Human Impact Project

More than 160 people were deported from the U.S. to Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, on a flight Thursday, the first such deportation since the Trump administration ended Temporary Protected Status for Haitians. The group included TPS holders who had lived and worked legally in the U.S. since 2010, as well as people of Haitian descent born in the Dominican Republic who are not recognized as citizens there. One deportee, Jean Diane Louis, told reporters he left Haiti at age 5, that his family lives in New York City, and that ICE detained him without questioning before sending him back. Upon arrival, Haitian immigration officials offered deportees a maximum of $65 along with food and water, and many said they had nowhere to go and no family remaining in Haiti.

Andrés, a Colombian immigrant living in College Point, Queens, was driving his wife and 6-year-old daughter home from getting food in late June when masked ICE agents in unmarked cars boxed in his vehicle and ordered him out. Agents used a vehicle registration lookup on his New Jersey plates to confirm his identity and immigration status before arresting him, even though he had no criminal history, a valid work permit, and an upcoming immigration court date. He spent about three weeks at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn before a federal judge ordered his release following a habeas corpus lawsuit. Since his release, his daughter has continued to break down in tears, and he now carries copies of his release papers in case he is stopped again.

Angel Acosta Ramirez, 43, a former mechanical engineer from Venezuela who later worked as an Uber driver in Branson, was pulled over by the Christian County Sheriff's Office for allegedly speeding near Highlandville in January 2026. Despite holding a valid work visa, he was arrested and jailed on an immigration hold, spending six weeks in the Greene County Jail before being deported. He had fled Venezuela in 2022 with his wife, Maria Fernanda Arrioja Romero, their infant son Santiago, and his parents, believing he had a right to remain in the U.S. Acosta Ramirez said the hardest part of his detention was being separated from his wife and not knowing what would happen to their young son. His wife was later held for months in the same Greene County Jail, which contracts with ICE to detain hundreds of immigrants daily. Acosta Ramirez said life since his deportation has been 'really hard,' with his family now struggling to earn enough money to survive.

Wendy Vanessa Triviño Carrillo, a Colombian woman from Cúcuta, has been detained for more than nine months at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana. Her father, Luis Eduardo, says she has experienced health problems while in custody and has appealed to the Colombian government and its Foreign Ministry for consular assistance. "We are not asking them to bypass the law. We are asking someone to look at my daughter's case, that someone listen to us," he said. The family is seeking more information about her immigration case, detention conditions, and medical care, and says that if she must return to Colombia they want it handled through proper procedures.

Mikel Junior Sanchez Ortiz, a 24-year-old Venezuelan man, was beaten and taken into custody early on August 19 while driving to work with his girlfriend, Haklin Olivares, 22, on Dawsonville Highway in Gainesville, Georgia. Olivares said several men in a truck stopped them, demanded their licenses, forced open the car doors, and struck Sanchez Ortiz until he bled before pulling him out; she was released after the men said her immigration status was in order but his was not. Sanchez Ortiz later told her by phone that his nose and mouth were injured internally, with a cut on his forehead and marks on his neck from being grabbed. Olivares said the men confiscated her phone and demanded she delete photos of the incident, and said she is uncertain whether they were ICE agents or bounty hunters. The couple has a pending asylum case with a court date scheduled for 2027, hold valid work permits and driver's licenses, and say they have no criminal record. Sanchez Ortiz is being held at Stewart Detention Center in southwest Georgia, and Olivares started a GoFundMe seeking $1,600 to support him.

Carlos Tellez Sanchez, a 35-year-old Venezuelan man who fled to Dallas, Texas in 2021, worked days at a car dealership and nights delivering for Uber Eats to support his family. He held a 2021 Withholding of Removal order protecting him from deportation to Venezuela and had no criminal record beyond civil immigration violations, but was detained by ICE in December 2025 during what he believed was a routine check-in appointment. After nearly eight months in detention, he was flown in handcuffs to Liberia on August 20, 2026, along with 19 other deportees, nearly 6,000 miles from his wife and newborn U.S. citizen son, whom he has only seen via video calls since the boy's birth. His brother, Juan Tellez, described him as 'a good person and hard worker' who 'doesn't deserve what happened to him.' He said returning to Venezuela is not an option because he fears for his safety there, and he is now staying at a hotel in Liberia while deciding whether to seek asylum there or travel elsewhere.

Christopher Gil Ortíz, who had lived in the U.S. since childhood, was stopped by ICE agents on his way to work in Los Angeles and detained before being deported to Mexico, leaving behind his wife and two children. He was dropped in Tulum, had his belongings stolen in Cancún, and eventually settled in Mexico City's Tabacalera neighborhood, known as 'Little LA' for its community of returnees. He found support from New Comienzos, an organization helping deportees reintegrate into Mexican society amid an expected surge in deportations under the Trump administration.

Jonatan López, a man from Guatemala, was eating chips and drinking a soda on the steps outside a residential building in New Rochelle, New York, when ICE agents approached and began questioning him. Witness Brenda Figueroa, who recorded part of the encounter, described the detention as violent and said one agent who arrived later acted with particular aggression. Another witness said agents arrived in three unmarked vehicles, took a bystander's phone during the incident, and did not present a warrant despite repeated requests to do so.

An Oceanside, California man originally from Mexico was shot and killed during a robbery in Tijuana, according to his family. The killing occurred seven months after he was detained and deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

A 1-year-old unaccompanied migrant child appeared in Arizona immigration court without legal representation and was told to file an asylum application before the next hearing or face deportation. This follows the end of a federal contract with the Acacia Center for Justice that had funded legal representation for over 24,000 unaccompanied migrant children. Nonprofits allege new government-contracted attorneys from USCRI have remained silent during hearings, leaving children to represent themselves despite a court order requiring continued legal services.

