Human Impact Project

Four detainees at Camp East Montana, the largest federal migrant detention center in the U.S., filed a class action lawsuit alleging systemic abuse including inadequate food, lack of daylight, inconsistent hygiene products, guard beatings, and harassment. The lawsuit cites three deaths in six weeks, including a 55-year-old Cuban national ruled as a homicide by the county medical examiner after guards allegedly assaulted him. The suit seeks to certify a class of approximately 800 currently detained people and all future detainees at the facility.

An Associated Press investigation found at least 10 ICE detainees, predominantly Hispanic men from Latin America and one Chinese citizen, have died by suicide since January 2025 under the Trump administration's aggressive deportation strategy. The pace far exceeds historical rates and reveals systemic failures in mental health screening, treatment, and suicide prevention protocols across ICE facilities including private contractor centers and county jails.

A class-action lawsuit filed by civil rights organizations challenges Trump administration policies allowing ICE to arrest immigrants at immigration court hearings. The lawsuit, Pablo Sequen v. Albarran, alleges at least 89 people were arrested at San Francisco Immigration Court during a six-month period in 2025. Plaintiffs include asylum applicants from Peru, Guatemala, and Colombia who were arrested immediately after court appearances.

Voluntary departure agreements in immigration courts have surged to 89,494 cases as of May 1, 2026, more than seven times the number from the final 16 months of the Biden administration. The Trump administration's mandatory detention without bond policy is pressuring immigrants to leave voluntarily, even those with legal rights to stay. Detention facility conditions are described as dire, with 51 deaths reported since Trump's inauguration.

Immigration courts inside the Justice Department are holding unprecedented 'mega master' hearings with 100 or more people at a time — up from 2-3 dozen previously — to accelerate deportation proceedings. Attorneys report these hearings largely target unrepresented immigrants and those who show up late or not at all receive removal orders, with little notice being provided by the government.

The owner of a company that trained paramilitary Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents testified that he was involved in at least four lethal shootings, according to a 2021 deposition related to a lawsuit. The article raises concerns about the use of force by ICE personnel and contracted trainers.

Six people died in California immigration detention centers over the past year as crowded facilities struggled to provide basic medical care, according to a state investigation. Four deaths occurred at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino County and two at the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico. The deaths represent the highest toll since the state began inspections seven years ago, coinciding with Trump administration deportation campaigns that increased detention center populations by over 150%.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) fired the contractor running Camp East Montana in March following deaths, a measles outbreak, and allegations of substandard medical care. However, the facility continued using the same medical provider, Loyal Source Government Services, a company with a track record of medical neglect holding over $2 billion in federal contracts. Congressional representatives have expressed concern about the decision to retain Loyal Source, with documented cases of inadequate medical treatment including a detainee's broken forearm treated only with aspirin for weeks.

California's Attorney General released findings from inspections of seven ICE detention facilities in the state, documenting degrading strip searches, guards abusing authority, poor food conditions, overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and inadequate medical care. Six migrants died in these facilities between September 2025 and March 2026, and detainee populations increased 162% compared to 2023.

The ACLU of Michigan, Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, and Michigan Catholic Center filed a complaint alleging that the North Lake Processing Center ICE detention facility in Baldwin is denying adequate medical care to detainees and limiting their access to attorneys. The groups detailed cases involving delays or denials of medical care, limits on attorney-client communications, and missed immigration proceedings, and are demanding an independent medical audit, mandatory emergency protocols, free medication access, and adequate translation services.

A KPBS investigation revealed that the Brawley Community Foundation, a registered nonprofit, owns the Imperial Regional Detention Facility, an ICE immigrant jail in California. The foundation has secured at least $6 million in property tax breaks since 2016 using its nonprofit status, benefits typically reserved for charities and hospitals. The foundation owns the detention center through a subsidiary company and has been involved in its operations for over a decade.

