Human Impact Project

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The Trump administration rescinded a federal policy discouraging ICE enforcement actions in churches and other sensitive locations.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.

Nine congressional Democrats sent a letter to President Trump urging him to direct ICE agents to stop harassing Native American citizens. The letter detailed incidents in Arizona and New Mexico where ICE agents stopped, questioned, or detained at least 15 Indigenous individuals, including a Tribal citizen questioned about U.S. citizenship at a convenience store.

The U.S. Department of Justice issued a stop work order to the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network and other immigrant legal service organizations following President Trump's executive order on immigration enforcement. The Colorado nonprofit, which provides free legal representation to immigrants in the Aurora ICE detention center and Denver immigration court, has been ordered to suspend operations immediately. The action affects thousands of immigrants, with over 85% of those fighting deportation in Colorado lacking attorney representation.

State Rep. Hoan Huynh said federal Customs and Border Patrol agents stopped him at gunpoint on Chicago's Northwest Side while he was conducting community education about ICE rights. Six agents surrounded his vehicle near Montrose Avenue and Kimball Avenue, with one agent pulling a gun. A DHS official stated Huynh was stalking law enforcement and interfering with operations.

Federal immigration officers made nearly 9,000 arrests in Virginia in 2025, marking a nearly 500% increase from approximately 1,500 arrests during the final year of President Biden's term. Between January and March 2025, deportation officers had already detained roughly 2,000 people in Virginia. Over 2,600 of the arrests were categorized as 'general area' arrests linked to Richmond's ICE office, and approximately 85% of those arrested had not been charged with a crime.

An article in The New Yorker's Annals of Immigration section reports that under the Trump Administration, thousands of immigrant children have been detained, with many suffering from medical neglect.

ICE's average daily detention population declined 12% from January to March, driven largely by a 21% drop in detentions of people without criminal records. The decline follows backlash to a Minneapolis-area enforcement operation in which federal agents killed two American citizens, and a subsequent shake-up in Department of Homeland Security leadership that has signaled a shift toward focusing on detaining immigrants with criminal records.

Data obtained by KDKA Investigates shows ICE arrests in the Pittsburgh area jumped from 448 in the final year of the Biden administration to 1,425 in 2025, a 218% increase. The data reveals that approximately two-thirds of detainees have no criminal record, contradicting the Trump administration's stated focus on targeting immigrants with serious crimes. Immigration advocates express concern about enforcement tactics and their impact on immigrant communities.

The Trump administration's no-bond detention policy for immigrants has resulted in over 800 habeas corpus petitions filed in New Mexico federal courts since July. Criminal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office have been assigned to defend the detention policy, a departure from typical civil division representation. Detainees argue that detention without individual bond hearings violates due process rights, though the 10th Circuit has not yet ruled on the matter.

Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol commander who became the public face of the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement operations, announced his retirement. Bovino led high-profile crackdowns in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minnesota that resulted in thousands of arrests and drew criticism for aggressive tactics including vehicle searches, chemical agents, and raids. His operations are linked to deaths of U.S. citizens and widespread demonstrations.

The Justice Department has dismantled a 60-year-old Recognition and Accreditation program that authorized non-attorneys to provide affordable legal representation to low-income immigrants. Senior attorneys operating the program were abruptly reassigned, leaving only two support staff without legal authority to process accreditation applications. The program currently accredits over 2,600 non-attorneys across 900 organizations, primarily faith-based groups like Catholic Charities and Jewish Family Services.

San Diego County's Immigrant Legal Defense Program, which provides free legal counsel to detained immigrants and unaccompanied minors, faces significant funding gaps as costs are expected to reach $13.4-$18 million annually while the budget remains at $5 million. The increased demand is driven by a nearly 200% increase in detention levels at the Otay Mesa Detention Center under the Trump administration. Without additional funding from philanthropic and state sources, the program may be unable to maintain current service levels.

The Trump administration has reshaped the Board of Immigration Appeals by reducing its size by nearly half and stacking it with presidential appointees. The board's decisions backed Department of Homeland Security lawyers in 97% of publicly posted cases, significantly narrowing due process and relief from deportation available for immigrants. The board has made it harder for immigrants to obtain bond, easier to deport migrants to third countries, and has published a record 70 precedent-setting decisions.

