Human Impact Project

Paola Ferreira Dos Santos, a 21-year-old Brazilian woman who crossed into the U.S. in 2021 and worked cleaning construction sites in Massachusetts, was detained by ICE in 2025 after the car she was riding in to work was pursued by agents. Over 15 months she was moved through detention facilities in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Texas and Louisiana before being placed on a 16-hour restrained flight without being told her destination, arriving in Monrovia and being told, 'Welcome to Liberia. You're in Africa.' She was the only woman among a group of Latin American deportees sent under a U.S. agreement allowing Liberia to accept up to 1,200 deportees, and attorneys have told her it is now effectively impossible for her to return to the U.S. Dos Santos described detention conditions as psychological torture, saying detainees, including pregnant women, were denied medical care, and recounted a woman being bound at the hands and ankles after asking about her separated son, saying 'they tied her like she was cattle.' She also described being held for days without beds in a frigid room detainees called 'the freezer.'

A Maryland Heights, Missouri man who worked as a U.S. military interpreter and cultural adviser during Operation Enduring Freedom was detained by ICE and FBI agents outside his home as he left for a morning run. He entered the U.S. legally in 2014 through the Special Immigrant Visa program and is a green card holder who built a life with his wife, Cata Estrada, and their children, including one born weeks before his arrest. A scientist with multiple degrees who hoped to become a doctor, he is also a plaintiff in a 2023 federal lawsuit over being placed on terrorist watchlists. ICE alleges he provided material support to a terrorist organization, citing a 2021 FBI search warrant linking him to a group associated with al-Qaida, and claims he lied on his 2019 naturalization application. He denies the allegations and says his rights as a permanent resident have been violated, seeking a jury trial. He is being held at the Ste. Genevieve County Detention Center in Missouri, with an immigration court hearing scheduled for September 14 in Kansas City.

Sirena Prosper, a hairdresser and mother of seven who owns Royal Hands Salon in Pompano Beach, Florida, was detained by ICE agents at her shop's back door on September 14, 2026, while her three youngest sons, ages 14, 12 and 10, watched, one recording on his phone. Family members said agents refused to return her son's ID unless she came to the door, then grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her out of the shop; ICE said she resisted arrest. Prosper was born in the Bahamas to Haitian immigrant parents and has lived in Florida since infancy, but faces deportation to Haiti, a country relatives say she has never known, based on a 2002 final removal order tied to a 1998 armed burglary and larceny conviction. Her family said her removal had previously been canceled due to a medical emergency and that she had complied with ICE check-ins for two decades. She is being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center, a facility advocates say saw two deaths over the summer. Relatives, who describe her as a loving mother and hairdresser, held a prayer vigil outside her salon and are caring for her children while seeking to halt her deportation.

ICE agents detained five men in Montclair, New Jersey on Sept. 14, 2026, while they were on their way to a construction job, and detained at least one more man in neighboring Bloomfield the same day; a community group estimated about 10 people were detained across both towns. Witnesses said agents smashed a truck's passenger window and forcibly pulled one man from the vehicle by his leg while handcuffing the others against the truck. ICE said the driver had refused to comply with officers' commands, but attorney Joseph Fortunato filed habeas corpus petitions arguing the men were detained without individualized custody determinations. A federal judge signed an order Friday night blocking the transfer of two of the men to Louisiana, and they were returned to Delaney Hall in Newark; supporters are raising money through a community bail fund to pay a $7,500 immigration bond for one of the men, a 24-year-old construction worker identified as Kevin. Montclair Mayor Renee Baskerville said she found the enforcement activity "deeply disturbing" and stressed the need to recognize the men's humanity.

In late August, ICE deported three Nicaraguan men to the Central African Republic, even though none of them had ties to that country and at least two had protections in place that barred their return to Nicaragua. The men reported being transported in handcuffs under duress and were left stranded in Bangui with uncertain immigration status. The deportations are part of a broader U.S. policy of sending migrants to third-party African countries when legal barriers prevent their return to their countries of origin.

