Human Impact Project

Roger Moisés Flores Oviedo, 19, a construction worker with no criminal record and a pending asylum application, was detained by ICE agents on Saturday as he left a gas station in Pompano Beach after buying lunch. He was placed in a van and taken to the Miramar ICE facility, where he was held in a room with 50 other men sitting on the floor with their hands behind their backs, given only one bottle of water a day and a piece of bread with peanut butter. He remained there until Tuesday, when he was transferred to the Krome detention center, where his wife Koren Noblig reports he was able to shower, sleep in a bed, and communicate with her.

Joel, a 25-year-old landscaper and father of a 10-month-old U.S. citizen daughter, was detained by ICE in an unmarked vehicle stop while en route to work. He was held for five days in an unapproved Baltimore detention facility where he reports being denied food and water and forced to sleep on the floor. He was subsequently transferred through Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and back to Pennsylvania before being deported to Guatemala without opportunity to say goodbye to his daughter, leaving his 22-year-old partner and infant child without income or support.

Mutasim Ibrahim Abdoulrahman Nour, a Sudanese citizen, has been in ICE custody for 23 months without receiving a hearing to argue for temporary release on bond. He was apprehended upon entering the U.S. on July 7, 2024, initially held in Minnesota, then transferred to Muscatine County Jail in December 2025. A federal judge has ordered the government to explain the prolonged detention. Nour's lawsuit seeks his immediate release and a court order preventing his transfer outside Iowa while his CAT asylum case is pending.

Dimitri Albert Edouard Vorbe, a 52-year-old Haitian businessman who owned one of Haiti's largest electric power providers, entered the U.S. legally with a valid visa in January 2020. He was arrested by federal agents on September 23, 2025, at his South Miami home and detained at Krome Detention Center. Secretary of State Marco Rubio invoked a rarely used foreign policy authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to target Vorbe for deportation, claiming he engaged in violence and gang support that destabilized Haiti—allegations Vorbe's lawyers deny. On May 12, 2026, U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles approved a negotiated agreement prohibiting Vorbe's deportation to Haiti and directing his transfer to the Dominican Republic within seven days, though Dominican authorities stated they would not allow his entry. On June 22, 2026, Vorbe was transferred to a detention facility in Mississippi as part of an emergency evacuation due to brush fires. His attorneys contend this transfer violated the federal court order prohibiting his removal from the Southern District of Florida, noting he was moved out of state without notice despite the judicial prohibition.

Jorge Mata Campos, a 51-year-old Costa Rican man from Hatillo, San José, lived in the United States for 18 years, working in construction, buying a home, marrying, and raising a 16-year-old U.S. citizen son. On June 21, 2026, ICE agents detained him at his residence in Nashville, Tennessee, following a 911 call that led to confusion, after he had voluntarily gone to an ICE office to try to resolve his immigration status; he was then transferred to the Richwood Correctional Center in Louisiana, where he shares space with about 120 other men awaiting deportation. Mata, who says he held a U Visa and was in the process of applying for legal permanent residency, reported losing nearly 15 kilos over three months due to poor food, broken air conditioning, and unsanitary bathroom conditions, and said he has been unable to get his prescribed medication for injuries from a prior car accident that left him with metal plates in his hip, leg and foot. He agreed to waive his appeal and accept deportation to Costa Rica, but still has no departure date, saying immigration authorities reportedly lost his case documents while his lawyer continues trying to resolve his situation.

Franklin Humberto Coral-Garrido, a Colombian activist and lawyer aligned with President Gustavo Petro, was detained by ICE on June 16-17, 2026, in Phoenix, Arizona while walking with his 12-year-old son. Coral entered the U.S. in December 2015 on a B1/B2 tourist visa valid for six months but remained in the country for approximately ten years. Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed a memorandum authorizing his detention and deportation, citing his political activities supporting Petro and opposition to right-wing presidential candidate Abelardo De la Espriella as harmful to U.S. foreign policy interests. Colombian President Petro accused the U.S. of political persecution timed to interfere in Colombia's June 21 presidential runoff election and demanded clarification from the Trump administration. Coral had filed an asylum application in 2016 and held work authorization through 2028 granted by a federal judge, but authorities allegedly informed him the authorization was being canceled. He has been transferred between detention facilities in Phoenix, El Paso, and Louisiana pending formal deportation proceedings.

