Human Impact Project

Arnoldo Bazan, a 16-year-old U.S. citizen and student at Alief Hastings High School in Houston, was beaten and choked by masked ICE agents on October 23, 2025, when they stopped his father, Arnulfo Bazan Carrillo, during a drive to school near Gessner Road and Beechnut Street. Bystander video showed agents restraining Arnoldo with an arm around his neck while he told them he was a minor and a citizen; he was also subjected to racial slurs and later treated for bruises and welts consistent with choking. He was held for several hours before ICE confirmed his citizenship and released him. His father, an immigrant from Michoacán with a prior deportation and a misdemeanor DWI conviction, was arrested and, according to immigrant rights group FIEL, intimidated into signing a voluntary departure before being deported to Reynosa, Mexico. ICE disputed the abuse allegations, claiming Arnoldo elbowed an agent and that Arnulfo rammed a federal vehicle and fled. Arnoldo later testified before Congress about the incident.

A woman who has resided in the United States since 1996 was arrested by ICE in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 24, 2026. The government detained her under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2), but the court found this violated immigration law since she had no prior ICE encounters. The court ordered her immediate release and prohibited re-detention without proper legal authority.

Eledoro Valenzuela Rodríguez, an undocumented Cuban immigrant, was taken into ICE custody on March 24, 2026, from Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami-Dade. Rodríguez has a final deportation order issued in 1980 that had never been executed and an extensive criminal history spanning over four decades across multiple states. He faced outstanding charges in Miami for cocaine possession with intent to sell, firearm possession by a convicted felon, and breaking and entering. ICE stated it plans to ensure his swift deportation.

Ya'akub Ira Vijandre, a Filipino DACA recipient and community activist, was detained by ICE at his Arlington home in October 2025. The federal government is seeking to terminate his DACA protection, citing his social media activity and posts about Palestine activism. On March 24, 2026, community members and supporters spoke before Arlington City Council requesting a resolution calling for his release, citing constitutional concerns and detention conditions at Folkston Detention Center in Georgia.

On March 11, 2026, ICE agents conducted a raid in South Burlington, Vermont, after a vehicle stop on Dorset Street. Court filings later revealed that agents misidentified and arrested Cristian Jerez-Andrade, a Honduran man, after chasing him into a home—they had been seeking Mexican national Deyvi Daniel Corona-Sanchez, who was not present. Hundreds of community members and activists, alerted by Migrant Justice, rapidly assembled at the scene and formed a human barrier to prevent ICE from entering the house and detaining residents. As the standoff continued into the evening, heavily armed ICE agents and Vermont State Police officers in tactical gear forcibly pushed through the crowd, deploying flash-bang devices and shooting pepper balls at protesters. At least one protester was injured and taken away by ambulance, several were arrested, and many others suffered pepper spray exposure.

Abel Ortiz, an undocumented immigrant who arrived in Los Angeles as an infant and spent 38 years building a life there, self-deported to Mexico City in August 2025 under pressure from Trump administration immigration enforcement policies. Though Mexican-born, Ortiz identified as American and had established a hair salon business and community ties in LA. Seven months after his departure, he works as a hair stylist in Mexico City but struggles with displacement, grief over leaving his life and friends behind, and identity questions as he adapts to a country where he spent only nine months of his life and speaks Spanish only haltingly.

Civil rights groups including the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and ACLU of Michigan say ICE enforcement activity has increased at or near Michigan hospitals and clinics following federal withdrawal of guidelines that previously restricted law enforcement in health care settings. Health care providers report a rise in ICE encounters and worry about increased fear among patients and staff.

A middle school student and her parents were deported by ICE on Monday while attending an immigration appointment at the ICE facility in Camarillo. The family was deported to Tijuana within 24 hours. Their 3-year-old sibling, born in the U.S., was not taken into custody and is being cared for by relatives.

Leandro Bermudez, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Venezuela, and his 7-year-old daughter Lucia traveled to Colombia on March 10, 2026, to complete her I-130 visa application at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota. On March 16, U.S. officials denied Lucia's visa request citing a June 2025 Trump proclamation targeting terrorists and security threats. Lucia has lived in Utah since age 2 and attends school there. Her attorney argues the denial misinterprets the order and that Lucia, as the daughter of a U.S. citizen, should be exempt. The family is working with lawyers and Utah's congressional delegation to secure a federal waiver to bring her home.

A pregnant woman identified as Marie was detained at an ICE facility and told officials of her pregnancy, but was placed in solitary confinement for days and denied medical care despite repeated requests. She was denied translation services at a medical center and was not informed about medical procedures performed. While detained, she witnessed another woman miscarry and deliver a stillborn baby alone in a facility bathroom.

A 70-year-old Iranian woman who had resided peacefully in the United States for 26 years was detained by the Trump administration without valid legal justification. Federal Judge Gary Klausner expressed shock at the government's inability to provide adequate cause for her detention and ordered her release. Her case exemplifies a pattern in which the Department of Justice has failed to present valid arguments to justify detentions across numerous cases.

