Human Impact Project

Pierre Damas Bel, a 20-year-old Haitian immigrant and recent high school graduate, died after being struck by a tractor-trailer on Interstate 70 near Springfield, Ohio, in what his family says was suicide. Bel had just begun his freshman year at Wright State University, where he was recruited to play soccer, and hoped to study neuroscience. He had a pending asylum claim with a hearing scheduled for October, and his father said his son felt he was 'treated like an animal' after ICE fitted him with a GPS ankle monitor. In a July Instagram post, Bel wrote that wearing the device gave him a feeling of 'shame and humiliation' he never imagined experiencing. The migrant-rights group Amica filed a lawsuit in June over the Trump administration's expanded use of GPS monitors, which at the time were being worn by about 50,000 people.

Juan Bonilla Lagos, a 32-year-old Colombian national, was arrested by ICE agents in Plainview in October 2024 while sitting in his car with his wife and 5-year-old son during what his family says was a trip to a doctor's appointment. During the arrest, agents threatened to break the car window as his child clung to him and pleaded with agents not to take him away. Bonilla Lagos, who entered the U.S. in 2022 fleeing gang violence in Colombia, was detained at an ICE facility in Batavia, New York, where he attempted suicide three times during his nine-month custody. He has no criminal record and has filed an asylum petition. On July 7, 2026, he was released and reunited with his wife and two children at Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan. The prolonged separation caused severe mental health trauma to his family, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress.

Dy, who was previously detained by ICE for over five months during Trump's first term and released after a habeas corpus petition, has been detained again at Stewart Detention Center in Georgia. He is separated from his wife Tammy and their family, with another child expected soon, and notes that habeas cases at the facility go to a single lifetime-appointed judge. Denny Adan Gonzalez, a 33-year-old Cuban national, died on April 28, 2026, at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia. He was found unresponsive in his cell at approximately 10:26 PM and pronounced dead within an hour despite lifesaving measures. Authorities suspected suicide, though the official cause remained under investigation. Gonzalez had been arrested by local police in Charlotte, North Carolina in January 2026 on assault and domestic violence charges before being transferred to ICE custody. His death marked the 18th detainee fatality in ICE custody in 2026 and the fourth Cuban national to die during the current Trump administration.

Denny Adan Gonzalez, a 33-year-old Cuban national, was found unresponsive in his cell at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, on April 28, 2026, at approximately 10:25 p.m. and pronounced dead at 11:11 p.m. ICE reported the suspected cause as suicide, though the official cause remained under investigation. Gonzalez had been in solitary confinement following an alleged altercation with a staff member the day before. He had arrived at a U.S. port of entry in 2019, was deported in 2020, re-entered without authorization in 2022, and was transferred to Stewart in January 2026 after arrest in North Carolina on assault and domestic violence charges. Immigration advocates, his mother Lourdes González Suárez, and U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock called for independent investigation and improved transparency regarding ICE custody deaths.

Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt, a 27-year-old Cuban national, was found dead on April 12, 2026, hanging from a bedsheet in his cell at Miami Federal Detention Center. He had entered the United States legally in October 2024 under parole after being cited by CBP as an undocumented immigrant. In November 2025, he was arrested in Miami-Dade County on charges of resisting an officer with violence; prosecutors later abandoned these charges. He was transferred to ICE custody on February 11, 2026, and held under a deportation order. He had been diagnosed with anxiety and prescribed medication in March 2026 but reportedly denied suicidal ideation. His death was investigated by ICE as an apparent suicide and was reported as one of at least nine to ten suicides among men in ICE custody since Trump returned to office in January 2025, and the second reported suicide in Florida ICE custody within a month.

