Human Impact Project

A Mexican national who first entered the United States in February 2003 and has lived in the U.S. for over 20 years. He was apprehended by ICE in July 2026 during a routine check-in and taken into custody. He has an asylum application pending since May 1, 2023. He is currently detained at Golden State Annex Detention Facility in McFarland, California. On July 27, 2026, he filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention as violating Fifth Amendment Due Process rights. The court granted the petition in part and ordered that Respondents provide him with an individualized bond hearing before an immigration judge within 14 days, where the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that he poses a danger to the community or is a flight risk. If determined not to be a danger or flight risk, the immigration judge should consider alternative conditions of release based on his financial circumstances.

A Nicaraguan citizen paroled into the United States in October 2022 was detained on July 1, 2026, when she appeared for a routine check-in appointment at the ICE Office in Los Angeles. She had complied with all release conditions, maintained employment, paid taxes, and had no criminal record for nearly four years. The court granted her petition for habeas corpus, finding that her re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated procedural due process, and ordered her release on her prior conditions within 24 hours.

An Egyptian citizen and practicing Coptic Orthodox Christian who has resided in the United States since August 2023 was taken into ICE custody on July 1, 2026, during a routine ICE check-in. He was detained at the West Tennessee Detention Facility without an individualized determination regarding the necessity of continued confinement. The court stayed his transfer and required ICE to respond to his habeas petition, noting that under Lopez-Campos v. Raycraft, noncitizens who have spent significant time in the United States interior and have not committed disqualifying offenses may not be detained without an individualized bond hearing. A second Egyptian citizen and Coptic Orthodox Christian who fled religious persecution was detained by ICE on July 1, 2026, at the West Tennessee Detention Facility. He had resided in the United States continuously since July 2023, maintained steady employment in Nashville, attended all required ICE check-ins, and had no criminal history. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention without an individualized bond hearing. The court issued an order staying his transfer and requiring the government to respond within two business days, with instructions to either distinguish the case from Lopez-Campos v. Raycraft or consent to release.

A 52-year-old asylum seeker from Mexico was detained on July 1, 2026, at an ICE check-in in San Francisco after ICE revoked her Order of Supervision without a hearing. She had been released under supervision after her 1999 removal order was reinstated on March 23, 2026, following a USCIS adjustment of status interview. The court granted her preliminary injunction, prohibiting re-detention without notice and a pre-deprivation hearing before a neutral decisionmaker, finding she had a constitutionally protected liberty interest based on the government's affirmative decision to release her.

Jhon Perez Romero, 39, a former Venezuelan intelligence officer who fled after refusing an order during a 2019 crackdown on the opposition, was arrested by ICE in Philadelphia on June 30 when he appeared for what he expected to be a routine check-in. He entered the U.S. seeking asylum in late 2023, settled in York, Pa., worked as a Spark Driver for Walmart, and married U.S. citizen Sandra Quinones, a high school teacher, in 2025. He is now held at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Philipsburg, Pa., and fears he could be tortured or killed if deported to Venezuela, where he has been branded a traitor. His wife said she believed the U.S. was a place where people fleeing persecution could find safety.

A man previously granted release under a federal court injunction filed a second habeas corpus petition after being re-arrested by ICE on June 30, 2026, during a scheduled supervision check-in at the ICE ISAP office. He states he was not arrested on any criminal charge and did not violate any condition of his supervision. This follows an earlier habeas petition in which the same court ordered his release on May 21, 2026, and enjoined the government from detaining him under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A). Despite that injunction, he was taken back into custody about six weeks later and is now held at the West Tennessee Detention Facility. He is challenging his renewed detention without a bond hearing. The court ordered Respondent to either immediately release him or explain within three business days how his circumstances have changed since the prior order, and barred his transfer out of the facility while the case is pending.

A 37-year-old Venezuelan national fleeing political persecution was re-detained on June 20, 2026 when he arrived for a routine check-in at the ICE Los Angeles Field Office. He had been previously released on conditional parole under the Alternatives to Detention program, had complied with all check-in requirements, maintained employment as a payroll manager, and had no criminal history. ICE agents allegedly used excessive force, tackling him during arrest without notice or opportunity to be heard. The court granted his temporary restraining order, ordering his immediate release under the original conditions of supervision and enjoining re-detention without a custody hearing before a neutral arbiter.

A Venezuelan national who presented at the El Paso port of entry on March 19, 2024, was released on her own recognizance and enrolled in an Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP). She complied fully with all terms including GPS monitoring and court appearances. On June 29, 2026, she was arrested without warning during a routine ICE check-in appointment and remained detained. The court granted her habeas corpus petition and ordered ICE to provide a bond hearing by July 31, 2026, requiring the government to prove by clear and convincing evidence that detention was justified.

An immigration detainee petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus challenging his detention at Golden State Annex Detention Facility. The court found that his case mirrored legal issues in multiple prior cases where the government's detention was found unlawful. The District Court granted the habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release, prohibiting re-detention unless the government demonstrates by clear and convincing evidence at a pre-deprivation bond hearing that he poses a flight risk or danger to the community.

