Human Impact Project

Heidy Sánchez, a 44-year-old Cuban immigrant and home health aide who arrived in the U.S. in 2019, was detained by ICE on April 22, 2025, during what she believed was a routine check-in appointment at the Tampa office while nursing her one-year-old daughter, a U.S. citizen born prematurely with seizures. She was handcuffed and separated from her child as her husband, Carlos Yuniel Valle, a U.S. citizen who owns a landscaping company, heard her screaming. Two days later, Sánchez was deported to Cuba on a flight with 81 other migrants, arriving without a passport, identification, or documentation explaining her removal. She had no criminal record, held a social security card and driver's license, paid taxes, and was complying with her ICE supervision order. Her daughter, distressed by the separation, refused to eat. From Cuba, Sánchez has recorded tearful video pleas to President Trump and searches for internet access up to ten times daily to video call her daughter. U.S. Representatives María Elvira Salazar and Kathy Castor have called for her reunification, with Castor filing a humanitarian parole request. DHS disputed her account, claiming she was offered the choice to take her child or place her with a relative. Eight months later, Sánchez remains separated from her daughter and husband.

Doris Flores and her husband were taken into immigration detention from their trailer home in Lakeland, Florida, one night in January, leaving their 4-month-old daughter Briany, a U.S. citizen, and her 8-year-old half-sister Briana without a caregiver. Flores turned to the family's pastor, the Rev. Israel Vázquez, and his wife, also a pastor at their Pentecostal church, who took in the girls rather than see them placed in foster care. A ProPublica analysis found the Trump administration has detained the parents of more than 11,000 U.S. citizen children and has deported mothers of U.S. citizens at four times the rate of the previous administration.

Women detained at Baker County Detention Center in Florida have shared a video describing poor living conditions while awaiting immigration processing. They allege inadequate access to hygiene supplies, broken clothing, moldy food, and substandard bedding including mattresses made of insulation. One woman claims to have been transferred through over 30 facilities in a month and often slept on floors.

A man with a clean police record, an employment letter, and a rental lease filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan on March 20, 2026, challenging his detention. The petition includes motions for temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, and immediate release, with supporting documentation including passport, employment letter, rental lease, and clean police record.

Amanda Ungaro, a 41-year-old Brazilian former model who had lived in the U.S. for over two decades, was arrested in June 2025 on fraud charges tied to unlicensed cosmetic procedures at a Florida wellness center. She was held for roughly three and a half months at ICE facilities in Miami and Louisiana before being deported to Brazil in October 2025. Ungaro alleges her ex-partner Paolo Zampolli, a Trump associate and presidential special envoy and the father of their teenage son, contacted senior ICE official David Venturella to ensure she was detained and removed amid a bitter child custody dispute. Zampolli and the Department of Homeland Security denied the allegations, with DHS saying her removal was based on a visa overstay and the fraud charges. An arrest warrant remains open should she return to the United States.

Royer Pérez-Jimenez, a 19-year-old indigenous Tzotzil Mayan from San Juan Chamula, Chiapas, Mexico, died on March 16, 2026, at Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven, Florida, while in ICE custody. He had immigrated to the United States at age 15 to join an uncle but was left on his own after the uncle was deported. He worked continuously in a restaurant but earned minimal wages. On January 21, 2026, he was arrested during a traffic stop after giving a false name and was convicted of misdemeanors on February 19. He was transferred to ICE custody on February 21 and moved to the Moore Haven facility on February 26. On March 16 at approximately 2:34 a.m., he was found unresponsive in his dormitory; despite CPR efforts by detention staff and emergency responders, he was pronounced dead at 2:51 a.m. ICE stated the death was a presumed suicide, though the official cause remained under investigation. His father Manuel Pérez rejected the suicide conclusion and called for a thorough investigation. His death was one of at least 13 to 14 acknowledged deaths in ICE detention occurring between January and late March 2026.

This guide explains how families can locate loved ones detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Florida. It describes the ICE detention process, including how detainees are transferred through processing centers and facilities, which can make locating them difficult. The article provides instructions on using the ICE Online Detainee Locator System to search by A-Number or biographical information, and explains reasons why detainees may not immediately appear in the system.

A man with no criminal record who entered the United States legally and pursued an asylum claim for a decade was transported across multiple states in federal custody. During the multi-day transfer beginning March 14, he experienced prolonged restraint, overcrowding, sleep deprivation, and limited access to food, water, and medical care. Detainees were handcuffed for up to 14 hours, held in facilities beyond capacity, and did not receive proper medical screening or attorney notification.

An asylum seeker who entered the U.S. as a minor in 2021 was detained by ICE after being stopped by police while driving to work in Key Largo, Florida on March 12, 2026. He had been living in the community with a pending asylum application and no criminal history for five years. The court ordered his immediate release, finding his detention violated constitutional due process rights.

