Human Impact Project

A father was detained by ICE agents on May 27, 2026, at 5:40 AM in Eastvale during a traffic stop while traveling to work with two of his brothers. Agents initially confused him with his older brother due to sharing the same name before ultimately detaining him. The father is the primary financial provider for his family, which includes his mother and three younger brothers, one of whom has autism. He has severe diabetes and requires daily medication. His family is seeking legal representation and financial assistance to secure his release and ensure he receives necessary medical care.

Luis Fernando Cabrera, an 18-year-old senior at Northeast Early College High School in Austin, was detained by ICE on May 1, 2026, after a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper pulled him over for expired vehicle registration. Body camera footage shows the trooper photographed Cabrera's school ID and used the encrypted messaging app Signal to contact federal immigration agents, receiving a message instructing him to "detain." Cabrera, who had an active pending asylum case dating to 2019 with no deportation order or criminal history, was transferred to Karnes County Immigration Processing Center over 100 miles away. His detention sparked protests from classmates and community members, with support from his school and St. James Episcopal Church. On May 20, a federal judge ordered ICE to release Cabrera, barring deportation and allowing him to graduate and take his final exams.

Henry Morales Hernandez, 55, a former Venezuelan Army Major with an active asylum case, has been detained by ICE since May following a traffic stop in Florida. Prosecutors dismissed the driving under the influence charge, with breath test results below the legal limit. Morales Hernandez arrived legally on a tourist visa in 2021 and has been granted Temporary Protected Status while his asylum case proceeds in immigration court.

In March 2025, ICE agent fatally shot 23-year-old U.S. citizen Ruben Ray Martinez on South Padre Island, Texas. Bodycam footage shows the vehicle with brake lights engaged when three shots were fired through the window. Martinez was removed from the car and restrained before receiving medical care, but died at a Brownsville hospital. The agency's involvement was not publicly revealed until nearly eleven months later. A grand jury declined to indict the agent, and ICE stated the shooting was justified. Martinez's family is pursuing a tort claim for wrongful death.

An Indian national who entered the United States on December 31, 2022, was detained by ICE on May 26, 2026, following a commercial vehicle inspection and transferred to Central Valley Annex Detention Facility in McFarland, California. He had no criminal history, was not subject to a final removal order, and had previously been paroled under INA § 212(d)(5). The court found his re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause and ordered his immediate release, enjoining respondents from re-detaining him without providing seven days' notice and holding a bond hearing before a neutral arbiter.

Aliya Rahman, a Bangladeshi American U.S. citizen with autism and traumatic brain injury, was detained by ICE agents in Minneapolis on her way to a doctor's appointment during Operation Metro Surge. At the intersection of 34th Street and Park Avenue, agents smashed her passenger side window and violently pulled her from her car despite her calling out that she was disabled. Four agents carried her handcuffed in a hogtied position before placing her in an SUV and transporting her to the Whipple Federal Building. At the facility, her requests for medical care were denied for more than an hour until she lost consciousness and was transported to the emergency room. She was released without charge and never cited, and subsequently filed formal complaints alleging violations of her First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights, as well as human rights breaches, and pursued a tort claim for damages from unlawful detention and detention conditions.

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition filed a lawsuit against the Tennessee Highway Patrol over its partnership with ICE, alleging the collaboration violates multiple constitutional amendments and constitutes racial profiling. The lawsuit references a May 2025 operation in South Nashville where THP conducted traffic stops for minor infractions and ICE agents detained 20 people the first night, with nearly 200 arrested during the entire weekend. The complaint alleges warrantless detention, subterfuge use of traffic stop powers, and misuse of taxpayer dollars, and also cites ongoing THP-ICE operations in Memphis and a DUI checkpoint in Robertson County.

Javier Anibal Melgar was detained by ICE officers on May 15, 2026, while sitting in his vehicle at 1259 Park Avenue in Bridgeport, Connecticut, as he prepared to take his 16-year-old son to school in New Haven. ICE described the arrest as part of "targeted operations" and said Melgar is from El Salvador, entered the country illegally in 2005, and had a final removal order issued by an immigration judge in October 2006. Officers allowed Melgar to contact his wife, who arrived to pick up their son before he was taken into custody. Connecticut lawmakers, including State Rep. Christopher Rosario, condemned the arrest as a violation of ICE's sensitive location policies, and groups including Make the Road Connecticut and the Bridgeport Rapid Response Network are now supporting the family.

A U.S.-born mother of four was stopped at an ICE checkpoint in a residential area of Lafayette and detained despite presenting a valid Louisiana state ID and Social Security card. ICE agents accused her documents of being forged, handcuffed and shackled her at the ankles, and transported her to a USCIS field office for interrogation before moving her to South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile. An immigration attorney secured her release by submitting identification documents. ICE did not apologize and confiscated her Social Security card.

