Human Impact Project

Tahir Lekaj, a 43-year-old native of Yugoslavia admitted to the United States in 1999, is facing denaturalization after being convicted of sexually abusing a child under age 15. When Lekaj applied for naturalization in 2004, he falsely claimed under oath that he had never committed a crime for which he was not arrested. He naturalized in May 2005. However, in 2022, Connecticut convicted him of two counts of sexual abuse of a child, with evidence showing the victim was 10 years old when abuse began in January 2003. The Department of Justice filed a complaint alleging he illegally procured citizenship through false testimony and concealment of material facts.

Andrea Marroquin, a 44-year-old Colombian national who inherited her major drug trafficker father's assets, is facing denaturalization after obtaining permanent residence through concealment of a bigamous marriage. Between 2003 and 2011, Marroquin conspired to commit wire and bank fraud and money laundering, using her late father's drug proceeds to finance fraudulent real estate transactions in Miami, Florida. She naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2009 while concealing her criminal activities. The Department of Justice filed four denaturalization counts against her, alleging she knowingly lied to immigration authorities and lacked good moral character.

Jean Claude Alfred, a 68-year-old Haitian native who naturalized in 1994, is facing denaturalization after being convicted of sexual abuse of his minor daughter. Alfred began repeatedly sexually abusing his daughter in September 1993, approximately one month before filing his naturalization application, and continued the abuse during his naturalization proceedings. During naturalization, Alfred falsely represented under oath that he had not committed any unreported crimes. A Florida jury convicted him in 1996 of attempted sexual battery and lewd assault upon a child. The Department of Justice alleges he illegally procured citizenship through false testimony and concealment of material facts.

Leidys Delmas Garcia, a 54-year-old Cuban native, is facing denaturalization after being convicted of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. Garcia and co-conspirators operated 30 physical therapy clinics in Florida that fraudulently billed Blue Cross Blue Shield approximately $36.7 million for medically unnecessary or non-provided services. During her naturalization interview, Garcia falsely testified under penalty of perjury that she had not committed crimes and had never provided false information to U.S. government officials. The Department of Justice filed denaturalization action seeking to revoke her citizenship.

Akram Mahmoud Omar, 77, a Palestinian-born lawful permanent resident who lived in the United States for 50 years, was detained by ICE in October 2025 during a routine check-in at Angola prison's ICE detention facility. While in custody, Omar suffered a heart attack and underwent triple-bypass surgery. On May 29, 2026, Federal Judge Brian Jackson ordered Omar's release, finding ICE violated his constitutional rights and due process. However, on June 8, 2026, ICE re-arrested Omar at his home without warning and attempted to deport him to Israel the following morning, directly defying the judge's order. A second emergency court order forced ICE to release him again and prohibited further detention or removal pending a June 24 hearing.

Beginning May 25, 2026, hundreds of protesters gathered outside Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, to support detainees staging a hunger strike over poor living conditions including moldy and expired food, overcrowded cells, and lack of air conditioning. The 1,000-bed facility, operated by the GEO Group under a $1 billion contract and opened in early 2025, became the site of escalating confrontations over several days. ICE agents and New Jersey State Police deployed pepper spray, tear gas, batons, and horses against demonstrators who formed human chains and used makeshift shields. Senator Andy Kim was exposed to pepper spray, a U.S. military veteran providing medical assistance was detained, and an ICE agent supervisor was filmed pushing a photographer off a public sidewalk. At least 80 people were arrested, with some charged with rioting after authorities imposed a curfew, and Congresswoman LaMonica McIver was later charged with assaulting officers. Mayor Ras Baraka announced plans to shut down the facility and to sue the GEO Group, while the state filed a lawsuit seeking unrestricted health inspections.

Jose Rutilio Equite Marroquin, a Guatemalan national with familial ties to the United States, was taken into ICE custody on June 7, 2026, based on a reinstated 2014 removal order. Despite expressing fear of returning to Guatemala due to widespread violence, ICE failed to provide the mandatory reasonable fear interview required under 8 C.F.R. § 241.8(e) during his one month of detention. The court granted a preliminary injunction ordering ICE to immediately refer Marroquin to an asylum officer for a reasonable fear determination within three days and to file a compliance status report.

