Human Impact Project

Since last year, ICE has detained 265 minors with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) and deported 132 of them. SIJS was created in 1990 as a pathway to citizenship for minors who are victims of abuse, abandonment, or neglect, and shields these children from deportation during their green card application process.

The Battalion Search and Rescue Organization, based in Ajo, Arizona, conducts regular expeditions into the southern Arizona desert to locate and identify the remains of migrants who died during border crossings. According to the Pima County Medical Examiner, over 150 migrants died in southern Arizona in the previous year. During recent trips in February, the group found 10 and 8 death sites respectively, recovering bone fragments and other remains which are documented and reported to county authorities.

Young children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border are being placed in immigration court deportation proceedings, sometimes as young as 1 year old. These minors are not entitled to court-appointed lawyers and are expected to navigate complex legal proceedings despite their age. This resulted from the Trump administration's zero tolerance family separation policy.

The U.S. deported 205 Indian nationals via military aircraft. As of November 2024, 20,407 Indian nationals were detained or facing removal orders, with Indians ranking as the fourth-largest nationality in ICE custody. The deportations affected migrants from Gujarat and Punjab. Approximately 1,100 Indian nationals were deported in the past year via special charter flights.

Dominican officials have been deporting at least 10,000 Haitian immigrants per week under a new policy. Civil organizations have commented on the policy. Haitian migrants have shared accounts of abuse during the deportation process.

A federal court has blocked the Trump administration from sending three Venezuelan immigrants held in New Mexico to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. The court granted a request to prevent the transfer of the detained individuals as part of the president's immigration crackdown.

The Trump administration rescinded a federal policy discouraging ICE enforcement actions in churches and other sensitive locations. Legal experts clarify that while ICE agents can enter churches if they have judicial warrants, they would need proper legal authority and cannot conduct arbitrary raids. Faith leaders, including Archbishop Thomas Wenski, believe enforcement in churches remains unlikely due to constitutional protections, political sensitivity, and resource constraints.

Over 200 community members gathered outside Spokane City Hall on Monday for a rally organized by Latinos en Spokane to support immigrants and urge the city to allocate budget for legal and immigration services. The rally responded to multiple ICE and Border Patrol sightings in the area that have resulted in arrests of family members. Speakers including War Bear, a Native American advocate, described the fear and harassment Indigenous peoples and immigrants face from ICE enforcement.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem stated Venezuelan migrants transferred to Guantánamo Bay are "the worst of the worst." Immigration attorneys have provided different characterizations. The Trump administration has ordered construction of a tent city at the naval base to detain up to 30,000 migrants, including asylum seekers. Attorneys stated the official narrative does not match facts on the ground regarding who is being detained.

The Air Force is requiring crew members and security forces on deportation flights to remove their name tapes and unit patches from uniforms while maintaining other identifying marks. The Air Force cited safety and security concerns for the lack of transparency about service member numbers and units involved in deportation operations, making it the only military branch not publicly disclosing such details.

Researchers from WOLA and the Women's Refugee Commission investigated conditions faced by individuals deported from U.S. detention centers to Tapachula, Mexico. The Trump administration has been flying deported Mexican citizens to southern Mexico since February 2025, with 6,045 people arriving by July 28, 2025. Access to deported migrants is severely restricted by Mexican authorities. The city has limited infrastructure and services to support the arriving deportees.