Human Impact Project

Jorge (a pseudonym), a Guatemalan man who fled gang extortion threats and joined family in San Diego, was arrested by ICE during a raid on his construction worksite after working there for five months. He spent three months in detention, much of it in frigid holding cells where he slept on bare concrete with only a foil sheet, and developed bronchitis after officers allegedly made cells colder in retaliation for complaints; staff denied him hospital care. He said he signed English-language deportation papers he could not read after being threatened with years in federal detention, later learning the signing carried a 10-year reentry bar, and described being shackled during his deportation flight to Guatemala.

Gisèle, who fled fighting between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, was deported by US authorities to Cameroon under a third-country removal agreement. Suffering from a thyroid condition, she was never able to obtain her medication at the Yaoundé migrant shelter despite repeated requests, and after five months there she abandoned plans to seek asylum in Cameroon and agreed to be sent back to the DR Congo out of concern her health would worsen.

Leonardo Sánchez, a Cuban migrant with a large abdominal hernia and a pending operation, was deported to Equatorial Guinea and is being held at the Hotel Bamy in Malabo. His mother, Caridad, said from Miami that she has not heard from him in a week because authorities took away detainees' phones to prevent them from speaking with the press. "What they're doing is criminal; the treatment is unfair," she said.

Carlos Josué Marchena, a 37-year-old Costa Rican national from Guanacaste, died on September 18, 2026 while in ICE custody at the Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, Louisiana, after being detained since January. His cousin, Bryan Marchena, said Carlos was diabetic and appeared to have suffered a cardiac problem, and that he was found unconscious after complaining of severe chest pain hours earlier. Family members said his care had been adequate while he was held in Michigan but grew concerned after he was transferred through several facilities, citing inconsistent meal timing and medication management for his diabetes. His sister, Francini Araya Marchena, confirmed his death and said ICE never carried out his planned deportation to Costa Rica. Friends said he had migrated to the U.S. seeking better opportunities for his children, and a GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help bring his body home while the family awaits autopsy results to determine the official cause of death.

Raúl Suárez Herrero, a 59-year-old Cuban man who moved to the U.S. at age 12 and lived there for nearly five decades, was detained by ICE during a routine annual check-in in July 2025. He was held at the 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention facility in the Florida Everglades, where he says guards locked him in a metal cage roughly the size of a phone booth for more than 15 hours after he prayed aloud for a fellow detainee having a seizure. Suárez said he was kicked hard enough to bruise his leg, denied food and medical care, and left unable to lie down while fearing snakes and mosquitoes entering the cage, an experience he described as leaving him psychologically 'shattered.' A former truck driver who built a business with his brother, a U.S. citizen who died of COVID in 2021, Suárez was deported to Mexico in February 2026 after a federal judge's deadline for his release or removal passed. A DHS inspector general report later confirmed the facility used such small cages, calling the practice 'highly unconventional,' though DHS disputes claims that conditions were inhumane.

Cece Mokua, a 29-year-old pregnant Kenyan asylum applicant living in Spokane with her husband, Humphrey Oyoo, and their 1-year-old son, was detained by ICE agents while attending what she believed was a scheduled asylum interview with USCIS in Tukwila, WA. Officers separated her from her family, handcuffed her, and held her in holding cells before transferring her to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, where she said she experienced contractions and a migraine. She was given only a doctor's note for a bottom bunk and released after roughly 36 hours without explanation, but remains in deportation proceedings with an ankle monitor and a scheduled check-in with ICE in Spokane. Mokua came to the U.S. legally as a teenager fleeing female genital mutilation but later fell out of legal status. Her husband, a home health aide and SEIU union member, said the family was targeted despite having supporters and press present for the interview. Supporters, including the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and Defend Migrants Alliance, said her case reflects a pattern of ICE using USCIS appointments as a pretext for arrests.

Rodrigo, a lawful permanent resident living with advanced throat cancer and other serious medical conditions, endured what his attorneys describe as substantial medical neglect during nearly a year in ICE custody at the California City Detention Facility. He suffered two strokes while detained, and his throat tumor grew to the size of a lemon without proper treatment. Senior Staff Attorney Victoria Petty filed a habeas petition on his behalf and secured his release, after which Rodrigo began speaking publicly about the medical neglect and dangerous conditions he experienced in ICE custody.

