Human Impact Project

Adnero Pinto Sebastiao, an Angolan national with a pending asylum application, was arrested by ICE agents as he returned from lunch to his job at a bank in the Lewiston area. He had entered the U.S. legally on a tourist visa in March 2024 before applying for asylum, and his immigration case remains pending. His attorneys filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus arguing the detention was an unlawful warrantless arrest lacking individualized assessment. A federal judge issued an indefinite injunction barring ICE from removing him from the U.S. or transferring him out of the District of Maine, and ordered the government to justify the detention. A DHS spokesperson said Sebastiao overstayed his visa and that a pending asylum application does not confer legal status.

More than 60 federal agents raided the Nutrition Bar Confectioners plant in Cato, New York in September 2025, herding roughly 160 workers into a breakroom and arresting 57 of about 100 people questioned, including pregnant women and mothers of young children. Body camera footage later released in a lawsuit showed agents breaking down a locked bathroom stall door to remove a female employee and separating workers by citizenship status, with some told they would be arrested if they asked for an attorney. Argentina Juarez-Lopez, 50, invoked her right to counsel, but an agent falsely claimed she confessed without one; a federal judge called the conduct 'grossly negligent' and suppressed the evidence, yet she was deported after her case was dismissed. Juana Castillo Avelar, a mother of three U.S. citizen children who had lived in the U.S. over 20 years, was granted $9,000 bond but was deported before ICE would release her, based on a false claim she had appealed. Only five of the 57 arrested faced criminal charges, mostly for illegal reentry, and no charges have been filed against the company. The New York Civil Liberties Union and the Worker Justice Center of New York filed a lawsuit alleging officers lacked arrest warrants, exceeded search warrant authority, and violated workers' Fourth Amendment rights; one deported plaintiff has since been allowed to reenter the country while attorneys for another seek his return.

Aidar Nafikov, a Russian asylum seeker, has been held at the Adams County Correctional Center in Mississippi for over a year and a half while hoping to be reunited with his family. He filed a habeas petition in April challenging his detention, and though his case was argued before Judge David C. Bramlette III in June, it remained unresolved months later. His wife, Liudmila Nafikov, said his health has deteriorated in detention, including repeated bouts of strep throat and new kidney problems, and that he has struggled to get timely medical care. A DHS spokesperson denied claims of medical neglect at ICE facilities, saying comprehensive medical care is provided to all detainees.

Joseph Andrey Londono Rodriguez, a six-year-old Deaf student at the California School for the Deaf in Fremont, was detained by ICE along with his mother, Lesly Rodriguez Gutierrez, and younger sibling during what the family believed was a routine check-in appointment in the San Francisco Bay Area. Rodriguez Gutierrez, an asylum seeker who fled domestic violence in Colombia, had lived in Hayward for four years working as a cleaner and child care worker with no criminal record. Instead of a routine visit, agents fingerprinted the family, pressured her to sign an unexplained document, and rushed them onto a deportation flight within minutes. Her attorney said she repeatedly pleaded with agents to let a relative bring Joseph's hearing aids and cochlear implants, but the devices were never provided and the family was deported without legal representation. California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond and members of Congress have called for an investigation and humanitarian parole to allow the family to return so Joseph can resume school and services in American Sign Language. Joseph's case is one of more than 650 children detained by ICE in California during Trump's second term, 61% of whom were ultimately deported.

Sebastian Jimenez Peroza, a 17-year-old Venezuelan senior at Gainesville High School who plays football, soccer and baseball, was detained by ICE agents along with his mother Antmary Peroza Barrios, stepfather, and sister Fabiana Morillo Peroza at their Gainesville apartment complex days before the school year began. The family had fled Venezuela due to his mother's activism against the government and had been pursuing asylum after their visa expired. Football coach Ashour Peera rallied community support, describing Jimenez as 'a remarkable young man' who 'lights up a room' and a teammate who checked in on others; students displayed a Venezuelan flag with his jersey number, and a GoFundMe raised more than $20,000. After two weeks at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, Sebastian and his mother were released on $5,000 bonds each and flew back to Jacksonville, where they were greeted by his coach and classmates; his stepfather was released separately on a $6,500 bond, his location undisclosed. His sister's case remained open, with a bond hearing scheduled for Sept. 9, and ICE has not explained why the family was detained.

