Human Impact Project

A 25-year-old Guatemalan woman of indigenous Mam ethnicity was detained on January 16, 2026, at an ICE check-in appointment in Eugene due to a pending felony criminal mistreatment case in Marion County. She claims persecution in Guatemala based on her indigenous heritage and reports her daughter is at risk of violence because her former partner is a gang member. Court records show she was released pending the outcome of her habeas petition after attorneys argued she posed neither a flight risk nor danger to the community.

A family of three from Venezuela—parents Yohendry De Jesus Crespo and Darianny Liseth Gonzalez De Crespo, and their 7-year-old daughter Diana—were detained by immigration officers in a parking lot at Portland Adventist Health on January 16, 2026, while attempting to seek medical care for the child's nosebleed. The family, who entered the U.S. through a port of entry in California and have a pending asylum application, is now being held at ICE's South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas.

Alicbiades "Alex" Lazaro Ramirez Gonzalez, husband of Yannier Vazquez Hidalgo, was ordered deported to Ecuador by an immigration judge one week before his husband received the same order. Ramirez Gonzalez fled Cuba with his husband and they married in the U.S., both requesting asylum based on persecution fears as gay men. He was detained by federal agents in October during a routine ICE appointment in Mattydale. Like his husband, he faces deportation to a country where he has no ties and argues he will be persecuted for being gay and Cuban.

ICE agents detained Sebastian, a 16-year-old Ecuadorian asylum-seeker, in Minneapolis in January 2026 during an interior arrest while he was driving alone, seizing his phone after he called his father. Despite his father living in the U.S., Sebastian was labeled an "unaccompanied minor" and transferred to the Bridgeway shelter in Michigan, making it difficult for his family and attorneys to locate him. The case illustrates how the "unaccompanied minor" designation can impede family unity protections and legal access even when a parent resides in the country. While in custody, Sebastian reported receiving vaccines without consent.

A Honduran national was arrested for larceny on January 14, 2026, in West Palm Beach, Florida. ICE issued a detention order the same day. After criminal charges were dismissed on March 12, 2026, he was taken into ICE custody despite being scheduled for release. He has been detained at Golden State Annex in California since March 20, 2026, with a pending asylum case. The court granted his habeas petition, finding he was wrongfully denied a bond hearing and ordered ICE to provide one within 14 days or release him immediately.

Laura, a 24-year-old asylum applicant from Honduras, gave birth in January 2026 but remained isolated in her apartment with her newborn daughter due to fear of ICE enforcement. Her stress about immigration authorities was so severe that it affected her physical health during labor, reducing oxytocin production critical for delivery and breastfeeding. Her boyfriend rarely visited after the hospital stay, fearing detention if he left his mother's home. Fear of immigration enforcement continues to isolate Laura from the family and community support typically available to new mothers.

A Peruvian man who had been paroled into the United States under the Migrant Protection Protocols program was detained during a scheduled ICE check-in appointment on January 13, 2026. He had been living in Memphis, Tennessee, had obtained a driver's license and work authorization, and had been regularly reporting to ICE as required. The court denied his habeas corpus petition challenging his detention without an individualized bond hearing. Another Peruvian citizen, who entered the U.S. in November 2022, was detained on December 1, 2025 after voluntarily appearing at the Memphis Immigration office for allegedly failing to comply with ATD program conditions. He had previously been released on parole due to time in custody constraints and placed in the Alternatives to Detention program. The court denied his habeas petition seeking release or a bond hearing, ruling that as an applicant for admission he is subject to mandatory detention under federal law.

A 19-year-old man from Ecuador applying for Special Immigrant Juvenile status and asylum was detained by Border Patrol agents outside a T-Mobile store in Minneapolis on January 13, 2026. He was transported to Texas and held for seven days without access to legal counsel. After attorney Kira Kelley filed a habeas petition, a court ordered his return to Minnesota and release from custody on January 20, 2026.

Hani Duglof, a 32-year-old with a rare genetic disorder (RDEB) that causes skin blistering, was detained by ICE after agents ran his license plate while he was driving. He was transferred to M Health Fairview Southdale Hospital after requesting medical attention, where he remains in ICE custody. His family and attorney are seeking his release, citing his severe medical condition and his pending asylum application that has been ongoing for over 10 years.