A Colombian mother seeking asylum after fleeing domestic violence says she has suffered months of delayed and inadequate medical care for a serious kidney and urinary tract infection while detained at Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego. She crossed the border in the San Diego-Tijuana area in September 2025 and has been held since October while her asylum case, which the government sought to redirect to Honduras, remains on appeal. Medical records show repeated visits for pain, bleeding, and blood in her urine that went undertreated for months, including delayed antibiotics, a delayed ultrasound and CT scan, and two emergency room visits before she was hospitalized and diagnosed with pyelonephritis. She said a guard mistreated her, including a 30-day suspension of her phone privileges that cut off contact with her two children.

Gabriel Johnson, a 55-year-old pastor and father originally from Liberia who had held legal status since age 15, was detained by ICE in Cary, North Carolina in mid-July, which his family described as stemming from a misunderstanding over a missed immigration appointment. His daughter, Gabri Johnson, said officials later pursued his removal under a broader immigration policy change, and that ICE denied him consistent food, water, and medication for more than 16 days in custody. On July 30, Johnson suffered a stroke that left the left side of his body completely paralyzed. His family said ICE initially refused to let hospital staff contact his daughter and denied the family visits, calls, or health updates, and that he was unable to access needed rehabilitation care while detained. ICE denied mistreatment allegations, stating Johnson was taken to a hospital after showing stroke-like symptoms and remained under medical care. An emergency stay of removal was filed on his behalf, and he has since been released from ICE custody and is moving to a 24-hour rehabilitation hospital for treatment.

Samson Birhane, 47, arrived in the US as an Eritrean refugee at age 13 and lost his immigration status after a robbery conviction in 1988, though he had already served his sentence and had been regularly checking in with ICE as required. A US immigration judge had previously ruled he faced a risk of torture if returned to Eritrea, but he was instead deported to Equatorial Guinea under a $7.5 million agreement between the countries. On September 11, 2026, Birhane and fellow deportee Ahmed Soliman were arrested and allegedly beaten, blindfolded, and pushed down a staircase by police after helping document abusive conditions at Hotel Bamy, a site used to detain US deportees, with officers accusing him of property damage and seizing his phone. He was transferred to a prison in Malabo, where he has limited access to medical care and his whereabouts have been kept from other detainees.

Julian David Palacios Obregon, a 27-year-old Colombian human rights activist and lawful permanent resident with ties to Canada, spent about 650 days in ICE detention at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington. During his detention he suffered from a severe gastrointestinal bacterial infection causing vomiting, diarrhea and fecal incontinence that required him to wear diapers, saying he had no health problems before entering custody. Staff errors caused him to miss three scheduled colonoscopy appointments recommended by a gastroenterologist, forcing him to choose between receiving medical treatment and attending his asylum hearing. Representing himself, he filed two federal habeas corpus petitions and five humanitarian requests with ICE; a federal court had previously found his removal to Canada reasonably foreseeable but ordered he be given a chance to have his fear of removal reviewed by an immigration judge, while denying earlier requests for expedited release or bond. On September 11, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington ordered his release, finding that the deficient medical care had made his detention 'punitive' in violation of due process.

On the morning of September 9th, two family members—an aunt's husband and her son-in-law—were detained by ICE agents outside their home as they left for work. The men had lived in the U.S. for nearly 13 years and have three children between them, one of whom was born in the U.S. They were taken to the Buffalo detention center, where they were pressured into signing voluntary departure forms, and were later transferred to a facility in Louisiana. One of the men has heart problems requiring five medications nightly, and one reported experiencing abuse in custody; family members say they are unsure if he is receiving needed medical care. ICE confiscated the men's passports, leaving the family without a way to relocate, and the wives have had only brief phone calls with the detained men since their arrest.

Tareq Zakarneh, a 44-year-old Palestinian man who lived in Portland and Vancouver, Washington for more than a decade, has been in ICE detention since May 2024, mostly at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma. He said ICE agents beat him and broke his teeth, restraining him on the floor for four hours without access to water or a bathroom after he refused to board a Sept. 9 deportation flight to the West Bank via Israel. Zakarneh said his hand and shoulder swelled and went numb, and he received only ibuprofen for his injuries. He moved to the U.S. on a student visa in 2013 to attend Portland State University and later married a U.S. citizen, but lost his legal status after a divorce in 2017, with an immigration court finding the marriage was not entered in good faith. Advocates and Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden have raised concerns about his treatment and the danger he could face if deported amid escalating violence in the West Bank.

