Human Impact Project

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 plainclothes ICE officers at San Francisco International Airport on the night of March 22, 2026, as the mother was being escorted to an outbound flight. Video shows the girl crying as officers detained her mother, who was later taken through the airport in a wheelchair; a bystander who filmed the scene said officers would not identify themselves when asked. DHS said Lopez-Jimenez had an outstanding 2019 removal order, resisted officers during the arrest, and that the family was being repatriated to Guatemala. SFO said it was not notified in advance, called the incident isolated, and said airport operations were not disrupted, while local officials have voiced criticism of the detention.

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, and they were transported to Tijuana within 24 hours before eventually relocating to Mexico, leaving behind their 3-year-old U.S.-born son Aaron, who was not taken into custody, in the care of relatives. Moorpark Unified School District officials confirmed the deportation and said they have been in contact with the family, providing support and connecting them with local agencies for immediate needs like food; Superintendent Kelli Hays said the district will continue supporting the relatives now caring for the three-year-old.

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, including a five-week operation in New Orleans, 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. In New Orleans East, residents Luis and Nivia Burke have taken in a growing number of stray and abandoned pets, including a dog named Rocky whose owner left him behind when he returned to Honduras after growing fearful of detention. The Louisiana SPCA, which handles animal control for the city, reported the number of surrendered animals in 2025 was nearly double that of previous years, a rise attributed to both immigration arrests and families sheltering in place out of fear of deportation.

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.

A man who had been granted parole on August 15, 2024, was re-detained by ICE on March 22, 2026, without notice or an opportunity to be heard. Respondents stated he was re-detained after violations of his conditions of release. The court granted his habeas petition, ordered his immediate release on the same conditions as before his re-detention, and enjoined respondents from re-detaining him without providing notice and a pre-detention hearing.

Anabell, a Nicaraguan immigrant detained at Campbell County Detention Center since February, experienced vaginal bleeding and severe abdominal pain in late March and was taken to a hospital, where she was admitted for a suspected miscarriage; she was later told she was not pregnant and that her hormone levels did not support that conclusion. Democratic Reps. Delia Ramirez of Illinois and Gwen Moore of Wisconsin met with Anabell during a visit to the detention center and continue pushing for her release, but neither they nor her attorney have been able to obtain her medical records to clarify what care she received or whether she had a miscarriage. ICE and DHS have not responded to requests for comment on her case; DHS has previously reported that nearly 500 pregnant, nursing or postpartum people were detained between January 2025 and mid-February 2026, including 16 reported miscarriages, a count that would not include Anabell's case.

ICE raided a South Burlington, Vermont home on March 11, 2026, searching for Deyvi Daniel Corona-Sanchez after a car chase, but instead arrested three residents: Ecuadorian sisters Jisella Johana Patin Patin and Daysi Camila Patin Patin, and Honduran national Christian Humberto Jerez Andrade. The operation sparked a daylong standoff as hundreds of protesters surrounded the building and federal agents used flash bangs and tear gas to clear the crowd, prompting friction between ICE and local police. Judges later ordered the release of all three, finding their detentions unlawful, and their attorneys say ICE violated their civil rights. In a revised court filing, ICE now says it no longer believes Corona-Sanchez was driving the car during the chase, after Jerez Andrade told the FBI he was the driver and that his 18-year-old nephew was a passenger.

A Venezuelan citizen entered the U.S. on June 21, 2022, was initially detained by immigration authorities, then released on his own recognizance on June 24, 2022. He was re-detained by ICE on March 22, 2026, without notice of the reason for his re-detention or opportunity to contest it. The court granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release, finding that his re-detention without notice and hearing violated due process.

On March 22 at San Francisco International Airport Terminal 3, TSA agents alerted ICE to the presence of Angelina Lopez Jimenez and her daughter, who had removal orders issued in 2019. ICE agents detained the pair as they prepared to board a flight to Miami. Multiple airport employees and passengers called 911, unaware of the immigration enforcement action. Lopez Jimenez and her daughter were subsequently deported to Guatemala.

Usiel Sanchez Romero, an Omaha contracting business owner who came to the United States without authorization in 2013, was detained by ICE during a traffic stop on March 21, 2026. Romero, who has no criminal record and is married with an 8-year-old son, has operated his contracting business for seven years. Following his detention, he was taken to Pottawattamie County Jail and held without a bond hearing. Romero is suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Pottawattamie County, seeking either his release from custody or a bond hearing in immigration court.

Jose Leal, a Venezuelan-born artist living in Three Rivers, Texas, was detained by ICE following a traffic stop despite having an active asylum case, a valid work permit valid through 2027, and no criminal record. Leal arrived in the U.S. in 2022 and has been compliant with all immigration requirements, including monthly check-ins. His wife, Francis Campos, expressed concern about his detention and said he came to the U.S. fleeing violence. Family and friends continue working to secure his release.

Anabell, a Nicaraguan immigrant who arrived in the U.S. in 2022 and was working in food service in Milwaukee, tested positive for pregnancy twice after being detained at Campbell County Detention Center in Kentucky. In late March, after experiencing vaginal bleeding, severe pain, and cramping, she pleaded for emergency medical help in a written request and was taken to a hospital, where staff told her she was not pregnant despite her positive tests, leaving her uncertain about what occurred. She received no prenatal care or vitamins during detention, was not seen by a doctor within 72 hours of her positive pregnancy test as federal policy requires, and was tasked with carrying heavy items despite her condition; she has since experienced ongoing pain, numbness, vomiting, and hair loss without follow-up care. Her attorney and Democratic Reps. Gwen Moore and Delia Ramirez, who met with her this week at the detention center, have been unable to obtain her medical records despite repeated requests and are now pushing for her release; ICE and DHS did not respond to requests for comment. Anabell is pursuing an asylum claim in the United States.