Human Impact Project

Daniel, a man with severe intellectual disabilities (IQ of 47) and limited English proficiency, was arrested by ICE agents on June 17, 2025, while collecting recyclables in his east Los Angeles neighborhood. Under the conservatorship of his siblings for decades, Daniel understood Spanish but struggled with English and could not cope with loud noises or routine disruptions. Despite his inability to understand removal proceedings or consent documents presented in English, and without involvement of his conservator or judicial review, he was deported to Mexico under claimed voluntary departure. His nephew Christopher, a U.S. citizen, launched an extensive search using ICE's online tracker and contacted federal authorities, eventually working with legal aid group ImmDef to locate Daniel at Adelanto detention center. Daniel ended up in a hospital in Tijuana with no awareness his family was searching for him. After more than nine months, lawyers secured his parole and return to the U.S. A federal judge subsequently issued a temporary restraining order blocking ICE from detaining him if he returns, ruling that his deportation raised serious due process concerns.

All detainees at the South Florida Detention Center, a facility in Florida's Everglades known as "Alligator Alcatraz" that opened in July 2025, were transferred to other facilities in mid-June 2026. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security cited hurricane season safety concerns as the reason for the transfers. However, immigration advocates and lawyers dispute this explanation, noting the facility operated throughout the previous hurricane season without prior closures. Approximately 800 detainees have been transferred, with families and legal representatives reporting difficulty locating them and unclear information about their current status. The facility had faced persistent criticism and lawsuits over poor conditions, including worms in food, non-functioning toilets, flooding, denial of medical care, solitary confinement, and inadequate legal access.

Montgomery County Sheriff Maxwell Uy admitted that his office improperly transferred a person to ICE custody on June 18, 2026, in violation of the Maryland Community Trust Act, which prohibits local law enforcement from transferring individuals to ICE without a judicial warrant. After receiving backlash from Montgomery County Council President Natali Fani-González, Uy stated the transfer did not meet the act's exceptions and pledged to implement additional measures to prevent similar incidents.

Salah Sarsour, a Palestinian-born legal permanent resident and president of Wisconsin's largest mosque, was detained by ICE on March 30, 2026, after being pulled over by armed plainclothes agents in unmarked vehicles. He was held for 80 days in Clay County Jail in Indiana on an administrative warrant. During detention, his unmonitored diabetes caused significant health deterioration, and he faced religious liberty restrictions and inadequate medical treatment. On June 18, 2026, U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon ordered Sarsour's immediate release, finding he had raised a substantial First Amendment claim and that ICE detained him in retaliation for his public advocacy for Palestinian rights. The judge rejected government arguments about foreign policy and national security threats, noting that immigration officials had been aware of his prior convictions from the 1990s for 25 years and had previously approved his legal permanent residency application.

Dionicio Miguel Francisco-Gutierrez was arrested by ICE during a targeted enforcement operation in North Bergen on Friday. According to federal officials, he was convicted in July 2023 of violating Pennsylvania's Controlled Substance Act and had been arrested twice previously on drug charges. His two children were present at the scene and were subsequently placed in the custody of a legal guardian.

Friedrich Castillo-Ormeno self-deported to Peru in March 2026 after receiving a final deportation order and was approved for CBP Home incentive payments ($2,600) in April verifying his departure. In June 2026, ICE mistakenly identified him as a suspect in a violent incident in Stafford Township, New Jersey, where an officer was struck by a vehicle during an enforcement operation on Route 72. Federal prosecutors later charged a different man, Eduardo Cruz Garcia, with the assault. Castillo-Ormeno expressed concern that the misidentification could harm his reputation and affect his ability to legally return to the United States, as well as his U.S.-born daughter's documentation.

Olga Perez, a 47-year-old indigenous Mam language interpreter and community leader in Palm Beach County, Florida, was arrested during a traffic stop on I-95 in November 2025 and placed in ICE custody in Arizona. After seven months in detention and nine delayed immigration hearings, an immigration judge ordered her deported to Guatemala by July 6, 2026. She was released on her own recognizance pending voluntary deportation and made a surprise visit to her family and the Guatemalan-Maya Center in Lake Worth Beach before being deported. Perez had spent 30 years in the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant, volunteering as an interpreter and translator for indigenous communities in the region. Her deportation leaves behind four U.S. citizen children, ages 13 to 21.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported 72 Haitian asylum seekers, including 21 children and a 2-month-old baby, to Port-au-Prince on Monday, three days after President Biden suspended deportation flights to Haiti. The deportations occurred despite Biden's 100-day moratorium on deportations, which was limited to convicted criminals and suspected terrorists. The action followed a January 26 federal court injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton that blocked Biden's moratorium, which ICE used to resume deportation operations.

