Human Impact Project

Lorenzo Rojas-Martinez, a 37-year-old Mexican national who had been deported twice previously, was arrested after operating a drone in restricted airspace near Centennial Olympic Park during the 2026 FIFA Fan Festival in Atlanta on June 12. Federal agents observed him operating the drone from a parking lot, where he was recording video of the event. After confirming his unlawful presence in the United States, he was taken into custody and transferred to ICE. He faces federal charges for operating a drone in a temporary flight restricted zone and illegal reentry after prior deportations. ICE arrested Jose Garrido-Benitez, 51, on July 6 after he was caught flying a drone in a no-fly zone 2.5 miles from Arrowhead Stadium on July 3. Garrido-Benitez, a Mexican national, was detained for unlawful presence in the United States. ICE stated he had prior convictions and had been removed from the U.S. in 2003 before unlawfully reentering.

Between May 25 and May 30, 2026, ICE arrested nine individuals in New Jersey as part of enforcement operations. The arrests included: Esteban Pastor Montes Navarro (Mexico) on 5/25 with convictions for simple assault and possession of weapon; David Benitiz (Honduras) on 5/26 with convictions for simple assault, obstructing police, and public order crimes; Cesar Augusto Diaz Poveda (Ecuador) on 5/27 with arrests for assault and obstructing police; Jose Manuel Rivera-Mes (Guatemala) on 5/28 with a conviction for voluntary manslaughter and arrests for weapon offenses; Success Bounte (Ghana) on 5/28 with convictions for robbery, burglary, identity theft, and credit card fraud; Ismael Antonio Moreno-Javier (Dominican Republic) on 5/28 with arrests for terroristic threats, assault, child neglect, and fraud; Carlos Javier Llano-Batista (Dominican Republic) on 5/28 with arrests for fraud, larceny, burglary, and robbery; Jacinta Contreras Reyes (Mexico) on 5/29 with arrests for domestic violence, aggravated assault, and weapon-related charges; and Pabline Patricia Da Silva (Brazil) on 5/30 with arrests for burglary, larceny, and property damage. ICE conducted expanded enforcement operations across New Jersey, resulting in the arrests of several individuals. Marvin Miguel Perez, a Guatemalan national, was arrested on July 6 and had prior convictions in Mercer County Superior Court for unlawful possession of a weapon and theft. Jorge Vega-Meza, a Mexican national, was arrested on July 1 and had been previously removed from the United States with prior convictions related to drug distribution and racketeering. Fidel Rodriguez Lemus, a Cuban national, was arrested during the operations after being ordered removed in 2022 and having previously received a federal prison sentence in the Eastern District of Virginia. Kaitlyn Tracey, a Canadian national, was taken into custody by ICE after allegedly assaulting a teenage girl on the Point Pleasant Boardwalk, with the girl allegedly targeted for wearing pro-Trump and ICE clothing.

A man who lived in the United States for over 25 years was stopped by police in Utah on June 28 while dropping off his son at work. He was transferred to ICE custody and subsequently moved to Golden State Annex detention facility in California before his scheduled court date. He has no criminal record. His family of seven, including a child with autism, is seeking legal representation and has organized a fundraiser to cover legal costs for his case.

Carlos De-Los-Santos-Sosa, 25, was arrested on charges of assault and unlawful restraint after allegedly grabbing a 31-year-old woman at a Burlington Coat Factory store on Holland-Sylvania Road. An ICE detainer was issued for him. The case will be handled in Sylvania Municipal Court.

A Honduran national was deported to Honduras on June 20, 2026, following completion of a Texas prison sentence and a final removal order issued by a Department of Justice immigration judge. According to ICE, he entered the United States at an unknown time and location. He was arrested by Irving Police in January 2024 and again in June 2025 by the Colleyville Police Department, with charges later reduced by prosecutors. He was convicted in December 2025 and sentenced to two years in prison, after which the Texas Department of Criminal Justice transferred him to ICE custody in May 2026.

