Human Impact Project

Senator Andy Kim visited Delaney Hall, an ICE detention center in Newark, to mediate between protesters and detainees conducting a hunger strike. ICE agents fired tear gas at Kim and demonstrators while the senator stood between them with his arms raised. Kim reported witnessing detained individuals, including an 18-year-old high school student and a woman who had suffered a miscarriage, under poor conditions. New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill was denied entry but heard complaints from family members about spoiled food and lack of medical care.

A Human Rights Watch report documents that the Trump administration deported over 4,300 Cuban nationals to Mexico between January 2025 and March 2026, many sent to high-violence border areas where they lack legal status, citizenship, or prior ties. Based on interviews with 41 deported Cubans and migrants from other countries, the report reveals that deportees experienced inhumane detention conditions in U.S. facilities, were pressured into going to Mexico under threat of prolonged detention or deportation, and now face severe conditions including homelessness, lack of access to food and healthcare, vulnerability to violence from organized crime, and inability to regularize their status or return to Cuba. The U.S. and Mexican governments maintain an undisclosed agreement to deport Cubans to Mexico despite Cuba's refusal to accept such deportations.

Luis Fernando Cabrera, an 18-year-old senior at Northeast Early College High School in Austin, was detained by ICE on May 1, 2026, after a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper pulled him over for expired vehicle registration. Body camera footage shows the trooper photographed Cabrera's school ID and used the encrypted messaging app Signal to contact federal immigration agents, receiving a message instructing him to "detain." Cabrera, who had an active pending asylum case dating to 2019 with no deportation order or criminal history, was transferred to Karnes County Immigration Processing Center over 100 miles away. His detention sparked protests from classmates and community members, with support from his school and St. James Episcopal Church. On May 20, a federal judge ordered ICE to release Cabrera, barring deportation and allowing him to graduate and take his final exams.

Ricardo Navarrete, an 18-year-old senior at Mather High School, was detained by ICE agents on March 16, 2026, during a scheduled check-in appointment for his pending asylum case. He had fled Colombia in 2022 seeking asylum, held a valid work permit and REAL ID, and had been accepted to play soccer at Truman College. Following his detention, Ricardo was transferred between multiple ICE detention facilities across Oklahoma, Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, where he reported sleeping on floors without blankets and spending time in solitary confinement. His attorneys filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention, and he was released on May 26, 2026, just days before his high school graduation.

A pregnant constituent from Illinois' 13th Congressional District was detained by ICE at the Ste. Genevieve County Detention Center in Missouri and required two hospital visits for pregnancy-related emergencies while in custody. During a congressional tour on May 26, 2026, U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski and Rep. Wesley Bell observed conditions at the facility, where detainees reported serious access issues including insufficient drinking water (forcing some to drink from showers), inadequate medical care, and limited access to notaries and legal representation. The facility, which operates under a federal contract allowing ICE to hold up to 400 detainees, housed detainees in overcrowded cells with up to 48 people per room using inflatable mats or thin pads on trays for bedding. While facility operators claimed basic needs were being met, detainees—many from across Missouri and southern Illinois—reported being detained unexpectedly during their asylum process after initially being assured they would not be held.

Anabella Gyasi, 38, a pregnant Ghanaian woman, and her 4-year-old son who has a physical abnormality affecting his hands arrived at Dulles International Airport on valid tourist visas to seek medical care for her son at Akron Children's Hospital in Ohio. At customs, she disclosed a fear of returning to Ghana because of persecution she faced for her son's disability. CBP officers took them into custody as asylum seekers after she stated under oath that she did not intend to return to Ghana, which led officials to nullify her tourist visa. Gyasi, who was about four months pregnant, was held in a windowless room at the airport with her son for more than a week without adequate food or medical care. She was twice transported to a hospital for treatment. DHS denied her care was inadequate. The ACLU of Virginia filed an emergency petition, and Judge Leonie Brinkema called the detention a "terrible situation," saying Gyasi should not spend another night at the airport. A Justice Department attorney said immigration authorities were prepared to deport Gyasi and her son back to Ghana that night. CBP had interviewed her and judged she did not have a "credible fear" of returning. The judge ordered the government to confirm her departure and ruled the petition moot. Gyasi and her son were deported to Ghana.

