Human Impact Project

Miguel, a South American migrant held at an ICE detention center in Texas, was subjected to systematic extortion and violence by members of the prison gang Los Paisas. He was forced to give gang members portions of food purchased with money his family sent him, and was beaten and confined when he refused or failed to comply. After pressure to join the gang, which he resisted, he endured further retaliation. Fearing retaliation and doubting that immigration authorities would protect him, Miguel never reported the abuse until after his release from detention.

Kaleth, a 2-year-old boy seeking asylum with his mother Joani, was detained in March 2026 after attending a required immigration check-in appointment in California. His father was handcuffed and taken to an adult detention facility in California while Kaleth and Joani were transferred to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas. Without his father, Kaleth became despondent and stopped eating for 12 days, vomited when forced to eat, and stopped having bowel movements—conditions doctors attributed to depression. Kaleth and his mother were released in April 2026 and reunited with his father, with reports indicating the boy is recovering well.

Victor Manuel Diaz, a 36-year-old Nicaraguan man and father of two, was arrested by ICE in Minneapolis on January 6, 2026, during Operation Metro Surge and transferred to Camp East Montana detention facility in El Paso, Texas. He died by suicide on January 14, 2026, by hanging with a bed sheet, eight days after his arrest. Diaz had entered the U.S. illegally in 2024, was released on parole, and was working at a Twin Cities restaurant when detained. Staff placed him in a medical holding room instead of a suicide-resistant cell and left him unattended for intervals exceeding the required 15-minute checks. Vision panels that had been requested months earlier were not installed, preventing staff from observing the room. A GAO report released in June 2026 found the facility lacked adequate supervision and monitoring systems, with over 1,600 detainees housed in steel-framed tent-like structures, insufficient surveillance cameras, and inadequate medical care. Diaz was at least the third death at Camp East Montana. His family attorney is considering a wrongful death claim.

Three Collinsville, Illinois teens — Jesus Alexis Cruz, 16; Hector Cruz Sanchez, 19; and Jonathan Godoy, 19 — were detained by ICE on June 9, 2026, in Morrisonville, Illinois, while traveling for a summer job doing internet line work. They were pulled over by the Morrisonville Police Department, after which ICE took them into custody. Cruz, 16, is being held at an unidentified detention facility in Texas. Sanchez and Godoy are detained at Ste. Genevieve Detention Center in Missouri. The Illinois Attorney General's Office noted that state law sharply limits local police participation in federal immigration enforcement. State Rep. Katie Stuart called the incident "horrifying" and began working with the governor's office and attorney general. Candidate Marsie Geldert-Murphey questioned whether local police violated the Illinois Way Forward Act and Trust Act by handing a minor to ICE.

A 22-year-old Colombian national was detained at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana after entering the United States on November 16, 2022. She received deferred action status approved by USCIS on February 3, 2025, valid until February 3, 2029. On June 9, 2026, following a credible fear interview with USCIS, she was taken into custody after the asylum officer determined there was no credible fear of persecution or torture. An Immigration Judge affirmed this negative credible fear determination on June 30, 2026. The district court denied her emergency motion for temporary restraining order and stay of removal on July 9, 2026, citing lack of jurisdiction and finding the motion attempted to improperly shortcut the habeas corpus process.

An asylum applicant who had been granted humanitarian parole in 2015 was arrested by ICE near her home on June 9, 2026, and detained at California City Detention Center. The court found that respondents failed to provide constitutionally required notice and opportunity to be heard before revoking her parole. The court granted her habeas corpus petition and ordered her immediate release, permanently enjoining respondents from re-detaining her without pre-deprivation constitutional protections including notice, a timely hearing, and legal representation.

Gabriel Yonathan Gonzalez Godoy, 23, from Honduras, was pulled over on Illinois Route 48 when his work vehicle's license plate was flagged for expired registration. Police impounded the truck containing fiber wiring equipment and transported him and two others to a gas station, where ICE agents arrested all three. Gonzalez Godoy was initially held at Ste. Genevieve County Jail in Missouri. On June 22, a federal immigration judge approved his request for voluntary deportation to Mexico, and he was deported by ICE.

Hector Cruz-Sanchez, 19, from Mexico, and Jesus Alexis Cruz, 16, from Collinsville, Illinois, were detained by ICE on June 9, 2026, after Morrisonville Police stopped their vehicle on Illinois Route 48 for expired registration during a work trip. Police impounded the truck and transported the three occupants to a gas station, where ICE agents arrested them. Cruz-Sanchez was initially held at Ste. Genevieve County Jail in Missouri before being transferred to Port Isabel Service Processing Center in Texas, while the 16-year-old was transported to a juvenile detention facility in Texas. Family representatives alleged police violated the Illinois Trust Act by facilitating the ICE pickup and characterized the transfer of the minor as a kidnapping due to denial of information about transportation and family accompaniment across state lines. U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski's office sought information about the detentions and raised concerns about the circumstances, particularly regarding the age of one detainee.

