Human Impact Project

Carlos Tellez Sanchez, a 35-year-old Venezuelan man who fled to Dallas, Texas in 2021, worked days at a car dealership and nights delivering for Uber Eats to support his family. He held a 2021 Withholding of Removal order protecting him from deportation to Venezuela and had no criminal record beyond civil immigration violations, but was detained by ICE in December 2025 during what he believed was a routine check-in appointment. After nearly eight months in detention, he was flown in handcuffs to Liberia on August 20, 2026, along with 19 other deportees, nearly 6,000 miles from his wife and newborn U.S. citizen son, whom he has only seen via video calls since the boy's birth. His brother, Juan Tellez, described him as 'a good person and hard worker' who 'doesn't deserve what happened to him.' He said returning to Venezuela is not an option because he fears for his safety there, and he is now staying at a hotel in Liberia while deciding whether to seek asylum there or travel elsewhere.

Arín García Yepes, a Colombian migrant who had worked in construction in Dallas, Texas, arrived in Liberia on August 20 aboard an ICE-operated deportation flight from Louisiana, despite holding a stay of removal granted due to fears of persecution in Colombia. He had lived in the U.S. for 15 months, had no criminal record or traffic violations, and said he was never told by ICE where he was being sent. He is among roughly 20 Latin American migrants—from Venezuela, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala and Brazil—now housed in a hotel near the Atlantic coast in Monrovia, where local authorities have advised them not to leave for safety reasons and they remain without identification documents or a clear timeline for release.

William Ortiz Hernández, a Honduran man previously granted protection from removal by a U.S. immigration judge under the Convention Against Torture, was deported on an ICE flight that left Alexandria, Louisiana on August 20 carrying about 20 people and landed in Liberia. He is now housed at the Creed Lodge hotel in Monrovia, where he has received treatment for his diabetes but has no passport or identification beyond a card that lets him withdraw money sent by family. "I feel like they dumped me in a trash heap," he said, describing fear and confusion in a country whose language he does not speak.

Elvis Rodriguez Venturas, a Honduran immigrant who worked in construction in Texas, was deported by ICE to Liberia on a flight that landed Aug. 20, 2026, along with 14 other non-Liberian migrants from Latin America and Africa. An immigration judge had previously barred his deportation to Honduras after finding he could be harmed there, and he had been using that protection to work legally in the U.S. He and other deportees said they were given no advance notice of the move and are now housed in a hotel in a remote coastal area of Liberia. His wife and four children, two of whom are U.S. citizens, remain in Texas, and he said he feels "far away, on the other side of the world."

An Iraqi man showing early signs of dementia was arrested by ICE agents in his front yard after living in the United States for more than 30 years. A judge had previously ruled he would likely face persecution or torture if deported to Iraq, granting him legal protection from removal to his home country. Despite that ruling, he was taken into custody and held in Arizona ICE detention facilities. He was among a group of immigrants who remained detained even after winning protection from deportation to their home countries, according to an analysis of habeas corpus petitions.

A Colombian mother was separated from her two young children during a routine ICE check-in in Baltimore, despite an immigration judge having ruled she would likely face torture or persecution if deported to Colombia. She was transferred to the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona and remained in ICE custody for months afterward. An Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting analysis identified her as one of more than 120 immigrants in Arizona whom ICE continued to detain even after judges had barred their deportation to their home countries due to humanitarian protections.

A., a 45-year-old Venezuelan man who worked in the wind energy sector and held protection against forced return to Venezuela, was detained by ICE at a routine immigration check-in earlier in 2026 while his wife, who had the same protection, was released. He was transferred through four detention centers, suffered severe anxiety and depression, and said his lawyer was never informed about the transfers or his deportation. He was shackled hand and foot during the roughly 15-hour flight to Liberia after an officer told him he would be put on the plane "willingly or by force," and he said other passengers began crying once seated. His daughter has been in therapy since his deportation, and he fears ICE will also detain his wife, leaving his children without either parent in the United States; Liberia has reportedly agreed to accept about 1,200 people over one year under an agreement with the Trump administration.

C., a 36-year-old Venezuelan man who had lived and worked legally in the U.S. for five years under a withholding of removal protection, was detained by ICE during a routine check-in at an immigration office in December 2025 and held for eight months across nine detention centers. On August 19, 2026, he was placed on a charter flight from Alexandria, Louisiana, to Liberia, learning of his deportation only hours beforehand and without time to say goodbye to his family, missing the birth of his son born while he was in custody. He said he and other deportees were kept shackled for the entire flight, and after arriving in Monrovia he was taken to a hotel in the coastal town of Marshall, where he has remained for more than a week with no word on when he might leave. He says he fled Venezuela in 2021 as a political opponent facing threats to his life.

