Human Impact Project

Mayfreed Durán Arapé, a Venezuelan barber, was detained in July 2023 on his third border crossing attempt and convicted in August 2023 of assaulting a federal officer during a riot at an El Paso immigration detention center. On February 8, 2025, he was transferred without explanation to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base along with more than 170 other Venezuelan men. During his two-week detention at Guantanamo, Durán Arapé alleges he was beaten by guards, denied access to attorneys and family calls, provided inadequate food and water, and stripped of bedding as punishment. He attempted suicide twice and provided photos of bruising and self-harm scars. On February 20, 2025, he was deported to Venezuela. The Trump administration claimed the detainees were members of Tren de Aragua, though court documents show nearly 30% had no criminal records and the government provided no evidence against Durán Arapé.

Jose Daniel Simancas, a 30-year-old Venezuelan construction worker, crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in May 2024 with his wife and cousin and was detained in El Paso while awaiting deportation. On February 4, 2025, he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base along with nine other migrants, despite having no criminal history except unauthorized entry. The Department of Homeland Security identified him as a member of Tren de Aragua based on his birthplace and tattoos, which he denied. During his 15 days at Guantanamo, Simancas reported inhumane conditions including minimal food, isolation, and only two showers. He was deported to Honduras on February 20, 2025, along with 176 other Venezuelan nationals. His family was denied information about his whereabouts throughout his nine-month detention.

Sering Ceesay, a Gambian man with serious heart conditions, was detained by ICE on February 19, 2025, after showing up for a routine immigration appointment in New York City. He was shackled and transferred to the Batavia facility, where he went two weeks without his heart medications. He subsequently suffered a stroke-like syndrome. A physician noted that without strict adherence to his medications, he faced risk of recurrent heart attacks, worsening peripheral artery disease, and strokes. A U.S. District Judge later ordered his release.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent, Andrew Josiah Segura, was charged with assault and evidence tampering following an incident on February 19, 2025, in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. The charges allege he assaulted a handcuffed detainee and physically threatened CBP employees while performing official duties.

Tarlis Marcone De Barros Gonçalves, a transgender asylum seeker from Brazil, entered the U.S. on February 15, 2025 fleeing threats to her life, but was detained at the Otero County Processing Center in New Mexico and then flown to a U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. In a federal court declaration, she said she was held with five men, forced to shower and use the toilet without privacy, given little food, and repeatedly denied contact with her attorney or family despite fearing for her life if deported. She was later transferred to an ICE facility in Pine Prairie, Louisiana, where agents shackled her so tightly during the flight that she was in pain for days afterward.

Families filed an ACLU lawsuit against the Trump administration after their relatives were transferred to a newly established 30,000-bed immigrant detention camp at Guantanamo Bay without attorney access or communication with the outside world. The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of holding civil immigration detainees at the offshore facility and argues they are being denied due process rights. At least seven military flights from El Paso have transported detainees to Guantanamo, including individuals such as 25-year-old Yoiker David Sequera who have no criminal records beyond immigration violations.

Harpinder Singh Chauhan, a 56-year-old British entrepreneur and father of two on an E-2 investor visa who had lived in the United States since 2016, was detained by ICE on February 11 despite lawful presence and serious medical conditions including diabetes, pancreatitis, asthma, and heart issues. He was shackled and transported seven hours to Krome North, where he spent nearly four days in overcrowded, freezing processing cells with no beds, showers, or privacy. ICE officers confiscated his insulin and asthma inhaler, which his family had delivered to the facility, and denied him prescribed medications and his dietary regimen. He contracted a respiratory illness amid an uncontained tuberculosis outbreak. At FDC, officers locked him in a cell without a functioning toilet or air conditioning and threatened him when he requested to move. On April 20, after nearly a week without insulin, Chauhan collapsed while standing in a dinner line at BTC and was hospitalized with signs of cardiac distress. His son Aaron could not obtain information from facility staff and discovered his father had been admitted under an alias name, "Hank Campbell." Officers transferred Chauhan back to BTC after three days in the hospital. Throughout detention, when he repeatedly asked about his personal possessions including his passport, staff responded with hostile all-caps messages. An officer mocked his name during roll call; the officer was briefly suspended with pay but returned to duty. In mid-May, facility staff informed Chauhan that his passport had been lost, further delaying his deportation. He was deported to the United Kingdom in June.

Ward Sakeik, a 22-year-old stateless Palestinian woman, was detained by ICE for 141 days after being flagged at an airport in the U.S. Virgin Islands upon returning from her honeymoon, despite having legal authorization to remain in the U.S. under an order of supervision. She has since been released. Sakeik has described conditions in ICE facilities as including overcrowding and inadequate food.

