Human Impact Project

Detainees at Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz' immigration detention facility reported that guards deployed teargas and beat detainees indiscriminately with batons during an alleged uprising. The incident occurred after migrants began shouting for 'freedom' upon learning of a relative's death. Florida and ICE officials denied the reports and stated detainees receive safe conditions. The facility faces a court-ordered closure within 60 days.

Seven deportees were transferred to Rwanda in early August 2025, with the Trump administration not announcing the transfer until August 28. No information has been disclosed about their identities, countries of origin, charges, or current whereabouts. Rwanda has agreed to receive up to 250 migrants from the United States. Their lawyers allege they are being held in high-security facilities in isolation, cannot communicate with anyone, do not know what crimes they are accused of, and fear torture given Rwanda's poor human rights record.

Jemmy Jimenez Rosa, a 42-year-old legal permanent resident from Peru with a valid green card for over 20 years and mother of four, was detained by CBP and ICE for 10 days after returning from a family vacation in Mexico on August 11, 2025. Her detention was based on a marijuana possession conviction from over 20 years ago that had been pardoned and her record sealed. Rosa was initially held at Boston Logan International Airport for four days without proper medication or access to basic necessities, then transferred to a detention center in Maine without being informed she had legal representation despite CBP agents promising to relay that information. She experienced an anxiety attack during detention. She was not entered into any federal detainee database for three days, making it difficult for lawyers to locate her or seek a bond hearing. Her attorney challenged the detention as unconstitutional, leading to her release on August 28, 2025.

Farzana, a 32-year-old Afghan asylum seeker, was deported by ICE to the Central African Republic on August 28 after years in immigration detention, including time held in Louisiana, with ICE forcing her onto a flight alongside roughly 40-50 men. She and her fiancé had entered the U.S. through the southern border in May 2024 seeking asylum via the CBP One app; her fiancé had applied for a Special Immigrant Visa tied to his assistance to the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. Before her removal, her lawyers had filed a habeas corpus petition challenging her detention, which was unsuccessful, followed by an emergency motion for a restraining order the same day she was deported; the government denied that motion three days later. Farzana described being mistreated in detention, saying officers 'kept us like animal[s],' and says she received only three months of resettlement support from the UN and the host government; she has since been diagnosed with plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest form of malaria, and says she feels 'safe only inside my room' while living alone in Bangui without identity papers, work, or family ties.

ICE told Somali asylum seekers they were being deported to Somalia, but instead flew them to the U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where several remain detained. Sakariye Abdi Mohamed, a truck driver with no criminal record, was stopped by an Alabama trooper and held nearly a year in Louisiana before being flown to Guantánamo; a colleague described him as a hardworking 'rookie truck driver' who did everything right. Adam Abdullah, a 31-year-old mechanic with a pending asylum case and work permit, was stopped in Minnesota during 'Operation Metro Surge' and moved through facilities in three states over nine months before arriving at Guantánamo, where he has limited attorney access and brief, possibly monitored phone calls. Fellow detainees Abdullahi Adam Mohamed, a mechanic and small business owner, and Hassan Abdi Abtidoon, a former rideshare driver turned back while seeking asylum in Canada, were also transferred there. Detainees describe being shackled at all times, held in frigid conditions with cameras in bathrooms, and have held hunger strikes; family members call the ordeal 'shocking and frightening.' DHS has claimed the group included 'some of the worst of the worst' with criminal histories, though this reflects the agency's allegation rather than confirmed fact.

Daniela Rincon and her parents, Clara Avellaneda and Henry Rincon, were detained by ICE agents at Sky Harbor International Airport upon arriving from Salt Lake City on Aug. 28 following a family trip. The family, originally from Colombia and living in Herriman, Utah, held work permits and were in the process of normalizing their immigration status — Henry Rincon's son had petitioned for his parents' residency, and Daniela was pursuing an asylum claim based on conditions in Colombia. All three are being held at the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona; a judge denied bond for Henry and Daniela but allowed Clara's release, though the family has not raised the $12,500 needed for her bond. Julian Rincon, a naturalized U.S. citizen and the son/brother of the detainees, said none of them has faced criminal charges and described them as hardworking people caught up in enforcement quotas.

Henry Rincón, his wife Clara Avellaneda, and daughter Daniela Rincón, a Colombian family living in Herriman, Utah, were detained by immigration authorities on Aug. 26 after arriving at Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport on a flight from Salt Lake City. The three, who held work permits and were in the process of normalizing their immigration status, are being held at the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona; the Department of Homeland Security says they overstayed their visas. Their son, Julian Rincón, a naturalized U.S. citizen, has been publicly advocating for the family and raising funds through GoFundMe. An immigration judge has denied bond for Henry and Daniela Rincón but approved release for Clara Avellaneda.

In August, photos and videos showed ICE arresting a man who owns a snack shop in Laguna Heights while he and another person were painting a home. His wife had been deported earlier in the year. The arrest occurred just hours before a protest at the Port Isabel Lighthouse, one of four demonstrations against ICE activity held in the area since July.

Daryn Herzberg, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, alleges he was assaulted by Department of Homeland Security personnel outside an ICE facility in South Portland on August 13, 2025. According to video evidence and his attorney's account, federal agents tackled him to the ground, with one officer grabbing him by the hair and slamming his face into the ground multiple times. Herzberg sustained injuries including a concussion, abrasions, bruising, chest contusions, and breathing issues. On August 27, Herzberg filed a federal lawsuit against DHS alleging battery and unconstitutional use of force. Federal authorities also charged Herzberg with obstructing the facility and throwing objects; his attorney characterizes these charges as bogus and retaliatory.

