Human Impact Project

A man in his mid-30s who came to Huron as a teenager without legal status was detained by ICE outside his home in August 2025 and subsequently deported to Guatemala. His wife, a U.S. citizen, and their two children (ages 2 and 9) were left behind. The family had consulted multiple lawyers about obtaining legal status for him but found no feasible options under current law. The man now lives with his parents in Guatemala while his family struggles financially and emotionally in South Dakota.

Pablo Sequen filed a habeas corpus petition challenging unlawful detention by immigration authorities. The case involves a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction proceedings. A judge granted a preliminary injunction on September 16, 2025, halting the petitioner's deportation.

Sharareh Moghadam, a legal green card holder from Iran working toward U.S. citizenship, was detained by ICE on August 1, 2025, after reporting to immigration offices as instructed. She had traveled to Iran to visit family members with serious health issues and was detained upon her return to California. She is currently held in a facility in Phoenix, Arizona, with a court date scheduled for September 12.

Detainees at a South Florida immigration detention center nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz" have been on a hunger strike for ten days, protesting living conditions. One detainee, Pedro Hernández, was hospitalized during the strike but continues to refuse food, citing conditions and treatment. Civil rights groups have filed lawsuits stating detainees lack access to legal counsel, food, hygiene, and medical care.

Mireille Desormeaux, a Haitian green card holder, became a U.S. citizen in early August after suing the federal government with Project Citizenship over delayed naturalization. USCIS had frozen naturalization proceedings for applicants from 39 countries deemed 'high risk,' including Haiti, Venezuela, and Côte d'Ivoire. Twelve of the 14 plaintiffs in the lawsuit have since become citizens after months of unexplained delays.

Daysi Munoz and her husband were arrested by Burleson, Texas police on suspicion of shoplifting while back-to-school shopping at a Walmart in August 2025, an arrest that led to their transfer into ICE custody. About 40 days later they were deported to Honduras, leaving their two U.S. citizen daughters, 19-year-old Dulce Zepeda and 13-year-old Maria, on their own in Fort Worth. Dulce has since taken on parental responsibilities for her sister, cooking, driving her to school, working at McDonald's, and selling her mother's jewelry to pay bills. Munoz said she repeatedly asked ICE to let her take her daughters with her to Honduras, but was told she would have to spend four or five more months in detention if she wanted that option.

Benjamin, 16, and his brother Dennis were stopped by Buffalo police in August 2025 during a traffic stop; DHS agents then arrested both brothers despite their possession of Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and Deferred Action protections from deportation. ICE officers questioned them, told them the U.S. would pay $2,000 for self-deportation, and presented them with English-language papers without explanation; Benjamin signed, believing he had no choice. Dennis, who had just turned 18, was deported to Ecuador while Benjamin was transported to a shelter in Texas, then moved to a shelter in Groton, Connecticut, where he spent two months unable to understand why he was being held despite having been previously vetted and approved for release to his father. Benjamin wrote that he felt "trapped" and "like a delinquent," confined to three rooms with no outdoor access without staff supervision. He was released 143 days after his arrest, four days after lawyers filed a lawsuit challenging his detention.

The Trump Administration opened Camp East Montana, the largest immigrant detention facility in the country, at Fort Bliss military base in West Texas in August 2025, designed to hold up to 5,000 people. The facility was awarded to Acquisition Logistics, a Virginia-based company with no prior detention experience whose CEO operated from a modest suburban house in Richmond. Detainees arrived at an active construction site with non-functioning toilets, sporadic running water, toxic sanitation conditions, and no outdoor recreation—one Cuban detainee reported not seeing sunlight for a month. ICE failed to register the contractor in Texas, withheld facility location information from families and lawyers, and disabled the detainee locator system.

