Human Impact Project

A 42-year-old Kashmiri filmmaker known for directing Saffron Kingdom was detained by ICE agents at Washington Dulles International Airport on September 24 while traveling with filmmaker Tara Dorabji from San Francisco to an 'Art as Resistance' event at Busboys and Poets in Washington DC. Dorabji said plainclothes agents pulled him aside on the jetway and took him to the tarmac without showing a warrant, even as he presented his immigration paperwork. The filmmaker, whose father disappeared in 2003, entered the U.S. legally on a student visa to pursue graduate film studies at Georgia State University and has a pending immigration application. On October 6, an immigration court granted him bond, and he is expected to be released from the Caroline Detention Facility in Bowling Green, Virginia, on October 8.

Kevin was detained and later transferred to ICE detention in Virginia, according to a GoFundMe campaign organized by his friend Dani Lagraba. His family and friends have been navigating legal and immigration challenges connected to his case and upcoming court proceedings. The fundraiser aims to help cover legal representation, attorney fees, and other case-related expenses as his family supports him through the process.

A college freshman and her father were detained by ICE agents on a Tuesday evening while she was on her way to college orientation and he was accompanying her. The family has a pending case with USCIS and says they were carrying up-to-date legal documentation, which agents refused to review before arresting them and sending them to separate detention centers. Relatives created a fundraiser to help cover immigration attorney fees and seek the family's release from detention.

ICE officers arrested Jose Saul Canas-Guandique, a 49-year-old Salvadoran national, in Falls Church, Virginia on August 31, 2026. He is wanted in Colorado on felony charges including child sexual assault, solicitation of child prostitution, and using the internet to lure a child, and had previously been arrested by the Glenwood Springs Police Department in Colorado on March 7, 2024. He had lawfully entered the U.S. in 2004 but remained after his permitted stay expired, and he is now in ICE custody pending removal proceedings and the Colorado criminal justice process.

Cornelio Estrada-Gonzalez, a Guatemalan national living in the U.S. without authorization, was arrested by ICE on Aug. 22 during a targeted enforcement operation in Chantilly, Virginia, after he got out of a car his brother was driving and ran from officers before being caught following a brief foot chase. DHS said his criminal history includes convictions for assault, felony public records forgery, felony identity theft, driving while intoxicated, felony reentry after removal, and possessing or selling a fake driver's license, and that he had previously been deported in 2011 and 2016. He was issued a final removal order on Aug. 22 and deported three days later.

Emmanuel was detained by ICE at a license checkpoint and has since been arrested and held in detention. His wife, Jazmin, says he is the family's main provider and a hard worker who poses no threat to society. The couple has two children together, including a newborn only 20 days old, and Jazmin is still recovering from childbirth and on maternity leave from work. She is raising money to cover legal fees to help bring him home.

Osman Estrada-Gonzalez, a Guatemalan national who entered the U.S. from Mexico through Texas in June 1999, was arrested by ICE on Aug. 22 during a targeted enforcement operation in Chantilly, Virginia. DHS said he allegedly tried to drive away from the traffic stop and hit an ICE vehicle, then refused to identify himself or exit the car and resisted officers as they tried to remove him. His criminal record includes convictions for assault and battery on a family member, and he remains in ICE custody while removal proceedings continue.

Isaac Melendez-Carranza, 31, a Salvadoran national, was arrested by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office and taken to the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center in Leesburg, Virginia. The same day, ICE Washington lodged an immigration detainer and warrant of removal with the detention center, which honors ICE detainers under a 287(g) agreement. Border Patrol had previously encountered Melendez near Hebbronville, Texas, in 2016 after he crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico.

Austin Connell, a concrete business owner who posts about politics online, was visited at his home in Carrollton, Virginia by Secret Service agents who had obtained screenshots of his private Instagram direct messages. Connell said he does not know how the agents accessed the private messages, which included anti-ICE content, and noted he had also publicly criticized ICE. "I'm for law enforcement—just not corrupt law enforcement," he said.

The petitioner is a native and citizen of Honduras who entered the United States without inspection in June 2022. He is currently detained at the Caroline Detention Facility. He filed a federal habeas petition arguing that his detention is governed by the discretionary detention provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) rather than the mandatory detention provisions of § 1225(b)(2), and that being held without a bond hearing violates his due process rights. The government argued he remained an 'applicant for admission' subject to mandatory detention under § 1225(b)(2) because he had not been lawfully admitted. The court found that because he was already present in the country rather than seeking admission at the border, § 1226(a)'s discretionary framework applied. The court granted the petition, ordering that he receive a bond hearing before an immigration judge within seven days and enjoining the government from denying bond or rearresting him except under specified circumstances.

A Mexican national who had lived in the United States for years after entering without inspection was detained by ICE and held at a detention facility. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention, arguing he was entitled to a bond hearing before an Immigration Judge rather than being held under mandatory detention rules. The government argued he was properly held under mandatory detention provisions as an applicant for admission. A federal district court disagreed, finding that because he had already entered and was living in the country, his detention was governed by discretionary detention provisions rather than mandatory ones. The court granted his petition, ordering that he receive a bond hearing before an Immigration Judge within seven days and barring immigration authorities from denying him bond or rearresting him except under limited circumstances.

