Human Impact Project

Bruno Orlando Medina Mendoza and Jorge Manuel Escobar Quispe from Peru, and Raul Andrey Echavez Castro from Colombia, were among five people arrested by New Britain police on June 5 in a sting in which detectives posed online as having access to a minor for sex. All three face charges of commercial sexual abuse of a minor, attempted sexual contact with a victim under 16, and second-degree sexual assault. ICE has lodged detainers and is asking Connecticut officials not to release the men from custody, saying all three entered the United States in 2023—Quispe and Castro through Arizona and Mendoza through California.

A Romanian citizen, 52, who underwent multiple heart surgeries including an emergency triple bypass in April 2025, was arrested in July 2025 and required 16 daily medications as part of his recovery. While at an ICE field office in Baltimore, he went two days without any medication before being transferred to a New Jersey facility. Despite numerous requests from treatment providers, the detention center did not provide all 16 medications; medical records show he received only eight after his second hospital release. He was hospitalized three times while detained for chest pain related to non-compliance with his medication regimen, and in August 2025, he suffered a stroke while on a video call with his daughter.

A federal judge in California had ordered the government to take a man showing signs of prostate cancer to a specialist for diagnosis and treatment. ICE lawyers told the judge that officials missed the appointment due to an "internal scheduling error," and CoreCivic, which operates the facility, declined to comment on the litigation. A court-appointed monitor has since found that the California City facility, the state's largest immigration detention center, failed to comply with the judge's orders to provide adequate healthcare to detainees.

A man who lost one eye and has severe glaucoma in the other, requiring twice-daily drops to maintain his remaining vision, was frequently denied his prescribed eye drops while in ICE detention. He wrote in a court declaration that his vision has deteriorated significantly, appearing "like seeing through gauze," and expressed fear that he will permanently lose his remaining sight. He is terrified he will not be able to watch his infant son grow up. His attorney characterized the denial of such obvious medical care as "brazen indifference to really obvious problems."

A Russian man saw a gastroenterologist while detained in Texas about his painful gallstones and scheduled a surgical appointment. However, he was moved to various detention centers before the appointment could occur, preventing him from receiving the necessary specialist care. His case illustrates how frequent transfers across the detention system interrupt medical treatment.

An El Salvadoran woman missed an entire week of HIV medication when she was transferred from a Colorado detention facility to a county jail in Wyoming without adequate coordination of her medical care. Detainees are frequently moved across the country without warning, interrupting critical treatment. Her case exemplifies the systemic failure to maintain continuity of medical care during transfers across ICE's sprawling detention system.

A Venezuelan man detained at a Vermont immigration facility developed a severe infection from flesh-eating bacteria on his leg after staff failed to bring him to a scheduled doctor's appointment. His leg became purple and swollen as a result of the missed care. His case is among hundreds documented across at least 33 states where detainees allege medical neglect in ICE facilities.

A Honduran mother of two was hospitalized for a heart problem after being denied blood pressure medications while detained in a Florida immigration facility. Her case is among hundreds documented across at least 33 states where detainees allege medical neglect in ICE custody.

An Albanian man held for months in a New Mexico immigration detention center experienced unbearable tooth pain that was left untreated, ultimately leading him to pull out his own tooth. His case is documented among hundreds of detainees across at least 33 states who allege severe medical neglect in ICE custody, including denied medications for chronic conditions and requests for help that go unanswered for weeks.

Vardan Gukasian, a political dissident and former paramedic from Armenia, was detained in Henderson, Nevada for over 13 months despite serious health problems including uncontrolled high blood pressure. In June 2025, while experiencing dizziness, a nosebleed, and severe headache, his cellmate and then an entire cell block banged on doors requesting medical help; assistance did not arrive until he was hospitalized that day. In a court declaration filed in March 2026, Gukasian, who spent years imprisoned in Armenia, wrote he had never witnessed such medical neglect anywhere. The city of Henderson stated medical care was always available and that no court orders for care changes had been issued.

Jose-Antonio Segismundo, 48, was detained for over seven months at the Alligator Alcatraz facility in Florida and the Folkston D Ray ICE Processing Center in Georgia with untreated abdominal cancer. He was arrested approximately five weeks before a scheduled appointment with a cancer specialist, and despite his wife providing medical records and explaining his condition to officials, he received no cancer treatment—only Tylenol for severe stomach pain. In spring 2026, he was deported to Mexico, a country he had left nearly 30 years prior. He must now restart his cancer care search in Oaxaca.

Edison Sinchi Taipe, 19, an Ecuadorian student at Framingham High School, was arrested by ICE while working a roofing job in New Hampshire to earn money for graduation expenses. He was detained and feared deportation to Ecuador, but was released in time to walk across the stage and receive his diploma on June 5, 2026. His community rallied to secure legal representation, and he now awaits an immigration hearing scheduled for July 15.

