Human Impact Project

Olman, a father of two from Central America who fled gang violence and death threats in his home country, was detained at an ICE voluntary check-in in Richmond in June 2025 and held at Caroline Detention Facility for nine months despite having no criminal record. His application for withholding of removal was denied, but he appealed. A federal judge ruled in March 2026 that the government unlawfully detained him beyond six months and noted that DHS appeared to falsify a notice claiming it was served before his detention. The judge ordered his release, and Olman was reunited with his wife Leyla and their two children in Staunton. His wife's asylum case was also opposed by DHS, and they were ordered to self-deport by April, though they appealed and remain in the country in a precarious legal situation. Olman has since returned to construction work but experienced psychological trauma during detention and fears an upcoming ICE check-in later in the year.

Zhou Xaixuan, a Chinese national who arrived in the U.S. in 2014 on a visitor's visa, was detained by ICE at the Adelanto Detention Facility on February 13, 2026. He has lived in the United States for over eleven years, has a wife and two U.S. citizen children ages 4 and 1, and has a pending asylum case seeking protection under the Convention Against Torture. The court ordered his immediate release and enjoined the government from re-detaining him without a proper bond hearing.

Andy Merlin Siregar, an Indonesian citizen with withholding of removal status, was detained at an airport and transferred to Adelanto Detention Facility in February 2026 after almost 18 years of compliance with his Order of Supervision. He was not told why his supervision was being revoked or given an opportunity to address allegations. The court granted his TRO application and ordered his immediate release.

Carlos, a Venezuelan national with withholding of removal and work authorization, was detained on January 28, 2026, during a routine monthly check-in at the Kansas City ICE office where he was required to report under the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program. Despite his judge-approved protection, valid work authorization, clean six-year record, and pending permanent legal status applications with his wife, ICE detained him. After a chaotic series of transfers across Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and Arizona—during which he was held in overcrowded conditions—Carlos was deported to Mexico on a tarmac in Arizona, where he remains separated from his wife and children.

Brenda Beatriz Organiz-Perez De Lorenzo, a Guatemalan woman and her two minor children, petitioned for review after being denied asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. She fled Guatemala in February 2019 after receiving threatening phone calls demanding money. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals denied her petition, finding she failed to establish eligibility for relief on multiple grounds including lack of nexus between the threats and her claimed protected social group.

Zahra Razavinik, a 66-year-old Iranian immigrant, has taught preschoolers at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston for nearly 30 years and cared for her husband with a heart condition. She was detained by ICE in January 2026 during a routine immigration check-in and has been held at El Valle Detention Center in Raymondville, Texas for six months. Her attorneys argue she cannot safely return to Iran because she is Christian and faces persecution there, and that no other country has agreed to accept her. A 2006 immigration judge's order had previously granted her a stay of deportation due to risk of persecution as a Christian.

Khadija (also referred to by the pseudonym Abina), a bisexual woman from Ghana, fled her country fearing for her life after she and her family were persecuted because of her sexual orientation. She crossed the U.S. border in December 2024 to seek asylum and was detained at the Eloy detention center in Arizona. Denied eligibility for asylum only because of the "circumvention of lawful pathways" regulation, she proved to an immigration judge that she was a refugee and was granted withholding of removal in July 2025. Instead of releasing her, ICE continued to detain her and told her she would be sent to Cameroon — a country she had never been to and where homosexuality is also criminalized. When she requested a fear interview and refused to sign voluntary deportation papers, an ICE officer told her to "get the fuck out of my face." In January 2026 she was placed on a flight in shackles around her wrists, ankles, and waist, with stopovers in Louisiana and Senegal, and deported to Cameroon. There she lives in a crowded room with about ten other women and other third-country nationals, lacking clothing, sanitary pads, and basic hygiene products, and was told she has temporary authorization to remain for only two months. As of July 2026, she remains in limbo, afraid to go outside the building where she is housed and unable to return to Ghana, where she fears persecution.

Kamel Maklad, a Syrian man who migrated through Venezuela, was released from Eloy Detention Center on December 9, 2025, after spending 14 months detained. He had won his immigration court case in November 2024 where he was granted withholding of removal. His release came after a federal judge granted a habeas corpus petition filed on his behalf.

Kevin Isaac Montoya Palacios, a citizen of El Salvador with withholding of removal protection granted in September 2023, was arrested by ICE agents in December 2025 during a routine check-in appointment after meeting with ICE officials for over two years. He filed a habeas petition challenging the legality of his detention, which was granted by U.S. District Judge George Russell. However, the judge denied his request for attorneys' fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act, citing the 4th Circuit's position that habeas claims related to immigration detention are not civil actions. The case has been appealed to the Supreme Court.

Despite having Convention Against Torture protection barring removal to El Salvador, C.O. was detained by ICE in May 2025 and pressured to accept removal to Mexico. After refusing, ICE transported him to the border and handed him to Mexican authorities, who drove him to Guatemala, which transferred him to El Salvador — all while shackled. Salvadoran authorities threatened to send him to CECOT. His family has had no contact since October 9, 2025.

