Human Impact Project

Peterson Nozil, a 37-year-old Haitian national who has lived in Springfield since August 2022, was stopped and arrested while driving home with his family in the car. He had been inspected at the border, granted humanitarian parole, later received temporary protected status, held a valid work permit, and had applied for asylum. His attorney, Maria Otero, filed a habeas corpus petition on Oct. 1 in the Southern District of Ohio seeking a bond hearing and his release from the Butler County Jail, joining several other Haitian nationals in southwest Ohio challenging ICE's mandatory detention policy. The petition was supported by exhibits including his marriage license, his daughter's birth certificate, an employer letter, a church certificate, and letters of support. Judge Matthew W. McFarland ordered the government to respond to the petition by Oct. 5.

Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan asylum seeker who entered the U.S. legally through CBP One in 2024 and held a valid work permit, was shot in the back by an ICE agent on September 20, 2026, during a traffic stop while delivering for DoorDash in North Austin. Federal prosecutors allege he struck an officer with his car's side mirror and fled, while he says an unmarked ICE vehicle rammed and spun his car before he was shot, unaware it belonged to ICE. He suffered a fractured clavicle and a bullet lodged near his spine causing partial paralysis, and his attorney said he faced risk of infection without surgery and received no pain medication in custody. A federal magistrate judge found prosecutors had not clearly shown he was a danger to the community but ruled him a flight risk and denied bond; his attorney said he would pursue a habeas corpus case. He faces DOJ charges of assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer carrying up to 20 years in prison, which his defense disputes, and a separate deportation order prompted his attorneys to sue to block removal. The shooting, partly captured on bystander video, prompted protests of over 150 people and calls from Rep. Greg Casar, Mayor Kirk Watson, and Rep. Joaquin Castro for an independent investigation and release of body-camera footage.

Christian Omar González, a 27-year-old Cuban man living in Hialeah, Florida, has been held at an ICE facility in Miramar for nearly two months after being arrested on August 5 while riding as a passenger to his job in West Palm Beach. His mother and grandmother have publicly pleaded for his release, with his mother saying 'mi niño no es ningún delincuente,' insisting he has no criminal record. ICE said he was arrested during a joint operation with the Florida Highway Patrol following alleged traffic violations, though the vehicle's driver, U.S. citizen Luis Villalba, disputes that account and says he was never ticketed. González left Cuba in 2022 to avoid mandatory military conscription after the July 11 protests, and his asylum case is pending; a bail request was denied because he was classified as an 'arriving alien,' a category that bars the immigration judge from granting bond. His family says they have taken on debt trying to secure his release, and his attorneys note his case coincides with a pending U.S. Supreme Court review of whether ICE can detain migrants in this category without bond. The Miramar facility where he is held has reportedly held as many as 342 people despite an official capacity of 56.

Johnny Sebastián Lucas Barre, a 38-year-old Ecuadorian man held at the Folkston ICE Processing Center in Georgia, says agents handcuffed and beat him after he refused to sign a deportation order and provide fingerprints without a lawyer present. He said three agents threw him against a wall, struck him, and placed a foot near his head until he lost consciousness, later waking up in a wheelchair receiving medical attention and showing visible bruises on his wrists and body. His partner, Leidy Montalvo, said he had been working in the facility kitchen for a dollar a day when agents repeatedly pressured him to sign his deportation paperwork, and she has shared photos of his injuries publicly. Lucas Barre entered the U.S. through Texas in 2024 and was detained again in December after reporting a change of address at an immigration appointment in Orlando, Florida; he has a pending asylum/immigration appeal but no longer has a lawyer because he could not afford to continue paying for one. Immigration attorneys said fingerprints or a signature obtained while someone is unconscious would not be legally valid. Lucas Barre has since filed a federal habeas corpus petition against the facility's warden, which remains pending after the warden moved to dismiss it and his attorney filed a response opposing dismissal.