Ricky, a longtime U.S. resident who arrived as a young child in 2000 and lost his DACA status, was detained by ICE. He is married to an American citizen, Katya, and they have two young children in East Tennessee. His family is seeking legal assistance for a T Visa application, waiver, work permit, and other relief options to prevent his deportation to Mexico, where they say he faces safety risks.

Konrad Wojciech Darlak, an immigrant from Poland, was detained by ICE agents on June 9 after federal immigration agents chased his vehicle through Northwest Side streets. The chase resulted in his car losing control and crashing into a tree. DHS characterized the operation as a targeted enforcement action.

Juana, a mother of four with no criminal record, was arrested by ICE agents on the side of the road in Grants Pass on June 9, 2026. A bystander videotaped the arrest, which showed agents handcuffing her and placing her in an unmarked vehicle while her van was left locked on the roadside. She was transported to the Tacoma immigration detention center and is facing deportation.

Georgii Gabiev, a Russian national from Brooklyn, was arrested by ICE on June 9, 2026, after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in a March 2024 crash near Maynard, Minnesota that killed semi-truck driver Tim Tarnowski. Investigators determined Gabiev ran a stop sign while watching a YouTube video on an iPad, causing the fatal collision. He served 120 days in jail before his release and subsequent ICE arrest. Gabiev is now in federal custody pending removal proceedings.

A woman was detained by ICE for over one year and separated from her children, who were placed in the care of their father and stepmother. Following her release, she is seeking to regain custody of her children after serious allegations of child abuse emerged against the stepmother. She requires legal assistance to navigate both her ongoing immigration case and family court custody proceedings.

Willian, the father of two U.S.-citizen children and son of a naturalized U.S. citizen, was detained by ICE while at work on Monday. He has active work authorization issued by the U.S. government and was actively pursuing his immigration case through the legal system. A federal judge subsequently ordered that he cannot be transferred or removed while his case is reviewed.

During summer 2025 ICE raids in Southern California, federal agents arrested thousands of undocumented immigrants in neighborhoods, workplaces, and homes. Giovanni, a Salvadoran worker at a car wash in the San Fernando Valley, was detained for six months at Adelanto ICE Processing Center after refusing to sign deportation documents, while three coworkers were quickly deported to Mexico. His family was left without his income and faced potential displacement.

Abdullahi Mohamed, a Somali refugee who had lived in the U.S. for decades with his family, was detained and then rapidly transferred within five days across Massachusetts, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas before being deported to Somalia. He reported being beaten and shackled during transfers and enduring long periods without food or water. ICE did not respond to his lawyer's requests for release and ignored habeas petition efforts. Mohamed has no family or means of support in Somalia and his wife remains in hiding due to her immigration status.

Esteban, a Hispanic man charged with attempted homicide, was arrested by ICE agents in Los Angeles while heading to work and transferred to the Adelanto immigrant detention center in California's Mojave Desert. At the facility, operated by private company GEO Group, he felt compelled to join the prison gang Los Paisas to protect himself from violence, eventually becoming one of the gang's leaders and serving as an informal intermediary between detainees and guards. After nearly a year at Adelanto, he was released and returned to Los Angeles. The detention center has faced complaints of abuse, medical negligence, poor food, overcrowding, and deaths of migrants.

Ernesto Puac Son, a 33-year-old roofer and legal resident of Stuart, Florida, with a valid work permit and pending asylum case, has lived in the United States for 18 years. On October 1, 2025, FDLE agents conducted a traffic stop near his house after he made a rolling stop. Puac refused to exit his van because he had just witnessed agents arresting his brother Felipe, who had a deportation order but no criminal history. FDLE agent John Soltys smashed Puac's van window and dragged him through the broken glass, pinning him face-down on the ground and leaving him with gashes on his face, back, and arms. Despite showing a valid Florida driver's license, Puac was charged with resisting arrest with violence. He was convicted on January 7, 2026, and sentenced to one year in Martin County Jail. FDLE was operating under the 287(g) program, which authorizes state and local law enforcement to enforce immigration law.

Mohamed Fofana, a 22-year-old asylum seeker from Guinea employed at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, was detained by ICE on November 11, 2025, near his home. He was held for seven months in detention facilities in Batavia and La Salle County, Texas. In February 2026, his attorney reported losing contact with him for a month due to facility transfer confusion, and an immigration judge granted a 45-day continuance. An immigration judge ordered his deportation in May 2026, but a federal judge vacated that order and approved his habeas corpus petition in June 2026. Fofana was released and returned to Syracuse on June 7-9, 2026, to reunite with his family.

Daniela Portillo, a Venezuelan woman living in Florida, called police and remained at the scene after another driver struck her car in Polk County on June 8 and allegedly fled. When a sheriff's deputy responded, he determined she was not a U.S. citizen and lacked legal residency; an immigration official confirmed her status and ICE issued a civil detainer. She was taken into custody and transferred to a migrant detention facility in Louisiana, where she has since been held for about two months. Her attorney said she has a pending asylum case with no final removal order. Portillo described the experience as 'traumatic,' 'devastating' and 'exhausting,' and her family said it felt like she was treated as a criminal despite cooperating with law enforcement and staying at the scene.