Human Impact Project

Julio Alfredo De Ávila Hernández, who worked as a driver in Guadalajara, disappeared in Jalisco, Mexico, ten years ago after a cartel forced him into running packages and threatened to kill his family if he quit. His mother, Blanca Hernández, 59, says a hitman began following Julio and that he had no way out. Julio's parents and siblings later fled to the United States and applied for asylum, but an immigration judge ruled in April that they must continue their asylum process in Ecuador, Honduras, or Guatemala instead of remaining in the U.S. The family has filed an appeal to try to stay; Julio's sister, Alondra De Ávila, 26, who crossed the border with her four-year-old son in 2024 to turn themselves in to immigration authorities, said, "We want to stay here. I don't want my son to live what I lived."

Sae Joon Park, 57, a Korean-born US Army veteran awarded a Purple Heart after being shot in the spine during the 1989 US invasion of Panama, self-deported to South Korea last year after ICE threatened to detain him at a routine immigration check-in over old criminal convictions. Park, who moved to the US at age 7 to join his mother, later settled in Hawaii, where he raised his two adult children, cared for his elderly mother and worked at the Aloha Kia auto dealership before his removal order led to deportation. He developed untreated PTSD after his military service, leading to a crack cocaine addiction, a 2007 drug possession conviction in Queens, N.Y., and a later bail-jumping conviction after he was apprehended in Hawaii and extradited to New York. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul pardoned Park for the bail-jumping conviction last week, one of six pardons she granted after his legal team petitioned since January; his attorneys said the pardon does not guarantee his return, and Park remains in Busan, South Korea, separated from his family.

Nexan Aroldo Asencio Corado, a Guatemalan carpenter and small business owner who had lived in Milford, Massachusetts for about a decade, was arrested by masked ICE agents in his backyard on May 30, 2025, as his young twin sons, Jhon and Damian, watched from a window. His wife, Christina Toledo, a U.S. citizen, said agents told her they were looking for his brother-in-law and dismissed the couple's approved I-130 petition as possibly fake. Toledo said Asencio Corado, who has no criminal record, spent several nights in custody sleeping on a bathroom floor without adequate food or water, and the family was denied bond; relatives launched a GoFundMe to cover legal costs. The twin boys, who have partial hearing loss and speech delays, needed therapy after witnessing the arrest. Asencio Corado was deported to Guatemala months later after his pending application to remain in the country was set aside. In December 2025, Toledo and the boys traveled to his home village near the Salvadoran border to reunite with him before returning to Milford, and Toledo has since relocated to Florida to be near her mother while the family decides whether to move permanently to Guatemala.

Héctor Zelaya, who had lived in Memphis, Tennessee for 21 years, was detained by ICE agents around 1:00 a.m. on August 30, 2026, while eating a baleada at a local business during an immigration enforcement operation. His stepdaughter, Ashley Martínez, said agents pushed him into a parking lot and detained him without an arrest warrant, and that the family believes the operation targeted the business's registration rather than its customers. Martínez said Zelaya has an active visa case, has rheumatoid arthritis, and has supported his family by helping put her and her siblings through school. The family launched a GoFundMe campaign seeking $9,000 to hire an immigration attorney.

Kwesi Menezes, a 35-year-old lawful permanent resident who had lived in the U.S. since age two and grew up in Burlington County, New Jersey, was found unresponsive in Guyana on August 30, months after being deported there in April. His family believes he overdosed on medication prescribed for schizophrenia, a condition he had struggled with for years. Menezes had been arrested by ICE in Mount Holly, New Jersey, in connection with a prior conviction for assaulting a police officer during what his family described as a mental-health episode, and was later transferred into ICE detention and placed on DHS's 'Worst of the Worst Criminal Aliens Arrested' list in December. His mother and sister said his psychiatric condition was not adequately considered during his immigration proceedings and questioned whether he understood what was happening to him while in custody. Relatives describe him as a gifted singer and dancer who was always willing to help others, and are working to bring his remains back to the U.S. for burial.

Gustavo Parraga Durán, a Venezuelan journalist who has been seeking asylum in the U.S. for nearly a decade, remains in ICE custody in Washington state after being detained during a traffic stop in Utah. His wife says he has no criminal charges or even traffic tickets, and the family has lost income and risks losing their home. Relatives and the Association of Venezuelan Journalists Abroad have launched a fundraising campaign to cover legal representation and a possible bond, while expressing fear that he could be deported to Venezuela given his past political activity with Voluntad Popular and his work as a journalist. Parraga Durán, a graduate of the Universidad Bicentenaria de Aragua, is married and the father of two young daughters.