Reginaldo Quej, Erwin Orlando Xoy Acaham, and Catherine Migdalia Rax Sis, all Guatemalan nationals working at Chile & Chili's Taqueria in Tallahassee, Florida, were detained on September 25, 2026 when ICE and Florida Highway Patrol attempted to stop a vehicle suspected of carrying someone without legal status near the restaurant. The three fled on foot before being caught and handcuffed, with security footage capturing the scene; ICE said the taqueria itself was not the target. One detainee, a 23-year-old woman, worked to financially support her mother, who has cancer, and her two younger sisters in Guatemala. Owner Shannon/Marco Tenorio, a naturalized U.S. citizen, described the workers as 'good people trying to make a living,' said some were in the process of finalizing immigration paperwork or seeking asylum while others held DACA status and work permits, and noted it was the third immigration operation the business had faced in just over a month. Remaining staff quit out of fear, prompting the business to permanently close. An immigration attorney said none of the three had a serious or prior criminal history, though their legal statuses varied, and all remained in ICE custody at detention centers far from Tallahassee. Community members raised nearly $13,000 via GoFundMe, and the Tallahassee Immigrant Rights Alliance organized a protest rally at the restaurant.

César Cepeda Gomez (also referred to as Cesar Augusto Cepeda Gomez), a Venezuelan asylum seeker who delivered for Walmart in Bloomington, was detained by ICE agents in a Walmart parking lot alongside a coworker on September 1, 2026. Cepeda Gomez entered the U.S. legally through a CBP One appointment, held valid work authorization, and had an asylum hearing scheduled for October; he lives in Bloomington with his partner and her child. He was transported to the GEO Group-run North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, where he remained held for weeks. His attorney said he has been working, paying taxes, and has no criminal history. A federal court ruled ICE could not continue holding him without a chance to seek release, after which an immigration judge granted him a $10,000 bond, with Cepeda Gomez awaiting payment as of early October.

Ricardo Aparecido Barbosa da Cunha, a Brazilian immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for over 20 years and owns a home and business in Massachusetts with his wife and two U.S.-born children, was detained by ICE in September 2025 after a traffic stop in Norwood, Massachusetts while driving to work. He had an asylum application and work permit after entering the country around 2005. Under a Trump administration policy issued in July 2025, DHS classified him as an 'applicant for admission' subject to mandatory detention and held him without a bond hearing in Buffalo, New York. He challenged the detention in federal court; a district judge ordered his release, and he was later released on bond. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected the government's interpretation, joining judges in nine of eleven federal appeals courts who have ruled against it. On October 1, 2026, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to review the administration's appeal, with the ACLU warning the case could affect thousands to millions of noncitizens detained under the same policy.

Carlos Moreno, a Venezuelan asylum seeker who is legally blind and hard of hearing, was detained by ICE agents in March 2026 as he and his wife, Wendys Martinez, left a Schuylkill County courthouse after paying a $277 noise citation for playing music at their Pottsville home. He was transferred through a York processing facility and Moshannon Valley Processing Center before arriving at Cambria County Prison, roughly 200 miles from home, where he says staff failed to keep his hearing aids charged, never fixed his broken cane, and did not provide promised translation services, forcing him to rely on other detainees to interpret and leaving him largely confined to his cell for nearly six months. Moreno said the conditions pushed him to consider abandoning his asylum appeal; after his appeal deadline passed, Martinez gave birth to their son alone on the Fourth of July. Cambria County, which has earned more than $1.5 million detaining immigrants like Moreno under a federal agreement, later transferred him to facilities in Louisiana and then Texas to await deportation to Venezuela. Cambria County's warden said Moreno received adequate care but declined to provide details, citing privacy and security procedures.

Elisthene Petit Kat, 38, a Haitian national living in Springfield, was arrested Aug. 15 as a passenger in a vehicle stopped by North Hampton police officers acting under an agreement with ICE, allegedly for missing a hearing he was never informed about. He lawfully entered the U.S. in June 2023 with humanitarian parole after fleeing violence with his partner and young daughter, applied for asylum, worked at an auto parts assembly factory, attended church regularly, and was the sole provider for his family in Springfield while also supporting a 7-year-old son who remains in Haiti. U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett ruled Sept. 30 that ICE must release him from the Butler County Jail or provide a bond hearing within a week, rejecting the agency's argument that he was subject to mandatory detention as an 'arriving alien' despite having lived in the U.S. for years, and writing that the court was 'puzzled' by ICE's position. Petit Kat's petition noted he was not assessed for flight risk or danger, was not promptly served with a warrant, and did not speak with an ICE officer for days after being jailed. The ruling comes as half a dozen other Haitian citizens have challenged the legality of their ICE detention at the same jail, with advocates expecting more detainees in southwest Ohio to file similar challenges.

