HUMSI — Human Security Initiative

Human Impact Project

A living database documenting reported immigration enforcement incidents and their human impact.

Guatemalan man deported after months in freezing ICE detention following worksite raid

Sep 21, 2026·Location: San Diego, CA

Country of origin: Guatemala

Guatemalan man deported after months in freezing ICE detention following worksite raid
Photo via Instagram

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.

Suggest a correction, comment, or update

Sources

More incidents in California