Deportation

You live outside Washington, D.C., and ICE just ran its largest regional enforcement sweep of 2026. Between August 1 and 14, officers arrested 1,328 people across Virginia and Maryland — and the agency says more operations like this are coming. If you or someone you know could be in ICE's path, here is what you need to know right now.

You live in Minneapolis, and an ICE agent fired a bullet through the front door of a home in your neighborhood — wounding a 24-year-old Venezuelan man and lodging a bullet in a child's bedroom wall. Months later, the agent charged with that shooting may walk out of a Texas jail, not because he was found innocent, but because the governor of Texas refuses to send him to Minnesota to stand trial. A federal judge was set to rule Wednesday on whether anything can stop that from happening.

You haven't missed a single ICE check-in, you have a valid immigration status, and you're still being told not to fly. That's the reality for many immigrants in the US right now. July 2026 brought record-breaking ICE arrests — and for the first time, the majority of people arrested had no criminal record at all.

Grace Calero Cabanilla survived a car crash that flipped her SUV four times — then ICE agents arrested her in the hospital room where she was recovering. Her 19-year-old daughter was taken too. The family says one of them has a pending asylum case and a valid work permit.

You leave your house to take your car to the mechanic, and by that evening you are in an immigration detention center in Miami. That is what happened to Luis Manuel Aviles — a 48-year-old handyman with a US work permit, and the father of a Navy sailor who just broke a military record for time at sea. He was released within hours, but the case has shaken military families across the country.

What happens when you follow every rule — and still get deported? Cristy Maryori Villafranca-Trejo did everything her lawyers told her to do: she applied for military parole-in-place, filed an appeal, and waited. On Monday, ICE deported her to Honduras anyway, leaving her US Army husband alone to raise their six-year-old daughter near Fort Bliss, Texas.

Three ICE detainers were filed — and three times, local authorities in Massachusetts released the same man without notifying federal agents. The August 2026 arrest in Taunton shows how the detainer system works, and what it means when it breaks down. For any immigrant with a prior arrest or old removal order, this case is a warning about how quickly a local custody situation can escalate.

Joshua Aviles has been deployed on the USS Abraham Lincoln for over nine months, working 12-hour days in the Middle East. Then he got a call: his father had just been taken by ICE. His father had a work permit, a Social Security card, and a green card application already in the system — and none of it stopped the arrest.

Two ICE officers on a targeted enforcement operation in Fresno, California, helped capture an escaped fugitive on August 20, 2026 — and ICE called it a blueprint for local law enforcement partnerships. For immigrants living in areas where ICE runs active operations, the episode is a reminder that federal agents can be anywhere, at any time. Knowing your rights before an encounter happens is not optional.

You're getting a call that your family member collapsed inside an ICE detention center — and you don't know what happened or who to trust. Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, a 41-year-old man from El Salvador, died on August 1, 2026, after a medical emergency at Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark, New Jersey. His family says he wasn't getting the medication he needed. ICE says he received proper care. The cause of death is still unknown.

Local police in your city may soon have a direct line to ICE — in real time. On August 21, 2026, ICE announced it is building a new coordination center to expand its 287(g) program nationwide, giving local law enforcement faster access to federal immigration resources. For immigrants who have any contact with local police, the risk of detention and removal proceedings just got more immediate.

Immigration attorney Ilya Fishkin explains which asylum seekers face the highest risk of a deportation order — and what you can do about it.

Immigration attorney Ilya Fishkin explains what happens if ICE arrests you at a courthouse and why preparing your case in advance is your best protection.

Two ICE officers on a targeted enforcement operation in Fresno, California, helped capture an escaped fugitive on August 20, 2026 — a U.S. citizen, not an immigrant. The incident shows that ICE is actively operating in the Fresno area. Immigrants in the region should know their rights during any encounter with federal agents.

You have a valid work permit, a pending asylum case, and no criminal convictions — and ICE still arrests you, chains your wrists and ankles, and locks you in a detention center for eight days. That is exactly what happened to Assim Alkhawaja, a 53-year-old Saudi-born coffee shop owner in San Diego. His case shows a gap in immigration law that can trap asylum seekers who did everything right.