Human Impact Project

Seyo Cecunjanin, a West Hartford restaurant and laundry business owner from Montenegro, was arrested by ICE on June 20, 2026, in a Dunkin' Donuts parking lot surrounded by five unmarked vehicles while with two of his sons. He was detained at Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls, Rhode Island for approximately 12 days. Cecunjanin entered the U.S. in 1997 using a fraudulent passport and had an outstanding removal order, but had been permitted to reenter in 2024 and maintained valid work authorization at the time of his arrest. He owns two restaurants and a laundry business employing 15 people and has a pending permanent resident application filed in September 2023. U.S. Rep. John Larson and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, along with other members of Connecticut's congressional delegation, held a press conference and sent letters to ICE demanding his release, citing his valid work authorization and pending immigration case. Cecunjanin was released on June 26, 2026 (or July 2, 2026 according to another account).

Miguel Angel Gomez Alvarado, who had lived in the United States for 14-15 years as an undocumented immigrant, was stopped by police during a traffic stop between November 2025 and February 2026 and turned over to ICE, which held him in deportation proceedings without a bond hearing. Gomez had no criminal record and was raising American citizen children. A federal judge found that holding him without a bond hearing violated his due process rights and ordered his release. The Trump administration appealed the decision to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled on July 2, 2026, that the government cannot hold undocumented immigrants for more than 90 days without a bond hearing and must articulate individualized justification for detention.

A Venezuelan man who entered the United States in July 2022 was initially apprehended by immigration officials and released pending removal proceedings, after which he lived in Portland, Oregon. He was re-detained on July 2, 2026, apparently without any notice beforehand, and has a pending application for Temporary Protected Status. He did not receive a bond hearing until a month after his re-detention. He is currently held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center and filed a habeas petition along with a motion for a temporary restraining order, arguing that a transfer out of the district would strip the court of jurisdiction over his case and harm his ability to pursue relief and stay in contact with family members. The court found he was likely detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) rather than subject to mandatory detention, and that the lack of an individualized hearing at the outset of his re-detention likely violated due process under the Mathews test. The court granted the temporary restraining order, barring his removal or transfer to another facility, and ordered a preliminary injunction hearing and briefing schedule within 14 days.

Jose Acosta, an undocumented immigrant from Honduras who had lived in the U.S. since 2018 while awaiting a green card decision, was detained on July 2 while sitting in his parked truck outside a construction job site in Harmar, Pennsylvania. Springdale Borough police and ICE, operating under a 287(g) task force agreement signed in November, carried out the joint arrest and transported him to ICE's field office in Pittsburgh. Aside from a 2023 traffic stop, Acosta had no other encounters with law enforcement. His wife, Yaquelin Vasques, is now raising their three children alone and said she hopes he could be released in two to three years.

An unidentified man was detained by ICE in White Center, Seattle on July 2, 2026. According to a social media account, he was taken into custody from a vehicle while his young daughter was in the backseat. The man's mother arrived to take the child, and bystanders reported she told ICE officers the family had immigration paperwork, but he was detained anyway. Neighbors gathered at the scene, using whistles, recording, and calling 911 in response to the enforcement action.

A mother and her child were detained by ICE agents in Houston, Texas on July 2, 2026. According to the post, ICE agents used two vehicles to stop the mother's car in a parking lot near an apartment complex around 2:30 p.m. A video of the incident shows the child pleading for help as her mother was taken into custody.

Liliana, a mother of two U.S.-based children, was detained by ICE during a routine check-in in May 2017 and subsequently deported to El Salvador despite intensive advocacy efforts by immigrant rights organizations in the Washington, DC metro area, including press conferences and intervention from elected officials. The article documents her struggle to rebuild her life as a deportee facing violence, unemployment, and social stigmatization in El Salvador.

A Nicaraguan father of two children was arrested by ICE during a routine check-in appointment on Monday, despite having an immigration court hearing already scheduled for 2027, according to his immigration attorney Cindy Blandon in Miami. The arrest occurred during a surge in which ICE detained more than 10,000 people over five days following White House directives to increase enforcement operations.