Gedion Masunsu, 42, a Waltham resident who spent 16 years seeking political asylum after working for American military contractors in Iraq and completing the Waltham Police Department's Citizens Academy, was deported to Uganda on September 30, 2026, after 19 months in ICE detention, most of it at the Strafford County jail in Dover, NH. He had been arrested on assault charges involving his now-wife that were dismissed by a Massachusetts judge within three months, but his paralegal, Rosette Serwanga, said the charges were not promptly removed from his record and likely influenced his case; an immigration judge denied him bond twice even after he was granted withholding of removal. A federal judge denied his habeas corpus petition challenging his detention without prejudice in December 2025. After the government appealed his withholding of removal, the judge issued a removal order and the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed his case on September 15, 2026, reportedly because his former attorney filed the appeal late. Masunsu said ICE removed him within hours of an inquiry from an aide to Sen. Edward Markey, despite telling officials at a Burlington, MA holding facility that he still had 15 days to appeal. He suffered an untreated rotator cuff injury during an ICE transport van ride, married his partner, Sylvia Mamutabi Mugisha, while detained, and her daughter Paris Kirunda wrote that he 'embraced my siblings and me with genuine love, kindness, and respect.' Fellow detainees described him as a devout Christian whose daily prayer meetings calmed tensions at the jail. He is now in a Kampala hotel with no family or friends remaining in Uganda, relying on financial assistance from the Ugandan community in Boston.

Alicia Labrador, a Venezuelan dermocosmiatrist and founder/CEO of the Aliestetic beauty and MedSpa brand, was detained by federal immigration authorities on September 30, 2026, while dropping off her 16-year-old daughter at a friend's home in Doral's Ibis Villas neighborhood. She also serves as vice president of the Hispanic Women's Chamber of Commerce of Doral. Her attorney, Ros Ana Guillén, says Labrador has a pending asylum application, valid work authorization, and a current driver's license, and family members say she entered the U.S. legally on a visa in 2016 with no criminal record. Her son, Héctor Sánchez, said he learned of the detention when his mother called him while she was with officers, telling Telemundo, 'I couldn't even speak.' Reports conflict on her location, with some saying she was transferred the same evening to a detention facility in Texas, while her attorney says she may be held at a CBP transit facility in Florida where she has not been permitted to visit her. She now faces deportation proceedings, and her family says they are focused on bringing her home.

Augusto Lopes Vemba, a 40-year-old asylum-seeker from Angola, was stopped by masked ICE agents in camouflage gear at the intersection of Acushnet Avenue and Sawyer Street in New Bedford on September 22, 2026. Witnesses and video footage showed him provide his information and attempt to leave before four agents chased him down, tackled him to the ground, and tased him at the neck for about 15 seconds while restraining his hands. Alicia Lopez Gonzalez, co-director of advocacy group Mujeres Victoriosas, witnessed the arrest and said the tactics appeared intended to traumatize the community, while nearby business owners described the scene as aggressive, with one saying she locked her shop door out of fear. Vemba was among roughly 40 people detained during a week of ICE operations in the city. On September 30, federal Judge Angel Kelley ordered the government to grant him a bond hearing within 10 days, a decision the U.S. Attorney's Office did not contest.

Manuel Alejandro Nadal-Ortiz, a Venezuelan asylum seeker with a pending work permit, was detained by ICE agents on September 1 outside a Bloomington Walmart where he worked as a delivery driver for DoorDash, Uber and Walmart. He was detained alongside Cesar Augusto Cepeda Gomez, another delivery driver. His girlfriend, Joanna Hanner, said his mother called her crying within minutes of the arrest, and the family spent the day calling detention centers before Ortiz reached them by phone that afternoon from Chicago, saying he was being transferred to a jail in Michigan. Hanner said Ortiz had no criminal record beyond a paid speeding ticket, closely monitored local ICE activity to avoid it, and was saving money to support his father in Venezuela. On September 24, Ortiz filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court in Michigan, and on September 30 a judge ordered the government to show cause for his continued detention, with a response due October 5. Unlike Cepeda Gomez, whose parallel habeas case led to a bond hearing, Ortiz's case remains in earlier litigation stages.