Jose Mejia Hernandez, a 45-year-old Mexican immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for 18 years, was walking to work along Columbia Pike in Arlington, Virginia on August 11 when plainclothes ICE agents in an unmarked vehicle approached him without identifying themselves. He fled, was struck by a vehicle, and was shocked with a stun gun before losing consciousness, waking hours later at George Washington University Hospital with two black eyes, facial lacerations, brain swelling, and a subarachnoid brain bleed. He was hospitalized for several days with ICE officers stationed in his room, returned for an MRI on August 14 due to worsening symptoms, and was later fitted with an ankle monitor he says delayed further medical testing. His attorneys, Denisse Gastélum, Carlos Jurado and Margaret Hellerstein, say he now struggles to eat, sleep, speak normally, or work, and have filed a police report seeking criminal charges against the officers and driver, notified federal agencies of intent to sue under the Federal Tort Claims Act, and are pursuing a U visa on his behalf. DHS disputes his account, saying officers used necessary force after he attempted to flee, and cites a prior voluntary return to Mexico and a 2020 public intoxication conviction. He has been placed in deportation proceedings with a hearing scheduled for September 14. Virginia officials including Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Reps. Don Beyer, Suhas Subramanyam and James Walkinshaw have criticized the circumstances of his arrest, and Arlington County Police have opened an investigation. Separately, the Arlington County Board approved $50,000 in emergency grants, distributed through Arlington Thrive, to support families whose primary wage earner was detained during a broader ICE enforcement surge that led to roughly 1,300 arrests across the D.C. area in August.

At the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, operated by GEO Group, detainees have filed more than 3,500 complaints describing contaminated food with worms and metal, foul water, black mold, denied medical care, and reports of staff abuse and sexual assault. Mergensana Amar, a 40-year-old asylum seeker, died by suicide in November 2018 after nearly 11 months in custody, and Charles Leo Daniel was found dead in March 2024 after more than three years combined in solitary confinement; University of Washington researchers documented at least six suicide attempts between January and March 2024. A former GEO kitchen supervisor testified the company budgeted only 97 cents per detainee per meal. GEO Group repeatedly denied Washington state health inspectors access to the facility, prompting Governor Bob Ferguson and Attorney General Nick Brown to file suit seeking a court order compelling entry; a federal judge ordered access in July 2026. A federal jury separately found GEO violated Washington's minimum-wage law, ordering $17.3 million in payments to more than 10,000 formerly detained workers. An ICE spokesperson disputed the complaints, saying the state failed to follow proper procedures and that the facility maintains high standards of care. Immigrant rights group La Resistencia has organized hunger strikes, vigils, and protests for over a decade demanding the facility's closure.

José Serrano Salgado, Ecuador's former interior minister under President Rafael Correa, fled to Miami in 2021 on a tourist visa and applied for asylum months later. ICE agents arrested him outside his Miami home in mid-2025 for overstaying his visa, and he spent nearly a year in detention at Miami's Krome North Service Processing Center, where a source said he lost about 25 pounds and his prediabetes worsened into diabetes. In May 2026, Immigration Judge Romy Lerner denied his asylum claim but granted him deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture. Despite that order, ICE deported Serrano to Ecuador on a private jet in late August 2026, where he faces murder charges over an alleged role in the 2023 assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. A source said he is now being abused in an Ecuadorian jail, including having his fingernails smashed and being denied food.

Leonardo Sánchez, a 49-year-old Cuban national and lawful permanent resident who arrived in the U.S. in 2010 under the Cuban Adjustment Act and worked as a welder, was deported to Liberia and then Equatorial Guinea after ICE detained him at a gas station. Sánchez suffers from a severe abdominal hernia caused by a stabbing that once left him in a coma for 40 days, and had reconstructive surgery scheduled at Jackson Memorial Hospital before his removal. He said agents refused to remove his shackles or let him use the bathroom during the 14-hour flight, and when he refused to disembark in Liberia out of fear of being abandoned, agents allegedly threw him down the aircraft steps and knelt on his exposed hernia. In Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, doctors refused to treat him without documents, leaving him only paracetamol for pain, and he is now held with five other deportees at a former hotel under armed guard, unable to contact family. His mother and sister in Florida say a lawyer they hired to help him was a scam, and Equatorial Guinea has no asylum framework, leaving him facing indefinite detention or return to Cuba. DHS said Sánchez was ordered removed following a cocaine possession conviction and denied mistreating him.

