Human Impact Project

Victor Martinez Nieto and his 5-year-old son, Liam Tadeo, were detained by ICE agents during a traffic stop in North Austin on August 16, 2026, while driving to a children's soccer game. Video showed Liam crying and clutching his handcuffed father's hands; a family spokesperson said Liam had been due to start kindergarten that week. The two were held together at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, where attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch said officials denied requests to release Liam to his mother in Austin rather than risk him being placed alone in Office of Refugee Resettlement custody. DHS said Martinez Nieto had entered near Laredo in 2022, was arrested in November 2025, and had reentered after a prior deportation. Lawmakers Joaquin Castro, Greg Casar, and James Talarico called for the pair's release and for Dilley's closure, with Castro denied a facility visit. Martinez Nieto agreed to depart voluntarily with his son, and the two were deported to Mexico, reuniting with relatives with help from the Mexican Consulate, while Liam's mother sought ways to reunite with him.

Patricia, a 19-year-old Honduran woman living in Austin, was separated from her 8-month-old breastfeeding son after she called 911 to report abuse by her boyfriend but was instead arrested on an assault charge. Prosecutors later dismissed the charge, but ICE took her into custody and held her nearly six weeks at the South Texas Detention Complex, where she suffered painful, swollen breasts and pleaded for a breast pump while her son stayed with a family friend. Patricia said she fled Honduras two years earlier after being raped by a gang member who continued to harass her, and that she had sought asylum in the U.S. Attorneys with the nonprofit American Gateways sued for her release, and U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia in San Antonio ruled that the government had violated the Constitution by detaining her without a hearing, ordering ICE to release her within two days. She was reunited with her son, but still faces a deportation order that her lawyers are appealing.

Cristy Maryori Villafranca Trejo, 29, wife of active-duty Army Sgt. Hedár Leonel Turcios Juárez stationed at Fort Bliss, was detained by ICE agents on July 11, 2025 outside an El Paso-area Walmart as the couple's 6-year-old U.S. citizen daughter watched masked agents handcuff her. She had fled Honduras in 2016 and received a 2017 removal order after missing a court hearing she says she was never notified of; she had no criminal record and served as the family's primary caregiver, including during her husband's nine-month deployment. She was held at Camp East Montana on Fort Bliss, where she and her husband reported developing an infection, going without clean clothing for about a week, and experiencing unsanitary conditions consistent with a Human Rights Watch report citing excessive force and medical neglect at the facility. An initial deportation attempt in August 2026 was halted mid-flight after a legal appeal, but despite a pending Board of Immigration Appeals case and military parole-in-place application, she was ultimately deported to Honduras on August 24, 2026. Turcios, a naturalized U.S. citizen since 2024, said, 'She has been my everything... I'm just asking for my family to be together so I can continue with my military career,' and has continued his duties while arranging child care alone and paying for private legal representation. Rep. Veronica Escobar opened a congressional inquiry and visited her in detention, saying her heart 'breaks for her, her children and the soldier who must feel so betrayed by the country he is sacrificing for.' She is at least the seventh spouse or parent of an active-duty service member deported under the administration's immigration crackdown, according to an Associated Press tally.

Oswaldo José Pirela, a 34-year-old Venezuelan-born catching coordinator for the San Diego Padres' minor-league system, was detained by immigration authorities upon arrival at El Paso International Airport while traveling for work. Pirela lives near Phoenix, Arizona, with his wife and two U.S.-born daughters, previously played in the Texas Rangers' minor-league system after signing in 2009, and has coached for the Padres since 2024. He entered the U.S. in 2014, applied for asylum in 2015 citing fears of persecution over criticism of the Venezuelan government, and has a pending green card application along with a work permit his family says remains valid. DHS said his authorized stay expired in February 2018 and that pending applications or work permits do not confer legal status. His sister, Daniela Pirela, said he has lived in the U.S. for 12 years, and relatives described him as a devoted father, dedicated coach, and man of faith respected by coworkers and players, seeking help from Rep. Abraham Hamadeh. The Padres organization said it was aware of the situation and gathering details. His detention followed a broader ICE practice, begun in July, of using TSA flight lists to identify and detain travelers at airports. Pirela was released from ICE custody on bond on August 24 and reunited with his family, pending removal proceedings.

Ulises, originally from Veracruz, Mexico, was deported after living in the United States for 30 years, leaving behind his wife and two sons who remain there. He was held at an ICE detention center in Texas before being flown to Tulum with no money, and said he plans to apply for a passport and visa so he can reunite with his family through legal channels.