Gael, a nonverbal 5-year-old boy from Colombia with significant developmental delays undergoing autism evaluations, was detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas for three weeks along with his asylum-seeking parents, Leonardo and Nelsy. The family was arrested on March 3 during an immigration check-in in El Paso. During his confinement, Gael's health deteriorated severely: he struggled to eat, experienced constipation lasting over a week with visible abdominal swelling and pain, and began engaging in self-harm behavior by hitting himself as his distress increased. Before detention, Gael had been receiving therapy in El Paso while the family pursued their asylum case. His attorney, Elora Mukherjee, requested his release on medical grounds after a video call with children's entertainer Ms. Rachel, arranged by a journalist, drew public attention to his condition. The family was released days later and returned to El Paso with required ICE check-ins to continue their asylum proceedings.

A 10-year-old U.S. citizen girl recovering from brain cancer was deported to Mexico along with her undocumented parents and four American-born siblings in February 2025. The family was detained at an immigration checkpoint while traveling from Rio Grande City to Houston for the child's emergency medical checkup. The girl, who had undergone surgery to remove a brain tumor, has been unable to continue her specialized medical treatment and rehabilitation in Mexico. An 11-year-old U.S. citizen recovering from brain cancer was deported to Mexico with her family by Border Patrol agents despite her documented citizenship and need for ongoing medical treatment. The family was traveling to Houston for emergency care when agents ignored a hospital letter the family had used previously at checkpoints and detained the family, deporting them the next day. The citizen child's 18-year-old brother, Fernando Hernández García, was not detained and remained in the U.S. to earn money and send medicine to his sister. The family's lawyers report they have been unable to access proper medical care in Mexico and have applied for humanitarian parole.

Angelina Lopez-Jimenez and her daughter Wendy Godinez-Jimenez were detained by ICE officers at San Francisco International Airport on March 23, 2026, as the mother was being transported on an outbound flight. Video footage captured by travelers shows officers detaining Lopez-Jimenez as her daughter watched, with San Francisco police officers present at the scene. According to DHS, Lopez-Jimenez resisted officers during the arrest and a deportation order for the family was issued in 2019. ICE stated the family unit was being repatriated to Guatemala.

A Honduran national who had been living in the U.S. for over a decade with protection under the Convention Against Torture was detained by ICE during a routine check-in on March 23, 2026. He had been living free under an Order of Supervision for 14 years without any violations. The court granted his temporary restraining order and ordered his immediate release, finding that ICE violated his due process rights by detaining him without proper notice or hearing.

Alicia Luna Flores, her husband Juan Alberto Baquera Santoyo, and their 12-year-old daughter Melanie were deported to Mexico on March 23 after arriving at an ICE office in Camarillo expecting to have their ankle monitors removed. Luna, who had worked as a house cleaner, and Baquera, who worked as a day laborer, had crossed the border eight years earlier and applied for asylum with their then 5-year-old daughter. Melanie attended Mesa Verde Middle School in Moorpark and dreamed of becoming a professional soccer player. The family was given no specific reason for the deportation except a reference to a missed court date that Luna said she was unaware of. They were transported to Tijuana and eventually relocated to Mexico, leaving behind their 3-year-old U.S.-born son Aaron in the care of relatives.

A 38-year-old Mexican national who entered the U.S. illegally in 2003 was detained by immigration authorities during a traffic stop in Fountain Valley, California on March 23, 2026. He has been held at Adelanto detention facility without a bond hearing despite having a pending asylum application, being married to a U.S. citizen, and having an American citizen son. The court granted a temporary restraining order requiring immigration authorities to provide him with an individualized bond hearing within 14 days.

Following President Trump's mass deportation campaign, federal agents have conducted large-scale immigration enforcement crackdowns across multiple U.S. cities, resulting in hundreds of thousands of arrests and deportations. Companion animals including dogs, cats, bunnies, and chickens have been left behind by deported families, overwhelming pet rescue organizations and animal control agencies. Rolling River Rescue in New Orleans and other nonprofits are scrambling to find foster and adoptive homes for displaced pets, with some cities reporting significant increases in stray and abandoned animals.

An undocumented individual with a felony conviction has been sentenced to more than 15 years. No additional details about the nature of the conviction, jurisdiction, or circumstances are provided in the available text.

Heidy Sánchez, a 44-year-old Cuban immigrant and home health aide who arrived in the U.S. in 2019, was detained by ICE on April 22, 2025, during what she believed was a routine annual check-in appointment at the Tampa office while nursing her one-year-old daughter, a U.S. citizen born prematurely with seizures. She was handcuffed and separated from her daughter as her husband, Carlos Yuniel Valle, a U.S. citizen who owns a landscaping company, heard her screaming. Two days later, on April 24, Sánchez was deported to Cuba on a flight with 81 other Cuban migrants. Sánchez had no criminal record, worked as a home health aide, held a social security card and driver's license, paid taxes, and was complying with ICE requirements under her I-220B supervision order. Her daughter, distressed by the separation, refused to eat. From Cuba, Sánchez has recorded tearful video pleas to President Trump and walks up to ten times daily searching for internet to video call her daughter. U.S. Representatives María Elvira Salazar and Kathy Castor have called for her reunification, with Castor filing a humanitarian parole request with the Trump administration. DHS disputed Sánchez's account, claiming she was offered the choice to take her child or place the child with a designated relative. Sánchez arrived in Cuba without passport, identification, or documentation explaining her deportation.