Katsiaryna Bartko, a 33-year-old Belarusian thyroid cancer survivor, has been held by ICE since early June 2026, most recently at the CoreCivic-run Midwest Regional Reception Center in Leavenworth, Kansas. She requires daily hormone medication and calcium supplements for permanent hypoparathyroidism and chronic hypocalcemia following cancer surgery, but her partner, Dmitry Shyshov, says she was initially denied her prescribed medications despite intake records documenting her needs. She was hospitalized three times in four days, once in acute distress requiring intravenous calcium, and lab records showed her thyroid-stimulating hormone soaring to over 31 times normal. A Harvard endocrinologist and an independent physician with Physicians for Human Rights both warned her continued detention is medically unsafe, risking organ failure, coma, or death. Bartko entered the U.S. legally on an F-1 student visa in March 2022 and filed for asylum in 2023, citing persecution over her pro-democracy activism and opposition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine; she was detained in Florida after local domestic battery charges against her were dropped and has never been convicted of a crime. She was placed in solitary isolation days before a federal court hearing, and a judge has ordered the government to bring her to a Kansas City courthouse to hear her petition for release.

A 10-year-old girl, Nayeli Gomez, protested outside Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, where her diabetic father has been detained for nearly a year. During her birthday visit, she was denied family visitation by ICE agents. The girl fainted and sustained injuries outside the facility during a confrontation in which a female guard cursed at and insulted her. Her visit occurred amid ongoing labor and hunger strikes by detainees protesting inhumane conditions, including rotten food, lack of medical care, and poor sanitation. Activists expressed concern that a large influx of federal immigration officers entering the facility may signal transfers of detainees to disrupt organizing efforts.

Tuan Phan, a 44-year-old Vietnamese national, was deported to South Sudan in July 2025 by the Trump administration under a third-country deportation program. Phan had immigrated to the U.S. as a child, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2000 for a gang-related killing, and was taken into ICE custody upon completing his sentence in March 2025. A federal judge initially blocked his deportation, but the Supreme Court later approved it. Phan was held in a gated, armed compound in Juba for over a year alongside seven other men with criminal convictions. He was repatriated to Vietnam on June 19, 2026, becoming the second person from the group to be returned to his home country.

Orolua Eluonyechie, a Nigerian national, has been held in immigration detention for over two years, initially detained in Atlanta in April 2024 and later transferred to Allen Parish in southwest Louisiana. While detained, he has been injured by guards and placed in solitary confinement. He filed a federal habeas petition seeking release or deportation but remains waiting for judicial action as federal courts in Louisiana become overwhelmed with habeas petitions from detainees held in prolonged detention.

Daniel, a man with severe intellectual disabilities (IQ of 47) and limited English proficiency, was arrested by ICE agents on June 17, 2025, while collecting recyclables in his east Los Angeles neighborhood. Under the conservatorship of his siblings for decades, Daniel understood Spanish but struggled with English and could not cope with loud noises or routine disruptions. Despite his inability to understand removal proceedings or consent documents presented in English, and without involvement of his conservator or judicial review, he was deported to Mexico under claimed voluntary departure. His nephew Christopher, a U.S. citizen, launched an extensive search using ICE's online tracker and contacted federal authorities, eventually working with legal aid group ImmDef to locate Daniel at Adelanto detention center. Daniel ended up in a hospital in Tijuana with no awareness his family was searching for him. After more than nine months, lawyers secured his parole and return to the U.S. A federal judge subsequently issued a temporary restraining order blocking ICE from detaining him if he returns, ruling that his deportation raised serious due process concerns.

