Human Impact Project

The NYCLU, ACLU, and other legal organizations filed a federal lawsuit challenging ICE's policy of arresting immigrants who attend mandatory immigration court hearings. The lawsuit claims the Trump administration's practice violates the Administrative Procedure Act and due process rights, as people are being arrested when complying with legal obligations to appear in court and then fast-tracked for deportation.

Yeonsoo Go, age 21, a South Korean student with an R-2 religious worker visa, was arrested by ICE outside a federal courthouse in New York on July 31 after reporting for a routine visa hearing. She was initially held without access to legal counsel at a Manhattan facility, then transferred to an ICE detention center in Louisiana, and released after five days on August 5. ICE claimed her R-2 visa expired more than two years ago, though her visa attorney states it is not set to expire until December 2025 and Go was in the process of converting to a student visa. The visa hearing on July 31 reportedly went well and the judge had granted her a hearing date for late August.

Yeonsoo Go, a 21-year-old Scarsdale High School graduate attending Purdue University, was arrested by ICE on July 31, 2025, outside a federal courthouse in New York following a routine visa hearing. ICE claimed her R-2 religious worker visa had expired over two years prior, but Go was released on August 5 after her attorney confirmed the visa remained valid through December 2025. Go's mother is an Episcopal church pastor in Scarsdale, and Go had been in the process of converting to a student visa at the time of her detention.

Derlis Snaider Chusin Toaquiza, a 19-year-old 11th grader from Ecuador at Grover Cleveland High School in Queens, was detained by ICE on June 4, 2025, during a scheduled immigration court hearing. He was initially held at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City in severely overcrowded conditions—confined in a room so crowded he could not lie down and forced to sleep sitting up with approximately two dozen other people. Over two days of detention at that facility, he was given only two meals total. He was then moved to a gymnasium inside the facility that was equally overcrowded with no beds, blankets, or access to basic necessities. After six weeks in a Texas detention facility, the Envision Freedom Fund posted his $20,000 bond, and he was released on July 18, 2025, to reunite with his family.

Derlis Snaider Chusin Toaquiza, a 19-year-old Ecuadorian asylum-seeker and 11th grader at Grover Cleveland High School in Queens, was detained by ICE on June 4 at a scheduled immigration court appearance in Texas. An immigration judge granted him release on bond, and the Envision Freedom Fund posted a $20,000 bond to secure his release. Chusin reunited with his family on Friday after a month in detention, with his legal team arguing that ICE violated his due process rights. His asylum case remains pending.

Tenzin, a 29-year-old Tibetan refugee originally from Nepal, arrived at Newark airport on July 12 and was detained after attempting to cross into Canada. He spent over six months in ICE detention in Batavia, NY, where his asylum case was dismissed by a judge due to an interpreter's illness, then targeted for deportation to Uganda under the Trump administration's pretermission policy. His attorney successfully intervened to have him deported to Canada instead, where he arrived on February 19.

Immigrants detained at ICE holding rooms at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan have complained of inhumane conditions including cramped quarters, inadequate food, inability to bathe or change clothes, and sleeping on concrete floors. Some detainees reported stays lasting up to 10 days in what were previously temporary processing areas, with allegations of insufficient medical care and limited communication with family and lawyers.

A Paraguayan asylum seeker who fled persecution in 2023 was arrested by masked ICE agents in July 2025 as he left a scheduled immigration court hearing in Manhattan, during which one of his two U.S.-citizen sisters was knocked to the ground. He had lived with his sister in Flushing, Queens, worked in construction, attended church, and had no criminal history in any country, regularly attending his court dates and filing an asylum application in January 2025. He was held for several days at 26 Federal Plaza in overcrowded conditions, where an ICE officer mocked a photo of him weeping and told him "it's a new government" when he asked why he was being arrested. A federal judge later granted his habeas corpus petition, ruling his detention unlawful and ordering his release.

Jian Hao Zhang, owner of China Moon restaurant in Camden, was arrested by ICE agents on June 27 and detained at an ICE facility in Batavia for eight months. An immigration court judge had ordered him to leave the country, but he did not comply. Zhang was released in March 2026 after winning an appeal and has returned home to his family.

Jin Hao Zhang, a 56-year-old restaurateur who operated the China Moon restaurant on Main Street in Camden for nearly 20 years, was detained by ICE agents on June 25, 2025. According to reports, Zhang entered the U.S. on a fraudulent visa in 1990 and was ordered to leave by an immigration court judge in 2000 but remained in the country for the past 25 years. The raid closed the restaurant.

Joselyn Chipantiza-Sisalema, a 20-year-old from Ecuador, was arrested on June 24, 2025, and sent to a Louisiana detention center. She was released three weeks later.