Royer Pérez-Jimenez, a 19-year-old indigenous Tzotzil Mayan from San Juan Chamula, Chiapas, Mexico, died on March 16, 2026, at Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven, Florida, while in ICE custody. He had immigrated to the United States at age 15 to join an uncle but was left on his own after the uncle was deported. He worked continuously in a restaurant but earned minimal wages. On January 21, 2026, he was arrested during a traffic stop after giving a false name and was convicted of misdemeanors on February 19. He was transferred to ICE custody on February 21 and moved to the Moore Haven facility on February 26. On March 16 at approximately 2:34 a.m., he was found unresponsive in his dormitory; despite CPR efforts by detention staff and emergency responders, he was pronounced dead at 2:51 a.m. ICE stated the death was a presumed suicide, though the official cause remained under investigation. His father Manuel Pérez rejected the suicide conclusion and called for a thorough investigation. His death was one of at least 13 to 14 acknowledged deaths in ICE detention occurring between January and late March 2026.

The South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, operated by CoreCivic, faced multiple documented problems affecting detained immigrant families and children. Emergency responders handled at least 11 medical emergencies since September 2025, including respiratory distress, seizures, and fever in infants and young children. Detainees reported finding worms, bugs, and mold in food, contaminated drinking water, and inadequate nutrition, leading to a confirmed measles outbreak in early 2026. Children experienced inadequate medical care, 24-hour lighting, and some were detained beyond the 20-day legal limit. A 13-year-old girl denied prescribed anxiety medications experienced a mental health crisis and attempted suicide before deportation. Following media coverage and a January protest, facility staff increased confiscation of art supplies, drawings, and personal items from detainees, and restricted communications with family and lawyers through Google services and video calls. A federal judge ruled some detentions unconstitutional, and medical advocates and congressional representatives called for facility closure.

Children detained at the Dilley family detention center in South Texas have been held in poor conditions including inadequate medical care, contaminated food, overcrowded spaces, and limited legal access. The facility, which reopened for family detentions under the Trump administration, has held over 3,500 detainees since reopening, with more than 1,700 children. Approximately 300 children have been detained beyond the legal 20-day limit. Individual cases documented by immigration attorneys include 5-year-old twins held for 8 months and a young girl who attempted suicide after immigration judges denied bond requests. Advocacy groups, journalists, and ProPublica have documented conditions through interviews, letters, and detention drawings created by children at the facility.

Victor Manuel Diaz, a 36-year-old Nicaraguan man and father of two, was arrested by ICE in Minneapolis on January 6, 2026, during Operation Metro Surge and transferred to Camp East Montana detention facility in El Paso, Texas. He died by suicide on January 14, 2026, by hanging with a bed sheet, eight days after his arrest. Diaz had entered the U.S. illegally in 2024, was released on parole, and was working at a Twin Cities restaurant when detained. Staff placed him in a medical holding room instead of a suicide-resistant cell and left him unattended for intervals exceeding the required 15-minute checks. Vision panels that had been requested months earlier were not installed, preventing staff from observing the room. A GAO report released in June 2026 found the facility lacked adequate supervision and monitoring systems, with over 1,600 detainees housed in steel-framed tent-like structures, insufficient surveillance cameras, and inadequate medical care. Diaz was at least the third death at Camp East Montana. His family attorney is considering a wrongful death claim.

Heber Sánchez, a 34-year-old day laborer from Las Choapas, Veracruz, Mexico, died in ICE custody at the Robert A. Deyton Detention Facility in Clayton County, Georgia. He had been arrested in Atlanta on January 7, 2026 for driving without a license and transferred to the facility, where a guard found him a week later tied to his bunk with a rope around his neck; resuscitation attempts failed and he was pronounced dead. His family disputes that he took his own life and is demanding an investigation into why he did not receive adequate medical care. The Mexican Consulate has requested clarification on the circumstances and is coordinating to return his body to Mexico. He is survived by a wife and two children.

Heber Sanchez Dominguez, a 34-year-old Mexican man, died on January 14, 2026 after 6 days in ICE custody at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas. His death was attributed to suicide by hanging.

Sokhean Keo, detained at California City Detention Facility, witnessed a fellow detainee's suicide attempt by hanging. The facility did not offer mental health services to Keo and others who witnessed the incident; instead, staff disciplined anyone who had not immediately returned to their cells afterward. Keo joined a class-action lawsuit filed November 12, 2025, against the Trump administration alleging severe medical neglect and inhumane conditions at the CoreCivic-operated facility.

