Human Impact Project

A Guatemalan national entered the United States on December 5, 2022. He was issued a Notice to Appear for removal proceedings and released on his own recognizance on March 2, 2023. On March 31, 2026, he was re-detained by ICE when he reported for an appointment at Mesa Verda Detention Center. He filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging his detention, arguing that his prior release created a liberty interest in continued release and that his re-detention violated due process. On April 22, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California granted his habeas petition and ordered his immediate release on the same conditions as his prior release. The court also enjoined ICE from re-detaining him absent exigent circumstances without providing notice and a pre-detention hearing before an immigration judge, with the government bearing the burden of proving he is a danger or flight risk by clear and convincing evidence.

An Afghan man who is a native and citizen of Afghanistan entered the United States on December 18, 2023, and was paroled under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5) with a Notice to Appear scheduled for August 30, 2029. On March 31, 2026, ICE took him into custody during a routine check-in without providing notice of the factual basis for revoking his parole. According to ICE's I-213 form, the revocation was based on a check revealing that he "had not been granted any lawful status to be in the U.S." He has no known criminal history and had complied with all conditions of his parole, including periodic check-ins with ICE. A federal magistrate judge granted his petition for writ of habeas corpus, finding that his re-detention without a hearing before a neutral adjudicator violated due process. The court ordered his immediate release with the same conditions he was subject to prior to his March 31, 2026 detention and enjoined respondents from re-detaining him without at least 7 days' written notice and a pre-deprivation bond hearing.

Lester Pérez Sánchez and Ismaray Paz Torres, a Cuban pastor couple who arrived in the U.S. in 2021 seeking asylum and hold I-220A status, were detained by ICE on March 31, 2026, during what they believed was a routine supervision appointment in Harlingen, Texas. Both hold work permits and operate a tire repair workshop in Ingleside. They have been held at El Valle Detention Center in Raymondville since their arrest. The Ingleside community, including the mayor, has rallied for their release.

Isaias, an asylee, was detained by ICE during a routine immigration check-in meeting earlier this year. He was the primary source of financial support for his elderly mother Rosa, who is now unable to work and needs assistance with rent and phone bills.

An asylum seeker from Iran was re-detained on March 30, 2026, during a routine ICE check-in appointment after being previously released on recognizance in December 2023. ICE detained him solely because he had not been granted lawful status to remain in the U.S., despite having no criminal record and complying with all release conditions. The court found his detention violated due process and ordered his immediate release.

A Guatemala native residing in the U.S. since 2019 was detained by ICE during a scheduled check-in on March 26, 2026. She was transferred to the Adelanto Detention Facility and held without bond based on a BIA decision requiring mandatory detention for those who entered without inspection. The court granted a TRO ordering her release or bond hearing within seven days.

A woman who entered the United States on August 2, 2021 on a B-2 visitor visa filed an I-485 application for adjustment of status on February 27, 2026. On March 26, 2026, she attended a biometrics appointment scheduled in connection with her pending adjustment of status application when she was detained by ICE authorities at that appointment. Following her detention, she was provided a bond hearing where an immigration judge concluded she posed a flight risk and danger to the community based on a dismissed misdemeanor charge. She filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus and motion for temporary restraining order challenging her detention. On May 5, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California granted her habeas corpus petition, finding that ICE improperly used the adjustment of status process as a vehicle for "gotcha law enforcement" in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The court ordered her immediate release on the conditions she was subject to prior to her detention and enjoined respondents from re-detaining her through the adjustment of status process.

Deiver Henao Jimenez, a 9-year-old asylum-seeker from Colombia, was detained with his parents at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas beginning in early March after a routine immigration check-in in New Mexico. His elementary school principal sent officials a letter describing him as a dedicated student with excellent attendance and high marks, and community activists pushed for his release so he could compete in New Mexico's state spelling bee after placing third in a regional Spanish spelling competition. Following a video call in which he pleaded with children's entertainer Ms. Rachel, and about a week after his attorney, Corey Sullivan Martin, filed for humanitarian parole, ICE released the family. Deiver is now eager to return to school and rejoin his gifted and talented classes.