ICE agents detained several men in Montclair's Fourth Ward on the morning of September 14, 2026, stopping a pickup truck near Elm Street and Bloomfield Avenue as the men were driving to perform construction work at The Vestry, a luxury apartment building. Witnesses said agents smashed the truck's window, forcibly pulled one man out by his leg, and pushed others against the vehicle while handcuffing them, just a block from Charles H. Bullock Elementary School as children arrived for the day. One detained man, a 24-year-old construction worker identified as Kevin, was held on a $7,500 immigration bond, with community members raising funds through the Envision Freedom Fund. Two other men detained, Macedonia Merino-Maldonado and Jero Jimenez-Garcia, worked as kitchen staff at the local restaurant Raymond's and were on their way to work when they were detained; both were initially held at Delaney Hall in Newark before being transferred to the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena, Louisiana. Mayor Renee Baskerville and Deputy Mayor Susan Shin Andersen said ICE had not notified local police of the operation. After attorney Joseph Fortunato filed habeas corpus petitions, a federal judge ordered two of the men returned to Delaney Hall in New Jersey after ICE had already placed them on a bus bound for a flight to a Louisiana detention facility.

As the school year began in Queens, immigrant families expressed fear over ICE activity in their neighborhoods. In one incident, a father was detained by ICE agents while running morning errands in Corona before he could return home to drive his son to school, prompting his wife to rush to the scene in tears. Community members and local advocates, including the group Las Doñas, responded to support the family, while other parents like Margarita described ongoing anxiety about enforcement affecting daily routines like school drop-offs.

Maureen Wanjiru Ngure, a 38-year-old public health nurse from Concord, California, was detained by ICE on August 14 during a routine check-in at the federal immigration office in San Francisco. Ngure came to the U.S. from Kenya in 2006 on a visitor's visa, became a nurse, married, had two children, and volunteered with Contra Costa County's COVID-19 response team, never missing a check-in in nearly two decades. She and her husband, Peter Mang'ara Muchendu, both U.S. citizens raising their children in the Bay Area, had been planning to relocate the family to Canada after she was offered a healthcare job there. Following her detention, she was transferred through facilities in California, Arizona, and Louisiana, at times sleeping on floors and losing her ID, phone, and wallet. She was served a third-country deportation order and ultimately deported to Kenya. "I felt depressed, I felt confused, I was asking the question: why," Ngure said.

Gabriel Johnson III, a 55-year-old pastor from Cary, North Carolina who has lived in the U.S. since he was 15 or 16 and held legal status including a 2004 withholding of removal barring his deportation to Liberia, was detained by ICE at his home on July 15 over a reportedly missed immigration appointment. His daughter Gabri said that during transfers between facilities in North Carolina, Georgia, Atlanta, and Texas, he was repeatedly denied food, water, and his prescribed stroke and blood pressure medications, and was pressured to sign deportation papers before his scheduled hearing. On July 30 he suffered a stroke that paralyzed the left side of his body; he was hospitalized in the Dallas area and shackled to his bed despite nurses' warnings that this increased stroke risk, and his family said they were initially denied contact or updates on his condition. Johnson, a N.C. Central University graduate who has pastored for 20 years and shares four children with his wife of 30 years, had an emergency stay of removal filed on his behalf, and his family filed a complaint with the DHS Office of Inspector General. ICE and CoreCivic denied mistreatment allegations, stating he was monitored and treated after showing stroke-like symptoms; he has since been released from ICE custody and is moving to a 24-hour rehabilitation hospital.

Matías Alejandro Pourrain, a 34-year-old Argentine soccer player for Miami United FC and youth coach, was detained by ICE agents at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on August 6 while preparing to travel with his team to a championship match. He had lived in South Florida since 2019, held a work permit, Social Security number, and Florida state ID, and said he had no criminal record. Pourrain was transferred across multiple facilities, including Krome, one in Miramar, and one in Laredo, Texas, describing being shackled for extended periods, held in overcrowded rooms, and given little or moldy food. His teams, Miami United FC and Club de Lyon FC, described him as an exceptional player and beloved member of their organizations, while his wife, Stefi Almandoz, remained in Miami during his detention. His attorney, Regina Borges, secured a bail hearing, and he was released on a $20,000 bond on August 28 after nearly three weeks in custody, opting for phone check-ins instead of an ankle monitor so he could continue coaching. DHS said Pourrain had overstayed his authorized six-month stay and disputed his claims of inhumane conditions.

