Human Impact Project

Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and Palestine student leader who is a lawful permanent resident, was detained by immigration agents at his campus residence in March 2025. A federal appellate court reversed a lower court's decision releasing him in January 2026, and he remains in ICE detention as of the article date.

Lewelyn Dixon, a 64-year-old green card holder and University of Washington lab technician, was detained by ICE on February 28, 2025, after returning from the Philippines, following discovery of a 2000 embezzlement conviction by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Dixon had lived legally in the United States for over 50 years and completed restitution on her conviction in 2019. She is currently held at the Northwest ICE Detention Facility and is not bond eligible, with her first hearing scheduled for July 17. Her family and supporters have called for her release.

Sergey Kostenyuk, a longtime Spokane resident who came to the U.S. from Ukraine as a child refugee more than 30 years ago, was arrested by ICE agents who posed as customers on Facebook Marketplace seeking to buy a chicken coop from his shed-building business. He was detained for over two months based on two 2018 felony theft convictions before a judge ruled he did not meet federal criteria for deportation and ordered his release. Kostenyuk runs the business with his partner of more than 20 years, Mary Lesotti, with whom he has two sons.

Arbella Rodríguez Márquez, who has chronic lymphocytic leukemia and held a valid green card for two years before it was revoked, has now spent more than a year in ICE detention at the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona. State legislators, including members of the LGBTQIA caucus, and U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari have called for her humanitarian release, citing weight loss of 60 pounds, anemia and vomiting blood. ICE has disputed claims of inadequate care, stating she has been seen by medical professionals 13 times and has an upcoming offsite medical appointment.

Arbella "Yari" Rodríguez Márquez, a 47-year-old lawful permanent resident with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, has now spent more than a year at Eloy Detention Center, where she has lost 60 pounds and reportedly experiences anemia and vomiting blood. Three dozen Arizona state legislators from the LGBTQIA caucus have asked ICE to release her on humanitarian grounds, and U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari, who visited her in September, has written to Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons seeking her release. ICE disputes claims of inadequate care, saying she has been seen by medical staff 13 times and has an upcoming offsite medical appointment. An immigration judge revoked her green card after her initial detention in February 2025.

Arbella "Yari" Rodríguez Márquez, a 39-year-old former legal permanent resident with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, has been detained by ICE at the Eloy Detention Center since February 10, 2025. She has not received proper medical care for her cancer. Her health has deteriorated, including coughing up blood and losing 70 pounds. Detention center staff have denied her requests to see an oncologist and specialist. U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari visited the facility and documented conditions. The representative has called for immediate medical intervention and her release.

Andrea, a 31-year-old woman from Argentina with a Green Card who has lived in the United States since age three, was arrested in February 2025 after calling police during a domestic dispute with her partner. A judge approved her release on $1,000 signature bond, which her family paid, but ICE issued a detainer and transferred her to Krome North. She was shackled on a multi-stop bus journey and spent a night on the bus in shackles when Krome was closed. At Krome, a male-only facility, she was confined in a small visitation room with up to 30 women with no beds, showers, or privacy for the toilet. She was denied medical care and later transferred across the country to Houston Processing Center for two months, where officers repeatedly failed to inform her of court dates and cut off contact with lawyers and family for 48 hours. Andrea was postpartum, having given birth three months before detention and breastfeeding until arrest; her mother relocated to Florida to care for her children. She was released in late April after authorities retrieved documentation of an expunged cannabis conviction.

Gehovani Alvirde Ruiz, a lawful permanent resident, was detained by federal agents in his front yard on February 1, 2025. Agents claimed both his Social Security card and permanent residency card were fake and transported him to an immigration detention center where he was placed in a cell. After approximately two hours, agents released him, stating there had been an error in their system. Ruiz testified in the Venegas lawsuit regarding his experience.

Ashley's husband was detained during a Green Card interview in February 2025 at a USCIS office in Broward County, despite legal assurances he would not be. He was taken to Krome in Miami and subsequently deported to Honduras. Ashley, a mother of four daughters, initially remained in the U.S. but traveled to Honduras in March 2025 to reunite with him. The family now navigates separation with Ashley working multiple jobs while managing the instability caused by his deportation.

Jose Alvaro, an undocumented immigrant from Central America applying for a green card, was detained by ICE after a Lubbock police officer pulled him over for a license plate issue and called federal immigration authorities. The traffic stop has left his U.S. citizen wife Ashley and their three U.S.-born children facing deportation proceedings. Advocates have noted that routine police interactions can lead to deportations.

Marlon Parris, 45, an Iraq War veteran who came to the U.S. from Trinidad and Tobago in 1997 as a child brought by his father, a naturalized U.S. citizen, has been held at Florence Correctional Center since his January 22 ICE detention, two days after President Trump's inauguration. He had held a green card for nearly 30 years, renewed in 2007 and 2017, and received a no-interest letter from ICE in 2016 stating he would not be deported after serving time for a drug-related conviction; in 2023, U.S. Customs revoked his green card upon his return from a vacation abroad with his wife, Tanisha Hartwell-Parris. On May 9, Judge Frank Travieso of Florence Immigration Court said he was sympathetic to Parris's case but ruled the government had presented sufficient evidence to proceed with deportation; his attorney, Douglas Kouffie, has filed motions challenging that evidence and raised an equitable estoppel argument.

The 40-year-old man is a decorated U.S. Army veteran who deployed twice to Iraq, received a Purple Heart after a 2004 explosion caused traumatic brain injury, and was honorably discharged in 2008. While struggling with untreated TBI and PTSD, he shot a pregnant woman, was convicted of attempted murder, sentenced to 52 years, and served 15 years before being paroled on January 21, 2025, when ICE immediately detained him. His commanding officer said his 2006 citizenship application was completed and eligible but lost in processing, and an earlier attempt to deport him to Venezuela failed when that country refused to accept him. In November 2025, ICE moved him through Florence and Nogales, Arizona, and deported him to Mexico, with the removal occurring on Veterans Day and the 21st anniversary of the explosion that wounded him; his wife, Tia, said she has not been told his whereabouts, and his former platoon members and medic have voiced dismay over the timing.