Human Impact Project

An opinion piece argues that ICE detention facilities function as camps rather than mere detention centers, citing over 65,000 people currently confined and at least 52 deaths in ICE custody since the second Trump administration began. It highlights a woman in Arizona detained for 16 months without adequate treatment for her leukemia, who has lost more than 70 pounds and regularly vomits blood, and describes a now-closed Florida facility where detainees were allegedly held in a two-by-two-foot outdoor punishment cage.

A Guatemalan man was arrested by ICE during what his family describes as a violent encounter that left him with a broken nose, missing and chipped teeth, and cuts and bruises on his head and hands. He was Tasered during the arrest and subsequently hospitalized. After being taken into ICE detention, his family reports he has not received proper medical care and struggles to breathe.

Mariana, a Mexican national, entered an immigration office in Fresno believing she had an appointment to advance her legalization process, but ICE agents arrested her there. She was transferred to California City Detention Center, where she spent a month before being released. She reported extremely cold cell temperatures, inadequate medical care for gastrointestinal problems, poor food quality, and detainees having to help each other with emergencies because medical staff was unavailable. A pregnant detainee she witnessed was only given water for a nosebleed and panic attack. Mariana says the experience left her with physical and psychological scars and describes the facility as feeling like a jail.

Sarafinah Bukirwa, a 31-year-old Ugandan immigrant and founder of Sarafinah Sickle Cell Society, a nonprofit treating sickle cell anemia, was detained by ICE on July 22, 2026, at Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville while traveling to a sickle cell anemia conference in California. Bukirwa entered the U.S. legally on a visa to expand her nonprofit work and has a pending asylum claim with valid work authorization. After being held at Grayson County Detention Center in Leitchfield, Kentucky, her family reported she was denied her required sickle cell medication for nearly a week despite having the medication with her, with prescriptions reportedly diluted in water and withheld. She experienced a medical crisis requiring hospitalization at a Louisville hospital the day before her detention. Her brother Isaac Kabunga stated at a press conference that ICE agents claimed she was arrested for overstaying her visa, though U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey confirmed she is following proper legal procedures and called for her immediate release, stating her condition could become life-threatening without proper treatment.

In a smuggled video from the 1,000-bed South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, run by GEO Group, detained women describe abuse, medical neglect and family separation. Larina says ICE separated her from her five-month-old daughter after she called police during a domestic violence incident and was arrested instead of her husband; she says she has been ordered deported but has remained detained for three months. Other mothers at the facility say they do not know where their children were taken after being separated, and one Cuban woman remained detained even after winning her case because the Department of Homeland Security appealed. Kelly, a Venezuelan woman with one failing kidney, says the facility denies her testing, medication and specialist care, leaving her with painful urination and fluid retention, unsuitable frozen food and no clean water; other women describe a miscarriage, pregnancy without adequate care, an amputation, and say one detainee was placed in solitary confinement after recording video while others faced hitting and threats for speaking out.

A woman discovered she was pregnant while in ICE detention and subsequently miscarried. After the miscarriage, she was shackled to a hospital bed while officers questioned her. The incident raises serious concerns about medical care and treatment of pregnant detainees in immigration custody.

Diana Avila's 20-year-old brother, who has autism since childhood and is described as intelligent, generous, and a good student, was arrested by ICE during an ongoing legal process and transferred between states. He is currently detained in Texas, where he reports being denied blankets, medicine, and adequate food. He developed a stomach infection and is experiencing high fevers but says staff insults and threatens him when he requests medical care, pressuring him to sign deportation papers. His family is unable to afford legal representation and fears for his safety.

A 30-year-old Colombian citizen who has lived in the United States since March 2023, when she was admitted on a B-2 visitor visa. She filed an asylum application in June 2023 that remained pending for over one year. She has been employed since April 2024 as a Distribution Analyst with Cordiasla USA in Texas and has a partner residing in California. She has no criminal history and has been treated for depression and anxiety with bupropion medication since 2024. On July 28, 2026, while traveling for work from Houston to Ontario, California, ICE agents detained her upon her arrival at Ontario International Airport without advance notice or a pre-deprivation hearing, and confiscated her documents. She was transferred to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center where she has been held for over one week without receiving her required psychiatric medication, which her physician warned could result in serious health risks if interrupted. She filed an ex parte application for a temporary restraining order seeking immediate release from detention. On August 10, 2026, the federal court granted her application, ordering her immediate release under the same terms as before her detention, requiring return of seized property, and prohibiting re-detention without notice and a pre-deprivation hearing before a neutral adjudicator.

