HUMSI — Human Security Initiative

Human Impact Project

A living database documenting reported immigration enforcement incidents and their human impact.

We collect individual stories of people impacted by U.S. immigration enforcement from news reporting, court records, and community accounts into one searchable public database, updated daily and reviewed by our team. The Human Impact Project is run by the Human Security Initiative, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

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274 incidents with known locations

Salvadoran construction worker arrested by ICE at Nashville gas station on his birthday, held without charges

May 15, 2025Nashville, TNEl Salvador

Edgardo David Campos, a 55-year-old Salvadoran man who has lived in the United States for 30 years, was arrested by ICE agents in tactical gear at a gas station in South Nashville in early May on his birthday. A Tennessee state trooper was present during the arrest, which was captured on video by bystander Dinora Romero, who helped locate his family and return his vehicle to his home. Campos is a construction and tire installation worker and devoted family man married with a wife. His cousin Laura Campos described him as "the first to arrive and the last to leave" at his church, always willing to volunteer and help others. The Nashville Catholic Diocese and local parishioners rallied around him, with a parish petition describing him as the "heart of our parish" who has faithfully served in multiple church ministries for years. The arrest was part of "Operation Flood the Zone," a coordinated week-long effort between Tennessee state police and ICE targeting Latino neighborhoods, during which over 600 vehicles were stopped and ICE claimed nearly 200 arrests. Campos was held at Putnam County Jail over the weekend with no charges filed, then transferred to Knox County Jail where charges remained unfiled. Spanish-speaking parishes in Nashville saw a 50% drop in Mass attendance following the operation.

Colombian asylum seeker married to U.S. Army soldier released on bond

May 12, 2025El Paso, TXColombia

Daniela Joly Serrano Landin, a 24-year-old Colombian asylum seeker married to an active-duty U.S. Army soldier, was arrested by ICE on May 12 after an ankle monitor malfunctioned, despite being granted parole. She was held at the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia and later transferred to El Paso Processing Center. On Wednesday, she was released on a $10,000 bond after a hearing where her attorney argued her case.

Guatemalan asylum seeker shackled and shipped 2,000 miles from Maryland family

May 7, 2025Baltimore, MDGuatemala

A 37-year-old Guatemalan woman, identified in court papers as D.N.N., was arrested by masked ICE agents at a routine immigration check-in in Baltimore on May 7, 2025. She had previously been granted withholding of removal in 2012 after an immigration judge found she would likely face torture or persecution if returned to Guatemala, but ICE sought to deport her to Mexico as a third country. She was transferred from New Jersey to a tent facility in Texas and then to New Mexico, losing contact with her husband, young daughter, and lawyer along the way.

Haitian woman dies in ICE custody after guards ignored screams for help

Apr 25, 2025Pompano Beach, FLHaiti

Marie Ange Blaise, a 44-year-old Haitian woman, died on April 25, 2025, at Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, Florida, after spending more than 10 weeks in ICE custody. She had been detained since mid-February after being stopped at an airport in Saint Croix, Virgin Islands without a valid immigrant visa, and was transferred through multiple facilities including San Juan, Krome North Processing Center in Miami, and a Louisiana facility. According to fellow detainees, Blaise experienced what appeared to be a seizure while in a kneeling position. When other women began screaming for help, guards ignored their pleas. One officer approached, looked at Blaise without intervening, and walked away. It took approximately eight minutes for a medical provider to arrive and another 15 to 20 minutes for a rescue team. She was pronounced dead shortly after. Following her death, facility staff told the women to stop making comments about what they had witnessed.

Honduran DACA recipient detained 12 days, deported despite pending legal request

Apr 23, 2025Alexandria, LAHonduras

Amilcar Lisser-Posadas, a 29-year-old Honduran national and former DACA recipient with two U.S. citizen daughters, was apprehended in Shelby County, Tennessee in March 2025 for driving with an expired license and transferred to ICE custody. He was moved between multiple detention facilities over four weeks and filed a legal request citing fear of persecution in Honduras, which received no response. At Alexandria Staging Facility, he was detained for approximately 12 days in overcrowded conditions with inadequate sanitation, food, and medical care—arriving sick with chest congestion, fever, and ear infection but receiving no medication until the final two days. On April 23, 2025, he was deported to Honduras on GlobalX charter flights despite his pending legal request. He was later apprehended again at the southern border in May 2025 attempting to reunite with his family and is now facing deportation again from a federal prison.

Chinese woman dies by suicide at Yuma Border Patrol station

Apr 7, 2025Yuma, ArizonaChina

A 52-year-old Chinese woman died by suicide while detained at the Yuma Border Patrol station in Arizona after overstaying her B-1/B-2 visitor visa. She was initially detained in California and transferred to Yuma. Surveillance footage documented the incident, showing she created a noose. CBP records indicate required welfare checks were not properly conducted or were falsely documented, and medical intervention did not occur for nearly two hours after she was found unresponsive. Representative Pramila Jayapal called for accountability regarding CBP's failure to follow detainee safety procedures.