Miami Correctional Facility in Indiana received its first 15 ICE detainees as part of the "Speedway Slammer" agreement, a two-year contract to house up to 1,000 immigrant detainees. The facility, which sits on a former air force base near Kokomo, has a history of violence and understaffing, with over 400 violent incidents logged annually in 2019-2021 and custody staff declining from 367 in 2015 to 288 as of 2025. Indiana has spent at least $12.5 million on the arrangement but received less than $5.1 million in federal reimbursement.

Darisbell Paola Quintero Morillo, a Venezuelan asylum seeker with a pending case, was detained by ICE on April 23, 2026, while attending a scheduled check-in appointment at the Dallas ICE Field Office despite her compliance with immigration requirements. She had entered the U.S. in April 2021 with her husband Gilbert Vicent, both fleeing political persecution in Venezuela. She was transferred to Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, where she discovered she was pregnant during medical evaluation. While in custody, she reported inadequate nutrition, poor food quality, and insufficient medical care, and requested medical attention multiple times due to pregnancy complications. Her attorney filed a federal court petition and emergency motion seeking her release on parole, citing her compliance history and lack of criminal record, but the judge denied the emergency motion. She subsequently miscarried while detained. After learning of the miscarriage from her doctor at the hospital, ICE officers cuffed her ankles to the hospital bed.

Tomas Aranas Fuentes was awaiting trial for sexual assault in Colorado when federal immigration agents removed him from court during jury selection. Local prosecutors say ICE has deported dozens of people before they could face criminal charges, disrupting cases and denying victims their day in court. Prosecutors report ICE is using Colorado's criminal justice system to identify and deport undocumented people.

Operation Metro Surge, a large-scale ICE enforcement operation in Minneapolis and St. Paul from December 2025 to March 2026, resulted in approximately 3,700 to 4,000 arrests of undocumented immigrants. Federal data showed 60-75 percent of those arrested had no criminal records, with only 13-25 percent facing criminal convictions and roughly 15 percent with pending criminal charges. The operation peaked in early January 2026 with over 100 arrests per day before declining significantly by late January. ICE detained more than 70 children during the operation, some as young as 2 years old, with over 30 transferred to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas and nearly two dozen held over 20 days in violation of legal settlement terms. In the months following, immigrant communities and businesses in Minneapolis experienced severe economic disruption, including business closures, job losses, wage decreases, mounting debt, and mental health challenges, with some families considering leaving the United States.

Data analysis shows that while ICE arrests have surged in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the percentage of arrestees with criminal records has dropped significantly. In January 2026, nearly 60% of immigrants arrested in Pennsylvania and 68% in New Jersey had no criminal convictions or pending charges, contradicting the Trump administration's stated focus on deporting 'the worst of the worst.'

Internal ICE records detail widespread use of force by guards in detention centers, including chemical agents and physical tactics against detainees. Pedro Cantú Ríos, a 68-year-old immigrant held in an Alaska jail, reported exposure to chemical agents while detained in cramped conditions with limited access to personal belongings and basic necessities.

A report by Rent Brigade found that ICE and Border Patrol raids during Operation Midway Blitz have caused immigrant families in Chicago to lose thousands in wages and fall behind on rent. Survey data from 100 immigrant renters in Logan Square and Avondale showed average rental debt of $1,700, with 62 percent behind on rent and wages dropping from $700 to $509 weekly after the raids.

A Marshall Project investigation examines California's practice of transferring incarcerated people to ICE custody upon their release from state prison. Since 2015, over 18,000 people have been transferred, including those with valid legal status and those whose convictions were vacated. The article contrasts California's approach with Oregon's 2021 law prohibiting such transfers and details how the prison-to-ICE pipeline has intensified under the Trump administration.

A class action lawsuit was filed by detained noncitizens challenging a Trump-Vance administration policy that blocks detained immigrants from completing biometric collection processes required by USCIS, effectively causing automatic denial of pending immigration applications. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, argues the policy violates federal immigration law, the Administrative Procedure Act, and Fifth Amendment due process protections by preventing access to lawful immigration relief pathways.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office, in coordination with ICE and other state and federal partners, conducted a six-day undercover operation called "Polk Around and Find Out" that resulted in 266 arrests and 439 charges. The operation targeted human trafficking, child sexual exploitation, prostitution, and related crimes. Of those arrested, 19 were charged with felony counts related to attempting to meet minors for sex, 247 were arrested on prostitution and trafficking-related charges, and 34 were identified as undocumented immigrants. Authorities identified seven possible human trafficking victims and offered them social services.

