Human Impact Project

Undocumented day laborers in Los Angeles are preparing to help clear debris and rebuild homes after wildfires. ICE has conducted multiple raids across major U.S. cities and is planning large-scale enforcement operations. Workers like Luis and Jonathan are volunteering to help their communities rebuild while facing potential deportation.

Domingo Juan Juan, a 49-year-old undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, was arrested by ICE in February 2025 in connection with a March 2024 fatal car crash near Seymour, Indiana that killed Brad Castner. Juan was charged only with driving without a license; the arrest occurred under the Laken Riley Act, which mandates ICE detention for individuals facing charges related to crimes resulting in serious injury or death.

A Congolese woman entered the United States on February 15, 2025 and was placed in removal proceedings. On December 4, 2025, an Immigration Judge denied her asylum application but granted withholding of removal to both Congo and Senegal. She has remained detained since her final order of removal, with no apparent efforts made to remove her to a third country. The court ordered respondents to answer her habeas corpus petition seeking release from custody.

Tarlis Marcone De Barros Gonçalves, a transgender asylum seeker from Brazil, entered the U.S. on February 15, 2025 fleeing threats to her life, but was detained at the Otero County Processing Center in New Mexico and then flown to a U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. In a federal court declaration, she said she was held with five men, forced to shower and use the toilet without privacy, given little food, and repeatedly denied contact with her attorney or family despite fearing for her life if deported. She was later transferred to an ICE facility in Pine Prairie, Louisiana, where agents shackled her so tightly during the flight that she was in pain for days afterward.

Sergey Kostenyuk, a Ukrainian refugee who came to the U.S. as a child and is a legal permanent resident with a green card, was arrested by ICE agents posing as customers interested in buying a chicken coop. He was detained for over two months based on two 2018 felony convictions for theft, but was eventually released when a judge ruled he did not meet the federal criteria for deportation.

Duran Valdivias, a Mexican citizen working for a local property manager, was arrested by ICE agents on February 13 after a Great Falls Police Department detective called an ICE agent to a suspected trespassing scene. According to court documents, ICE discovered that Valdivias had been detained by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol five times in 2012 and had been ordered to stay out of the country.

Families filed an ACLU lawsuit against the Trump administration after their relatives were transferred to a newly established 30,000-bed immigrant detention camp at Guantanamo Bay without attorney access or communication with the outside world. The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of holding civil immigration detainees at the offshore facility and argues they are being denied due process rights. At least seven military flights from El Paso have transported detainees to Guantanamo, including individuals such as 25-year-old Yoiker David Sequera who have no criminal records beyond immigration violations.

Harpinder Singh Chauhan, a 56-year-old British entrepreneur and father of two on an E-2 investor visa who had lived in the United States since 2016, was detained by ICE on February 11 despite lawful presence and serious medical conditions including diabetes, pancreatitis, asthma, and heart issues. He was shackled and transported seven hours to Krome North, where he spent nearly four days in overcrowded, freezing processing cells with no beds, showers, or privacy. ICE officers confiscated his insulin and asthma inhaler, which his family had delivered to the facility, and denied him prescribed medications and his dietary regimen. He contracted a respiratory illness amid an uncontained tuberculosis outbreak. At FDC, officers locked him in a cell without a functioning toilet or air conditioning and threatened him when he requested to move. On April 20, after nearly a week without insulin, Chauhan collapsed while standing in a dinner line at BTC and was hospitalized with signs of cardiac distress. His son Aaron could not obtain information from facility staff and discovered his father had been admitted under an alias name, "Hank Campbell." Officers transferred Chauhan back to BTC after three days in the hospital. Throughout detention, when he repeatedly asked about his personal possessions including his passport, staff responded with hostile all-caps messages. An officer mocked his name during roll call; the officer was briefly suspended with pay but returned to duty. In mid-May, facility staff informed Chauhan that his passport had been lost, further delaying his deportation. He was deported to the United Kingdom in June.

Maria Gonzalez, a 32-year-old Venezuelan mother, and her two children (ages 7 and 9) were deported to Mexico within hours of being stopped for a traffic violation in Tucson, Arizona on February 15, 2025. Tucson Police conducted an SB-1070 immigration check during the routine traffic stop, leading to expedited deportation by U.S. Border Patrol without court hearings or opportunity to seek asylum.