The petitioner is currently detained at the T. Don Hutto Detention Center and has filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, challenging his ongoing detention without an individualized bond hearing. He is being held as an applicant for admission subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A). The court found that, on the face of the petition, he may be entitled to relief and ordered the government to show cause by September 18, 2026, why the writ should not be granted. The petitioner may reply by September 21, 2026, and either party may request a hearing. The court further ordered that he not be removed from the United States or transferred outside the Austin Division of the Western District of Texas while the case is pending.

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.

Jose Rafael Alambarrio, a Venezuelan national who fled political persecution and arrived in the U.S. in 2023, was detained on January 15, 2026 during a routine annual check-in at the Dallas ICE office while applying for a green card and pursuing asylum. He had no criminal record and had faithfully attended all previous check-ins. He was initially held at Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, before being transferred without notice to an ICE facility in Mississippi. His wife, a McKinney teacher and U.S. citizen, has publicly pleaded for his release and continues to fight for him from a distance. Nine months later, Alambarrio remains in detention while appealing the denial of his asylum application, with a decision on his residency process still pending.

Marco was recently detained by ICE, according to his daughter Leire, who is raising money to cover immigration legal representation and attorney fees. The family is working to secure his release and asked for donations, prayers, and help sharing their story.

Jorge was detained by ICE agents who followed him until he stopped his vehicle on his way to work. His brother Geovanni describes him as a hard worker with no criminal record who has lived in the U.S. almost his entire life, and a devoted father whose four children depend on him. The family is raising funds to hire a lawyer to fight his deportation and seek his release on bail while he remains in detention.

Roxana Valladares, a 29-year-old Salvadoran woman, spent the night at a hospital in Homestead, Florida with her 6-year-old son, who had a fever and was struggling to breathe, before rushing to line up outside the Miami immigration court for a mass hearing. She arrived by Uber at 4 a.m. with a blanket, a change of clothes, a cooler with water and snacks, and a folding beach chair, ending up third in line for a 1 p.m. hearing amid crowds stretching around the building. Her son slept on a blanket on the sidewalk while she fanned him as they waited. Valladares said she had originally been scheduled for a hearing in September 2027 but received a notice the week before to appear instead. She said she crossed the border two years earlier to seek asylum after fleeing domestic violence and fearing for her life and her son's, and that she was told missing the hearing could result in an automatic deportation order.

A Latino man identified in court filings as J.M.R. alleges ICE agents pulled him from his car, threw him to the ground and shocked him with a Taser before detaining him. A federal judge later ruled his detention unlawful and ordered his release. He is among the named plaintiffs in a proposed federal class-action lawsuit, Guzmán v. DHS, filed Sept. 9 in U.S. District Court in Maryland challenging alleged warrantless ICE arrests.

Two 17-year-old U.S. citizens, including Luis Ochoa, were stopped by ICE agents at a stoplight in Alamo, Texas, on September 11 after pausing to observe an immigration enforcement action on their way to a Marine Corps recruiting office. One was pulled from the car, handcuffed and allegedly struck repeatedly by an agent, suffering a broken wrist, while the other, who was driving, was pepper sprayed. Both were held in ICE custody for about eight hours without their families being given information, until a local politician intervened to secure their release; DHS described the teens as anti-ICE agitators who obstructed agents.

A 16-year-old minor was chased by several ICE agents in Livonia, Michigan, and climbed onto a residential rooftop with his hands raised while an agent pointed a gun directly at him. Video shared by @metrodetroitnews shows additional agents then climbing onto the roof and taking him into custody.

Renatho Kemsley Casseus, a Haitian national described by San Diego City College as a student, was arrested by ICE agents on September 8, 2026, after unmarked vehicles boxed in his car near campus at 16th and C Street. A passenger, also said to be a student, fled on foot onto campus grounds, with agents pursuing him before retreating once they realized they had entered college property. DHS disputed that Casseus was a student, stating he entered the U.S. without authorization through El Paso, Texas, in May 2023 and was released into the country under the Biden administration, with his case now before an immigration judge. San Diego Community College District Chancellor Greg Smith denounced the incident, and officials said the college, district, and campus police do not cooperate with ICE enforcement. The college offered counseling and legal support to affected students, who organized a rally, and elected officials condemned the arrest.