Human Impact Project

A father named Marcus and his daughter are seeking community support and fundraising assistance following ICE enforcement activity under Operation Metro Surge. The family appears to be displaced and living in a campsite, with urgent appeals for donations to prevent the father's deportation.

Axel Gerardo Archaga Rios, an 18-year-old junior at Dunwoody High School who arrived in the U.S. at age 4 with his mother seeking asylum, was arrested by Dunwoody Police on March 27, 2026, for running a stop sign and driving without a valid license. He was booked into DeKalb County Jail under the 287(g) program, posted bond, and was released into ICE custody on March 29. Rios was transferred to Folkston ICE Processing Center near Brunswick, Georgia. His attorney filed a stay of removal and a motion to reopen his 2015 removal order to pursue asylum relief, but both requests were denied. Rios was deported to Honduras, where he subsequently adjusted to life with his grandmother.

Juanita Avila, a 47-year-old Guatemalan-born legal permanent resident and shop owner in Cottage Grove, Oregon, was detained by ICE agents on November 5, 2025, while driving on Highway 99, despite carrying her valid green card. Avila alleges agents racially profiled her and used excessive force, dragging her from her vehicle and pinning her to the pavement without showing a warrant or establishing probable cause. Video of the arrest, captured by her daughter, became evidence in a lawsuit challenging ICE's 'arrest first, justify later' tactics. In May 2026, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking ICE from conducting warrantless arrests in Oregon, calling the agency's conduct 'brutal and violent' and a systematic violation of constitutional rights.

A Mexican asylum-seeker who fled cartel violence in Michoacan in 2019 was arrested by ICE at her check-in appointment in Santa Rosa in May 2026, separating her from her three children ages 2, 13, and 19. After texting her daughter to bring the younger children home, she was held in a freezing cell with little food before being transported toward a detention center. Attorneys from the newly created Bay Area Habeas Network, led by attorney Jordan Weiner, filed an emergency habeas corpus petition and obtained a federal judge's order for her immediate release within hours. The woman told the Chronicle: "I feel like I have no peace. But I have faith and know that there are good people who will help us."

Henry Morales Hernandez, 55, a former Venezuelan army major who fled the Maduro government and sought asylum in the United States, was detained by ICE following a traffic stop in Collier County, Florida in April 2026. He was charged with driving under the influence, but prosecutors dropped the charge after determining insufficient evidence—breath tests showed blood alcohol levels of 0.036 and 0.037, below Florida's legal limit of 0.08. Despite the criminal case dismissal, ICE lodged a detainer and took him into custody on May 1, 2026. An immigration judge denied his bond request in May, relying on the arrest report despite the DUI charge being dismissed. Morales Hernandez holds an active asylum case in immigration court and previously held Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans, though the Trump administration moved to terminate that program in 2025.

An unaccompanied minor came to the United States as an unaccompanied minor in August 2018 and was initially detained by immigration officers who commenced removal proceedings. He subsequently filed an asylum application that remains pending. He was transferred to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement and released to his sponsor, an uncle. In May 2026, immigration officers arrested him in front of his home without pre-deprivation process or notice. He challenged his detention in federal court, arguing it violated his constitutional due process rights. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California granted his petition for writ of habeas corpus, finding his case indistinguishable from prior cases where courts determined similar detentions violated due process. The court ordered his immediate release and permanently enjoined respondents from re-arresting or re-detaining him without constitutional protections including pre-deprivation notice, a timely hearing, and a government burden to prove by clear and convincing evidence that he poses a danger or flight risk.

Karina Lozano Chiriboga, Angel Granda, and their daughter Ariana Granda Lozano were deported to Ecuador on Wednesday morning despite their asylum case being denied without a hearing. The family had fled Ecuador two years prior due to violent organized crime and were going through legal channels to seek asylum. Their initial attorney missed filing deadlines, leading a judge to vacate their case, and although they obtained a temporary stay from U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin on April 24, that order was vacated four days later. ICE ordered them to the airport for a 5:30 a.m. departure, and while they were in flight, the Bureau of Immigration Appeals accepted their appeal into the record.

ICE agents attempted to arrest Oscar Ocampo, a 41-year-old from Ecuador, on Exchange Street in New Haven while he was holding his seven-month-old son during a daycare drop-off. Neighbors and activists from the New Haven Immigrants Coalition emerged and recorded the encounter, urging the agents to leave. After approximately 20 minutes, the ICE agents departed without detaining Ocampo.

Wilfredo Hoyos-Gomez, a 10-year-old Venezuelan boy, appeared alone in Houston immigration court without legal representation and faces deportation to Ecuador, a country he has never visited. His mother, Nexoli Anyis Gomez Bracho, was detained by ICE in late 2025 following a traffic stop and remains in custody at the Houston Contract Detention Facility. The mother holds a valid work permit and has a pending asylum case. With no other family in the United States, the boy's mother's former employer serves as his legal guardian. The Department of Homeland Security filed paperwork seeking the child's deportation, and Rep. Joaquin Castro called for ICE to release the mother and halt deportation proceedings against the child.

An eight-year-old autistic boy named Emiliano is detained at the Dilley ICE detention facility in Texas, operated by CoreCivic. Since his detention, he has experienced a fever, severe anxiety, limited appetite, and developed a skin rash and eye irritation. His mother reported these conditions to advocacy organizations. Each Step Home and other advocates filled his mother's commissary account to provide support and encouraged complaints to the facility regarding his care.