Luis Alejandro Olarte Gosling, a 19-year-old Washington and Lee University sophomore attending on a full QuestBridge scholarship, and his father Luis Felipe Olarte Lugo, 55, were detained by ICE and Border Patrol agents during a traffic stop on Interstate 95 in St. Johns County, Florida. The two were driving from Orlando to Virginia so Luis Alejandro could begin his sophomore year, having chosen to drive rather than fly due to fears about ICE activity at airports. The family are Venezuelan asylum seekers with a pending immigration court case who say they held valid work permits, attended every required appointment, and have never been arrested. Their car was towed, and both remain held at Baker Correctional Institute in Sanderson, Florida, where they have reported extreme heat and insufficient food. A GoFundMe was set up by the family to support them, and Washington and Lee University said it is 'aware of the situation and concerned for the individual and his family.'

An Iranian woman in her early thirties, a pro-democracy activist who said she had been threatened by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, fled Iran, crossed the Darién Gap, and arrived in the U.S. at the end of 2024, where a judge granted her legal protection from being deported back to Iran after finding she had credible fear of persecution. Despite that protection, she was deported on June 12, 2026, from Louisiana to the Central African Republic on a flight carrying roughly two dozen migrants from countries including Jordan, Armenia, Turkey, Georgia, and Afghanistan, under the Trump administration's third-country deportation agreements. Her attorney, Emily Trostle, said she was left in a country where she has no status, no connection, and no support network. She now lives in isolation, afraid to leave her apartment, and says local police have extorted her for cash. Her family said she could be killed if ever returned to Iran, and she fears execution if her situation changes once her temporary visa expires. Two other Iranian women originally scheduled for the same flight, whose asylum claims had been denied under a transit rule later vacated by a California federal court, received emergency court orders temporarily halting their removal.

The Gámez-Cuéllar family—parents Luis Antonio Gámez Martínez and Emma Guadalupe Cuéllar López, and their three sons Antonio (18), Caleb (12), and Joshua (14)—were detained by ICE on February 25, 2026, during a routine immigration check-in in Edinburg, Texas. The family had legally entered the U.S. in May 2023 through the CBP One asylum app and were in active asylum proceedings with a final hearing scheduled for September. Antonio was separated from his family and shackled during transport to an adult detention facility in Raymondville, while his younger brothers and parents were held at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley. Two of the brothers are award-winning mariachi musicians with McAllen High School's Mariachi Oro band, which has performed at the White House and Carnegie Hall and won eight state championships. After approximately 13 days in detention, bipartisan congressional pressure from lawmakers including Rep. Monica De La Cruz and Rep. Joaquin Castro, combined with a successful parole request by their attorneys, resulted in the family's release on February 28, 2026. The parents were required to wear ankle monitors and restrict travel to 75 miles from their home.

A teenage asylum seeker identified in court records as E.L.A., now 19, was deported to El Salvador for a second time, prompting a federal judge to hold the Department of Homeland Security in contempt on September 25 for violating three separate court orders in the class-action case J.O.P. v. DHS. He had first been removed in March 2026 after missing biometrics appointments in April and October 2025, then returned to the U.S. in June after class counsel arranged for his asylum case to proceed. A July 29 court order found the government had breached the settlement, but he was deported again in September, less than three weeks after DHS issued internal guidance meant to prevent such removals.