An 18-year-old from El Salvador was detained by ICE on June 29, 2026, and transferred to Golden State Annex Detention Facility in McFarland, California. He entered the United States in May 2019 and was released on his own recognizance. He obtained Special Immigrant Juvenile status in September 2023 and had his removal proceedings administratively closed in October 2023, with no criminal history and no final removal order. The court granted his habeas corpus petition, finding his detention violated the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause, and ordered his immediate release with restrictions on future detention requiring advance notice and bond hearings.

Milana, a Russian immigrant and trafficking survivor, was detained at ICE's Oklahoma City office during a routine immigration check-in in September 2025. She arrived in the U.S. on a fiancé visa in the early 2000s, escaped an abusive first marriage involving human trafficking, and received a removal order in 2003 that was later converted to an order of supervision requiring routine check-ins. For over 20 years, she complied with these check-ins while building a life in the U.S., raising her U.S. citizen daughter, working consistently, and marrying Roger Swope, a U.S. Army veteran. On the day of her detention, ICE suddenly acted on the dormant removal order. Her attorney, Elissa Stiles, filed multiple legal challenges including habeas corpus petitions and argued Milana qualifies for a trafficking victim visa, but all were denied. A federal judge ruled on June 29, 2026, that Milana had not cooperated with Russian consulate authorities. ICE initially attempted to deport her to Russia despite the active war and closed airspace, then considered third-country removal options. Roger has spent over $20,000 on legal efforts. Since detention, Milana has been moved multiple times between facilities in Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas, shackled during transfers. Her attorney states the only remaining option is to appeal to ICE for humanitarian intervention, as Milana fears for her life if deported to Russia during the ongoing war.

A 36-year-old man arrived with his wife for a routine asylum check-in appointment at the Miramar ICE office on June 28, where they had been reporting for five years. He was taken into custody and spent three days in an overcrowded room with approximately 70 other people, with barely any water or food and a single toilet, while his wife remained outside. His case was cited among a series of complaints from relatives, attorneys and activists that detainees are being held for days at the Miramar facility, which lacks beds and adequate food or water for overnight stays. Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz made an unannounced visit to the site and described conditions as "horrific," saying detainees were "packed in like sardines."

A Russian national entered the United States and was released on his own recognizance in July 2022. On June 27, 2026, ICE re-detained him after a routine check-in with immigration authorities. He is seeking asylum in the United States. 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. On July 8, 2026, the federal court granted his habeas petition and ordered his immediate release on the same terms and conditions he was subject to prior to his re-detention.

A Mexican citizen who entered the United States in July 2004 without inspection was arrested and detained by ICE on June 26, 2026 at the Philadelphia Federal Detention Center. He had previously been detained in 2018, released on bond in May 2018, and had his immigration proceedings taken off calendar in December 2022. The government sought to detain him without a bond hearing under INA § 1225, claiming he was "seeking admission." The court granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release, finding the government's interpretation of the mandatory detention statute unlawful and unwarranted as applied to someone already present in the country for over two decades.

ICE conducted an enforcement operation in Columbus and Platte County, Nebraska on June 26, 2026, targeting individuals who had failed to comply with previously issued deportation orders. One person was taken into custody during the operation. The detained individual had been previously deported. No further details were released by Columbus Police or ICE.

An ICE detainee held at California City Immigration Processing Center filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention. He received an initial bond hearing on March 17, 2026, where the immigration court determined he was a flight risk and danger to the community. At a second hearing on May 28, 2026, the immigration court denied his bond redetermination request by claiming lack of jurisdiction based on mandatory detention. The federal court ordered respondent to determine his eligibility for a bond hearing under 8 C.F.R. § 1003.19(e) within seven days and, if eligible, to conduct the hearing within fourteen days, or immediately release him.

A woman is detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the El Valle Detention Center in Willacy County, Texas. She filed a habeas petition challenging the government's authority to detain her without a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A). While conceding she is subject to mandatory detention under that statute, she alleges the application violates her Fifth Amendment due process rights. The court denied her request for preliminary injunctive relief and decided to await a Fifth Circuit decision in a related case before ruling on her due process claims.

Loreto Javar, a 76-year-old lawful permanent resident from the Philippines who has lived in the U.S. for over three decades, was released from the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma after more than two months in detention. The retired hotel worker from Fife, who has Stage 4 prostate cancer, was detained by ICE during his U.S. citizenship interview in Tukwila after officials said he failed to disclose a decades-old criminal conviction from the Philippines on his original visa application. During detention he was fed only foods advocates say were not nutritious enough for someone with cancer, and his daughter said he now suffers from PTSD and is afraid to leave his house. He was released on recognizance with an ankle monitor and still faces deportation proceedings, with a check-in and a master hearing scheduled for later in September.

A noncitizen is detained at the Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, Colorado. He filed a verified petition for writ of habeas corpus seeking immediate release or a bond hearing where the government must justify continued detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a). The court ordered respondents to respond within seven days and issued an order preventing removal from Colorado or the United States pending resolution of the case.

Javier was detained at a routine ICE check-in appointment after 15 years of pursuing legal permanent residency and U.S. citizenship through the proper channels. He had maintained perfect attendance at all ICE appointments and hired legal representation throughout the process. He now faces deportation and is held in a detention center, separated from his wife Evette and their three daughters.