Daniel Ojambo Adongo, 36, a former Indianapolis Colts linebacker and the first Kenyan to sign with an NFL team in 2013, was detained by ICE at the Miami Correctional Facility in Indiana beginning September 11, 2025, after overstaying his visa following the end of his NFL career in 2015. Adongo had a history of arrests by Indiana law enforcement for crimes including intimidation, battery, disorderly conduct, and criminal mischief. An immigration judge issued a final order of removal on March 23, 2026, and ICE executed the removal on June 20, 2026.

Hanne Engan, a 24-year-old Norwegian citizen applying for a green card through her U.S. citizen husband, was arrested by ICE agents on November 17, 2025, during a green card interview at a San Diego facility and held at Otay Mesa Detention Center for eight to nine days. Despite her Type 1 diabetes diagnosis, ICE confiscated her insulin and continuous glucose monitor, misclassified her condition in detention records, and denied her mealtime insulin despite repeated requests, resulting in dangerously elevated blood sugar levels (508 mg/dL), weight loss, infections, and suicidal ideation. She was placed in solitary confinement for five days. A federal judge found no flight risk, ordered her release on a $1,500 bond after nine days, and later terminated her deportation case after ruling ICE lacked jurisdiction to detain her.

ICE arrested Jose Jairo Rivas-Santiago, 32, a Honduran national, on June 15 after he was released from a Virginia correctional facility where he was serving a 30-year sentence for first-degree murder and armed robbery. In 2019, ICE Homeland Security Investigations special agents had arrested him on armed robbery and conspiracy charges and turned him over to the Richmond City Police Department for prosecution, leading to his 2021 conviction. ICE had lodged an immigration detainer with Coffeewood Correctional Center following that conviction. Rivas-Santiago is now in ICE custody awaiting removal to Honduras under a previously issued final order of removal.

ICE New Orleans lodged an immigration detainer for Felipe Alvarado Hernandez, a 48-year-old Mexican national, following his July 29 arrest in connection with a June 13 hit-and-run near Demonbreun Street and Music Circle East in downtown Nashville. Authorities allege Hernandez drove his pickup truck onto a sidewalk while making a left turn, striking four pedestrians, including two wheelchair users; one victim remained hospitalized in Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Burn Unit as of the arrest date. He was later located at a home in Antioch, where he admitted to driving the vehicle that morning. Hernandez faces 21 charges, including counts of leaving the scene of an accident, failing to render aid, reckless endangerment, and financial responsibility violations, and had previously agreed to removal in 2004 following a Michigan arrest before reentering the country.

Parminderpal Singh, a 26-year-old Indian national, was arrested by ICE in Los Angeles. Reports describe his criminal history as including vehicle theft, grand theft, trespassing, and vandalism, with one source additionally citing robbery and assault-related charges. He remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

Georgii Gabiev, a Russian national from Brooklyn, was arrested by ICE on June 9, 2026, after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in a March 2024 crash near Maynard, Minnesota that killed semi-truck driver Tim Tarnowski. Investigators determined Gabiev ran a stop sign while watching a YouTube video on an iPad, causing the fatal collision. He served 120 days in jail before his release and subsequent ICE arrest. Gabiev is now in federal custody pending removal proceedings.

Bruno Orlando Medina Mendoza and Jorge Manuel Escobar Quispe from Peru, and Raul Andrey Echavez Castro from Colombia, were among five people arrested by New Britain police on June 5 in a sting in which detectives posed online as having access to a minor for sex. All three face charges of commercial sexual abuse of a minor, attempted sexual contact with a victim under 16, and second-degree sexual assault. ICE has lodged detainers and is asking Connecticut officials not to release the men from custody, saying all three entered the United States in 2023—Quispe and Castro through Arizona and Mendoza through California.

Diego Armando Gonzalez-Rosales, a former kitchen manager at Zipps Sports Grill, was sentenced to five months in prison after pleading guilty to sharing another person's driver's license and Social Security card to help a friend get hired at the restaurant chain. Gonzalez-Rosales came to the U.S. in 2006 and started as a dishwasher at Zipps before working his way up to kitchen manager, a role in which he vetted and hired new kitchen staff, and he also used fake identification himself to obtain employment. He was arrested during a January raid on Zipps' 15 Valley locations stemming from a Homeland Security Investigations probe into undocumented workers, one of only four employees indicted despite 39 people being arrested that day. His attorney, Debbie Jang, said he was the only person in a management position to face charges and called him a 'pawn' and 'scapegoat' for a company she said systematically engaged in unlawful hiring practices. He faces potential deportation upon release from prison.

