Human Impact Project

Chicago attorneys filed a federal court motion on March 13, 2025, accusing ICE and DHS of violating immigration law and constitutional rights of at least 22 people arrested since January. The motion alleges agents made warrantless arrests and created warrants in the field after arrests, including the arrest of a U.S. citizen. Attorneys cite violations of the Nava Settlement and Fourth Amendment protections.

Neiyerver Adrian Leon Rengel, a 27-year-old Venezuelan national, was detained by ICE on March 13, 2025, in Irving, Texas, based on suspected gang affiliation determined by his tattoos. His case record disappeared from ICE's online tracking system two days later. Authorities told his girlfriend he was deported, but he has not been located in Venezuela or on any public list of deportees sent to El Salvador.

Curtis Wright, an Edmonton-born U.S. permanent resident of 30 years, was detained by ICE in November 2024 after being pulled aside at a port of entry returning from Mexico. ICE cited drug possession charges from when Wright was 17 as grounds for detention and deportation proceedings. On March 13, 2025, a judge ordered his deportation, though Wright's legal team plans to appeal and seek a habeas corpus ruling to challenge the legality of his detention.

A 14-year-old Brazilian girl with an expired visitor visa was detained by ICE agents on March 11 after being found in a car in Marlboro, Massachusetts. She was taken to Boston and then transported overnight to a detention facility in New York. A federal judge ordered her immediate return to Massachusetts on March 13, expressing concern about the detention and overnight transfer, and she was reunited with her U.S. citizen aunt.

Yolanda Perez-Magallón, a 50-year-old undocumented immigrant and caregiver for her 21-year-old daughter with cancer, was detained by ICE agents on February 24 as a collateral arrest during an immigration sweep targeting her son Jonathan. She was held for nearly two weeks before being released on a $1,500 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on April 10.

The Trump administration has resumed detaining immigrant families at U.S. facilities, reversing a Biden-era policy pause and reopening two Texas family detention centers that had been closed since 2021. The facilities have inadequate medical care, food insecurity, and conditions associated with psychological trauma for detainees. Additionally, the administration has begun sending deportees, including children, to detention facilities in Panama and Costa Rica.

A Venezuelan couple were arrested by federal immigration agents and charged with misdemeanor unauthorized entry more than two years after crossing the southern U.S. border in October 2022. Despite having been granted Temporary Protected Status and pending asylum claims, they were arrested while returning home from work in Washington, D.C.

José Daniel Simancas Rodríguez, a 30-year-old Venezuelan, was one of 177 Venezuelans deported by the U.S. and transferred to the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for 15 days. He described the detention conditions as including isolation, minimal food, and being allowed to shower only twice, with guards present. Simancas was eventually deported to Honduras and then returned to Venezuela on February 20, 2025.

Alma Lopez Diaz accompanied her sons Jose and Josue to a routine ICE check-in appointment at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan in March 2025. Without prior warning, the brothers were detained and later deported to El Salvador despite having no criminal records and actively pursuing green cards through Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. The deportation separated the brothers from their mother and 8-year-old nonverbal brother Mateo, a U.S. citizen.

Border Patrol agent Shane Millan pleaded guilty in federal court to telling multiple women to expose their breasts during virtual interviews as a condition for entering the United States. Millan admitted to sexually coercing at least four women during interviews in August 2023, falsely claiming the exposure was part of a legitimate search. He faces up to two years in prison and a $200,000 fine at his July 7 sentencing.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Elmer Flores on March 9 after he dropped off his pregnant wife and children at a Mecklenburg County health office for a nutrition program appointment. According to advocacy group Siembra NC, Flores had no criminal record and is being held at a detention facility in Georgia.

Exclusive audio was obtained from a prisoner at a detention facility operated by ICE.

A Venezuelan immigrant detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection near the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel attempted to take his life by hanging himself in early March 2025. CBP officers intervened and transported him to a hospital for evaluation before transferring him to ICE custody on March 15. The incident is part of a larger pattern where advocates report 213 immigrants were detained in Detroit between January and March 2025, with approximately 90% having accidentally taken the wrong lane onto the Ambassador Bridge or tunnel while attempting to return to the U.S.

