Human Impact Project

Kiko, a construction worker who has lived in the Atlanta area for nearly twenty years, was arrested by ICE agents on Tuesday morning while stopped at a QuikTrip with five coworkers on their way to a job site. According to his niece Victoria Garcia, agents surrounded the parked van with Tasers drawn before taking Kiko into custody. He has been held at the Atlanta ICE field office and was briefly transferred to Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin before being returned to Atlanta. Kiko supports himself and sends money to family members in Mexico, and had previously avoided travel out of caution regarding immigration enforcement.

Airida Gould, a Lithuanian national and licensed massage therapist who has lived in the United States for 26 years, was detained by ICE on May 16, 2026, during a green card interview at which USCIS had just approved her marriage petition. Gould is married to U.S. Army veteran Mark Gould and has three U.S.-born adult children. ICE officers handcuffed and detained her based on a 2009 removal order issued after she missed a court hearing due to road construction. During her 66 days in ICE custody, Gould was held at multiple facilities including Broadview, Illinois, Brazil, Indiana, and Kentucky. She described conditions at the Brazil facility as extremely poor. Her legal team, led by former immigration court Judge Carla Espinoza Grcic, filed an Emergency Motion to Reopen with the Board of Immigration Appeals. According to her husband's social media posts, Gould was deported on July 21, 2026.

Garnet Smith, a 44-year-old U.S. Army veteran originally from Jamaica, was released from the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma on July 21, 2026, after spending over nine months in ICE detention. During his detention, Smith reported experiencing sexual assault by a GEO Group guard during a pat-down search, as well as inadequate medical care for a broken hand and poor detention conditions including inedible food and foul drinking water. A federal judge granted Smith's habeas corpus petition on July 20, finding that his earlier bond hearing violated his due process rights and that his prolonged detention was unlawful. Smith continues to fight a deportation order to Jamaica while advocates call for an investigation into the alleged sexual assault.

Clayton Herman, a 54-year-old Canadian citizen who immigrated to the U.S. legally in 2002, was detained by ICE in October 2025 following a routine check-in at an ICE field office in Camarillo. During his initial eight-month detention at Adelanto ICE Processing Centre in California's Mojave Desert, Herman reported inhumane conditions including mold, inadequate medical care, poor food quality, and irregular schedules. Four detainees died at the facility during his detention. A federal magistrate judge ruled in June 2026 that his detention violated his rights and ordered his release. Herman was freed but re-arrested on July 21, 2026, after missing a July 10 deadline to file an appeal to his removal order; he stated his priority mail appeal was delayed in transit between Santa Barbara and Virginia. He was returned to Adelanto ICE Processing Centre and is now facing deportation to Canada, having refused to sign expedited deportation papers due to concerns about being separated from his cats and the life he built in the Ojai Valley.

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.

Alevtina Soboleva, a 59-year-old Russian asylum seeker from Sunnyvale, California, was detained by ICE agents at Buffalo Niagara International Airport on July 20 while returning from a vacation to Niagara Falls with her adult daughter, Daria. Soboleva had entered the U.S. legally on a visitor visa in 2021 and applied for asylum before it expired, citing fears of persecution in Russia over her opposition to the war in Ukraine. Her attorney said she held valid asylum documentation and work authorization. Daria said her mother, who has a progressive neurological disorder and gum disease requiring special hygiene care, was restrained with handcuffs and chains that caused her pain, developed an untreated fever, and was held in a cage without adequate water or bathroom access. She was transferred through multiple facilities, including Mahoning County Jail in Ohio and a South Louisiana ICE processing center. A federal judge later set her bond at $10,000, and she was released after nearly a month in custody and reunited with her daughter in the Bay Area.

Sanan Atou, 43, was held in solitary confinement for approximately three weeks in January at North Lake Processing Center in Northern Michigan. He says the isolation cell had poor heating, with a vent that did little to warm the corner room with two exterior walls from the former Baldwin prison facility. Atou stated: "I felt like I was going to freeze to death. I didn't know if I was going to wake up." Data shows that as immigration detention has expanded under the Trump administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has increasingly used solitary confinement, a practice experts say causes mental, physical, and psychological harm.

