Human Impact Project

Wilber Urbina Garcia, an 18-year-old honors graduate of Jordan High School in South Los Angeles, was detained by ICE on June 10, 2026, during a routine asylum check-in at a federal courthouse the morning after his graduation ceremony. His family fled Nicaragua in late 2022 seeking asylum due to political persecution and were in asylum proceedings with valid work permits at the time. Teachers described Wilber as shy but disciplined, with leadership roles by senior year, and he had dreamed of becoming a doctor, registering for pre-med classes at El Camino College. ICE agents told the family Wilber was no longer covered under his mother's asylum case because he had turned 18, though his attorney argued he should remain tied to the case as a derivative applicant filed before age 21. He was held at Adelanto ICE Processing Center for over two weeks in conditions including sewage overflow and insufficient food, where he said older detainees treated him like family. After public defenders challenged ICE's justification, a judge ordered his release on June 26. His mother and eldest brother entered removal proceedings and were fitted with ankle monitors, and an ICE agent told the family his 17-year-old sister would face detention upon turning 18.

A Mexican citizen who entered the United States in July 2004 without inspection was arrested and detained by ICE on June 26, 2026 at the Philadelphia Federal Detention Center. He had previously been detained in 2018, released on bond in May 2018, and had his immigration proceedings taken off calendar in December 2022. The government sought to detain him without a bond hearing under INA § 1225, claiming he was "seeking admission." The court granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release, finding the government's interpretation of the mandatory detention statute unlawful and unwarranted as applied to someone already present in the country for over two decades.

Three Mexican citizens without lawful immigration status were arrested by ICE agents on June 26, 2026, in San Francisco after leaving a residence during an operation targeting another individual. The agents conducted warrantless arrests without making any individualized assessment that the petitioners were likely to escape before a warrant could be obtained, violating 8 U.S.C. § 1357(a)(2). The court found the arrests unlawful and issued a temporary restraining order directing their immediate release from custody.

A Guatemalan national who entered the United States in 2007 was arrested by immigration authorities on June 26, 2026, while traveling to work. He was detained at the Philadelphia Federal Detention Center under mandatory detention provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1225 without a bond hearing. On June 30, 2026, the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted his habeas corpus petition, finding his detention unlawful because he was not 'seeking admission' under the statute, and ordered his immediate release.

On May 28, 2026, ICE agents detained more than a dozen employees at Don Patron Mexican Restaurant locations in Weston and Bridgeport, West Virginia, including Erick Cumes and Jose Cruz Castro, with families reporting poor detention conditions. On June 25-26, a federal judge ruled that Cumes's case could remain in West Virginia court, but on July 7 an immigration judge denied his asylum claim and ordered him deported. A subsequent habeas corpus ruling granted him a bond hearing, but bond was denied due to his pending deportation order and flight risk. Cumes, held at Moshannon Valley Detention Center in Pennsylvania since his arrest, waived his right to appeal, and his wife said she plans to join him in Guatemala after deportation.

Gavilan Sanchez, a Mexican national without legal immigration status and mother of U.S. citizen children, was arrested by ICE agents during the same June 11 operation that led to the detention of her husband, Jesus Acevedo Sanchez, outside a Baltimore school. Her attorney said agents threatened to do to her "what we did to your husband or worse," and ICE initially accused her of punching officers, though a later affidavit described only "minimal physical resistance." A federal judge ordered her release in early July, and since then her daughters have been staying with relatives. On July 23, a separate judge ordered ICE to release Acevedo Sanchez as well, calling the case a "stomach churner" and finding that ICE lacked probable cause and failed to follow due process procedures during the arrest.

An ICE detainee held at California City Immigration Processing Center filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention. He received an initial bond hearing on March 17, 2026, where the immigration court determined he was a flight risk and danger to the community. At a second hearing on May 28, 2026, the immigration court denied his bond redetermination request by claiming lack of jurisdiction based on mandatory detention. The federal court ordered respondent to determine his eligibility for a bond hearing under 8 C.F.R. § 1003.19(e) within seven days and, if eligible, to conduct the hearing within fourteen days, or immediately release him.

A detained immigrant was held pending removal proceedings without being afforded a bond hearing. He challenged his detention through a habeas corpus petition in federal court. Following the Sixth Circuit's decision in Lopez-Campos v. Raycraft, the court granted the petition and ordered respondents to provide him with a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) within ten days or release him from custody.

A 29-year-old Dominican Republic citizen who entered Puerto Rico without inspection in 2021 was arrested by ICE agents on June 25, 2026 during a traffic stop in San Juan. He had been living in Puerto Rico for nearly five years with no criminal record, had married a U.S. citizen, had an approved I-130 family petition, and had a pending provisional unlawful presence waiver application. The court granted a temporary restraining order preventing his transfer outside Puerto Rico and ordered he receive a bond hearing before an Immigration Judge, finding he likely fell under discretionary detention provisions rather than mandatory detention.