Santiago, a father from Oaxaca, Mexico, was deported after years of working in the United States and sending remittances that funded his children's education, including one child who recently graduated with a specialty in gastronomy. He was held at an ICE detention center in Texas before being flown to Tulum without money or belongings, and relied on relatives to pay for a flight home.

David, from Querétaro, Mexico, was deported after working in the United States for more than two years to repay a $16,000 debt he borrowed to make the trip north. He was held at an ICE detention center in Texas before being flown to Tulum, arriving with no money or belongings and relying on family and friends to pay for a domestic flight home. He returned to Mexico with no savings and no job.

Gustavo was arrested by ICE on a Wednesday morning while on his way to work. His wife, Flor Cecilia, who is unable to work due to health issues, and their children Kenia and Gustavo Jr. are struggling financially as a result. The family is raising money to hire an attorney to secure his release from jail and fight his deportation case.

Carlos Téllez-Sanchez, a 35-year-old Venezuelan man who fled to Dallas, Texas, worked at a car dealership and delivered for Uber Eats to support his family while awaiting the birth of his son. He held a 2021 Withholding of Removal order protecting him from deportation and had no criminal record beyond civil immigration violations, but ICE detained him in December 2025 during what he believed was a routine work permit renewal check-in. He said an ICE agent told him to 'shut up' when he tried to explain his protection order, and he was moved between detention facilities more than six times over nearly eight months, during which he said he witnessed constant verbal abuse by officials. On August 20, 2026, he was flown in handcuffs to Liberia with 19 other deportees, nearly 6,000 miles from his wife and newborn U.S. citizen son, whom he has only seen via video calls. His brother Juan Tellez described him as 'a good person and hard worker' who 'doesn't deserve what happened to him,' and Téllez-Sanchez, fearing for his safety in Venezuela, is weighing whether to seek asylum in Liberia or travel elsewhere.

Maria Alejandra Gomez-Quiroz, a 21-year-old pregnant woman from Colombia, was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol in June while fleeing guerrilla violence with her partner and planning to seek asylum. Convicted of illegal entry on July 6, she has been held for more than 40 days at the Dilley family detention facility in Texas and is now five months pregnant. Her sister, Kelly Ocampo, said the family paid more than $3,000 to someone posing as an immigration lawyer who sent a fraudulent letter on ICE letterhead falsely claiming Gomez-Quiroz's bond had been approved. Ocampo said her sister has become 'very depressed' and reported lower abdominal pain, while their mother is described as 'desperate.' DHS said Gomez-Quiroz remains in custody pending removal proceedings and disputed claims of inadequate medical care. She is one of at least 500 people detained at Dilley and one of four pregnant women held there, according to lawmakers, and a federal judge in California has ordered a special master and independent monitor to examine custody conditions and medical care at the facility.

Elvis Rodriguez Venturas, a Honduran immigrant who worked in construction in Texas, was deported by ICE to Liberia on a flight that landed Aug. 20, 2026, along with 14 other non-Liberian migrants from Latin America and Africa. An immigration judge had previously barred his deportation to Honduras after finding he could be harmed there, and he had been using that protection to work legally in the U.S. He and other deportees said they were given no advance notice of the move and are now housed in a hotel in a remote coastal area of Liberia. His wife and four children, two of whom are U.S. citizens, remain in Texas, and he said he feels "far away, on the other side of the world."

Liam Tadeo, a 5-year-old just days from starting kindergarten, was detained by ICE agents alongside his father, Victor Martinez Nieto, after federal agents stopped their vehicle in Austin, Texas, while the family was headed to a soccer game. Both were booked into the CoreCivic-operated South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, where DHS said they would remain together pending Martinez Nieto's removal. Attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch said Martinez Nieto begged ICE to release Liam to his mother, as was done for the boy's 3-year-old cousin and uncle detained in the same stop, but ICE refused. Liam's mother said she could not say goodbye to her son, that his bedroom remains untouched, and that the family wants them reunited. His aunt described him in a GoFundMe post as 'a beautiful, intelligent, and big-hearted little boy.' DHS said Martinez Nieto, a Mexican national, had previously accepted voluntary departure in February before reentering the U.S. without authorization. Fuerza Migrante called on Mexican authorities to intervene, while U.S. Rep. Greg Casar called for Liam's immediate release and closure of the Dilley facility, and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro said ICE denied his request to visit the family. Members of Congress have said children at Dilley have been denied medical care, and an immigration attorney said Liam will likely remain there for weeks with an uncertain future.

ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents entered private property in Brownsville, Texas, to arrest a man, while the property owner demanded to see a judicial warrant. According to local news reports cited in the post, immigration authorities told the Brownsville Police Department they would be increasing their presence in the city.

Nazira Haji Zada, a 47-year-old Afghan lawful permanent resident, was arrested at her home in Fort Worth, Texas, in July 2026 after prosecutors alleged she supported a plan by her son and son-in-law to carry out an ISIS-inspired mass shooting on Election Day 2024. Rather than face criminal charges, the Justice Department pursued the first-ever case against her in the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, a specialized federal tribunal created in 1996 but never previously used, which permits the use of classified evidence. Her court-appointed public defenders challenged the proceedings on due process grounds and questioned the court's constitutionality, arguing evidence had been withheld from her defense, though the judge allowed the case to proceed. Haji Zada ultimately waived her right to contest the proceedings and consented to removal, and a federal judge ordered her deportation to Afghanistan on August 20. Her son Abdullah was separately sentenced to 15 years in prison, and her son-in-law pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges.

Berhanu Kibret, a pharmacy instructor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy since 2023, was detained by federal immigration agents at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on July 21, 2026, while returning from an American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy conference where he had just been honored as a teacher of the year. Authorities alleged he was undocumented and had overstayed a visa that expired May 31, 2024, despite his holding valid work authorization. University of Maryland officials described him as "an effective and beloved teacher" and a "highly valued" colleague. Kibret remained in detention following the arrest. His detention occurred the same day Ecuadorian traveler Chantal Morales Rojas was detained at Denver International Airport, amid a broader increase in ICE enforcement activity at U.S. airports.

A resident in Brownsville, Texas recorded federal Homeland Security Investigations (HSI/ICE) agents restraining a man on the ground inside a commercial plaza. In the video, a bystander can be heard questioning the agents' presence on what he calls "private property," while an officer orders him to back away under threat of arrest. Brownsville Mayor John Cowen criticized the increased aggressiveness of federal immigration operations in the area, saying it "sends the wrong message" and that "it makes no sense to go after people who follow the rules."

A group of construction workers was detained by ICE agents at a job site in the Texas Heights residential development in Weslaco, Texas. A video recorded by a bystander shows workers telling agents they were on private property while officers restrained and detained several of their coworkers. "We couldn't do anything for our coworkers," one worker said.

Emilio, a Deaf Venezuelan man who had lived in Texas for nearly four years and worked at Amazon, was detained by ICE in December 2025 during what he expected to be a routine asylum check-in. He spent about nine weeks in immigration detention without ever receiving a sign language interpreter despite requesting one. He was later placed on a bus in southern Texas and only realized he was being deported to Mexico, rather than his home country of Venezuela, when he saw the Mexican flag; he arrived in Villahermosa with no passport and had never lived in Mexico before. He did not know Mexican Sign Language, which differs from Venezuelan Sign Language, and traveled to Mexico City with financial help from fellow Deaf community members, remaining stuck with no connections in the country. A second Deaf immigrant, Edgar, reported similar experiences of being denied interpreter access during his deportation proceedings. According to data from the nonprofit Mobile Pathways verified by Mother Jones, more than 100 Deaf people who use sign language as their primary language have received deportation or removal orders since the beginning of 2026.

The petitioner is currently held at the T. Don Hutto Detention Center and filed a federal habeas corpus petition challenging his ongoing detention without an individualized determination of whether that detention is necessary. His case implicates a broader legal dispute over whether certain applicants for admission may only be mandatorily detained for 90 days under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) without a bond hearing. The court found that, on the face of the petition, he may be entitled to relief and ordered the government to show cause in writing by August 25, 2026, as to why the writ should not be granted. The petitioner may file a reply by August 28, 2026, and either party may request a hearing. The court also ordered that he not be removed from the United States or transferred outside the Austin Division pending further order, preserving its ability to hear the case.

A detained immigrant filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, challenging his immigration detention. He is currently held at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas. The document does not specify the date or circumstances of his apprehension. The court ordered Respondents to file a response within 7 days addressing the date Petitioner entered the United States, whether he was previously apprehended and released by immigration authorities, and the status of his immigration and/or removal proceedings. The court also permitted electronic notice of filing to constitute proper service on the government respondents. Petitioner was granted 7 days to file a reply after the response is filed.