Human Impact Project

Orlando L., a 40-year-old Honduran man with high blood pressure requiring Losartan twice daily and regular cardiologist visits, experienced repeated medication delays and denials at Camp East Montana. Despite staff knowing his conditions, medications were not given during initial processing. He experienced high blood pressure episodes, bodily tremors, and weakness. Staff attributed symptoms to stress and sent him to a psychologist instead of treating his physical condition. He signed up for medical care eight consecutive days without receiving it. When he requested testing by a cardiologist, staff told him all they could do was 'maintain him in a stable condition until his deportation.'

Pauline Nadege Binam, 36, a Cameroonian woman who came to the U.S. at age 2 and identifies as queer, remains held at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, as of August 2026. Advocates Noël Heatherland and Timoria McQueen Saba recently visited her through a glass partition for about 40 minutes, describing her as exhausted but hopeful, and noting she has found some solace reading nearly a book a day and bonding with other detainees, including another Cameroonian woman. She remains separated from her 17-year-old U.S. citizen daughter and continues to fear seeking medical care after a doctor removed one of her fallopian tubes during an earlier detention at Irwin County Detention Center without her consent. Her attorney is pursuing a U visa tied to her cooperation with authorities after surviving domestic violence and may seek to reopen her removal case based on fears of persecution if returned to Cameroon.

A 32-year-old Turkish man was detained and transferred to ICE custody while working as a driver, before he could receive follow-up medical care despite blood tests indicating he needed prompt treatment. He has rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic autoimmune disease causing intense pain in his neck and ankles. His family attempted to deliver medication to Otay Mesa but was turned away. His sister, brother-in-law, cousin, uncle and a family friend submitted court declarations supporting his release and attesting to his community standing. A judge granted his habeas corpus petition and ordered a bond hearing within seven days, considering his documented medical conditions.

Diana Sanchez Ledezma, a Stockton-area DJ known as DJ Reina Azteca with pending asylum and U-visa applications, was detained by ICE officers at a check-in appointment on December 18, 2025, despite being enrolled in the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program and requesting deportation herself. During processing at Otay Mesa Detention Center, she initially refused a medical screening and pregnancy test out of fear, having heard accounts of forced abortions and hysterectomies in detention, and was held unclothed in a cold cell before relenting. Over nearly four months in custody, she witnessed medical emergencies including strokes and fainting, reported inadequate care and poor food, and faced retaliation from guards after filing grievances; she also lost her deactivated DJ account and entire music library. A federal judge ruled in her favor in April 2026, finding ICE lacked authority to detain her, and she was released, though she has struggled to rebuild her music career while awaiting the return of her identification documents.

Alma Bowman, a 59-year-old Macon resident, was detained by ICE on March 26, 2025, during a routine check-in and held at Stewart Detention Center for 243 days until her release in late November 2025. Bowman claims U.S. citizenship as the daughter of an American Navy serviceman and was born in the Philippines. ICE asserted she was in the country illegally. This was her second detention; she had previously been held for three years (2017-2020) at Irwin County Detention Center following criminal convictions deemed deportable offenses. During her detention, Bowman reported inadequate medical care and overcrowded conditions. Her attorney argued the prolonged detainment violated her constitutional rights, and her citizenship status remained legally disputed throughout her custody.

Vicente Ventura Aguilar has been missing for over 45 days after suffering a medical emergency while in ICE custody in South Los Angeles. He and a friend were taken by masked agents, and his friend, who was deported to Mexico, last saw him fainting in ICE custody. Despite searches of hospitals, morgues, and government agencies, and DHS reporting no records of him, his whereabouts remain unknown.

Two U.S. citizens, Aliya Rahman and Marimar Martinez, testified before Congress about their experiences being apprehended by ICE. Rahman, who is disabled, was forcibly removed from her car while en route to a medical appointment in Minneapolis and denied medical care in detention. Martinez was shot five times by ICE agents in Chicago while attempting to warn neighbors about ICE presence in the area.

Britania Uriostegui Rios, a Mexican transgender woman who entered the U.S. in 2003, was deported to Mexico on November 11, 2024, despite a federal judge's March order blocking her removal based on findings that she faced a substantial risk of torture. Uriostegui Rios is a trauma survivor who was sexually trafficked by cartels as a young person and faces significant threats in Mexico due to her transgender identity. She was deported without medications, identification, money, or a cell phone and went into hiding in Tijuana. ICE and Department of Justice officials acknowledged the deportation violated the immigration judge's order and was improper. The Trump administration offered to allow her to voluntarily return to the U.S., where she would be placed back in ICE custody while the government seeks an alternative country for deportation. Her legal team filed suit to prevent her return to federal custody and to secure her release under supervision, arguing the government cannot be trusted to follow court orders.

Twenty-five Virginia and national organizations have called for the closure of Farmville Detention Center, a privately operated ICE facility, citing pepper spray misuse, medical neglect, withheld medication, improper solitary confinement and food contamination. Rep. Don Beyer, after an August 8 oversight visit, wrote to new facility owner CoreCivic detailing overwhelmed medical staff, unclear staffing numbers and detainees waiting days for basic medical requests, including a case his office had to personally intervene in to secure medication access. CoreCivic, which completed its purchase of the facility in July, said it is working with ICE to respond to Beyer's letter and affirmed that detainee health and safety remain a top priority.

