Human Impact Project

Otis Nicholas Ffriend, a Jamaican LGBTQ asylum seeker who had been granted Convention Against Torture withholding of removal in November 2024, was arrested without a warrant by ICE agents at his California home on May 1, 2026. He had been complying with supervision requirements and living with his U.S. citizen wife. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order requiring his immediate release and barring re-detention without a hearing. After the government moved to dissolve the order, U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick granted a preliminary injunction on May 14, 2026, continuing Ffriend's release pending further proceedings. The government has since appealed the ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

On May 14, 2026, ICE allegedly arrested at least five people in Geneva, New York, including a U.S. citizen at a Byrne Dairy gas station and four men stopped while driving to work. One person was later released after providing proof of citizenship. Community protests organized by groups including the Finger Lakes Rapid Response Network and Geneva Women's Assembly continued into late May, including a rally at Geneva City Hall on May 24 where dozens gathered before marching down Castle Street. Organizers said they are assisting families affected by the arrests, citing separation, financial strain, and fear in the community.

Federal agents stopped a man in Cathedral City, California and attempted to forcibly remove him from his vehicle despite his attempts to show valid driver's license identification. Agents dismissed his ID as fake and proceeded to pull him from the car. He was released only after his wife arrived with additional documentation. The man's hand was left bruised and bleeding during the encounter. The Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice reports this is part of a pattern of targeting individuals based on appearance.

Milena Araya-Davis, a 27-year-old therapist and Palm Springs High School graduate, was arrested by ICE agents on December 15, 2025, outside a USCIS office in San Diego immediately after being told her green card application was approved. Araya-Davis was brought to the U.S. from Peru at age 4 and received DACA protection as a teenager, going on to earn a master's degree in marriage and family therapy. She was detained for overstaying a tourist visa from her childhood. During her seven-day detention at Otay Mesa Detention Center, Araya-Davis slept on the floor, shared a single sink with roughly 150 women, and received inadequate food and medical care, relying on other detainees for basic supplies and support. Her husband, a U.S. citizen whom she married in April 2025, was home waiting for brief phone calls during her detention. Araya-Davis has since shared her experience on social media, drawing thousands of responses from people fearing detention or worried about loved ones. San Diego County subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and private prison operator CoreCivic after being denied inspection access to the facility.

Kevin González, an 18-year-old U.S. citizen with stage 4 colon cancer, pleaded with immigration authorities to release his parents so he could see them before his death. His parents, Mexican nationals Isidoro González Avilés and Norma Anabel Ramírez Amaya, were arrested near Douglas, Arizona on April 14, 2026, after attempting to reenter the U.S. following denied humanitarian and B1/B2 visa requests. They had been previously deported in 2011 and 2024, and were reported chained during court appearances while detained for weeks. A federal judge in Tucson ordered their release on May 8, 2026. They were deported to Mexico that day and traveled to Durango, where they reunited with Kevin on May 8. Kevin died on May 9, 2026, one day after the reunion.

Marco, a 61-year-old man who had lived in the U.S. for nearly 40 years and owned a contracting business, was arrested at a Home Depot in Maryland, detained for three months, and deported to El Salvador after an immigration judge dismissed his request for humanitarian relief. His 17-year-old son Mark, a U.S. citizen, struggled with depression and falling grades while taking on extra work and responsibilities to support his mother, who works at Burger King. Last week Mark graduated high school in Maryland, with Marco watching the ceremony via livestream instead of attending in person.

María Gloria Lopez Alcala, a mother of five who has lived in the U.S. for three decades, was detained by CBP on May 8 at International Bridge 2 in Laredo while returning from Nuevo Laredo after forgetting her ID. She had passed her citizenship test in November but never received an oath ceremony date, and her family says she also holds a permanent resident card. Officials told her family she is being held on suspicion of identity fraud, an accusation her family denies, and as of early August she remained at the Laredo Detention Center, where she developed a skin condition requiring medical treatment. ICE says her case remains in the adjudication process.

Ana Delgado, a Venezuelan woman with Temporary Protected Status and an active family-based immigration petition filed by her U.S. citizen husband, was detained by ICE on April 29, 2026, after an agent posing as an ISAP case manager deceived her into stepping outside her home in Texas. Nine ICE officers surrounded her and took her into custody, separating her from her 4-year-old child and 1-year-old daughter whom she was breastfeeding. While postpartum and nursing, Ana was held at Karnes detention center in Texas before being transferred to Eloy detention center in Arizona. She developed severe mastitis as a result of separation from her nursing infant and was denied requests to breastfeed during visitation and denied access to a breast pump. Ana has no criminal record and was in the process of adjusting status through her husband's sponsorship. ICE indicated she may be deported by Mother's Day. Ana Delgado, a TPS holder and stay-at-home mother who had lived in the U.S. for 7 years, was detained during a routine at-home check-in at her residence in San Antonio, Texas on April 29th. She was subsequently deported, separating her from her two young children, Hannah (12 months old) and Isaiah (4 years old). Delgado had been in the process of renewing her TPS and applying for adjustment of status after marrying a U.S. citizen.