Aidar Nafikov, a Russian asylum seeker, has been held at the Adams County Correctional Center in Mississippi for over a year and a half while hoping to be reunited with his family. He filed a habeas petition in April challenging his detention, and though his case was argued before Judge David C. Bramlette III in June, it remained unresolved months later. His wife, Liudmila Nafikov, said his health has deteriorated in detention, including repeated bouts of strep throat and new kidney problems, and that he has struggled to get timely medical care. A DHS spokesperson denied claims of medical neglect at ICE facilities, saying comprehensive medical care is provided to all detainees.

Loreto Javar, a 76-year-old Filipino national and green card holder who has lived in Fife, Washington since 1995, was detained by ICE during his U.S. citizenship interview in Tukwila. A retired hotel worker and married father of two who raised his family in the U.S. and had renewed his residency multiple times without issue, Javar has stage 4 prostate cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease requiring multiple daily medications. ICE alleges he failed to disclose a decades-old conviction related to a fatal altercation in the Philippines when he applied for his visa in 1995, though his daughter, Daisy Javar, says he has no U.S. criminal record. He has been held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma for more than two months, missing oncology appointments due to delayed meals disrupting his medication schedule, and has developed a blood clot. Advocates with the Tanggol Migrante Movement have pressed the Philippine consulate in Seattle and pushed for his compassionate release, gathering more than 150 petition signatures. An immigration judge extended his case to September 20, which his daughter said will cause him to miss another cancer treatment appointment.

Iara do Carmo Santana was arrested after her fiancé called 911 during a mental health crisis following a recent miscarriage and infection. She was charged with domestic violence and held roughly four days at ICE's Burlington, Massachusetts field office, where she was often deprived of medicine as her infection worsened. A federal judge, Leo T. Sorokin, ordered her release last week, criticizing ICE for failing to provide necessary medical care. "I was afraid that I was going to go crazy in there," she told the Globe. "I was really scared."

Brandon Domena, a lifelong Passaic County, New Jersey resident and U.S. citizen, was detained by ICE agents for about five hours after a confrontation broke out while he and his family watched agents arrest a neighbor, reportedly a Mexican man wanted for domestic violence. Video showed agents in tactical gear restraining Domena face-down on a lawn and handcuffing him, with a witness saying his arm was nearly dislocated; he says he was left with bruises and marks on his hands. Domena said he repeatedly told agents he was a U.S. citizen, believes he was racially profiled, and was denied water, a restroom, medical attention and a phone call during his detention. DHS alleges he spit at and kicked an officer and was arrested on potential charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers, but he has not been criminally charged. He disputes DHS's account, says an agent later apologized to him, was released the same day, and has hired a lawyer.

Marianita, a woman held in ICE detention, said sickness spread among detainees while her requests for medical care were ignored. She described being soaked with cold water, forced to dry off in front of an air conditioner, and later confined in a freezing punishment room as her pneumonia worsened. She was transferred through ICE facilities in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas during her detention.

One of the Cuban men diverted from a Liberia-bound deportation flight to Equatorial Guinea arrived in Malabo still restrained, according to Meredyth Yoon, litigation director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, who represents several of the group. The man has a serious abdominal condition requiring a colostomy bag that needs regular draining, but the hotel where he and roughly 40 other deportees are being held has no medical staff on site. Yoon described the scene as chaotic when the group arrived, with conditions at the facility reportedly worsening in recent months, including guards accused of withholding meals and, in some instances, choking or beating detainees.

Leonardo Sánchez Fernández, a 49-year-old Cuban lawful permanent U.S. resident from San Miguel del Padrón who had lived in Lehigh Acres, Florida, was deported by ICE to Equatorial Guinea under a third-country agreement despite holding valid residency until 2030. He had been detained by ICE at a gas station after a drug possession arrest and completing community service, then held at the Alligator Alcatraz facility before being flown for more than 36 hours from Alexandria, Louisiana without being told his destination. During a stopover in Liberia, witnesses said guards shoved him and he fell face-first onto the tarmac, aggravating a preexisting abdominal hernia and intestinal damage from an old stabbing injury and prior surgery. He is now hospitalized in Malabo receiving IV fluids without a passport, documents, consular assistance, toothbrush, or clothes, and may miss a scheduled surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital. His mother Caridad and sister Dorty, in Lehigh Acres, learned of his location after seeing a video posted from Equatorial Guinea and have been trying to secure his release.

