Human Impact Project

An Iraqi citizen and national was detained by ICE on March 18, 2025 after serving sentences for felony firearm possession and assault convictions. He was informed he would be deported to Iraq pursuant to an administrative removal order, but claimed he could not return due to fears of torture. Despite an initial credible fear finding, an Immigration Judge denied his Convention Against Torture relief and ordered his removal to Iraq on November 20, 2025. The court granted his habeas petition and ordered his immediate release from immigration detention.

José Eliezer Martínez-Andino, a Honduran man with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and a work permit who crossed into the U.S. alone at 14 in 2020 and later settled in Raleigh, North Carolina, working as a mechanic, was stopped by Border Patrol agents on March 18, 2026, in Montana while traveling toward Seattle over an alleged forged license plate. He signed a voluntary departure form he says he tried to retract while being shuttled between detention facilities in Montana and Arizona; his attorney, Alison Chan, filed notice of representation on March 31 but could not get ICE or CBP to disclose his location before he was deported on April 10 to his birth city of Tela, Honduras, separating him from his 3-year-old U.S.-citizen daughter and family in Raleigh. A federal judge later ordered the government to bring him back, but when he returned in August he was sent to an ICE detention facility in Texas rather than home, and DHS has filed a new removal case against him.

Frontline Dignity documented two ICE detentions in Cranberry Township on the morning of March 17, with the Butler County Sheriff's Office assisting. The first occurred around 9 a.m. in a parking lot near Cranberry Square, outside the Walmart Supercenter and Harbor Freight, where a man was arrested and placed into a van. The second took place around 10 a.m. outside Felson Apartments on Brandt Drive, near Costco, where a man was detained as sheriff's vehicles were present. The incidents are part of a monthslong partnership between ICE and the sheriff's office, which a recent news release said has resulted in 36 arrests since November.

Ricardo Navarrete, an 18-year-old Chicago high school senior, and his mother Liliana were detained outside Chicago Immigration Court on March 16 after being told to come sign papers. Both had active asylum cases and no criminal records. They were from Colombia and arrived in the U.S. in 2022. Ricardo has been transported multiple times between facilities and placed in solitary confinement; he and his mother are currently separated in different facilities in Kentucky.

Robert Antonio Bastardo Llovera, a Venezuelan national in unauthorized status, was sentenced to eight months and two days in federal prison on March 16, 2025, for assaulting an ICE deportation officer near Mission Bay in San Diego. Bastardo Llovera pleaded guilty on March 3, 2025, admitting he bit an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on the forearm during a deportation operation on July 15, 2025.

A Cameron County grand jury issued a 'no bill' on March 15, 2025, in the death of 23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez, who was shot by a Homeland Security Investigations agent on South Padre Island. Federal officials claimed Martinez attempted to run over an ICE agent, but a passenger's statement indicated the car was moving slowly and the agent fired without warning. Martinez's family requested a federal investigation and release of records.

Wilker Miguel Gutiérrez Sierra, 23, was arrested in February 2024 in Chicago on charges of attempted murder, robbery, and aggravated battery after allegedly assaulting a stranger on a train. He pleaded not guilty and was on electronic monitoring awaiting trial when ICE agents arrested him on the street in five black trucks in February 2025. Three days later he was deported to CECOT prison in El Salvador on March 15, 2025, removing him from the criminal justice system before his case could be resolved.

Gladys Yoleida Caricote Tovar, 28, a Venezuelan with Temporary Protected Status and mother of three young children, was arrested in Colorado on December 10, 2024 in front of her mother and children. Her children were placed in foster care and only returned to their grandmother weeks later. On March 15, 2025, she was deported despite a federal judge's order halting deportations. She was told she was being flown to Venezuela but was instead taken to El Salvador, where she was kept on the plane and sent back to the United States the same day. Since returning from El Salvador, she has been held in a Texas detention center where she was beaten a few days ago, covered in bruises, and is locked in solitary confinement following a panic attack.

Scarleth Rodríguez, 21, a Venezuelan with Temporary Protected Status, was arrested in August 2024 after turning herself in to border authorities and held in detention for nine months without being allowed to leave. On March 15, 2025, she was deported despite a federal judge's order halting deportations. She was told she was being flown to Venezuela but was instead taken to El Salvador, where she was kept on the plane and sent back to the United States the same day. Since returning from El Salvador, she has been held in a Texas detention center where she was recently beaten. Her mother in Venezuela had prepared a meal expecting her arrival.

Maikol Gabriel López Lizano, a Venezuelan migrant working as a mechanic in Chicago, was arrested in February 2025 on suspicion of gang membership in Tren de Aragua. He was deported on March 15, 2025, via charter plane to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 without due process or the opportunity to challenge the allegation. Maikol Gabriel López Lizano, 23, was arrested in Chicago in August 2023 on misdemeanor charges for riding his bicycle on the sidewalk while drinking a beer. He was deported to CECOT prison in El Salvador on March 15, 2025, as part of the Trump administration's mass deportation of 238 Venezuelans. His partner, Cherry Flores, described his deportation as a gross injustice for such a minor offense.

Wuilliam Lozada Sanchez was deported to El Salvador's CECOT prison on March 15, 2025, under the Alien Enemies Act. He described being forced into stress positions for hours with guards watching for movement, and those unable to endure 24 hours on their knees were taken to 'the island'—a dark punishment cell with no light or ventilation where guards regularly beat detainees. He said 'the torture was never-ending.' He was released on July 18, 2025, as part of a prisoner swap.