Gerardo Reyes Gonzalez, a 44-year-old father, was arrested on March 14, 2026, during a traffic stop in San Marcos while sitting as a passenger in his 17-year-old son's truck. Police initiated the stop based on an emergency call about a vehicle matching the truck's description, though the reported incident never occurred. He was charged with Interference with Public Duties after allegedly trying to prevent his son from being removed from the vehicle. Reyes Gonzalez was transferred to ICE custody and detained for over two months. The Hays County District Attorney dropped the criminal charge on May 11, and a federal judge granted his habeas corpus petition on June 1, ordering his release. The San Marcos Police Department was found to have committed multiple policy violations, including making inaccurate statements in court documents and failing to verify facts before arrest. His daughter Lupe Sarinana credited community activism and a petition with over 200 signatures for his release.

Tomin Nimamac, a Guatemalan citizen, was arrested and detained on June 6, 2026, at Moshannon Valley Processing Center after entering the United States without inspection around 2012. ICE agents and local police determined he was unlawfully present and detained him under what they claimed was mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A). The court ruled that Nimamac, as a noncitizen already present in the country rather than an applicant for admission, is subject to discretionary detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) and granted his petition for a bond hearing before a neutral immigration judge within 10 days.

Arturo Rafael Acosta Parabavire, a noncitizen who has continuously resided in the United States since August 2023, was taken into ICE custody on June 6, 2026, and detained at the West Tennessee Detention Facility. He challenged his detention without an individualized bond hearing before an immigration judge. The court stayed his transfer and ordered the ICE respondent to respond within two business days, requiring them to either distinguish the case from Lopez-Campos v. Raycraft or consent to the issuance of the writ if detention was under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A).

A federal judge in California ordered the government to take a man showing signs of prostate cancer to a specialist for diagnosis and treatment. ICE lawyers told the judge that officials missed the appointment due to an "internal scheduling error." CoreCivic, which operates the facility, declined to comment on the active litigation.

On June 3, 2026, ICE detained 48 workers during a raid on Burnstein Von Seelen Precision Casting in Abbeville County, South Carolina, in an operation called Operation Ghost Story. Two company managers, Christopher Douglas Ramey and Sandy Lynn Willis, were arrested and indicted for failing to verify employee identities and facilitating the use of forged identity documents. Four additional defendants, including Xavier Martinez Adorno of Horry County, were indicted for providing and selling fraudulent identification documents including forged driver's licenses, Social Security cards, and counterfeit green cards—some using the identities of real U.S. citizens. The investigation involved local, state, and federal agencies including SLED, Homeland Security Investigations, and ICE.

Andrea Pedro-Francisco, a 23-year-old Guatemalan asylum seeker who fled to the U.S. with her mother in 2019, was arrested on February 5, 2026, by federal agents during a traffic stop while driving to work in Minnesota. She was immediately transferred to Camp East Montana, a tent detention facility at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, where she was held for nearly four months in crowded conditions. Pedro-Francisco had a golf-ball-sized ovarian cyst that required surgery before her arrest; nine independent physicians concluded the procedure was medically necessary to prevent serious complications including infertility and potential death. ICE repeatedly denied approval for the surgery and provided only over-the-counter pain relief despite a doctor's opioid prescription. Her mother, who has two younger U.S. citizen children, was released at the scene. Following legal motions, advocacy by U.S. Representatives Angie Craig, Greg Casar, and Veronica Escobar, Senator Tina Smith's intervention with DHS, and sustained efforts by lawyers and organizers, Pedro-Francisco was released in early June 2026 with GPS monitoring and her case transferred back to Minnesota for a July hearing.

Andersson Mario Adonias Lobos Aguilar, a non-citizen, was stopped based on an alleged traffic violation on June 4, 2026, and subsequently detained by ICE. He is currently being held at the Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, Louisiana. Lobos Aguilar, proceeding pro se, filed a Petition for Temporary Restraining Order asking to be immediately released under appropriate conditions of supervision and asking that respondents be enjoined from 're-detaining' him. The court found that the bare allegations he raised were insufficient to show a substantial likelihood of success on the merits. Accordingly, the court denied his Petition for Temporary Restraining Order.