On November 14, 2025, ICE agents detained Wilmer Toledo-Martinez, a 28-year-old Vancouver resident married to a U.S. citizen with three American-born children. One agent posed as a construction worker to lure Toledo-Martinez outside his home, after which another agent released a dog that attacked him on the arms and torso. Toledo-Martinez was hospitalized and received stitches for his injuries. He was denied medical care while in federal immigration detention at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma. Senator Patty Murray condemned the use of force, noting that Toledo-Martinez did not resist arrest or attempt to flee.

Yuri Alexander Roque Campos, a 30-year-old detainee with a life-threatening heart condition, was transferred from Mesa Verde to California City ICE Detention Facility on September 5th, 2025. He was denied his heart medications before even seeing an intake nurse and did not receive aspirin for five days. As a result, he suffered a "pre-heart attack" and was rushed to the emergency room twice during his first two days with extreme chest pain and paralysis, losing consciousness during the first trip. When he returned to the facility, his medical records and the ER doctor's letter were confiscated. He was placed in an isolated observation cell for eight days with sporadic medication and did not see a doctor for over a month. Medical expert review concluded his treatment put him "at significant risk for sudden cardiac death."

Nine employees at Allston Car Wash in Boston—Hector Valladares, Felicita Valladares, Vanessa Vasquez Valladares, Clarisa Aguilon, Heidy Aguilon, Yuli Magali Mendez Luarca, Pablo Oseas Lopez, Dairo Preciado, and Jose P. Enriquez Sagastume—were detained by more than 22 ICE agents on November 4, 2025. All nine workers held valid work permits at the time of their arrest. According to business manager Jose Barrera, agents arrived with subpoenas and detained the workers before allowing them to retrieve their work permits from their lockers. Attorney Todd Pomerleau reported that detainees held at ICE's Boston field office in Burlington experienced mistreatment, including being denied food and shower access for several days, and that one detainee was allegedly transferred to Texas in violation of a court order. Seven of the detained workers subsequently filed a federal tort claim through Boston Lawyers for Civil Rights alleging unlawful arrest, racial profiling based on their Latino and Spanish-speaking status, and mistreatment in custody including shackling, transport to multiple detention facilities, and denial of access to phones, legal counsel, and medications. The complaint seeks $1 million in compensation per worker plus legal fees.

A detainee identified as K.U. in court filings alleged he was not receiving proper medical care for numerous life-threatening health conditions while detained at Batavia. An independent physician reviewed his case and expressed extreme concern that he was not receiving the standard of appropriate medical care. A judge ordered his release in August 2025. ICE officials have not yet addressed his medical claims in court.

A Honduran man detained at Batavia was not receiving a prescribed medical cream to treat a skin condition, according to advocates with Justice for Migrant Families who documented his case in July 2025. The man also suffers from chronic pain, and ibuprofen had stopped working. Advocates demanded ICE take him to a specialist and administer different pain medication, but according to the organization's executive director, this has not happened.

An immigrant named Javier experienced severe mobility issues while in ICE detention due to medical neglect. Advocates have called for an end to medical neglect of immigrant detainees.

Julio Vargas, a 66-year-old Guatemalan, was detained by U.S. Border Patrol during an immigration raid at El Corredor Salvadoreño in Los Angeles on Sunday. He is being held at Adelanto Detention Center and has reported breathing problems and cramps due to cold conditions, worsened by his existing health conditions and lack of medication. His family is seeking legal assistance but faces financial and resource barriers.

A 39-year-old Ecuadorian woman who came to the U.S. nearly a decade earlier seeking asylum was detained by ICE in November after attending regular ICE check-ins every six months since 2020. Her detention forced her to miss scheduled surgery to remove a uterine myoma, and she struggled to obtain medical care for an infection. The detention also affected her now 9-year-old son who has severe autism and ADHD, causing him emotional distress and affecting his ability to focus at school. Her case was documented in habeas corpus petitions filed to challenge her detention.

Beatriz Pastrana Candela was nearly three months pregnant when ICE agents arrested her at a Tempe hotel in November 2025 and detained her at Eloy Detention Center in Arizona, where medical and corrections staff repeatedly told her she was not pregnant despite her reporting pain. She miscarried in detention and remains held five months later, separated from her three children, including a 14-year-old. Arizona Rep. Adelita Grijalva called her treatment "a shocking failure of basic humanity," and her case is cited in a congressional review by Sen. Jon Ossoff's office documenting inadequate medical care for pregnant people in ICE custody since January 2025.

Hanne Engan, a Norwegian national, was arrested by ICE officers at her green card interview in November 2025 after her student visa expired and detained at Otay Mesa Detention Center for approximately one week. Medical experts told inewsource that the care she received for her Type 1 diabetes was at times substandard and potentially life-threatening. An inewsource investigation of court records and interviews with 10 former detainees identified dozens of migrants who described chronic conditions, deteriorating health, or inadequate care at the facility.

A Mexican mother of a 10-month-old was arrested by ICE agents while driving her taxi near O'Hare International Airport and detained at the Broadview facility. She lacked access to a lactation room to pump breast milk for her daughter. A federal judge ordered her release on October 31, the day after her habeas case was filed.