Ibrahim Mohammed, a 44-year-old Ethiopian national who came to the U.S. in 2014, was granted protection from deportation in 2024 under the Convention Against Torture after an immigration judge found he would likely face torture or persecution if returned to Ethiopia. Despite federal court orders in February and March requiring his release, roughly 10 ICE agents arrested him a third time on July 28, 2025, at his Baltimore-area apartment after falsely telling him and his attorney his ankle monitor was malfunctioning. Agents shoved his head into a car and gave him documents referencing Eswatini, a country ICE had previously tried unsuccessfully to deport him to. A judge again ordered his immediate release the same day, and U.S. District Judge John deGravelles later held then-ICE deputy field office director Vernon Liggins, who ordered the arrest on his last day in that role, in civil contempt, ordering ICE to pay Mohammed's attorney's fees and $180 for lost time. Mohammed, who spent 13 months in and out of ICE custody, testified the repeated detentions caused him nightmares and led his landlord to force him to move out.

Keiber Alexander Esposito Martinez, a Venezuelan asylum seeker who entered the U.S. legally in 2023, was detained by ICE while driving to or from his job in Buffalo. Over three years he rose from dishwasher to sous chef at Casa Azul restaurant in the Allentown neighborhood, holding legal work authorization and a New York driver's license with no criminal record. Restaurant owner Zina Lapi called him a 'model citizen' and said his detention caused other asylum-seeking employees to quit out of fear. Martinez, who is married to a U.S. citizen, is being held at the federal detention facility in Batavia. His attorney, Matthew Borowski, filed a federal lawsuit seeking his release, saying the family received no explanation for the detention and alleging visibly Latino or Bangladeshi individuals are being targeted.

A 24-year-old Afghan man identified in court records as Khalil, who had previously been granted legal protection against removal to Afghanistan by a U.S. immigration judge due to the threat of Taliban persecution, was deported to the Central African Republic despite his protected status. His attorney, Alma David, said his family faced direct threats from the Taliban because of his brothers' history of supporting U.S. military operations: one brother, who lives in the United States, served in the Afghan National Army, while another, trained as a pilot by the U.S. military, was killed by the Taliban. He was among 12 Afghans on a flight that arrived in Bangui, alongside eight Iranians and individuals from Nepal and Nicaragua. It was the second deportation flight to the Central African Republic since June, when roughly two dozen migrants, including an Iranian woman fearing persecution, were sent there under similar arrangements.

Alex Pereira-Alves, a Brazilian immigrant who has lived in West Hollywood for nearly a decade working as a security guard and personal trainer, was detained by ICE after reporting to a downtown Los Angeles facility for what he believed was a routine check-in; officials told him he was 'deportable' and handcuffed him. He entered the U.S. legally in 2010, overstayed his visa, and in 2018 received a final removal order along with a grant of withholding of removal protecting him from being sent to Brazil. DHS first indicated he would be deported to Guyana, then Equatorial Guinea, countries he has no connection to, before a federal judge temporarily blocked the Equatorial Guinea deportation. His attorney, Jane Oaks, says he can no longer be sent to Brazil, deported to Equatorial Guinea, allowed to designate another country, or released, and she is filing an emergency habeas corpus petition arguing he was denied due process. His friend Jeff Markwardt, who is covering legal costs and caring for Pereira-Alves' dog Bella, said Pereira-Alves is 'terrified' and no longer feels safe in detention, and friends say the phone calls and legal filings supporting him are costing thousands of dollars.

Petitioner, a national of Honduras, is currently detained at ICE's Washington Field Office in Chantilly, Virginia under 8 U.S.C. § 1231 pursuant to a final order of removal. An Immigration Judge previously granted her application for Withholding of Removal, which legally prohibits her removal to Honduras. Despite this protection, she remains in ICE custody and fears she may be removed to a third country instead. She filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 arguing that her continued detention violates her due process rights under Zadvydas v. Davis. She also filed a Motion for Temporary Restraining Order seeking to block her removal to a third country while her habeas petition is pending. The court granted the TRO, enjoining respondents from removing or transferring her from the district, and ordered respondents to show cause by August 17, 2026 why the habeas petition should not be granted, with any reply due by August 21, 2026.

Ibrahim Mohammed, a 43-year-old Ethiopian national who legally entered the U.S. in 2014 and was granted asylum, was ordered deported following a child sexual abuse conviction, but ICE sought to send him to third countries rather than Ethiopia due to torture risk. U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles ordered Mohammed released from Angola's Camp 57 detention facility in February after finding ICE had no viable deportation plan, and ICE rearrested him twice more without properly serving deportation papers, most recently in Maryland in July. On August 20, deGravelles held an ICE field office director in contempt for repeatedly violating his orders, ordering officials to pay Mohammed's attorneys' fees and $180 in compensatory damages.

