Human Impact Project

Carlos Roberto Montoya Valdez, a 52-year-old day laborer from Guatemala who had lived in the U.S. about three years, died after being struck by an SUV traveling roughly 60 mph while fleeing across Interstate 210 during a federal immigration enforcement operation at a Monrovia Home Depot. He worked to support his wife of 35 years, Ana María Vásquez, their four daughters, and grandchildren in Guatemala. His daughter Ana Victoria recalled his final phone call the night before his death, in which he spoke of hoping to return to Guatemala once he had saved enough to start his own business; his wife described him as 'a light' who brought joy to everyone, especially his grandchildren. Between eight and ten other day laborers from Guatemala, Mexico, and Honduras were also arrested in the operation. The Department of Homeland Security has denied that agents chased or pursued him. Community advocates, including the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, have blamed the enforcement tactics for causing the panic that led to his death and are demanding Home Depot release security footage, while state lawmakers have renewed calls for the REPAIR Act (SB 1103) requiring large retailers to disclose immigration enforcement activity on their property.

Josué Castro Rivera, a 24-year-old Honduran man who had lived in the U.S. for four years while sending money home to his family, was fatally struck by a pickup truck on October 23, 2025 while fleeing on foot across Interstate 264 in Norfolk, Virginia. He was on his way to a gardening job with three passengers when ICE agents stopped their vehicle as part of a targeted, intelligence-based operation and attempted to detain them. His brother, Henry Castro, said Castro Rivera 'had a very good heart' and has been raising funds to return his body to Honduras for burial. An ICE officer administered CPR, but Castro Rivera was pronounced dead at the scene; DHS said he 'resisted heavily and fled' before being struck. Virginia State Police confirmed the death and said they did not participate in the pursuit, with the crash remaining under investigation. His death followed those of a Mexican man fatally shot by federal agents near Chicago and a farmworker who died falling from a roof during an ICE raid in California.

A Colombian man, a citizen of Colombia, has been in the United States since December 29, 2024, when he presented at the border, was issued a Notice to Appear charging him as removable for lacking valid entry documents, and was granted parole and released on his own recognizance. He has applied for asylum. On July 13, 2026, he was arrested and detained by ICE and has remained in custody without a bond hearing since. He has no criminal history and no final order of removal, and is detained at the Pike County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania. On July 20, 2026, he filed a habeas corpus petition and a motion for a temporary restraining order in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, arguing that his detention under the mandatory detention provision of 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b) is unlawful because he was paroled into the country and is no longer 'seeking admission,' and that he is instead subject to the discretionary detention provision, 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), which entitles him to a bond hearing.

On July 13, 2026, Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero was fatally shot outside his Biddeford, Maine home during an ICE operation, and Jesús Manuel Arenas-Silva lost consciousness and died while being transferred between detention centers in Georgia. The next day, Juan Jairo Coronilla Durán, a 28-year-old Mexican national visiting the United States, was struck and killed by a semitruck in St. Augustine, Florida after he and three others fled on foot from federal immigration officers during an encounter at a gas station parking lot. None of the three men were ICE's intended targets.

An Iranian man who was previously arrested, suspended from university, held in solitary confinement, and threatened with death in Iran for publishing political opposition magazines was arrested by ICE during a routine check-in in February 2025 after an immigration judge canceled his bond. He had twice been granted asylum by immigration judges, but the government appealed both grants and the Board of Immigration Appeals had not yet ruled on the merits when Judge Linda Lopez of the US District Court for the Southern District of California denied his habeas petition on July 13. Lopez said her hands were tied under a Ninth Circuit ruling and that his prolonged detention, while lengthy, was not indefinite.

A mother and her adult son have lived in the United States since December 2022, when they were paroled into the country. The mother worked at a laundromat and supported her son's education, while the son worked at a food-packing facility, attended school, and earned his high school equivalency diploma. Both had complied with all ICE reporting requirements and had no criminal history. On July 13, 2026, over three and a half years after entering the country, they were detained without warning at a routine ICE check-in. They were held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center and filed petitions for writs of habeas corpus arguing their re-detention without notice or a hearing violated their Fifth Amendment due process rights. The government did not oppose their claims. The federal court granted the petitions, finding their re-detention violated due process, and ordered their release within 24 hours under their prior conditions of release, with return of their personal belongings and immigration documents.

A Mexican national and noncitizen is currently held in ICE custody at Diamondback Correctional Facility in Oklahoma. He has a final order of removal and is seeking to prevent his removal to Mexico or a third country. He claims membership in the Immigration Center for Women and Children (ICWC) class of ICE detainees with pending immigration benefit applications, including U Visa petitions, and states he has a pending Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)-based petition that bears on his removability and eligibility for relief. He filed a habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 and moved for a stay of removal pending resolution of his petition, or alternatively, for a temporary restraining order (TRO). The Magistrate Judge recommended denying his motion for stay/TRO, finding the Western District of Oklahoma lacks jurisdiction to enjoin removal proceedings under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(g), which bars district courts from hearing claims arising from DHS decisions to execute removal orders.

A Chinese national admitted to the U.S. on a valid B-1/B-2 visa on April 4, 2024, was re-detained by ICE on July 13, 2026, at Los Angeles International Airport without notice, warrant, or hearing. During her two+ years in the country, she had been granted employment authorization, worked lawfully, established community ties, and maintained a clean criminal record while her asylum application was pending. The court ordered her release on her prior conditions within 24 hours, finding her re-detention without pre-deprivation process violated Fifth Amendment due process rights.