A family of four—two parents and children ages 1 and 2—nearly died while attempting to cross from New York into Quebec in March 2025. Unprepared for winter conditions, the parents lost their shoes and hiked barefoot in snow while their young children had no cold-weather gear. After several hours in freezing conditions, the mother called 911, and the family was rescued by local firefighters and Canadian authorities. All four survived but were treated for severe hypothermia.

Gustavo Alfonso Garcia Olivares, a 24-year-old Venezuelan migrant, drowned in the Rio Grande near the U.S.-Mexico border and was buried in Eagle Pass, Texas. His parents in Venezuela watched the funeral service via livestream. The burial was the first funeral service organized by Border Vigil, a human rights organization, for a migrant who died crossing the border.

The Trump administration is reviving the practice of detaining migrant families with children in ICE custody, with the first group including three children detained at a facility in Texas. The move reverses Biden administration policy. Two Texas detention centers in Karnes City and Dilley are being refitted to house families with minors.

A father was detained by ICE on March 6th and is being held in Canyon County with a hearing scheduled for April 10th. His family is seeking $5,000 in financial assistance to cover mortgage, legal fees, groceries, and other expenses while he is in custody.

Jensy Machado, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was detained by ICE agents on March 5, 2025, while driving to work in Manassas. The agents were searching for another man with a deportation order who had provided Machado's home address. Machado was handcuffed and questioned about his immigration status before being released after showing his driver's license.

Issa Salma Baouna, a 49-year-old green-card holder from Niger, was denied reentry to the United States at John F. Kennedy International Airport on March 6 after CBP determined he was inadmissible due to a prior removal order from 2022. Baouna had been ordered removed following an arrest for assault and visa overstay, and was paroled back into the country multiple times in 2023. After voluntarily returning to Niger, he contracted malaria that led to kidney failure. His wife left the U.S. with their two children to reunite with him.

ICE agents detained an employee at a Minneapolis business owned by Nesta Rodriguez. Rodriguez spoke to Sky News about the incident.

Former ICE Acting Chief of Staff Deborah Fleischaker testified before Congress about operational challenges in immigration enforcement and the limitations of technology. She noted that actual removal and arrest numbers have declined compared to Fiscal Year 2024 averages, despite increased enforcement efforts and resources under the Trump Administration.

Bryan David Tasiguano Leon, an Ecuadorian citizen and Latin Kings member, was arrested by NYPD on February 14 on suspicion of assault on a first responder. Despite an ICE detainer, NYC authorities released him. ICE agents arrested Leon on March 4 during enforcement operations in New York City. He remains in ICE custody pending deportation proceedings.

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 in locating her.

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.

Kamal Morales, a counselor at Community Healthcare Network South Bronx clinic, was detained on March 2 during a routine immigration appearance and subsequently deported to Venezuela after 12 years out of the country. He was held in detention centers across five different states before deportation. Community members in the South Bronx and Queens are rallying in support.

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.

Between March and April 2025, the Trump administration deported 238-252 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador's CECOT maximum-security prison using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Internal documents showed approximately 75% of deportees had no criminal records in the US. Detainees reported torture, beatings, sexual violence, and inhumane conditions including prolonged solitary confinement. After approximately four months, the Venezuelans were transferred to Venezuela as part of a prisoner exchange. The deportations have been challenged in court as unconstitutional and a violation of human rights law.

In March and April 2025, the US government deported 252 Venezuelans, including asylum seekers, to El Salvador's CECOT mega prison. Detainees reported torture, beatings, sexual violence, enforced disappearances, and inhumane conditions. Roughly half of the detainees had no criminal history. The detainees were held for approximately four months before being transferred to Venezuela as part of a prisoner exchange. Human Rights Watch and Cristosal documented abuses by Salvadoran security forces. The Trump administration provided millions of dollars to El Salvador for these detentions.

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.

Sergio Garcia, a Mexican chef, was deported by ICE in March 2025 after 36 years living in the United States. Garcia had no criminal record besides a two-decade-old deportation order for illegal re-entry from 1989. He was apprehended while loading his food truck. His deportation separated him from his four U.S.-born adult children and wife. After deportation, he was held captive in Mexico and faced violence in Chiapas.