Masuma Khan, 64, a Bangladeshi immigrant with no criminal history who arrived in the U.S. in 1997 and has long worked at a local restaurant, was detained at the California City Detention Facility after a routine ICE check-in in October 2025. During her month in custody, she intermittently or never received medications for high blood pressure, hypothyroidism, prediabetes, and glaucoma, receiving asthma medication only two days before release and never getting eye drops; staff told her to buy medications from the commissary, which did not stock them. Since her release, Khan has suffered PTSD and ongoing health issues, and has become fearful of leaving her home. Advocates allege ICE uses intimidation tactics on detainees nearing release, including driving them to airport tarmacs to pressure self-deportation. Supporters are now urging California lawmakers, including Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, and Governor Gavin Newsom, to pass SB995, the Masuma Khan Justice Act.

Camila Toro de Paula, a 25-year-old transgender woman from Venezuela, has been held for nearly a year at a men's ICE detention facility in Jena, Louisiana, after being arrested during a routine immigration check-in at ICE's New York City office in August 2025. She fled Venezuela after suffering childhood abuse, including repeated rape by relatives and a homophobic stabbing attack by police, and sought asylum in the U.S. two years ago. Toro de Paula says she has been assaulted, threatened, placed in solitary confinement, denied water, and deprived of the hormone therapy she had received for years, after a policy protecting transgender detainees was eliminated in February 2025. She told The New York Times, "I'm afraid of dying here," and says she has resisted pressure to voluntarily return to Venezuela. Immigration officials cited felony assault and weapons charges as justification for her detention, though both charges were later dismissed and sealed.

A leaked video shared via TikTok account @Injusticias.de.ICE shows a woman detained at an ICE facility operated by CoreCivic describing conditions inside, stating 'almost all of us here have vaginal infections.' The video was shared by NowThis Impact as testimony about health and sanitation conditions faced by detained women at a CoreCivic-run facility.

Guillermo Gallardo Barrera, who lived in Arizona for more than 20 years with no criminal record, entered ICE detention able to walk but after more than a year at the Central Arizona ICE Detention Center can no longer stand without a cane. He reports severe pain, numbness in his hands, debilitating insomnia and an undiagnosed disability, saying ICE has only given him ibuprofen for treatment. He filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus and an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order in federal court, both of which were denied; an amended habeas petition was also denied in June 2026, allowing his detention to continue while broader legal challenges proceed. A new case against DHS Secretary Noem has since been filed on his behalf. "I'm terrified I won't make it out of here alive," he said. Advocates have launched a fundraiser to secure him an independent medical evaluation and legal support.

José Mejía, a 45-year-old Mexican migrant, said he was detained by ICE agents on August 11 while on his way to work in Arlington, Texas. He said agents shocked him with a stun gun when he tried to flee and then physically assaulted him, leaving him with visible facial injuries. Mejía said he later woke up in a hospital in Washington, where he was admitted for three days due to the severity of his injuries. Days later, he said he still needed medical attention for his injuries but was denied permission to remove his ankle monitor so he could see a doctor.

Marcos Gaspar-Da Silva, a general contractor and former attorney from Brazil living in Bridgton, Maine, was detained by ICE on January 20 after being pulled over in Portland during an enforcement operation. He had a pending asylum case, no criminal record, and a marriage-based green card petition filed by his U.S. citizen wife, Alessia. Over nearly seven months in custody, he was transferred through facilities in Massachusetts, Louisiana and Arizona, where he and his wife described overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and inadequate medical care, including going untreated for a toothache until the tooth was pulled and losing more than 26 pounds. U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree's staff supported Alessia and helped expedite his petition while pressing officials about his medical care. In August, an immigration judge granted him adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident through his wife's petition, and he was released on August 13, reuniting with his wife and 11-year-old daughter, though he described lasting emotional numbness and difficulty eating and sleeping.

