Human Impact Project

Fernando Viera Reyes, a 50-year-old detainee transferred to California City ICE Detention Facility in August 2025, was denied specialist care despite showing symptoms of prostate cancer. While at a previous ICE facility, Viera Reyes had been scheduled for a urologist-recommended prostate biopsy in March 2025. After his transfer, despite experiencing bloody urine, pain, difficulty urinating, and blood in stool, medical staff provided only Flomax intermittently and vitamin C instead of connecting him with a urologist. His PSA levels rose from 6.3 to 74 between January and October 2025, indicating very high likelihood of prostate cancer. A medical expert review described his treatment as "a complete dereliction of duty." On November 12, 2025, Viera Reyes filed an emergency motion and joined seven other detainees in a class-action lawsuit against the Trump administration alleging severe medical neglect at the privately-owned CoreCivic facility. By February 2026, the case was being heard in federal court in San Francisco.

Luis René Lemus, 59, a Cuban with Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia, was deported to Mexico where he has struggled to procure needed medication. He is among elderly and infirm Cubans sent to Villahermosa under the third-country deportation program.

Ricardo Pérez, 67, a Cuban, was pushed across the U.S. border by immigration agents while in a wheelchair and deported to Mexico. He arrived at a Catholic shelter in Villahermosa among many elderly Cubans with health problems, where he struggles to access care and necessities.

Maryna Ishchenko, a Ukrainian asylum seeker from eastern Ukraine, was detained by ICE during a routine check-in appointment at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. She had previously been detained at the U.S.-Mexico border when she and her U.S. citizen husband, Asael Ramirez, presented her asylum case, but was released after he agreed to sponsor her. Despite being married to a U.S. citizen and complying with all required check-ins, she was detained again. She is experiencing abdominal medical issues exacerbated by anxiety and fear while in detention. Her husband has spent $15,000 on her case and is seeking a habeas corpus petition for her release.

Anthony Paredes, an 18-year-old deaf high school senior at Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts in Los Angeles, was chased and tackled to the ground by Department of Homeland Security immigration officers on January 24, 2026, during a peaceful protest outside a federal building in downtown Los Angeles. Multiple bystanders shouted that Paredes was deaf and could not hear the officers' verbal commands, but he was taken into custody without a sign language interpreter provided. While in custody, Paredes' requests to use a restroom were denied. His mother, Guadalupe Diaz, expressed concern about the lack of interpreter access during the encounter. Educators and organizers plan to file a claim and lawsuit against the government and seek to have charges dropped, with a court date scheduled for April 1.

Cecil Elvir-Quinonez, a 25-year-old Honduran national who has lived in the U.S. since 2014, was arrested on New Year's Eve 2025 after being stopped for speeding in Louisiana. She was separated from her two American-born children, including a five-month-old still breastfeeding at the time of arrest. While in ICE custody, Elvir-Quinonez discovered she was pregnant with her third child. She experienced heavy bleeding and cramps but received limited medical care beyond one emergency room visit. Her youngest child has been repeatedly sick since her arrest, and her five-year-old has developed new speech difficulties. Advocacy groups including the ACLU and National Immigration Project report that Elvir-Quinonez's case is part of a documented pattern: more than a dozen women have suffered medical neglect and mistreatment while pregnant in ICE custody, including cases of women shackled during miscarriages, denied prenatal care, and given inadequate nutrition. The advocacy coalition has urged ICE to release all pregnant detainees.

The Pomona City Council passed a resolution demanding ICE release Ramiro Santiago Pacheco Martinez, a Pomona resident held at Adelanto Detention Center since his arrest by Border Patrol agents last November while waiting for a bus to pick up diabetes medication. His daughter, Jax Santana, says he has high blood pressure, a pacemaker, and a history of heart attacks, and has not consistently received his medication in custody. Pacheco Martinez has lived in the U.S. for nearly two decades and has no criminal record; local, state and federal lawmakers have written to the Department of Homeland Security seeking his release.

Andranik Grigoryan, a New York resident detained at Miami Correctional Facility in Indiana, suffered a severe seizure on January 22—his first in nearly a year—after correctional medical staff failed to provide his prescribed anti-seizure medication (Keppra), which he had relied on for years to control epilepsy. He hit his head during the seizure and was left lying in a pool of blood before being taken to a local hospital for treatment. Upon returning to the facility the same day, officers pepper-sprayed him through a cell port while he was still recovering from the seizure and had difficulty standing, causing intense burning and respiratory distress, then moved him to another cell without letting him wash off the spray. The ACLU of Indiana filed lawsuits on his behalf on July 27 against Centurion Health of Indiana and unidentified correctional officers, alleging 14th Amendment violations; the Indiana Department of Correction said it had no statement, and Centurion did not respond to a request for comment.

An Ecuadoran woman seeking asylum was detained at Cumberland County Jail in Portland for five months. In January, ICE transferred her to Massachusetts without court authorization and then to Louisiana via air transport, removing her epilepsy medication despite knowing of her condition. During transfer she was shackled without food or bathroom access, and suffered multiple seizures in Louisiana while receiving no medication for days. U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin found ICE made false and misleading statements to the court, unlawfully detained her without a bond hearing, and deliberately disregarded her medical needs. The judge ordered her released, barred re-arrest, and ordered the government to pay her legal fees of approximately $15,000.

