Human Impact Project

Miguel García-Hernández, an undocumented immigrant awaiting intake at an ICE facility in Dallas, was shot on September 24, 2025, when a gunman opened fire outside the facility. He died from his injuries on September 29, leaving behind his wife Stephany Gauffeny and three children. García-Hernández had been in ICE custody following a DUI arrest and was working toward legal status through a Biden administration initiative when the shooting occurred.

Watchdog groups alleged in a court filing that children and families held at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas face prolonged detention beyond legal limits, along with shortages of clean drinking water, chronic sleep deprivation, inadequate medical care, and lack of hygiene products. Legal experts filed accounts describing the facility environment and conditions for detainees.

Miguel Angel Garcia-Hernandez, 32, died from injuries sustained in a sniper-style shooting at a Dallas ICE facility on September 24. He was shot at least eight times and had been in critical condition at Parkland Hospital before being removed from life support. Garcia-Hernandez was the second victim to die from the attack, leaving behind his wife and four children.

Norlan Guzman-Fuentes, a 37-year-old El Salvadoran national, was shot and killed on September 24, 2025, when a gunman opened fire at a Dallas ICE facility's controlled entrance. Guzman-Fuentes was in ICE custody at the time. He was the financial provider for his mother in El Salvador, who depended on his support.

Geraldo Lunas Campos died after months in ICE detention at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas; his death has been ruled a homicide following reports that an officer choked him during an altercation. The facility, which documented 60 federal standard violations within 50 days of opening amid active construction, has since passed an ICE inspection despite continued allegations of abuse. Human rights groups, including the ACLU, sent ICE a letter detailing interviews with more than 45 detained immigrants describing physical and sexual abuse by officers and efforts to pressure people into self-deporting. Another detained immigrant, Francisco Gaspar Andres, died at the facility in December 2025 after not receiving adequate medical care.

Two 17-year-old U.S. citizens, including Luis Ochoa, were detained by ICE agents in Alamo, Texas, after stopping to record an immigration enforcement operation on their way to a Marine Corps recruitment office. Video showed an agent repeatedly hitting one teen and agents using pepper spray while pulling him from his car and handcuffing him; Ochoa said his wrist was broken and that an agent told him, after he identified himself as a citizen, "I don't give a damn. Your parents can't help you now." The teens were held for eight hours before being released, and DHS described them as "anti-ICE agitators" who obstructed and assaulted officers. Ten days later, Luis's mother, Teresa de Jesus Ochoa Briseño, was arrested outside the Alamo restaurant where she worked as a cook, denied the chance to sign voluntary departure papers, issued a final removal order, and sent to Reynosa, Mexico the same day without Luis or her attorney being allowed to see her beforehand; Luis said agents told the family the arrest was connected to their Facebook posts and pending lawsuits over his detention.

A young man was pulled from a vehicle, thrown to the ground, and punched in the face by ICE agents on a frontage road in Alamo, Texas, according to video shared by the group Stop ICE. The driver of the vehicle was also taken into custody during the incident, which occurred in the middle of the road as bystanders in traffic recorded and tried to alert others nearby. The group reports that ICE and Border Patrol activity has been increasing in the area, with drivers targeted in stops based on vehicle registration information.

A Honduran asylum seeker was detained by federal immigration authorities on or about September 10, 2025, and has since been held at the T. Don Hutto Detention Center in Taylor, Texas. He filed a habeas corpus petition along with applications for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, seeking an order barring his removal from the district, production of his detention records, a show-cause hearing, an expedited individualized custody hearing, and his release. He argued that his detention without a bond hearing violates due process and that he faces practical prejudice in preparing his asylum application while detained, raising a right-to-counsel claim. The court found he was not likely to succeed on the merits, citing statutory authorization for detention during removal proceedings and holding that right-to-counsel claims must be raised before the court of appeals on review of a removal order. The court also found no showing of irreparable harm, noting he did not demonstrate how a transfer or his continued detention would harm his asylum claim beyond ordinary hardships of detention. The court denied the TRO application and held the preliminary injunction request in abeyance.

Maria, 39, who came to El Paso from Ciudad Juárez on a visitor visa fleeing violence targeting her husband, a Mexican doctor now a naturalized U.S. citizen, was detained on Sept. 9, 2025, immediately after an immigration judge ordered her deportation at a hearing. About seven plainclothes, masked agents handcuffed her outside the courtroom and took her to the El Paso Processing Service Center, where she remained detained through Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. She was released Jan. 20, 2026, with an ankle monitor, and said she and her four U.S.-born children underwent family therapy after the ordeal.

Jose Pescador Garcia, a Mexico native who has lived in the U.S. over 25 years, was detained by ICE in September 2025 and later ordered removed by an immigration judge, a ruling he is appealing to the Board of Immigration Appeals. He is married to a U.S. citizen whose family petition on his behalf was approved, and he is the father and stepfather of seven U.S.-citizen children; his wife is eight months pregnant with a high-risk pregnancy involving detected chromosomal abnormalities. A federal judge in the Southern District of Texas granted his petition for a writ of habeas corpus in January 2026, finding no lawful basis for his continued detention.