Mostly young Honduran men at the La72 migrant shelter in Tenosique said they are heading to Monterrey instead of the U.S., understanding they are not welcome. Some still attempt dangerous maritime crossings into the United States; others are captured, detained, and deported, only to try again weeks later. Some likely never arrive and their fates remain unknown.

Diego was arrested and is currently detained by ICE. His wife Rosali, who is four months pregnant with their second child and caring for their daughter full-time, is struggling to meet basic household expenses including rent, utilities, groceries, and transportation while her husband fights his case.

Polina (born 2002) and Alexandra (born 2005), sisters from Belarus, have been detained at the California border for over 9 months. Their initial lawyer failed to properly defend them in court and stopped cooperating with the family. The sisters were denied habeas corpus twice due to legal errors and now face deportation to Belarus while awaiting a new asylum application. They have documented health issues and are seeking legal and financial support to continue their case.

A man was detained by ICE during an interview at the immigration office in Philadelphia while applying for adjustment of status (green card). He had a final exclusion order issued 30 years prior but no criminal history in the intervening decades. Under current immigration policies, ICE is detaining anyone with a final exclusion order who applies for adjustment of status, and he has been denied access to habeas corpus relief. His family is seeking legal options to prevent his deportation.

An older Russian man who crossed at a port of entry and requested asylum in August 2024 was hospitalized days later for stroke-like symptoms while detained at Otay Mesa. He was cuffed to his hospital bed despite half his body being paralyzed, and upon return to detention received no mobility support until other detainees filed grievance reports on his behalf. He continued to lose consciousness regularly and was eventually released on parole in February 2025 after six months in detention.

Carol Black, a Jamaican-born lawful permanent resident who moved to New York in 1983, was detained by ICE in 2019 for seven months without a bond hearing following a 2000 sex abuse conviction for which he had completed probation. Unable to obtain a hearing to post bond while deportation proceedings continued, Black filed a federal habeas petition arguing the detention violated his constitutional due process rights. During the proceedings, Black sold his home and business and voluntarily left the United States after 40 years of residency. His case is now before the Supreme Court, which will decide whether ICE can hold lawful permanent residents indefinitely without bond hearings.

A 39-year-old Russian man held at Otay Mesa Detention Center for 17 months filed multiple grievance reports documenting severe sanitary conditions, including only two working urinals and one sink for over 100 detainees, which led to an outbreak of eye infections. He also filed grievance reports on behalf of other detainees, including an older man who needed mobility support after a stroke. He was released in 2026 after exhausting oversight channels that were subsequently gutted under the Trump administration.

Keisy G.M., a lawful permanent resident from the Dominican Republic who has lived in New York City since 2011, was detained by ICE for 21 months without receiving a bond hearing. G.M. was arrested in October 2020 after being charged with assault following a fight and served a two-year sentence. Throughout his detention, the government sought to deport him without providing an individualized bond hearing to determine whether continued detention was justified. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2024 that his prolonged detention violated due process, and G.M. was ultimately released following a court order. The Supreme Court agreed to hear Genalo v. Black, which will determine whether the Constitution requires the government to provide bond hearings for lawful permanent residents in deportation proceedings and whether due process requires the government to justify continued detention by clear and convincing evidence.

Rozenna Nazia Ali, from Fiji, was detained by ICE on June 17, 2026, after agents visited her residence and located her at a motel in Allison, Iowa. Ali was a former international student at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and worked at Allison Bible Church in Butler County on a student visa. According to her family, she came to the United States in 2017 to pursue higher education as part of a missionary family and has no criminal record. Her sister stated Ali aspires to become a mental health counselor. The detention is part of a broader wave of ICE enforcement actions targeting immigrants with community ties.

