Human Impact Project

Olga Perez, a 47-year-old interpreter of the rare Mayan language Mam and longtime community volunteer in Palm Beach County, Florida, was deported to Guatemala after nearly 30 years in the U.S. Perez fled Guatemala's civil war in 1997 and spent two decades volunteering as a translator for police departments, courts, hospitals and nonprofits, including helping clear a Guatemalan farmworker's criminal case. She was detained in November 2025 after Florida Highway Patrol stopped her family's landscaping truck on I-95, two months after her husband was separately taken into ICE custody while working a landscaping job. After seven months in detention at Eloy Detention Center and nine delayed hearings—including one postponed after a courtroom mix-up brought out the wrong woman—an immigration judge ordered her deported by July 6, 2026. She said goodbye to her four U.S.-citizen children, Eliza, 21, Jessica, 18, Romeo, 15, and Cynthia, 13, at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, with her eldest daughter continuing to run the family business and care for her siblings.

Jacob Zepeta-Castro (also spelled Zapeta Castro), a Guatemalan immigrant who owns El Quetzal bakery in Lake Worth Beach, Florida, was arrested on July 9, 2026, after ICE, Florida Highway Patrol, and Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office agents surrounded his business during a four-day enforcement operation in Palm Beach County. His teenage children, ages 13 and 15, waited in his car and were questioned by officers; family and advocates say he locked himself and coworkers inside the bakery and voluntarily surrendered after an hours-long standoff in extreme heat to protect his children and undocumented employees, as about 50 community members protested outside. ICE alleged he had prior deportations, a criminal history including DUI and resisting law enforcement, and claimed he tried to ram an agent's vehicle before fleeing—claims disputed by his family, employees, and advocates including nephew Gilbert Zapeta and Mariana Blanco of the Guatemalan Maya Center, who noted he held a valid Social Security number, work permit, and driver's license and had filed for asylum in June 2024. He was charged with illegal reentry after deportation, ordered held without bond by a federal judge who ruled his pending asylum application was no defense to the charge, and was arraigned July 29 in federal court in West Palm Beach.

A Venezuelan influencer known on social media as "La Real Muñeca" was detained by ICE agents at Orlando International Airport while preparing to board a flight. According to reports on social media, the agents were in plain clothes and were waiting near the boarding gate. She had been participating in a digital program called "La Prisión de Destino" and was heading back to her residence. A person close to the case reported that she has retained a lawyer. Immigration authorities have not publicly disclosed the reasons for her arrest or additional details about her legal situation.

Alexander Jarquin-Jarquin, a Nicaraguan asylum seeker with a valid work permit and driver's license, was arrested on July 26, 2026, while on his way to work with no stated reason. He entered the U.S. in 2021 through the southern border, was released by ICE under parole, and has since obtained legal work authorization and worked 12-hour days supporting his elderly father in Nicaragua and his wife in the U.S. He has no criminal history. He is now in immigration custody with his case before an immigration judge, and his family is raising funds for legal fees and bond to secure his release and demonstrate community ties.

Four U.S. citizen siblings—Eliza, 21; Jessica, 18; Romeo Jr., 15; and Cynthia, 13—have been living on their own in Florida since last fall when both their parents, who are from Guatemala and undocumented, were detained by ICE. Their father was held at Alligator Alcatraz and then transferred to a detention center in Georgia, while their mother was held at a federal facility in Arizona. Eliza dropped out of college to take over the family landscaping business and pay rent, while the children await the outcome of their mother's deportation hearing. According to the Brookings Institution, approximately 205,000 children—including 145,000 U.S. citizens—have likely had a parent detained in the past year and a half due to immigration enforcement actions.

