Human Impact Project

A Cameron County grand jury issued a 'no bill' on March 15, 2025, in the death of 23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez, who was shot by a Homeland Security Investigations agent on South Padre Island. Federal officials claimed Martinez attempted to run over an ICE agent, but a passenger's statement indicated the car was moving slowly and the agent fired without warning. Martinez's family requested a federal investigation and release of records.

Wilker Miguel Gutiérrez Sierra, 23, was arrested in February 2024 in Chicago on charges of attempted murder, robbery, and aggravated battery after allegedly assaulting a stranger on a train. He pleaded not guilty and was on electronic monitoring awaiting trial when ICE agents arrested him on the street in five black trucks in February 2025. Three days later he was deported to CECOT prison in El Salvador on March 15, 2025, removing him from the criminal justice system before his case could be resolved.

Gladys Yoleida Caricote Tovar, 28, a Venezuelan with Temporary Protected Status and mother of three young children, was arrested in Colorado on December 10, 2024 in front of her mother and children. Her children were placed in foster care and only returned to their grandmother weeks later. On March 15, 2025, she was deported despite a federal judge's order halting deportations. She was told she was being flown to Venezuela but was instead taken to El Salvador, where she was kept on the plane and sent back to the United States the same day. Since returning from El Salvador, she has been held in a Texas detention center where she was beaten a few days ago, covered in bruises, and is locked in solitary confinement following a panic attack.

Scarleth Rodríguez, 21, a Venezuelan with Temporary Protected Status, was arrested in August 2024 after turning herself in to border authorities and held in detention for nine months without being allowed to leave. On March 15, 2025, she was deported despite a federal judge's order halting deportations. She was told she was being flown to Venezuela but was instead taken to El Salvador, where she was kept on the plane and sent back to the United States the same day. Since returning from El Salvador, she has been held in a Texas detention center where she was recently beaten. Her mother in Venezuela had prepared a meal expecting her arrival.

Maikol Gabriel López Lizano, a Venezuelan migrant working as a mechanic in Chicago, was arrested in February 2025 on suspicion of gang membership in Tren de Aragua. He was deported on March 15, 2025, via charter plane to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 without due process or the opportunity to challenge the allegation. Maikol Gabriel López Lizano, 23, was arrested in Chicago in August 2023 on misdemeanor charges for riding his bicycle on the sidewalk while drinking a beer. He was deported to CECOT prison in El Salvador on March 15, 2025, as part of the Trump administration's mass deportation of 238 Venezuelans. His partner, Cherry Flores, described his deportation as a gross injustice for such a minor offense.

Wuilliam Lozada Sanchez was deported to El Salvador's CECOT prison on March 15, 2025, under the Alien Enemies Act. He described being forced into stress positions for hours with guards watching for movement, and those unable to endure 24 hours on their knees were taken to 'the island'—a dark punishment cell with no light or ventilation where guards regularly beat detainees. He said 'the torture was never-ending.' He was released on July 18, 2025, as part of a prisoner swap.

Luis Muñoz Pinto, a 27-year-old Venezuelan who had been studying robotics engineering, was detained during a scheduled Customs and Border Protection appointment under the CBP One program and deported to El Salvador's CECOT prison on March 15, 2025, under the Alien Enemies Act, where he said lights stayed on 24/7, food and medicine were withheld, and bathing water had to be used for drinking. U.S. officials pointed to rose tattoos, which he says represent his twin sisters, as evidence linking him to the Tren de Aragua gang, an accusation he denies. He had no criminal record in the United States and was released on July 18, 2025, returning to Colombia. A federal judge has since ruled that Muñoz Pinto and more than 100 other deportees must be allowed to return to the U.S. for due process, and he hopes to clear his name and resume studying engineering there.

Andry Omar Blanco Bonilla, a 40-year-old food delivery driver and mechanic from Venezuela, was detained at an ICE office in Dallas in February 2024 after notifying them of an address change and being asked about his tattoos—which he said represented his family, not gang affiliation. Released pending deportation when Venezuela would not accept deportees, he was detained again after Trump's inauguration and deported to El Salvador's CECOT prison on March 15, 2025. He endured four months of beatings and humiliation before being returned to Venezuela on July 18, 2025. He had no criminal record in the U.S. and came to the country to support his seven children.

Juan José Ramos Ramos, a 39-year-old former telephone technician from Venezuela, was detained during an ICE appointment and deported to El Salvador's CECOT prison on March 15, 2025, under the Alien Enemies Act. The Trump administration alleged he was a Tren de Aragua gang member, but he was detected by immigration agents riding in a car with a Venezuela sticker. During his four months in CECOT, he said he endured severe beatings, humiliation, and psychological abuse, and told reporters he had wanted to end his life rather than continue enduring the conditions. He was released as part of a three-country deal in July 2025 that freed 238 Venezuelan men from the prison, and returned to Venezuela on July 18, 2025. A review of government data by ProPublica, the Texas Tribune and Venezuelan journalists found that at least 197 of the released men, including Ramos, had no criminal convictions in the U.S.