Guillermo "Memo" Gallardo Barrera, a longtime Arizona resident, construction worker and welder who helped raise his two U.S.-born children, has spent over a year in ICE custody at the Florence Correctional Center following a routine traffic stop in Gilbert. His wife and family say he was healthy before detention but now relies on a cane, suffers severe numbness in his hands and worsening pain, and has not received a diagnosis or adequate treatment from facility officials. Advocates from the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and Proyecto Progreso say Gallardo has no criminal record and is being denied proper medical care. A federal court denied his attorneys' amended petition for writ of habeas corpus seeking his release. His family fears that without proper medical care or release, he will not survive in custody.

Detainees held at the Adams County Correctional Center, an ICE facility near Natchez, Mississippi operated by CoreCivic, reported smelling gas on August 8, followed by a power outage beginning August 10 that left the facility without air conditioning for about two days. Detainees said they were evacuated into afternoon heat approaching 100 degrees for hours, suffered headaches and other symptoms, and were denied medical care, with cells meant for two people holding three. One detainee's wife said detainees were also denied tablet devices during the disruption and feared retaliation, including solitary confinement, if seen as organizing. CoreCivic disputed the accounts, stating no gas leak was found, the outage lasted about two hours with generators functioning, air conditioning was never interrupted, and no one was denied medical care. A subsequent inspection found 23 use-of-force or restraint violations, resulting in a downgrade of the facility's rating.

Maria Perez, a Guatemalan asylum-seeker fleeing domestic violence, was arrested by ICE agents at her Nashville home on May 19, 2026, while preparing to take her two young children to a doctor's appointment. Attorneys said agents had come to serve a warrant on her husband but detained her instead, despite ICE policy generally barring detention of nursing mothers absent extraordinary circumstances. She was breastfeeding an infant and had a toddler with Down syndrome requiring ongoing medical care; the children were left in a neighbor's care without a formal plan, causing them to miss medical appointments. Perez, who has no criminal history, passed a credible fear interview, and had complied with immigration requirements since entering the U.S. in 2022, was held nearly 700 miles from home at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center, where her sudden separation from her nursing infant compounded her diabetes. Advocacy groups including Sanctuary of the South, the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition, ACLU of Louisiana, Amnesty International, and the Kennedy Human Rights Center filed a civil rights complaint with DHS seeking her release. She was released on August 14, 2026, reunited with her children, and continues pursuing her asylum application.

A man was detained by ICE agents outside a Home Depot on Eastern Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland, while appearing to experience a stroke or seizure. Video shared on social media shows agents handcuffing him and searching his pockets despite his unsteady head and lack of bodily control. Bystanders reportedly offered him water, which agents waved away, and no medical assistance was provided by agents at the scene.

Adonys Francisco Mata Martinez, a Venezuelan freestyle rapper known as AdonysX who held Temporary Protected Status and had a pending extraordinary-talent artist visa application, was detained by ICE in late May after a traffic stop in Florida in which officers found no violation but identified his immigration status via his license plate. He said, 'We are not criminals for them to treat us this way,' describing five days sleeping on the floor at a Miramar processing center without the ability to bathe, followed by about a month at Krome Detention Center before being transferred with roughly 50 others to a facility in Louisiana. There, he said he works in the kitchen for one dollar a day amid cockroaches and insects, and reported chest pains dismissed as anxiety and a dental nerve problem he tried to self-treat after being denied a dentist. Nearly three months into his Louisiana detention, with his immigration court hearing repeatedly delayed by continuances, he alleged staff are overcrowding detainees—citing 76 people in a single cell—and reported widespread cases of tuberculosis and pink eye, saying in Spanish, 'They're trying to kill us.' ICE denied the allegations, stating that being in detention is a choice.

Margarita, a woman from New Jersey, was detained at the Elizabeth Detention Center for two months following what was described as a violent arrest. During her detention, she received only about a quarter of her prescribed diabetes medication, and her doctor and pharmacy were not contacted despite her family's concerns. Rep. Analilia Mejia (D-NJ) visited her and raised concerns about her treatment, with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries also expressing concern. Mejia characterized the conditions as a "slow death sentence."

