, an undocumented man from Guatemala who had received a final removal order in August 2025, was among those detained in ICE's sweep of New Bedford. Court records reviewed by The New Bedford Light did not show why he received the removal order or any criminal record. He could not be located through the ICE Detainee Locator, and he voluntarily withdrew his federal habeas corpus petition on Sept. 23, 2026.

Rapheal Oludemilade Adebowale, a Nigerian national, was arrested by ICE in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, as part of a Department of Homeland Security enforcement operation. Adebowale had been previously convicted of larceny and money laundering in Massachusetts following a jury trial, after a motion to dismiss the indictment against him was denied. DHS also arrested Jawwad Ali Ahmed, a Pakistani national with a prior conviction in Sacramento, California, and Alexandre Esdras Pandolfi-Soares, a Brazilian national with a prior conviction in Salt Lake City, Utah, during the same operation. DHS described the men as priority targets but did not disclose further details about their immigration status, pending court dates, or the specific immigration allegations against them. Adebowale now faces immigration proceedings and possible removal from the United States.

A 40-year-old Guatemalan man was detained by ICE agents on Sept. 22, 2026, while working as a DoorDash driver in the New Bedford area. Court records show he is documented, holding deferred action for labor enforcement protections, a valid work permit through 2029, and is in the process of obtaining a U-Visa for assisting law enforcement with a criminal investigation. His record included a dismissed 2007 assault and battery charge, a 2010 disturbing-the-peace charge dismissed after restitution, and a 2016 guilty plea for operating under the influence that resulted in a fine.

Camilo Quino, a Guatemalan national with a pending immigration case, was detained by ICE agents in New Bedford shortly after dropping his daughter off at school on a Tuesday. Video shared with NBC10 Boston showed officers breaking the window of his pickup truck before taking him into custody. His wife, Juana Tiniguarro, spoke publicly about the arrest, calling him "a hard-working man" and saying "they can't be doing that." Local officials and school administrators said they had received reports of agents near the school, though it was not established that the arrest occurred on school grounds. The arrest was part of a broader surge of ICE arrests in the New Bedford area that left families seeking information and support.

João Ferreira, a Portuguese legal permanent resident, was detained by ICE early Tuesday in Dartmouth alongside a Brazilian man while riding in a landscaping truck on his way to a job in New Bedford. Court records reviewed by The New Bedford Light show Ferreira had a 1992 case in Fall River District Court that was continued without a finding and later closed, a disposition generally resulting from completed probation, and a 2009 conviction for which he received probation. In 2019, he was stopped by Customs and Border Protection at Logan Airport and issued a notice to appear for removal proceedings, and he had filed a motion for a new trial on the earlier charges that court records show remained unresolved. He was identified as the only detainee in the outlet's review of the South Coast ICE operation who had faced felony charges in Massachusetts courts.

A New Bedford man from Guatemala, who arrived in the U.S. four years earlier and had work authorization while his asylum application was pending, was detained by ICE agents on Tuesday while on break from his job at an auto repair shop. According to his brother, identified only as Nicolás for fear of being targeted himself, the man did not immediately open his car door when agents approached, so an agent smashed the window to pull him out. Nicolás said his sister had also been arrested during a 2007 immigration raid in New Bedford. He later spoke with his brother by phone, who was being held at ICE's facility in Burlington, Massachusetts.

