Human Impact Project

An immigrant previously released on bond or conditional parole was re-detained by immigration authorities on April 22, 2026. He challenged his ongoing immigration detention through a habeas corpus petition. The court ordered his immediate release, finding that the government failed to provide a constitutionally required pre-deprivation bond hearing before a neutral arbiter when re-detaining someone previously released.

Ulugbek Badalov, held at Philadelphia Federal Detention Center, filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus challenging his mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225. On April 27, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted his petition, finding he was not subject to mandatory detention. The court ordered Badalov's immediate release from custody and temporarily enjoined the government from re-detaining him for seven days. If the government seeks to re-detain Badalov after the seven-day period, it must first provide him with a bond hearing before a neutral immigration judge to determine whether detention is warranted pending resolution of his removal proceedings.

A self-represented noncitizen detainee was detained on April 21, 2026. The detainee filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the detention and seeking a bond hearing, arguing the detention violated due process as indefinite. ICE notified the court on July 14, 2026 of intent to remove the detainee on July 15, 2026. The court denied the detainee's emergency motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, finding the detainee failed to comply with Rule 65 procedural requirements and was unlikely to succeed on the merits given the scheduled removal date.

A citizen of El Salvador who entered the U.S. in August 2022 was re-detained by ICE on April 21, 2026 while driving to work in Houston, Texas. He had been released into the community for nearly four years, during which time he obtained work authorization, secured employment, paid taxes, and applied for asylum. ICE provided no notice or justification for his re-detention. The court granted his habeas corpus petition, finding that ICE failed to make any finding of changed circumstances before re-detaining him, and ordered his immediate release with procedural protections requiring a pre-deprivation bond hearing if the government seeks to re-detain him.

A 16-year-old identified as "Elias" in court filings was deported to Guatemala without a removal order or any attempt to obtain one, according to a pending lawsuit filed in the District of Columbia. His lawyers argue that "this removal was lawless: Defendants had no removal order for Elias, nor did they even attempt to obtain one." The case follows a similar pattern to Mario Mata Cruz's deportation and is part of a broader pattern documented by lawyers across the country of noncitizens being deported without final removal orders from immigration judges.

A Honduran man has resided continuously in the United States since 2021 and has substantial ties to the country including family members lawfully present, consistent work history, and a fixed address. On April 21, 2026, he was taken into ICE custody and remains detained at the West Tennessee Detention Facility. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention without an individualized bond hearing before a neutral decisionmaker, seeking either a bond hearing or immediate release. The court's order references the Sixth Circuit's decision in Lopez-Campos v. Raycraft, which affirmed that noncitizens who have spent significant time in the United States interior and have not committed certain offenses cannot be detained without an individualized bond hearing. The court ordered the respondent to respond within two business days, and if his detention is based on 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A), to either distinguish the case from Lopez-Campos or consent to the issuance of the writ. The court also imposed a stay on any transfer of him out of the West Tennessee Detention Facility during the litigation.

A Mexican woman who has lived in the U.S. since 2001 was arrested on April 21, 2026 for driving under the influence and causing injury to a child. Although an Idaho magistrate judge ordered her release on her own recognizance, she remained detained at Jefferson County Jail in ICE custody under mandatory detention provisions. The federal court granted her habeas corpus petition and ordered her immediate release.

A Bosnian citizen and lawful permanent resident was detained by ICE on April 21, 2026, at Washington County Jail in Utah after completing a 120-day sentence for violating protective orders. ICE determined he was deportable under immigration law for domestic violence-related convictions including protective order violations, child abuse, and assault. The federal court denied his habeas corpus petition, finding his detention lawful under immigration law.

A Peruvian national with a pending asylum application was detained by ICE on April 21, 2026, during a scheduled check-in appointment in San Francisco. He had been previously released on recognizance but was re-detained after being charged with identity theft and failing to appear for his criminal arraignment. The court granted his habeas petition in part and ordered ICE to provide him with a bond hearing within 14 days.

Jagdish Singh, an Indian citizen with valid work authorization through May 2029 and a pending asylum case, was arrested by ICE on February 11, 2026, after being pulled over at a weigh station near Mitchellville, Iowa during a joint operation between Iowa State Patrol and ICE called "Operation ICE Wall" that targeted commercial drivers near Interstate 80. Singh was detained in Polk County Jail without the opportunity to argue for release on bond. On April 20, a federal judge ruled that the government violated Singh's Fifth Amendment due process rights by arresting him after years of allowing him to live and work in the United States, though the judge stopped short of ordering his immediate release and instead directed an immigration judge to determine if continued detention is warranted. Singh sued the federal government over the alleged violations of his rights.

The petitioner was detained by immigration authorities immediately following his April 20, 2026 arrest for indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over; the criminal case remains pending. He is currently held in immigration custody, reportedly at the California City Detention Facility. He filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus and a motion for a temporary restraining order, arguing he is subject to discretionary detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) rather than mandatory detention, and is entitled to a bond hearing. The government opposed immediate release, arguing his pending criminal charge presents a non-pretextual basis for detention and a danger to the public, but did not oppose the court ruling on the papers. The court agreed that his pending criminal case distinguished his case from others where petitioners were immediately released, and instead ordered a post-deprivation remedy. The court granted the habeas petition and TRO, ordering that he receive a bond hearing before an immigration judge within 14 days, or be released from custody if no hearing is held in that time.

