Human Impact Project

Michel Tshimankinda, a pastor at Restoration Church of Maine in South Portland, was released on bond after spending 16 days in ICE custody following his August 13 detention. Tshimankinda, who arrived in 2016 on a tourist visa from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, says he applied for asylum while his visa was still active and has been awaiting a decision. He has returned to lead his church while his asylum case is pending. ICE states he overstayed his visa by nine years, while Tshimankinda maintains his asylum application was filed before the visa expired.

Antonia Aguilar Maldonado, a mother of two U.S. citizen children, was released from ICE custody on August 13 following a federal judge's order. She had been detained on July 17 while on her way to work despite having no criminal record and an active asylum application. Aguilar Maldonado came to the U.S. in 2016 as a 17-year-old unaccompanied minor without legal status.

Yeonsoo Go, a 21-year-old Scarsdale High School graduate and Purdue University student, was arrested by ICE outside a federal courthouse in New York on July 31, 2025, after attending a routine visa hearing that reportedly went well, with a judge granting her a late August hearing date. ICE claimed her R-2 religious worker visa had expired over two years earlier, but her attorney confirmed it remained valid through December 2025 and that she was in the process of converting to a student visa. Go was initially held without access to legal counsel at a Manhattan facility before being transferred to an ICE detention center in Louisiana. Her mother is an Episcopal church pastor in Scarsdale. Go was released on August 5 after five days in detention.

Yury Saaryan, a Russian national who overstayed his tourist visa, went to an ICE office in August 2025 seeking help returning to Russia but was detained instead. An immigration judge granted him voluntary departure in November 2025, but ICE has not arranged his removal despite his repeated requests and three hunger strikes, citing delays obtaining travel documents from Russia. Saaryan has now been held for about 11 months and filed a federal habeas corpus petition seeking his release, which a U.S. District Court in Washington denied without prejudice in July 2026.

Alma Bella Bowman, a Georgia resident and immigrants' rights activist, was released from Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, after ICE agreed to her release following eight months in custody. Bowman was detained on March 26, 2025, during a routine check-in at the ICE Atlanta Field Office and continues to press the U.S. government to recognize her as a citizen based on her father's Navy service. She previously exposed non-consensual gynecological procedures at Irwin County Detention Center from 2017 to 2020.

Ted Jones, a 24-year-old British man, was deported from the United States to Britain in August 2025 after ICE identified a 2022 drink-driving conviction and visa irregularities. Jones moved to the US as a child and was removed during the Trump administration's immigration enforcement operations. According to ICE data, 212 people were deported from the US to the UK between Trump's inauguration and October 2025, compared to the same period under the Biden administration.

A Chinese national was scheduled for detention at an ICE appointment on July 31, 2025 in San Francisco. The federal court granted a temporary restraining order to prevent his arrest and detention, then converted it to a preliminary injunction. The court ruled that he cannot be detained without a pre-detention hearing before a neutral decisionmaker, citing Fifth Amendment due process protections.

Sandra, an asylum seeker from South America, was arrested by ICE during a routine check-in appointment at the agency's San Francisco field office on July 11, 2025, and has been held in a detention center awaiting updates on her pending asylum case. She met her husband Roberto online in 2017 and undertook a months-long journey through Central America and the Darien Gap to reunite with him in San Francisco, where they married in early 2025. Sandra was taking English classes at City College and the couple was planning to start a family when she was detained. Roberto, who recently obtained legal status and received a promotion at work, was present during the appointment. Sandra continues to wait for her first court date, with her attorney fighting for her pending asylum application while she remains in detention.

Jackie Merlos, an undocumented immigrant mother from Honduras with a pending U-visa, was detained by CBP agents on June 28, 2025, at Peace Arch Park near the U.S.-Canada border during a family picnic. Merlos, a well-regarded local business owner who had lived in Portland, Oregon for decades, was held in a CBP facility for 12 days. An ICE agent then called Merlos' friend Mimi Lettunich, demanding she immediately pick up Merlos' four U.S. citizen children—9-year-old triplets and a 7-year-old—or they would be placed in foster care. Lettunich, who had not cared for young children in years and had a full-time job, took the children into her home. Federal authorities attempted to deport Merlos without proper documentation or due process, but a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the children's removal. As of July 2025, Merlos remained in ICE custody at a facility in Tacoma, Washington, separated from her children and facing formal removal proceedings.

A stateless man born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents entered the United States on September 5, 1982 with an F-1 student visa. He was ordered removed on July 18, 2007, with his removal order becoming final on December 12, 2007 when the Board of Immigration Appeals denied his appeal. He was designated for removal to Kuwait with Egypt as an alternative destination. After being released from ICE detention on July 3, 2008, he was re-detained on July 7, 2025 at a routine ICE check-in without notice or opportunity to contest the revocation of his release. Over nine months of continued detention, ICE made only one documented effort to secure travel documents—a letter sent to Egypt in January 2026, six months after his re-detention, with no response received. The court found no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future and granted his habeas corpus petition, ordering his immediate release on the same conditions as before his re-detention, with protections against re-detention without a pre-detention hearing and restrictions on removal to a third country without due process.