Hamilton Ismael Padilla Mendoza, a Nicaraguan national, was arrested and re-detained on June 4, 2026, while attending a routine ICE check-in in Los Angeles. He had been released on supervised release in 2024 after the Immigration Court granted him withholding of removal to Nicaragua, but was arrested without prior notice explaining the basis for revocation. ICE indicated he could not be removed to Nicaragua but would be sent to an unspecified third country. The court issued a temporary restraining order on June 13, 2026, blocking his removal from the United States pending resolution of his habeas corpus petition challenging the legality of third-country removal.

Victor San Shing Kwok, a 50-year-old native of the People's Republic of China, is facing denaturalization after being accused of using multiple identities and concealing prior immigration denials. In September 1994, Kwok sought admission under the identity Xin Cheng Guo. After an immigration judge denied his application, Kwok married a U.S. citizen and applied to adjust his resident status. He failed to disclose the prior denial of his application and his pending order of removal. There is no record that Kwok departed the United States as ordered by the immigration judge. The Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia filed a civil denaturalization complaint on June 4, 2026.

Maria Lourdes Montoya, a 63-year-old Mexican national, is facing denaturalization after fraudulently obtaining permanent residence and citizenship. Montoya misrepresented her husband's identity in both her permanent residence and naturalization applications, claiming to be married to Gilberto Montoya, a U.S. citizen who had actually died decades earlier. In reality, Montoya was married to Ernesto Orozco-Viramontes, a Mexican national who assumed the identity of Gilberto Montoya. Montoya knowingly leveraged this deception to obtain immigration benefits. The Department of Justice filed a five-count complaint seeking to cancel her naturalized citizenship.

Laura Yinneth Molano Luque, a 33-year-old Colombian woman, has been detained at Delaney Hall ICE detention center in Newark and has become severely and violently ill. Despite making multiple requests for medical help over several days, her pleas went unanswered until she fainted and was transferred to the hospital; she fainted again the next day after returning to the facility. According to her attorney's emergency court filing, Molano Luque has since vomited blood, experienced severe and unrelenting pain, and has at times been unable to speak, yet has received no medical assistance beyond antibiotics and has largely been unable to eat. Her case is among over 70 detainees who have filed federal lawsuits alleging medical neglect and deficiencies at Delaney Hall, a 1,000-person facility operated by private prison contractor GEO Group.

Ederson Galicia Alva, 11, was first separated from his mother in 2018 as a toddler under Trump's first-term family separation policy. After legal intervention and reunification, the family rebuilt their life in Florida. In June 2025, federal agents arrested his mother Mirsy Maricela Alva López during an immigration enforcement action, and she was deported to Guatemala while Ederson and his sister were separated again. After approximately 11 months, a federal judge ordered the family's return to Florida in late May 2026. An Associated Press investigation found that dozens of children covered by the Ms. L v. ICE settlement—a 2018 agreement meant to prevent family separations and protect over 11,800 family members—have been re-separated from their families during the second Trump administration despite legal protections.

Connor Michael Read, 29, a British national who came to the U.S. at age 9 and was a DACA recipient, was detained by ICE on June 3, 2026, during a green card interview in Tampa, Florida. Read, who runs a pressure-washing business called Refresh Florida and has lived in the country for over 20 years, was separated from his American wife Jaelin and their three-year-old twin sons Ryder and Ozzie during what agents described as a private interview. Read reported that agents bound his hands and tied his ankles during transport to a local jail, then to the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center. He described detention conditions as "horrible" and "dirty," and reported becoming ill with headaches, chills, and fever. His wife discovered their I-130 petition for permanent residency had been approved the same day he was detained. His wife told media they are considering relocating the family to the United Kingdom if he is deported. An ICE spokesperson cited a 2011 removal order and stated Read violated the terms of his F-2 dependent visa after his parent's F-1 student status ended.

Youcy Andry Escobar Calderon, a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. in July 2015 and resided here for nearly 11 years without interacting with immigration authorities, was arrested by local police during a routine traffic stop on June 3, 2026, and transferred to ICE custody. He was held at Central Valley Annex Detention Facility and challenged his detention without a pre-deprivation hearing. The court granted his habeas corpus petition, finding his detention violated due process rights, and ordered respondents to conduct an initial custody determination within 48 hours and provide a substantive bond hearing within 10 days if continued detention was deemed appropriate.