D.A., a political activist who was violently attacked in Nigeria and is married to a U.S. citizen, was granted protection from removal to Nigeria based on likely persecution or torture. ICE nevertheless deported him without paperwork to Ghana on a military cargo plane in the middle of the night, alongside a dozen other West African men and women. In Ghana he was detained in a camp under terrible conditions for more than two weeks, with limited phone access to call his wife, before Ghanaian authorities deported him to Togo.

CRB, a 16-year-old brought to the U.S. from Mexico at age seven and protected under the U.N. Convention Against Torture, was arrested by ICE at the San Antonio field office during an annual check-in appointment in September 2025. He was detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center for 141 days with his mother. During detention, he experienced depression, panic attacks, and self-harm. He reported hearing racist comments from guards and observed poor conditions including spoiled food and lights left on all night. He and his mother were released two days after his self-harm incident.

Blerim Skoro, a 55-year-old Kosovo-born cab driver from Staten Island, New York, was arrested by ICE agents outside an immigration office in New Jersey while attending a biometrics appointment to renew his work permit. Skoro, who has an American wife and children, says he spent nearly a decade working as a confidential informant for U.S. intelligence, infiltrating al Qaeda and helping secure convictions of members of al Qaeda, al Shabaab and Hezbollah. He was granted a deferral of removal in 2022 due to the risk of capture and torture if deported to Kosovo, and his lawyers have filed in federal court to halt his deportation. He is currently held at the Elizabeth Detention Center in New Jersey and says he fears being killed if returned to Kosovo.

Mamadou Fadel Cherif, 56, was arrested by ICE on July 13 as he left his home in West Oak Lane. Cherif had been granted Withholding of Removal nearly 20 years ago after fleeing Guinea, where he was jailed by the government for protesting the 1998 presidential election. He has no criminal record, works legally in the United States as a dining services employee at La Salle College High School and as an Uber driver, holds a Social Security number and driver's license, and is the primary financial support for his wife (a green card holder) and four American-born sons, including a Marines reservist. His employer described him as "an extremely hard worker" whom students and staff love. While Withholding of Removal bars deportation to Guinea, ICE can attempt deportation to a third country; his attorney filed a federal court petition seeking his immediate release, arguing there is no likelihood of third-country deportation and he has been denied due process.

Claudia Alvarenga España, a Guatemalan woman living in Manassas, Virginia, with her husband Jhoan Mesen and four U.S.-born children, was taken into ICE custody on June 3, 2025, during a required check-in at an ICE office in Chantilly while pursuing withholding of removal protection. She fled Guatemala in 2010 to escape domestic abuse and human trafficking, has no criminal record, and was in compliance with her order of supervision. Despite a federal judge's order prohibiting her removal, she was deported to Guatemala on June 10 but returned to the U.S. the next day after a Guatemalan official informed her of a pending hearing. She has since requested voluntary deportation and remains in ICE detention in Texas with no clear timeline for processing her request. Unable to endure continued family separation, her husband announced in mid-June that the family has decided to voluntarily leave the United States and relocate to Costa Rica to reunite with her, ending their 15-year residence, and has begun preparations to sell their home.

A 23-year-old South American woman has been held at Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe for over a year despite an immigration judge's June 2025 ruling that she cannot be deported to her home country due to fear of torture based on her queer identity. The Trump administration has since sought to deport her to the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country where she has no connections, does not speak the language, and where LGBTQIA2S+ individuals face persecution. Her sister reports the woman has experienced physical and psychological decline during her prolonged detention.

Rudy Villeda Mejía, a Honduran immigrant who was kidnapped and held for ransom by Los Zetas cartel members for six months in 2010, was arrested by ICE at Denver International Airport on March 30, 2025, while in transit. Villeda Mejía entered the U.S. without authorization following his kidnapping and has since built a roofing business in Washington state with his U.S. citizen wife Mabel Shaffer, caring for her three children. He attended routine immigration check-ins consistently from August 2018 until his arrest and has no criminal history. His attorney filed a T visa application—the legal pathway available to human trafficking victims—which represents his only lawful way to remain with his family. Since his detention at an ICE facility in Aurora, Colorado, his wife has struggled to manage their roofing business while dealing with a hip displacement that requires his full-time care, the business has lost contracts, and Villeda Mejía has experienced health concerns including weight loss due to limited food options and outdoor access. A federal judge denied his habeas corpus petition and request to pause deportation pending appeal, and ICE has indicated he will remain in custody pending deportation despite the pending T visa application.

Kristiyan Jamil Adib, an Iraqi citizen and national, was detained by ICE on March 18, 2025 after serving sentences for felony firearm possession and assault convictions. He was informed he would be deported to Iraq pursuant to an administrative removal order, but claimed he could not return due to fears of torture. Despite an initial credible fear finding, an Immigration Judge denied his Convention Against Torture relief and ordered his removal to Iraq on November 20, 2025. The court granted his habeas petition and ordered his immediate release from immigration detention.

Glenne Marceline Ouessi Tchissambou, a citizen of Congo, entered the United States on February 15, 2025 and was placed in removal proceedings. On December 4, 2025, an Immigration Judge denied her asylum application but granted withholding of removal to both Congo and Senegal. She has remained detained since her final order of removal, with no apparent efforts made to remove her to a third country. The court ordered respondents to answer her habeas corpus petition seeking release from custody.