Human Impact Project

Diana Butnarciuc, a Moldovan immigrant who arrived in the U.S. legally in 2008, was arrested by ICE agents on February 13, 2026, during a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services interview for a permanent resident card in Las Vegas. Butnarciuc, who is married to Marine veteran Patrick Baja and has two children, has no criminal record, works, and pays taxes. Although she faced a 2018 deportation order after her asylum claim was denied, her marriage to Baja made her eligible for a green card. Her attorney stated that Butnarciuc entered the U.S. legally and should be entitled to permanent resident status. She is being held at Henderson Detention Center, and her husband is seeking her release.

Fadya Contreras de Rondon and Johnny Rondon Rodriguez, both real estate agents in Central Florida with valid driver's licenses, Social Security cards, work permits, state Realtor licenses, and pending asylum cases, were detained by federal immigration agents on January 9, 2026, while driving to work together. U.S. District Judge John Antoon ordered Rondon Rodriguez released from Orange County Jail about a week before ordering Contreras de Rondon's release on February 13, after finding the arrest warrants used to justify their detentions were invalid. During her nearly month-long detention, Contreras de Rondon was repeatedly transferred between the Orange County Jail, a South Florida facility, and the ICE office in Orlando whenever her 72-hour jail hold expired, and her husband said guards grew upset over simple requests such as medication. Their attorney, Phillip Arroyo, said the couple was shocked by their treatment despite holding legal documentation but remain hopeful about their future in the country.

Nicolth Hernandez-Lucero, a 24-year-old Colombian national, was detained by federal immigration agents on Wednesday night while driving home near St. Ambrose Episcopal Church in Fort Lauderdale. Her husband, Noah Lazega, recorded the encounter as agents told her she would be detained. Hernandez-Lucero entered the U.S. legally at age 15 and has been in the country for nine years with no criminal record, working as a surgical technician at a local hospital and going through the asylum process with her family. She is now held at a detention facility in Pompano Beach, and her attorney has filed for a bond hearing.

Ramiro and his nephews Antonella and Andrés attended a scheduled immigration court hearing in Texas on February 12, 2026. After leaving the courtroom, they were detained by ICE and held at Karnes County Immigration Processing Center despite having no deportation order, no criminal record, and having entered the U.S. legally with a visa before applying for asylum. They were subsequently released but the family incurred approximately $17,500 in legal fees and bond payments.

Jimmy Paz, a Georgia man with a valid work permit and no criminal record, was detained by ICE agents during a traffic stop in January despite presenting valid identification documents. Paz, who has lived in the U.S. for 21 years and was approved for temporary protected status in 2022, is being held at the ICE Processing Center in Folkston. His family expresses concern about his health, as he had a heart transplant four years ago, and hopes he will be released to continue his asylum process outside of custody.

A Venezuelan family who legally entered the U.S. through the CBP One program and were released on notice to appear in court chose to self-deport to Mexico after ICE arrested the husband and son. The family said ICE agents came to their home in New Mexico claiming a routine status check, detained the husband from his workplace, and took the son from a construction site. The remaining family members decided to relocate to Mexico rather than risk deportation to Venezuela.

The petitioner entered the United States on a visitor visa in October 2017, authorized to stay until April 2018. He filed for asylum in March 2018, shortly before his visa expired, and has since been granted work authorization multiple times, with his most recent authorization valid from August 2022 through October 2028. On February 9, 2026, he was transferred from local custody into ICE custody, where he was held under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) at a detention facility. He filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging his detention on procedural due process grounds and sought a temporary restraining order for immediate release. The government argued he should be required to exhaust administrative remedies and that he had received all process due under the statute, but failed to fully respond to the court's requests for documentation about his asylum status, work authorization, and custody determination. The court found that immigration authorities had been aware of and had authorized his continued presence in the U.S. for years after his visa expired, giving him a protected liberty interest in his continued release. The court granted his habeas petition, ordered his immediate release, and barred future re-detention without a pre-detention hearing unless exigent circumstances exist.