Beata Siemionkowicz, a 57-year-old with a valid permanent resident card since 2003, was detained by ICE in August 2025 while working in her daughter's garden in Illinois. An immigration judge issued a deportation order in December 2025; DHS cited two petty theft convictions from the early 2000s and claimed an arrest warrant from Poland, though her daughters provided documentation from Polish authorities showing no criminal record. Her appeal of the deportation order is pending, with a final decision expected in summer 2026.

In August 2025, a 6-year-old New York City public school student and her mother, an Ecuadorian family who had sought asylum, were deported after being detained during an ICE check-in on August 12 and removed on August 19. The family's asylum application had been denied with a deportation order issued in June 2024. The student's older sibling, age 16, remains in the United States. New York officials, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, condemned the deportation.

Yury Saaryan, a Russian national who overstayed his tourist visa, went to an ICE office in August 2025 seeking help returning to Russia but was detained instead. An immigration judge granted him voluntary departure in November 2025, but ICE has not arranged his removal despite his repeated requests and three hunger strikes. ICE cites delays in obtaining travel documents from the Russian government, while Saaryan and his attorney say the Russian Embassy could issue documents within two days if he were permitted to visit in person.

Juan José Estrada Lopez, a 42-year-old Nicaraguan national working on a Kona coffee farm, was detained by ICE agents in August 2025 during a green card interview and held at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu for over five months without charges or bond. He had entered the U.S. in 2022 and was married to a U.S. citizen, Emily Estrada, who sought assistance from the ACLU of Hawaii after private attorneys quoted expensive fees. Lopez was released on January 27, 2026, after an immigration court granted him a green card and lawful permanent resident status, with the government waiving its right to appeal.

Alma Bella Bowman, a Georgia resident and immigrants' rights activist, was released from Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, after ICE agreed to her release following eight months in custody. Bowman was detained on March 26, 2025, during a routine check-in at the ICE Atlanta Field Office and continues to press the U.S. government to recognize her as a citizen based on her father's Navy service. She previously exposed non-consensual gynecological procedures at Irwin County Detention Center from 2017 to 2020.

The NYCLU, ACLU, and other legal organizations filed a federal lawsuit challenging ICE's policy of arresting immigrants who attend mandatory immigration court hearings. The lawsuit claims the Trump administration's practice violates the Administrative Procedure Act and due process rights, as people are being arrested when complying with legal obligations to appear in court and then fast-tracked for deportation.

Ted Jones, a 24-year-old British man, was deported from the United States to Britain in August 2025 after ICE identified a 2022 drink-driving conviction and visa irregularities. Jones moved to the US as a child and was removed during the Trump administration's immigration enforcement operations. According to ICE data, 212 people were deported from the US to the UK between Trump's inauguration and October 2025, compared to the same period under the Biden administration.

Yeonsoo Go, age 21, a South Korean student with an R-2 religious worker visa, was arrested by ICE outside a federal courthouse in New York on July 31 after reporting for a routine visa hearing. She was initially held without access to legal counsel at a Manhattan facility, then transferred to an ICE detention center in Louisiana, and released after five days on August 5. ICE claimed her R-2 visa expired more than two years ago, though her visa attorney states it is not set to expire until December 2025 and Go was in the process of converting to a student visa. The visa hearing on July 31 reportedly went well and the judge had granted her a hearing date for late August.

A Chinese national was scheduled for detention at an ICE appointment on July 31, 2025 in San Francisco. The federal court granted a temporary restraining order to prevent his arrest and detention, then converted it to a preliminary injunction. The court ruled that he cannot be detained without a pre-detention hearing before a neutral decisionmaker, citing Fifth Amendment due process protections.

Carmen Aracely Pablo Sequen was arrested by ICE agents as she was leaving San Francisco immigration court on July 31, 2025, and detained at ICE's San Francisco field office. She filed a habeas corpus petition the next day seeking her immediate release and a permanent injunction prohibiting ICE from re-detaining her without prior notice and a hearing before a neutral arbiter. After the court granted preliminary injunctive relief, she amended her petition to add three additional plaintiffs—Ligia Garcia, Yulisa Alvarado Ambrocio, and Martin Hernandez Torres—who also sought individual habeas relief. The amended complaint added seven class action claims seeking to vacate certain ICE and EOIR policies under the Administrative Procedure Act and to enjoin allegedly unconstitutional conditions of confinement at ICE's San Francisco field office. The government moved to sever the individual habeas claims from each other and from the class claims. The court granted the motion to sever but denied the government's request to randomly reassign the severed cases to other judges.