Nicaraguan asylum seeker granted protection from re-detention without hearing

Apr 1, 2025San Bernardino, CANicaragua

A Nicaraguan asylum seeker is a citizen and national of Nicaragua who has lived in the United States since September 2021. He is married and living with his wife in California. He fled Nicaragua after police beat him for participating in anti-government protests, fracturing his arm. He was detained by DHS upon arrival in the US but released in October 2021 on reporting requirements to ICE, which he never missed. On September 14, 2023, he applied for asylum and received work authorization. In April 2025, he reported for a routine ICE appointment and was detained without notice or hearing despite full compliance with check-in requirements. He was transferred between multiple detention facilities where he suffered inhumane conditions, including excessive heat in transport vehicles, contaminated food and water, and injury from handcuffs. An immigration judge released him on a $5,000 bond in June 2025, and he was placed in ICE's Intensive Supervision Appearance Program. On July 13, 2026, the immigration judge denied his asylum application and ordered removal to Nicaragua. He timely appealed. The federal court granted his preliminary injunction, prohibiting ICE from re-detaining him without a pre-detention hearing where the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that he is a flight risk or danger.

ICE transfers 20-year-old with legal citizenship pathway to detention

Mar 26, 2025Plainfield, NJHonduras

ICE transferred 20-year-old Cristofer Ortega from New Jersey to a detention center in Louisiana despite having an approved legal pathway to citizenship through Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. Ortega, who arrived in the U.S. at age 9 and has no criminal record, was detained after an encounter while completing his HVAC certification. ICE is planning to deport him to Honduras before he can apply for his green card.

Venezuelan woman with TPS arrested, deported to El Salvador instead of Venezuela

Mar 24, 2025St. George, UTVenezuela

Franyeli Carolina Zambrano Manrique, 30, a Venezuelan with Temporary Protected Status, was arrested on February 8, 2025 during a traffic stop in Utah with her husband. Despite having valid TPS status, ICE officers accused them both of gang membership based on tattoos and refused to accept their denials. She was transferred to Henderson detention center in Nevada, then deported on March 15, 2025 despite a federal judge's order halting deportations. She was told she was being flown to Venezuela but was instead taken to El Salvador, where she was kept on the plane and sent back to the United States the same day. She was later deported to Venezuela on April 5, 2025, but her husband remains detained at CECOT in El Salvador.

Chicago high school senior and mother detained at immigration court

Mar 16, 2025Chicago, ILColombia

Ricardo Navarrete, an 18-year-old Chicago high school senior, and his mother Liliana were detained outside Chicago Immigration Court on March 16 after being told to come sign papers. Both had active asylum cases and no criminal records. They were from Colombia and arrived in the U.S. in 2022. Ricardo has been transported multiple times between facilities and placed in solitary confinement; he and his mother are currently separated in different facilities in Kentucky.

Venezuelan detainee fears deportation to El Salvador prison under Alien Enemies Act

Mar 12, 2025Anson, TXVenezuela

Diover Millan, 24, a construction worker, was arrested by immigration agents in the Atlanta suburbs on March 12 and transferred to Bluebonnet detention center in Texas. DHS classified him as a member of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua without providing evidence. Millan faces potential deportation to El Salvador's notorious CECOT prison under the Alien Enemies Act, though the Supreme Court temporarily blocked his deportation. He has a pending asylum case with a hearing scheduled for May 1.

Mexican father of four deported after being shuttled across five states

Mar 2025Baltimore, MDMexico

Jorge Reyes Medina, a Mexican father of four, was arrested in Baltimore in March 2025 and held at the George H. Fallon Federal Building before being transferred to Arizona and then California. After a federal judge ordered ICE to return him to Maryland for a bond hearing as part of a habeas corpus petition, he was moved through Louisiana, Pennsylvania, back to Baltimore, then Louisiana and Texas again. He was denied bond, and a judge ordered his deportation on June 23, 2025; no appeal was filed.

Venezuelan barber beaten and isolated at Guantanamo, deported after transfer from El Paso

Feb 20, 2025El Paso, TXVenezuela

Mayfreed Durán Arapé, a Venezuelan barber, was detained in July 2023 on his third border crossing attempt and convicted in August 2023 of assaulting a federal officer during a riot at an El Paso immigration detention center. On February 8, 2025, he was transferred without explanation to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base along with more than 170 other Venezuelan men. During his two-week detention at Guantanamo, Durán Arapé alleges he was beaten by guards, denied access to attorneys and family calls, provided inadequate food and water, and stripped of bedding as punishment. He attempted suicide twice and provided photos of bruising and self-harm scars. On February 20, 2025, he was deported to Venezuela. The Trump administration claimed the detainees were members of Tren de Aragua, though court documents show nearly 30% had no criminal records and the government provided no evidence against Durán Arapé.