Miguel Ixcuna-Ixcuna, a 30-year-old Guatemalan immigrant who had lived in the New Bedford, Massachusetts area for about 12 years and worked as a fruit and vegetable packer in Plymouth, was pulled from his car by ICE agents while driving home with his partner, Antonia Lucas, and their two daughters, ages 3 and 9. Agents blocked the vehicle front and back, took his identification, and removed him from the driver's seat with little explanation as his young daughters watched, frightened. He had no criminal record and is now held at the Burlington ICE Processing Center; his partner said he is worried about his daughters and family. His arrest came amid a multi-day ICE operation that detained at least eight people in the area, including fish house and seafood processing workers Israel Sam Cajuil, Arnaldo Lux, Kenshino Pierre and Oscar Abel Gutierrez; advocates said several had valid work authorization, and Mayor Jon Mitchell said most had no records beyond minor motor-vehicle violations. During the operation, agents tased a man who fled a stop, smashed a truck window to remove another person, and arrested a father near an elementary school. Attorneys have filed habeas corpus petitions in federal court in Boston, including one seeking to prevent Ixcuna's transfer out of state, while local restaurant owners reported sales fell roughly 50% following the sweep.

Kenchino Pierre, a 20-year-old asylum seeker from Haiti, was detained in New Bedford on Sept. 21, 2026. Federal court documents show an administrative warrant for his civil immigration detention was issued the same day he was taken into custody, even though he had a hearing scheduled at Boston Immigration Court for Sept. 29.

Three undocumented brothers who shared a New Bedford apartment were detained together by ICE agents in a Market Basket parking lot during their weekly grocery trip. Their sister-in-law, Maria, said agents surrounded their car and were aggressive with the brother who was driving, twisting his arm behind his back. The brothers, originally from Honduras, worked in construction and as laborers, had no criminal records, and doted on their baby niece; their elderly mother has been deeply distressed by their detention. They are being held at Plymouth's ICE detention center.

At least 40 people were detained by ICE agents in roadside stops and workplace encounters across New Bedford, Dartmouth, and Fall River, Massachusetts, according to Gov. Maura Healey and immigrant advocacy groups, with arrests also reported at Cumberland Farms, Market Basket, near fish houses, and at a Dunkin' on Nauset Street. A review of court records for 23 of the men by the New Bedford Light found 19 had no criminal charges beyond immigration-related misdemeanors, consistent with national data showing most ICE detainees lack criminal convictions. Video footage showed agents tackle and apply a taser to Augusto Lopes Vemba, a 40-year-old asylum-seeker from Angola, after he ran during his arrest near Acushnet Avenue. Attorneys with the Habeas Project of New England, a team of 20 volunteer lawyers, have filed habeas corpus petitions in federal courts in Massachusetts and Rhode Island to contest the detentions and prevent transfers out of state.

Paola Ferreira Dos Santos, a 21-year-old Brazilian woman who crossed into the U.S. in 2021 and worked cleaning construction sites in Massachusetts, was detained by ICE in 2025 after the car she was riding in to work was pursued by agents. Over 15 months she was moved through detention facilities in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Texas and Louisiana before being placed on a 16-hour restrained flight without being told her destination, arriving in Monrovia and being told, 'Welcome to Liberia. You're in Africa.' She was the only woman among a group of Latin American deportees sent under a U.S. agreement allowing Liberia to accept up to 1,200 deportees, and attorneys have told her it is now effectively impossible for her to return to the U.S. Dos Santos described detention conditions as psychological torture, saying detainees, including pregnant women, were denied medical care, and recounted a woman being bound at the hands and ankles after asking about her separated son, saying 'they tied her like she was cattle.' She also described being held for days without beds in a frigid room detainees called 'the freezer.'

Wisteguens Jean Quely Charles, a Haitian national who had lived in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status since 2013, was arrested by ICE in the Boston area (Mattapan) on January 22, 2025, in a video that went viral after he shouted profanities and declared 'Biden forever' while resisting arrest. DHS said his TPS had been terminated by USCIS in 2022 after he accumulated 17 criminal convictions, including assault, weapons, and drug offenses, and alleged gang membership. Massachusetts' Norfolk House of Correction had released him in October 2023 without honoring an ICE detainer. He spent roughly 19 months in federal custody before an immigration judge issued a final removal order in November 2025. ICE deported Charles to Haiti on September 10, 2026, via a flight from Louisiana, during which officials said he became combative.