Between August 2025 and March 2026, approximately 64,000 people were arrested by ICE during street sweeps as "collateral" arrests—detained based on appearance or proximity to someone with a warrant rather than having individualized warrants themselves. These collateral arrests represented roughly a quarter of ICE's 253,000 total arrests during this period. About 70% of collateral arrests involved only immigration-related violations, compared to 41% of warrant-based arrests, and less than 2% involved violent crime convictions. Multiple lawsuits have challenged the legality of these arrests, and arrest numbers declined following public outcry.

A ProPublica analysis found that immigration fraud complaints to the FTC have doubled since Trump returned to office, with nearly 2,000 reports in 2025 alone and at least $94.4 million stolen. Scammers use AI-generated photos and social media ads to impersonate immigration lawyers, ICE agents, judges, and nonprofit officials, targeting immigrants fearful of deportation. Victims pay thousands for fake legal services and fraudulent documents, with cases including a woman deported to Nicaragua after paying $10,000 to a fake attorney and a college student scammed out of $4,000.

Houston-area school districts have lost approximately 8,300 immigrant students and 18,000 emergent bilingual students since the previous year, with some districts losing as many as one in five immigrant students. The decline is attributed to increased federal immigration enforcement, with students either deported, forced to work after family detention, or staying home out of fear of encountering immigration officials. The losses have forced school closures, program cuts, and financial hardship across districts.

Denny Adan Gonzalez, a 33-year-old Cuban national, was found unresponsive in his cell at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, on April 28, 2026, at approximately 10:25 p.m. and pronounced dead at 11:11 p.m. ICE reported the suspected cause as suicide, though the official cause remained under investigation. Gonzalez had been in solitary confinement following an alleged altercation with a staff member the day before. He had arrived at a U.S. port of entry in 2019, was deported in 2020, re-entered without authorization in 2022, and was transferred to Stewart in January 2026 after arrest in North Carolina on assault and domestic violence charges. Immigration advocates, his mother Lourdes González Suárez, and U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock called for independent investigation and improved transparency regarding ICE custody deaths.

A federal judge heard arguments in a lawsuit alleging inhumane conditions at Adelanto ICE Processing Center, where approximately 2,000 immigrants are detained. Plaintiffs claim detainees face squalid conditions, unsanitary food, dirty water, delayed medical care, and retaliatory solitary confinement. The judge expressed concern but delayed ruling on the request for emergency relief, suggesting plaintiffs may need to refile with additional defendants named.

According to data obtained by UC Berkeley's Deportation Data Project, ICE arrested 6,374 people in North Carolina between January 2025 and March 10, 2026—nearly double the number arrested during the previous two years combined. Arrests peaked in November 2025 during a CBP operation called "Charlotte's Web" in the Charlotte area, though analysis found most arrestees had no prior criminal convictions despite official claims of targeting the "worst of the worst."

The Trump administration is rapidly expanding ICE detention infrastructure by acquiring over 20 warehouses to be converted into detention facilities under a "Detention Re-engineering Initiative." The expansion would increase detention capacity to 96,600 people despite a record number of deaths in ICE custody—17 deaths in 2026 alone and over 40 since the start of the mass deportation campaign. The article documents preventable deaths from medical neglect and unsafe conditions, while highlighting community resistance efforts to block construction of new detention facilities.

The Board of Immigration Appeals ruled that immigration judges cannot terminate deportation proceedings solely based on a person's active DACA status. The ruling involved Catalina Santiago, a DACA recipient arrested by CBP at El Paso International Airport in August 2025 while boarding a domestic flight. The decision, which sides with the Department of Homeland Security, sends Santiago's case back for further review and could potentially affect thousands of other DACA recipients.