Gordo was detained by ICE on June 5. He arrived in the United States at age 13 and has been married to his sister for 8 years. The family now faces financial hardship and emotional trauma as his wife, a stay-at-home mother, cares for their four young children alone, including one recently diagnosed with autism.

Avelino Lage was detained by ICE for five months at Alligator Alcatraz facility. While he was detained, his apartment was robbed and he lost all his belongings. He also lost access to his bank accounts during detention, resulting in his car being repossessed. He is now rebuilding his life from scratch.

A husband was detained by ICE while traveling to work, leaving his wife and children without immediate answers about his whereabouts. His wife discovered his detention through a Facebook post after hours of unsuccessful phone calls and searching. The family is now facing legal expenses, household bills, and childcare costs while navigating the immigration legal process to reunite.

Enrique Martínez Chávez, a 32-year-old former Mexican military officer, was detained by ICE in Hawthorne, California on June 4, 2026, during an immigration enforcement operation. Martínez Chávez is wanted in Mexico for enforced disappearance in connection with the 2014 disappearance of 43 student teachers from Ayotzinapa, Guerrero. Mexican authorities have an active arrest warrant against him for forced disappearance charges. He is being held at a processing center in Adelanto, California, pending immigration proceedings and potential extradition to Mexico. Mexican President Sheinbaum clarified that he was arrested during a routine ICE immigration enforcement operation rather than a specific operation targeting him for the Ayotzinapa case.

Diego Armando Gonzalez-Rosales, a former kitchen manager at Zipps Sports Grill, was sentenced to five months in prison after pleading guilty to sharing another person's driver's license and Social Security card to help a friend get hired at the restaurant chain. Gonzalez-Rosales came to the U.S. in 2006 and started as a dishwasher at Zipps before working his way up to kitchen manager, a role in which he vetted and hired new kitchen staff, and he also used fake identification himself to obtain employment. He was arrested during a January raid on Zipps' 15 Valley locations stemming from a Homeland Security Investigations probe into undocumented workers, one of only four employees indicted despite 39 people being arrested that day. His attorney, Debbie Jang, said he was the only person in a management position to face charges and called him a 'pawn' and 'scapegoat' for a company she said systematically engaged in unlawful hiring practices. He faces potential deportation upon release from prison.

A 48-year-old Guatemalan man detained at Stewart Detention Center suffered a severe E. coli infection in his leg after being injured while shackled in a transport vehicle and forced to sleep on a dirty concrete floor with leaking toilets. Medical staff did not adequately respond to his requests for help until he collapsed and required hospitalization; a doctor told him he narrowly escaped amputation. He was released in October 2025 as a legal permanent resident but struggles with lingering pain that prevents him from returning to construction work. The case is one of hundreds documented across at least 33 states where detainees allege medical neglect in ICE custody.

ICE and South Carolina law enforcement agencies raided Burnstein Von Seelen Precision Casting in Abbeville County on June 3-4, 2026, detaining 48 workers, most from Mexico and Guatemala, on suspected immigration violations. The operation, called Operation Ghost Story, stemmed from a two-year investigation that began in October 2024. Company managers Christopher Douglas Ramey and Sandy Lynn Willis were arrested and indicted for failing to verify employee identities and facilitating employment of undocumented workers using forged documents. Four additional defendants, including Xavier Martinez Adorno of Horry County, were indicted on state charges for manufacturing and selling counterfeit driver's licenses, Social Security cards, and green cards, some using real U.S. citizens' identities. None of the 48 detained workers faced criminal charges, though officials said some had prior ICE interactions or deportation orders. One detainee, eight months pregnant, was released under an ankle monitor and now faces deportation proceedings, while others remained in custody. Officials said further arrests are expected.

Andrea Pedro-Francisco, a 23-year-old Guatemalan asylum seeker who fled to the U.S. with her mother in 2019, was arrested on February 5, 2026, by federal agents during a traffic stop while driving to work in Minnesota. She was immediately transferred to Camp East Montana, a tent detention facility at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, where she was held for nearly four months in crowded conditions. Pedro-Francisco had a golf-ball-sized ovarian cyst that required surgery before her arrest; nine independent physicians concluded the procedure was medically necessary to prevent serious complications including infertility and potential death. ICE repeatedly denied approval for the surgery and provided only over-the-counter pain relief despite a doctor's opioid prescription. Her mother, who has two younger U.S. citizen children, was released at the scene. Following legal motions, advocacy by U.S. Representatives Angie Craig, Greg Casar, and Veronica Escobar, Senator Tina Smith's intervention with DHS, and sustained efforts by lawyers and organizers, Pedro-Francisco was released in early June 2026 with GPS monitoring and her case transferred back to Minnesota for a July hearing.