Victor Luna Lopez, a Mexican national residing in the U.S. since 2004, was detained by ICE while working as a roofer after agents observed workers on a private property roof using a drone and conducted document verification. Luna Lopez holds military parole status due to his daughter's active service in the U.S. military, which his family and attorney argue should protect him from detention. He is being held at El Valle Detention Center while his family pursues legal action and public support for his release.

Jose David Cortes-Torres, a 20-year-old man who has lived in Bozeman since 2023 and serves as primary caregiver for his grandmother undergoing cancer treatment, was pulled over while driving to work on June 29 by ICE agents in an unmarked white Dodge Durango. Agents told him he had no right to be in the United States and arrested him without charging him with a crime. He was held for more than 24 hours in a cramped holding room at the Helena Airport with over 15 other people, forced to stand for roughly six hours, and limited to a single three-minute phone call with his attorneys, who were pressured to encourage him to self-deport. His lawyers at Upper Seven Law filed a federal habeas corpus petition alleging the arrest violated due process and was part of a dragnet operation targeting Latinos without individualized suspicion. A federal judge ordered him to remain in Montana pending a hearing.

JeanCarlos Fiallos Manzanares, a Miami man who had lived in the U.S. for over 30 years and holds DACA status, was detained by ICE agents following a traffic stop near his mother's house. He was transferred to the Otero County Processing Center in New Mexico, roughly 2,000 miles from his U.S. citizen wife and two young sons. While in custody, USCIS approved his deferred action renewal, but ICE did not release him, and an immigration judge later ordered his deportation to Honduras while USCIS rescinded his approved protections. He filed a lawsuit challenging his detention, and a federal judge found merit in his petition, but he was deported after more than a year in ICE custody, separated from his family.

Omar Bautista Carvajal, a Colombian immigrant with a valid work permit and no criminal record who had been deemed a low safety risk, was detained by ICE agents in the Chicago area on his way to English class on October 4, 2025, as part of 'Operation Midway Blitz.' His wife, Jasbleidys Hernandez, said his health deteriorated in custody and that ICE did not prioritize his medical needs or meals; an immigration judge ordered his removal on May 5, 2026, and he was deported to Colombia on July 22, 2026. Unable to afford living in the U.S. without his income, Hernandez and their two younger children, including daughter Victoria, departed from O'Hare International Airport to reunite with him, while their 19-year-old son, Juan Jaimes, chose to stay in Chicago, saying he feels his future is there. Bautista Carvajal was among more than 600 people named in a federal class-action lawsuit arguing they should not have been detained, though a court overturned an order for his release before his removal.

A Mexican citizen and father who has lived continuously in the United States for approximately thirty years, since his entry around 1996, is married to a U.S. citizen spouse, and together they have a 14-year-old U.S. citizen son who has learning disabilities. He has no criminal history and no final order of removal. On July 1, 2026, he was arrested and detained by ICE and was held without a bond hearing at the Pike County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania. He filed a habeas corpus petition arguing that his detention under the mandatory detention provision of 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b) was unlawful because that provision applies only to noncitizens actively seeking admission, not longtime residents, who are instead subject to the discretionary detention provision, 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), which entitles them to a bond hearing. On July 30, 2026, Judge Robert D. Mariani of the Middle District of Pennsylvania granted the petition, ordered the government to immediately release him, and permanently enjoined the government from detaining him under § 1225(b) absent a compelling change in circumstances, while requiring notice and a timely individualized bond hearing for any future detention under § 1226(a).

Jesus Eduardo Reyes Hermes, a Venezuelan national with valid Temporary Protected Status, was arrested by ICE on April 28, 2026, while working on his car outside his South-Central El Paso home. His 11-year-old son, identified in court records as J.R.C., was also detained during the incident despite both having pending asylum claims; the boy told El Paso Matters he believes the arrest stemmed from a neighbor's noise complaint to ICE. Reyes Hermes had lived in El Paso for nearly four years and was in the process of applying for a TPS exemption at the time of his arrest. He was transferred to the Camp East Montana detention facility at Fort Bliss and separated from his son. After attorneys filed federal habeas corpus petitions, a federal judge ordered bond hearings, and an immigration judge set a $5,000 bond on June 16; Reyes Hermes was released on June 24, the same day USCIS issued a negative credible fear determination triggering expedited removal proceedings against him. In July, his son requested voluntary deportation to reunite with his mother in Venezuela after three years in El Paso.