The Tohono O'odham Nation filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security to block construction of 62 miles of border wall across its tribal lands. Tribal leaders argue the project unlawfully takes tribal land, damages sacred cultural sites, and interferes with religious practices. The federal government planned to award construction contracts in June 2026.

On June 17, 2026, ICE agents stopped a vehicle on Highway 59 near Mobile, Alabama, and detained Alejandro Alvarado Ramírez, leaving his 5-year-old son Ericson/Erikson alone in the car at a church parking lot. An ICE agent provided the child with his father's phone to contact his mother. The child's mother called a babysitter, and when the babysitter's 20-year-old twins arrived at the parking lot to retrieve the child, ICE agents approached them, requested identification, and photographed their licenses before departing. Advocates raised concerns about the safety risks posed by leaving a young child unattended during the detention.

Michel Manuel Garcia Rojas, a 39-year-old Nicaraguan national who entered the U.S. illegally in 2023, was arrested on March 5, 2025, when Homeland Security Investigations agents attempted to detain him for deportation. During the arrest, Garcia Rojas resisted and assaulted a federal agent, striking him in the face and throwing him repeatedly into a door, causing injuries including jaw bruising and a back injury. It took six officers and a Taser to subdue him. Garcia Rojas pleaded guilty on February 9, 2026, to resisting, impeding, and assaulting a federal officer and inflicting bodily injury. He was sentenced on June 17, 2026, to 51 months in federal prison, after which he will face deportation to Nicaragua.

Fidel Ramos, 52, a previously deported registered sex offender, was captured during a forced-entry tactical raid at a residence in Grimes County, Texas on June 17, 2026. Ramos had illegally re-entered the United States after deportation and was living in the Bedias area while failing to register as required. He was taken into custody on a third-degree felony charge of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender, with an active federal immigration detainer placed against him. The operation was triggered by a newly reported sexual assault of a child case under investigation by local authorities.

In May 2026, 14-year-old Dilan Maney Paredes and his mother, Margoth Paredes-Ortiz, were detained by ICE in the Tempe area. Paredes-Ortiz was arrested at a Walmart, and her son was taken into custody outside Cecil Shamley School. Both were transferred to Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas, where they were held for approximately 20 days in conditions described as prison-like. They were released in June 2026 pursuant to the Flores Settlement Agreement, which limits child detention to 20 days. Rep. Greg Stanton's office submitted a congressional inquiry to ICE and coordinated with advocates on the case. The family returned to Arizona, where they will remain while their case proceeds before the Board of Immigration Appeals.

On June 17, 2026, ICE agents detained three people—a man, a woman, and a child—at the Bridgeview Courthouse in Illinois. The man had run through courthouse security before deputies stopped him; ICE then handcuffed and removed him, claiming to possess an arrest warrant that was never presented for inspection. The woman and child were detained earlier that morning as they attempted to enter the courthouse. State and local officials, including State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid and multiple elected representatives, characterized the detentions as violations of Illinois state law and a Cook County court order prohibiting civil immigration arrests at courthouses without judicial warrants.

Wilber Urbina Garcia, an 18-year-old honors graduate from Jordan High School in South Los Angeles, was detained by ICE on June 10, 2026, during a routine check-in appointment at a federal courthouse the morning after his graduation ceremony. Garcia's family fled Nicaragua in late 2022 seeking asylum due to political persecution and were in asylum proceedings with valid work permits at the time of his detention. Teachers described Wilber as shy but disciplined, with leadership roles by senior year, and he had dreamed of becoming a doctor and registered for fall classes at El Camino College. During the check-in, ICE agents separated Wilber from his mother in an interview room and took him into custody. His attorney stated that ICE agents told the family Wilber was no longer covered under his mother's asylum case because he had turned 18, though as a derivative applicant filed before age 21, he should remain tied to the case. Wilber was detained at Adelanto ICE Processing Center. His mother and eldest brother subsequently entered removal proceedings and were fitted with ankle monitors. An ICE agent told the family that Wilber's 17-year-old sister would face detention when she turns 18.

The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project released a report detailing conditions at the Florence Staging Facility, a temporary holding area within the Florence Detention Center run by ICE. According to the report, detainees described severe overcrowding, inadequate medical care, lack of hygiene supplies, insufficient food causing weight loss, no access to phones or legal communication, inability to launder clothing, and no outdoor recreation.