Adams County Health Department confirmed a laboratory-confirmed case of active tuberculosis involving a detainee at the GEO Group-operated Aurora ICE Processing Center. Officials said GEO failed to provide medical records, patient access, and housing or movement information required to investigate possible exposure among detainees, staff, contractors, or visitors, prompting a Public Health Order on June 25, 2026 requiring compliance with Colorado tuberculosis investigation laws. ICE denied any active TB cases at the facility and denied violating any laws or guidelines. As a lawsuit between the state and GEO Group continued, Colorado health officials asked a judge in August 2026 to force the company to allow investigators to complete the tuberculosis probe.

ICE agents detained a Cambodian man Tuesday morning while he was working at Veranda Asian Market in Woodfords Corner, Portland, Maine. His name has not been publicly released, but Khmer Maine, a nonprofit in contact with him, described him as "quiet, kind and a hard worker." Marpheen Chann, executive director of Khmer Maine, said the arrest has sparked fear in local Asian immigrant communities and is "hurting Maine's local economy and making our communities feel less safe." Khmer Maine says it is working with his family and immigration advocates to ensure transparency. ICE has not released statistics on its recent operations in Maine, though national ICE detention numbers reached a record high of more than 65,000 last month.

Arín García Yepes, a Colombian migrant, arrived in Liberia on August 20 aboard an ICE-operated deportation flight from Louisiana, despite holding a stay of removal that should have protected him from deportation. Before boarding, he and other detainees asked one another whether they had withholding of removal, and most, like him, answered yes. He is now among migrants held in Liberia without identification or a clear timeline for release.

William Ortiz Hernández, a Honduran man previously granted protection from removal by a U.S. immigration judge under the Convention Against Torture, was deported on an ICE flight that left Alexandria, Louisiana on August 20 carrying about 20 people and landed in Liberia. He is now housed at the Creed Lodge hotel in Monrovia, where he has received treatment for his diabetes but has no passport or identification beyond a card that lets him withdraw money sent by family. "I feel like they dumped me in a trash heap," he said, describing fear and confusion in a country whose language he does not speak.

Elvis Rodriguez Venturas, a Honduran immigrant who worked in construction in Texas, was deported by ICE to Liberia on a flight that landed Aug. 20, 2026. An immigration judge had previously barred his deportation to Honduras after finding he could be harmed there, and he had been using that protection to work legally in the U.S. His wife and four children, two of whom are U.S. citizens, remain in Texas, and he said his children ask him daily when he is coming home.

Carlos Rodríguez López, a 35-year-old Cuban man who had been living in Miami Gardens with his wife, was deported after being held in ICE custody since April 2025. He was part of a group of deportees flown out of the U.S. on Aug. 19-20, 2026, who refused to leave the aircraft after it landed in Liberia, arguing the country was not their home. Officers reportedly handcuffed and forcibly removed the men, twisting their cuffs and pinning at least one to the floor, before the plane continued on to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. His wife, Igrayne Ribot, said she learned where he was only through a brief video call, telling a reporter she broke down when he said he was in Africa. Advocates representing the group say conditions at the hotel now holding roughly 40 deportees, including Rodríguez López, have included withheld meals and physical abuse by guards.

The petitioner, who had previously been released on bond, conditional parole, or humanitarian parole, was re-detained by immigration authorities on August 20, 2026. She is currently held at the California City Detention Facility. She filed a habeas corpus petition and motion for a temporary restraining order, arguing that her re-detention without a pre-deprivation bond hearing before a neutral arbiter violated the Due Process Clause. The government did not identify any facts or legal arguments distinguishing her case from several prior rulings in the same district finding such re-detentions unconstitutional. The court agreed, finding that the proper remedy for the government's failure to provide a constitutionally compliant hearing was her immediate release. The court ordered her released under the same conditions that applied before her August 20 detention, barred additional restrictions like electronic monitoring absent a future hearing, and required at least seven days' notice and a bond hearing before any future re-detention.

Kenia is currently in ICE custody, separated from her 2-year-old son Nico and her husband, according to a fundraiser started by her mother-in-law, Anne Limon. Kenia came to the U.S. legally as an infant on a visa that expired in 2015 while she was still a child, and she has no criminal history. A judge found her eligible for bond during a recent immigration hearing and allowed her release while she continues fighting her case, but her family needs to raise funds for the $1,800 bond and a fee for a Cancellation of Deportation application due by August 26.

Sylwester was detained by ICE in Pennsylvania on August 20, 2026, and is being held in a detention center away from his family in Brooklyn. His wife, Mariya, is raising funds for a licensed immigration attorney and an ICE bond ahead of his first court hearing scheduled for September 2, 2026. The family says they could not find pro bono legal help in Pennsylvania on short notice and describes Sylwester as the backbone of the family.

Paola Ferreira Dos Santos, a 21-year-old Brazilian national, was held in ICE detention for 15 months across two U.S. immigration facilities before being deported on a flight to Liberia on August 20, 2026, the only woman among a group of Latin American deportees. She said she was never told where she was being sent and only learned her destination when the plane landed in Monrovia, recalling being told, "Welcome to Liberia. You're in Africa." Dos Santos described conditions in detention as psychological torture, saying detainees, including pregnant women, were routinely denied medical care. She recounted witnessing a woman who pleaded for information about her separated son have her hands and ankles bound, saying "they tied her like she was cattle," and described being held for days without beds in a frigid room detainees called "the freezer."