Christian Espinosa-Sarango, 33, an Ecuadorian national, was arrested by ICE on February 13 after being released on bond by North Haven police. Espinosa-Sarango had been arrested in December as part of a child sexual exploitation sting and charged with enticing a minor and attempted sexual assault. ICE had lodged a detainer, but Connecticut's Trust Act prevented local police from holding him without a judicial warrant. During his ICE arrest, he allegedly resisted and attempted to flee, leading officers to break his vehicle window.

Lucas Gustavo Brajak De Almeida Di Benedetto, 41, a Brazilian-born chef, drove the wrong way on Route 1 early Sunday morning and collided head-on with a Massachusetts State Police cruiser. He told authorities he had consumed two beers before the crash and was unfamiliar with the interchange. After posting bail, he appeared at Peabody District Court on June 3, 2026, for his arraignment on charges of operating under the influence, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and driving the wrong way. ICE agents arrested him outside the courthouse, taking him into custody for visa overstay—he had entered the U.S. nearly 20 years ago but was authorized to stay only three months and remained in the country illegally. He was held pending removal proceedings.

Denny Gabriel Perez Ospino, a Venezuelan national, was arrested by ICE agents outside Cook County's Bridgeview Courthouse after completing a court hearing for misdemeanor retail theft charges. According to a witness, agents swarmed his vehicle as he attempted to leave, chased him back toward the courthouse, and physically restrained him at the entrance. DHS stated he was released by the Biden administration in November 2023 after Border Patrol apprehension and is subject to removal proceedings.

Cristian Romario Saenz-Argueta, a 31-year-old noncitizen from El Salvador, was arrested after an investigation into reports that he sexually assaulted a girl under 15 in a parking lot in November 2025. He is charged with three felony counts including rape and carnal knowledge of a child. According to authorities, Saenz-Argueta used social media to connect with the victim, falsely portraying himself as 18 years old before arranging an in-person meeting where the assault occurred. ICE lodged an immigration detainer against him, claiming he entered the U.S. without legal documentation. DHS used the case to criticize Virginia's sanctuary policies and the expiration of Prince William County's 287(g) agreement with ICE.

Juan Ayala-Montero, a 60-year-old Mexican national with an extensive criminal record including prior homicide and assault convictions, was arrested on May 23, 2026, after allegedly shooting multiple people in New Caney, Texas over the Memorial Day weekend. He was charged with unlawful firearms possession as a noncitizen and faces federal charges related to the shooting. ICE lodged a detainer seeking custody of Ayala-Montero from Montgomery County authorities, and he is currently in custody pending federal court appearance.

ICE conducted an enforcement operation on May 29, 2026, targeting foreign nationals with criminal convictions. The operation resulted in five arrests: Javier Moya-Tentory, a Mexican national previously convicted of murder in Harris County, Texas; Reinerio Mendoza-Diaz, a Honduran national convicted of second-degree sexual assault on a child under 14 in Fort Smith, Arkansas; Gary Smith Apolinanario-Apolinario, a Peruvian national convicted of fourth-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a child in Stamford, Connecticut; George Abdalla, a Sudanese national convicted of sexual assault in Salt Lake City, Utah; and Jairo Cardenas-Fonseca, a Colombian national convicted of procuring an adult for prostitution in San Jose, California.

An immigration detainee was detained under immigration law 8 U.S.C. § 1225 at Orange County Jail in Florida. The court granted a temporary restraining order on May 6, 2026, enjoining respondents from detaining him and ordering his immediate release if held on immigration charges. Orange County Jail released him in accordance with the court order, making the habeas corpus petition moot. A man who entered the U.S. without inspection in December 2022 but was formally paroled by DHS and had complied with all conditions for 3.5 years was arrested during a routine traffic stop in Oklahoma and taken into immigration custody. He was transferred between detention facilities before arriving at Golden State Annex in California. The court granted his habeas petition and ordered his immediate release, finding his detention without pre-deprivation process violated due process rights.