Human Impact Project

Joytu Chowdhury, a 24-year-old former student at Illinois Wesleyan University from Bangladesh, was arrested by ICE in December 2025 after his F-1 student visa status lapsed due to transfer-related administrative issues. After months in immigration detention across multiple facilities in Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana, Chowdhury alleged inhumane conditions including inadequate medical care and severe mental stress; DHS disputed these claims. He self-deported and returned to Bangladesh in February 2026, leaving behind his U.S. citizen wife. Chowdhury stated that detention conditions forced him to abandon his legal fight and accept voluntary departure.

Estela Ramos Baten was detained during a mandatory immigration check-in and deported to Guatemala with her teenage daughter Nory Sontay Ramos on July 4. Ramos Baten had lived in Los Angeles since 2016 and suffered from liver cirrhosis and high blood pressure. She died nine weeks after deportation from complications of liver cirrhosis. Her teenage daughter remained in Guatemala.

Luis Duque was driving his boyfriend Oscar to work in Charlotte when ICE agents stopped their vehicle during a traffic stop. The agents detained Oscar, who is in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen, without presenting a warrant. Oscar was taken to Stewart Detention Center in Georgia and given the option to self-deport to Mexico or wait months for a court hearing.

An 18-year-old U.S. citizen has been living alone in his family's Texas home since Feb. 4, 2025, after immigration authorities removed his five siblings — four of them U.S. citizens — and undocumented parents to Mexico, interrupting his 11-year-old sister's treatment for a rare brain tumor. The family was detained at a mandatory Border Patrol checkpoint in Texas while traveling to the hospital and deported the next day, despite previously passing through the checkpoint with hospital and attorney letters. They have been living in an area known for kidnappings of U.S. citizens while waiting since June for a decision on a humanitarian parole request that would let the parents and one noncitizen sibling return with the girl for treatment. The teen attended the State of the Union as a guest of Rep. Adriano Espaillat to advocate for his family's return, describing a year of loneliness that he compared to being 'trapped in a coffin.'

On February 17, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained Sonia Espinoza Arriaga, a Mexican national, and her three children (ages 5, 16, and 18) in Soldotna, Alaska. The family had entered the United States in 2023 and declared themselves at the border seeking protection. Arriaga was married to a U.S. citizen and had been in regular contact with her immigration attorney, who believed no enforcement action would occur for 90 days. The detention followed Arriaga's missed immigration court hearing in January due to miscommunication about the date. Within 36 hours of detention, Arriaga and her two youngest children were deported to Tijuana, Mexico, while her 18-year-old son was transferred to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington. An immigration attorney filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the legality of the detention, and the rapid deportation prompted an Alaska House Judiciary Committee investigation into ICE activity in the state.

A woman in her 50s, adopted from Iran as a toddler by a U.S. Air Force veteran, is facing deportation proceedings after discovering she was never formally naturalized as a U.S. citizen. She entered the country on a tourist visa and was excluded from the 2000 Child Citizenship Act, despite growing up in the Midwest and having no criminal record. She fears deportation to Iran given her father's military service, her Christian faith, and her lack of family or language connections to the country.

Juana Felipe Mateo, a Guatemalan mother of two, was deported from the South Texas Family Residential Center (Dilley) while 8 months pregnant with a third child after three months in detention. She alleges ICE and DHS deceived her into signing voluntary departure papers by offering $15,000 (which she says she never received) and obtaining a doctor's authorization to fly despite her advanced pregnancy. Juana reported that pregnant detainees, including herself, were hidden from U.S. Congressman Joaquín Castro during a facility inspection to prevent them from reporting lack of medical care and alleged mistreatment. She also described being placed in a cold room known as 'la hielera' for five days when her 2-year-old daughter developed fever. She learned of her unborn son's sex only on the day of her deportation.