A Guatemalan citizen who had been released on bond and granted withholding of removal in 2013 was detained on March 24, 2026 during a routine ICE check-in. He had fully complied with his supervision order for over 12 years with no new criminal history. ICE agents told him he was being arrested because of the new administration and they would find a third country if they couldn't send him to Guatemala. The court granted a temporary restraining order requiring his immediate release.

Alicia Luna Flores, her husband Juan Alberto Baquera Santoyo, and their 12-year-old daughter Melanie were deported to Tijuana within 24 hours after visiting an ICE field office in Camarillo on March 23, where they had expected their ankle monitors to be removed following eight years in the U.S. under asylum proceedings. ICE instead told them their asylum case had been terminated due to a missed court date they said they were unaware of. The family's 3-year-old U.S.-born son, Aaron, was not taken into custody and is being cared for by relatives. In Moorpark, Luna had worked as a house cleaner and Baquera as a day laborer in construction and painting, while Melanie attended Mesa Verde Middle School and dreamed of becoming a professional soccer player. The family is now staying with a relative in Michoacan, Mexico. Moorpark Unified School District officials confirmed the deportation, saying they have been supporting the relatives caring for Aaron and connecting the family with local agencies for food and other immediate needs; Superintendent Kelli Hays said the district will continue that support.

Gael, a nonverbal 5-year-old boy from Colombia with significant developmental delays undergoing autism evaluations, was detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas for three weeks along with his asylum-seeking parents, Leonardo and Nelsy. The family was arrested on March 3 during an immigration check-in in El Paso. During his confinement, Gael's health deteriorated severely: he struggled to eat, experienced constipation lasting over a week with visible abdominal swelling and pain, and began engaging in self-harm behavior by hitting himself as his distress increased. Before detention, Gael had been receiving therapy in El Paso while the family pursued their asylum case. His attorney, Elora Mukherjee, requested his release on medical grounds after a video call with children's entertainer Ms. Rachel, arranged by a journalist, drew public attention to his condition. The family was released days later and returned to El Paso with required ICE check-ins to continue their asylum proceedings.

A Honduran national who had been living in the U.S. for over a decade with protection under the Convention Against Torture was detained by ICE during a routine check-in on March 23, 2026. He had been living free under an Order of Supervision for 14 years without any violations. The court granted his temporary restraining order and ordered his immediate release, finding that ICE violated his due process rights by detaining him without proper notice or hearing.

Heidy Sánchez, a 44-year-old Cuban immigrant and home health aide who arrived in the U.S. in 2019, was detained by ICE on April 22, 2025, during what she believed was a routine check-in appointment at the Tampa office while nursing her one-year-old daughter, a U.S. citizen born prematurely with seizures. She was handcuffed and separated from her child as her husband, Carlos Yuniel Valle, a U.S. citizen who owns a landscaping company, heard her screaming. Two days later, Sánchez was deported to Cuba on a flight with 81 other migrants, arriving without a passport, identification, or documentation explaining her removal. She had no criminal record, held a social security card and driver's license, paid taxes, and was complying with her ICE supervision order. Her daughter, distressed by the separation, refused to eat. From Cuba, Sánchez has recorded tearful video pleas to President Trump and searches for internet access up to ten times daily to video call her daughter. U.S. Representatives María Elvira Salazar and Kathy Castor have called for her reunification, with Castor filing a humanitarian parole request. DHS disputed her account, claiming she was offered the choice to take her child or place her with a relative. Eight months later, Sánchez remains separated from her daughter and husband.

Anabell, a 35-year-old Nicaraguan asylum seeker with three children who came to the U.S. in 2022 and worked in food service in Milwaukee, was detained by ICE during a mandated check-in and held at Campbell County Detention Center in Kentucky. She learned she was pregnant during intake but says she received no prenatal vitamins, blood test, ultrasound, or doctor visit, and was also required to carry heavy items. In late March, after experiencing heavy vaginal bleeding, severe abdominal pain, cramping and numbness, she submitted a written plea for help and was hospitalized for a suspected miscarriage, but was later told she was not pregnant and that her hormone levels did not support that conclusion, leaving her unclear on what happened to her pregnancy. She has continued to experience pain, vomiting and hair loss without follow-up care. Democratic Reps. Delia Ramirez and Gwen Moore visited her at the detention center and, along with her attorney, have been unable to obtain her medical records despite repeated requests, and are pushing for her release. DHS has reported nearly 500 pregnant, nursing or postpartum detainees between January 2025 and mid-February 2026, including 16 reported miscarriages, a count that would not include Anabell's case.