Khalil, a 24-year-old Afghan man, was deported to the Central African Republic despite having been granted 'withholding of removal' by a U.S. immigration judge in August 2025 due to the threat of Taliban persecution. His attorney, Alma David, said his family in Afghanistan received direct threats from the Taliban because of his brothers' support for U.S. military operations—one brother served in the Afghan National Army, while another, trained as a pilot by the U.S. military, was killed by the Taliban. A retired Marine colonel who supervised his brother said he fears Khalil could be killed if eventually returned to Afghanistan. Khalil crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in 2024 and was held in ICE custody throughout his time in the U.S., but did not qualify for asylum under a Biden-era policy requiring migrants to seek protection in other countries first. He was among 12 Afghans on a flight to Bangui that also carried eight Iranians and individuals from Nepal and Nicaragua—the second such flight to the Central African Republic since June, when roughly two dozen migrants, including an Iranian woman fearing persecution, were sent there.

Milo Yiannopoulos, a 41-year-old British national and former Breitbart editor who has also worked as a spokesman for Kanye West, was detained by ICE agents at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on August 27. He was transferred to an ICE processing facility in Alexandria, Louisiana, and deported to the United Kingdom roughly 24 hours later. DHS said he legally entered the U.S. in May 2019 on an O-1 visa but overstayed his authorization, and that an immigration judge issued a final removal order on July 22 after he failed to appear at a hearing. Yiannopoulos disputed this, saying he held a valid O-1 visa and later obtained a green card through his 2017 marriage to an American man, which he claims was quietly canceled without notice. He said he was surrounded by roughly 15 agents, denied food for a day, and repeatedly moved to prevent him from reaching his lawyer, and said he plans to challenge the removal in court. Far-right activist Laura Loomer claimed she had reported him to ICE, and border czar Tom Homan denied allegations of preferential treatment in the speed of his removal.

Yan Vazquez (also referred to as Yan Vasquez Hidalgo) and his husband Alex Gonzalez (Alex Ramirez Gonzalez), a married Cuban couple working in environmental services at SUNY Upstate Medical University, were detained by ICE in October after appearing for a scheduled immigration hearing in Mattydale, New York. The couple had fled Cuba, entered the U.S. in 2021, turned themselves in to seek asylum based on persecution related to their sexuality, and held valid work authorization while pursuing permanent residency. They said they were handcuffed and chained before being transported to a federal detention facility, where they were held for nearly four months, mostly separated from each other. In January, immigration judges ruled they could not seek asylum in the U.S. but could pursue it in Ecuador, a country to which they have no connection; their lawyer filed an appeal, and the case remains pending. They were later released on bond, with one required to wear an ankle monitor, and have returned to their jobs and families in Syracuse. A coworker, Mohamed Fofana, remains in ICE custody in Texas.

An operation at the El Corralón bar in Memphis's Berclair neighborhood, which began just before 1 a.m. on August 30 as a state-led raid targeting illegal gambling and drugs, turned into the city's largest documented immigration sweep. State and federal agents, including Tennessee Highway Patrol and ICE, shut off the music, questioned patrons about their legal status, and restrained many with cable ties before busing 121 people to ICE detention facilities. The Department of Homeland Security later named the operation "Operation Corral Light," and Memphis Mayor Paul Young said local police had no role in planning it; officials have released criminal histories for only five of those detained.

The petitioner, who was lawfully admitted to the U.S. on a B-2 visa in March 2025, has resided in the country since then and applied for asylum in January 2026, a claim that remains pending. On August 29, 2026, she was detained after the vehicle she was riding in as a passenger, driven by her boyfriend, was stopped; the document states no process was provided to her during the detention. She is now in removal proceedings and has been held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. She has a history of breast cancer and takes related medication, and imaging taken since her detention showed a mass or tumor in her breast, yet for more than two weeks she received no follow-up care or prescribed medication. She filed a habeas corpus petition and a TRO application seeking release, arguing her detention violated due process. The government did not respond to the petition despite a court-ordered deadline, and the court granted the petition, ordering her immediate release on reasonable conditions without monetary bond.

Indi Veitia, a 47-year-old Venezuelan asylum-seeker who lives in Indianapolis with her wife and worked her way up from a warehouse job to a corporate position, was detained by ICE officers while walking to her gate at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport during a work trip. She said plain-clothes officers slammed her against the jetway wall, handcuffed her, and transported her in an unmarked vehicle before transferring her to a detention center in Lumpkin, Georgia, where she spent 21 days in a windowless dormitory with more than 60 other women sharing four toilets and showers, at times without running water or power, describing the conditions as 'inhumane.' Veitia entered the U.S. on a work visa in 2019 and later applied for asylum, holding a valid work permit and driver's license while her application had been pending since 2020. She was released on bond after friends and her employer wrote supporting letters and secured lawyers, but now wears a GPS ankle monitor and must report to the ICE field office in Indianapolis under a court order. Her attorney said asylum applicants like her are 'low-hanging fruit' for detention despite following legal processes, while DHS said a pending asylum application does not confer legal status. Veitia said, 'I have done everything that the government have asked me to do.'

