Human Impact Project

A 56-year-old British man with diabetes, pancreatitis, and heart disease was detained at a routine annual ICE appointment in early February 2025 and shackled on a bus outside Krome for up to three hours. His family delivered a three-month supply of medications including insulin he needs four times daily, but staff failed to administer them consistently. When transferred to FDC, he received some heart medication and minimal insulin but nothing for pancreatitis. During his April 15 transfer to BTC, guards sent his medications to Krome instead. At BTC, a doctor dismissed his asthma diagnosis, saying 'No one has asthma over 18,' and refused to hear his medical history. Five days later, he collapsed in the dinner line. His family discovered he had been registered at the hospital under a false name. ICE refused to share any information about his condition. He was returned to BTC in shackles after three days.

Andrea, a 31-year-old woman from Argentina with a Green Card who has lived in the United States since age three, was arrested in February 2025 after calling police during a domestic dispute with her partner. A judge approved her release on $1,000 signature bond, which her family paid, but ICE issued a detainer and transferred her to Krome North. She was shackled on a multi-stop bus journey and spent a night on the bus in shackles when Krome was closed. At Krome, a male-only facility, she was confined in a small visitation room with up to 30 women with no beds, showers, or privacy for the toilet. She was denied medical care and later transferred across the country to Houston Processing Center for two months, where officers repeatedly failed to inform her of court dates and cut off contact with lawyers and family for 48 hours. Andrea was postpartum, having given birth three months before detention and breastfeeding until arrest; her mother relocated to Florida to care for her children. She was released in late April after authorities retrieved documentation of an expunged cannabis conviction.

Four undocumented immigrants were taken into custody by Burleigh County Sheriff's deputies during a traffic stop and transferred to U.S. Border Patrol. One individual is reported to be an active associate with the Tren de Aragua gang from Venezuela. According to Burleigh County Sheriff Kelly Leben, arrests involving gang affiliations were rare in the county. All four individuals were scheduled for removal from the country.

Bayartulga Avirmed, a deaf Mongolian who fled to the U.S. after surviving a disability-related assault that left him with a traumatic brain injury, was detained at Otay Mesa Detention Center since February and denied a qualified Mongolian Sign Language interpreter, with ICE at times relying on Google Translate. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw issued a preliminary injunction in July requiring an MSL interpreter, redone evaluations, a rescheduled competency hearing, and his sister's presence at proceedings. Avirmed was released from custody shortly after the ruling and is now living with his sister, a U.S. citizen, in Virginia, though his immigration case remains open.

A 2-month-old infant named Juan Nicolás was hospitalized with bronchitis while detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center, a CoreCivic-run facility near San Antonio, after his mother found him unresponsive and choking on vomit; no doctor was on site at the time. The facility had recently been under quarantine following confirmed measles cases. After treatment, the hospital discharged him back to ICE custody, and he was deported to Mexico along with his 16-month-old sister and both parents in February 2025. The case is documented in a June 9 analysis by MS NOW and The Marshall Project examining detention conditions for infants and toddlers, which found that ICE has detained more than 500 children under age three since January 2025, with inadequate medical care cited as a recurring problem.

Rafael Flores Martinez, a father and husband, was detained by ICE in February 2025 while working at his family's pupusa stand in Pacoima, California. He was held at Adelanto ICE Processing Center for over a year before being transferred to El Paso, Texas in June 2026, then to Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center. As of June 25, 2026, he was suspected to be at Alexandria International Airport awaiting deportation to El Salvador despite having legal grounds to file additional appeals.

Gehovani Alvirde Ruiz, a lawful permanent resident, was detained by federal agents in his front yard on February 1, 2025. Agents claimed both his Social Security card and permanent residency card were fake and transported him to an immigration detention center where he was placed in a cell. After approximately two hours, agents released him, stating there had been an error in their system. Ruiz testified in the Venegas lawsuit regarding his experience.

F.A. and her two minor children fled Turkey after her husband was targeted for membership in the Gülen movement. After entering the U.S. in early February 2025 and repeatedly telling officials they came to seek asylum, they were expelled after nine days in detention on a military plane to Panama. Panamanian officials told them they could go to a detention camp in the jungle or return to Turkey. Fearing they would not survive, F.A. accepted return to Turkey, where the family now lives in hiding.

A 36-year-old asylum seeker identified as J.S.T. was arrested during a February 2025 raid at an Aurora apartment complex while leaving to head to work. He was detained for four weeks. The ACLU filed a lawsuit on his behalf alleging the arrest lacked proper probable cause determination and was part of a pattern of indiscriminate arrests.