Carmen, a woman who fled domestic violence and obtained a restraining order against her abusive husband, applied for a U-Visa in March 2025 after he was deported. Despite having a pending U-Visa application and valid work authorization, she was detained during a June 2025 immigration check-in and deported in July 2025 along with her 8-year-old son. Upon arrival in her home country, her husband was waiting for her at the airport. She is now controlled by him—he confiscates her passports and phone, forbids her from leaving the house without permission, and she lives in constant fear.

A client of attorney George Rios was detained in July 2025 during a scheduled green card interview at the Fresno USCIS office. The client arrived with his wife, a U.S. citizen, but she was asked to step into the waiting area before ICE agents detained him. He was driven across the border at age four and presented himself to immigration officials, which counted as legal entry. Rios believes the real reason for detention was the client's criminal history, though the client has no criminal convictions and has been in the U.S. for at least 10 years, maintained good moral character, and is eligible for his green card. He is currently detained at a McFarland detention facility. His wife is a U.S. citizen, and his youngest child is less than a year old. Rios must prove several requirements at a hearing to give his client a chance to stay in the country, arguing that deportation would cause extreme hardship on his wife and children.

A 27-year-old Filipino housekeeping attendant identified as C was removed from a Carnival cruise ship docked in Baltimore by CBP agents who questioned him about child sexual abuse material. Agents examined his phone but found no evidence of illegal content. C denied all allegations and was never shown evidence or charged with any crime. His visa was revoked and marked cancelled without prejudice, and he was deported to the Philippines, ending his maritime career.

A single mother of three granted legal status under the child separation settlement was deported to Honduras in July 2025 along with her children, despite possessing protections under the federal settlement agreement. According to court records, she has received death threats from local men seeking to extort money since her return.

Caroline Dias Goncalves, a 19-year-old University of Utah nursing student from Brazil, was detained by ICE on June 5, 2025, following a traffic stop by a Mesa County Sheriff's deputy on Interstate 70 near Fruita, Colorado. The deputy shared information about her in a group chat used for drug interdiction efforts, which ICE agents then used to target her for immigration enforcement. Goncalves, who immigrated to the U.S. at age 7 and has a pending asylum application, was held at an ICE facility in Aurora, Colorado for 15 days, where she reported receiving poor quality food and confusing schedules, and observed differential treatment based on English proficiency. She was released on bond on June 20, 2025, and became a named plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against ICE leadership.

Jose Francisco Orellana-Rivera, who arrived from Honduras at age 4 and was paroled into the community in 2001, was detained by ICE in June 2025 after 24 years of living freely in the United States. He is married to a U.S. citizen with two citizen children and was previously granted DACA. The court ordered his immediate release, finding his detention without a pre-detention hearing violated due process rights.

Erasmo Zavala, a Berks County father who had applied for a U visa after cooperating with law enforcement in the investigation into his daughter's murder, was detained by ICE in April 2025 despite his pending humanitarian visa application. During his nearly two-month detention, he was repeatedly shackled at his hands and feet and flown between facilities, including Moshannon Valley Processing Center and a facility in Louisiana, often with no explanation of where he was being taken. He said he was awakened in the middle of the night twice and driven to the airport, fearing deportation to Mexico. Zavala said, 'They treat you as if you really were some kind of criminal. But what kind of criminal dedicates himself to his family and mostly goes from work to home?' He was released following a court order from Judge Stephanie Haines, with his case tied to a dispute over a Trump administration policy rescinding protections for crime victims and witnesses cooperating with law enforcement.

Victor, a legal resident and father of two in Minneapolis, was detained by ICE in late May despite holding legal resident status. His family sought community support to pay legal fees for his release and cover basic living expenses while he remained in detention.

Sara Lopez Garcia, a 20-year-old student at Suffolk County Community College with a 3.9 GPA, was arrested by ICE agents on May 21 during a raid on her family home in Mastic. She claimed she had special immigrant juvenile legal status and a valid work permit. She was detained for over two months and subsequently deported to Colombia in August.

Two U.S. citizen children, ages 5 and 4, were deported to Mexico after their mother was lured to an immigration processing appointment under false pretenses. The mother, who was told she would be eligible for asylum and a work permit if she appeared for a routine check-in, was instead deported to Reynosa, Mexico along with her three children. The two youngest children are U.S. citizens who were deported without proper legal process or opportunity for informed consent from their mother.