Human Impact Project

Carmen F., an immigrant from South America, called police on her abusive husband and he was deported. She applied for a U visa, which provides crime victims a pathway to permanent residency if they cooperate with law enforcement. However, with a backlog causing wait times exceeding 15 years, the Trump administration has been deporting U visa applicants contrary to longstanding ICE policy. Carmen was detained and deported back to her home country with her young son, where her abusive ex-husband was waiting at the airport.

A father of two disabled children was deported to Mexico after being pulled over by ICE while driving to his drywall installation job. The deportation occurred despite his family obligations and care responsibilities for his disabled children.

According to reporting from SA Current, a pregnant woman named Juana was ordered deported by ICE when she was near her due date. Medical professionals and airlines told ICE she was too pregnant to safely fly, but ICE continued seeking officials willing to authorize her travel anyway. The case highlights failures in ICE's own policies protecting pregnant detainees.

Eight people from various African countries were deported from the United States to Uganda on April 3, 2026, marking the first deportation under a Safe Third Country agreement signed between the two nations in July 2025. The deportees were individuals of African origin who were denied asylum in the US and could not be returned to their home countries. A US judge approved their cases before the transfer. Uganda's Foreign Ministry confirmed accepting the deportees, though they were neither Ugandan nor US citizens. The Uganda Law Society and East Africa Law Society condemned the deportations as illegal, undignified, and dehumanizing, citing lack of proper procedures and engagement of state institutions, and announced plans to challenge the process in court.

Approximately 6,000 Cuban nationals have been deported from the United States to Mexico under an agreement between the Trump and Sheinbaum administrations. Most deportees arrive in Mexican cities including Tapachula and Villahermosa with no advance notice or state support. Many are elderly individuals who spent decades building lives in the U.S. and are unable to return to Cuba or re-enter the United States. The deportees face extreme poverty and homelessness while attempting to survive on the streets and seeking humanitarian visas to remain in Mexico.

A Guatemalan citizen married to a lawful permanent resident was taken into custody by ICE while her appeal was pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals. She had missed her March 2020 immigration hearing due to attorney error, resulting in a removal order in absentia. The court denied her request for emergency relief to delay removal and release from detention.

Abel Ramirez, a man with schizophrenia who had two strokes, was detained by ICE and deported to Mexico without his family being allowed contact. He moved to the U.S. as a child and is now alone in Mexico. His family is seeking help locating him after he was last seen boarding a bus to Mexico City.

Enrique, brought to the U.S. at age three and raised there for 24 years, was stopped by a state trooper for a license plate light issue and taken into custody based on his Mexican passport despite lacking a driver's license. He spent three months in ICE processing with multiple court appearances before being granted voluntary departure. He is now in Mexico documenting his experience and attempting to maintain his business remotely while seeking residency.

A 51-year-old Nicaraguan asylum seeker was re-detained by ICE on April 1, 2026, during a routine check-in appointment after living in the community for nearly three and a half years in full compliance with release conditions. She had no criminal history and was lawfully employed while her asylum application remained pending. The court ordered her immediate release, finding her detention without notice or hearing violated due process rights.

Melona fled Eritrea and sought asylum in the United States but was deported to Panama under a formal U.S. government agreement, a country where she has no ties and speaks no language. She was held in a hotel with hundreds of other migrants and asylum seekers without explanation or information about her future. The U.S. government is conducting deportation flights to Panama and Costa Rica as part of formal policy agreements. Melona's case represents a systemic pattern rather than an isolated incident.

A Honduran citizen who entered the U.S. as a minor in 2016 and lived freely for nearly 10 years was re-detained by ICE on April 1, 2026 while fishing. The government detained him under a new interpretation of immigration law without finding he was a flight risk or danger to the community. The federal court ordered his immediate release, ruling his detention unlawful.

A man who entered the U.S. in May 2021 and was granted humanitarian parole was arrested and detained by ICE during a routine check-in in April 2026 despite complying with all immigration conditions. The petitioner challenged his detention arguing it violated due process rights without a pre-deprivation hearing. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release with permanent injunction against re-detention without constitutional protections.

Marcus, a 52-year-old former archivist from Cameroon, and his 14-year-old daughter Élodie were detained during an ICE enforcement action at their apartment in Minneapolis on April 1, 2026. ICE cited a typographical error in Marcus's A-number in his temporary work authorization as justification for the detention. During the enforcement action, ICE mistakenly seized Élodie's architectural drawings, classifying them as "surveillance imagery." Both remain in detention and have been unable to contact a journalist documenting crimes related to art trafficking, which is central to their asylum case. A GoFundMe campaign was initiated to support their case.

An Afghan man who is a native and citizen of Afghanistan entered the United States on December 18, 2023, and was paroled under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5) with a Notice to Appear scheduled for August 30, 2029. On March 31, 2026, ICE took him into custody during a routine check-in without providing notice of the factual basis for revoking his parole. According to ICE's I-213 form, the revocation was based on a check revealing that he "had not been granted any lawful status to be in the U.S." He has no known criminal history and had complied with all conditions of his parole, including periodic check-ins with ICE. A federal magistrate judge granted his petition for writ of habeas corpus, finding that his re-detention without a hearing before a neutral adjudicator violated due process. The court ordered his immediate release with the same conditions he was subject to prior to his March 31, 2026 detention and enjoined respondents from re-detaining him without at least 7 days' written notice and a pre-deprivation bond hearing.

A Cuban national who entered the U.S. through CBP's One Program in August 2023 and was released on two-year parole was arrested by ICE on March 31, 2026 while on his way to work. He has a pending Application for Adjustment of Status under the Cuban Adjustment Act, possesses valid Employment Authorization, and has no criminal history. The court ordered his immediate release, finding his detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated due process.

Anton Smovzh was deported from the United States by ICE. Upon crossing the border into Ukraine following his deportation, he was immediately picked up by Ukrainian military draft officers and sent to a training center.

A 17-year-old attending a protest against ICE was detained and beaten repeatedly with a baton by officers, resulting in a broken femur that required emergency surgery. According to witnesses, the beating occurred while the minor was already surrounded by officers and detained. He is reportedly being denied visitors while hospitalized.

Pheap Rom, a Cambodian national with permanent resident status in the United States since 1985, was deported to Eswatini in October 2024 under the Trump administration's third-country deportation program. Rom had completed a 15-year prison sentence for attempted murder before deportation proceedings. He was detained at Matsapha Correctional Centre in Eswatini for approximately five months without criminal charges in that country. Rom was released and repatriated to Cambodia in late March 2026, becoming the second person repatriated under the agreement. The U.S. has paid Eswatini $5.1 million to accept up to 160 deportees under this arrangement, with approximately 15-20 men deported there during this period.

A noncitizen who had been previously released on bond or conditional parole was re-detained by immigration authorities on March 26, 2026. The court found that the government violated due process by failing to provide a pre-deprivation bond hearing before re-detaining him. The court ordered his immediate release with the same conditions he had prior to detention and required the government to provide seven days' notice and a pre-deprivation hearing before any future re-detention.

Alberto Rodríguez, 73, a Cuban who had lived nearly 50 years in the United States, was deported to Mexico as part of the Trump administration's third-country deportation program. He arrived in Villahermosa at 2 a.m. in prison garb and spent his first nights sleeping in a park. Rodríguez, who uses a cane due to a stroke that leaves him perpetually foggy, now sits outside a Catholic shelter with limited prospects for work or medical care. He has expressed suicidal ideation since his arrival.