Human Impact Project

Oscar Isidro, a U.S. citizen from North Texas, was found dead last month after being missing for two weeks. His death came amid family trauma, including his father's deportation to Peru the previous year and his sister's detention by ICE.

Amalia, an 18-month-old, and her parents, Kheilin Valero Marcano and Stiven Arrieta Prieto, who fled Venezuela after facing persecution for opposing President Nicolás Maduro, were detained after being arrested in El Paso and transferred to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center. Amalia's parents repeatedly sought help at the facility's clinic as she grew feverish and lethargic, receiving only Tylenol, until she lost consciousness and was hospitalized at a children's hospital in San Antonio for over a week with COVID-19, an ear infection, pneumonia, bronchitis and RSV. After her January 28 discharge, she was returned to Dilley, where her parents say she was denied access to prescribed medication despite medical warnings that she remained vulnerable to reinfection. The family was released from Dilley in February 2026 after two months in detention.

Johanny Lacruz, a Venezuelan asylum seeker and fiancée of Juan Rodriguez, was detained by ICE at a Border Patrol checkpoint in February 2026 despite having valid work authorization and no criminal record. Rodriguez observed that U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz secured the release of Antonio Gámez-Cuéllar, a teenager in the same detention facility with similar legal status, but was unable to obtain similar assistance for his fiancée. Both Lacruz and Gámez-Cuéllar were detained during the Trump administration's deportation operations.

At least two confirmed cases of measles have been reported at the Dilley family detention center in Texas, which houses children and parents in immigration detention. A broader measles outbreak is occurring across the U.S. Democratic congressman Joaquin Castro called for the facility to be shut down immediately, citing detention centers as potential vectors for disease transmission.

Amir, a 1-year-old whose Russian parents Alsu and Azat fled Russia fearing persecution for opposing the war in Ukraine, was detained at Dilley Immigration Processing Center for approximately four months after the family presented themselves at a legal port of entry. During detention, Amir developed speech delays and began hitting himself in the face. Staff allegedly forced his weaning from formula despite his age, leaving parents struggling to provide adequate nutrition; they resorted to hiding cereal in their clothing to prevent him from going hungry. The facility lacked age-appropriate toys and Russian-language books. Amir's speech development slowed to just two words—'mom' and 'dad.' After release in January 2026, now 2 years old, Amir is laughing more, speaking more, and has stopped hitting himself, though his parents report he seems to be recovering from the experience.

Nearly 50 Democratic members of Congress are demanding answers from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over allegations that the federal government is placing all pregnant unaccompanied migrant girls at a single San Benito, Texas shelter operated by Urban Strategies, where they lack adequate reproductive health care. The placement contradicts agency guidance requiring pregnant minors be placed in states where they can access full reproductive healthcare options, and has drawn objections from health and child welfare officials citing inadequate specialized care for high-risk pregnancies.

Steve Gaines, an English teacher at Harmony School of Innovation in Waco, Texas, was fired in early 2026 after allowing students to use class time to make signs for an ICE protest walkout in February. Anti-ICE advocates held a rally in March calling for his reinstatement, though the school district has not responded to requests for his rehiring.

A three-year-old girl named Lily was separated from her family at the border and detained in an immigrant children's shelter in South Texas for over five months. Her father, a legal permanent resident, attempted to reunify with her during her detention. After her attorney at ProBAR filed a habeas petition in federal district court on February 18, she was released two days later and reunified with her father on February 21.

Liam Ramos, a five-year-old pictured in a bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack, was detained by ICE along with his father at the Dilley family detention center in South Texas. A federal judge issued a favorable ruling that led to their release from the facility.

Francisco Chan Reyes, a 25-year-old U.S. resident with lawful status, was detained by ICE agents during a traffic stop on the west side of San Antonio on January 26, 2026, while returning home from a market with three cousins. Video shows agents breaking his car window, pepper-spraying him, and holding him facedown on the pavement without identifying themselves. Despite Reyes showing agents his Texas driver's license and work permit, they initially refused to accept these documents and told his wife he was in the country illegally. After approximately four hours in custody, including DNA swabbing and fingerprint processing, fingerprints confirmed his lawful presence and he was released. He sustained a head injury and pepper-spray burns. His three cousins were deported to Mexico the following day. Immigration attorney Marlyn Moreno noted that a Texas driver's license should have been sufficient proof of lawful presence, as the state only issues them to people who demonstrate citizenship or lawful presence. He and his wife plan legal action.