Igor Babkin, a Russian art teacher who fled political persecution, entered the U.S. legally under humanitarian parole in 2024 and was released under supervision. On February 3, 2026, ICE detained him during a routine annual check-in appointment despite his legal status and prior release. Held at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall for approximately six weeks, Babkin's attorney challenged the detention as violating due process rights. On March 17, 2026, U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia ordered Babkin's release, finding that ICE had violated his due process rights by reversing its earlier discretionary decision to release him without providing individualized assessment or evidence of changed circumstances. Babkin was released on March 20, 2026.

Chih-Ming 'Petey' Feng, a Taiwanese line cook who worked at well-known Dallas restaurants including Bullion, Georgie, Quarter Acre, Carte Blanche, CBD Provisions and Charlie Palmer, was detained by ICE on November 6, 2025 during a routine check-in tied to a visa overstay dating to 2010 and a 2023 DWI misdemeanor. He was denied voluntary departure and inadvertently signed away his right to appeal, resulting in more than 130 days in ICE detention facilities in southwest Texas. Dallas restaurant consultant Leslie Brenner and members of the local restaurant community rallied to help secure him legal representation and financial support during his custody. Feng was deported in March 2026 and arrived in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, where he now cares for his aging parents and his mother and sister, who are being treated for cancer.

Wilfredo Castillo, a Venezuelan who fled political persecution and violence, was arrested at an immigration check-in appointment in Tukwila in March 2025 after being told by ICE he would be detained. ICE claimed he missed nine SmartLink app check-ins, but Castillo says the app malfunctioned and he never missed in-person appointments. He spent 11 months at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, where he was stabbed multiple times by another detainee. A federal judge released him after finding the government lacked justification for his prolonged detention.

A Vietnamese immigrant who arrived in the U.S. as a refugee in 1992 was detained by ICE on January 12, 2026, during what he believed was a routine check-in appointment at an Anchorage facility. He is a husband and father in the Anchorage area. ICE held him for 65 days in the Anchorage Correctional Complex, citing a denied green card application based on a prior conviction from the 1990s. His attorney and immigration lawyers disputed the detention, arguing he was eligible for permanent residency under the Indochinese Parole Adjustment Act and that the conviction on his DHS record was inaccurate. A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order, and ICE canceled his final administrative removal order on March 18, 2026, resulting in his release. He was released on conditions including an ankle monitor and weekly ICE reporting requirements.

Carlos De La Garza, a 55-year-old Berkeley resident and green card holder, was detained by ICE in December at the conclusion of a routine appointment tied to his green card application. The arresting officer, Nolan De Long, had been on the job for less than a month and had completed an abbreviated training program that provided only a third of the hours previously required to teach new agents how to fill out a key immigration form. De La Garza was held for days based on paperwork errors De Long made, which the government later used as justification for his detention. After De La Garza challenged his detention in federal court, government attorneys dropped their opposition to his release once they discovered the case relied on the officer's misrepresentations. De Long apologized for the errors.

Leqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old Palestinian woman who has lived in Paterson, New Jersey since 2016, was released from ICE detention after a year in custody. She was detained in March 2025 during a voluntary check-in at the Newark ICE office and transferred to Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. Her detention followed her participation in a 2024 pro-Palestinian protest outside Columbia University, prompted after Israel killed relatives of hers in Gaza; charges from that arrest were later dismissed and sealed. At the time of her detention, she had a pending green card application through her U.S. citizen mother and a pending asylum application. In February 2026, she suffered a seizure and was hospitalized for three days, during which she remained shackled to her bed and was prevented from contacting family or attorneys; she also reported dizziness, fainting, weight loss, and cited overcrowded conditions and inadequate food at the facility. An immigration judge ordered her released on bond, citing minimal flight risk and serious medical concerns, and the government did not appeal. Her attorneys contend she was targeted for her pro-Palestine advocacy.