Venkata Vasamsetty, a 59-year-old green card holder who moved to the U.S. from India in 1999, works as a special-needs substitute teacher with Wake County Public School System in Cary, North Carolina, and is a grandmother with a husband, two U.S.-citizen daughters, and grandchildren. Her immigration troubles began after a 2022 trip to India to care for her ill father, during which she contracted COVID-19 and remained abroad for more than seven months, prompting DHS to allege she had abandoned her permanent residency. An immigration judge dismissed that case in May after DHS missed a court deadline, but she was detained anyway during a check-in at the Charlotte ICE office her attorney said she was not legally required to attend, and was transferred to the Irwin County Detention Center in rural Georgia. Her daughter Teja, an immigration attorney, said she was shackled during the arrest while family pleaded with officers. Family and her attorney, Helen Parsonage, said her type 2 diabetes worsened in custody, with low blood sugar, weight loss, and the facility largely ignoring requests for an adequate vegetarian diet respecting her Hindu dietary restrictions. After more than two weeks in detention, an immigration judge in Georgia granted her release on a $7,500 bond, citing her long-standing U.S. ties, a home, tax returns dating back to 2012, her teaching job, and her history of never missing a court appearance or check-in.

A leaked video filmed by a detainee inside the River Center ICE Detention Center in Louisiana shows 76 people held together in a single crowded space. Detainees allege exposure to outbreaks of tuberculosis, flu, and conjunctivitis, and say sick people are being placed in punitive isolation cells instead of receiving medical care. The detainee who filmed the footage asked media outlets for help publicizing the conditions.

Gabriel Johnson, a 55-year-old pastor from North Carolina who came to the U.S. as a teenager, suffered a stroke while in ICE custody after more than 16 days in detention facilities in Georgia and Texas. According to his family, he repeatedly requested medical care during his detention, claiming he was denied adequate food, water, prescribed medication, and medical attention. Johnson has withholding of removal status, which bars him from being deported to Liberia. After experiencing stroke-like symptoms, he was taken to a hospital in Texas, but ICE has not provided his family with information about his medical care or condition since his hospitalization. The family has filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General.

Amina Seck, a Kentucky State University women's basketball player and graduate student from Dakar, Senegal, was detained by ICE at the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport while traveling with her team to a tournament in New York. Seck, who is on a student visa, suffers from a leg injury variously described as a torn ACL or Achilles that requires surgery, but has not received consistent medical care while in custody. Her attorney, Sadiqa Reynolds, said Seck may have missed an immigration-related deadline while recovering from a prior back surgery, though no official reason for her detention has been given. Since being detained, Seck has been transferred multiple times between facilities in Kentucky and Chicago. Her head coach, Amani Williams, has been credited by Reynolds for advocating on Seck's behalf throughout the ordeal.

Laura Rojas Ortiz, a 21-year-old mother, has been detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley for more than 40 days while pregnant with a high-risk pregnancy. She was detained during a mandated ICE check-in in Dallas while applying for a U visa after she and her young son were struck by a stray bullet in their neighborhood, despite regularly attending check-ins while wearing an ankle monitor. Two days before her detention, she had gone to the ER with miscarriage symptoms and was diagnosed with a high-risk obstetric condition; a physician at Dilley later determined she needed to see a specialist, but the facility has not scheduled the consultation. Now approaching her third trimester, she reports persistent abdominal pain and bleeding and says she has not received an ultrasound, blood tests, or an OB-GYN visit. Her mother, Paola, said facility staff moved her to a medical room during a congressional visit and removed her afterward, and that her toddler son, who is lactose intolerant, was given whole milk at the facility. The advocacy group Each Step Home has provided commissary support so she can buy food for her children.

The Guardian's investigation reveals at least 10 cases since January 2025 in which ICE subjected detained immigrants to involuntary force-feeding through nasogastric tubes. Three cases are detailed: an Afghan man force-fed daily for nearly six months at Port Isabel in Texas starting September 2025; Andriy Shepitsen, a Ukrainian man with severe bipolar disorder, whose attorney intervened to stop his force-feeding at Krome Service processing center in Miami after 44 days on hunger strike; and a Saudi Arabian woman who went on hunger strike in Louisiana in June 2025 and was transferred to Texas, where ICE sought permission to force-feed her before she broke her strike. Medical experts and human rights organizations have condemned force-feeding as torture. In six of the 10 cases reviewed, detained immigrants lacked legal representation during court proceedings, and most records remain sealed.