Lázaro Romero León, a 59-year-old Cuban who lived in the United States for over 30 years, was deported to Mexico by ICE in February 2025 despite a federal judge's order prohibiting his removal. As of May 2026, he remains stranded in Tapachula, Chiapas, homeless and without resources after multiple failed attempts to return him. A federal judge has threatened sanctions against the government, while a diplomatic gap between the U.S. and Mexico regarding wrongful deportations continues to complicate his case.

Juan Carlos Barreto, a Venezuelan college professor, was arrested by ICE at his Shakopee apartment in January while claiming to have followed all legal asylum procedures. He has been released but is monitored with an ankle monitor.

Flora, a Venezuelan trafficking survivor with an active asylum claim and pending T visa application, was detained by ICE on January 30, 2025, at a routine check-in appointment after reporting her alleged trafficker to federal authorities. She was transported 1,200 miles to a detention center in Louisiana and separated from her 4-year-old son and 18-month-old daughter for two months. Flora had fled her alleged abuser in early 2025 with help from a local nonprofit and was in the process of obtaining a T visa for trafficking survivors when ICE detained her. She was released on April 2, 2025, hours before a court hearing on her habeas corpus petition, but the detention caused significant retraumatization to her and her children.

A Puerto Rican family of U.S. citizens, including a toddler, was wrongfully detained by ICE in Milwaukee after being overheard speaking Spanish while shopping. The family was transported to a detention center before officials acknowledged the error and apologized. After presenting official documents proving their citizenship, they were released but left to arrange their own transportation home.

Jose Alvaro, an undocumented immigrant from Central America applying for a green card, was detained by ICE after a Lubbock police officer pulled him over for a license plate issue and called federal immigration authorities. The traffic stop has left his U.S. citizen wife Ashley and their three U.S.-born children facing deportation proceedings. Advocates have noted that routine police interactions can lead to deportations.

An Ethiopian national died in ICE custody at a Phoenix-area hospital on February 7, 2025. The death occurred during the first 100 days of the Trump administration, one of seven migrant deaths in ICE custody reported during that period. An ACLU investigation found that most ICE custody deaths in recent years could have been prevented with proper treatment.

Jesus Romero-Hernandez, 27, a Mexican citizen, pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally entering the United States after a previous removal. He faces a maximum two-year prison sentence, a $250,000 fine, and potential deportation. Romero-Hernandez is scheduled to be sentenced on July 17, 2025 in Utica, New York. He was arrested by federal agents on January 30 after being released from Tompkins County Sheriff's custody the previous day.

A 45-year-old Ethiopian man died on January 29, 2025, from complications of untreated HIV while in ICE custody at Eloy Detention Center in Arizona. He had been detained for nearly four months after entering the country illegally and was not screened for HIV despite developing severe symptoms. Medical experts stated routine blood tests at initial intake or upon symptom development could have identified HIV through early diagnosis and antiretroviral treatment.

Andrei Barrientos, 36, was deported from El Paso to Bogota on January 28, 2025, as part of the group of approximately 200 Colombian migrants whose deportation sparked a diplomatic dispute between Presidents Trump and Petro. This was Barrientos's second deportation from the United States. He was initially placed on a military flight on Sunday that was turned around when Colombian authorities blocked its landing, then spent a night in El Paso before being repatriated on a civilian aircraft organized by the Colombian government.

Wilson Rogelio Velasquez Cruz, a Honduran asylum seeker, was detained by ICE agents in the parking lot of Iglesia Fuente de Vida church while attending Sunday service with his wife, Kenia Colindres, and their three children. Velasquez Cruz had fled gang violence in Honduras with his family in 2022, held a valid five-year work permit, and worked six days a week at a tire shop while awaiting a future asylum court date. He had been wearing a GPS ankle monitor since filing for asylum, which began buzzing as ICE agents called his phone before they apprehended him and placed him in a vehicle in front of his wife. His wife expressed concern about the family's future, saying he would be transferred to Stewart Detention Center and faced deportation without the ability to appeal to a judge.

U.S. citizens, including Native Americans and a military veteran, have been detained and questioned during Trump administration immigration raids. Witnesses report that those caught in ICE operations are being targeted based on race or skin color, with Navajo Nation citizens experiencing particularly problematic encounters. Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said he has received accounts of "negative and sometimes traumatizing" encounters and advised tribal members to carry identification and their Certificate of Indian Blood. The seafood wholesaler owner in Newark reported that ICE targeted certain types of people while ignoring white and Portuguese workers, and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka denounced the raid, saying the detained veteran "suffered the indignity" of the encounter.