A citizen of Mali who has lived in the United States since January 2001 was granted withholding of removal to Mali by an immigration judge in March 2013. He was detained by immigration officials on August 3, 2026 during a routine check-in, at which point he was given a Notice of Imminent Removal indicating he would instead be removed to Cameroon. He alleges he expressed a fear of persecution in Cameroon and requested a third-country screening interview with his immigration counsel present. He is currently detained at the Alexandria Staging Facility, where officials told him removal was scheduled for August 19, 2026. He filed a habeas petition alleging due process violations for being denied an opportunity to challenge his removal to Cameroon, along with an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to halt his removal. The court denied the motion, finding it lacked jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(g) to stay the removal and that he failed to provide evidence, such as travel documents, substantiating that removal was truly imminent.

Jorge Luis Eliecer Ruiz, a 36-year-old Venezuelan national, was detained by ICE on August 3, 2026, after being stopped near the intersection of Wiles Road and State Road 7 in Coconut Creek. He is married to Courtney Walter, a U.S. citizen who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The couple married in 2025 and filed an I-130 family-based petition in September 2025 to establish Ruiz's lawful permanent residency. Walter said the stress of her husband's detention has worsened her health, causing her to lose weight and struggle to eat. Ruiz is being held at the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach. His attorney, David Estrella, is pursuing a habeas corpus petition and argues that Ruiz has withholding of removal protection that prevents his return to Venezuela.

Paul, an Indian national with an order withholding his removal based on Convention Against Torture protections, was detained by ICE officers at Dulles Airport after returning from a family trip to Hawaii. As he was being processed at an ICE field office in Virginia, Paul suffered a heart attack, was hospitalized and treated, then released back to ICE custody. He was subsequently released under a preexisting ICE supervision arrangement with his next check-in scheduled for September. His attorney, Jay S. Marks, noted that Paul has protection from removal to India but could be deported to a third country.

A Mexican national living in Maryland, whose testimony for the Justice Department against drug cartels led an immigration judge to bar his deportation to Mexico under the Convention Against Torture in July 2024, was released from custody that November but re-detained during a routine ICE check-in in January 2026 and held for six months in a Louisiana detention facility. In July 2026 he was deported three times in two weeks: first to Guatemala, which refused him and handed him to Mexican consular officials who also declined to take him; then directly to Mexico twice more after officials there initially refused him, and again after the administration terminated his CAT protection based on diplomatic assurances it said were provided by the Mexican government and deemed reliable by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and acting ICE Director David Venturella. He has been in hiding in Mexico since Aug. 1 fearing retaliation from the cartels he testified against, and U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher found the government likely violated his due process rights, ordering it to take immediate steps to facilitate his return within 200 miles of Baltimore.

A Mexican man in his late 40s, identified in court filings only as "John Doe" and a father of two, had cooperated with U.S. prosecutors in cases against Mexican drug cartel members and was granted deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture in July 2024. While living in Maryland, he was detained by ICE in January 2026 at a routine check-in and held for six months at a facility in Louisiana. Authorities attempted to deport him multiple times, first to Guatemala on July 10, which refused him and turned him over to Mexican officials, and then to Mexico, most recently on August 1 to a region with active cartel activity. He has since gone into hiding without money, belongings, or his phone, fearing the cartels he testified against will find and kill him. U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher in Baltimore ruled that the termination of his CAT protections likely violated due process and placed him in imminent danger, ordering the government to facilitate his return within 14 days and to hold him near Baltimore with attorney access if detained again.

Mohamed Barry, 52, a truck driver from Guinea who had lived in the U.S. for 25 years and held a withholding of removal order protecting him from deportation to his home country, was captured by Border Patrol outside his home in Brownsburg, Indiana on July 1 and later placed on a July 31 ICE charter flight to Africa carrying an estimated 71 detainees. Barry, who has five U.S. citizen children including a nine-year-old daughter, said ICE-contracted GEO Group guards drank alcohol, refused to let shackled passengers use the lavatory, and placed at least two people in restraint devices during the 26-hour flight to Sierra Leone, the Central African Republic, and Ghana. After being held under armed guard in a Ghana hotel for three days, Barry agreed to return to Guinea despite his protection order, then fled across a border into a neighboring country where he is now in hiding without identification and with a dwindling supply of heart medication. "I can't tell you how heartbroken I am leaving my younger girls," Barry said. "I'm the one who takes them to the bus stop."