An article describing increased immigration enforcement scrutiny at U.S. airports, noting that over 800 people were arrested between 2025 and 2026 after being identified through passenger data shared by TSA with ICE. The article advises immigrants with work permits, DACA, or pending migration cases to consult with attorneys before traveling, as even those with legal status or pending applications face heightened risk of detention during air travel.

Hundreds of detained immigrants in Michigan were granted bond after suing the federal government, but high bond amounts and government appeals are preventing many from being released. Immigration judges have discretion in setting bond amounts, with some set as high as $50,000, making it difficult for families to afford release even when courts rule detention unlawful.

Georgia has become a top-5 state for federal immigration arrests since President Trump's return to office, with more arrests than higher-profile enforcement operations in Minnesota. The article reports on enforcement data and includes a case study of a Guatemalan couple detained in Carroll County.

Community groups across Arizona organized protests against ICE detention plans, with over 250 residents demonstrating in Surprise on April 26, 2026, against a planned ICE processing facility at an industrial warehouse. The facility is designed to hold undocumented immigrants for three to seven days before transfer, with 542 beds and potential expansion to 1,500 capacity, expected to begin operations in fall 2026. Protesters raised concerns about proximity to schools and the surrounding Hispanic community. One day prior, on April 25, 2026, the Arizona Attorney General filed a lawsuit to block the project, arguing that ICE bypassed environmental reviews and community input requirements. Community organizers called for due process protections.

Documents obtained by Congressman Dan Goldman show that more than half of approximately 176 immigrant detainees held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn have no criminal record, with fewer than 24 percent having criminal convictions. The facility, which began holding ICE detainees in 2025 as part of a DHS-Bureau of Prisons agreement, has never undergone an ICE compliance inspection despite housing detainees for extended periods averaging 52 days.

A federal appeals court lifted a temporary injunction blocking Texas Senate Bill 4, a 2023 law authorizing state police to arrest people suspected of entering the country without authorization. The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the plaintiffs—immigration advocacy groups and El Paso County—lacked legal standing to challenge the law, without addressing the underlying constitutional questions about whether states can enforce immigration law. The ruling allows the state law to take effect.

Hundreds of rallies are planned nationwide on Saturday as part of the 'Communities Not Cages National Day of Action' to protest ICE's detention expansion. The protests target ICE's plans to construct eight new detention centers and 16 processing centers, adding at least 116,000 beds for detaining people in the country without authorization.

ICE arrests in Miami have reached record numbers, with the Miami office recording 41,310 arrests since January 2025, including 9,880 in 2026 alone, averaging 120 arrests per day. Miami's arrest rate is 36% higher than the second-place Dallas office, with the increase driven largely by collaboration between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities under Florida's 287(g) agreements. A UC Berkeley report found ICE arrests have quadrupled during Trump's second administration, with a 2,450% increase in detentions of people with no criminal record since January 2025. Olatunde Abiodun Olusanjo, a 53-year-old Nigerian national, was arrested by ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations unit in Los Angeles on April 21, 2026. He is being held pending immigration removal proceedings. His detention is linked to previous criminal charges including child molestation, sexual battery, and solicitation of lewd conduct. U.S. immigration authorities arrested 53-year-old Nigerian national Olatunde Olusanjo in Los Angeles on April 21, 2026. Olusanjo has previous convictions for child molestation, sexual battery, and soliciting lewd conduct. He is being held in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested multiple individuals on Wednesday who were previously convicted of serious crimes including sexual assault, drug trafficking, and assault, as part of enforcement actions during National Crime Victims Week. The arrests included individuals from Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador with convictions for offenses such as lewd acts with a child, aggravated sexual assault, assault by strangulation, and methamphetamine distribution.

A teacher in California's Central Valley with DACA status has been placed on unpaid leave as her work authorization renewal has stalled in processing for over five months, well beyond the typical timeline. Thousands of DACA recipients nationwide, including an estimated 6,784 educators in California, face extreme renewal delays that leave schools vulnerable to sudden staffing disruptions and put individuals at risk of losing work authorization and deportation protection.

Immigrant advocates in Oregon report that Hmong and Laotian people, including refugee families who assisted the U.S. military during the Secret War in Laos in the 1960s-70s, are being increasingly targeted for detention and deportation by ICE. The Trump administration deported nearly 400 Laotian individuals nationwide in the past year.

