Human Impact Project

As a result of the Trump administration's zero tolerance family separation policy announced in May, numerous infants and toddlers as young as 1 year old are being placed in immigration court deportation proceedings without access to court-appointed lawyers. Children are expected to navigate complex legal processes despite their age and developmental inability to understand proceedings. Non-profit organizations and pro bono lawyers attempt to fill the representation gap, but minors are not entitled to government-funded counsel. The administration has refused to disclose the exact number of children separated from their parents since June 26, when an initial estimate of 2,047 separated children was provided.

Sering Ceesay, a Gambian man with serious heart conditions, was detained by ICE on February 19, 2025, after showing up for a routine immigration appointment in New York City. He was shackled and transferred to the Batavia facility, where he went two weeks without his heart medications. He subsequently suffered a stroke-like syndrome. A physician noted that without strict adherence to his medications, he faced risk of recurrent heart attacks, worsening peripheral artery disease, and strokes. A U.S. District Judge later ordered his release.

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.

A 21-year-old Venezuelan man, Mayfreed Durán-Arape, was sent to Guantánamo Bay as part of a Trump administration policy to relocate detained migrants to the military base. DHS claimed he was a gang member. A review found he had no criminal record beyond unauthorized entry. His mother disputes the administration's characterization of a detention center altercation that led to his conviction.

Johan, a 1-year-old boy from Honduras, was separated from his father after arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border and placed in immigration court deportation proceedings in Phoenix. The immigration judge expressed discomfort questioning the toddler about his understanding of the case. Johan's father was deported to Honduras after being told he would be reunited with his son if he signed a removal order—a promise that was not kept. Johan was granted a voluntary departure order and the government arranged to fly him to Honduras, where both his parents are located.

Dora Reynosa, an undocumented immigrant and former DACA recipient, self-deported to Mexico in January 2026 to live with family. The muralist and visual artist, who faced verbal and physical assault while painting in South Dallas in February 2025, cited rising ICE enforcement and violence against immigrants as factors in her decision. Reynosa plans to continue creating art addressing immigrant issues from Mexico, stating she will have greater freedom to speak about her concerns without fear of detention or deportation.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent, Andrew Josiah Segura, was charged with assault and evidence tampering following an incident on February 19, 2025, in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. The charges allege he assaulted a handcuffed detainee and physically threatened CBP employees while performing official duties.

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.