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.

Maria, a 38-year-old thyroid cancer survivor from Brazil, was detained at Delaney Hall ICE detention center for roughly two weeks where medical staff did not provide her prescribed daily hormone supplements and also provided incorrect medication, leaving her unable to urinate for at least four days. Her attorney filed an emergency letter to a federal judge on March 31, 2026, raising concerns about the possibility of irreparable harm including organ failure or sepsis. The judge ordered her release the next day, in part due to these medical concerns. Her case is among over 70 lawsuits filed by Delaney Hall detainees alleging medical neglect.

A Honduran citizen who has lived in the United States for over twenty years. He is married and the father of United States citizen children, has maintained steady employment, filed federal income tax returns for many years, owns a home, and has no criminal history. He filed an application for asylum on July 14, 2023, which remains pending. On March 30, 2026, ICE arrested him at his residence in Fort Pierce, Florida, served him a Notice to Appear, and initiated removal proceedings; he has been detained ever since at the Aurora ICE Processing Center. He requested a custody redetermination hearing, which Immigration Judge Masters denied without addressing danger or flight risk. He filed a habeas corpus petition and a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction seeking immediate release or a new bond hearing before a different judge. The court found he was improperly detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2) because that provision applies only to noncitizens seeking admission at the border, not those residing in the interior. The court granted the habeas petition and ordered his immediate release on his own recognizance without onerous conditions, enjoined his re-detention absent a compliant bond hearing, and denied the TRO motion as moot.

Rudy Villeda Mejía, a 47-year-old Honduran roofing business owner who has lived in Washington state since 2010 after being kidnapped and held for ransom by Los Zetas cartel members, was arrested by ICE at Denver International Airport on March 30, 2025. He had attended routine immigration check-ins for years without incident and had a pending T visa application as a trafficking victim, which his attorney argued was his only lawful path to remain with his U.S. citizen wife, Mabel Shaffer, and her three children. During roughly four months in ICE custody in Aurora, Colorado, his health declined, including worsening Bell's palsy symptoms, back pain, and weight loss, while the family's roofing business lost contracts and his wife struggled to manage it alone. A federal judge initially denied his habeas petition, but later ordered his release under a court order barring detention of pending T visa applicants; ICE had already transferred him to Louisiana and released him there without his ID, passport, or work permit. His wife flew to Louisiana to drive him home, and his stepson said he immediately returned to work at the family business.

Reza Zavvar, a 52-year-old Iranian green card holder who came to the U.S. as a student 40 years ago, was detained by ICE agents on June 28, 2025, while walking his dog near his Gaithersburg, Maryland home. Zavvar was granted withholding of removal to Iran in 2007 and has lived and worked legally in the U.S. for decades. He is currently held in a detention center in Texas and faces deportation. His family and attorney say they do not understand the legal basis for his detention. His case occurred as part of a surge in arrests of Iranian immigrants under the Trump administration's hardline immigration policies.

Johnny Rondón Rodríguez, a Venezuelan with a pending asylum case and brain tumor, was pulled over on Interstate 75 and detained despite having no criminal charges. He was held in Orange County jail for 25 days without receiving his medication to treat the tumor, violating ICE guidelines limiting such holds to three days. A federal judge granted his immediate release after a federal prosecutor declined to argue for continued detention.

Suraj Vasal, an Indian national seeking asylum, was arrested by ICE agents on February 11, 2026, while driving a commercial truck at a weigh station near Mitchellville, Iowa, as part of "Operation ICE Wall," a joint operation between the Iowa State Patrol and ICE targeting commercial drivers near Interstate 80. Vasal was detained and held in Polk County Jail. Federal court records indicate ICE and the Iowa State Patrol were collaborating to check drivers' legal status at weigh stations. A federal judge ruled that the government violated Vasal's due process rights by conducting his bond hearing with only 30 minutes' notice and denying him adequate time to obtain legal representation, finding the agencies acted in bad faith. Vasal sued the federal government over the alleged violations of his rights.

A Venezuelan asylum-seeker who fled political persecution and entered the United States in September 2023. On January 30, 2024, she applied for admission at the Nogales, Arizona port of entry, was charged with inadmissibility, and was paroled for two years. During her parole, she was authorized to work, support her family living in the United States, and filed an asylum application. On March 26, 2026, she was arrested by Utah law enforcement based on an outstanding warrant for a domestic violence matter that was ultimately resolved without charges or conviction. She was then transferred to Department of Homeland Security custody and transported to California City Detention Center. On May 19, 2026, she filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging her re-detention without a bond hearing. The court granted her petition, finding she has a protected liberty interest in her release and is entitled to a pre-deprivation bond hearing before re-detention can be justified.

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.

