Human Impact Project

Maria Gonzalez Itzep was detained by ICE agents while on her way to work on Palm Beach Boulevard, along with her 4-month-old and 3-year-old children, according to protesters who gathered outside the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Center in Lee County demanding their release. Protesters said Gonzalez Itzep was nursing her infant at the time and noted her two children were born in the U.S. Friends described the family as hard-working and close-knit, with one acquaintance saying, "These are good people. These are not criminals." ICE did not respond to a request for comment on the family's status.

Andrei Mikhailov, a Russian immigrant who fled with his wife Kseniia Volkova to escape danger after criticizing the Russian government and the war with Ukraine, has been held at Folkston ICE Processing Center in Georgia since being detained by Border Patrol while on vacation in Florida in February. His wife said he was on the seventh day of a hunger strike as of Monday and that his mental and physical health has deteriorated while he awaits a new asylum hearing date. Volkova, who was released with an ankle monitor after the same encounter, said she has spent $40,000 in legal fees and remains hopeful he will be freed. A spokesman for Rep. Bill Foster's office said they are seeking his release or a transfer to a facility closer to family.

Artemio Castillo-Romero, who entered the U.S. from Honduras seeking political asylum, was detained by ICE agents in Collier County just minutes after state troopers pulled him over for a traffic violation and let him go with only a warning. He held a valid work permit and driver's license and had no criminal record, according to his wife, Dedee Castillo. His sister-in-law, Larissa Diliberato, pleaded with officers at the scene to release him, and his wife is now calling for his release on bond, citing his severe sleep apnea and worsening mental health while in detention.

Yasmany Noel Moreno-De Armas, a Cuban immigrant who fled Cuba by raft and reunited with his family in the U.S. in 2022 after six years apart, was deported by the U.S. to the Central African Republic despite having no criminal charges on his record in Florida. He said he did not know his destination until the plane landed, and feared the Cuban government would punish him for being a balsero and for trying to use the 'wet foot, dry foot' policy. He now lives under International Organization for Migration protection in a guarded apartment complex in Bangui with his roommate Fernandez-Garcia, and has developed high blood pressure, shortness of breath, and panic attacks. His father, Hiovany Moreno Noa, who lives in South Florida, said he fears for his son's safety in a country he knows almost nothing about and that the family has once again been separated.

Arístides Fernández García, a 37-year-old Cuban trucking company owner who fled Cuba in 2021 after being kidnapped and robbed in Mexico, was living in South Florida under an I-220A release order when ICE arrested him during a targeted operation at a Miami immigration courthouse on January 6, 2026, despite having a pending asylum case and no deportation order. He spent about seven months moving through detention facilities including Krome, 'Alligator Alcatraz,' and centers in Louisiana and Texas, losing 60 pounds. On July 30, he was shackled and flown about 22 hours with roughly 80 other detainees to Bangui, Central African Republic — a country under the highest U.S. State Department travel advisory — without being told the destination until mid-flight. Stripped of his ID, money, and phone, he now lives confined in a guarded shared apartment with no legal status, passport, or embassy support, while his elderly great-aunt and great-uncle in New Jersey wait for his return. "I paid taxes, I never got a traffic ticket. I did everything right," he said, describing feeling "kidnapped" and saying "we are prisoners here... they have violated all the rights that exist in life, because we are human beings." He still hopes to pursue his asylum claim; immigration attorney Morella Aguado said there is no legal basis for sending migrants to a country not designated by an immigration judge.

Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen born in Cairo, Georgia, who grew up speaking the Indigenous Maya language Tzotzil after moving to Mexico as an infant and returning to the U.S. four years ago, was arrested by Florida Highway Patrol on April 16, 2025 after being stopped for speeding while riding as a passenger with two men carrying Guatemalan IDs. He was charged under Florida's Senate Bill 4C, a state law criminalizing unauthorized entry that had been temporarily blocked by court order, despite presenting a Georgia ID. He was held at Leon County Jail on an ICE detainer without food, even after his mother, Sebastiana Gomez-Perez, and a community advocate presented his birth certificate and Social Security card. A Leon County judge confirmed his citizenship and found no probable cause for his detention but said she lacked jurisdiction to order his release because ICE had requested a 48-hour hold. After roughly 30 hours in custody, he was released and reunited with his mother amid a crowd of protesters outside the jail, following public advocacy from civil rights advocates, journalists, and elected officials. His case was later cited among more than 500 U.S. citizens reported detained by ICE.