ICE fabricated its authority for over a year to arrest individuals attending legally mandated immigration court hearings at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan. A May 2025 ICE guidance memo that agents used to justify the arrests did not actually apply to immigration courts, according to a letter filed by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in March 2026. The agency conducted mass arrests and separated families under false legal pretenses, with agents stalking immigrants in courthouse hallways and transferring detainees across the country to prevent them from meeting with lawyers. The revelation prompted civil rights organizations to request the federal court reconsider its prior denial of a stay on the arrests.

Elzon Lemus, a 23-year-old Hispanic U.S. citizen and electrician from Brentwood, Long Island, was stopped by ICE agents on June 3 while riding as a passenger in a car on Union Avenue in Westbury, one of six vehicles halted that day. Agents said he "looks like somebody we are looking for," then opened the car door, removed his identification, and handcuffed him for 20 to 25 minutes, holding him and the driver at the scene for about an hour. Video recorded by Lemus and the driver shows agents approaching the vehicle and demanding identification before the footage ends. His attorney, Frederick Brewington, called the stop racial discrimination and is evaluating a possible lawsuit, while State Assembly Deputy Speaker Phil Ramos described the video as showing a clear rights violation.

A 23-year-old electrician from Brentwood was pulled over by ICE agents while driving a work van in Westbury and was handcuffed and detained for approximately 25 minutes. The agents claimed he looked like someone they were searching for but provided no specific basis for the stop. After finding his ID confirming his U.S. citizenship, the agents released him without explanation or apology.

An 11th grade student from Queens was detained by ICE agents outside a local courthouse while attending a scheduled immigration court hearing to seek asylum. The student's whereabouts remain unknown to their family, causing significant distress. NYC Public Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles Ramos confirmed the detention and reaffirmed the school system's commitment to maintaining schools as safe spaces for all students.

Yunseo Chung, a 21-year-old permanent resident and Columbia University undergraduate, was pursued by ICE in March 2025 following her arrest for trespassing at a pro-Palestine demonstration on Barnard College campus in early 2025, for which she paid a fine. ICE searched her dorm room and her parents' home but did not locate her. She filed suit against the Trump Administration alleging violation of her First Amendment rights. On June 5, 2025, U.S. District Judge Naomi Buchwald issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting ICE from arresting or detaining Chung and rejected the government's motion to dismiss, noting that ICE failed to issue her a notice to appear in immigration court. Chung subsequently returned to court on May 29, 2025, seeking to consolidate the protective order while her constitutional case proceeds.

Arzou Hami, an Iranian woman suffering from serious mental health issues, was detained in June 2025 as part of a sweep of Iranian migrants following U.S. military action against Iran. She was detained by Buffalo ICE agents at the Niagara County Jail before being transferred to Texas. Her attorney alleged in court filings that her detention prevented her from receiving mental health medications. Her attorney reported she has received some medication, but it is not the same as what she was previously prescribed.

Paigelynne Gonyea, a poll worker in Syracuse, New York, said two ICE officers visited her at a polling site on June 23, 2026, during state primaries to question her about a January social media post naming Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis during anti-ICE demonstrations. The officers presented a written notice from ICE's Office of Professional Responsibility alleging she may have violated laws against publicly posting officers' personal information; Gonyea again refused to sign it, saying doing so would be an admission of guilt. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, Lauren Bis, said Gonyea committed a federal crime by posting Ross's address online and that she would be investigated for doxing, while another poll worker, Sheilia Milledge, recorded the encounter on video. Court documents have indicated ICE's OPR investigated 131 cases of alleged doxing and threats against its employees between January 2025 and March 2026.

A 20-year-old Ecuadorian woman was detained at 26 Federal Plaza immediately after her first immigration hearing on June 24, where a judge had scheduled her next court date for March 2026. She was held for nine days without charge, without access to an attorney, and without a bed—sleeping on the floor alongside at least 70 other detainees—while lights stayed on, heat was unbearable, and food was minimal, often just cookies thrown into the cell. On July 4 she was transferred to the Richwood Detention Facility in Louisiana before a New York judge could review a habeas corpus petition filed on her behalf, and she was later released from ICE custody following a federal judge's order. She had fled threats and stalking in Ecuador before joining her family in New York in 2024 after crossing into the U.S. at El Paso, and said: "A human being doesn't deserve to be treated that way. They had us in there like animals."

Roberto Chilavert Olmedo was held at 26 Federal Plaza for days during the summer 2025 surge in ICE arrests. In written testimony presented to the federal court, he described the experience as a nightmare, stating: "My time at 26 Federal Plaza still haunts me. It is a nightmare and I cannot believe that human beings can be treated like that in a place like the United States."