A noncitizen was re-detained on June 26, 2026, after having been previously released on bond or conditional parole. The government failed to provide him with a pre-deprivation bond hearing before a neutral arbiter before re-detaining him, violating the Due Process Clause. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California granted his petition for writ of habeas corpus and motion for temporary restraining order, ordering his immediate release with the same conditions he was subject to prior to detention, and requiring the government to provide at least seven days' notice and a pre-deprivation bond hearing before any future re-detention.

Yeison Saúl Menjívar Portillo, a boy with Down syndrome and epilepsy who is nonverbal and hearing impaired, was detained by ICE in Bridge City, a suburb of New Orleans, Louisiana. His family says they do not know where he is or whether he is safe. His mother stated he requires specific medication for epileptic seizures and cannot survive or care for himself without her presence, and she is asking authorities to either tell her where he is or deport her with him.

Diana, a longtime community member known for her kindness and generosity, was taken into ICE custody after attending a scheduled immigration appointment. She is currently awaiting a bond hearing while her immigration case proceeds. Her family and friends are raising funds to cover legal fees, bond costs, and other case-related expenses.

Detainees at a McCook, Nebraska ICE detention facility reported experiencing fear and hazardous conditions as wildfire smoke drifted into the center. The article documents detainees' accounts of their experiences, including prayer and other coping mechanisms during the smoky conditions at the facility.

A Cuban national held at Florence Correctional Center in Arizona staged multiple hunger strikes to protest what he described as inhumane detention conditions and lack of transparency regarding his asylum claims. He alleges that ICE subjected him to solitary confinement and restrictive measures to isolate him from legal counsel and advocacy groups after his protests gained attention. He was subsequently deported to Ecuador, a third country, which terminated his ability to participate in U.S. legal proceedings.

Twenty-two people from the Greater Binghamton area were detained over one week during heightened ICE enforcement in Broome County, with local officials and activists later estimating the total at 25 to 30. Most detentions occurred as people commuted to work or worked outdoor jobs between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m., at locations including a Home Depot in Johnson City, a McDonald's in Endicott, Endicott BOCES, a Walmart in Vestal and a Johnson City hotel. Those detained were mostly Spanish speakers but also included people of South Asian and Central Asian descent, and several, including one BOCES employee, were legally present in the United States. Local leaders, including a Binghamton City Council member and the Johnson City mayor, have publicly condemned the operations, while community organizations continue to urge precautions and provide an ICE reporting hotline.

Danny Joel Quispe Maizanche, an Ecuadorian national, was arrested by ICE officers on Himrod Street in Bushwick during a targeted enforcement operation. He entered the United States near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, in April 2024 and was enrolled in the federal Alternatives to Detention program but failed to comply with its reporting requirements. According to DHS, Quispe Maizanche has accepted Incentivized Voluntary Departure and is expected to return to Ecuador.

Félix Alcorta Rodríguez, a 63-year-old Mexican national, died on June 19, 2026, at Webb County Detention Center in Laredo, Texas, after being found unresponsive in his cell. ICE personnel performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation before he was transferred to Laredo Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. He had been in ICE custody for only a few days and was transferred to ICE custody after serving time for prior traffic violations. The cause of death is pending autopsy results. His death was one of at least 16 Mexican nationals who died in U.S. immigration detention facilities during the current federal administration, and the 20th person to die in ICE custody in 2026. Civil rights advocates from the Laredo Immigrant Alliance and Texas Civil Rights Project presented a report to Webb County commissioners detailing alleged violations at the facility, including failure to monitor suicidal detainees for up to 22 hours and delays of up to 25 days in conducting initial medical assessments. The Mexican government filed complaints and demanded criminal investigations into the death.

On June 17, 2026, ICE agents detained a man, a woman, and a child at the Bridgeview branch courthouse in Illinois after the adults had appeared in court on misdemeanor retail theft cases. Video showed agents struggling with the man on the ground as onlookers asked whether they had a warrant, before handcuffing and removing him; ICE claimed to have an arrest warrant but never presented it for inspection. The woman and child were detained earlier that morning as they tried to enter the courthouse. A person in a Cook County sheriff's office uniform was seen greeting an immigration agent and assisting as the man was placed into a vehicle. State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid and other lawmakers said the detentions violated Illinois law and a Cook County court order barring civil immigration arrests at courthouses without judicial warrants, and sent letters demanding answers from Sheriff Tom Dart.

Orlando Martinez Mendoza, 48, migrated from Cuba to the US in 2015 by boat. Immigration authorities arrested him at a court hearing in Tennessee where he had appeared for a speeding charge. He was transported to three different detention centers in Tennessee over two months, then to a holding facility at the Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola), then to Arizona, and finally to Palenque, Mexico in 2025. He described the transfer to Angola as staged for media purposes, with police escorts, sirens, and TV cameras present. He said immigration officials "dumped us right in front of COMAR like we were dogs."

Four Kenyan nationals—Newton Njuguna Githiri, Mohamed Chekchekani, Ian Mwangi Irungu, and Said Salat Yarow—are facing deportation from the United States after ICE determined they are removable under federal law. Githiri was arrested in New Orleans and is in removal proceedings after being convicted in Alabama of sexually abusing a child and burglary. Chekchekani is in ICE custody awaiting deportation to Kenya following convictions in Los Angeles for kidnapping a minor and RICO violations. Each man remains subject to immigration proceedings that could result in removal from the country.

Scull Delgado arrived in the US during the 1980 Mariel boatlift, fleeing Cuba's mandatory military service. He settled in California, married a U.S. citizen, raised three children and four grandchildren, and worked for decades while building toward retirement—just one month away when immigration agents arrested him during a routine annual sign-in at a U.S. immigration office. He had served his time for a crime committed in the 1990s and maintained a clean record afterward. By November 2025, he had been transported to Mexico, separated from his family after nearly 46 years in the country.