Maikol, a 22-year-old Venezuelan national, was detained in Utah and held in immigration custody for five months. He was transferred through multiple detention centers across the country and housed at Desert View Annex in Adelanto, California, where he says conditions were inhumane. He was recently released with conditions requiring him to return to Utah by a specific deadline to maintain his release status.

Elder Yuvini Aguilar Macario, a 19-year-old senior and soccer team captain at Trion High School in Georgia, was detained by ICE on May 1-2, 2026, following a traffic stop when officers discovered he lacked a valid driver's license. ICE discovered a prior deportation order dating back 13 years to his mother's denied asylum application when he was six years old, and placed a detainer on him through the 287(g) program. He was transferred to Irwin County Detention Center and later to Folkston ICE Processing Center, approximately 300 miles from his home in northwest Georgia, where he described being shackled during transport. Before his arrest, Aguilar Macario was a member of the soccer team and had begun taking welding classes at Georgia Northwestern Technical College. He missed his high school graduation ceremony, though his classmates gave him a standing ovation when his name was called and placed his cap, robe, and photo on an empty chair in his honor. His attorneys have filed to reopen his immigration case.

Jose Chajon-Raxon, a Guatemalan man, was detained at Delaney Hall, a privately run immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, on July 18. The next day, he experienced a seizure and was taken to University Hospital. He was released from ICE custody on July 22 but subsequently died. DHS did not publicly disclose his death, citing a 2023 policy change stating that ICE is no longer responsible for monitoring or reporting deaths occurring within 30 days of someone's release from custody. U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez disclosed the death publicly and criticized the policy as creating a "loophole" that allows ICE to avoid accountability.

Camila, a 5-year-old girl from Atlixco, Mexico, crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in summer 2025 and was detained in federal immigration custody for 118 days, separated from her mother who lived only a few miles away in New Haven, Connecticut. Unable to be taken by her parents due to their immigration status, the government classified her as "unaccompanied." During detention, Camila was held first in a CBP detention center, then in a Connecticut shelter where she was the youngest child present, and finally in an office building converted for federal use. She saw her mother, who has a pending legal residency application, for only one hour per week. A child psychiatrist's evaluation documented that Camila experienced nightmares, anxiety about family separation, and fear expressed through play. Her mother applied for custody but waited more than 90 days without receiving a decision, as the federal government repeatedly added requirements before deeming her application complete. Camila was released three days after her attorneys filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of her detention. She is now home with her mother and newborn brother, though she continues to experience separation anxiety and sleeps with her mother at night. During the same period, more than two dozen unaccompanied immigrant children were in federal custody in Connecticut on any given day, with some held for as long as 505 days.

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.

Guadalupe Moreno Cristin is detained at Adelanto's Desert View Annex detention facility in California. During his detention, his health has worsened significantly. He spent four days in the hospital due to internal bleeding, and according to his account, doctors recommended he remain hospitalized for two additional days, but ICE returned him to the detention facility before completing the recommended care. The Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice is advocating for his release and access to necessary medical treatment.

Celestin Dima, a gay asylum seeker from Burkina Faso, fled kidnapping, military persecution and police torture after being outed before crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in 2024. An Arizona immigration judge granted him withholding of removal, finding he would likely face persecution if deported home, but ICE held him at the Eloy Detention Center for nearly two years while searching for a third country willing to accept him, considering Ghana, Cameroon and Uganda—all countries where homosexuality is criminalized. While detained, he grew depressed, stopped eating, and was placed in solitary confinement for two weeks. A federal judge ordered his release in June 2026 after granting a joint habeas petition, but ICE redetained him on July 17 during a mandatory check-in at a field office in Lower Manhattan. He was then transferred through detention facilities in New Jersey and near Dallas, fitted with a GPS ankle monitor, and scheduled for deportation without being told in advance where he would be sent.