ICE enforcement operations, including Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, have created widespread fear in immigrant communities, with documented impacts on children's mental health, school engagement, and family stability. Testimony before the Illinois Accountability Commission described children avoiding school activities, families considering guardianship transfers, and reduced use of healthcare and educational institutions due to enforcement actions.

Victor Acurio Suarez, a 52-year-old disabled Ecuadorian immigrant with autism and aphasia, was issued an order of voluntary departure by an immigration judge on January 20, 2026. Suarez was arrested by ICE in September 2024 while in a Lowe's parking lot. His asylum request was denied and he faces deportation to Ecuador. He has documented trauma.

Two protesters were blinded by less-lethal munitions fired by federal officers during an anti-ICE protest in Santa Ana, California. Kaden Rummler, 21, was shot at close range in the face, causing blindness in his left eye with glass shards and metal fragments lodged in his skull. Britain Rodriguez, 31, suffered a similar close-range shot to the face at the same protest.

Alberto Cabral, a 73-year-old landscaper, was detained by ICE agents on Gardner Avenue in West Hollywood while working his regular landscaping route. According to witnesses and community members, Cabral has lived in the U.S. since age 15 and is the primary income source for his 97-year-old mother and 70-year-old wife. He suffers from serious medical conditions including heart disease and diabetes, and recently sustained work-related injuries including fractures and an open wound.

Jose Oleaz, 34, was detained by ICE during a raid in Pomona on Wednesday while serving as the sole caregiver for his 13-year-old nephew Bryan. Oleaz immigrated from Mexico over 20 years ago and had been raising Bryan following the deaths of his wife Yesenia and sister Alejandra in a DUI crash two years prior. According to family members, Oleaz is a landscaper with no criminal record who also cares for his father with cancer.

Hani Duglof, a 32-year-old with a rare genetic disorder (RDEB) that causes skin blistering, was detained by ICE after agents ran his license plate while he was driving. He was transferred to M Health Fairview Southdale Hospital after requesting medical attention, where he remains in ICE custody. His family and attorney are seeking his release, citing his severe medical condition and his pending asylum application that has been ongoing for over 10 years.

Jose Avendano, a 62-year-old dishwasher from El Salvador with temporary protected status and a valid work permit, was arrested on January 9, 2026, while driving to work. He told officers he had legal authorization to be in the United States, but was detained and transferred to El Paso. Avendano has lived in the U.S. for 32 years, has a heart condition requiring daily medication and a pacemaker, and missed a critical medical procedure due to his arrest. A federal judge ordered his release after his lawyer filed suit, but ICE kept him in custody for three additional days in violation of the court order.

Mauricio Martínez was detained by ICE agents during a traffic stop on January 9 and transferred to a detention facility in El Paso, Texas. His wife Nancy Parra and their three children have remained largely confined to their home. Parra reported that her husband is held in conditions including overcrowding, spoiled food, and poor sanitation. The family experiences financial hardship without his income.

Multiple Minnesota residents detained by ICE in January 2026 and transported to Camp East Montana detention center in El Paso, Texas reported serious medical neglect and unsafe conditions. An 18-year-old legal resident with a thyroid condition arrived with severe abdominal pain but received no medication during her detention and had her documents taken upon release. A Cuban man with a pending asylum application waited five days to see medical staff, at which point he was diagnosed with COVID. Two detainees under age 21 were placed in a holding cell with 40 people despite its 20-person capacity, and detainees reported limited phone access and inadequate food. In March 2026, U.S. Rep. Kelly Morrison, D-Minn., a doctor, conducted an unannounced oversight visit to the facility, where security initially delayed her entry for about an hour. She was not permitted to speak with detainees but was shown an empty tent structure holding pods of 64 to 72 people with crammed metal bunk beds, partial-privacy showers, and about six sinks, comparing the facility's appearance to a commercial livestock building.

Oudone Lothirath, a 57-year-old Laotian refugee who arrived in the U.S. in the early 1980s, was detained by ICE in January 2026 during an immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota. While held for 10 days at a detention facility in El Paso, Texas, he missed vital chemotherapy sessions for terminal Hodgkin's lymphoma and received no medical care for his diabetes and heart condition. After his release, he was too weakened to continue his remaining chemotherapy treatments, and his cancer subsequently spread to his bone marrow. His care assistant, Christina Vilay, said he would have had "many more months" to live had he completed his scheduled chemotherapy. Lothirath, a working member of the Minneapolis Lao community who attended a local Buddhist temple and held a current work authorization card issued in 2023, is now receiving hospice care.

Izzy Aly, a legal immigrant with an active green card application, was arrested on December 23, 2025, at Philadelphia International Airport upon returning from an approved USCIS visit to Egypt to handle his deceased father's estate. He was held for six months at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania, where he was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure three months into detention. Aly reports receiving inadequate medical care, including only two visits with a nephrologist despite his serious condition, threats of solitary confinement when reporting COVID concerns, and widespread viral infections in crowded detention pods. He was released on June 19, 2026, after advocacy efforts by civil rights groups, members of Congress, and public figures brought attention to his case, and is now returning to Florida while his legal appeal continues. Aly, an Orlando-area Libertarian Party activist and owner of a media consulting firm, met with U.S. Rep. Summer Lee following his release; Lee had previously conducted an oversight visit to the detention facility. He now suffers from trauma, lacks health insurance, and is working to recover while advocating for closure of the detention facility.