Edwin Jovanny López Cornejo, a 39-year-old Salvadoran national who had lived in the U.S. for nearly 20 years, died August 1, 2026, at University Hospital in Newark following a medical emergency at the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility. He suffered from epilepsy, diabetes, and high blood pressure requiring daily medication, and leaves behind a 12-year-old U.S. citizen daughter, Ashley. ICE arrested him June 18, 2026, in Plainfield, New Jersey, reviving a 2006 deportation order, though his family said he held a valid work permit. His mother, Maria Cornejo, said he called her feeling very ill with numbness in his face and hand after seeing a facility medical provider, and described him as hardworking and a good father, saying, "I lost him to the hands of immigration authorities." His family alleged he did not consistently receive his medication and called for an independent investigation, while ICE and DHS said he received appropriate medical care and staff responded quickly. His death was the second at Delaney Hall since it opened in May 2025, following months of detainee complaints and lawsuits alleging denial of medication, and prompted Governor Mikie Sherrill and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka to call for the facility's closure.

José Efraín Chajón Raxón died at University Hospital in New Jersey after suffering seizures while detained at the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark. He was released from ICE custody a day and a half after the seizures before he died. His body was repatriated to his hometown in San Juan Sacatepéquez, Guatemala, where his community held vigils and a funeral.

A Guardian investigation found that the Trump administration's ICE officials attempted to subject at least 10 hunger strikers in immigrant detention to involuntary medical procedures including force-feeding between 2025 and 2026. At least three detainees were definitely subjected to force-feeding, and two more were probably forced to undergo the procedures, while five others ended their hunger strikes before the procedures began. DHS obtained court orders authorizing detention center guards to physically restrain hunger strikers while medical staff inserted feeding tubes and performed other involuntary procedures considered torture by human rights groups.

Ana Granados Sanchez, a 49-year-old Salvadoran national held in ICE's Eloy Detention Center, was deported while still having a nephrostomy tube (urine-collection tube) attached to her body, three months after it was surgically placed. Her urologist at Banner Desert Medical Center had advised against deportation until the tube could be removed, and Granados Sanchez requested to see her specialist in person to have it taken out before leaving the country, citing concerns about medical care availability where she was being deported. While in ICE custody, she did not receive recommended follow-up care. During her detention, she was held in a processing facility with about two dozen other people and forced to use a shared toilet with no privacy, and was not given water at the initial processing center—conditions her urologist said may have contributed to her kidney problems. Advocates' efforts to appeal to ICE to delay her deportation were unsuccessful. The Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project opposed the deportation, citing medical neglect and danger to her health.

Elton Purvis, a 55-year-old lawful permanent resident and devout Rastafarian priest with Type 1 diabetes from Trinidad and Tobago, was detained by ICE at Boston Logan Airport on May 13, 2025, upon returning to the United States to attend his sons' graduations. He is a father of nine U.S. citizen children and had been a community fixture for more than 30 years. According to ACLU tort claims filed on his behalf, Purvis had malaria when detained and ICE officers confiscated his insulin and malaria medication; he was not treated for malaria for his first 12 days in custody. During seven months in multiple facilities including the South Texas Detention Complex in Pearsall, Purvis filed over 100 grievances seeking medical assistance and became unresponsive in his cell at least three times due to dangerously low blood sugar levels. He received hospital treatment at least three times but guards repeatedly ignored requests for medical help. Staff also refused to accommodate his strict vegetarian diet required by his religion and medical condition. Purvis was deported to Trinidad and Tobago on December 6, 2025, and is seeking $10 million in damages. His case is part of a nationwide ACLU effort that filed more than 50 claims across 17 states and Washington, D.C., alleging that immigration officials and subcontractors neglected detained immigrants' medical and food needs.

A Guatemalan man was arrested by ICE during what his family describes as a violent encounter that left him with a broken nose, missing and chipped teeth, and cuts and bruises on his head and hands. He was Tasered during the arrest and subsequently hospitalized. After being taken into ICE detention, his family reports he has not received proper medical care and struggles to breathe.

Mariana, a Mexican national, entered an immigration office in Fresno believing she had an appointment to advance her legalization process, but ICE agents arrested her there. She was transferred to California City Detention Center, where she spent a month before being released. She reported extremely cold cell temperatures, inadequate medical care for gastrointestinal problems, poor food quality, and detainees having to help each other with emergencies because medical staff was unavailable. A pregnant detainee she witnessed was only given water for a nosebleed and panic attack. Mariana says the experience left her with physical and psychological scars and describes the facility as feeling like a jail.

A woman discovered she was pregnant while in ICE detention and subsequently miscarried. After the miscarriage, she was shackled to a hospital bed while officers questioned her. The incident raises serious concerns about medical care and treatment of pregnant detainees in immigration custody.