A grand jury issued a 'no bill' in the March 2025 shooting death of 23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez by a Homeland Security Investigations agent at South Padre Island, Texas. DHS stated Martinez attempted to run over a federal agent, but a witness affidavit indicated the vehicle was moving slowly and the agent fired without warning. The shooting was not publicly disclosed until February 2026.

Yoderlyn Daviana Acosta Peña, a 21-year-old Venezuelan migrant living and working in Chicago, was arrested in February 2025 on suspicion of gang membership in Tren de Aragua based on subjective criteria including tattoos. On March 15, 2025, while being deported via charter plane, an ICE officer physically assaulted her, grabbing her by the hair and punching her in the face. She was deported to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act without due process.

Fabian Schmidt, a German-born electrical engineer and green card holder who was detained by CBP officers at Boston Logan Airport on March 7, 2025, and interrogated for days before being transferred to ICE custody at the Donald W. Wyatt detention facility in Rhode Island, was held for a total of two months before his release. He now lives in Nashua, New Hampshire, where he has married his partner, Bhavani Hodgkins, with whom he has an 8-year-old daughter. Schmidt is paying roughly $60,000 in legal fees and related costs stemming from his detention, and says he is pursuing U.S. citizenship and writing a book about his experience. The German embassy had previously confirmed it was in close contact with U.S. authorities and the family during his detention.

Abel Orozco, a 47-year-old tree-cutting business owner who has lived in the Chicago suburbs for about 30 years, was arrested by ICE agents without a warrant on January 26 while driving home from picking up tamales for his family. Agents had entered his backyard and porch searching for his eldest son, who shares his name, and after forcing open his car and handcuffing him, realized roughly 45 minutes to an hour later they had the wrong person—but detained him anyway. Orozco has no criminal record, arrived in the U.S. in the late 1990s under a legal work petition, and was issued a removal order in 2004 after visiting his father in Mexico. He has remained in ICE custody in Kentucky for nearly six months, during which his family has missed mortgage payments, his younger son has struggled to keep the family business running, and his wife Yolanda, who has spoken publicly about the case, has been fighting breast cancer. His attorneys at the National Immigrant Justice Center, representing Orozco as one of 22 detainees, have filed a motion challenging the legality of warrantless ICE arrests and are seeking his release.

A federal judge ruled that the February 2025 arrests of 12 employees at El Potro Mexican Restaurant in Liberty, Missouri by armed Department of Homeland Security agents were unlawful. According to court documents, ICE officers came looking for one person believed to have a felony narcotics conviction, then had the restaurant owner bring employees in one at a time without informing them they could decline to speak with agents. The judge found 11 of the 12 arrests lacked probable cause, ruling only one lawful due to prior removal history, and found agents had prepared forms justifying the arrests that did not include facts supporting probable cause.

César Herrera Ferrer, a 24-year-old Venezuelan man, was detained by ICE in Tacoma, Washington, after his father-in-law, Óscar Antonio Castañeda, called immigration authorities during an escalating family conflict. The dispute began when Castañeda was confronted and expelled from the home, then returned and threatened Herrera with a firearm while he held his young daughter, Francesca. Castañeda was arrested but released within 72 hours, after which Francesca says he called ICE to prevent Herrera from testifying against him in the firearm case. Herrera remains in ICE custody at the Tacoma detention center while his attorneys argue the detention was retaliatory and aimed at obstructing the criminal case against his father-in-law.

ImmigrationDefenders reports that parents attempting to reunify with children in federal custody are being arrested and placed into deportation proceedings. The organization represents 12 children in Southern California whose parents were detained shortly after initiating the reunification process, leaving children stranded in shelters.

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.

Shirly Guardado, a Honduran immigrant married to Army Sgt. Ayssac Correa, was arrested by ICE agents in a parking lot outside her Houston workplace on March 13 after being lured out under false pretenses by plainclothes officers claiming to be Department of Public Safety. She was transported to a detention facility in Conroe, Texas, and Correa was not notified of her whereabouts for three days, learning of her location only when she called him from detention. Despite having a work permit and clean check-in record with immigration officials, and despite her husband's military service and USCIS having approved his sponsorship petition for her in 2023, Guardado was detained for nearly three months. The couple's application for military parole in place was denied due to her prior expedited deportation order, and on May 30—her 28th birthday—she was deported to Honduras, separated from her 1-year-old son and active-duty military husband.

Eliezar was detained by ICE on March 13 while returning home from work. After being held in an ICE detention center for weeks, he decided to self-deport to Guatemala. His wife Josselin and three children (ages 11, 6, and 16 months) were left without their sole income provider.

Julio Noriega, a 54-year-old U.S. citizen born in Chicago, was arrested by ICE agents on January 31, 2025, after buying pizza in Berwyn. Agents surrounded him, handcuffed him, and confiscated his wallet containing his ID and Social Security card before transporting him to an ICE processing center in Broadview. He was detained overnight without being questioned about his citizenship status and released only after agents examined his identification. In March 2025, attorneys from the National Immigrant Justice Center and ACLU of Illinois filed a federal court lawsuit alleging that ICE violated the Castañón Nava settlement agreement by arresting Noriega and at least 21 others without proper warrants since January 2025. The lawsuit alleges constitutional and immigration law violations including arrests without probable cause and detention orders created after people were already detained.