Maria Trinidad Loya Medina, a Mexican national who lived in Albany, Oregon for over 20 years and was the primary caregiver for her husband and two U.S. citizen children, was detained by ICE agents on January 10, 2026, during Operation Black Rose while shopping at a sporting goods store in Albany. She was held at Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington for four months. An immigration judge denied her bond request on February 4 after a brief hearing, despite evidence of strong community ties and no criminal history. On May 7, Federal Judge Grady J. Leupold ordered her immediate release, finding that the immigration judge violated her constitutional due process rights by failing to consider relevant factors and abusing discretion in denying bond. The judge cited documented harm to her family, including her husband's stroke and daughter's depression. ICE delayed her release until May 8.

Javier Ramirez, a U.S. citizen, was detained for five days after being racially profiled by ICE during a traffic stop in Nashville. Body camera footage reveals ICE and state troopers targeting Black and brown drivers for minor traffic infractions while using fewer enforcement actions against white drivers.

Adam Marshall, a former infantry officer who has volunteered for over a year helping families of detainees, was arrested and briefly detained while serving as a medic for protesters who had been pepper-sprayed outside Delaney Hall in May 2026. Federal agents pushed him to the ground, carried him by his arms and legs into the detention center's courtyard, scanned his face with a mobile application, held him for two hours, then transported him and two other men to an underpass beneath the New Jersey Turnpike where they were lined up against a metal wall with hands above their heads before being told never to return and released.

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.

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.

ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) agents used force against two U.S. citizen minors during an enforcement operation in the Pueblo de Palmas neighborhood of Edinburg, Texas on April 23, 2026. A 16-year-old boy was struck in the face with a closed fist by an agent, and a 14-year-old girl was detained and allegedly grabbed around the neck. The incident was documented on video and shared on social media. ICE has not issued a public statement regarding the alleged use of force.

William 'Danny' Rosenmund, a Springdale resident who regularly spoke at borough council meetings, was forcefully pulled from the podium and taken to the ground by Springdale police during an April 21 public meeting. He had repeatedly questioned the borough's 287(g) agreement with ICE and criticized officials for approving it without a public vote.

Gabriela Lozano Sousa, a Venezuelan national who entered the U.S. legally in 2023 through a humanitarian parole program, married U.S. citizen Brandon Garrison in April 2025, believing it would put her on a path to legal residency. In October 2025, a domestic-dispute call brought local police to the scene, who turned her over to federal immigration authorities; no criminal charges resulted. ICE classified her as an 'arriving immigrant,' subjecting her to mandatory detention without a bond hearing, and she was held at a facility in Baker County, Florida. Her attorneys argued the classification was legally incorrect. The couple had filed an I-130 petition on her behalf, under review since November 2025. A federal judge dismissed her immigration case in spring 2026, and she was released after roughly six months in detention, though federal authorities retained 30 days to appeal, leaving her future status uncertain.

Sundas Naqvi, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen, was detained by ICE agents at Chicago O'Hare International Airport on March 5, 2026, after returning from Turkey. She claimed a 43-hour ordeal involving transfer to Dodge County Jail in Wisconsin and was released early Saturday morning with a dead phone. Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt denied having any record of her at the facility, while DHS disputed her account by releasing surveillance footage showing secondary screening lasted less than an hour. In April 2026, Sheriff Schmidt filed a million-dollar defamation lawsuit against Naqvi, characterizing her detention claims as false and part of a "romantic scam" with her boyfriend. Naqvi's attorney provided location data and requested release of additional surveillance footage.

Alejandro Cabrera Clemente, 49, from Valle de Santiago, Guanajuato, Mexico, had lived in the United States for about 25 years and was married to a U.S. citizen, though he had not obtained legal residency. He was arrested by ICE on January 8, 2026, in Tennessee and transferred over five days through facilities in Tennessee and Alabama before arriving at Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana on January 13. During roughly three months in custody he was treated for high blood pressure, fever, and back and throat pain, receiving medication according to ICE. On April 11, 2026, he was found unresponsive with facial paralysis and cyanosis during a security check; resuscitation attempts failed and he was pronounced dead at Winn Parish Medical Center. The coroner attributed his death to natural causes from cardiovascular disease. Guanajuato's Human Rights Secretariat located his sister in Atlanta and offered funeral assistance and possible repatriation. His death was one of several ICE custody deaths reported in early 2026.

Miguel Rosas Ruiz, a 50-year-old widowed father of four U.S. citizen children in Michigan who has run Rosas Painting in Ypsilanti since 2003, was detained by ICE on March 10, 2026, after being intercepted near Carpenter Road while on his way to work. He was held at the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, while his oldest daughter, Morelia Rosas Martinez, 22, postponed her college plans to care for her three younger siblings and raised over $20,000 through a GoFundMe campaign. Rosas Ruiz challenged his detention in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, which conditionally ruled on April 9 that his detention violated his Fifth Amendment due process rights; he was granted bond at an April 15 hearing and reunited with his family the next day. His case is one of more than 100 identified by CNN involving U.S. citizen children separated from parents through ICE enforcement actions in 2025.

Michelle Mendoza, a U.S. citizen and mother of two young children, was detained by ICE agents on April 15, 2026, during a school drop-off at the intersection of Main Street and Bangs Avenue in Asbury Park, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Agents took her to the ground, causing visible bruising, and handcuffed her in front of her children (ages 9 and 1). Some ICE agents covered their faces during the arrest, allegedly violating New Jersey state law prohibiting masked officers during enforcement actions. Mendoza was released without charges after eight hours at the Newark ICE detention center (Delaney Hall), though her husband remained in ICE custody. The incident prompted community protests and statements from city officials and state legislators.