David Antonio Aviles Perez, a 35-year-old Salvadoran national known as 'La Bruja,' was arrested by ICE in San Diego on March 26, 2025, and held at Otay Mesa Detention Center for nearly five months without a bond hearing. U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta ruled on August 26, 2025 that immigration officials violated his Fifth Amendment rights by failing to make an individualized assessment of danger or flight risk, ordering his release and barring re-detention unless an immigration judge independently finds it warranted. In December 2025, a court in El Salvador convicted him in absentia of aggravated murder for a July 2014 killing in La Union and sentenced him to 20 years. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin publicly criticized Ohta as an 'activist judge,' saying her ruling released a 'wanted murderer.'

Jorge Cruz, a green card holder and street vendor from Mexico City who has lived in the U.S. since age 5, was detained by ICE on August 27 while returning home with his wife from dropping off their four children at school. Cruz, who obtained his green card in 2014 after marrying a U.S. citizen, remains held in a detention center in Adelanto about 90 miles northeast of Los Angeles. His attorney and wife report that the specific grounds for his detention remain unclear, though authorities have referenced past dismissed charges related to street vending infractions and a verbal altercation with another vendor that resulted in dropped charges.

Alejandro Theodoro Orellana, 29, a member of the Boyle Heights-based community organization Centro CSO, pleaded not guilty to handing out protective face shields to protesters during an anti-ICE demonstration in Los Angeles. He faces federal charges of conspiracy and aiding and abetting civil disorder. Trial was set for August 26 in LA federal court.

Robert Sidhe, a 43-year-old Kenyan physician working as a patient care technician at UW Medical Center, was detained by ICE agents while driving home from the gym in Lynnwood, Washington. While in custody, he suffered a medical crisis with dangerously high blood pressure and stroke-like symptoms and was hospitalized, though imaging showed no stroke had occurred. Sidhe entered the U.S. legally on multiple visas and has a pending asylum application filed in 2023. A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order for his release, citing the risk of a future stroke and noting he serves as the primary caretaker for his fiancée, a disabled U.S. citizen who uses a wheelchair. Colleagues described him as a respected leader in his union, church, and community.

Luis, a migrant from Ecuador and the sole provider for his family, was arrested by ICE agents after an immigration court hearing in New York City on August 26, 2025, as his daughters clung to him in anguish. The photograph, taken by Carol Guzy for the Miami Herald inside the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building, was named World Press Photo's 2026 Photo of the Year on April 23, 2026. His wife, Cocha, and their three children, ages seven, 13 and 15, were left facing emotional trauma and financial hardship, and his family says he has no criminal record.

Luis, an Ecuadorian mechanic and father of three, was arrested by masked ICE agents on August 26 after leaving a courtroom on the 12th floor of 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan with his wife Cocha and their children, ages 7, 13, and 15. The family had attended a routine immigration hearing and believed his case had been extended for another year when agents grabbed Luis without explanation. His children leapt onto him, clutching his shirt to stay together, but an ICE agent violently yanked one of his daughters backward to pry them apart. His 7-year-old son was left weeping as a masked agent blocked the family with his arm. The family came to the U.S. from Ecuador 2.5 years ago, making the journey on foot and by car, fleeing local corruption and fearing for their children's futures. Luis works as a mechanic and is the family's sole financial support. Cocha, who stayed home to care for the children, does not know where her husband was taken or what to do without him.

A Guatemalan father of three, a native and citizen of Guatemala, has resided in Los Angeles with his family for many years and has three biological children who are United States citizens. He was arrested by immigration authorities on August 26, 2025, and has been detained at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center since that time. He is pending removal proceedings and is seeking Cancellation of Removal relief. An immigration judge denied bond at two hearings—one on January 12, 2026 (where he bore the burden of proof) and another on March 2, 2026 (where the government bore the burden)—based solely on his prior DUI conviction and immigration history, without adequately considering his family ties, stable residence, or lack of criminal history involving moral turpitude. The federal magistrate judge found the March 2, 2026 bond denial was an abuse of discretion because the immigration judge failed to conduct an individualized assessment, consider mitigating factors, or address alternatives to detention as required by the Rodriguez class action injunction. The court ordered his immediate release on his prior conditions of supervision and enjoined further detention without a compliant bond hearing.

Francisco Hernandez-Corona, an undocumented immigrant who had lived in the U.S. for most of his life, self-deported to Mexico. He was married to a U.S. citizen, but a permanent bar from a childhood unauthorized entry prevented him from adjusting his status while in the country, leaving him with no legal pathway to remain.

Balbino Mayora, an Arizona resident of nearly 25 years and business owner, was arrested by Phoenix police over vehicle registration issues. After his court hearing on August 27, ICE agents apprehended him outside the courthouse and he was transferred to the Eloy Detention Center. Mayora, who entered the US legally on a visa but overstayed, is now in removal proceedings while his family fights for his release.

A Guatemalan man who entered the U.S. without inspection in 2019 was arrested and detained by immigration officials at the Phoenix Police Department on August 25, 2025. He alleges that no agent produced a warrant, explained the reason for detention, or provided any documents. The court ordered respondents to answer his habeas corpus petition within 20 days and denied his motion for temporary restraining order.

José Ángel, 17, was detained by ICE agents in Edinburg, Texas on August 25 while on his way to retrieve a truck left behind after his uncle's earlier detention. According to José and his sister Regina, 19, who spoke with N+ Univision, their uncle had been detained by ICE while with one of his children, who managed to escape. Their mother asked them to go pick up the abandoned truck, and José was preparing for school when he and Regina went to the location where he was detained.