Three foreign nationals were arrested during an ICE targeted enforcement operation in Danbury on June 16-17, 2026. Edwin Palacios-Rivera, a Peruvian national, was arrested and has previous arrests for domestic violence, criminal mischief, possession of burglar tools, violations of a protective order, criminal trespass, and interfering with police. Jose Espinoza-Ceraquive, an Ecuadorian national, was arrested and has pending charges for operating a motor vehicle under the influence and third-degree criminal mischief; he is subject to a final removal order issued in 2024. Jorge Tamay-Angulo, also an Ecuadorian national, was arrested during the operation, though ICE provided no additional details regarding his case.

Federal prosecutors charged 15 people with conspiracy to impede federal officers during Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration's immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota. The defendants, allegedly affiliated with Direct Action Minnesota and other activist groups, are accused of setting up blockades around government buildings, throwing ice at federal vehicles, using encrypted Signal chats to coordinate surveillance of ICE agents, and using whistles and car horns to alert protesters to ICE detentions. Protests occurred on January 23 and March 1 outside a federal detention center and federal building housing ICE headquarters in Minneapolis. Twelve defendants were arrested on the day charges were announced; one was already in custody and two remain at large. The defendants face up to six years in prison; three face additional charges including assault on a federal officer, destruction of government property, and interstate stalking.

Hanne Engan, a 24-year-old Norwegian citizen applying for a green card through her U.S. citizen husband, was arrested by ICE agents on November 17, 2025, during a green card interview at a San Diego facility and held at Otay Mesa Detention Center for eight to nine days. Despite her Type 1 diabetes diagnosis, ICE confiscated her insulin and continuous glucose monitor, misclassified her condition in detention records, and denied her mealtime insulin despite repeated requests, resulting in dangerously elevated blood sugar levels (508 mg/dL), weight loss, infections, and suicidal ideation. She was placed in solitary confinement for five days. A federal judge found no flight risk, ordered her release on a $1,500 bond after nine days, and later terminated her deportation case after ruling ICE lacked jurisdiction to detain her.

Kyon Shakeel Swaso, a 35-year-old Belizean immigrant detained at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, organized a hunger strike to protest conditions at the facility. After speaking with members of Congress about inhumane conditions at Adelanto, Swaso was transferred to facilities in Texas and Louisiana without notice, then deported to Belize. Immigrant rights groups and advocates alleged the deportation was retaliatory action by the Department of Homeland Security in response to his activism and congressional testimony.

During a raid on a horse racing venue in Wilder, Idaho, law enforcement officers detained 105 undocumented immigrants. A 14-year-old U.S. citizen, SueHey, was zip-tied and confined during the operation. The ACLU filed a lawsuit alleging mistreatment of families, including the use of force against children and destruction of property, with eyewitness accounts contradicting government denials of the zip-tie allegations.

Miguel Gorasieta Jaimes, a Mexican national, and Santos Ruben Gutierrez, an El Salvadoran national, were arrested by ICE during a nationwide weekend enforcement operation targeting individuals with prior criminal convictions. Jaimes was arrested in Harris County and had a prior conviction for aggravated sexual assault of a child. Gutierrez was arrested in Lewisville and had a prior conviction for indecency with a child. Both men were in the country illegally at the time of their arrests. The operation targeted 15 individuals across at least nine states.

ICE arrested Jose Jairo Rivas-Santiago, 32, a Honduran national, on June 15 after he was released from a Virginia correctional facility where he was serving a 30-year sentence for first-degree murder and armed robbery. ICE had lodged an immigration detainer with Coffeewood Correctional Center following his 2021 conviction. Rivas-Santiago is now in ICE custody awaiting removal to Honduras under a previously issued final order of removal.

Between June 15 and July 3, 2026, ICE carried out intensified enforcement operations across the Kansas City metropolitan area, detaining at least 30 people according to the KC Community Defense Coalition. Enforcement concentrated in Wyandotte County and Johnson County—areas with significant Hispanic and Latino populations—including Kansas City, Kansas, Olathe, and Northeast Kansas City. The surge reflects national ICE directives to increase arrests to 2,000 per day and deploy 80% of officers to arrest operations, part of the Trump administration's intensified immigration enforcement push.