Jackson Kabut Gichema, a 48-year-old Kenyan national, was arrested by ICE on March 24, 2026, and ordered deported following a conviction in Baltimore County. Gichema entered the United States legally on a visitor's visa in 2003 but remained without legal status after his authorization expired. A 2011 Maryland Court of Special Appeals decision upheld his conviction, triggering mandatory deportation proceedings as the offense qualifies as an aggravated felony under U.S. immigration law.

A woman who has resided in the United States since 1996 was arrested by ICE in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 24, 2026. The government detained her under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2), but the court found this violated immigration law since she had no prior ICE encounters. The court ordered her immediate release and prohibited re-detention without proper legal authority.

A 70-year-old Iranian woman who had resided peacefully in the United States for 26 years was detained by the Trump administration without valid legal justification. Federal Judge Gary Klausner expressed shock at the government's inability to provide adequate cause for her detention and ordered her release. Her case exemplifies a pattern in which the Department of Justice has failed to present valid arguments to justify detentions across numerous cases.

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.

ICE raided a South Burlington, Vermont home on March 11, 2026, searching for Deyvi Daniel Corona-Sanchez after a car chase, but instead arrested three residents: Ecuadorian sisters Jisella Johana Patin Patin and Daysi Camila Patin Patin, and Honduran national Christian Humberto Jerez Andrade. The operation sparked a daylong standoff as hundreds of protesters surrounded the building and federal agents used flash bangs and tear gas to clear the crowd, prompting friction between ICE and local police. Judges later ordered the release of all three, finding their detentions unlawful, and their attorneys say ICE violated their civil rights. In a revised court filing, ICE now says it no longer believes Corona-Sanchez was driving the car during the chase, after Jerez Andrade told the FBI he was the driver and that his 18-year-old nephew was a passenger.

Usiel Sanchez Romero, an Omaha contracting business owner who came to the United States without authorization in 2013, was detained by ICE during a traffic stop on March 21, 2026. Romero, who has no criminal record and is married with an 8-year-old son, has operated his contracting business for seven years. Following his detention, he was taken to Pottawattamie County Jail and held without a bond hearing. Romero is suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Pottawattamie County, seeking either his release from custody or a bond hearing in immigration court.

Estefany Rodríguez Flórez, a reporter for Nashville Noticias covering Spanish-language news, was arrested by ICE agents on March 4, 2026, during a traffic stop in South Nashville while her husband was dropping off their daughter at a bus stop. A Colombian citizen who entered the U.S. legally on a tourist visa in 2021, Rodríguez had fled Colombia after receiving threats for reporting on militant groups and was awaiting asylum approval. She also had pending green card applications through marriage to a U.S. citizen. ICE cited her as a flight risk for missing two meetings, though her attorney stated ICE could not locate any record of a scheduled appointment despite multiple inquiries. During her 16-day detention across facilities in Alabama and Louisiana, she reported difficult conditions including forced chemical washing, isolation, and limited access to legal assistance. An immigration judge granted her release on bond on March 16, 2026, and she was released on March 20 after a $10,000 bond was paid. Her legal team filed federal court petitions challenging the arrest as warrantless and alleging violations of her First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights, including allegations of retaliation for her critical reporting on ICE enforcement activities.

A Vietnamese national who entered the U.S. as a refugee in 1988 was re-detained by ICE on March 20, 2026, during a routine check-in. He had a valid removal order issued against him in 1997, but removal efforts failed at that time and he was released on an Order of Supervision. The court denied his habeas petition on July 16, 2026, finding that changed circumstances—including improved U.S.-Vietnam diplomatic relations and deportation protocols—created a significant likelihood of his removal in the reasonably foreseeable future.

A 23-year-old woman was detained at a Border Patrol checkpoint on State Route 94 after agents suspected her of smuggling undocumented migrants but found no evidence of a crime. An agent falsely told her he found "deleted evidence" on her phone; when she grabbed it back, agents twisted her arm and wrestled the phone from her. As she turned to walk into a holding cell, an agent Tasered her, striking her breast. She was pregnant with a 2-month-old baby at the time and was hospitalized to have the Taser prong removed; her breastmilk was bloody for weeks. Federal prosecutors charged her with assaulting a federal officer but dismissed the charge in August after body camera footage contradicted agents' allegations and her attorney argued agents violated her constitutional rights by arresting her without probable cause and using excessive force.

An Afghan asylum seeker was assured by ICE that two missed check-ins would not be held against him—one due to a double-booked appointment and another due to hospitalization for a heart arrhythmia. Two months after the hospitalization, ICE detained him at work, claiming he was a flight risk for missed check-ins and failing to report a move to Portland. ICE provided no documentary evidence of the violations. U.S. District Judge Kymberly K. Evanson ruled in his favor and released him after 41 days of detention at the Northwest Detention Center.

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.