Margarita Avila, a 50-year-old Houston mother, has been held in immigrant detention since March 2025 as the Trump administration seeks to deport her to Belize, a country she fled two decades ago due to threats against her family. She requested asylum more than a decade ago, and her case has remained pending since then. Her husband, José Avila, and their young sons, including 12-year-old Isaac and 10-year-old Jeremiah, have struggled with her absence, including during a Mother's Day church service where the boys had no mother to greet. José said, "It's really hard to see everything my wife is going through. It hurts not being able to be with my wife — and seeing my kids sad — because their mother is always around." Margarita is among tens of thousands of immigrants targeted for deportation under the Trump administration's stated goal of deporting 1 million immigrants annually.

Martin G., a 66-year-old Cuban man and testicular cancer survivor who has had a partial lung removal, was detained at Camp East Montana from September 2025. Despite daily written and verbal requests, he was never taken to see medical staff during his months of detention. His conditions worsened — he experienced severe headaches, trouble breathing, low oxygen levels, and lightheadedness. 'I'm scared that I will die here,' he said. When he engaged in a hunger strike to bring attention to his medical needs, guards tried to force him to eat on at least three occasions and then placed him in solitary confinement for seven days as punishment. His wife said: 'I pray for my husband's health every day. I pray that he will live and that I will be able to hug him again.'

Ramiro G., a 45-year-old Cuban man detained at Camp East Montana, was twice subjected to attempted forced expulsion to Mexico. On September 22, 2025, he was woken at midnight, chained, and bused with about 15 mostly Cuban men to the border. Guards told them to cross into Mexico. Ramiro refused, saying he was Cuban, had no ties to Mexico, and had previously been kidnapped by a cartel there. Some men crossed; Ramiro and three others refused and were returned. On December 15, guards tried again, this time telling him he was being transferred to another facility. When he overheard guards mention the Santa Teresa port of entry, a guard admitted the transfer was being carried out 'in secret.' He began shaking uncontrollably. Other detainees banged on doors in protest until he was returned to his cell. Guards had told him: 'Your country won't take you; leave now or we'll lock you up for life.'

CRB, a 16-year-old brought to the U.S. from Mexico at age seven and protected under the U.N. Convention Against Torture, was arrested by ICE at the San Antonio field office during an annual check-in appointment in September 2025. He was detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center for 141 days with his mother. During detention, he experienced depression, panic attacks, and self-harm. He reported hearing racist comments from guards and observed poor conditions including spoiled food and lights left on all night. He and his mother were released two days after his self-harm incident.

Manuel Chairez-Montes was deported from Texas after his alleged attacker was indicted for aggravated assault. With the case in limbo, the defendant Adan Yanez Porras was released on bond.

In August, photos and videos showed ICE arresting a man who owns a snack shop in Laguna Heights while he and another person were painting a home. His wife had been deported earlier in the year. The arrest occurred just hours before a protest at the Port Isabel Lighthouse, one of four demonstrations against ICE activity held in the area since July.

José Ángel, 17, was detained by ICE agents in Edinburg, Texas on August 25 while on his way to retrieve a truck left behind after his uncle's earlier detention. According to José and his sister Regina, 19, who spoke with N+ Univision, their uncle had been detained by ICE while with one of his children, who managed to escape. Their mother asked them to go pick up the abandoned truck, and José was preparing for school when he and Regina went to the location where he was detained.

Isabella García, a Mexican woman, said her U.S. tourist visa was canceled after she tried to cross into Eagle Pass, Texas, from Piedras Negras, Coahuila, with her 3-month-old son, a U.S. citizen. She said she was held for nearly seven hours and questioned by immigration agents about her son's birth, how she paid for the delivery, and her income, and that agents took her DNA, fingerprints, and photographs. She said she was told a new law applied to her case and that she could reapply for a visa in a year, and that anyone accompanying her son into the U.S. in the future would also face scrutiny. Her case comes amid increased government scrutiny of so-called "birth tourism," including efforts by Texas Governor Greg Abbott to investigate hospitals allegedly offering maternity packages to foreign women.

Sarah Shaw, a New Zealand national living in Washington State and an employee of the state's Department of Children, Youth, and Families, was detained along with her 6-year-old son Isaac after attempting to re-enter the United States from Canada. Shaw had crossed into Canada to drop off her two older children before trying to return home, but officials cited an issue with her travel paperwork, saying she lacked proper advance parole documentation for re-entry even though her son had valid travel documents. The pair were transferred to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, where they were held without access to their personal belongings.

Pedro Mariano Salgado, a 36-year-old Nicaraguan national, was arrested by ICE on August 4, 2025, at approximately 7:30 a.m. in Austin, Texas, as he left his home for work. According to his wife, two ICE vehicles followed him from his residence. Salgado has lived in the United States for over three years and works remodeling apartments. His wife states that the family has an open asylum case and an immigration court hearing scheduled for 2027. The couple has four children, including a newborn who is two months old. Salgado is currently detained at a detention facility in Pearsall. His wife, who says he is the family's primary breadwinner, is requesting assistance to pay for legal representation and cover her children's basic needs while seeking his release.