Human Impact Project

A man went to the Broadview ICE facility searching for his wife of five years after she was taken to another room during a court hearing and disappeared. He tracked her phone to the facility but the signal cut off, and police offered no assistance beyond suggesting he look up her name online. ICE issued no official statement on her whereabouts or the circumstances of her detention.

Quebec Vasquez, a DACA-protected mother of three U.S. citizen children, announced plans to self-deport to Mexico due to fears about rapidly changing immigration policies under the Trump administration. Despite being protected from deportation through DACA for 10 years, she cited uncertainty and fear about her family's future as reasons for considering leaving the United States.

In Maryland, a federal agent sitting outside a church, waiting for the target of his operation to leave his house, acknowledged to journalists that they could never have conducted such an operation before the sensitive locations policy was rescinded.

By March 2025, Krome North Service Processing Center held more than three times its operational capacity of about 580 people, with approximately 1,677 detained per day; cells designed for 66 held up to 155 people, with men sleeping on floor mattresses and makeshift cots. In April, staff erected a roughly 200-by-130-foot tent on the sports field, and data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse showed Krome was the most overcrowded ICE facility in the country that month, exceeding contractual capacity by more than 1,190 people. Attorneys reported clients sleeping on floors, some forced to sleep next to toilets, and detainees spending hours or overnight in shackles on buses waiting to enter the facility. By late May, broken air conditioning left 70 men sharing a single small fan, and as of June 20, over 56 percent of Krome detainees had no criminal conviction or pending charge.

A man identified as Oscar (also referred to as Ashley's husband in one account) was detained by immigration authorities during a Green Card interview in February 2025 at a USCIS office in Broward County, despite his lawyer's assurance that detention was unlikely and his lack of a criminal record. He was held at the Krome detention facility in Miami before being deported to Honduras, the country he and his wife had fled after she, an environmental activist, received death threats. His wife, a mother of four daughters, remained in the U.S. initially but traveled with their daughters to Honduras in March 2025 to reunite with him. The family continues to navigate separation, with his wife working multiple jobs to manage the instability caused by the deportation, while he described himself as fearful and 'at the mercy of God and his will.'

The Trump Administration has reopened family detention centers in Texas and is detaining immigrant families, including some who have been living in the United States for years. Legal advocates report that children in these facilities are experiencing hunger, sleep deprivation, and psychological distress. The government is potentially planning to detain thousands more at military bases like Fort Bliss.

A Pasco mechanic and father of three was arrested by a federal immigration agent on his way to work in March 2025. He may have been targeted because of a 2020 DUI charge and minor resolved traffic violations. A federal work permit he had previously applied for was approved while he was detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma. After months in detention, he was deported to central Mexico in June 2025.

E.F.D., an Ecuadorian immigrant and resident of Milford, Massachusetts, was granted protection from deportation to Ecuador in 2018 under the UN Convention Against Torture after fleeing threats and a robbery tied to his refusal to transport drugs for Ecuadorian police. In March 2025, ICE detained him and his coworkers during an unsuccessful search for another individual, holding him at the Plymouth, Massachusetts ICE detention facility. He was released after the D.V.D. v. DHS lawsuit challenging third-country deportations was filed, in which he is a named plaintiff.

D.V.D., a Cuban immigrant living in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, has had a final deportation order designating Cuba as his only removal destination since 2017 and has checked in regularly with ICE's Burlington, Massachusetts office since 2019. In March 2025, ICE required him to appear for another check-in only weeks after a previous one, raising fears he could be detained and deported to a third country instead of Cuba. He is one of four named plaintiffs in the federal class-action lawsuit D.V.D. v. DHS challenging the Trump administration's third-country deportation policy.

Jorge Reyes Medina, a Mexican father of four, was arrested in Baltimore in March 2025 and held at the George H. Fallon Federal Building before being transferred to Arizona and then California. After a federal judge ordered ICE to return him to Maryland for a bond hearing as part of a habeas corpus petition, he was moved through Louisiana, Pennsylvania, back to Baltimore, then Louisiana and Texas again. He was denied bond, and a judge ordered his deportation on June 23, 2025; no appeal was filed.

