Human Impact Project

Nicolle Orozco Forero, her husband Juan Sebastian Moreno Acosta, and their two sons were detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas in June 2025 after arriving for a routine ICE check-in appointment. The family, who had been living in Seattle for two years, were separated by gender during their three-week detention. Their son Juan David, who had a serious kidney condition requiring medical treatment including a recommended biopsy, was denied adequate medical care by ICE officials. Despite legal efforts and community mobilization including support from U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro, the family was eventually deported.

Immigrants detained at ICE holding rooms at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan have complained of inhumane conditions including cramped quarters, inadequate food, inability to bathe or change clothes, and sleeping on concrete floors. Some detainees reported stays lasting up to 10 days in what were previously temporary processing areas, with allegations of insufficient medical care and limited communication with family and lawyers.

Immigrant detainees at a state-managed detention facility in the Florida Everglades are alleging conditions including lack of water, electricity issues, inadequate food, and excessive mosquitoes. Detainees from Cuba and Colombia have reported being denied access to bathrooms, showers, medicine, and legal representation. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has requested access to monitor the facility, while state officials deny the allegations.

Deivi Jose Molina-Pena, a 33-year-old Venezuelan on Temporary Protected Status, was arrested by ICE agents at a Walmart on July 7, 2025, while working as a delivery driver for Walmart's Spark service. Video captured agents using a Taser to subdue him as he fell and struck his head. Molina-Pena remained in ICE custody in El Paso with reported head pain and no medical evaluation. His arrest followed tensions between American-born and immigrant delivery drivers, with American drivers reportedly calling ICE hotlines to report immigrants' locations.

Anastasio Sanchez, a 51-year-old man who had operated a taco truck in East L.A. for five years, was detained by federal agents on July 6, 2025, near Whittier and Atlantic boulevards. Sanchez had paused his business due to ICE raids in the area but reopened out of financial necessity. He was transferred from Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown L.A. to Adelanto Detention Facility in San Bernardino County.

N.M.Z., a 6-year-old Honduran boy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, was arrested by ICE agents along with his mother and 9-year-old sister in the hallway outside a Los Angeles courthouse on May 29, 2025, following an asylum hearing. The family was held for one month at Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, where the boy missed a scheduled medical appointment and developed concerning symptoms including easy bruising, bone pain, and loss of appetite. After attorneys filed a lawsuit seeking their release, the family was released on July 2, 2025, and flown to Los Angeles on July 4, 2025. Upon return to California, the child developed severe trauma symptoms: hiding under the bed when strangers passed apartment windows, sobbing and screaming if forced outside, and remaining terrified of anyone in uniform. Eight months after release, he continued to experience intense fear of uniformed officers.

Milagro Solis Portillo was detained by ICE agents on July 3 outside her home in Sherman Oaks and hospitalized at Glendale Memorial Hospital. Detention officers have maintained a presence at the hospital. Community leaders and elected officials have stated concerns about this presence at the hospital. Her family alleged she was left handcuffed and covered in vomit for over eight hours without proper medical care.

Two Southeast Asian migrants, clients of attorney Tin Thanh Nguyen, were deported to Eswatini in July 2025 and have been held in isolation without legal representation or explanation of charges. Neither the Vietnamese nor Laotian governments have publicly declined repatriation, and the governments have not had direct access to the men. The attorney states his clients wish to return to their home countries. The Trump administration has not explained why they were not repatriated to Vietnam or Laos, claiming such deportations are reserved for individuals their own countries will not accept—a claim the deportees' legal representatives dispute. A human rights lawyer in Eswatini sued authorities alleging the men were being denied legal representation while held in a maximum-security prison.

A Cuban citizen who had been under ICE supervision since 2006 was detained by ICE in July 2025. He was held at Camp 57 in Angola, Louisiana, then transferred to Arizona where he was scheduled for deportation to Mexico. The court granted a temporary restraining order blocking his removal, finding he was denied proper notice and hearing before being deported to a third-party country where he has no connections.

Alexis, a 15-year-old from Chiapas, Mexico, was detained on July 1 when Florida Highway Patrol stopped a vehicle he was traveling in with friends and handed him over to federal authorities. He had no criminal record. The teenager spent three days at Alligator Alcatraz, a controversial temporary detention facility consisting of tents and chain-link pens, housed with adults and handcuffed during transfer. Officers said he misrepresented his age upon arrest because he feared being separated from his group. His father, Ignacio, learned of his detention only after three days when one of Alexis's friends called from the facility. After Ignacio sent a photo of Alexis's birth certificate and authorities confirmed his age, the boy was transferred to a federal shelter for migrant children on July 4. Ignacio, who fled Chiapas in 2018 due to violence, is working to reunite with his son.