A man is detained by United States immigration enforcement officials at the Port Isabel Service Processing Center in Cameron County, Texas. He filed a habeas corpus petition seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent respondents from transferring him outside the court's jurisdiction while his case is pending. The court denied his motion, finding he failed to demonstrate substantial irreparable harm, since his counsel is located in New York City and cannot communicate with him in person regardless of his detention location.

Twin sisters Angely and Alexka Jerez-Medina, 18-year-old students at Western International High School in Detroit, were detained by ICE in Buffalo, New York on June 24, 2026, while working a summer job cleaning an Amazon warehouse. According to court documents, the twins have never been arrested or convicted of a crime, have attended all immigration court appointments, and had previous removal proceedings dismissed by an immigration judge with no current removal proceedings pending. Their teacher described them as excellent, hardworking, shy students, with Angely participating in the school's JROTC program and Alexka interested in pursuing a career in the sciences. Both are active members of Pan de Vida Lutheran Church in Detroit. The twins were subsequently transferred to ICE detention facilities in El Paso, Texas and Louisiana. An attorney filed a habeas corpus petition on their behalf on June 25, and U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and multiple state and local officials have requested their release.

Liam, 15, was arrested by local police in May 2025 following a fight; ICE agents separated him from his father who arrived to pick him up and took both into custody. Liam was held in an ICE office in Burlington, Massachusetts, then transferred to an ORR shelter in Texas for three months before being moved to Groton, Connecticut. Whether ICE ever properly contacted his mother to inform her she could pick him up remains disputed; she said ICE called her while he was in Burlington but did not tell her she could retrieve him, and she did not hear from him again until he was in Texas. The government made contradictory statements about the mother's availability, at one point claiming ICE couldn't locate her, then claiming ICE asked her to pick him up but she refused, while also stating she was at the police station during his arrest. Liam grew anxious and depressed in the shelters; a psychological evaluation recommended his release "as soon as possible" for his well-being. Federal Judge Vernon Oliver called the government's claims "disturbing" and "full of significant incongruities," and ordered Liam's release 27 days after the lawsuit was filed; his mother picked him up the following day after 255 days of detention.

Styrobert, a defected Venezuelan military officer who fled Venezuela in 2019 after opposing government corruption and human rights violations, was taken into custody at his routine ICE check-in appointment on July 14, 2026, despite appearing with his attorney and having a pending asylum petition. The ICE officer aggressively confined him to a separate room, insulted his attorney, and confiscated his phone, wallet, and clothing. Styrobert was transferred between multiple detention facilities—ICE Baltimore to Farmville, Virginia; then to Richmond ICE processing center; and finally to Wynn Detention Center in Louisiana. His attorney filed a Habeas Corpus Petition on 7/17 and a Temporary Restraining Order on 7/19 to prevent further transfers or deportation. Styrobert faces grave danger if deported to Venezuela, where he is considered an "Enemy of the State" and would face imprisonment and torture in the country's notorious prisons.

Victor, a Venezuelan national who arrived legally to the United States seven years ago, was detained by ICE on July 14, 2026, while en route to his volunteer shift as an official volunteer for the FIFA World Cup. He spent two weeks in a detention facility separated from his family, where he became ill and waited nearly two days to receive medication while housed in overcrowded conditions with over 100 people. Since his arrival in the U.S., Victor has worked, studied, paid taxes, and followed the law. He has since been released but faces significant legal expenses related to his case.

Jesús Manuel Arenas-Silva, a 45-year-old Venezuelan man, died on July 13, 2026, during a bus transfer between ICE detention centers in Georgia. ICE agents arrested him at his home in Dallas, Georgia on July 9, 2026. According to his sister, ICE allowed him to take only one of the multiple medications he needed despite the family's pleas not to detain him due to his medical needs. During his four days in detention at Irwin County Detention Center, Arenas-Silva called his sister to report that he was not receiving the medication he depended on. Staff found him unresponsive on the transfer bus between Irwin County Detention Center and Folkston ICE Processing Center at 7:46 a.m., and he was pronounced dead at Irwin County Hospital at 8:31 a.m. Cardiac arrest was listed as the suspected cause of death pending medical examination. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident. His death was one of four fatalities in immigration enforcement encounters within a single week.