S, a Nigerian Christian, came to the United States in 2001 and applied for asylum based on her fear of religious persecution. A U.S. immigration judge found she would be persecuted if returned to Nigeria and granted her withholding of removal. She is the primary breadwinner for her four U.S. citizen children and her husband, who is disabled. At a routine ICE check-in in Los Angeles in July 2026, she was arrested, detained, and summarily deported to Ghana, separating her from her family and the country she called home for 25 years. Within 24 hours of her arrival, Ghanaian authorities refouled her to Nigeria, where she fears the persecution she fled.

A Peruvian asylum seeker and father of two US citizen toddlers, a citizen of Peru, entered the United States on June 9, 2023, and has lived and worked in the country since then, employed in the A/C mechanics and warehouse industry while paying taxes and contributing to his community. He has two toddlers who are United States citizens. After presenting himself at a port of entry and expressing fear of returning to Peru, he passed a credible fear interview and was paroled into the country to pursue asylum, with his asylum application still pending in ongoing removal proceedings. On July 1, 2026, DHS detained him after he left his local DMV office, and he argued his parole and liberty had been unlawfully revoked without notice or justification. He was held at the Denver Contract Detention Facility and filed a habeas petition seeking immediate release or, alternatively, a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a). The court found he was improperly subject to mandatory detention under § 1225(b)(2), citing prior rulings and a Tenth Circuit decision limiting that provision's application to noncitizens detained at the border. The court granted the habeas petition, ordered his immediate release without conditions such as GPS monitoring, enjoined his re-arrest absent a clear-and-convincing-evidence bond hearing, and denied his TRO/preliminary injunction motion as moot.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained 15 people during raids in Bloomington-Normal from July 1-3, 2026, according to the Immigration Project. The detainees had entered the United States legally from Venezuela, Mexico, Ecuador, and Guatemala. Most were apprehended at their workplaces throughout the community. About half were described as long-term residents, while others had recently arrived. Many had been granted humanitarian parole under the Biden administration or had applied for asylum; a few had pending family petitions. One detainee was unaware of a missed immigration court date and was ordered deported in absentia. In several cases, families were separated, including some in which the primary breadwinner was detained. One detainee was denied a breathing machine while in confinement. The detentions are part of a nationwide ICE enforcement effort that reportedly captured more than 10,000 people during a five-day period. As of July 10, the Immigration Project said it had confirmed 15 families were impacted and was providing legal and social services support; the group said it had received no additional reports of ICE activity in the area and was hopeful enforcement operations had ended there.

Fatima Eminzada, a 24-year-old citizen of Azerbaijan, was detained by ICE on April 4, 2026, and transferred to the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana. She is pregnant in her first trimester with medical complications including hypothyroidism, possible UTI, and mild anemia. After bond was denied at a redetermination hearing on May 14, 2026, and an immigration judge denied her renewed motion for bond on June 12, 2026, she filed a federal habeas corpus petition on June 25, 2026, represented by attorneys Logan Joseph Duplessis and Giedre Stasiunaite. On July 1, 2026, the court issued a temporary restraining order and ordered ICE respondents to file a medical-status report addressing her current medical conditions, treatment, and access to medical care, with the deadline extended to July 13, 2026.

On July 1, 2026, Bozeman resident Brandi Straub was driving near Camp Equinox summer theater camp, about 10 minutes after dropping off her daughter, when ICE agents conducting an enforcement operation pursued two men who had jumped from a moving pickup truck after it sideswiped a post. An agent ran past her vehicle and pointed a gun through her passenger window before continuing the pursuit. Straub's 12-year-old daughter and a neighbor's 11-year-old were at the camp, three blocks away with about 120 children present; she called the camp director, who had not been notified of the operation but was already keeping children inside due to a storm. When Straub called 911, dispatch told her local police could not intervene in ICE operations.

A mother was detained by ICE agents on June 29 while walking to a store to buy groceries for her family. Her family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for her legal defense, including paying for an ICE custody analyst and legal team to track her intake, pull her records, and analyze her custody status.