José Pineda, originally from El Salvador with Temporary Protected Status and over 30 years in the U.S., was detained by ICE agents while working his construction job despite having no criminal record and a valid work permit. He was held in Burlington's ICE office for two days and slept on the floor of a cell with at least 50 other people. ICE agents told him that only people born in the U.S. have rights and that his work permit did not matter. After two days of public pressure and advocacy by Centro Presente, Pineda was released, but his family remains fearful of going out in public.

Gabriela Soto's husband has been detained at Delaney Hall ICE facility in Newark since January. Soto and her children have been repeatedly denied visits more than 10 times due to alleged dress code violations, including rejection of her 11-month-old's onesie and her 4-year-old's leggings as 'provocative.' The facility has also faced scrutiny for unsanitary conditions and tuberculosis control issues, with mass protests erupting outside and detainees reportedly participating in a hunger strike.

Jenner Edilzar Roldan-Perez, a Guatemalan national, was arrested by ICE agents at Kane County Courthouse. DHS stated he has a prior arrest for battery and domestic violence and has been subject to a removal order since October 2019.

Lorenzo Rojas-Martinez, a 37-year-old Mexican national who had been deported twice previously, was arrested after operating a drone in restricted airspace near Centennial Olympic Park during the 2026 FIFA Fan Festival in Atlanta on June 12. Federal agents observed him operating the drone from a parking lot, where he was recording video of the event. After confirming his unlawful presence in the United States, he was taken into custody and transferred to ICE. He faces federal charges for operating a drone in a temporary flight restricted zone and illegal reentry after prior deportations.

Felipe Linares de Oliveira Dell Aquilla, a Brazilian noncitizen, was arrested on June 5, 2026, during a traffic stop in Mooresville, North Carolina. According to law enforcement, he was a commander of two Brazil-based organizations designated as foreign terrorist organizations and held an international arrest warrant from Brazil for criminal association and extortion. During the traffic stop, Aquilla attempted to flee in his vehicle, leading to a high-speed chase that ended in a crash with parked cars. He was apprehended while fleeing on foot. Authorities seized cell phones, laptops, cash, and a 9mm handgun from his vehicle. Aquilla is also accused of holding his wife against her will. He faces state charges for fleeing to evade arrest and federal charges including illegal firearm possession and kidnapping.

Juan Bonilla Lagos, a 32-year-old Colombian national, was arrested by ICE agents in Plainview in October 2024 while sitting in his car with his wife and 5-year-old son during what his family says was a trip to a doctor's appointment. During the arrest, agents threatened to break the car window as his child clung to him and pleaded with agents not to take him away. Bonilla Lagos, who entered the U.S. in 2022 fleeing gang violence in Colombia, was detained at an ICE facility in Batavia, New York, where he attempted suicide three times during his nine-month custody. He has no criminal record and has filed an asylum petition. On July 7, 2026, he was released and reunited with his wife and two children at Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan. The prolonged separation caused severe mental health trauma to his family, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress.

Adriana Quiroz Zapata, a 53-year-old Colombian national and torture survivor with New Jersey ties, was detained by ICE in August 2024 after re-entering the United States despite a prior removal order. In February 2025, she passed a Reasonable Fear Interview and received withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Despite these protections, ICE deported her to the Democratic Republic of the Congo on April 16, 2026—a country where she has no ties and where she cannot receive adequate medical care for her chronic conditions. On May 14, 2026, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to return her, ruling the deportation likely illegal. However, on June 15, 2026, the judge reversed that order after the administration produced evidence claiming the DRC had agreed to accept her, leaving Zapata in the DRC.

Harprabhjot Singh is an immigration detainee held at California City Corrections facility. The court granted his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, ordering respondents to provide Singh with a bond hearing before a neutral arbiter pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) within ten days of the order dated June 18, 2026. Respondents must provide Singh with 48 hours' written notice before the hearing, or release him if the hearing is not provided within the ten-day deadline.

Benito Miranda Hernandez, a U.S. Navy veteran who completed three tours of duty during the Iraq war, was detained by ICE on June 14, 2026, as he was being released from prison after completing a drug conviction sentence. Brought to the U.S. as a baby from Mexico, Hernandez had received his green card for permanent residency earlier in 2026, but now faces deportation. He is being held at Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego. His case is part of a broader trend of immigrant veterans facing deportation under the Trump administration, despite military service that was supposed to provide a path to citizenship.

