Denis (a pseudonym) fled Honduras after the MS-13 and Barrio 18 gangs took over his neighborhood and forced him from his home; police told him they could protect him for a month at most. In the Dallas area he cut trees for a living. His wife, who cannot work because of an arm injury that needs surgery the family cannot afford, and their children still live there, supported by his aunt, who cleans houses. On October 31, 2025, ICE raided his tree-cutting job. Agents took him down face-first, handcuffed him and put a foot on his neck. He spent about two months in detention in Dallas, where he went hungry and waited a week and a half with a fever and cough to see a nurse. "That's what they do so you know they don't want you here," he said. "They want you to sign to leave, to give up." With an earlier removal on his record, no lawyer and no relatives with U.S. citizenship or green cards, he was told he qualified for very little, and he was deported. He now barely earns enough to eat. "If I don't work, I don't eat." HUMSI interviewed him in Tapachula in September 2026.