A woman adopted from Iran at age 3 by a U.S. Air Force officer and raised in the Midwest for 53 years is facing deportation to Iran, a country with which the U.S. has no diplomatic relations and is currently at war. She was excluded from automatic citizenship under the 2000 Child Citizenship Act due to overstaying a visa as a 4-year-old in the 1970s, a discrepancy she discovered in 2008 when applying for a passport. Her adoptive parents legally completed her adoption with a birth certificate and U.S. citizen parents listed, yet she lacks proof of citizenship. She fears deportation to a country she does not remember and where she has no family or language connections.

Lucia, a pregnant woman detained by ICE after appearing for a regular check-in appointment, began experiencing heavy vaginal bleeding in the middle of the night when she was two months pregnant. She requested immediate medical attention but was not taken to see medical staff for several hours. Instead, medical staff left her alone in a small room without food, water, or pain medication while she bled heavily. After significant blood loss, she was transported to an emergency room with her arms and legs shackled while actively miscarrying. She required a blood transfusion due to the miscarriage. She was returned to ICE custody and continued experiencing abdominal pain and heavy bleeding for another month before being deported.

Alicia arrived for a routine ICE check-in in Louisiana and was detained without warning, then sent to Basile detention center. She soon discovered she was pregnant. She received small portions of poor-quality food that left her feeling weak and hungry. By May, she began experiencing severe abdominal pain, cramping, and bleeding. She was taken to a local hospital for a blood test but received no explanation of her medical treatment or interpretation. At the emergency room, medical personnel performed an invasive uterine test without her consent, injected her with an unknown medication, and informed her that she had miscarried. Despite this miscarriage, ICE returned her to Basile that night and detained her for two more months. She continued to experience heavy bleeding, swelling, fever, and severe uterine pain, submitting repeated sick call requests that went unanswered. In July 2025, ICE deported Alicia, separating her from her children, and she later sought hospital care for a severe infection acquired while in custody.

Angie Rodriguez, a Colombian asylum seeker, was detained by ICE following a routine immigration check-in in July 2025 and discovered she was pregnant while in custody at Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield, California. While detained, she experienced food insecurity, struggling to eat facility meals due to their appearance and smell, with limited alternatives beyond processed foods like instant noodles and chips. She received no adequate prenatal health care or education for weeks after her pregnancy was confirmed. Rodriguez experienced brown discharge and was transported to an off-site hospital where she miscarried. Upon hospital release, she was placed in medical isolation at the ICE detention center before being released. Her case is among more than a dozen documented by the ACLU of pregnant women held without proper medical care at immigration facilities. Rodriguez filed a lawsuit claiming unconstitutional detention, arguing that the stress of sudden arrest, coupled with inadequate food options and lack of prenatal care, may have contributed to the loss of her pregnancy.

Greggy Valerio Sorio, a 37-year-old green card holder, was deported to the Philippines after ICE denied his stay request despite severe medical conditions including inflammatory bowel disease, anemia, and a toe amputation requiring wheelchair use. Sorio's deportation stemmed from criminal convictions dating back over a decade, and ICE determined he was medically fit to fly despite advocates' warnings and his recent hospitalization. Community groups and immigrant-rights advocates condemned the deportation as a systemic failure, with 60 protesters rallying outside the detention center, and airline staff initially removing him from the flight after being alerted to his condition.

Lorth Sim, a 59-year-old Cambodian national who entered the U.S. as a refugee in 1983 and became a lawful permanent resident in 1986, died in custody at Miami Correctional Facility in Miami County, Indiana on February 16, 2026. Sim was arrested by ICE in Boston on December 30, 2025, and transferred to the Indiana facility to await deportation following an immigration judge's removal order to Cambodia. He was found unresponsive in his cell and pronounced dead at 7:10 a.m. His death was the seventh in federal immigration custody in 2026. The cause of death remained under investigation, and organizers reported concerns about medical neglect among ICE detainees at the facility, prompting U.S. Congressman André Carson and other lawmakers to seek answers.