An Amazon delivery driver was detained by ICE after making a delivery to a military base in the Los Angeles area, according to legal aid attorneys. The arrest occurred as immigration enforcement continued in the LA region following the June 2025 raids.

A 48-year-old Colombian student at Edmonds College was arrested by ICE agents in a campus parking lot near Snoqualmie Hall on Saturday, June 14, 2026. The agents did not provide identification or a warrant despite being asked by college staff to do so, violating the college's established campus immigration policy. The student had entered the U.S. legally on a visa in May 2018 but overstayed and did not obtain legal status to remain. He is currently detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma pending deportation to Colombia.

Santiago Benito Caballero Cano, a Nicaraguan citizen who had resided continuously in the United States since December 2022, was taken into ICE custody on June 13, 2026, and detained at the West Tennessee Detention Facility without an individualized bond hearing. Caballero Cano had strong family and community ties, a fiancée, other relatives, lawful employment history, and no criminal record. The court ordered ICE to respond within two business days and prohibited his transfer during the litigation, citing the Sixth Circuit's Lopez-Campos decision requiring bond hearings for noncitizens with significant interior U.S. presence.

Law enforcement executed a search warrant at an adult entertainment establishment in Pecos and discovered seven victims of human trafficking confined in a padlocked room hidden behind metal storage cabinets. All seven victims were removed from the location and received care and support. During the operation, 24 people were arrested on federal immigration violations and state or local charges, and state charges are being pursued against the business owners.

Filogonio Rojas-Vasquez, 29, a Mexican national, was arrested by ICE agents on June 13, 2026, in the parking lot of Saars Super Saver Foods in Kent. According to ICE, he had entered the United States illegally at least five times since 2023 and had been returned to Mexico four times. He was also arrested by Burien Police in June 2025 for driving under the influence. He was detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma pending deportation. The arrest prompted approximately 25 protesters from Indivisible Kent and Indivisible Covington to gather on nearby 104th Avenue SE on June 14 to demonstrate against ICE enforcement actions in the region.

Yoelí Altagracia Bracho Casanova, a 26-year-old Venezuelan, was arrested by ICE during an immigration appointment in Jacksonville on June 13 and detained alongside her 20-month-old U.S. citizen daughter, Rebeca Peña Bracho. Despite an approved I-130 family petition and legal documents prepared by her attorney—including a stay of removal request, a cancellation of removal application, and a permanent residency petition—ICE transferred both to a detention center in Texas and deported them to Venezuela within hours. Her husband, a Cuban-American U.S. citizen, stated that ICE refused to accept the legal documents when presented at the appointment, and transferred them out of state at approximately 2 a.m., preventing the attorney from filing additional documents the following day.

ICE lodged immigration detainers against three Cuban nationals arrested during a joint law enforcement human trafficking investigation in Sumner County, Tennessee. The operation resulted in five arrests and identified nine potential trafficking victims. The three men faced charges related to promoting prostitution and had been encountered by CBP at the southern border between 2021 and 2023.

Manuel de Jesus Montes-Lazo, an undocumented Honduran immigrant, was arrested by ICE in April 2026 while heading to wake an employee for the roofing business he owned with his wife, Joanna Garzes Lopez, a U.S. citizen. Despite being married to a U.S. citizen and in the final stages of a marriage-based green card petition, Manuel was detained at Clay County Justice Center and later transferred to a federal facility in South Texas. A 2025 Board of Immigration Appeals decision rendered him ineligible for bond release because he had crossed the border unlawfully. An immigration judge denied his cancellation of removal application, and facing months or years of appeals he could not afford, Manuel waived his appeal and was deported. Rather than remain in the United States as a single parent, Joanna, a devout Christian who values family unity, made the difficult decision to self-deport to Honduras with their two sons, Macario (6) and Jacob (4). On June 12, 2026, the family flew to Honduras with minimal belongings to reunite with Manuel and live with his family in Yorito. The move required Joanna to close their roofing business, prepare to sell their home in the Brookstone neighborhood of Indianapolis, and uproot her children from school and friends after over a decade of building their life in the United States. Jacob has experienced bedwetting and nightmares since his father's arrest; Macario has taken on emotional weight beyond his years, feeling responsible for protecting his mother.