Abdikadir Ali Kadiye, a 54-year-old Somali national, is facing denaturalization after being accused of seeking admission to the United States under two separate identities. Beginning in April 1997, Kadiye first applied under the identity Liban M. Degel, claiming to be married with no children. After an immigration judge denied his application, Kadiye submitted a second application under the identity Abdikadir Ali Kadiye. After naturalizing, Kadiye admitted to a customs and border patrol agent that he had previously used two identities for admission. The Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota filed a civil denaturalization complaint on June 3, 2026.

Mohammad "Daniel" Hussain Ahmadi, a former Afghan army intelligence officer and member of the Hazara ethnic minority, was paroled into the U.S. in May 2024 and complied with all immigration conditions for nearly two years. On March 2, 2026, he was detained by ICE after appearing for a routine immigration check-in, with the government claiming his original parole was an error. On June 3, 2026, Chief Judge Peter Welte granted Ahmadi's habeas corpus petition, finding the detention violated his Fifth Amendment due process rights and ordering his release unless an immigration court granted him a bond hearing within one week.

Angel Daniel Andino Almendarez, a Honduran national who entered the U.S. as a minor in June 2023 seeking asylum, was arrested by ICE on June 2, 2026, after reporting to the ERO Dallas Office for a routine check-in. He was transferred to Central Valley Annex Detention Facility in McFarland, California. The court found his re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause and ordered his immediate release, enjoining respondents from re-detaining him without seven days' notice and a bond hearing before a neutral arbiter.

Juan Ayala-Montero, a 60-year-old Mexican national with an extensive criminal record including prior homicide and assault convictions, was arrested on May 23, 2026, after allegedly shooting multiple people in New Caney, Texas over the Memorial Day weekend. He was charged with unlawful firearms possession as a noncitizen and faces federal charges related to the shooting. ICE lodged a detainer seeking custody of Ayala-Montero from Montgomery County authorities, and he is currently in custody pending federal court appearance.

Maria Alejandra Gomez-Quiroz, a 21-year-old pregnant woman from Colombia, has been held for more than 40 days at the Dilley family immigration detention center in Texas after being arrested by Border Patrol at the border. She and her partner had been fleeing violence from guerrillas in Colombia and planned to apply for asylum. Her sister, Kelly Ocampo, said the family paid more than $3,000 to someone posing as an immigration lawyer who sent a fake letter on ICE letterhead falsely claiming her bond had been approved, but she remained in custody. Her family says she has experienced lower abdominal pain and depression while detained. DHS says she was convicted of illegal entry and remains in custody pending removal proceedings. She is one of at least 500 people detained at Dilley and one of four pregnant women held there, according to lawmakers, and a federal judge in California has ordered a special master and independent monitor to examine time in custody and medical care at the facility.

Jose Rafael Flores Gomez is a noncitizen who entered the United States in December 2024 and resided here for over one year. He was served with a Notice to Appear and paroled from custody into the United States. In June 2026, Flores Gomez was apprehended by immigration authorities and taken into ICE custody. An Immigration Judge ordered his removal, and he had until August 20, 2026 to appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals. Flores Gomez filed a pro se habeas corpus petition challenging his mandatory detention as violating his Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights. The court found that because Flores Gomez was previously paroled from custody and had established ties to the United States through his residency, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment guaranteed him an individualized assessment of his flight risk and dangerousness before detention. The court granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered his immediate release from custody under reasonable conditions, with a requirement that respondents submit a status report by August 11, 2026, and return all identification documents and personal belongings.

Mirsy Maricela Alva López, a 39-year-old Guatemalan mother, was first separated from her son Ederson in 2018 when she was detained at the U.S.-Mexico border and he was placed in government custody as an unaccompanied minor for nearly five months before a federal court order reunified them in the Ms. L v. ICE case. In June 2025, while traveling to a landscaping job near Mar-a-Lago, federal agents stopped her, transferred her through two Florida jails to ICE custody in Louisiana, and deported her to Guatemala despite being a protected Ms. L class member with legal status, work authorization, and a court-ordered pathway to residency and asylum. She was not given the opportunity to speak with immigration officials about her legal protections before deportation. Her son Ederson, who had been in fifth grade in Florida, suffered nightmares and had to repeat fourth grade in Spanish during the family's 11 months in Guatemala. After a federal judge's order in May 2026, Mirsy and her children returned to Florida, though she remains under ankle monitoring and required to attend ICE check-ins every two weeks.