Amalia, an 18-month-old girl, was detained with her parents, Kheilin Valero Marcano and Stiven Arrieta Prieto, Venezuelans who fled persecution for opposing President Nicolás Maduro, after being arrested in El Paso and transferred to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center. Her parents repeatedly sought help at the facility's clinic as she grew feverish and lethargic, receiving only Tylenol, until she lost consciousness and was hospitalized at a children's hospital in San Antonio for over a week with respiratory failure, COVID-19, an ear infection, pneumonia, bronchitis, and RSV. After her January 28 discharge, she was returned to Dilley, where her parents say she was denied access to prescribed medication despite medical warnings that she remained vulnerable to reinfection. Following a federal lawsuit and emergency habeas corpus petition, the family was released from detention on February 7, 2026, after roughly two months in custody.

Amalia, an 18-month-old Venezuelan girl, arrived in the United States with her parents Kheilin Valero Marcano and Stiven Arrieta Prieto through the CBP One appointment system and was living in El Paso while awaiting asylum processing. On December 11, 2024, the family was arrested during a routine ICE check-in despite complying with all immigration requirements and checking in regularly. They were detained at Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas. In early January 2026, Amalia developed a high fever, vomiting, and breathing difficulties. Despite her parents' repeated requests for medical care at the facility's clinic, staff provided only Tylenol. On January 18, her oxygen levels dropped critically to the 50s, and she was rushed to Methodist Children's Hospital in San Antonio, where she was hospitalized for 10 days and diagnosed with pneumonia, COVID-19, RSV, and viral bronchitis. After discharge on January 28, doctors prescribed nebulized breathing treatments and nutritional supplements. ICE returned Amalia to Dilley detention instead of her prior community, where staff confiscated her nebulizer, albuterol, and nutritional supplements. Her parents were forced to wait daily in an outdoor 'pill line' and were frequently turned away without her prescribed medications. After her attorneys filed an emergency federal habeas corpus petition, the family was released in February 2026. Upon release, they were transported to a shelter in Laredo without her medications, birth certificate, vaccination records, or money for travel. Amalia developed behavioral changes after detention, crying when separated from her mother. Her case is one of more than 500 infants and toddlers under age three detained by ICE since January 2025, according to documentation by MS NOW and The Marshall Project.

A 7-year-old girl and her parents from Venezuela were detained by immigration agents outside a Portland hospital emergency department on January 16 while seeking emergency medical care for the child's prolonged nosebleed. After three weeks at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, the family was released on February 7, though Congresswoman Maxine Dexter stated she was unsure why ICE approved their release. The detention marked one of the first confirmed cases of an entire family detained in Oregon during the Trump administration's escalated deportation campaign.

Elizabeth Zuna Caisaguano, a 10-year-old fourth-grader at Columbia Heights Public School District near Minneapolis, was detained by ICE agents on January 6, 2026, along with her mother Rosa Elena Caisaguano Cajilema while being driven to her school bus stop. Agents told Elizabeth they would take her to school but instead transported the pair 1,200 miles to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. The family had fled Ecuador and sought asylum in 2020; their application was denied in September 2025, but an appeal remained pending. During their month in detention, Elizabeth developed flu-like symptoms and her mother developed hives, with limited medical care provided, and at least six other children from the same school district were later sent to the same facility as part of a broader operation. After a habeas corpus petition was filed, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery ruled on February 2 that they could not be deported while their case proceeds. Elizabeth and her mother were released on February 3 and returned to Minnesota to reunite with Elizabeth's father, following calls for their release from school officials and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Juan David Quichimbo, an Ecuadorian father living in Springfield, Massachusetts, has been held at the Plymouth ICE detention facility for nearly two months despite having a pending T-visa application as an alleged labor trafficking victim. Quichimbo has no criminal record; his family received notice at a routine immigration check-in in November before his detention. His attorney Elizabeth Shaw said he and his family 'have been diligently pursuing their relief from removal' since arriving in the U.S. and that he has never had any interaction with law enforcement, 'not even a minor driving infraction.' After one federal judge lifted a ban on his transfer or deportation, a second federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking ICE from moving him, which the government has moved to dissolve.