Oscar, a mechanic from the Fredericksburg area, was held under ICE custody at the Rappahannock Regional Jail before being moved through a chain of detention facilities in Virginia, Texas, and Louisiana and deported to El Salvador in 2024, despite having no felony record. He described poor conditions at the jail, being shackled throughout his deportation flight, and being accused of gang membership in El Salvador due to a paperwork error. Deportation Data Project records show 356 people were held under ICE custody at the jail and removed from the country between January 2025 and March 2026, with 67% having no criminal record beyond their immigration status. The jail's policy of querying ICE about foreign-born detainees exceeds what Virginia law requires, and a new state law, the Community Safety and Trust Act, may prohibit such cooperation without a judicial warrant.

Carolina Molina, a U.S. citizen and licensed mental health therapist who works with immigration lawyers, was confronted at gunpoint by a masked ICE agent on August 10, 2026, in a Falls Church, Virginia parking lot. Molina was distributing business cards for immigration legal services when she witnessed ICE agents detaining two Latino men and shouted at the officers from her car. ICE vehicles boxed in her car and an agent drew his firearm, pointing it at her through the driver's-side window while accusing her of trying to run officers over. Molina denied the allegation, saying she was turning her car to avoid drawing attention to the attorney's office, and recorded the encounter on dashcam and cellphone video that she later shared publicly. DHS claimed she was 'weaponizing her vehicle,' but no charges were filed. Democratic Representatives Don Beyer and Suhas Subramanyam called for accountability, with Beyer describing Molina as a mother and citing a pattern of DHS misconduct.

Petitioner, a national of Honduras, is currently detained at ICE's Washington Field Office in Chantilly, Virginia under 8 U.S.C. § 1231 pursuant to a final order of removal. An Immigration Judge previously granted her application for Withholding of Removal, which legally prohibits her removal to Honduras. Despite this protection, she remains in ICE custody and fears she may be removed to a third country instead. She filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 arguing that her continued detention violates her due process rights under Zadvydas v. Davis. She also filed a Motion for Temporary Restraining Order seeking to block her removal to a third country while her habeas petition is pending. The court granted the TRO, enjoining respondents from removing or transferring her from the district, and ordered respondents to show cause by August 17, 2026 why the habeas petition should not be granted, with any reply due by August 21, 2026.

Britney Ramirez-Corona, an 18-year-old U.S. citizen, was handcuffed by ICE agents on Tidewater Drive in Norfolk after they reportedly questioned the authenticity of her Virginia ID and Social Security card. She had gone to retrieve a truck belonging to her fiancé, Oscar Amaya Bueso, who was detained along with his brother and another man during a targeted operation; the couple had been due to marry the following week. Ramirez-Corona, whose young sister was present at the scene, said an agent shoved her and that she was held despite repeatedly stating she was born in Norfolk. She was later released after her citizenship was confirmed, and said she now fears future encounters with immigration agents despite carrying her documentation.

Oscar Amaya Bueso, Osman Amaya Bueso, and Arnold Antonio Mendoza Garcia were arrested by ICE during a targeted operation on Tidewater Drive in Norfolk on Friday. According to ICE, the three men were arrested for illegal entry to Virginia from Honduras. Mendoza Garcia had previously been arrested by Customs and Border Protection in July 2021 but was released by the Biden administration.

An 18-year-old U.S. citizen in Norfolk was detained by ICE agents on Friday morning after arriving at the scene of an immigration enforcement operation involving her husband. According to the woman, she informed agents she was a U.S. citizen, but was detained anyway.

Two men were detained after officers in ICE garb arrived in six vehicles at a gas station in Marshall on Tuesday morning, boxed in their vehicle at a gas pump, and smashed the windows before taking them into custody. Bystanders witnessed the enforcement action.

Mohamed Guezoui, born in Algeria, moved to the U.S. after marrying an American citizen. After his marriage ended, he found community through his friend Staci Tighe, whom he met at karaoke. Tighe was struggling through an illness at the time, and Guezoui visited her daily to offer support before his arrest. While working his shift at King Kabab restaurant in West Virginia, three masked ICE officers arrested him at his workplace. He was eventually deported. His detention marked the beginning of Operation Country Roads, a DHS enforcement sweep that resulted in approximately 600 arrests across West Virginia, primarily relying on local law enforcement cooperation.

Selvin Alfredo Ramos Perez, a 35-year-old Guatemalan national working in the kitchen at a Roanoke restaurant, was arrested by Roanoke County Police on August 4, 2026, for public intoxication. ICE lodged a detainer with the county jail the same day, and Ramos Perez was transferred into ICE custody pending removal proceedings. According to DHS, he first entered the United States without authorization near Sasabe, Arizona, in 2011 and was granted voluntary departure, reentered in 2012, received a final removal order from an immigration judge in 2015, was removed by ICE in 2017, and later reentered the country multiple times without authorization. DHS also reported a criminal record including traffic offenses, public order crimes, fraud, impersonation, DUI, and hit and run.