Roberto López Falcón, a Cuban-born fifth-grade ESL teacher at Hart Elementary School in Austin, was detained by ICE on September 3, 2025, during a routine check-in appointment in San Antonio. He had entered the United States from Cuba in March 2022 seeking asylum after clashing with Cuban government officials over his refusal to promote Communist Party ideology while teaching civics. Employed full-time by Austin ISD and recognized as a Campus Teacher of Promise, López Falcón's sudden disappearance devastated his students and families, with at least one student diagnosed with depression. His asylum case was denied in October 2025 with rejection rates between 80-93%, and he remained in detention at Karnes County Immigration Processing Center for 297 days while appealing. A federal judge ordered his release in late June 2026 after ruling his detention illegal, despite an immigration judge's earlier denial of bail. During confinement, López Falcón read 37 books and worked in the detention center library, maintaining his focus on returning to teaching.

Osmelin Arbey Morales Banegas, a citizen of Honduras, entered the United States in 2014 and has been living in the country since that time. On June 1, 2026, he was detained by immigration officials and is currently being held at the Farmville Detention Center. The government sought to detain him under the mandatory detention provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2), arguing that because he entered without inspection, he remained an "applicant for admission" subject to mandatory detention. Banegas challenged his detention through a habeas corpus petition, arguing that as someone already present in the country for over a decade, he should be governed by the discretionary detention provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), which would entitle him to a bond hearing. The federal district court granted his petition, finding that the Supreme Court's decision in Jennings v. Rodriguez established that § 1226(a) is the default rule for noncitizens already in the country in removal proceedings, while § 1225(b) applies only to those actively seeking admission. The court ordered that Banegas be provided a bond hearing before an immigration judge within seven days and enjoined immigration officials from denying him bond solely on the basis of § 1225(b)(2) detention.

Aram Vardanyan is a native and citizen of Armenia who entered the United States in 2021. He was arrested at a regular ICE check-in in June 2026 and remains detained at Adelanto ICE Processing Center. Vardanyan has a final removal order, and an immigration judge denied his motion to reopen. He filed a habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 on June 25, 2026, challenging the legality of his present detention primarily on due process grounds rather than seeking review of the removal order itself. The parties disputed whether Vardanyan is subject to mandatory or discretionary detention and whether respondents complied with statutory, regulatory, and constitutional requirements governing his continued confinement. On July 15, 2026, respondents filed a Notice of Intended Removal, stating Vardanyan was scheduled for transfer out of Adelanto on July 18, 2026, and removal from the United States on July 26, 2026. On July 17, 2026, the court granted in part Vardanyan's ex parte application for a temporary restraining order, enjoining respondents from moving him to a location outside the Central District of California during the pendency of the action, with the order remaining in effect for fourteen days or until the court's disposition of the petition.

Ngwanq Ransome Mupbah, a Cameroonian citizen who entered the U.S. in December 2022, was arrested on June 1, 2026, by ICE agents in the lobby of the Sacramento ERO office after an Immigration Judge denied his asylum application and ordered his removal. He was transferred to Golden State Annex Detention Facility in McFarland, California. The court granted his habeas corpus petition on July 8, 2026, finding his detention violated due process because his removal order was not administratively final—he had timely appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals on June 16, 2026—and ordered his immediate release.

Balwinder Singh, who entered the United States on April 29, 2022, was initially taken into custody by DHS and subsequently released on his own recognizance pending removal proceedings. For approximately four years, Singh complied with all release conditions while working lawfully as a commercial truck driver. On June 1, 2026, ICE officers re-detained Singh while he was at work without providing pre-deprivation notice or a hearing. The court granted Singh's petition for habeas corpus, finding that respondents violated Fifth Amendment due process protections and ordered his immediate release with constitutional safeguards for any future detention.