Jose Pineda, a Salvadoran man with Temporary Protected Status working as a landscaper in East Boston, was stopped by ICE officers while on his way to work. Despite presenting valid Social Security and work authorization cards, agents refused to accept his documents and detained him for nearly two days in an overcrowded holding cell at the ICE Boston Field Office with approximately 50 other people where conditions were poor—he could not sit or sleep and received minimal food and water. His $600 in rent savings was not returned. The detention caused him frequent headaches, anxiety, memory loss, and worsened gastritis. His absence from work resulted in a demotion from lead foreman to assistant. He now experiences recurring nightmares and sleeps separately from his wife out of fear of harming her. He has filed a tort claim against the federal government.

Aliya Rahman, a Bangladeshi American U.S. citizen with autism and traumatic brain injury, was detained by ICE agents in Minneapolis on her way to a doctor's appointment during Operation Metro Surge. At the intersection of 34th Street and Park Avenue, agents smashed her passenger side window and violently pulled her from her car despite her calling out that she was disabled. Four agents carried her handcuffed in a hogtied position before placing her in an SUV and transporting her to the Whipple Federal Building. At the facility, her requests for medical care were denied for more than an hour until she lost consciousness and was transported to the emergency room. She was released without charge and never cited, and subsequently filed formal complaints alleging violations of her First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights, as well as human rights breaches, and pursued a tort claim for damages from unlawful detention and detention conditions.

At least 20 detainees at Desert View Annex (Adelanto ICE Processing Center) in Adelanto, California, launched a hunger strike in mid-May 2026 to protest inadequate health care, food portions, unsafe conditions, and demand bond reform and accountability. The facility, operated by the GEO Group, experienced four deaths between September 2025 and March 2026. A lawyer with the National Day Labor Organization described the hunger strike as a last resort when other options have been exhausted. One detainee's wife spoke publicly about the inhumane treatment at the facility. The facility's population increased dramatically from 424 detainees in 2023 to 2,087 in 2025.

A leaked video from an ICE detention center in Louisiana shows detainees begging for food. Former detainee Victor Nery and Chris, originally from El Salvador, reported being subjected to hunger and poor conditions, with cells holding 90-110 detainees each.

Martin Soto, a Peruvian detainee held at Delaney Hall in Newark, was forcibly transferred by ICE agents to solitary confinement at a detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, after agents broke through a protester blockade in the early morning hours of May 25, 2026. His wife Gabriela, a U.S. citizen who was several months pregnant, had been rallying outside the facility in support of detainees who had launched a hunger and labor strike days earlier. Gabriela later lost her pregnancy in July after an emergency C-section performed when she was seven months pregnant, and said she had to tell her husband the news while he remained in solitary confinement.

Daniel Romero, 18, a Colombian national and recent graduate of Ooltewah High School in Tennessee, was taken into ICE custody on May 18, 2026, during what his family believed was a routine appointment related to an immigration program. ICE cited missed check-ins and failure to submit required weekly photos as reasons for detention. Romero's family disputed the allegations, claiming the check-in app malfunctioned for four weeks and provided documented evidence of the technical error, but officials did not allow Romero to present this proof before his arrest. Records provided by the family indicated compliance with program requirements. He was held at Etowah County Jail in Alabama before being transferred to a detention center in Louisiana, where no bond, video calls, or visitation were allowed.

A U.S.-born mother of four was stopped at an ICE checkpoint in a residential area of Lafayette and detained despite presenting a valid Louisiana state ID and Social Security card. ICE agents accused her documents of being forged, handcuffed and shackled her at the ankles, and transported her to a USCIS field office for interrogation before moving her to South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile. An immigration attorney secured her release by submitting identification documents. ICE did not apologize and confiscated her Social Security card.