A Mexican woman, known in the Stockton music scene as DJ Reina Azteca, was detained at Otay Mesa Detention Center starting December 18, 2025, for nearly four months. She first came to the U.S. as a child, self-deported to Mexico in 2020, and re-entered in August 2021; she was later detained during an immigration check-in while enrolled in the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program and had a pending U-Visa and open asylum case. She says she requested deportation but was told she had to remain in detention, and alleges she was forced to take a pregnancy test after initially refusing, was held in a cold holding cell without adequate clothing, and faced other harsh conditions; CoreCivic disputes some of her claims, including about phone access. She lost her DJ music library when her account was deactivated and is now borrowing music from friends to resume gigs, but cannot fully rebuild her library or open a bank account until the federal government returns her confiscated identification documents.

Hunger strikers at the Adelanto detention center in California faced retaliation from ICE officials after staging protests, according to attorneys with the Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef). Detainees were zip-tied, threatened with teargas, placed in solitary confinement, and transferred to other ICE facilities. ICE officials denied that detainees were forgoing food and denied that retaliation was occurring, instead claiming that one detainee who led the hunger strike faced disciplinary actions for vague facility violations.

An unnamed detained immigrant who began a hunger strike between October and December 2025 was subjected to forcible medical treatment in ICE custody, including force feeding, forced hydration, forced urinary catheterization, and involuntary blood draws, according to an ICE Health Service Corps document reviewed by the Guardian. The document confirms the Trump administration's use of forced medical treatment on hunger strikers since Trump began his second term. Healthcare associations and international human rights groups have described such practices as torture. An ICE Health Service Corps budget forecast noted at least seven detained people were on hunger strike in February 2026.

Tangieth Paola Carrasquero Lopez, 23, a Venezuelan asylum seeker with polycystic ovary syndrome, hepatic steatosis, and obesity, has been held at Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia since her July 27, 2026 detention during a scheduled immigration check-in. She says she has received only ibuprofen for abdominal pain and numbness, and that detention food is heavy in carbohydrates her doctor warned she cannot tolerate. A DHS spokesperson said she initially denied needing urgent care at intake but has since tested positive for PCOS and been placed on a chronic care list; her gastroenterologist, Dr. Arnaldo Jimenez, continues to request access to her prescribed Tirzepatide and ongoing monitoring. Her partner, Andres, said she remains unable to continue her necessary medical treatment.

An Ecuadorian asylum seeker who has resided in the United States since 2023 entered the country without inspection and filed a timely asylum application shortly thereafter. On November 19, 2025, he was served with a Notice to Appear charging him as removable for being present without admission or parole. On July 25, 2026, ICE took him into custody and transferred him to the Clinton County Correctional Facility in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, where he was held without a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b). His immigration records show no criminal history and no final order of removal. Petitioner filed a pro se habeas corpus petition arguing he should instead be detained under the discretionary provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), which entitles detainees to a bond hearing, and that his detention without such a hearing violated his Fifth Amendment due process rights. Respondents did not dispute the facts but argued his detention was lawful under § 1225(b). The Court, following the majority view among federal courts and several circuit courts of appeals, agreed with Petitioner, ruling that § 1225(b)(2)(A) applies only to noncitizens affirmatively seeking admission, not those like Petitioner who have resided in the country for years. The Court granted the habeas petition, ordered Petitioner's immediate release, permanently enjoined Respondents from detaining him under § 1225(b), and required a bond hearing before an immigration judge if he is later detained under § 1226(a).

ICE officers placed a Nigerian man and other detainees in full-body WRAP restraint devices during a September deportation flight to Ghana, despite the detainees being shackled and asking to speak with attorneys. The AP documented at least 12 cases in the past decade where local law enforcement's use of the WRAP contributed to deaths, and identified ICE's use of the device in multiple deportations since 2020. A 2023 DHS civil rights report raised internal concerns about the device's use, citing reports of deaths, yet ICE continues deploying it despite the manufacturer's guidance for lower-threshold situations.