The Washington Post interviewed 16 former detainees of El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) to document conditions inside the megaprison where the U.S. has deported migrants. Detainees reported beatings, isolation, sexual assault, and other forms of mistreatment within the facility.

Yeonsoo Go, a 21-year-old Scarsdale High School graduate attending Purdue University, was arrested by ICE on July 31, 2025, outside a federal courthouse in New York following a routine visa hearing. ICE claimed her R-2 religious worker visa had expired over two years prior, but Go was released on August 5 after her attorney confirmed the visa remained valid through December 2025. Go's mother is an Episcopal church pastor in Scarsdale, and Go had been in the process of converting to a student visa at the time of her detention.

Guillermo Medina Reyes, a 31-year-old San Jose tattoo artist and Mexican national, was arrested in Berkeley on July 27 following an alleged vehicle theft crime spree. Reyes had been fighting ICE deportation efforts, with a judge barring his detention two weeks prior to the arrest. He was charged with multiple felonies including carjacking, vehicle theft, and grand theft. Reyes faces criminal prosecution and potential imprisonment, followed by deportation proceedings.

Pierre Reginald Boulos, a Haitian businessman and former presidential aspirant, was arrested by ICE on July 17 on immigration violation charges and remains detained at Krome North Service Processing Center. An immigration judge ruled he must remain in mandatory detention after determining he is subject to a detention regulation. Boulos, a lawful permanent resident born in New York who renounced his U.S. citizenship, is accused of failing to disclose involvement in a Haitian political party during his permanent residency application and collaborating with armed gangs.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers conducted an unannounced raid at a home in North Charleston, South Carolina on July 30, arresting Franklin Arce. Ring camera footage shows an ICE agent pulling a gun on Arce's partner Celeste Hernandez and shoving her back into the house while Arce was being arrested. Arce's family claims the officers never showed a warrant or provided their names and badge numbers, and Hernandez stated Arce was working toward legal citizenship with a court hearing scheduled.

Gloria Barazone, a 46-year-old Colombian national married to U.S. citizen Mounque 'Monk' Barazone, was arrested by ICE on July 30 at Newark Liberty International Airport while traveling from New Jersey to Miami. She had entered the U.S. on a tourist visa and had a pending green card application, work authorization request, and Social Security number application after nearly three years navigating the immigration process with her husband, whom he described as a former airport security chief and polygraph examiner in Medellín, Colombia. ICE said she had overstayed her authorized stay, which ended July 17. She was held in New Jersey before being transferred to Louisiana and then the South Texas ICE Processing Center, with her husband saying the transfers disrupted legal efforts and increased the family's legal costs. Mounque Barazone, 77, said he is partially disabled with worsening heart problems, is postponing surgeries, and is pledging his Social Security payments toward her legal defense. He said Republican lawmakers he contacted for help told him they needed consent forms from her to intervene, and he said he does not regret voting for Trump despite his wife's detention.

Fernando Alves Rocha, a 45-year-old Brazilian theater manager at Juanita High School in Kirkland, was arrested by ICE on July 18 after overstaying a tourist visa he entered in August 2018. He filed an asylum application in February 2019, one day before his visa expired, and has maintained a valid work permit since then. Director Rose Cano described him as well-loved at the high school and a good mentor to students. According to witness accounts, ICE agents pulled Rocha from his vehicle and threw him to the ground during the arrest. ICE alleged he is wanted by Brazilian law enforcement for theft, but his attorney stated they were not shown evidence of any crimes. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 15 raised $36,405 through GoFundMe to support his legal fight and help secure his $10,000 bond. On July 29, Immigration Court Judge Tammy Fitting granted the bond, citing his strong community ties, pending asylum claim, and lack of danger to the community or flight risk. Rocha was released from Northwest Detention Center on July 30.