Carlos Hugo Betancur, a 52-year-old Colombian national, was detained by ICE on July 8, 2026, while pumping gas at a Marathon station in Doral on his way to work. An immigration officer approached him from behind, asked for identification, and detained him after he provided his Florida driver's license. Betancur had filed a political asylum application in January 2023 and possessed both an employment authorization card and a Florida driver's license. He spent 8 days at the Miramar Processing Center and 8 days at Krome Detention Center before being released on electronic monitoring. At Miramar, he described severe overcrowding, with 93 to 104 detainees held in a single room with insufficient space for everyone to sit or sleep simultaneously. His daughter, Maria Alejandra Betancur, disputed the detention, noting he had valid asylum and work authorization documents. He is now required to wear an ankle monitor while his immigration case proceeds before an immigration judge.

During a traffic stop in Fort Pierce, Florida, ICE officers allegedly crashed their vehicle into a man's car. The man's 18-month-old child was left unattended in the back seat after the father fled the scene. Strangers found the child at La Central & American Grocery store on Okeechobee Road and are attempting to locate the family.

A man was pursued on foot by ICE agents in Bonita Springs, Florida while riding a bicycle. According to witness video, an unmarked vehicle made a U-turn to intercept him, and when the agents exited the vehicle, the man abandoned his bicycle and ran. He was detained in a nearby commercial parking lot.

Yajaira, a 37-year-old Honduran mother of two with a valid work permit, was pulled over and arrested by federal immigration officers while driving through the Florida Keys on July 20. She was held for five days in an overcrowded concrete holding cell at the ICE field office in Miramar, Florida, jammed in with roughly 50 other people, given little food, no room to sleep, and limited phone access. She suffered an anxiety attack and passed out, was taken to a hospital by ambulance, and was returned to the facility still carrying an IV in her arm, according to her sister Marlene. Yajaira was later transferred to a detention center in El Paso, Texas, and is now held at an ICE facility in Spokane, Washington, while her family has hired an attorney to file a habeas corpus petition on her behalf.

Jhorland Atehortua, a 22-year-old Colombian national, was arrested by Polk County Sheriff's Office deputies on Interstate 4 after being clocked traveling 101 mph in a 70 mph zone and driving erratically. Deputies observed signs of impairment and found marijuana and a smoking pipe in his vehicle during a search. Atehortua faces charges including DUI, dangerous excessive speed, reckless driving, possession of cannabis, and possession of drug paraphernalia, with each charge enhanced by one degree due to his immigration status. ICE has placed a detainer hold on him at the Polk County jail.

Andrea Cristina Villacis Duque and her immediate family were detained by ICE. Described as a loving sister, daughter, and friend to many, Andrea Cristina is the subject of a GoFundMe campaign organized on behalf of HeartKind Foundation to raise funds for immigration attorneys' fees, food allowances, phone call balances, and other detention-related costs, with the goal of avoiding deportation.

Five immigrants detained by ICE at the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami reported experiencing severe conditions including cramped, scorching-hot cells, widespread cockroach infestations, broken toilets overflowing with waste, and denial of medical care. According to accounts from detainees, their relatives, and a prison employee, men sleep in their underwear to keep cool and sweat through bedsheets due to extreme heat. Family members and advocates reported severe overcrowding with up to 97 men in cells designed for 50, lack of air conditioning during extreme heat, inadequate medical care, cockroach-infested meals, and forced consumption of contaminated water. Families alleged that detainees who spoke to media about these conditions faced retaliation, including solitary confinement and warnings from officers not to speak publicly. The facility, a Bureau of Prisons location, has housed ICE detainees as part of mass deportation operations, with many detainees recently transferred from other regional holding centers including the now-closed Alligator Alcatraz facility.

Maikel Guerra Morales, a Cuban national convicted of aircraft piracy in 2003 after hijacking a commuter plane, was released from ICE custody by Senior U.S. District Judge John E. Steele on July 8, 2026, after more than six months in detention. Judge Steele ruled that ICE lacked a concrete plan to deport Morales and was violating the 2001 Supreme Court decision in Zadvydas v. Davis against indefinite detention. Morales had been released under supervision in March 2023 but was re-arrested in December 2025 despite complying with all supervision terms. Judge Steele ordered ICE to release Morales within 24 hours under the same conditions that had previously applied. In an exclusive statement, Morales expressed gratitude for Judge Steele, saying he would "always remember Judge Steele as a man who honored the oath he took" and calling him someone who applied "the law with independence, integrity, and justice." Judge Steele died at age 77 days after issuing the ruling. U.S. Rep. Greg Steube subsequently filed articles of impeachment against the deceased judge, making Judge Steele the first federal judge to die during impeachment proceedings.