Claudia Carolina Rodríguez Caglianone, a 28-year-old Venezuelan immigrant who served as captain of St. Thomas University's soccer team and earned bachelor's and master's degrees there, was detained by ICE at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on July 31, 2026, while trying to board a domestic flight. She had entered the U.S. in 2017 on a tourist visa, applied for asylum within six months, and held Temporary Protected Status until it expired in October. Her family said she was held for eight days at the Miramar ICE field office without being able to shower or change clothes, losing 15 pounds, before being transferred to facilities including the Broward Transitional Center and Pompano Beach. Her former coach praised her leadership and character. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz visited the facility, criticized ICE for detaining 'law-abiding residents like Claudia,' and raised concerns about hundreds of similar detainees, with the resulting public pressure contributing to her eventual release.

Gregory Sanabria Tarazona, a Venezuelan asylum seeker and former political prisoner who endured years in detention in Venezuela, was arrested by ICE during a routine check-in in Houston weeks before his scheduled asylum hearing. He was taken to an ICE processing center despite holding a valid work permit while his asylum case was pending. Amnesty International called for his release, and a Republican congressman formally wrote to the Department of Homeland Security requesting intervention on his behalf.

A 40-year-old Filipino man, the son of a slain Filipino radio broadcaster, was detained by US immigration authorities on September 21 after returning to Los Angeles from a music performance in Chicago. He is being held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center and is scheduled for a hearing on the eve of the fourth anniversary of his father's 2022 killing. He arrived in the US in February 2023, holds work authorization, and had sought asylum after receiving death threats following his father's murder. The Philippine consulate in Los Angeles has conducted a welfare visit, and Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez said the consulate is coordinating with the family's lawyers.

Angel, a 13-year-old unaccompanied migrant boy from Honduras, appeared without an attorney at a deportation hearing in immigration court in Harlingen, Texas. He told the judge that his mother and most of his family live in the United States and that returning to Honduras would be dangerous, but the judge ruled he did not qualify for asylum. Crying, Angel said he had "no one" and "nothing," and the judge gave him until the end of the month to appeal his deportation order. Dozens of other migrant children, some as young as 2, appeared in the same court without legal representation. Advocates say his case reflects a broader pattern of unaccompanied children nationwide facing an accelerated, confusing immigration process after the Trump administration ended funding for legal service programs for migrant children.

Deng Dhieu Kuach Deng, a 19-year-old freshman basketball player at Southern Connecticut State University from Aweil, South Sudan, was detained by ICE agents on September 4, 2026 while attempting to board a domestic flight at Tweed New Haven Airport to visit his girlfriend in North Carolina. A witness described the arresting officers as 'very aggressive.' Deng had a pending asylum application with a valid Employment Authorization Document and no criminal history; attorneys Glenn Formica and Steven Strom filed a habeas corpus petition alleging an officer falsely claimed he had violated Temporary Protected Status he never held, and that his Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights were violated. He was held at the Wyatt Detention Facility in Rhode Island, which Formica described as involving 'hyper stress' conditions including sleeping on cement floors with foil blankets and broken toilets. Following advocacy from attorneys, university community members, and New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker, Deng was released on September 16. Sen. Richard Blumenthal called the detention unnecessary and illegal and sought an investigation into the regional ICE field office; SCSU said it remained in contact with him and was assisting where appropriate.

Patricia Valdez, a 37-year-old Venezuelan engineer from Mérida known to loved ones as Patty, was detained by ICE while attending a scheduled check-in with immigration authorities as part of her asylum application process, and was transferred to a detention facility in Oklahoma. Valdez, who became a mother three months ago, worked for the City of Dallas and previously taught at the Engineering Faculty of the Universidad de los Andes in Venezuela. In the U.S. she has passed the FE exam and holds the Engineer in Training (EIT) and Project Management Professional (PMP) certifications, recently passing the PE Civil Construction exam, and is active in communities of Venezuelan engineers. Her family says she has no criminal record, is seeking reunification with her infant son, and has started a GoFundMe campaign to cover her legal defense and her baby's care.

Adwoa, a 21-year-old bisexual woman from Ghana, fled years of violence and ostracism after neighbors accused her family of witchcraft over her sexuality. Despite obtaining a US court guarantee that she would not be deported back to Ghana, she was instead sent to Cameroon earlier this year, where same-sex relations are illegal and punishable by up to five years in prison. She has been held at a government-run detention facility in Cameroon for several months, describing her situation as feeling like "a criminal" and fearing she could be killed if returned to Ghana.