Human Impact Project

Diana Marquez Ruiz initially planned to self-deport with her two children on May 4, 2026, after her husband was removed from Aurora detention center. However, on the drive to the ICE field office, she became emotional and decided to turn back, unable to abandon her family dog in the United States. She and Cecilia had lived together and supported each other after their husbands' arrests.

A Mexican asylum-seeker who fled cartel violence in Michoacan in 2019 was arrested by ICE at her check-in appointment in Santa Rosa in May 2026, separating her from her three children ages 2, 13, and 19. After texting her daughter to bring the younger children home, she was held in a freezing cell with little food before being transported toward a detention center. Attorneys from the newly created Bay Area Habeas Network, led by attorney Jordan Weiner, filed an emergency habeas corpus petition and obtained a federal judge's order for her immediate release within hours. The woman told the Chronicle: "I feel like I have no peace. But I have faith and know that there are good people who will help us."

A noncitizen who entered the U.S. in 2024 and was released on his own recognizance was abruptly re-detained by ICE in May 2026 without notice or opportunity to be heard. Respondents claimed he was subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b). The court granted his habeas petition, finding that § 1226(a)—not § 1225(b)—applied to him because he had already entered the interior of the country. The court ordered his immediate release by July 4, 2026, and enjoined re-detention absent clear and convincing evidence at a pre-deprivation hearing.

A man was arrested for driving while intoxicated in Dallas, Texas on October 20, 2022, and was issued a Notice to Appear for removal proceedings. He was convicted of DWI on June 15, 2023, and released on his own recognizance by DHS. On April 29, 2026, when he reported to the Dallas ICE Field Office as directed, he was re-detained. The court found that his re-detention without notice and opportunity to be heard violated due process and granted his habeas corpus petition, ordering his immediate release on the same conditions he was subject to prior to re-detention.

A man who entered the United States without inspection in December 2023 was initially released on his own recognizance in January 2024. On April 29, 2026, ICE re-detained him when he appeared for a routine ICE check-in. The court granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release under the same conditions as before his re-detention.

An immigration detainee who entered the U.S. without inspection in February 2023 was released on his own recognizance during removal proceedings. After three years of complying with release conditions, he was arrested without notice during a routine ICE check-in in Dallas on April 29, 2026. The court granted his habeas petition and ordered his immediate release, finding his detention without pre-deprivation process violated due process rights.

A woman was released from ICE custody in March 2026 by a federal court in Arizona, but was re-detained by ICE on April 27, 2026 when she reported to the Detroit ICE field office for a routine check-in. She was subsequently transferred to facilities in Louisiana and Texas without explanation or allegation of any violation of her supervision terms. The court granted emergency relief ordering her immediate release.

A Dominican Republic citizen who entered Puerto Rico without inspection in 2004 was detained on April 24, 2026 during an enforcement operation on Ave. Américo Miranda while on his way to open his business. He is the sole caregiver for his U.S. citizen wife and daughter and has a pending I-130 petition filed by his daughter. A federal court granted a temporary restraining order preventing his transfer outside Puerto Rico and ordered that he receive a bond hearing before an Immigration Judge.

A Russian citizen was detained by ICE on April 24, 2026, during a routine check-in after living freely in the United States for four years since her 2022 release. She had been released on parole/supervision in April 2022 after ICE determined she was not a flight risk or danger to the community, and had been attending yearly check-ins with no criminal record. The court granted a temporary restraining order requiring her immediate release, finding her detention violated due process rights as she received no notice or hearing before re-detention.

Karla Saenz, a 26-year-old Venezuelan transgender organizer with Trans Queer Pueblo, was detained by ICE on March 9, 2026, during what she believed was a routine immigration check-in in Phoenix. According to an eyewitness account, ICE agents took her to a back room, claimed she had an arrest warrant without providing documentation, and handcuffed her. Saenz was transferred to Eloy Detention Center, located approximately 60 miles southeast of Phoenix, where she was initially placed in the men's unit despite being a trans woman. She contracted COVID-19 during her first two days in custody. Saenz had been a vocal advocate for Arbella "Yari" Marquez, a lesbian detainee at the same facility who was suffering from serious health complications including returning leukemia. Advocates believe Saenz's detention was retaliatory for her visible organizing work against immigration enforcement in Arizona, noting that she had consistently complied with all supervision requirements prior to her detention.

An asylum seeker who entered the U.S. in September 2024 was released on parole in November 2024, then re-detained by ICE in April 2026 after reporting to a scheduled appointment. The government argued his parole was revoked for violating conditions, but provided no written notice. The court ordered his immediate release, finding the detention violated due process.