Carlos Martín Gonzalez, 26, and his older brother Óscar Alejandro Gonzalez, 30, were detained on July 7 after Carlos was pulled over by Florida Highway Patrol in Orlando for a traffic violation (tinted windows and invalid registration). Óscar Alejandro, who was visiting on a valid tourist visa and married to a U.S. citizen, was also detained under unclear circumstances when he arrived to help his brother. Carlos had legally entered on a tourist visa following their mother's death in October. After three days in county jail, both brothers were transferred to the Everglades immigration detention center, known as "Alligator Alcatraz." Their father, Martín Gonzalez, reported that the facility's conditions were inhumane—constant artificial lighting made it impossible to distinguish day from night—and that the brothers were held without case numbers or legal representation, unable to access their lawyer or consulate staff. Mexican consular officials warned of potential civil rights violations. After approximately 20 days in detention, both brothers were released without being charged with any crime and returned to Mexico through diplomatic intervention by Mexican consulates in Orlando and Miami, working with immigration attorneys and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Pang Nhia Hang-Bailey, a Hmong refugee who arrived in the United States in 1978, was detained by ICE on July 30, 2025, during a routine annual check-in visit and is currently held at South Louisiana ICE Processing Center. Her green card expired in 1995 and was revoked in 2007 following a guilty plea to bank fraud charges in 2000. She faces deportation to Laos despite having lived in the U.S. for 47 years and having four adult children born in the country.

A Korean-born researcher and longtime U.S. legal permanent resident was detained by immigration officials at San Francisco International Airport for a week without explanation. According to his lawyer, he was denied access to an attorney during his detention.

Miguel Angel Ponce Jr., a U.S. citizen from Texas, was detained by ICE agents who mistakenly identified him as a wanted violent offender. He was handcuffed and held for approximately 90 minutes to two hours before agents compared his tattoos to a photograph and realized their error. After his release, agents allegedly suggested he shave his beard to avoid future confusion, a request Ponce found disrespectful and said he would never comply with. Miguel Angel Torres, a 14-year resident of Austin who worked as a cook, was detained by ICE on February 12, 2017, after dropping off their three daughters at school in Pflugerville. His wife, Irma Perez, says ICE officers in an unmarked van mistakenly sought to arrest her brother, Jose Manuel Perez, but detained Torres instead when he said he was not her brother. The family, including Torres's undocumented wife and three U.S. citizen daughters, abandoned their home and dreams of opening a food truck after the detention.

A Laotian refugee who entered the U.S. in 1981 was detained by ICE in July 2025 after 25 years of supervised release following a removal order. The court found the government failed to demonstrate changed circumstances or significant likelihood of removal, violating immigration law. Chief Judge Stephanie Rose ordered his immediate release and restoration to supervised release status.

Nehemia Noel Fuentes-Banegas, a 26-year-old Honduran national living in Annandale, Virginia, was shot in the shoulder by a Fairfax County police officer after allegedly grabbing for the officer's handgun during a search of a wooded area. Police had responded to a domestic dispute call after Fuentes-Banegas armed himself with two knives, stabbed himself, and fled the home; he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and charged with attempted disarming of a law enforcement officer. Court records show he had faced an earlier felony strangulation charge from an April domestic violence case, which was dismissed after the alleged victim asked prosecutors not to proceed. Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid said her office does not block ICE from acting on detainer requests and that ICE is notified whenever an undocumented person is booked into the county jail. DHS said Fuentes-Banegas entered the U.S. without authorization through Texas in 2022 and was released pending immigration proceedings under the Biden administration; ICE has since lodged a detainer asking Fairfax County not to release him. The officer involved in the shooting was placed on restricted duty pending investigation.