A 22-year-old transgender woman and Nicaraguan citizen was re-detained by ICE on May 22, 2026 during a scheduled check-in and transferred to the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC) in Tacoma, Washington. Despite identifying as a woman, Respondents housed her in a male detention unit where she experienced verbal harassment and fear for her safety. The court granted her motion for a temporary restraining order, enjoining Respondents from housing her in a male detention unit or solitary confinement, and ordered Respondents to either move her to appropriate housing or release her within 24 hours.

Gabriel Leiva was detained at the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan. He fought with staff who removed him from his pod and requested to be killed while handcuffed and shackled. After being placed in solitary confinement, he covered his cell window, kicked the door, and displayed suicidal behavior. When police responded to a 911 call, he expressed confusion about being in solitary confinement.

Andry Hernández Romero, a gay makeup artist from Venezuela, legally entered the U.S. in August 2024 and passed a credible fear interview for asylum. In March 2025, the Trump administration deported him to CECOT, a maximum security prison in El Salvador, under the Alien Enemies Act as part of a broader deportation of 237 Venezuelan migrants. Authorities cited tattoos allegedly linking him to gang activity, which his family disputed as relating to a local cultural festival. Hernández Romero was detained in CECOT for over four months before being released in July 2025 as part of a prisoner swap. He was subsequently returned to Venezuela rather than allowed to remain in the U.S. His case became part of a class-action lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act for deportations. A Venezuelan makeup artist was deported to El Salvador and subsequently traveled to Spain to seek asylum. The person states they feel safe in Spain and is pursuing asylum protection there.

Everlee Amelia Wihongi, a 37-year-old New Zealand citizen and lawful permanent resident who moved to the U.S. at age six, was detained by CBP at Los Angeles International Airport on April 10, 2026, upon returning from a family trip to New Zealand for an uncle's 80th birthday. DHS cited a 2014 felony conviction for THC possession in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, as grounds for detention, saying it rendered her inadmissible. During her transfer to the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona, she was forced to sleep on the floor while shackled for 14 hours, denied food and water, and not permitted to bathe. She was transferred between facilities in California, Texas, Montana, and Arizona without notice to her family or attorney, causing her to miss a scheduled legal meeting. Her brother Avaiiki said ICE was "largely unresponsive" and offered the family little more than instructions for his sister to "stay compliant." New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said consular officials were assisting but could not intervene in U.S. immigration decisions. DHS said Wihongi was placed in removal proceedings and will remain in custody.

Javier Batista Pérez, 62, and Emilio Nieves Matanzas were deported to Cuba on May 21, 2026, despite having pending appeals and approved habeas corpus petitions in federal court. Both men had no criminal records and were transferred to detention centers in Louisiana before deportation. A federal judge has ordered ICE to explain Nieves Matanzas's deportation, with a response deadline of July 27, 2026. Their families and lawyers contend the government violated judicial processes by deporting them while legal proceedings were active.

Rafie Ollah Shouhed, a 79-year-old U.S. citizen and owner of Valley Car Wash in Van Nuys, California, was physically assaulted by immigration agents during a September 9, 2025 raid on his business. When Shouhed questioned the operation and attempted to vouch for employees being arrested, masked agents forced him to the ground. Surveillance footage shows an agent striking him while three agents tackled him as he pleaded for an ambulance, stating he had recently undergone heart surgery and couldn't breathe. One agent pressed a knee on his neck while applying additional physical force. The incident resulted in broken ribs, an injured elbow, and post-concussive symptoms of a traumatic brain injury. Shouhed was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center and held for 12 hours without medical attention before being released without charges. He filed a $50 million civil rights lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

John Doe 5, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in his country of origin, had stable mental health while living with family before detention. After being detained at North Lake Processing Center, his mental health sharply declined—a change noted even by the immigration judge assigned to his case. By December 2025, eight months into his detention, he became non-verbal and unresponsive to his surroundings. He was subsequently moved to a dedicated medical facility for additional care, confirming that North Lake was not equipped to handle his needs.