An 11-year-old girl's mother from Ecuador was detained by federal immigration agents on February 5, 2026, after leaving her apartment for the first time in over a month to buy groceries. She was transferred to a detention facility in Texas approximately 1,400 miles away before attorney John Hayden secured a federal court order demanding her return to Minnesota. She was returned to a Minneapolis detention facility on Friday morning. The mother had applied for asylum in the U.S. and was later transferred to a jail in Willmar, Minnesota.

Yadira Córdoba, a member of the Asociación Madres de Abril and mother of Orlando Córdoba, a 15-year-old killed by pro-government forces near the Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería during Nicaragua's May 30, 2018 protest march, fled Nicaragua in 2023 after facing persecution and threats. She was arrested by ICE in San Antonio, Texas while attending an immigration appointment and held in custody starting August 20, 2025; in November 2025 a judge denied her asylum claim and ordered her deported to Honduras, which twice refused to accept her. On February 5, 2026, she was deported to Mexico, where she remained in Tapachula under the supervision of Mexico's National Human Rights Commission while filing an asylum application with the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR).

A 22-year-old native of Peru fled to the United States with her family in September 2022 to escape death threats. She was paroled into the US after brief detention at the border due to facility overcrowding. While living in Illinois, she updated her address with ICE, filed an asylum application in July 2023, and married a naturalized U.S. citizen in April 2024. ICE issued her a Notice to Appear on May 2, 2024, but served it at an outdated Florida address, so she was unaware of removal proceedings held in her absence on October 2, 2025. At a virtual check-in appointment on February 5, 2026, ICE arrested her despite no warning in the appointment confirmation. She was held at Clinton County Jail in Frankfort, Indiana (later transferred to Clark County Jail in Jeffersonville). She sought to reopen her removal proceedings, which was granted on February 20, 2026. She filed Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) and Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence) with USCIS. She petitioned for habeas corpus relief, arguing her detention without a bond hearing violates federal law. The court granted her petition, ordering the government to provide her an individualized bond hearing before an immigration judge under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) by 5:00 p.m. on May 26, 2026, or release her under reasonable conditions of supervision.

Two Afghan brothers with pending asylum claims were detained by ICE during a routine check-in with the Alternatives to Detention unit on Tuesday morning. Mohammad Emran Kohistani and Mohammad Sajad Kohistani, who presented themselves at the U.S. border in 2023 and were released on their own recognizance, were told they were not "appropriately vetted" at the border. Their attorney filed an emergency habeas petition and temporary restraining order, with a federal court hearing scheduled for Thursday.

Cristian, a Colombian immigrant with an asylum claim, was detained by ICE agents on February 4 while heading to a new job in St. Paul. He was transferred to detention centers in Texas and Louisiana before self-deporting to Colombia. His wife Alejandra was left as the sole provider for their two young sons and is now trying to save money for plane tickets to return to Colombia, saying their experience made clear they are not welcomed in the United States.

Dylan, a 20-year-old Venezuelan student at Ellis Prep High School in the Bronx, was detained by ICE on May 21, 2025, immediately after appearing at federal immigration court in Lower Manhattan for an asylum hearing. He entered the United States legally under Biden-era policies and has no criminal record. His attorney stated he was entitled to full legal protections to pursue asylum relief. Dylan's mother reported he has been suffering from untreated stomach problems and has been moved to at least four different detention centers within five to six days. The Department of Homeland Security placed him under expedited removal proceedings.

A Chinese national was re-detained by ICE on February 2, 2026, after previously being released on supervised release in October 2023 following a removal order. He had complied with all terms of his supervised release. The court granted his motion for preliminary injunction and ordered his immediate release on the same conditions as his prior supervised release.

Medina, an asylum applicant with a valid work permit, was detained by ICE on February 2, 2026, after appearing at a scheduled court date in San Diego. He was transferred to Otay Mesa Detention Center and is scheduled to remain detained at least until his next court date on February 24. Medina has lived in the United States since adolescence, is married to a U.S. citizen, and has two U.S. citizen children. His detention has caused financial hardship for his family, who lost his primary income.