Luis Muñoz Pinto, a 27-year-old Venezuelan who had been studying robotics engineering, was detained during a scheduled Customs and Border Protection appointment under the CBP One program and deported to El Salvador's CECOT prison on March 15, 2025, under the Alien Enemies Act, where he said lights stayed on 24/7, food and medicine were withheld, and bathing water had to be used for drinking. U.S. officials pointed to rose tattoos, which he says represent his twin sisters, as evidence linking him to the Tren de Aragua gang, an accusation he denies. He had no criminal record in the United States and was released on July 18, 2025, returning to Colombia. A federal judge has since ruled that Muñoz Pinto and more than 100 other deportees must be allowed to return to the U.S. for due process, and he hopes to clear his name and resume studying engineering there.

Andry Omar Blanco Bonilla, a 40-year-old food delivery driver and mechanic from Venezuela, was detained at an ICE office in Dallas in February 2024 after notifying them of an address change and being asked about his tattoos—which he said represented his family, not gang affiliation. Released pending deportation when Venezuela would not accept deportees, he was detained again after Trump's inauguration and deported to El Salvador's CECOT prison on March 15, 2025. He endured four months of beatings and humiliation before being returned to Venezuela on July 18, 2025. He had no criminal record in the U.S. and came to the country to support his seven children.

Juan José Ramos Ramos, a 39-year-old former telephone technician from Venezuela, was detained during an ICE appointment and deported to El Salvador's CECOT prison on March 15, 2025, under the Alien Enemies Act. The Trump administration alleged he was a Tren de Aragua gang member, but he was detected by immigration agents riding in a car with a Venezuela sticker. During his four months in CECOT, he said he endured severe beatings, humiliation, and psychological abuse, and told reporters he had wanted to end his life rather than continue enduring the conditions. He was released as part of a three-country deal in July 2025 that freed 238 Venezuelan men from the prison, and returned to Venezuela on July 18, 2025. A review of government data by ProPublica, the Texas Tribune and Venezuelan journalists found that at least 197 of the released men, including Ramos, had no criminal convictions in the U.S.

A grand jury issued a 'no bill' in the March 2025 shooting death of 23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez by a Homeland Security Investigations agent at South Padre Island, Texas. DHS stated Martinez attempted to run over a federal agent, but a witness affidavit indicated the vehicle was moving slowly and the agent fired without warning. The shooting was not publicly disclosed until February 2026.

Yoderlyn Daviana Acosta Peña, a 21-year-old Venezuelan migrant living and working in Chicago, was arrested in February 2025 on suspicion of gang membership in Tren de Aragua based on subjective criteria including tattoos. On March 15, 2025, while being deported via charter plane, an ICE officer physically assaulted her, grabbing her by the hair and punching her in the face. She was deported to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act without due process.

Fabian Schmidt, a German-born electrical engineer and green card holder who was detained by CBP officers at Boston Logan Airport on March 7, 2025, and interrogated for days before being transferred to ICE custody at the Donald W. Wyatt detention facility in Rhode Island, was held for a total of two months before his release. He now lives in Nashua, New Hampshire, where he has married his partner, Bhavani Hodgkins, with whom he has an 8-year-old daughter. Schmidt is paying roughly $60,000 in legal fees and related costs stemming from his detention, and says he is pursuing U.S. citizenship and writing a book about his experience. The German embassy had previously confirmed it was in close contact with U.S. authorities and the family during his detention.

A federal judge ruled that the February 2025 arrests of 12 employees at El Potro Mexican Restaurant in Liberty, Missouri by armed Department of Homeland Security agents were unlawful. According to court documents, ICE officers came looking for one person believed to have a felony narcotics conviction, then had the restaurant owner bring employees in one at a time without informing them they could decline to speak with agents. The judge found 11 of the 12 arrests lacked probable cause, ruling only one lawful due to prior removal history, and found agents had prepared forms justifying the arrests that did not include facts supporting probable cause.

Abel Orozco, who has lived in the U.S. for about 30 years and has no criminal record, was detained outside his Chicago-area home without a warrant after ICE agents entered his backyard and porch searching for his eldest son. When his car pulled up, agents forced it open and handcuffed him; about 45 minutes to an hour later they realized he was not the person they sought but kept him detained anyway, later citing a warrant that did not exist at the time of arrest. Orozco, whose wife Yolanda has spoken publicly about the case, remains in ICE custody roughly six months after his arrest, and his attorneys at the National Immigrant Justice Center are seeking his release while challenging the legality of warrantless ICE arrests more broadly.

César Herrera Ferrer, a 24-year-old Venezuelan man, was detained by ICE in Tacoma, Washington, after his father-in-law, Óscar Antonio Castañeda, called immigration authorities during an escalating family conflict. The dispute began when Castañeda was confronted and expelled from the home, then returned and threatened Herrera with a firearm while he held his young daughter, Francesca. Castañeda was arrested but released within 72 hours, after which Francesca says he called ICE to prevent Herrera from testifying against him in the firearm case. Herrera remains in ICE custody at the Tacoma detention center while his attorneys argue the detention was retaliatory and aimed at obstructing the criminal case against his father-in-law.