Human Impact Project

U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown, appointed by President Trump, ruled that ICE agents illegally arrested Angel Jesus Almonte during a May operation in the Bronx targeting Dario Santos-Amarante, despite striking physical differences between the two men. Brown's 28-page opinion found agents falsified arrest paperwork, including a "substantially false" administrative warrant prepared after Almonte's detention, and gave testimony about alleged drug transactions that bore "all the hallmarks of coordinated fabrication," while official records showed only motor vehicle charges. A supervisor testified that five database searches had initially returned negative results before the warrant falsely claimed biometric confirmation. The same operation also led to the violent arrest of U.S. citizen Jeury Concepcion, who suffered head injuries requiring stitches after being mistaken for the target; Brown provisionally granted Almonte's habeas petition and ordered the government to explain within 21 days how it will address the problems identified, while considering possible sanctions.

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.

Amy Lucia López Belloza, a 19-year-old Babson College freshman on scholarship, was detained by ICE at Boston Logan Airport in November 2025 while trying to board a flight to surprise her parents for a family Thanksgiving reunion. She was unaware a removal order had been issued against her in 2017, when she was 11, after an immigration judge denied her and her mother's asylum claims. A federal judge in Massachusetts ordered that she not be moved out of state or deported, but ICE transferred her to Texas and deported her to Honduras, a country she had not visited since leaving at age 8; the government later conceded in court that an agent had misread the judge's order and apologized, but argued the violation should not affect her case. When offered a return flight in February 2026, she declined after ICE indicated she would be redetained in Texas and deported again. Her habeas corpus lawsuit was dismissed in March 2026 for lack of jurisdiction. She is now continuing her Babson studies remotely while living with her grandparents in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, as her attorneys argue before the First Circuit Court of Appeals that she should be allowed to return to Massachusetts.

Godfrey Wade, a 65-year-old Jamaican-born U.S. Army veteran and lawful permanent resident who came to the U.S. at 15 in 1975, was deported to Jamaica on February 5, 2026, while his appeal remained pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals. Wade worked as a chef, tailor, tennis coach and fashion designer while raising six children and three grandchildren with his fiancée April Watkins. He was detained by ICE for nearly five months following a September 2025 traffic stop for driving without a valid license, held at Stewart Detention Center in Georgia and later Richwood in Louisiana, where he endured overcrowding, inadequate food, a water outage, and illness that caused significant weight loss. His deportation stemmed from a 2014 in absentia removal order tied to a 2008 misdemeanor bounced-check conviction, after immigration court notices were mistakenly sent to the wrong address. His daughter said he was removed without warning, arriving in Jamaica with only the clothes he wore before being hospitalized for pneumonia; his fiancée and daughter said he drew portraits of fellow detainees to lift their spirits and have since raised funds and a petition seeking him a day in court. In October, a Douglas County Superior Court judge granted his habeas corpus petition, voiding the 2008 conviction and giving him a new chance to fight his case, which remains pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals.

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.

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.

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.

Darline Jean Baptiste, a 33-year-old Haitian woman, was arrested by ICE in Springfield, Ohio on Aug. 14 while returning home from work during what the agency called a "targeted alien enforcement operation," and has since been held at the Butler County Jail. She entered the U.S. through a Florida airport in November 2023 under a humanitarian parole program, financially supports two children in Haiti, and said she fled her homeland due to daily threats of violence. An immigration judge denied her a bond hearing, ruling he lacked jurisdiction because she was considered an "arriving alien," and later withdrew her bond request entirely. On September 23, 2026, she filed a federal habeas corpus petition in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, naming the warden of Butler County Corrections Center as respondent, supported by exhibits including her I-94, employment authorization document, an employer letter, and letters of support. In her court declaration, she said she is not a flight risk or danger to the community and committed to attending all future immigration court hearings if released. The government's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss her petition, and her attorneys filed a response in opposition on October 1, 2026.

Ivan, 27, a construction worker from Guatemala who has lived in Minnesota since 2019 with no criminal record beyond minor traffic violations, was arrested on September 11 after ICE agents ran his work vehicle's plates at a Columbia Heights gas station and followed him to a Menards parking lot. A federal judge later granted his habeas petition, but when he arrived at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis for release, five federal agents were already waiting and took him into custody at Freeborn County Jail. "I didn't even make it to see the sun," Ivan told MPR News by phone from the jail, speaking in Spanish. His attorney, Steven Appelget, had argued agents lacked probable cause or a warrant for the initial arrest.