California's Senate Public Safety Committee advanced Senate Bill 941, which would limit price markups on goods sold in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility commissaries to a maximum of 35% above vendor cost. The bill addresses exploitative pricing practices by private vendors, with items like soap marked up 75% and canned tuna by 300%. Supporters argue the measure protects detained immigrants and their families from predatory pricing during vulnerable circumstances.

Senate and House Republican leaders announced an agreement to reopen the Department of Homeland Security through September 30, resurrecting a bipartisan deal previously rejected by President Trump. The plan would omit funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, with those agencies to be paid from previously appropriated funds. Democrats have demanded restrictions on federal immigration agents' conduct following the killing of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis by immigration officers.

Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation unanimously adopted a new rule requiring people seeking professional licenses, including electricians and dog breeders, to prove legal immigration status. The rule implements a 1996 federal law but allows exceptions for those granted asylum, admitted as refugees, or recognized as human trafficking victims. The change takes effect May 1 and has prompted concerns about economic impact and pushing workers into unlicensed work.

The Colibrí Center for Human Rights' DNA database, which helped identify remains of missing migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border for a decade, has been inaccessible since fall 2024. The nonprofit's website has gone dark and communications ceased, leaving families like that of Irma Carrillo Nevares without hope of identifying their missing relatives. Arizona moved to dissolve the organization in December 2025 due to unfiled paperwork.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced arrests and detentions of several undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes including arson, drug trafficking, robbery, and burglary. ICE stated that approximately 70% of those arrested had been charged with or convicted of crimes in the United States. The enforcement operations involved individuals from Honduras, Colombia, Mexico, and Cambodia, with convictions recorded in Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, and New York.

Omar Salazar, an SMU graduate and Dallas community leader, was detained by ICE at the Bluebonnet Detention Facility in August after a traffic stop. He has been held for seven months without a decision on his immigration case, despite a final hearing on February 11. His legal team attributes delays to immigration case backlogs, overworked judges, and policy shifts from the Trump administration.

Despite a lapse in federal funding, ICE officers are continuing deportation operations nationwide and have been deployed to assist understaffed TSA at airports in major cities including New York, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta, and New Orleans. DHS officials stated that ICE arrested multiple individuals with criminal convictions over the weekend, including gang members, sex offenders, and drug traffickers, while maintaining airport security presence.

A total of 17 arrests across multiple Galveston County communities resulted in immigration holds over a one-week period. The arrests were made in League City, Friendswood, Galveston, Hitchcock, Bacliff, Tiki Island, and Texas City, with charges including driving while intoxicated, assault, theft, drug possession, and evading arrest. Law enforcement agencies coordinated with federal immigration authorities when individuals booked into local jails were flagged for potential immigration enforcement action.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency operates a network of 170 unofficial detention sites called "hold rooms" across the country, located in warehouses, strip malls, office parks, and ICE substations. Federal data obtained via the Freedom of Information Act shows over 140,000 detainees were held in these facilities between January and October 2025, with thousands of violations of the 72-hour limit on detention length, including children and elderly individuals.

Between January 1, 2025, and February 16, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security deported 363 pregnant, postpartum, or nursing women, according to data provided to U.S. senators. As of February 16, 2026, 86 detainees were identified as pregnant in ICE custody, including nine in the final trimester, and 16 miscarriages in detention had been recorded by late September 2025. Human Rights Watch and other advocates noted health risks associated with detaining pregnant individuals and identified gaps in medical care.

Hundreds of immigration detainees held in New Mexico facilities have filed petitions in federal court seeking bond hearings and release, challenging a new interpretation of the 1996 Immigration and Nationality Act that denies bond hearings to those who entered at unauthorized points. The detainees, from countries including Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, Afghanistan, and others, include individuals who were arrested without warrants. Federal judges in New Mexico have granted bond hearings in approximately 99% of cases, but detainees must hire attorneys to file the petitions.

During a government shutdown causing TSA staffing shortages and three-hour airport security delays, President Trump announced ICE agent deployments to assist at airports nationwide. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens confirmed ICE agents will deploy to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday to support TSA operations including line management and crowd control, with officials stating the deployment is not intended for immigration enforcement activities.

A New York Times examination of 10 cases and documentation by the ACLU found that pregnant women detained during immigration enforcement were held in detention centers for extended periods—some for up to eight months—in conditions violating DHS guidelines. Women reported inadequate medical care, including denial of prenatal care and shackling during pregnancy and miscarriage. Specific cases documented include Lorena Pineda, a Salvadoran woman detained for over three months while five months pregnant. Conditions at facilities including Stewart Detention Center in Georgia and ICE processing centers in Louisiana included contaminated food and water, and shackling at hands, ankles, and around bellies. Advocacy organizations report that pregnant, postpartum, and nursing mothers continue to be detained despite ICE policy stating they should not be detained for administrative immigration violations except in exceptional circumstances.