Paul Johnson and at least 17 other individuals were charged with assaulting federal officers during an ICE operation in Minneapolis in January 2026. Johnson reported that ICE and CBP agents boxed in his truck, swarmed him, and struck him repeatedly with punches and pepper spray. He was shackled to a hospital bed for five days following the incident. Federal prosecutors dismissed charges against all 18 defendants by June 2026 after a federal magistrate and judge raised concerns about the credibility of sworn affidavits submitted by federal agents, including one HSI agent whose statements lacked personal knowledge of events. The dismissals cited insufficient evidence and misconduct by federal agents.

José Enrique Ojeda Duarte, a Venezuelan immigrant and father of two, was arrested by ICE on September 15, 2025, during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago while heading to work. He was held in detention centers across multiple states. Despite a federal judge ordering the release of 615 people detained in the operation in November 2025, Ojeda's deportation proceeded and he was removed to Venezuela on April 6, 2026. After two months, he returned to the U.S. in June 2026 following legal action by his attorneys, who successfully challenged the deportation as erroneous in federal court. He was reunited with his wife and two children.

Randy Cordova Flores, a 36-year-old Peruvian landscaper, was detained by ICE on February 10, 2026, after Springdale Borough police pulled him over for a traffic violation and turned him over to ICE agents at the police station. Cordova Flores entered the U.S. without documentation in 2023 and was seeking asylum with a pending case and valid work authorization. ICE claimed he failed to appear for an immigration hearing; his family and legal representatives contested this, stating he was complying with asylum procedures and check-in requirements. He was held at Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County and later transferred to Northern Regional Correctional Facility in West Virginia, where he was confined to a small cell 23 hours daily. After four months in custody, Cordova Flores won release in June 2026 through a habeas corpus petition and was released on bond with an ankle monitor requirement while his case continues.

Legal organizations filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of four people detained at Camp East Montana, a massive immigration detention tent camp at Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, alleging severe rights violations including medical neglect, violent uses of force by officers, excessive solitary confinement, inadequate food, and dangerous living conditions. The lawsuit seeks class certification to represent all people detained at the facility and alleges violations of Fifth Amendment due process rights and the Administrative Procedure Act.

Elvira Benitez Suarez, a 51-year-old from Sheboygan Falls who emigrated from Mexico as a teenager, was detained by ICE after accidentally crossing into Canada during a family road trip in July 2025 and reentering the U.S. A federal judge ruled her eligible for a green card in fall 2025, but she was arrested again during a check-in at the Milwaukee DHS office in March 2026 while the agency appealed. A 6th Circuit appeals court ruling on mandatory detention allowed her to file for bond, which was granted at $1,500 on May 21, 2026. She was released and checked in at the Milwaukee DHS office on June 1, 2026, with continued check-ins required as a bond condition while the Board of Immigration Appeals considers DHS's appeal.

Carlitos Ricardo Parias, a 44-year-old Mexican immigrant from Puebla living in South Los Angeles, built a TikTok following of over 340,000 documenting ICE enforcement activity and received a Los Angeles City Council certificate of recognition for his community reporting. On October 21, 2025, federal agents attempting an immigration arrest boxed in his car near Santee High School; agents said he rammed their vehicles, and video showed 11 shots fired, striking Parias in the elbow and wounding a deputy U.S. marshal by ricochet. Councilmember Curren Price called him 'a pillar of our community, a fearless citizen journalist,' and his attorney described him as a hardworking, pacifist father of two U.S.-citizen children with no criminal record. He was charged with assault on a federal officer and property damage, then detained at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center; a federal judge later dismissed the indictment with prejudice, citing denial of counsel and missed evidence deadlines, but ICE returned him to custody afterward. After more than 300 days in detention, Parias' injured arm reportedly became discolored and atrophied without adequate treatment, with his congresswoman warning he may need amputation, and his attorney said he remains in pain.

The ACLU, civil rights organizations, and individual detainees filed a federal lawsuit against ICE and DHS challenging conditions at Camp East Montana, the largest immigration detention center in the U.S., located at Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas. The complaint alleges physical abuse by guards, inadequate medical care, solitary confinement, disease exposure including a measles outbreak, and nearly 50 violations of detention standards. At least three detainees have died since the facility opened nine months prior, including a Cuban immigrant ruled to have died from asphyxia due to neck and torso compression. Named plaintiffs Navdeep, a former mail handler, and ZOR, a father detained over eight months, detailed specific conditions including contaminated water, inadequate drinking water access, breathing problems from desert dust, lack of medical care, and family separation.