Jorge Elieser Gonzalez Ochoa, a 27-year-old Colombian national seeking asylum, was arrested by plainclothes ICE agents at Bread Garden Market in Iowa City on September 25, 2025, while working and wearing a court-ordered GPS monitor. Agents charged him with document fraud and misuse of immigration documents. A federal judge ruled the DHS actions "indefensible" and found Gonzalez Ochoa was illegally detained, noting agents attempted to circumvent a court order and violated procedural requirements. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to time served plus one day. After several months in federal immigration detention, Gonzalez Ochoa was released following sustained community organizing and protests by groups including the Iowa City Catholic Worker and Escucha Mi Voz Iowa.

Mauricio Martínez was detained by ICE agents during a traffic stop on January 9 and transferred to a detention facility in El Paso, Texas. His wife Nancy Parra and their three children have remained largely confined to their home. Parra reported that her husband is held in conditions including overcrowding, spoiled food, and poor sanitation. The family experiences financial hardship without his income.

Under President Trump's administration, the Trump administration has detained and transferred asylum-seekers to out-of-state detention centers before they receive final removal orders. This represents a change from previous administrations' practice of allowing asylum-seekers to remain in the U.S. during court proceedings.

A Chinese national who filed for asylum in 2017 based on religious persecution was detained by ICE agents when he appeared for his asylum interview at the USCIS office in Tustin after waiting over nine years. He was served with a Notice to Appear for overstaying his visitor visa and has been held at Adelanto Detention Center since January 2026. The court granted his habeas petition and ordered his immediate release, finding the government violated his due process rights by detaining him without notice and opportunity to be heard.

Pablo Nieves, a Venezuelan asylum seeker who legally entered the U.S. in 2018 with a work permit, was detained by ICE agents in a Home Depot parking lot in Plymouth, Minnesota on January 8, 2026. He was transferred to a detention center in El Paso, Texas, where he was held for two weeks before being released on bond after a court hearing. The detention occurred during Operation Metro Surge, a federal immigration enforcement initiative targeting asylum seekers with pending applications.

Hongbo Zhao, a Chinese citizen with a pending asylum application, was detained by ICE on January 7, 2026, during a routine check-in at an ICE field office. He had been released on his own recognizance since April 2024 and had complied with all reporting requirements. The federal court ordered his immediate release, finding that ICE violated his due process rights by detaining him without notice or a pre-deprivation hearing.

Melisa, a Maryland resident with a valid work permit and pending asylum case, was detained on December 15, 2025 during a routine immigration check-in. She had no criminal record and was employed full-time while preparing to start classes at Carroll Community College and planning her wedding. Her community is raising funds to help her hire an immigration attorney.

A Nigerian national who had been released on recognizance and participating in an Alternative to Detention program for over two years was arrested by ICE agents during a routine ATD appointment on January 7, 2026. He had no criminal history and had attended all required check-ins, with a pending asylum application. The court granted a preliminary injunction ordering his immediate release, finding his re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated due process.

A man granted withholding of removal to Nicaragua was ordered removed to Nicaragua on January 25, 2023, and granted withholding of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3). He was released from immigration custody that same day. On January 5, 2026, ICE re-detained him and sought to remove him to Mexico, a third country not listed in his removal order. The court granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release, finding that respondents failed to meet their burden to justify continued detention where removal to his country of removal (Nicaragua) was barred by withholding of removal.

Sabrina Carmona Sanchez, a 41-year-old transgender woman from Ecuador, was arrested by immigration agents on January 3, 2026, at a hotel on Long Island and transferred to ICE custody at Adams County detention facility in Mississippi. She had previously been released on recognizance by Border Patrol in 2023, granted work authorization, and allowed to remain free while her immigration case proceeded. She is now held in a men's dormitory without being offered a bond hearing, in violation of her Fifth Amendment due process rights, according to her legal team at the Center for Constitutional Rights. Her habeas corpus petition challenges the government's policy of categorically denying bond hearings to undocumented immigrants arrested under the Trump administration's July 2025 detention guidance.

During Operation Metro Surge from December 2025 through February 2026, ICE arrested over 4,000 people in Minneapolis under a reinterpretation of a 1996 law requiring detention without bond. Federal judges, including U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz, found that ICE violated court orders in at least 113 cases involving 77 people by January 28, 2026, and the violations continued thereafter. Of 66 cases examined by The Washington Post, 52 involved immigrants with pending applications for asylum or other legal status, none with final deportation orders; most were not criminals and over one-third had lived in the United States for more than a decade. The operation targeted immigrants with valid work permits, pending asylum applications, and temporary protected status despite government claims of prioritizing serious criminals.