Edel Hernandez Cervantes, a Danbury, Connecticut construction worker and former bakery owner in Mexico known for making bread for Día de los Muertos and Three Kings Day, was tackled and repeatedly tased by ICE agents on August 27, 2026, after he and coworkers noticed an ICE vehicle following them and turned back toward home. Neighbors' video and a 911 call captured as many as five agents pinning him face-down while he complained of hypertension and appeared to convulse. He was taken by ambulance to Danbury Hospital, where staff and ICE initially denied his family and an attorney access to him. Family described him as someone who always kept the radio on and loved to sing. DHS said he resisted arrest, reached for a pocketknife, and carried counterfeit identification. Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves called the incident 'deeply concerning' and said he was transferred to ICE custody in Hartford before officials could intervene, leaving his whereabouts unclear for days.

Maisa Lopes Eliaser, a 32-year-old Brazilian national married to Fort Polk Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo, was detained by ICE on July 8, 2026, after missing an immigration appointment and overstaying a tourist visa she used to enter the U.S. in 2019. Jaramillo, who has served in the Army for more than a decade, took administrative leave to care alone for the couple's five-year-old son, Noah, calling the situation 'really overwhelming' and insisting his wife 'is not a criminal' and 'trying to do the right thing to get a better life.' Eliaser spent more than a month held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile before being placed on a deportation flight to Brazil on August 14; after a stop in Bogotá, Colombia, ICE officers called and gave her the option to return to the U.S., which she took, and she was released. She said she struggled to sleep and felt dehumanized by the detention. Following media coverage and a Congressional inquiry into deportations of military family members, she now has a new immigration appointment to reopen her case and pursue a green card, while the family's appeal remains pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals. Immigration attorney Aaron Cash said protections exist for military spouses but 'ICE or whomever seems to be ignoring that these days,' and Jaramillo's case is one of at least 52 parents and spouses of active-duty service members detained since Trump took office for a second term.

Josue Isai Pire-Hidalgo, a 31-year-old custodian at Farnsworth Elementary School in Chicago Public Schools, was detained by ICE on July 17 during what he believed was a routine immigration appointment tied to his family's asylum case. Pire-Hidalgo, a Venezuelan national with Temporary Protected Status and a pending asylum application, has no criminal record. His wife, Yulexis Padilla Julio, and their two children, ages 13 and 6, were detained alongside him but released; his wife was fitted with an ankle monitor and continued advocating for his release. Their 6-year-old daughter has asthma requiring daily medication, and Pire-Hidalgo has hearing loss in both ears and relies on hearing aids. He was held at a jail in Clay County, Indiana, describing the conditions as difficult, while the school community and SEIU Local 73 organized support including a GoFundMe that raised nearly $15,000 and meal trains for the family. After 42 days in ICE custody, he was released and reunited with his family.

Luis Hernández, a 38-year-old Nicaraguan migrant who marched in Nicaragua's 2018 pro-democracy protests, had been denied asylum but granted protection from deportation under the Convention Against Torture. He was detained at a routine immigration check-in in February and taken to a Texas tarmac on Aug. 28, where he says he was struck twice in the back and once in the knee with pepper-spray canisters and was never notified he would be sent to Africa. He told the Los Angeles Times he went days without eating or sleeping after arriving in Bangui, where he was housed in a complex monitored by armed guards.

Sergio Zárate, a father of six who has lived in the U.S. since 2002, was detained by immigration agents in Yakima, Washington, while he was in the state for work. He had traveled there from his home in Oakley, California, in search of employment. His daughter, Yisleth Zárate, said he has long been the family's main provider and is well regarded by his community and church. He is now being held at a detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, hundreds of miles from his family, who say the detention has caused emotional and financial strain and are seeking help covering legal costs.

Hleb Matskevich, who came to the U.S. from Belarus at age 14 under asylum protections and later built a life in Palm Coast, Florida, where he owns two businesses, was detained by ICE agents at a Pennsylvania airport after flying in for his fiancée's grandfather's funeral. His fiancée, Alessandra Robinson, said agents cited an expired visa despite his pending case with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Matskevich is being held at Pike County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania while the couple pursues a bond request and plans to marry while he remains in custody.

A video circulated by Yakima Community Aid showed a person detained by immigration enforcement agents immediately after being released from Yakima police custody on a Monday. The video, originally posted by a community member, has drawn more than 80,000 views on Instagram and sparked concerns that police and ICE were collaborating. Yakima Police Chief Shawn Boyle said the person had been held on a DUI charge and that a corrections officer handed over his bag of belongings to an ICE agent only because agents took him into custody before the officer could return the property through normal procedure; the department has since changed that procedure to return belongings before opening the gate. Boyle said officers did not coordinate with ICE, explaining that ICE and other agencies monitor publicly available jail and court release schedules, and the incident prompted discussion at a town hall about the Keep Washington Working Act, which restricts local law enforcement from assisting federal immigration enforcement.

A relative of Brenda Dumas who holds a valid work permit was detained by ICE in Port Isabel and, after being held, was released with an ankle monitor, becoming one of more than 50,000 people the agency is tracking with the devices. The family member requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation from the federal government. Dumas said she now uses a phone app to track family members' locations and stays in constant communication with them out of safety concerns.