Prisciliano Trejo Ricano, a 29-year-old Mexican national who had lived in Durham, North Carolina since age 3, died July 24 from an aggressive form of leukemia while effectively in ICE custody. He was arrested June 19 and transferred to Stewart Detention Center in Georgia, where he began feeling ill on July 6, reporting coughing up blood, severe pain, and a bruise that would not heal. Advocates say ICE failed to provide treatment for over a week despite his requests for care; he was hospitalized July 13 and fell into a coma by July 15, at which point ICE formally released him before he died. His father and cousin described him as previously healthy, with his father saying he could not understand how his condition deteriorated so quickly. His name does not appear on ICE's official list of in-custody deaths, and the agency will not investigate due to a policy change eliminating reporting requirements for deaths within 30 days of release. Advocacy groups including Detention Watch Network, Project South, Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, El Refugio, and Carolina Migrant Network called for investigations into medical neglect at Stewart Detention Center, while the ACLU reports at least 57 deaths in immigration detention since the start of the second Trump administration, more than double the prior four years combined.

Carlos Hugo Betancur, a 52-year-old Colombian national, was detained by ICE on July 8, 2026, while pumping gas at a Marathon station in Doral on his way to work. An immigration officer approached him from behind, asked for identification, and detained him after he provided his Florida driver's license. Betancur had filed a political asylum application in January 2023 and possessed both an employment authorization card and a Florida driver's license. He spent 8 days at the Miramar Processing Center and 8 days at Krome Detention Center before being released on electronic monitoring. At Miramar, he described severe overcrowding, with 93 to 104 detainees held in a single room with insufficient space for everyone to sit or sleep simultaneously. His daughter, Maria Alejandra Betancur, disputed the detention, noting he had valid asylum and work authorization documents. He is now required to wear an ankle monitor while his immigration case proceeds before an immigration judge.

Dr. Badar Khan Suri, an Indian postdoctoral fellow and peace scholar at Georgetown University, was arrested without a warrant by ICE agents in March 2025 after expressing pro-Palestinian views on social media. He was held in multiple detention facilities for nearly six weeks and subjected to conditions including denial of religious accommodations. A federal court ordered his release on bail. The Trump administration attempted to re-detain him, arguing federal courts lacked jurisdiction to review his case. In July 2026, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the administration's re-detention attempt, upholding habeas corpus protections that allow immigrants to challenge their detention in federal court.

The petitioner entered the United States on a B-2 visa on July 2, 2024, and has lived continuously in Illinois since then. He filed a timely asylum application in December 2024 that remains pending, and after his visa expired, USCIS granted him an Employment Authorization Document valid through 2030. He worked two jobs, providing transportation services as an independent contractor and performing carpet cleaning work, held an apartment lease and Illinois driver's license, and was an active church member with no criminal history. He was detained by ICE on July 22, 2026, at Los Angeles International Airport while preparing to board a flight home after a vacation, then transferred to and held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. He is the primary financial support for his mother, who recently had back surgery, and he missed the birth of his niece while detained. He filed a habeas corpus petition arguing his detention without notice or a pre-deprivation hearing violated procedural due process, and the court granted the petition, ordering his release within 24 hours and the return of his seized personal documents.

A transgender woman detained at Eloy Detention Center in Arizona reported being strapped into a wheelchair, handcuffed, and interrogated for hours by detention officers. The account was shared by U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari and represents one of multiple allegations of human rights abuses at the facility, including solitary confinement, inadequate water and food, and extreme temperatures. ICE has disputed many of the allegations, and the incident highlights ongoing concerns about how transgender people are treated in immigration detention.

Sarafinah Bukirwa, 31, a Louisville woman with valid work authorization and a pending asylum claim from Uganda, was detained by ICE at Muhammad Ali International Airport on July 22, 2026, while heading to a sickle cell anemia conference, and transferred to Grayson County Detention Center. Bukirwa, who founded the nonprofit Sarafinah Sickle Cell Society, had been hospitalized for a sickle cell crisis the day before her detention; her brother, Isaac Kabunga, says she has still not consistently received her prescribed medication, with some doses allegedly diluted in water. U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey says her attorney is filing a habeas corpus motion challenging her detention, and notes she has never been charged with any crime. The Grayson County Jailer maintains she is receiving all prescribed medications, while advocates continue to raise concerns about medical care in immigration detention.