Jorge Cubillos, a 42-year-old truck driver from Bogotá who fled threats from armed groups in Colombia, was deported to the Democratic Republic of Congo despite holding withholding of removal protection granted by an immigration judge in 2022 under the UN Convention Against Torture. He had lived in the U.S. since 2018, settling with his wife and four children in St. Cloud, Florida. After an arrest on a domestic battery charge, ICE lodged a detainer and detained him in Orlando, holding him for more than three months and moving him between facilities in Orlando, Jacksonville, and Louisiana while he filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention. He was flown to Kinshasa in shackles on April 15, 2026, after refusing to sign paperwork agreeing to relocation to Mexico, one of 15 Latin American migrants sent to Congo under a Trump administration deal with Kinshasa. He is now housed in a Kinshasa hotel with other deportees, reporting poor conditions including power cuts and lack of drinking water, and is receiving assistance from the International Organization for Migration while awaiting possible repatriation to Colombia.

Victor López Delara, a 29-year-old mobile mechanic who immigrated to the U.S. at age 4 and lived in Florissant, Missouri for 26 years, was detained by ICE in February 2026 after an O'Fallon police officer pulled him over for not having a front license plate. During the traffic stop, police discovered an active ICE detainer and transferred him to ICE custody. López Delara had no criminal history aside from a 2015 speeding ticket, was employed as a mobile mechanic, owned a small business, and had two young daughters. He qualified for DACA but was unable to submit an application due to financial constraints and lack of a high school diploma. His petition to cancel deportation was denied by a judge who determined his children could adapt to relocation. López Delara was deported to Mexico, with his fiancée and children planning to follow.

A 45-year-old farm worker identified as MJMA was detained along with six others when ICE agents stopped a van without a warrant on October 30, 2025. Officers smashed the van window, used facial recognition technology to attempt identification, and detained MJMA despite her assertion of her right to remain silent and request for legal representation. She had an ongoing asylum case at the time. Federal Judge Mustafa Kasubhai ruled in February 2026 that the arrests were unlawful, citing officer misconduct, inaccurate statements in reports, and improper use of facial recognition technology. The judge noted that MJMA had entered the U.S. with a valid temporary visa, contrary to officers' claims.

Yenniffer Natalia England, a 32-year-old DACA recipient and nurse's assistant with valid work authorization through 2027, was detained by Texas state troopers on February 16, 2026, after a traffic stop for a suspended driver's license stemming from an unpaid speeding ticket. She was arrested while driving her brother and daughter to get tacos. ICE agents were tipped off by county jail staff and transferred her to El Valle Detention Facility in Raymondville, Texas. During her nearly three-month detention, her two daughters, ages 12 and 14, remained without her care. Her brother Francisco De La Rosa stated: "This is just tearing us apart. She's like the glue that keeps our family together." Community supporters from La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE) organized protests calling for her release. An immigration judge initially denied her bond and issued a deportation order despite her legal DACA status and 28-year residence in the United States. On May 21, 2026, a federal judge granted England a writ of habeas corpus, ordering her release on the condition of wearing an ankle monitor.

Emilio Nieves Matanzas, a Cuban national residing in Florida with an I-220A document, was arrested by ICE during a traffic stop on November 23, 2025, and deported to Cuba on May 21, 2026, while his asylum appeal and habeas corpus petition were pending in federal court. On June 14, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security granted him special parole to return legally to the United States, where he can seek permanent residency. His attorney argued the initial deportation violated constitutional protections for immigrants awaiting higher court decisions.

Rogelio Cortez, 50, was arrested during a traffic stop initiated by Texas Department of Public Safety near a West Side library. State troopers said Cortez had an outstanding vehicle burglary warrant. Multiple law enforcement agencies, including ICE, responded to the scene. Bexar County officials stated Cortez was not a voter and the incident did not affect polling site access or voting operations.

Three undocumented immigrants—Ignacio Sosnava Rodriguez, Miguel Angel Gomez Alvarado, and Alejandro Villegas Angel—were detained by ICE after police stops in Taylor, Texas between November 2025 and February 2026. All three had lived in the U.S. for 14-22 years with no criminal records and were held without bond hearings. Federal judges ruled their detention violated due process rights and ordered their release. The Trump administration appealed, and their cases are now before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which will decide whether undocumented immigrants have constitutional rights to challenge their detention.

ICE agents stopped a blue sedan in the area of 11th Street and Jackson Street in North Chicago on Wednesday morning around 8:20 a.m. and detained the driver while a child was present in the vehicle. The detention was part of continued ICE enforcement activity across the Lake County area, with agents also conducting operations in Waukegan on the same day.

A man who arrived in the United States at age two and was part of the DACA program was arrested during a traffic stop for a headlight violation and driving without a license. He was detained by ICE for six weeks across three facilities before being released on bond. He now faces deportation to Mexico within 120 days despite having no criminal history and having lived in the U.S. for nearly his entire life.

A Cuban national was initially detained upon entering the United States on March 8, 2024, then released on humanitarian parole. After living at liberty for over a year while following all conditions of release and filing an asylum application, he was re-detained by ICE on May 19, 2026, following a routine traffic stop. The court found his re-detention violated due process rights because the government provided no finding of changed circumstances showing he was a flight risk or danger to the community, and granted his habeas petition ordering his immediate release.

A man who entered the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor in 2014 and was released to his mother's custody was arrested by ICE on May 19, 2026 after a traffic violation conviction. The court granted his petition for habeas corpus, finding his detention violated due process because he had been released by immigration authorities and established a life in California with his mother and two U.S.-born children. The court ordered his immediate release and required the government to provide a pre-deprivation bond hearing with clear and convincing evidence of flight risk or danger if it seeks to re-detain him.