ICE detained more than 70 Minnesota children between December 1 and March 10 during Operation Metro Surge, according to analysis of court records and federal deportation data by Sahan Journal. Nearly two dozen children were held in custody for more than 20 days, with at least seven remaining in detention as of March 10. The detained children included 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, a 2-year-old, and 10-year-old Elizabeth Zuna Caisaguano. Approximately 20 children have since been deported, while another 10 self-deported or withdrew their admission applications. Advocates and attorneys representing detained families describe the detentions as harmful to children's well-being and their communities.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Houston field office announced 277 arrests between April 6 and April 17, 2026, of individuals the agency said were in the country without legal authorization and had prior criminal convictions. Those arrested had a combined 751 criminal convictions and included individuals with convictions for child sex crimes, homicide, drug trafficking, and assault. ICE named several individuals who were deported or remained in custody pending removal proceedings.

At least 17 immigrants have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since January 2026, marking a record high for deaths under ICE custody.

Paraguay announced it will receive 25 non-citizens expelled from the United States as part of the Trump administration's mass deportation push. This is part of a third-country deportation scheme that allows the US to send immigrants to countries they have no ties to, with Paraguay joining other nations like Costa Rica, El Salvador, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in accepting such deportations.

Twenty-two percent of people arrested by ICE in New York state during Trump's second term have voluntarily departed the country, up from less than 1 percent under Biden. Faced with prolonged detention while their cases proceed, thousands of detained immigrants have requested permission to abandon their immigration cases and leave the U.S., often under coercive circumstances where ICE agents pressure them immediately after arrest.

Lawyers across the country report that noncitizens are being deported without final removal orders from immigration judges, which they say is illegal. NY1 documented at least 132 cases where people were deported and received final removal orders after already being removed. One case involves Mario Mata Cruz, a man with pending green card status who was deported to El Salvador without a final removal order and remains there nearly six months later.

A Denver judge ruled that Governor Jared Polis cannot order state employees to comply with an ICE subpoena seeking personal information of 13 Coloradans, including 10 individuals from a prior subpoena. The judge found that ICE's claim the request was part of a criminal human trafficking investigation was not credible, as the agency waited nearly a year to resubmit the request with the new characterization.

The Trump administration deported approximately 15 Latin American migrants to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo on April 17, 2026, as part of a third-country deportation program. The deportees, including nationals from Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, held legal protection orders from U.S. immigration judges against return to their home countries. Under a U.S.-Congo agreement, the migrants were granted 7-day visas extendable to three months and placed in a hotel in Kinshasa. The International Organization for Migration was tasked with providing humanitarian assistance and exploring assisted voluntary return options. The U.S. has established similar third-country deportation agreements with at least seven African nations and spent approximately $40 million deporting roughly 300 migrants under this program, with a second flight of 30 additional migrants scheduled for April 22. Fifteen Latin Americans, including a 29-year-old Colombian woman, were deported by the U.S. to Congo under the Trump administration's third-country deportation policy. The woman, who had received a U.S. immigration judge's protection order and a federal judge's ruling that she could not be safely returned to Colombia, was detained again at an ICE check-in despite a February 2025 habeas corpus release. She and others were flown to Congo with restrained hands and feet, arriving April 17, 2025, and are now confined to a hotel near Kinshasa's airport with supervised outings and facing impossible choices: return to home countries or remain in Congo with no support.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Todd Lyons announced his resignation effective May 31, 2026. Lyons led the agency since March 2025 during an expansion of arrests and detention capacity. His tenure included high-profile enforcement operations in Chicago and Minneapolis.

An AP investigation found that ICE hired 12,000 new officers and special agents during a rapid expansion funded by a $75 billion congressional appropriation for mass deportation efforts, but the accelerated hiring process resulted in employees with questionable backgrounds being hired despite inadequate vetting. The agency hired candidates with histories including bankruptcies, allegations of misconduct, and incomplete law enforcement training, raising concerns about increased liability and potential abuse of power.