Leo Cruz Silva, a 34-year-old Mexican national, died by suicide on October 4, 2025, in Ste. Genevieve County Jail while in ICE custody. Arrested on September 30 for public intoxication in Festus, Missouri, Silva was transferred to ICE custody on October 1 for reinstatement of a prior removal order. During his first days in custody, he experienced acute mental distress, including auditory and visual hallucinations, paranoia, and attempts to leave his cell. On October 3, jail staff observed him hiding under his bed, and a medical provider ordered antipsychotic medications, though treatment was not immediately scheduled. On October 4 at approximately 3:20 p.m., jail employees found him with a sheet tied around his neck. Staff removed the ligature and began CPR; he was pronounced dead at 3:47 p.m. Silva had entered the U.S. without documents and had been deported twice between 2010 and 2025 before re-entering. His death was the second reported suicide in ICE custody in Missouri in 2025. On October 13, about 50 community members gathered for a vigil organized by Abide in Love Ste. Genevieve. The DHS Office of Inspector General and ICE Office of Professional Responsibility are reviewing the case, examining intake screenings, wellness checks, medical response timing, and compliance with detention protocols.

Internal ICE emails reveal the agency coordinated directly with Iranian officials to deport over 100 Iranian nationals on three charter flights between May and November 2025, even as the U.S. and Israel prepared to bomb Iran. Deportees included political activists and religious minorities who feared persecution, and one man reportedly attempted suicide before ICE agents physically forced him onto the plane. The flights marked a reversal of longstanding U.S. policy that had generally allowed Iranians to remain in the country due to persecution risks.

Chaofeng Ge, a 32-year-old Chinese man from Queens, was found dead hanging in a shower stall on August 5 at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania. Ge had crossed the U.S. border illegally in November 2023 and worked as a New York City delivery driver. He was convicted of gift card fraud, completed a sentence in Dauphin County Prison in January 2025, and was transferred to ICE detention less than a week before his death. Medical records from his prior incarceration documented a suicide attempt by hanging in January 2025 and diagnoses of depression and bipolar disorder. ICE reported he arrived at the facility without medical records and was placed in general population. According to his brother's lawsuit, Ge was found with a cloth around his neck and his hands and legs bound behind his back. The lawsuit alleges Ge was isolated in custody because no staff members spoke Mandarin and the facility refused to communicate with him or provide mental healthcare. His brother, Yanfeng Ge, filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit and request against ICE demanding answers and transparency about the circumstances of his death and conditions at the facility. The coroner ruled his death a suicide, but the lawsuit challenges this finding.

Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt, a 27-year-old Cuban man, died in ICE custody in Florida on April 12, 2025, in what appeared to be a suicide attempt. His family launched a fundraising campaign in May 2026 to raise $3,000 for cremation and to repatriate his ashes to his parents in Cuba, who cannot travel to the United States. He is the second person to die by suspected suicide in ICE custody in Florida in less than a month, with at least 49 people having died under ICE custody since Trump took office in January 2025.

A 52-year-old Chinese woman died by suicide while detained at the Yuma Border Patrol station in Arizona after overstaying her B-1/B-2 visitor visa. She was initially detained in California and transferred to Yuma. Surveillance footage documented the incident, showing she created a noose. CBP records indicate required welfare checks were not properly conducted or were falsely documented, and medical intervention did not occur for nearly two hours after she was found unresponsive. Representative Pramila Jayapal called for accountability regarding CBP's failure to follow detainee safety procedures.

A Venezuelan immigrant detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection near the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel attempted to take his life by hanging himself in early March 2025. CBP officers intervened and transported him to a hospital for evaluation before transferring him to ICE custody on March 15. The incident is part of a larger pattern where advocates report 213 immigrants were detained in Detroit between January and March 2025, with approximately 90% having accidentally taken the wrong lane onto the Ambassador Bridge or tunnel while attempting to return to the U.S.

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

Victor Diaz, a 36-year-old Nicaraguan restaurant worker, died by suicide in January 2025 while in ICE custody at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas. Diaz was initially detained by ICE in Minnesota and transferred to the crowded El Paso facility, where he lost contact with relatives. After reporting harassment from fellow detainees, he was placed in isolation, where he subsequently died by suicide.