A video posted online shows federal ICE agents detaining people near a Home Depot in Encinitas. A woman driving through the area recorded the encounter and spoke with NBC 7 about witnessing what appeared to be two men in custody with ICE agents present.

LA County Department of Animal Care and Control has taken in 28 animals from deported or detained families since June 2025, with pet surrenders nearly doubling after a series of summer raids. Children have come to the Carson Animal Care Center for painful goodbyes with family pets including Coco, a pug-beagle mix, and Bruce, a Labrador mix, after their families were ordered to leave the country.

Jorge Willy Valera Chuquillanqui, a Peruvian asylum seeker with no criminal history, was arrested by DHS agents minutes after completing routine immigration court proceedings on July 25, 2025. He had been living in the U.S. since December 2022 after being released on bond. The federal court granted a preliminary injunction ordering his release and prohibiting re-detention without a hearing before a neutral decisionmaker. The court found that ICE violated his due process rights by detaining him without proper procedural safeguards.

Patricia Balbuena Soto, a mother of three who had lived in New Jersey for approximately 30 years since age 19, was arrested on July 24, 2025, by Atlantic City Police on charges including criminal mischief and property damage. She was transferred to ICE custody on July 25, 2025, and deported to Mexico on August 5, 2025. According to DHS, Balbuena Soto had been previously removed from the country four times and illegally reentered a fifth time, which constituted a felony. Her 17-year-old daughter told Newsweek she felt alone after the separation and was forced to navigate daily life without her parent.

A human smuggler guided a group of undocumented migrants through the Arizona desert in extreme heat and allegedly instructed them to abandon one member who became dizzy and fell into a ravine, resulting in death. U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended the smuggler, Miguel Salomon-Lugo, on June 21.

Wilmer Chavarria, a U.S. citizen school superintendent, was detained for 4-5 hours at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport by customs agents upon returning from Nicaragua. Agents questioned his marriage and professional status, and repeatedly demanded passwords to his personal phone and district-issued laptop containing student information. After his devices were searched, Chavarria was released but subsequently had his Global Entry program membership revoked.

Rutilio Zelaya Franco, a fencing industry worker who had lived in the country for 14 years without prior police trouble, was driving a delivery truck when he was pursued by ICE agents. During the chase, his truck crashed into a home; he fled on foot and turned himself in at the Loudoun County Courthouse two days later on July 24. After a judge released him on bail, Loudoun County Sheriff's Office deputies presented him with an ICE warrant, handcuffed him, and escorted him to waiting ICE agents. He is married with two children. Zelaya Franco is being held at a detention center in Cibola County, New Mexico, pending removal proceedings.

Animal shelters across Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties are seeing a rise in pets surrendered due to immigration enforcement. Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control has received at least 19 pets as a result of immigration detention in 2025. Rescue organizations report finding animals like Mud, a terrier mix suffering from starvation in a locked backyard weeks after a family was deported.

Sarah Shaw, a New Zealand woman living in Washington State, and her 6-year-old son Isaac were detained by US immigration at the Canada-US border on July 24 after attempting to return home from dropping off her other children in Vancouver. Shaw held a temporary immigration document allowing her to travel and re-enter the US. Officials identified an administrative error with her paperwork. The pair were transferred to the Dilley Immigration Processing Centre in Texas, where they are being held. They do not have access to their personal belongings.

Janeth Jazmin Jaldin Loza, an Alpine resident, was arrested by ICE agents on July 23. Reporters were unable to find any record of past convictions or pending charges against her in Wyoming court records.

Juan Barranco Castro, a 56-year-old resident of Jackson for 26 years, was arrested by ICE agents in the parking lot of Community Bible Church as he drove to work. According to friends, ICE was targeting someone else with a similar vehicle and arrested Castro by mistake. He was handcuffed, placed in leg irons and belly chains, and transported to Sweetwater County Detention Center. Court documents show no criminal convictions or pending charges against Castro.