Allan Marrero, a Cayman Islands native, was detained by ICE on November 24, 2025, after arriving for a routine marriage-based green card interview at a USCIS office in Lower Manhattan. ICE discovered a prior removal order from 2022 related to an overstayed tourist visa and a missed immigration court hearing that occurred while Marrero was in alcohol rehabilitation. An immigration judge reopened his case and granted bond in January 2026, citing his clean criminal record and community support, but ICE refused to accept bond payment and used procedural mechanisms to continue his detention. Marrero was moved between multiple facilities across Arizona, Texas, Mississippi, and New York. After 150 days in custody, he was released on April 23, 2026, following a lawsuit that challenged ICE's refusal to honor the bond order. He was reunited with his husband Matthew.

Isaac Antonio Villegas Molina, a Pasadena resident originally from Panama, was ordered immediately released by U.S. District Judge Michelle Williams after being detained during an ICE check-in while serving as a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit challenging immigration raids in Los Angeles. The judge barred the government from redetaining him without notice and a hearing before a neutral adjudicator, noting officials had not contested his earlier release request. Villegas was arrested in June while waiting at a bus stop and released on bond; the Department of Homeland Security said his redetention followed missed check-ins, but his attorney, Stacy Tolchin, disputed this and alleged the arrest was retaliatory, aimed at shifting his case to a more government-friendly immigration court in Adelanto. Villegas is scheduled to appear before an immigration judge to seek termination of his removal proceedings.

Isaac Antonio Villegas Molina, a construction worker suing ICE with ACLU support, was detained again during an ISAP check-in after the Supreme Court refused his challenge to ICE. The detention occurred following the high court's rejection of his legal challenge.

William Alexander Alfaro, a Honduran national with an active asylum case, was detained by ICE agents on March 18, 2026, while driving his three children to school in San Antonio, Texas. Alfaro held a valid work permit and driver's license and was in compliance with the asylum process. He was arrested at Crosspoint, an ICE check-in and processing facility in San Antonio, as he arrived for a scheduled appointment. During approximately one month in ICE detention, Alfaro was not treated for a knee tumor requiring emergency surgery. He was deported to Honduras without receiving the scheduled medical procedure, likely resulting in amputation. His wife, who witnessed the initial detention, now fears she will be targeted for deportation, which would leave their three U.S. citizen children in San Antonio without parents.

A Mexican citizen who has resided in the United States since at least 2018 was granted withholding of removal to Mexico by an Immigration Judge that year based on his well-founded fear of persecution as a gay man, and he was released on an Order of Supervision. On April 22, 2026, he appeared at the ICE Los Angeles Field Office for his routine annual check-in, as he had done every year since 2018, but was detained by ICE officers and transported to Adelanto ICE Processing Center, where he remained detained. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention, alleging violations of regulatory procedures requiring notice of revocation and an informal interview, as well as Fifth Amendment due process violations. On May 1, 2026, the court granted the petition without opposition from respondents, ordering his immediate release from ICE custody and requiring respondents to file a status report by May 8, 2026.

Karla Sáenz, a 26-year-old transgender woman from Venezuela and organizer with Trans Queer Pueblo, was detained by ICE on March 9 during a routine immigration check-in at a USCIS office in Phoenix. She was held for a month at Eloy Detention Center in a men's unit, where she was denied hormone therapy, unable to shower for a week, and subjected to verbal abuse and medical neglect by staff. A federal judge ordered her release in April, finding her detention arbitrary and violating her due process rights.

A self-represented noncitizen detainee was detained on April 21, 2026. The detainee filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the detention and seeking a bond hearing, arguing the detention violated due process as indefinite. ICE notified the court on July 14, 2026 of intent to remove the detainee on July 15, 2026. The court denied the detainee's emergency motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, finding the detainee failed to comply with Rule 65 procedural requirements and was unlikely to succeed on the merits given the scheduled removal date.

A Honduran man has resided continuously in the United States since 2021 and has substantial ties to the country including family members lawfully present, consistent work history, and a fixed address. On April 21, 2026, he was taken into ICE custody and remains detained at the West Tennessee Detention Facility. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention without an individualized bond hearing before a neutral decisionmaker, seeking either a bond hearing or immediate release. The court's order references the Sixth Circuit's decision in Lopez-Campos v. Raycraft, which affirmed that noncitizens who have spent significant time in the United States interior and have not committed certain offenses cannot be detained without an individualized bond hearing. The court ordered the respondent to respond within two business days, and if his detention is based on 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A), to either distinguish the case from Lopez-Campos or consent to the issuance of the writ. The court also imposed a stay on any transfer of him out of the West Tennessee Detention Facility during the litigation.

A Peruvian national with a pending asylum application was detained by ICE on April 21, 2026, during a scheduled check-in appointment in San Francisco. He had been previously released on recognizance but was re-detained after being charged with identity theft and failing to appear for his criminal arraignment. The court granted his habeas petition in part and ordered ICE to provide him with a bond hearing within 14 days.