Dzhokhar Gutsiev, a Russian citizen who entered the U.S. in 2022 seeking asylum and was released on humanitarian parole, was detained by DHS in April 2026 while traveling for work in Imperial County, California. Gutsiev had been living in the community for 46 months with work authorization and no criminal history when his parole was abruptly revoked without notice. The federal court granted his habeas petition and ordered his immediate release, ruling that the government violated his due process rights by revoking parole without justification or hearing.

Argam Nazarian, a 27-year-old Armenian Christian Iranian asylum seeker, was detained by ICE in June 2025 despite having an active asylum case and no criminal history. An immigration judge ordered his release on bond in August 2025, finding him neither a flight risk nor a danger, but ICE refused to release him, citing mandatory detention policies for those who entered without inspection. After 298 days in detention across multiple facilities, including El Paso, a federal judge ruled in April 2026 that ICE violated Nazarian's Fifth Amendment due process rights by holding him without a bond hearing and using incorrect legal authority. Nazarian was released and reunited with family in Los Angeles, though his immigration case remains pending.

Gabriela Lozano Sousa, a Venezuelan national who entered the U.S. legally in 2023 through a humanitarian parole program, married U.S. citizen Brandon Garrison in April 2025, believing it would put her on a path to legal residency. In October 2025, a domestic-dispute call brought local police to the scene, who turned her over to federal immigration authorities; no criminal charges resulted. ICE classified her as an 'arriving immigrant,' subjecting her to mandatory detention without a bond hearing, and she was held at a facility in Baker County, Florida. Her attorneys argued the classification was legally incorrect. The couple had filed an I-130 petition on her behalf, under review since November 2025. A federal judge dismissed her immigration case in spring 2026, and she was released after roughly six months in detention, though federal authorities retained 30 days to appeal, leaving her future status uncertain.

Rogelio Bolufé Izquierdo, a 44-year-old Cuban national held at Torrance County Detention Facility in New Mexico since August, previously organized about 200 detainees into the Union of Those Kidnapped by ICE to document poor conditions including inadequate water access, spoiled food, insufficient medical care and sewage leaks. He began a hunger strike about 10 days ago after alleging CoreCivic staff confiscated his legal documents, including draft complaints against the company and immigration court; CoreCivic has denied the claim. Bolufé says he was then abruptly transferred over 48 hours through facilities in Texas, Alabama, Arizona and Washington, during which he was denied medical care for migraines and forced to sleep on cold floors. He has filed multiple habeas corpus petitions challenging his indefinite civil detention without bail, while his fiancée continues to document his case.

A man was released on his own recognizance in February 2024 after entering the United States. On April 18, 2026, ICE re-detained him without providing a pre-deprivation hearing. He filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus and motion for temporary restraining order challenging his detention. The court found that his prior release by immigration authorities created a liberty interest in his continued release and that his re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated due process. The court granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release on the same conditions he was subject to prior to his re-detention. The court also enjoined ICE from re-detaining him in the future without notice and a pre-deprivation hearing before an immigration judge, where ICE must prove by clear and convincing evidence that he is a danger to the community or a flight risk.

A 23-year-old South American woman was deported to the Democratic Republic of Congo after being detained in Louisiana for 15 months by ICE. An immigration judge had previously granted her protection from removal to her home country after she claimed persecution based on her LGBTQ+ status. Despite a federal magistrate judge's recommendation for her release in a lawsuit filed in December, she was deported before a district judge could approve the recommendation as part of a third-country deportation agreement.

Argam Nazarian, a 27-year-old Iranian Christian who fled religious persecution and arrived in the U.S. as a refugee in 2008, was arrested by ICE on June 23, 2025, while heading to work in Los Angeles. He had lived legally in Los Angeles for four years, working as a delivery driver and in air conditioning while supporting his wife and serving as a caretaker for his mother, who has chronic health conditions. An immigration judge ordered his release on bond in August 2025, finding he posed neither a flight risk nor danger to the community, but the federal government refused to release him, arguing his classification as an "applicant for admission" requires mandatory detention. Nazarian was held in ICE detention in El Paso and later transferred to Cibola County Detention Center in New Mexico, where his knee injury requiring ACL reconstruction remained untreated. The Texas Civil Rights Project challenged his detention through habeas corpus petitions. After nearly 10 months in custody, a federal judge ruled on April 17, 2026, that his detention violated his Fifth Amendment rights, and Nazarian was released. War between the U.S., Israel, and Iran beginning February 28, 2026, had disrupted ICE's deportation plans, with charter flights to Iran temporarily ceased.

A native and citizen of India entered the United States on March 6, 2024, near Tecate, California, without inspection. ICE officers took him into custody on April 17, 2026, and transferred him to the Desert View Annex facility in Adelanto, California. The court granted his petition for a bond hearing, ordering ICE to provide an individualized bond hearing within seven days.

A federal magistrate judge in the Western District of Louisiana ordered Alireza Anjomshoa, an Iranian national, released from ICE custody after finding that an affidavit from ICE's assistant New Orleans field office director, Matthew W. Reaves, failed to show his removal was likely. Reaves had argued ICE was working with the State Department and DHS to deport Anjomshoa to a third country, but the judge found the affidavit instead documented 11 months of unsuccessful deportation efforts. His case was one of several in which judges rejected the government's arguments for continuing to detain Iranian nationals amid halted deportations to Iran following the war that began in February 2026. Despite the release order, Anjomshoa has since been held at Oldham County Jail in Kentucky, where he filed an amended habeas corpus petition in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky challenging his continued detention.