Arbella Rodríguez Márquez, a woman with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who held a valid green card for two years, was detained by ICE in February 2025 after returning to Arizona from Mexico. Her green card status was revoked by a federal immigration judge following her detention. She is being held at Eloy Detention Center where advocates say she is receiving inadequate medical care, having lost 55 pounds and coughing up blood while only receiving Tylenol and stomach ulcer medicine.

Chidi Nwagbo, a Nigerian migrant who had lived in the U.S. for 37 years, was detained at the Buffalo Federal Detention facility in Batavia on February 10, 2025, after attempting to cross into Canada. He arrived at the facility with frostbite and was under doctor's orders to see a specialist at Kessler Burn and Trauma Center in Rochester within a week. ICE staff never took him to the appointment. By the time he saw a doctor 16 days later, portions of six fingers had to be amputated due to untreated frostbite.

Colombian migrants deported from the United States under President Trump's administration reported experiencing degrading treatment in detention centers, including cramped conditions, sleep deprivation, and mistreatment during transport. Daniel Vasquez, a 40-year-old migrant, reported being detained for over a week across multiple facilities in San Diego and Texas, transported in chains and handcuffs. The Colombian and Brazilian governments complained of treatment on deportation flights, including denied bathroom breaks. Some migrants reported willingness to attempt returning to the United States.

Arbella "Yari" Rodríguez Márquez, a 47-year-old lawful permanent resident with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, was detained by ICE on February 10, 2025, after crossing back into Arizona through Nogales. She has been held at Eloy Detention Center for six months without access to cancer treatment, losing 55 pounds and receiving only Tylenol and ulcer medication. An immigration judge revoked her green card after her detention, and Arizona Representative Yassamin Ansari has intervened, demanding immediate medical care and her release.

Arbella "Yari" Rodríguez Márquez, a 39-year-old former legal permanent resident with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, has been detained by ICE at the Eloy Detention Center since February 10, 2025. She has not received proper medical care for her cancer. Her health has deteriorated, including coughing up blood and losing 70 pounds. Detention center staff have denied her requests to see an oncologist and specialist. U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari visited the facility and documented conditions. The representative has called for immediate medical intervention and her release.

US officials kept approximately 100 deported Indian migrants in shackles for a 40-hour flight back to India, including during bathroom breaks and a refueling stop in Guam. The deportees reported being treated harshly and kept in shackles throughout the journey. Indian lawmakers protested in parliament and opposition parties burned Trump effigies. The incident occurred days before an expected visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House.

Harvinder Singh was among 104 Indian nationals deported on a U.S. military C-17 plane to Amritsar, India on February 5, 2025. Singh reported in a video shared by an Indian opposition lawmaker that he was handcuffed and restrained with chains around his feet for 40 hours and was not allowed to move from his seat during the deportation flight. His account prompted Indian lawmakers to call for dignity and humanity in deportation procedures.

Daler Singh, 37, was among 104 Indian nationals deported on a U.S. military C-17 plane to Amritsar, India on February 5, 2025. Singh reported that he and other deportees were kept in handcuffs and leg chains throughout the entire 18+ hour flight, with restraints not removed even during meals. Indian lawmakers protested in parliament over the alleged mistreatment, with Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar stating that while restraints are standard ICE practice for adult deportees, the conditions raised concerns about the manner of deportation.

Elmerson Campos, a 45-year-old from Guatemala who has lived in Easton for 24 years, was arrested by ICE on February 5 and transferred through multiple detention facilities, eventually being held in California. A federal judge ordered ICE to release him on bond or schedule a bond hearing by February 23. Campos, who owns a construction business and has no criminal record beyond a 2007 traffic citation, reportedly has not received his medication for diabetes and a back injury while detained.

Yoiker Sequera, a 25-year-old Venezuelan barber, was transferred to Guantanamo Bay after being held in detention in El Paso for five months. He turned himself in to Border Patrol in Presidio in September 2024 and was detained awaiting asylum processing. His mother Angela Sequera said he wanted to join family in California and had worked as a barber in Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, and inside the detention center. She last spoke with him on a day before his transfer and said he told her he was exhausted and that his continued detention was unfair. He is among the three Venezuelans named in the ACLU lawsuit challenging the Guantanamo detentions.

The Trump administration has flown approximately 100 immigrant detainees to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base since February 4, 2025, claiming they are dangerous criminals including gang members. ProPublica and The Texas Tribune identified nearly a dozen Venezuelan immigrants transferred there, and records show at least three had no criminal history except unauthorized entry, or minor charges incurred while detained. The government has refused to release detainees' names or crime details and denied families and attorneys access to the detainees. The ACLU filed a lawsuit arguing the detainees are being denied constitutional rights to legal representation.

In Maryland, ICE agents arrested Apr. Amaya-Luis, a transgender woman married to a U.S. citizen, after she appeared for a routine probation check-in. She was then transferred to an all-male detention facility in Miami even though her lawyers said they had provided a passport listing her name as Apr. Amaya-Luis and her gender as female.