José David Murcia Valdez, a 30-year-old Honduran refugee, fled Honduras six years ago after a machete attack cost him a finger and left scars across his arms and shoulders. He settled in Monterrey, Mexico, and worked for three years at a recycling plant until Mexican authorities arrived to check employees' papers and deported him back to Honduras. Unable to remain in Honduras because of the earlier attack, he returned to Mexico and joined a migrant caravan called Sueños sin Fronteras, attempting to bike more than 1,000 miles back to Monterrey in search of work.

Julio Alfredo De Ávila Hernández, who worked as a driver in Guadalajara, disappeared in Jalisco, Mexico, ten years ago after a cartel forced him into running packages and threatened to kill his family if he quit. His mother, Blanca Hernández, 59, says a hitman began following Julio and that he had no way out. Julio's parents and siblings later fled to the United States and applied for asylum, but an immigration judge ruled in April that they must continue their asylum process in Ecuador, Honduras, or Guatemala instead of remaining in the U.S. The family has filed an appeal to try to stay; Julio's sister, Alondra De Ávila, 26, who crossed the border with her four-year-old son in 2024 to turn themselves in to immigration authorities, said, "We want to stay here. I don't want my son to live what I lived."

Gustavo Parraga Durán, a Venezuelan journalist who has been seeking asylum in the U.S. for nearly a decade, remains in ICE custody in Washington state after being detained during a traffic stop in Utah. His wife says he has no criminal charges or even traffic tickets, and the family has lost income and risks losing their home. Relatives and the Association of Venezuelan Journalists Abroad have launched a fundraising campaign to cover legal representation and a possible bond, while expressing fear that he could be deported to Venezuela given his past political activity with Voluntad Popular and his work as a journalist. Parraga Durán, a graduate of the Universidad Bicentenaria de Aragua, is married and the father of two young daughters.

The petitioner, who was lawfully admitted to the U.S. on a B-2 visa in March 2025, has resided in the country since then and applied for asylum in January 2026, a claim that remains pending. On August 29, 2026, she was detained after the vehicle she was riding in as a passenger, driven by her boyfriend, was stopped; the document states no process was provided to her during the detention. She is now in removal proceedings and has been held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. She has a history of breast cancer and takes related medication, and imaging taken since her detention showed a mass or tumor in her breast, yet for more than two weeks she received no follow-up care or prescribed medication. She filed a habeas corpus petition and a TRO application seeking release, arguing her detention violated due process. The government did not respond to the petition despite a court-ordered deadline, and the court granted the petition, ordering her immediate release on reasonable conditions without monetary bond.

Indi Veitia, a 47-year-old Venezuelan asylum-seeker who lives in Indianapolis with her wife and worked her way up from a warehouse job to a corporate position, was detained by ICE officers while walking to her gate at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport during a work trip. She said plain-clothes officers slammed her against the jetway wall, handcuffed her, and transported her in an unmarked vehicle before transferring her to a detention center in Lumpkin, Georgia, where she spent 21 days in a windowless dormitory with more than 60 other women sharing four toilets and showers, at times without running water or power, describing the conditions as 'inhumane.' Veitia entered the U.S. on a work visa in 2019 and later applied for asylum, holding a valid work permit and driver's license while her application had been pending since 2020. She was released on bond after friends and her employer wrote supporting letters and secured lawyers, but now wears a GPS ankle monitor and must report to the ICE field office in Indianapolis under a court order. Her attorney said asylum applicants like her are 'low-hanging fruit' for detention despite following legal processes, while DHS said a pending asylum application does not confer legal status. Veitia said, 'I have done everything that the government have asked me to do.'