Wendy Brito, an asylum-seeker from El Salvador and mother of three living in the New Orleans area, was detained after attending a routine check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She has been in the U.S. for 15 years and volunteers at a local elementary school. Her partner Kremly Marrero said officials told the family she was taken because of "new regulations under the new administration." Brito is now held in Basile, Louisiana, nearly 200 miles away from her home and children, and ICE has declined to comment on the specifics of her case.

Jonathan, an Australian who had lived on the US east coast for nearly a decade with a valid work visa, was detained at Houston border control in March while returning from Australia after attending his sister's memorial service. Border officials accused him of carrying drugs and possessing two phones despite his denials, demanded his phone passcode, and when he asked to speak to a lawyer, told him he had no rights. During the encounter, an officer called him "retarded" and later stated "Trump is back in town; we're doing things the way we should have always been doing them." Officials claimed his statement that he lived in the US indicated intent to stay permanently and thus invalidated his visa, despite his having left and re-entered the country approximately 20 times previously on the same visa class. After being held for over 36 hours with minimal communication, his visa was cancelled, he was banned from entering the US for five years, and he was deported to Australia. His American partner, apartment, work studio, and clients remain in the US, and he is now couch surfing in Australia.

Val, a Mexican national, was apprehended during a Department of Homeland Security check-in in March and deported under expedited removal, leaving behind his 7-year-old son Alex and partner Renee in Baltimore. The deportation is one of thousands of ICE enforcement actions in Maryland under the Trump administration—arrests surged 165% compared with 2024—causing widespread anxiety and stress among immigrant families in the region.

Javier Hernandez, a cooperating witness prepared to testify in a federal methamphetamine case in California, was deported to Mexico by ICE in March 2025 without notifying prosecutors. The 2015 case involved nearly 22 pounds of methamphetamine discovered in a vehicle; without Hernandez's testimony linking the defendants to the smuggling operation, both co-defendants were acquitted of all charges. U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder noted ICE did not consult with Los Angeles prosecutors before removing him from the country.

Juan was detained on January 12 and deported in March, separating him from his 2-year-old daughter in Oregon and his 10-year-old daughter in Colombia. His partner Verónica is now struggling to pay for rent, food, diapers, and medical expenses for his daughter's heart surgery.

A.G., a Venezuelan national with Temporary Protected Status and a pending asylum application, was detained by ICE agents during a traffic stop in Orange County while driving to work. Despite holding a valid driver's license, work permit, and Social Security card, he was handcuffed and held in ICE custody for several days. During detention, ICE repeatedly pressured him to self-deport. He was released on his own recognizance with assistance from Rep. Anna Eskamani and legal advocates.

Jacqueline, a Guatemalan immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for a decade, became pregnant while her husband was detained after a traffic stop and subsequently deported to Guatemala in March 2025. Left without income, transportation, or support, and fearful of ICE enforcement under the Trump administration, Jacqueline avoided leaving her home during her later pregnancy despite the risks. A local nonprofit clinic arranged and paid for Uber rides to enable her to continue prenatal appointments. Her 8-year-old U.S. citizen daughter and unborn child were left vulnerable as the family lost its primary provider and support system.

Antonio Velez-Lopez, a 69-year-old Colombian citizen and former priest, was sentenced to one year in prison for passport fraud and stripped of his U.S. citizenship. He had been convicted of sexually abusing a child from 2003 to 2009 while serving as the child's priest, and had falsified information on his permanent residency, citizenship, and passport applications to conceal his crimes. He was ordered to be deported to Colombia after completing his prison sentence.

Lewelyn Dixon, a 64-year-old green card holder and University of Washington lab technician, was detained by ICE on February 28, 2025, after returning from the Philippines, following discovery of a 2000 embezzlement conviction by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Dixon had lived legally in the United States for over 50 years and completed restitution on her conviction in 2019. She is currently held at the Northwest ICE Detention Facility and is not bond eligible, with her first hearing scheduled for July 17. Her family and supporters have called for her release.

ICE agents detained Francisco Andrade-Berrera, a 37-year-old Mexican citizen, outside Soto High School in Chicago's Gage Park neighborhood on Wednesday morning while he was dropping off children. Two students were in the vehicle at the time; school staff escorted them into the building. Andrade-Berrera had prior convictions and had been deported twice previously.