A delivery driver and father of three daughters was detained by ICE, creating financial and emotional hardship for his family. His detention occurred during his youngest daughter's middle school graduation. The family is raising funds to cover household expenses, legal fees, and other needs while he remains detained.

On the morning of July 14, immigration agents in police vests and masks conducted enforcement operations in Arcadia, Florida. At La Placita Mexicana restaurant on U.S. Highway 17, Magi Velasquez, the restaurant manager, warned customers to flee after spotting agents asking for papers; agents chased a man who fled the parking lot. About 30 minutes later near a CVS a block away, witness J.F. observed agents arresting an elderly man close to 80 and another man in work clothes, forcibly loading them into a van. The Arcadia Police Department and DeSoto County Sheriff's Office both denied involvement, though both agencies have officers trained in immigration enforcement through 287(g) agreements. The incident occurred amid multiple ICE enforcement actions across Florida in recent days.

Juan Jairo Coronilla Durán, a 28-year-old Honduran national and father of two, was fatally struck by a tractor-trailer on State Road 16 in St. Augustine, Florida on July 14, 2026, while fleeing ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents. Coronilla Durán had arrived in the United States three weeks earlier on a valid tourist visa to work, according to his wife Yésica Alamilla López. During an early-morning operation at a Wawa gas station parking lot near Interstate 95, federal agents stopped a vehicle with four occupants; all four fled on foot. While attempting to cross the busy highway, Coronilla Durán slipped on wet grass in the median and was struck by the semi-truck. A veterinary nurse and an off-duty firefighter among bystanders attempted to render aid and perform CPR at the scene, but he died at the location. His death occurred during a week in which at least three other fatalities were linked to immigration enforcement encounters under the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign.

A man was detained by ICE while on his way to work. He has been a father figure for over 4 years to his stepdaughter and is the biological father of a 2-year-old son who recently celebrated his second birthday. His family describes him as someone who worked hard to provide for and care for them. His stepdaughter is raising funds for immigration legal representation to fight his case.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 309 people during a four-day operation in Palm Beach County from July 6 through July 10, 2026. Among those detained was the owner of a Guatemalan bakery in Lake Worth Beach. The operation was a joint effort involving federal, state, and local law-enforcement agencies, including more than 100 agents and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office under the state's 287(g) agreements mandated by Governor Ron DeSantis. Of the 309 arrested, only 11 had legal violations beyond their immigration status, such as DUI, drug charges, or driving without a license, and one person was identified as a suspected member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

About 10 employees at Ternerita Steakhouse in Orlando were detained by ICE on the night of July 10, 2026, after an employee called police following a workplace dispute, prompting an inspection of the restaurant. Owner Luis Tarrés said authorities found the restaurant fully compliant with licensing and operational requirements, but officers detained and handcuffed workers who lacked U.S. citizenship or permanent residency, including some with valid work permits and Social Security numbers, leaving only citizens and residents behind. Tarrés, describing the business as family-run, said the restaurant has been unable to reopen since the raid due to lack of staff, and that prospective hires he has since approached fear suffering the same fate. The employee who initially called police has not publicly explained what prompted the call.

Between July 6–10, 2026, federal, state, and local law enforcement arrested 309 undocumented immigrants during a five-day immigration enforcement operation in Palm Beach County conducted under the federal 287(g) program. More than 100 federal, state, and county personnel participated, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Enforcement and Removal Operations, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Border Patrol, Florida Highway Patrol's Criminal Apprehension Team, and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, with support from the Florida National Guard and Florida State Guard. Jacob Zapeta-Castro was among those detained during the enforcement activity, arrested at his bakery where he worked. The operation drew community concern and outrage over the detention methods and scope of the sweep.