Three Mexican nationals and a fourth man from Absecon were detained during an ICE enforcement operation in Pleasantville on April 30, 2026, despite not being the intended targets of the action. An immigrant advocacy group stated the detainees were working fathers and husbands without criminal records. All are being held pending removal proceedings.

Luis Gilberto Loja Mayancela, a 24-year-old Ecuadorian immigrant living in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, held Special Immigrant Juvenile status and valid work authorization when he was detained by ICE. His detention separated him from his wife and their 3-month-old son. A local congressman investigated the case and confirmed Mayancela's valid work authorization at the time of his arrest. He was held at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center. A U.S. District judge ruled that he is entitled to a bond hearing in immigration court, giving authorities seven days to schedule it or release him.

J.R.C., an 11-year-old from Venezuela who had lived in El Paso for nearly four years, was detained alongside his father Jesus Eduardo Reyes Hermes on April 28, 2026, when ICE agents arrested them outside their South-Central El Paso home. The boy was separated from his father and placed in shelter custody under the Office of Refugee Resettlement, while his father was transferred to Camp East Montana detention facility. J.R.C. was attending school in El Paso, where he had learned some English and was developing academically, with a teacher he credited with helping him learn to read. After his father was released on bond in June and the boy's asylum case was denied, J.R.C. requested voluntary departure on July 7, 2026, to reunite with his mother and siblings in Venezuela and Colombia. He expressed both sadness at leaving his friends and school, and excitement about seeing his family.

Santiago Medrano was detained by ICE on April 28th, the same day his family received keys to their new home. His wife María and their five children are fundraising to cover legal immigration expenses and other costs while he remains in detention.

A 12-year-old boy in Anchorage, Alaska, faces deportation by ICE despite claims to U.S. citizenship through his father, a U.S. military service member. USCIS has refused to recognize his citizenship claim without DNA testing to establish paternity. The boy was born to a Nigerian mother and the case remains pending.

Pedro was detained by ICE on April 17, 2026, with assistance from state police, leaving his pregnant wife Carmen and two sons without support. Gerardo Reyes Gonzalez was detained on March 14, 2026, following a traffic stop connected to a missing girl report; he and his brother were charged with interfering with public duties. Both men are now held at the Hutto ICE detention facility in Texas. Pedro, who has type 1 diabetes, and Gerardo, who has a tooth infection, are reportedly experiencing life-threatening medical neglect. Advocates and family members are calling for donations, legal support, and direct action to demand proper medical care and secure their release. Gerardo Reyes Gonzalez, 44, was arrested during a March 14 traffic stop after police responded to a report of a male attempting to leave an apartment complex with a 15-year-old girl against her wishes. ICE placed a detainer on him following the arrest. The Hays County District Attorney's Office dropped the interference with public duties charge against Reyes Gonzalez on May 11, though he remains in ICE custody pending an immigration court hearing.

Hayam El Gamal and her five children, Egyptian citizens who entered the U.S. on B-1 visitor visas in 2022, were detained at Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas in June 2025 after overstaying their visas. The family was detained based on the alleged criminal actions of their estranged father, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, who was later convicted of 101 charges including murder, though the family members were never charged with any crimes and stated they were estranged from Soliman and unaware of his plans. During nine months in detention, the family endured moldy and wormy food, inadequate medical care including failure to treat a 5-year-old's severe dental cavities, and religious freedom violations. Her 16-year-old son described the experience as "a nightmare" that made it difficult to return to normal life, writing that "nothing is normal anymore because you live in fear of going back to that place." An immigration judge granted the family bond in September 2025, but DHS appealed and obtained a stay. On April 24, 2026, a federal judge ordered their release; two days later, ICE re-arrested the family during a routine check-in at an ICE office in Denver and transported them to Denver International Airport for immediate deportation in violation of the federal court order. During transport and on a private jet, the family was subjected to verbal abuse, medical neglect, and physical restraint despite a medical emergency. Federal judges issued emergency orders blocking the removal and turning the plane around mid-air. The family was released on April 27 pending litigation on their asylum case, with electronic monitoring required as a condition of release.

Jose Angel Mireles, a 48-year-old longtime Phoenix resident, was detained by ICE at a courthouse after being cited for driving with stolen plates and deported to Mexico after two months in the Florence ICE detention center. He now lives in a migrant shelter in Nogales, Sonora, hundreds of miles from family elsewhere in Mexico and separated from his 11-year-old daughter in Phoenix across the border wall. Mireles describes his life as now "split in three," between Arizona, his daughter, and his new surroundings in Mexico. He is among thousands of long-term U.S. residents removed under the Trump administration's immigration enforcement surge, which saw removals of individuals with over a decade of U.S. residency increase 42% between 2024 and 2025.

Aleksei and his wife Anastasia were detained with their 5-year-old twins at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley for more than 120 days—six times longer than the 20-day limit set by the Flores Settlement Agreement. When Aleksei questioned an ICE officer about the violation, he was falsely told the settlement no longer applied. The twins suffered severe psychological distress, including frequent meltdowns, disrupted sleep, weight loss, fear of strangers, and asking whether they were bad people or whether guards would kill them. The family was released in February 2026 after obtaining legal representation and filing a parole request.

A Dominican Republic citizen who entered Puerto Rico without inspection in 2004 was detained on April 24, 2026 during an enforcement operation on Ave. Américo Miranda while on his way to open his business. He is the sole caregiver for his U.S. citizen wife and daughter and has a pending I-130 petition filed by his daughter. A federal court granted a temporary restraining order preventing his transfer outside Puerto Rico and ordered that he receive a bond hearing before an Immigration Judge.