Mario Mata Cruz, a Salvadoran national with a pending Special Immigrant Juvenile Status application and no criminal record, was arrested by ICE on Long Island in October 2025 while driving to work with his brother. He had crossed the border at age 17 and obtained SIJ status in 2019, putting him on a path toward a green card. ICE transported him to Texas and deported him to El Salvador without a final removal order from an immigration judge or signed voluntary departure paperwork, which his attorney Ed Cuccia says was illegal. His lawyers sued the Trump administration, and the government agreed to return him from El Salvador over the summer, but instead of being released to New York where his brother lives, he has been held in detention facilities in Louisiana, New Jersey, and Virginia with no ties to those states. An immigration judge in New Jersey denied him bond, and a hearing on his green card application was scheduled. His case is part of a broader pattern NY1 documented of at least 132 cases where people were deported without final removal orders.

Jodas Etienne, a 33-year-old Haitian national who lives in Springfield, has been held at the Butler County Jail for two months and is seeking a bond hearing and release from ICE detention.

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.

Kwadwo, a 57-year-old respiratory therapist who has lived in Daly City for eight years, was arrested by a plainclothes ICE agent at his gate at San Francisco International Airport while waiting to board a domestic flight to visit his cousin in Dallas, who was recovering from a stroke. After clearing security, he was surrounded by officers who chained his feet, waist, and hands in the arrivals area near baggage claim in front of other travelers, before he was taken to a federal immigration building downtown and then transported through Stockton to the Golden State Annex detention center outside Bakersfield, where he has been held for more than two months. Kwadwo fled religious persecution as a Christian in Ghana at age 28, was granted asylum in South Africa, later earned a master's degree in respiratory care in the U.S., and was earning more than $166,000 a year supporting his family, including his son's graduate studies. His detention stems from an expired student visa; his green card application was rejected in June 2024, his first appeal was denied, and a second appeal filed in May 2025 remains pending. He filed a habeas corpus petition on his own behalf, but a judge denied his bond citing flight risk, and he is appealing while continuing to challenge his detention in immigration court. His son said the arrest has been a major financial and emotional stressor for the family, noting, "It feels like they're just trying to find people to fill up prisons."

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.

Gerson Josué Santamaría Turcios, a Honduran immigrant and Rhinebeck High School graduate who ran his own lawn care and landscaping business, was arrested by ICE as he returned home from work. He had lived in the Rhinebeck community for years, building long-term employment relationships with local residents who describe him as warm and hard-working. A Manhattan judge denied his request for a temporary restraining order, and he was held at Orange County Jail before being transferred to the Jena/LaSalle Detention Facility in Louisiana. A coalition called New York Neighbors Unite launched a fundraising campaign that quickly raised more than $26,000, eventually growing to over $132,000 with support from former employers, teachers, classmates, actor Paul Rudd, filmmaker Andrew Jarecki, and U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan. His attorney, Karen Weinstock, pursued a habeas corpus petition, and a U.S. appeals judge from the Second Circuit granted him a stay of removal after more than a year in custody. Local resident Martha Honey said neighbors remain concerned about his ongoing imprisonment.

Monica Ryadi, a 30-year-old nurse from Delaware County, Pennsylvania, was detained by ICE agents at Los Angeles International Airport on Sept. 15, 2026, as she arrived with her husband, Steven Sary, and their 3-year-old son for a Disneyland trip. Ryadi has lived legally in the U.S. since age 9, after fleeing religious persecution in Indonesia with her family, and was granted Withholding of Removal in 2010, which allows her to live and work in the country. Officers handcuffed and chained her and threatened to place her son in child protective services when her husband protested, according to court filings. Her attorney said she was never given a warrant or documentation explaining her arrest and that ICE indicated she could be deported to an undisclosed third country. After 15 days in custody at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, a U.S. magistrate judge ordered her released with a GPS ankle monitor, and she was reunited with her husband and son that night.

Musa Sheriff, a Liberian citizen who was admitted to the U.S. as a refugee in 1999, has been held since ICE arrested him on March 2, 2025 at a scheduled check-in, after facing deportation over a criminal threatening charge filed five years after his arrival. He is detained in the ICE section of the Federal Correctional Institution at Lewisburg, and in August filed a habeas petition arguing his prolonged 19-month detention violated his due process rights. U.S. Middle District Judge Matthew W. Brann ruled in his favor, finding his confinement conditions were indistinguishable from criminal punishment, and ordered the government to release him on his own recognizance or provide an individualized bond hearing by October 9.