Mario Sanchez and Liliana Leon were detained by ICE agents while working in North Miami, Florida, and taken to a holding facility. Both are authorized to work and live in the U.S. and have had a pending asylum case for over 10 years after fleeing government persecution in Venezuela. Their daughter started a fundraiser to cover legal costs, saying the couple is being held in ICE detention indefinitely with no release date.

Volkan Guzey, a Turkish national and longtime captain at Carbone Miami, was detained by ICE agents at Miami International Airport on September 4, 2026, just as he and his wife, Eliana Cabrera, prepared to board a flight for their honeymoon. The couple had married less than three months earlier and had planned a road trip through Cabrera's home state of Utah. Guzey had worked at Carbone Miami, part of Major Food Group, since January 2021, with prior experience at Fig & Olive, Del Posto, and The Grill. He was transferred from Florida to Texas and then to Colorado, where he is held at the Denver Contract Detention Facility awaiting a master calendar and bond hearing. Cabrera describes him as generous, hardworking, and caring, and says he was the couple's primary income earner; she filed a Form I-130 petition to establish their marriage as part of his immigration case and started a GoFundMe to cover legal fees and living expenses.

Héctor López was detained by law enforcement and taken into ICE custody on October 7 while on his way to work, according to his partner Andrea. He is described as a loving, responsible, and hardworking man who is the primary caregiver for his two children. His family is seeking legal representation for his immigration case and has lost a key source of household income since his detention.

Yasmani Noel Moreno de Armas, a 31-year-old Cuban who arrived in Florida by raft in 2016 under the 'Wet Foot, Dry Foot' policy and ran a small trucking business between Miami and Tampa to help support his parents near Orlando, was detained by ICE in West Palm Beach on May 11, 2025, after his green card bid under the Cuban Adjustment Act was denied. He was held for about a year before being deported in late July/August 2026 not to Cuba but to the Central African Republic on a roughly 21-22 hour shackled flight, learning his destination only hours into the trip. Moreno, who manages diabetes and asthma, said the flight left him ill and triggered an anxiety attack. He is now confined at the Maison Confort lodging in Bangui alongside migrants from Afghanistan, Vietnam and Russia, without a passport, visa or legal status, suffering stomach problems and allergies, and says he was kidnapped twice by armed men he believed were security forces, with family and a fellow detainee paying about $100 for his release. A Cuban embassy representative told him Cuba would not take him back because he left as a 'rafter' migrant, and he fears returning there given a past imprisonment for trying to flee. 'They brought us here illegally,' he said, adding his parents 'went crazy, crying and yelling' when he told them where he was; his attorney is negotiating with federal officials for his return.

Jeffrey Jarquín, 35, a Nicaraguan exile who was a prominent figure in the 2018 anti-government protests against President Daniel Ortega, was deported from the U.S. to Nicaragua and immediately imprisoned at El Modelo, the same maximum-security prison where he had previously been tortured. Jarquín had fled to Miami seeking asylum but was arrested in February on an assault charge that was later dismissed; while still in custody, immigration agents began deportation proceedings, and his asylum claim was denied by an immigration judge in Louisiana in July. Advocates said Jarquín had agreed to be deported but asked to be sent to a third country rather than Nicaragua. His U.S. lawyer, Osley Sallent, confirmed the deportation, and a family member said he was taken straight to the prison upon landing in Managua. Activist Muriel Sáenz said the U.S. had sent him 'back into the hands of his tormentors.'

Danilo Alves Silva, 46, was arrested after authorities said he dressed up as an ICE agent—wearing an ICE hat, raid jacket, tactical gear, and a face mask—to intimidate voters at a Miami-Dade College polling site during Brazil's presidential election. Several voters became visibly afraid that an immigration agent was interfering with the election and could deport them. Silva later admitted the outfit was a costume he bought online and said he returned to record people's reactions after voting himself. He allegedly threatened a detective and offered a bribe after being detained, and faces charges including felony voting intimidation, bribery, threatening a public servant, and unlawful use of police insignia.

Christian Omar González, a 27-year-old Cuban man living in Hialeah, Florida, has been held at an ICE facility in Miramar for nearly two months after being arrested on August 5 while riding as a passenger to his job in West Palm Beach. His mother and grandmother have publicly pleaded for his release, with his mother saying 'mi niño no es ningún delincuente,' insisting he has no criminal record. ICE said he was arrested during a joint operation with the Florida Highway Patrol following alleged traffic violations, though the vehicle's driver, U.S. citizen Luis Villalba, disputes that account and says he was never ticketed. González left Cuba in 2022 to avoid mandatory military conscription after the July 11 protests, and his asylum case is pending; a bail request was denied because he was classified as an 'arriving alien,' a category that bars the immigration judge from granting bond. His family says they have taken on debt trying to secure his release, and his attorneys note his case coincides with a pending U.S. Supreme Court review of whether ICE can detain migrants in this category without bond. The Miramar facility where he is held has reportedly held as many as 342 people despite an official capacity of 56.