Roberto, a father from Goleta, was detained by ICE on February 11. His family faces sudden separation, with his partner as the sole provider. The family is seeking support for bail and legal fees.

Ward Sakeik, a 22-year-old stateless Palestinian woman, was detained by ICE for 141 days after being flagged at an airport in the U.S. Virgin Islands upon returning from her honeymoon, despite having legal authorization to remain in the U.S. under an order of supervision. She has since been released. Sakeik has described conditions in ICE facilities as including overcrowding and inadequate food.

Mariano, a Venezuelan migrant, fled Border Patrol in Tucson after his wife Yesenia was stopped by police while selling arepas. He hid under a car and was separated from his wife and two children for days. The article chronicles his journey from Venezuela through the Darién Gap and Mexico to the U.S., where he was detained in immigration facilities before facing deportation from Arizona.

Arbella Rodríguez Márquez, a woman with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who held a valid green card for two years, was detained by ICE in February 2025 after returning to Arizona from Mexico. Her green card status was revoked by a federal immigration judge following her detention. She is being held at Eloy Detention Center where advocates say she is receiving inadequate medical care, having lost 55 pounds and coughing up blood while only receiving Tylenol and stomach ulcer medicine.

Chidi Nwagbo, a Nigerian migrant who had lived in the U.S. for 37 years, was detained at the Buffalo Federal Detention facility in Batavia on February 10, 2025, after attempting to cross into Canada. He arrived at the facility with frostbite and was under doctor's orders to see a specialist at Kessler Burn and Trauma Center in Rochester within a week. ICE staff never took him to the appointment. By the time he saw a doctor 16 days later, portions of six fingers had to be amputated due to untreated frostbite.

Colombian migrants deported from the United States under President Trump's administration reported experiencing degrading treatment in detention centers, including cramped conditions, sleep deprivation, and mistreatment during transport. Daniel Vasquez, a 40-year-old migrant, reported being detained for over a week across multiple facilities in San Diego and Texas, transported in chains and handcuffs. The Colombian and Brazilian governments complained of treatment on deportation flights, including denied bathroom breaks. Some migrants reported willingness to attempt returning to the United States.

Arbella "Yari" Rodríguez Márquez, a 47-year-old lawful permanent resident with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, was detained by ICE on February 10, 2025, after crossing back into Arizona through Nogales. She has been held at Eloy Detention Center for six months without access to cancer treatment, losing 55 pounds and receiving only Tylenol and ulcer medication. An immigration judge revoked her green card after her detention, and Arizona Representative Yassamin Ansari has intervened, demanding immediate medical care and her release.

Adelso Bravo, a 39-year-old painter from Guatemala who had lived in Syracuse for over 20 years, was detained by ICE on February 10, 2025, after entering the country without authorization decades earlier. With support from family, advocates, and lawyers using a habeas corpus petition strategy, Bravo secured a bond hearing and was released after 21 days with a $5,000 bond and ankle monitor. The habeas corpus petition strategy has been used across the country in response to Trump administration detention policies requiring mandatory detention for immigrants who entered without permission.

Arbella "Yari" Rodríguez Márquez, a 39-year-old former legal permanent resident with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, has been detained by ICE at the Eloy Detention Center since February 10, 2025. She has not received proper medical care for her cancer. Her health has deteriorated, including coughing up blood and losing 70 pounds. Detention center staff have denied her requests to see an oncologist and specialist. U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari visited the facility and documented conditions. The representative has called for immediate medical intervention and her release.

Micaela Eudave, a 44-year-old Othello woman, was arrested by ICE agents on February 8 while driving to work at her taco truck business. According to court documents, Eudave had no criminal history and was under no deportation orders, though ICE stated agents were in the area searching for a different person. Her arrest has sparked debate about local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities, leading to a lawsuit by Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown against Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner for allegedly violating the state's "Keep Washington Working" act.

US officials kept approximately 100 deported Indian migrants in shackles for a 40-hour flight back to India, including during bathroom breaks and a refueling stop in Guam. The deportees reported being treated harshly and kept in shackles throughout the journey. Indian lawmakers protested in parliament and opposition parties burned Trump effigies. The incident occurred days before an expected visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House.