Maher Tarabishi was detained by ICE in October 2024 during a routine check-in at the Dallas Field Office. His son Wael, 30, who has Pompe disease and requires round-the-clock care, was hospitalized twice following his father's arrest. Wael died on January 23, 2026. Despite ICE detention standards allowing for emergency-supervised release to attend funerals and the family's humanitarian requests citing Maher's 14 years of compliance with supervised release requirements, immigration officials denied his request to attend his son's burial.

Mireya Lopez-Sanchez and her two-month-old son Juan Nicolas were held at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. The infant developed bronchitis while in ICE custody, and medical treatment was reportedly denied. A judge ordered their deportation to Mexico, and the family lost contact with relatives after being discharged from the hospital.

Texas state Rep. Ray Lopez has formally invoked a state House rule to compel a public hearing into the March 15, 2025 fatal shooting of Ruben Ray Martinez, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen from San Antonio, by a federal immigration agent on South Padre Island. Authorities claim Martinez intentionally ran over an agent before being shot, and the Department of Homeland Security has said a Homeland Security Investigations agent fired "defensive shots." The agent's involvement became publicly known nearly a year later, through internal ICE records obtained by watchdog group American Oversight via a Freedom of Information Act request. Lopez, vice chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Public Safety and Veterans Affairs, is using a newly enacted rule to require Chairman Cole Hefner to schedule the hearing.

Texas Monthly taco editor José R. Ralat was pulled over three times while on assignment in West Texas, including once by ICE agents near Presidio. Ralat noted that he and his driver are both Hispanic and that all the officers who stopped them were also Hispanic.

A protest occurred Saturday at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley when detainees, including many children, demonstrated in solidarity with 5-year-old Liam Ramos who was taken into custody in Minnesota. Attorneys were ordered to leave the facility as approximately 80 percent of detainees poured into open areas chanting "Libertad" (Freedom). Detainees expressed concerns over the child's treatment and the circumstances of his apprehension from a car in his family's driveway.

Francisco Gaspar Andrés, a 48-year-old Guatemalan immigrant, died on December 3, 2025, at The Hospitals of Providence East in El Paso after 93 days in ICE custody at Camp East Montana detention facility. He was arrested in Florida on September 1 and transferred to the facility on September 19, marking the first confirmed death there. His health deteriorated in mid-November with complications from alcoholic hepatic cirrhosis, low sodium levels, and kidney failure. He was hospitalized on November 16 and placed on dialysis and a liver transplant list before being pronounced dead on December 3. His daughter said during weekly phone calls he reported suffering from lack of food, lack of medical care, and terrible conditions, and stated: 'My dad was taken to the hospital when he was already dying, and it was too late.' Another detainee confirmed he had asked for help but did not receive it. His wife, Lucía Pedro Juan, was deported to Guatemala on November 28 before learning of his death. An immigration judge had ordered his removal on November 14, two days before his hospitalization. The El Paso County Medical Examiner attributed his death to natural causes stemming from advanced alcoholic liver cirrhosis with renal failure and internal bleeding, though conflicting reports indicate authorities also ruled it a homicide.

A five-year-old U.S. citizen named Génesis Ester Gutiérrez Castellanos disappeared after being transferred to ICE custody following her mother's arrest on Monday morning. The child does not appear in ICE, ORR, CPS, or any Central Texas immigration detention facility databases. Family members are calling on the San Antonio ICE field office to locate the child so custody arrangements can be made while her mother remains detained.

A leaked ICE memorandum reveals that federal immigration agents are entering private residences without judicial warrants, using administrative orders to detain people with final deportation orders. The memo, signed by interim ICE director Todd Lyons on May 12, 2025, authorizes use of force to enter homes based only on administrative orders, which immigration advocates argue violates Fourth Amendment protections. The disclosure comes amid reports of ICE operations in Austin involving minors and allegations of abuse, as well as an incident in St. Paul, Minnesota where ICE agents forcibly entered a U.S. citizen's home without a warrant.

An 18-month-old girl named Amalia was held with her parents at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas. In January, she became critically ill with pneumonia, Covid-19, and RSV and was hospitalized with respiratory failure. After discharge, she was returned to detention and denied prescribed medication by doctors, remaining confined for nine additional days before being released following an emergency habeas corpus petition.

ICE agents detained a person outside a Costco store in Kyle, Texas on Thursday morning. According to Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra, the individual sustained injuries including facial bleeding. The person was transported to the hospital by emergency medical services accompanied by Homeland Security personnel.