Reginaldo Quej, Erwin Orlando Xoy Acaham, and Catherine Migdalia Rax Sis, Guatemalan workers at Chile & Chili's Taqueria in Tallahassee, Florida, were detained on September 25, 2026 after ICE and Florida Highway Patrol attempted to stop a vehicle near the restaurant suspected of carrying someone without legal status. The three fled on foot before being caught and handcuffed, and ICE said the taqueria itself was not the target. Rax, 25, said from Flagler County Jail that she sends money home to support her mother, who has cancer, and described her coworkers as having become like family, saying the experience was 'not living — it's surviving.' Owner Marco Tenorio, who watched the raid via security cameras while in Mexico, called the workers 'good people trying to make a living,' noted it was the third immigration operation the business had faced in just over a month, and said employees had panic attacks during the raid. An immigration attorney said none of the three had a serious or prior criminal history, though legal statuses varied. Remaining staff quit out of fear, prompting the taqueria to permanently close, and community members raised nearly $13,000 via GoFundMe while the Tallahassee Immigrant Rights Alliance organized a rally outside the restaurant.

A U.S. citizen was injured when an ICE agent punched him during a work van stop in Naples Manor, Florida, after community members arrived to document and protest the stop. Graphic images shared with the Naples Daily News and The News-Press show an ICE agent pointing a gun toward bystanders during the encounter. June Sanson, a legal observer with the Rapid Response Alliance for Immigrant Safety and Empowerment, said the agent involved had previously pointed his weapon at her during an unrelated encounter in Immokalee. The advocacy group has planned a protest in Naples on Oct. 2 in response to the incident. ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The brother of Zolia Virgen Verduzco, who had lived in the United States for 45 years, was detained and deported to Mexico despite having legal counsel and ongoing documentation processes underway, according to Verduzco. She said her family had paid thousands of dollars in legal fees to try to keep him in the country. Verduzco shared her brother's story while attending a community rally in Tallahassee supporting other detained immigrants.

Alicia Labrador, a Venezuelan dermocosmiatrist and founder/CEO of the Aliestetic beauty and MedSpa brand, was detained by federal immigration authorities on September 30, 2026, while dropping off her 16-year-old daughter at a friend's home in Doral's Ibis Villas neighborhood. She also serves as vice president of the Hispanic Women's Chamber of Commerce of Doral. Her attorney, Ros Ana Guillén, says Labrador has a pending asylum application, valid work authorization, and a current driver's license, and family members say she entered the U.S. legally on a visa in 2016 with no criminal record. Her son, Héctor Sánchez, said he learned of the detention when his mother called him while she was with officers, telling Telemundo, 'I couldn't even speak.' Reports conflict on her location, with some saying she was transferred the same evening to a detention facility in Texas, while her attorney says she may be held at a CBP transit facility in Florida where she has not been permitted to visit her. She now faces deportation proceedings, and her family says they are focused on bringing her home.

Claudia Carolina Rodríguez Caglianone, a 28-year-old Venezuelan immigrant who served as captain of St. Thomas University's soccer team and earned bachelor's and master's degrees there, was detained by ICE at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on July 31, 2026, while trying to board a domestic flight. She had entered the U.S. in 2017 on a tourist visa, applied for asylum within six months, and held Temporary Protected Status until it expired in October. Her family said she was held for eight days at the Miramar ICE field office without being able to shower or change clothes, losing 15 pounds, before being transferred to facilities including the Broward Transitional Center and Pompano Beach. Her former coach praised her leadership and character. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz visited the facility, criticized ICE for detaining 'law-abiding residents like Claudia,' and raised concerns about hundreds of similar detainees, with the resulting public pressure contributing to her eventual release.

Jose Felipe Pacheco Bautista, a 21-year-old Fruitland Park man, was stopped by Leesburg police after radar showed his truck traveling 51 mph in a 45-mph zone on State Road 44 and Whitney Road. He and another occupant fled on foot while the vehicle was still rolling, and Pacheco Bautista was apprehended shortly after and charged with resisting an officer without violence. He was booked into the Lake County Jail, where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a hold on him.

Two mothers in Florida — a man's girlfriend and her sister — were detained by ICE, leaving five children, including a six-month-old, in the man's care. He had to quit his job to look after the children, none of whom were his own, and was left with no income to pay for food and diapers, according to the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights, which tried to support the family.