Carlos Lopez Benitez was arrested by ICE agents immediately after his immigration court hearing in July 2025, which he attended with his two U.S. citizen sisters. He was detained at 26 Federal Plaza for multiple days in severely overcrowded conditions. An ICE officer held up a phone showing a photo of Lopez Benitez weeping and laughed. When he asked why they were arresting him, an ICE officer responded "it's a new government." After his release from custody, he testified about the conditions and stated: "No one should have to go through what I went through, or what thousands of other people who have been arrested and detained in this building have gone through."

A 60-year-old Afghan migrant, Baqir Rezaei, died in an Iranian detention camp in Zabol after being intercepted despite holding an official exit permit. He was held without food or water and forced to work under extreme heat conditions. According to his family, at least eight migrants died in the camp out of 35 who lost consciousness from heat and thirst.

Paul John Bojerski, 79, a Polish-born refugee who legally immigrated to the U.S. in 1952 and lived there for over 70 years, was detained by ICE in late October 2025 based on a decades-old deportation order from 1968. Despite having no passport and no country to return to, Bojerski was taken into custody after attending a routine ICE check-in and transferred to Alligator Alcatraz detention facility. His family reports his health has deteriorated significantly during detention, and he now awaits resolution of his case.

Donna Brown-Hughes, an Irish woman who has lived in America for 47 years, was detained by ICE for five months after returning from a trip to Ireland. She was arrested in Chicago due to two dishonored checks from 13 and 10 years prior. She was subsequently released and reunited with her family in Missouri. During detention, she reported conditions including unsanitary facilities, pest infestations, and inadequate food and utilities.

A 15-year-old Mexican national was detained by Florida Highway Patrol in Tampa and transferred to Alligator Alcatraz, a detention facility in the Florida Everglades designed for adult detainees. The teenager initially claimed to be an adult, but was transferred to a shelter for migrant children after his age was confirmed. State and federal officials initially did not acknowledge the minor had been held at the facility before acknowledging it after media confirmation.

Pascual Miguel Andres, 45, a Guatemalan undocumented immigrant who has lived in the US for 17 years, was detained by ICE on August 15, 2025, after being turned over by Florida Highway Patrol following a minor traffic accident. His two daughters, Yulisa and Yeniffer Andres, are U.S. Marines serving in California, and have applied for "parole in place" to secure his green card and release. Andres has no criminal history and is father to four children, including a son who plans to enlist in the Air Force. He was initially held at Alligator Alcatraz detention facility before being transferred to Krome Detention Center.

Svetlana Romanova, a 59-year-old Russian woman who fled to the U.S. after protesting Russia's war in Ukraine, has spent approximately eight months detained at the CoreCivic Houston Processing Center despite her deteriorating mental and physical health. Islam Musaev, a 28-year-old Kyrgyzstani man who was granted asylum by an immigration judge in March, remains detained after the Department of Homeland Security appealed his case. Data shows detainees at Houston-area facilities are being held significantly longer since the start of Trump's second term, with average stays more than doubling at some facilities.

Svetlana Romanova, a 59-year-old Russian who fled to protest the Ukraine war, has been detained for approximately eight months at CoreCivic Houston Processing Center. She reports inadequate medical care, significant weight loss, and suicidal ideation that was dismissed by staff. An immigration judge ruled against her asylum claim in April; she has appealed, citing risk to her life if returned to Russia.

Isidro Perez, a 75-year-old Cuban man who arrived in the U.S. in 1966, died on June 26, 2025 after 21 days in ICE custody at Krome North Service Processing Center in Miami-Dade County. He was arrested on June 5 during a law enforcement operation in Key Largo and charged with inadmissibility under the Immigration and Nationality Act, based in part on prior drug convictions from 1981 and 1984. On June 17, he was admitted to Larkin Community Hospital with unstable angina and chest pain with EKG changes; he was discharged on June 25. On June 26 at approximately 7 p.m., he reported chest pains while in the Medical Housing Unit at Krome. Miami Dade Rescue responded with life-sustaining interventions including CPR and defibrillator shock, and he was transported to HCA Kendall Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:42 p.m. His cause of death is under investigation, with medical reviewers suspecting acute myocardial infarction. He is the fifth person to die in ICE custody in Florida since January 2025.

Fernando Eduardo Artese, 63, a dual Italian-Argentinian citizen working as a security camera technician, was stopped during a routine traffic stop on June 25, 2025, while driving with his family in a camper van. Officers discovered an outstanding warrant for failure to appear in court for a driving violation. Artese had been living legally in the US since 2018 under the Visa Waiver Program and was planning to self-deport and relocate to Argentina with his family. He was detained and transferred to the ICE facility known as "Alligator Alcatraz" in the Florida Everglades, where his family reports he has been denied information about his case and access to legal representation.