Alex Ramirez Gonzalez and Yan Vasquez Hidalgo, a married Cuban couple working in environmental services at SUNY Upstate Medical University, were detained by ICE after appearing for a scheduled immigration hearing in Mattydale, New York. The couple had fled Cuba, entered the U.S. in 2021, turned themselves in to seek asylum, and held valid work authorization. They said they were handcuffed and chained before being transported to a federal detention facility, where they were held for nearly four months, mostly separated from each other. In January, two immigration judges ruled they could not seek asylum in the U.S. but could pursue it in Ecuador, a country to which they have no connection; their lawyer appealed, and the case remains pending. They were released on bond, with one required to wear an ankle monitor, and have returned to their jobs and families in Syracuse. A third coworker, Mohamed Fofana, remains in ICE custody in Texas.

Josue Isai Pire-Hidalgo, a 31-year-old custodian at Farnsworth Elementary School in Chicago Public Schools, was detained by ICE on July 17 during what he believed was a routine immigration appointment tied to his family's asylum case. Pire-Hidalgo, a Venezuelan national with Temporary Protected Status and a pending asylum application, has no criminal record. His wife, Yulexis Padilla Julio, and their two children, ages 13 and 6, were detained alongside him but released; his wife was fitted with an ankle monitor and continued advocating for his release. Their 6-year-old daughter has asthma requiring daily medication, and Pire-Hidalgo has hearing loss in both ears and relies on hearing aids. He was held at a jail in Clay County, Indiana, describing the conditions as difficult, while the school community and SEIU Local 73 organized support including a GoFundMe that raised nearly $15,000 and meal trains for the family. After 42 days in ICE custody, he was released and reunited with his family.

Hleb Matskevich, who came to the U.S. from Belarus at age 14 under asylum protections and later built a life in Palm Coast, Florida, where he owns two businesses, was detained by ICE agents at a Pennsylvania airport after flying in for his fiancée's grandfather's funeral. His fiancée, Alessandra Robinson, said agents cited an expired visa despite his pending case with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Matskevich is being held at Pike County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania while the couple pursues a bond request and plans to marry while he remains in custody.

A Haitian couple and their two sons, ages 5 and 3 — the youngest a U.S. citizen — were deported to Haiti on August 27, 2026, after Canadian authorities returned them to the United States. The parents and older son were TPS beneficiaries who had also applied for asylum, with a court hearing scheduled for 2029; fearing detention when Haiti's TPS designation ended on July 27, the family crossed into Canada on August 14 to seek asylum there but was handed back to ICE. ICE held the family at a detention center in New York state, separated the father from his wife and children, and did not allow him to call a lawyer, he told a Human Rights Watch researcher, recalling an ICE officer telling him his youngest son could stay in the United States only in government custody, saying, "You will lose him." The family's flight landed in Cap-Haïtien, where Human Rights Watch researchers were present and documented the reception process; the organization said more than 450 people had been deported to Haiti since July.

An Ecuadorian man who entered the U.S. in October 2022 and was released the next day on conditional humanitarian parole had lived in Long Beach, California with his wife, two daughters, and several U.S. citizen family members, including grandchildren. He worked as a cleaner at a laundromat and in production at a seafood company, attended church weekly, cared for his family, and sent money to his ailing mother in Ecuador. He is a derivative of his wife's pending asylum application based on gang violence and retaliation in Ecuador. He was detained by ICE on August 27, 2026 after appearing for a scheduled check-in, despite having complied with all reporting requirements and having no criminal history. He is held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, where he has not received medical care for back and hip pain following a recent surgery. He filed a habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 arguing his re-detention violated procedural and substantive due process, and because the government failed to respond, the court granted the petition on procedural due process grounds and ordered his release within 24 hours.

A 36-year-old father who worked in a factory in Indiana and has two U.S.-citizen daughters was detained by ICE during his lunch break in early August 2026 and deported to Haiti on August 27 after the Supreme Court allowed the administration to end temporary protected status for Haitians. He fled Haiti in 2023 after criminal groups killed his parents, and he had lived and worked in the U.S. under TPS with a pending asylum application. He told a Human Rights Watch researcher he cannot return to his Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Carrefour-Feuilles: "Criminal groups control it. If I go back, they will kill me too."