This document is the Congressional Justification for U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Fiscal Year 2026 budget request from the Department of Homeland Security. It includes appropriation organization structure, budget comparisons, personnel compensation information, and supplemental budget justification exhibits for CBP operations and support.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is hearing a Department of Justice appeal challenging a 2024 federal court order that prohibited ICE from arresting immigrants during green card interviews with U.S. citizen spouses. The case stems from a class-action lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of individuals arrested or at risk of arrest during Form I-130 marriage-based adjustment of status interviews. Legal challenges have been filed regarding the arrests.

The Trump administration is planning to deport undocumented migrants to Libya, a country experiencing armed conflict. Libyan officials denied being in talks with the U.S. about the plan. A federal judge blocked any deportations to Libya or Saudi Arabia without due process, ruling that removals without prior notice would violate existing court orders.

ICE arrests have increased in the Pittsburgh area since May 2025. ICE has been tasked with arresting 3,000 immigrants daily nationwide and received an additional $75 billion in funding to increase detention capacity from 40,000 to 100,000. Immigration attorneys report increased demand for legal support.

ICE has stopped paying third-party medical providers for detainee care since October 3, 2025, instructing providers to hold claims until at least April 30, 2026. A Georgia-led Senate investigation has documented cases of alleged medical neglect in ICE facilities. The detained population has surged from fewer than 40,000 in January 2025 to over 73,000 currently. Federal law requires ICE to provide necessary medical care to people in its custody.

ICE outlines its policies and procedures for reporting deaths of detained individuals in its custody. The agency states that detainee health care is a high priority and requires facilities to provide comprehensive medical, dental, and mental health care. Deaths in ICE custody trigger a multilayered investigation protocol including medical reviews, compliance investigations, and reporting to senior management and DHS civil rights offices.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement, tasked with protecting immigrant children, has assisted in immigration enforcement operations under the Trump administration. Federal agents have conducted dozens of visits across the country targeting unaccompanied minors and their sponsors, using welfare checks as a pretext. Current and former staffers report the agency is assisting in enforcement operations.

According to ICE data from February, nearly 70% of people held in California's ICE detention centers have no criminal conviction. The figure is consistent with national trends, where 74% of detainees nationwide have no criminal convictions. More than 6,400 people are currently detained in California's facilities. The data shows enforcement has expanded under the Trump administration.

Green card holders have been detained by ICE since 2025, including lawful permanent residents with decades of U.S. residence being detained at airports, courthouses, and during community operations. Cases involve old criminal convictions that previously had no immigration consequences. The National Immigration Law Center stated the current administration is targeting green card holders with past criminal records and political activity.

A report from the International Refugee Assistance Project and Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center examines how climate change contributes to displacement and migration dangers at the U.S.-Mexico border. Based on 26 interviews with displaced individuals from 12 countries conducted in January 2025, the report documents how environmental disasters and extreme weather conditions drive migration decisions and intensify hazards during migration journeys.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection recovered remains of 10,784 migrants from 1988 through 2024 along the U.S.-Mexico border. President Trump's 2025 border policies closed asylum application access at ports of entry. The article examines three main risks migrants face when attempting to cross into the U.S.

The Trump administration is expanding border wall construction, with new segments planned in Arizona, California, and Texas. The expansion will further fragment wildlife habitat and migration pathways for approximately 1,077 native animal species, including 83 threatened and endangered species such as jaguars, ocelots, and Mexican gray wolves. Wildlife advocates warn that the barriers, which can reach 30 feet high with minimal gaps, will isolate animal populations and potentially lead to species extirpation in the region.

Conservationists at the UA Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center identified a new jaguar named Cinco roaming mountains near the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. The Trump administration intensified border wall construction and waived environmental laws including the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act. Construction projects aimed to close gaps in the border wall across the El Paso, Tucson, and Yuma sectors.

Volunteer search and rescue groups have discovered migrant remains in the Chihuahuan desert west of El Paso since the city joined Texas' Operation Lone Star in December 2022. Battalion Search and Rescue found 27 sites with human remains since September 2023. The El Paso sector historically had among the fewest migrant deaths on the southern border.