Construction worker detained at Guantanamo, deported after nine months in custody

Feb 20, 2025El Paso, TXVenezuela

Jose Daniel Simancas, a 30-year-old Venezuelan construction worker, crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in May 2024 with his wife and cousin and was detained in El Paso while awaiting deportation. On February 4, 2025, he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base along with nine other migrants, despite having no criminal history except unauthorized entry. The Department of Homeland Security identified him as a member of Tren de Aragua based on his birthplace and tattoos, which he denied. During his 15 days at Guantanamo, Simancas reported inhumane conditions including minimal food, isolation, and only two showers. He was deported to Honduras on February 20, 2025, along with 176 other Venezuelan nationals. His family was denied information about his whereabouts throughout his nine-month detention.

Trans asylum seeker recounts abuse, isolation during ICE detention at Guantánamo Bay

Feb 15, 2025NMBrazil

Tarlis Marcone De Barros Gonçalves, a transgender asylum seeker from Brazil, entered the U.S. on February 15, 2025 fleeing threats to her life, but was detained at the Otero County Processing Center in New Mexico and then flown to a U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. In a federal court declaration, she said she was held with five men, forced to shower and use the toilet without privacy, given little food, and repeatedly denied contact with her attorney or family despite fearing for her life if deported. She was later transferred to an ICE facility in Pine Prairie, Louisiana, where agents shackled her so tightly during the flight that she was in pain for days afterward.

British entrepreneur on valid visa denied insulin and medications, hospitalized in custody

Feb 11, 2025Florida, FLUnited Kingdom

Harpinder Singh Chauhan, a 56-year-old British entrepreneur and father of two on an E-2 investor visa who had lived in the United States since 2016, was detained by ICE on February 11 despite lawful presence and serious medical conditions including diabetes, pancreatitis, asthma, and heart issues. He was shackled and transported seven hours to Krome North, where he spent nearly four days in overcrowded, freezing processing cells with no beds, showers, or privacy. ICE officers confiscated his insulin and asthma inhaler, which his family had delivered to the facility, and denied him prescribed medications and his dietary regimen. He contracted a respiratory illness amid an uncontained tuberculosis outbreak. At FDC, officers locked him in a cell without a functioning toilet or air conditioning and threatened him when he requested to move. On April 20, after nearly a week without insulin, Chauhan collapsed while standing in a dinner line at BTC and was hospitalized with signs of cardiac distress. His son Aaron could not obtain information from facility staff and discovered his father had been admitted under an alias name, "Hank Campbell." Officers transferred Chauhan back to BTC after three days in the hospital. Throughout detention, when he repeatedly asked about his personal possessions including his passport, staff responded with hostile all-caps messages. An officer mocked his name during roll call; the officer was briefly suspended with pay but returned to duty. In mid-May, facility staff informed Chauhan that his passport had been lost, further delaying his deportation. He was deported to the United Kingdom in June.

ICE arrests construction business owner in Maryland

Feb 5, 2025Easton, MDGuatemala

Elmerson Campos, a 45-year-old from Guatemala who has lived in Easton for 24 years, was arrested by ICE on February 5 and transferred through multiple detention facilities, eventually being held in California. A federal judge ordered ICE to release him on bond or schedule a bond hearing by February 23. Campos, who owns a construction business and has no criminal record beyond a 2007 traffic citation, reportedly has not received his medication for diabetes and a back injury while detained.

Barber detained at Guantanamo after turning himself in to Border Patrol

Feb 4, 2025Presidio, TXVenezuela

Yoiker Sequera, a 25-year-old Venezuelan barber, was transferred to Guantanamo Bay after being held in detention in El Paso for five months. He turned himself in to Border Patrol in Presidio in September 2024 and was detained awaiting asylum processing. His mother Angela Sequera said he wanted to join family in California and had worked as a barber in Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, and inside the detention center. She last spoke with him on a day before his transfer and said he told her he was exhausted and that his continued detention was unfair. He is among the three Venezuelans named in the ACLU lawsuit challenging the Guantanamo detentions.

Trump administration transfers ~100 immigrants to Guantanamo Bay detention

Feb 4, 2025Venezuela

The Trump administration has flown approximately 100 immigrant detainees to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base since February 4, 2025, claiming they are dangerous criminals including gang members. ProPublica and The Texas Tribune identified nearly a dozen Venezuelan immigrants transferred there, and records show at least three had no criminal history except unauthorized entry, or minor charges incurred while detained. The government has refused to release detainees' names or crime details and denied families and attorneys access to the detainees. The ACLU filed a lawsuit arguing the detainees are being denied constitutional rights to legal representation.

Honduran woman denied pain relief at Krome, later falls from bunk at BTC and walks in pain for a week before receiving crutches

February 2025Miami, FLHonduras

A woman from Honduras was detained at Krome's processing room where she reported the one toilet in her cell was covered in feces. Despite repeated requests for cleaning supplies, officers told her sarcastically, 'Housekeeping will come soon.' No one ever came. She was denied pain relief for menstrual cramps and provided only a menstrual pad. After transfer to the Broward Transitional Center, she fell from her bunk in March. Although an X-ray showed no fracture, her ankle became swollen and bruised. She walked in pain for a week before receiving crutches, after repeated requests for some form of relief.