On March 9, 2026, ICE detained and deported two 12-year-old twin sisters who are U.S. citizens born in Orlando, Florida, after their mother attended a scheduled immigration appointment at an ICE facility. ICE invoked a "family unity" policy to take the children into custody and deport them to Guatemala. The mother had previously submitted paperwork requesting the children remain with their grandmother, though ICE stated she verbally requested to take them with her. A federal court granted a habeas corpus petition filed by the grandmother, ordering the children's immediate return to the United States at ICE's expense and restraining ICE from rearresting them.

Rogelio, a 39-year-old Guatemalan immigrant married to a U.S. citizen with five U.S.-born children, was detained by ICE for seven months after being stopped by local police in La Belle, Florida. He spent over six months at the Broward Transitional Center in deportation proceedings. A judge approved his cancellation of removal application, allowing him to pursue citizenship and a green card. Approximately 4,000 cancellations of removal are granted nationally each year.

Jose Ernesto Aparicio Almendarez, a 20-year-old Honduran citizen who entered the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor seeking asylum, was detained by ICE after being stopped for driving without a license in Orlando, Florida. He had previously been released by ORR to a sponsor and has a pending asylum application. The court ordered his immediate release, finding his detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated due process. Jose Alberto Cuellar, a 51-year-old landscaper from El Salvador who has lived in South Florida for 30 years, was detained by ICE agents during a traffic stop near Davie and Griffin roads early Tuesday morning. According to his son Justin, who was driving the landscaping truck, ICE agents approached the vehicle after it was pulled over for an allegedly obstructed license plate, and agents asked his father in Spanish whether he had papers or was "legal," using a racial slur. Cuellar has no criminal record and has worked as a landscaper six days a week for decades while attempting to legalize his immigration status since the early 2000s; his family has been unable to locate him in any detainee system and are raising funds for legal representation.

A Cuban citizen who entered the U.S. in 2019 was re-arrested by ICE on March 4, 2026, during a routine maritime inspection on a fishing vessel in Florida. He had previously been released on bond by an immigration judge and had employment authorization through April 2030. The federal court ordered his immediate release, finding that his re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated due process.

Carlos, an undocumented Guatemalan welder who had worked as the primary breadwinner for his family for ten years, was detained by sheriff's deputies in October 2025 after falling asleep at a stop sign in Sarasota while driving to a job. He was transferred to ICE custody and held in a detention center in Louisiana. His partner, Perla Velasquez, a U.S. citizen, spent approximately $8,000 on legal fees to fight his case, hoping he could be released on bond given his lack of criminal history. His bond was denied, and he was deported to Guatemala in March 2026. Velasquez is now the sole provider for their three-year-old daughter Carlita and her thirteen-year-old autistic son Ociel, who is nonverbal. She works landscaping and construction jobs, often bringing Carlita along, and sells used items online to make ends meet while managing the emotional toll on her children, including her son's increased behavioral outbursts.

A.G., a 26-year-old Venezuelan national with a pending asylum application and valid work authorization, was detained by ICE agents outside his apartment in Orange County as he prepared to leave for work. Court records showed he was lawfully in the country. A federal judge ordered his release six days later without a hearing, but ICE retained his documents including his driver's license and work permit.

Two Jamaican men held at Glades County Detention Center reported abuse and were subsequently subjected to retaliatory use of force during placement in solitary confinement. One man was beaten and maced; the other had his head dragged on the ground. Freedom for Immigrants filed a civil rights complaint with DHS CRCL.

The Department of Justice filed a denaturalization case against former North Miami Mayor Philippe Bien-Aime, alleging he misrepresented his identity and immigration history during his naturalization process in 2006. According to federal prosecutors, Bien-Aime entered the United States in 1997 using a fraudulent passport under a different name, was ordered removed in 2000, but remained in the country under an assumed identity. The complaint also alleges he obtained permanent resident status through an invalid marriage to a U.S. citizen using a fraudulent divorce certificate.

A Guatemalan citizen who has lived in the U.S. for 14 years with two U.S. citizen children was detained by Florida Highway Patrol during a traffic stop on February 18, 2026, while driving to work. He was transferred to Border Patrol custody and later moved to California City Immigration Processing Center. The federal court ordered his immediate release, finding his detention without a bond hearing violated due process rights.

Jairo Garcia-Hernandez, a 27-year-old from Guatemala, died on February 16 at Larkin Community Hospital in Miami while in ICE custody. He collapsed unexpectedly and became unresponsive despite life-saving efforts. According to ICE officials, Garcia-Hernandez had a long history of severe medical complications and was in poor health when taken into custody in January 2025 following a 2024 weapons conviction. The exact cause of death remains under investigation.

A Cuban citizen who entered the U.S. in 2021 and filed for asylum in 2022 was arrested by Lee County Sheriff's Office in Florida on February 14, 2026 for disorderly public intoxication and property damage. This encounter with police prompted ICE to arrest and detain him at California City Immigration Processing Center. The federal court granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered the government to provide him a bond hearing within 14 days.