K.N., a minor U.S. citizen, was arrested along with his sisters while approaching a construction site raid. Federal agents drove K.N. to his mother's home and held him outside the fence while asking him if his mother was "illegal," then threatened to take him into federal custody while demanding his mother produce identification. According to MALDEF's Federal Tort Claims Act claim, agents used K.N. as "bait" in an attempt to lure his mother, a lawful permanent resident, into the street to investigate her immigration status. MALDEF seeks $2.5 million in damages for personal injury and emotional distress.

Sorayda Noyola, 31, and her siblings Claudia, 19, and a third sibling were arrested by ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents during a construction site raid near their mother's home in Texas. Sorayda was documenting the raid when an agent grabbed her arm and attempted to seize her cell phone; when she objected, agents tackled all three siblings to the ground, handcuffed them, and arrested them. Sorayda and Claudia were detained for hours at the ICE Field Office in Harlingen, and agents confiscated both of their phones without returning them. MALDEF filed a Federal Tort Claims Act administrative claim seeking $2.5 million in damages for personal injury and $2,000 for the lost phone for each sibling, alleging unlawful assault, arrest, and detention in violation of their constitutional rights.

Z.G., a citizen of Ethiopia, was arrested by immigration authorities on July 22, 2025, and held in immigration detention for nine months without a bond hearing pending removal proceedings. The petitioner filed a habeas corpus petition claiming his prolonged detention violated due process. The federal court granted the petition and ordered immigration authorities to provide a bond hearing within 14 days.

A federal judge placed U.S. Army veteran Ian Davis Austin on probation with restricted travel to Pennsylvania and Minnesota, mandatory mental health assessment, and suspended firearm access following a disorderly conduct charge stemming from anti-ICE protests. Austin was arrested twice during clashes between state police and protesters outside a detention facility in Newark, New Jersey on Memorial Day weekend. He is one of 39 defendants charged under the Face Act following a January 18 protest at Cities Church in Saint Paul during Trump administration immigration enforcement actions.

Alberto Banicescu, a 27-year-old Romanian national, was taken into custody outside his Jackson apartment on July 21. ICE agents detained him based on assumptions about international travel patterns between Mexico City and Romania. He had a misdemeanor DUI citation from January and was on probation. He was placed in belly chains and leg irons before transport to Sweetwater County Detention Center.

Tae Heung "Will" Kim, a 40-year-old Korean American legal permanent resident and Ph.D. candidate at Texas A&M University studying infectious disease, was detained by CBP at San Francisco Airport upon returning from his brother's wedding in South Korea. He was held at the airport for more than a week without access to legal counsel, sleeping on a chair with lights on 24 hours, and denied contact with the outside world. Kim was subsequently transferred to ICE detention facilities in Arizona and Texas. His attorney states the cited reason for arrest was a 2011 marijuana possession conviction, though Kim had completed community service and had the record sealed; the government used it anyway. He faces a September 4 deportation hearing.

A Human Rights Watch report released on July 21, 2025, documents severe conditions at three Florida immigration detention facilities—Krome North Service Processing Center, Broward Transitional Center, and Federal Detention Center Miami—between January and June 2025. The report profiles 11 detained immigrants and includes interviews with family members and lawyers. Detainees experienced overcrowding (Krome reached 249% capacity by March), denial of critical medications including insulin and inhalers, forced sleep on cold concrete floors, degrading treatment including forced eating without hands, and excessive force including stun grenade deployment during protests. Substandard medical care is alleged to have been linked to two deaths. The detention population surge followed Trump administration executive orders establishing prolonged detention policies, with overall U.S. immigration detention reaching 56,000 people daily by June 2025, the highest level in U.S. history.

A 5-year-old girl identified as a U.S. citizen was taken into ICE custody along with her mother after Austin police responded to a disturbance call and identified the mother with an ICE administrative warrant. The family has been unable to locate the child in government databases and is seeking custody arrangements so she can stay with relatives while her mother remains detained.