ZOR (pseudonym used for privacy) has been detained at Camp East Montana for over eight months. He is a parent separated from his young children. He is a named plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit challenging detention conditions including inhumane treatment, medical neglect, disease outbreaks, and family separation. He states the facility operates in a lawless manner despite guards being charged with upholding the law.

ZOR, detained for eight months at Camp East Montana, had three teeth broken after being beaten by another detainee while guards watched. Four days after arrival, officers shackled and drove him to the Mexican border, falsely claiming he had been granted asylum, without showing papers or allowing attorney contact. Officers attempted to deport him approximately five times despite a court order prohibiting removal to his country of birth.

Navdeep, a detainee with preexisting injuries that prevent him from putting his hands behind his back, was locked in solitary confinement for appearing to refuse guard orders to do so. He described feeling like a political pawn taken from his job and family and forced into unsafe tent conditions. He is one of four named plaintiffs in the ACLU lawsuit against ICE over Camp East Montana conditions.

Navdeep was taken from his job and detained at Camp East Montana tent camp on the Fort Bliss military base. He is a named plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit seeking accountability for inhumane conditions including medical neglect, disease outbreaks, violent treatment by guards, inadequate food, and dangerous living conditions. He expresses concern about the lack of oversight and potential cover-ups of deaths and abuses.

Gerald Akari Angye, a 35-year-old former high school teacher from Cameroon who fled after experiencing kidnapping and torture, crossed into the U.S. in December 2024 and sought asylum. After his asylum claim was denied, he was detained at Camp East Montana ICE detention center at Fort Bliss military base in El Paso for over a month. While detained, Angye was severely beaten by guards after requesting to speak with an attorney before signing documents, suffering injuries to his hands and wrists that required a brace and hospitalization. He was subsequently placed in solitary confinement for 15 days. The ACLU of Texas and partner civil rights organizations filed a federal class-action lawsuit against ICE on behalf of Angye and three other named plaintiffs, challenging severe conditions at the facility including violent use of force, medical neglect, disease outbreaks, excessive solitary confinement, and inhumane living conditions.

Erik Ivan Rodriguez was detained at Camp East Montana, a tent detention facility at Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas. While detained, he experienced physical violence by officers who attempted to coerce him to sign deportation papers. Rodriguez and three other detainees filed a class-action lawsuit through the ACLU of Texas and partner civil rights organizations in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, challenging inhumane detention conditions including medical neglect, disease outbreaks, inadequate food, unsanitary living conditions, excessive solitary confinement, and violent use of force.

Norberto C.M., a 51-year-old native of Mexico who entered the U.S. lawfully in 1993 and remained for 33 years while raising a family, was detained on May 29, 2026, during a routine traffic stop after local law enforcement learned of his immigration status. He had been cooperating with immigration authorities, submitting applications for lawful permanent residency that were approved by USCIS and appearing for required biometrics appointments. The court granted his preliminary injunction petition, finding he possessed a constitutionally protected liberty interest and was entitled to pre-deprivation process before detention, ordering his immediate release.

Miguel Angel Tercero Raudes, a Salvadoran national who had been living and working legally in the United States for over a decade with a 2023 Withholding of Removal court order, was detained at a routine ICE check-in on May 29, 2026. He is married to a U.S. citizen and is the father of two U.S. citizen daughters. The government has indicated plans to remove him to a third country where he has no family or legal status, in apparent violation of his court-ordered withholding of removal protection.

A 23-year-old South American woman was granted protection from deportation to her home country by an immigration judge in June 2025 after fleeing persecution based on her queer identity. Despite this ruling, ICE has held her in Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, Louisiana for over a year while seeking to deport her to the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country where she has never been and where she would face serious risks.

Chanh Phansisay, a Laotian refugee who arrived as a baby, received an ICE letter around the same time as his uncle Ky Sengdara in March 2026. With legal assistance from the Seattle Clemency Project, Phansisay avoided deportation to Laos, a country he has never known and where he has no meaningful family connections.