Four journalists and an attorney were detained by plainclothes police in Yaounde, Cameroon on February 19, 2026, while investigating Trump administration deportations of third-country immigrants to the African nation. The journalists were beaten during the detention, and their equipment was confiscated. They were attempting to interview recently deported individuals and film a facility holding deportees. All five people were later released. Press freedom groups raised alarm over the incident, which occurred as some deported immigrants were sent to Cameroon in violation of court orders protecting them from deportation to their home countries.

The Department of Justice filed a denaturalization case against former North Miami Mayor Philippe Bien-Aime, alleging he misrepresented his identity and immigration history during his naturalization process in 2006. According to federal prosecutors, Bien-Aime entered the United States in 1997 using a fraudulent passport under a different name, was ordered removed in 2000, but remained in the country under an assumed identity. The complaint also alleges he obtained permanent resident status through an invalid marriage to a U.S. citizen using a fraudulent divorce certificate.

Liam Azizi and his wife Hananeh Alikaram, Iranian converts to Christianity fleeing religious persecution, were separated after only Azizi received asylum approval. Alikaram's asylum request was denied and she is being held in Louisiana awaiting deportation to Iran, where she faces prosecution for her religious conversion.

Rigoberto Soto Jimenez, a Mexican immigrant, was ordered released by a federal judge in Minnesota but ICE released him in Texas without his driver's license, work permit, or Mexican consular ID card. The Department of Justice failed to comply with the court's February 9 order to return his belongings by the February 17 deadline. At a February 18 show cause hearing, U.S. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Isihara was found in civil contempt of court, and Judge Laura M. Provinzino ordered him to pay $500 daily fines beginning February 20 until the documents were returned. On February 19, the DOJ returned Soto Jimenez's documents via overnight delivery, and the judge dismissed the contempt order without imposing fines.

Javier Abreu-Vasquez (also referred to as Javier Ubreu), a 38-year-old kidney transplant recipient from the Dominican Republic with legal status in the U.S., was arrested by ICE agents in Rochester, Minnesota on February 5 while delivering groceries for his church's mutual aid group after officers rammed his car and broke a window. He was transferred to a facility in El Paso, Texas, where he faced delays and reportedly incorrect dosages of the immunosuppressant medication needed to prevent rejection of his donated kidney. His wife and Minnesota state Rep. Kim Hicks attempted to deliver his medication to federal authorities but were initially turned away. After intervention from Senator Tina Smith's office and Mayo Clinic physicians, he gained access to medication, and a federal judge ordered his release on bond. His attorney confirmed he has no prior criminal convictions. He returned home to Rochester on February 19 after roughly two weeks in custody, with next steps in his immigration case unclear.

Victor Jardon-Reyes, a 33-year-old DACA recipient from Guerrero, Mexico, lost his job on February 18, 2026, after his DACA renewal application stalled for months. He applied to renew his DACA in November 2025, received an appointment for fingerprinting in January 2026, but his work permit expired before the renewal was processed, causing him to lose work authorization and legal protections from deportation. Jardon-Reyes, a homeowner in Chicago's Belmont Cragin neighborhood with a mortgage and college enrollment, is now afraid to leave his home due to risk of ICE detention. His situation exemplifies a nationwide problem of DACA renewal delays affecting an estimated half million recipients.

Juan Nicolás, a two-month-old infant, was deported to Mexico on February 8, 2026, hours after being discharged from hospital treatment for bronchitis and respiratory illness. He was detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, alongside his mother Mireya López Sánchez and 16-month-old sister after his mother was apprehended near Eagle Pass on January 21 while seeking asylum. During detention, Juan Nicolás developed severe breathing problems, vomiting, and gastroesophageal reflux disease; his mother reported he became unresponsive and was "choking on his own vomit" while hospitalized. After hospital discharge, he was immediately deported with only $190 from the family's detention commissary account. With assistance from journalist Lidia Terrazas and advocacy groups, the family secured shelter and medical care, where Juan Nicolás was diagnosed with RSV and severe bronchiolitis. The family later relocated to Guatemala where they have relatives. Rep. Joaquin Castro criticized the deportation as "heinous."