Joseluis (Luis) Ramirez, who moved to the U.S. from Mexico as a teenager and has lived in the country for about two decades, was detained by ICE on Aug. 31 while driving to work in Wapato, Washington, after vehicles blocked him at a stop sign. He has no criminal record and had worked at the same Yakima Valley fruit company for 15 years, serving as the sole provider for his wife, Vanessa Jimenez, and her five children—all U.S. citizens—including a stepson who calls him 'dad.' Days earlier, Jimenez had confronted and filmed ICE agents outside the Yakima County jail and at Yakima Municipal Court, and she believes agents used footage or license plate data to track him down. Agents reportedly urged Ramirez to sign self-deportation papers, which he refused, and his bond request was later denied. The family has filed a habeas corpus petition and started a GoFundMe to cover legal fees and household expenses while caring for two children with developmental delays, including a nonverbal three-year-old and a three-month-old infant, amid financial hardship from lost income.

A Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. in 2014 to request asylum was detained by ICE on June 24, 2026, while on his way to work. He had been residing in the United States for 12 years with a valid work permit and pending asylum claims. The court ordered his immediate release, finding that his mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b) without a bond hearing violated immigration law, as that provision applies only to those affirmatively seeking admission, not long-term residents.

A woman is detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the El Valle Detention Center in Willacy County, Texas. She filed a habeas petition challenging the government's authority to detain her without a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A). While conceding she is subject to mandatory detention under that statute, she alleges the application violates her Fifth Amendment due process rights. The court denied her request for preliminary injunctive relief and decided to await a Fifth Circuit decision in a related case before ruling on her due process claims.

Eduardo Jose Alves, an Angolan asylum seeker living in Lewiston, Maine, who entered the U.S. on a valid tourist visa and filed an affirmative asylum application, was detained by ICE agents at his home on June 20, 2026. That same day, a court issued an emergency order staying his transfer out of Maine for 72 hours, but ICE moved him to Plymouth County Correctional Center in Massachusetts within two hours of the order. Attorneys raised questions about whether agents had a valid warrant and whether they improperly pressured his 15-year-old daughter to allow entry into the home. U.S. District Judge Stacey Neumann later found the detention violated the existing court order and that his out-of-state transfer impaired his right to counsel ahead of an imminent bond hearing, and ordered his immediate release from ICE custody. The dispute became a flashpoint between immigration authorities and attorneys challenging the administration's enforcement tactics.

A noncitizen is detained at the Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, Colorado. He filed a verified petition for writ of habeas corpus seeking immediate release or a bond hearing where the government must justify continued detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a). The court ordered respondents to respond within seven days and issued an order preventing removal from Colorado or the United States pending resolution of the case.

A man facing removal to Armenia filed an emergency ex parte application for a temporary restraining order in federal court to prevent his transfer or removal from the United States pending adjudication of his habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. The Central District of California granted the application on July 17, 2026, enjoining respondents from transferring him outside the Central District of California or removing him from the United States. The court ordered respondents to show cause by July 20, 2026 why a preliminary injunction should not issue, requiring them to specifically address the facts and circumstances detailed by petitioner's counsel regarding how he will be removed to Armenia. Petitioner's reply is due by July 22, 2026, unless the parties stipulate to a different briefing schedule.

An immigration detainee was held at Crow Wing County Jail under immigration enforcement authority. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the lawfulness and duration of his detention. The federal court granted a preliminary injunction preventing his removal from Minnesota pending resolution of claims regarding detention authority and custody legality.

A woman is currently detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the El Valle Detention Center in Willacy County, Texas. She is subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A). In her habeas corpus petition, she contests the government's ability to detain her without a bond hearing, arguing that the application of the mandatory detention statute violates her constitutional rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The court reviewed her petition and indicated it is inclined to deny her request for relief, citing analogous cases. However, the court noted that the Fifth Circuit is currently considering a similar due process challenge in Sosnava Rodriguez v. Ortega and decided to await that decision before ruling on her claims. The court denied her request for a preliminary injunction or other immediate injunctive relief.

A Haitian asylum seeker in her 40s, who had lived in Brazil before entering the U.S. in June 2024 on humanitarian parole, was detained for over six months at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility after ICE arrested her following a domestic disturbance in Massachusetts. She had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and severe anxiety during a prior psychiatric hospitalization, and a hearing revealed conflicting assessments of her mental health among the facility's mental health providers, a corrections officer, and outside clinicians, a dispute the judge did not resolve. U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Lanthier ruled that her prolonged detention without an individualized hearing violated her Fifth Amendment due process rights and ordered her release, giving her legal team time to arrange her return to Massachusetts, though the judge did not rule on claims of deliberate indifference to her mental health needs.

A Guatemalan citizen who entered the United States 22 years ago on a temporary visa was arrested by ICE on June 22, 2026, while on his way to work in Baltimore. He is married with a child who has special needs and requires frequent medical care. He is the sole financial provider for his family. He was arrested without a warrant and has not been presented with one. He filed a habeas corpus petition and application for temporary restraining order challenging the lawfulness of his warrantless arrest under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) and § 1357(a)(2). On August 7, 2026, the federal court granted his petition, finding that his warrantless arrest was unlawful because no statutory exception applied. The court ordered his immediate release and converted his temporary restraining order application into a preliminary injunction, also waiving bond requirements.

A Mexican citizen was arrested by ICE on June 22, 2026 in Weber County, Utah while on his way to work. He had previously been removed from the United States in 2013 pursuant to a final removal order, but subsequently reentered illegally. He was detained in the Weber County and Tooele County detention centers. On June 23, 2026, he filed a habeas corpus petition seeking his release, but on July 2, 2026, the court denied his petition, finding his detention lawful under 8 U.S.C. § 1231, which mandates detention for previously removed noncitizens who reenter.