All detainees at the South Florida Detention Center, a facility in Florida's Everglades known as "Alligator Alcatraz" that opened in July 2025, were transferred to other facilities in mid-June 2026. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security cited hurricane season safety concerns as the reason for the transfers. However, immigration advocates and lawyers dispute this explanation, noting the facility operated throughout the previous hurricane season without prior closures. Approximately 800 detainees have been transferred, with families and legal representatives reporting difficulty locating them and unclear information about their current status. The facility had faced persistent criticism and lawsuits over poor conditions, including worms in food, non-functioning toilets, flooding, denial of medical care, solitary confinement, and inadequate legal access.

An older Russian man who crossed at a port of entry and requested asylum in August 2024 was hospitalized days later for stroke-like symptoms while detained at Otay Mesa. He was cuffed to his hospital bed despite half his body being paralyzed, and upon return to detention received no mobility support until other detainees filed grievance reports on his behalf. He continued to lose consciousness regularly and was eventually released on parole in February 2025 after six months in detention.

A 39-year-old Russian man held at Otay Mesa Detention Center for 17 months filed multiple grievance reports documenting severe sanitary conditions, including only two working urinals and one sink for over 100 detainees, which led to an outbreak of eye infections. He also filed grievance reports on behalf of other detainees, including an older man who needed mobility support after a stroke. He was released in 2026 after exhausting oversight channels that were subsequently gutted under the Trump administration.

A 22-year-old woman was detained by police in Hamilton, Tennessee, who then contacted ICE, leading to her transfer into immigration custody. She was moved to a jail in Etowah County, Alabama, before being transferred to a facility in Louisiana after three days. Her girlfriend, who organized a fundraiser to cover legal and bond costs, described her as hardworking, cheerful, and always willing to help others; she also cares for her 14-year-old brother.

Hanne Engan, a 24-year-old Norwegian citizen applying for a green card through her U.S. citizen husband, was arrested by ICE agents on November 17, 2025, during a green card interview at a San Diego facility and held at Otay Mesa Detention Center for eight to nine days. Despite her Type 1 diabetes diagnosis, ICE confiscated her insulin and continuous glucose monitor, misclassified her condition in detention records, and denied her mealtime insulin despite repeated requests, resulting in dangerously elevated blood sugar levels (508 mg/dL), weight loss, infections, and suicidal ideation. She was placed in solitary confinement for five days. A federal judge found no flight risk, ordered her release on a $1,500 bond after nine days, and later terminated her deportation case after ruling ICE lacked jurisdiction to detain her.

Kyon Shakeel Swaso, a 35-year-old Belizean immigrant detained at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, organized a hunger strike to protest conditions at the facility. After speaking with members of Congress about inhumane conditions at Adelanto, Swaso was transferred to facilities in Texas and Louisiana without notice, then deported to Belize. Immigrant rights groups and advocates alleged the deportation was retaliatory action by the Department of Homeland Security in response to his activism and congressional testimony.

José Pineda, originally from El Salvador with Temporary Protected Status and over 30 years in the U.S., was detained by ICE agents while working his construction job despite having no criminal record and a valid work permit. He was held in Burlington's ICE office for two days and slept on the floor of a cell with at least 50 other people. ICE agents told him that only people born in the U.S. have rights and that his work permit did not matter. After two days of public pressure and advocacy by Centro Presente, Pineda was released, but his family remains fearful of going out in public.

Gabriela Soto's husband has been detained at Delaney Hall ICE facility in Newark since January. Soto and her children have been repeatedly denied visits more than 10 times due to alleged dress code violations, including rejection of her 11-month-old's onesie and her 4-year-old's leggings as 'provocative.' The facility has also faced scrutiny for unsanitary conditions and tuberculosis control issues, with mass protests erupting outside and detainees reportedly participating in a hunger strike.

Yoelí Altagracia Bracho Casanova, a 26-year-old Venezuelan, was arrested by ICE during an immigration appointment in Jacksonville on June 13 and detained alongside her 20-month-old U.S. citizen daughter, Rebeca Peña Bracho. Despite an approved I-130 family petition and legal documents prepared by her attorney—including a stay of removal request, a cancellation of removal application, and a permanent residency petition—ICE transferred both to a detention center in Texas and deported them to Venezuela within hours. Her husband, a Cuban-American U.S. citizen, stated that ICE refused to accept the legal documents when presented at the appointment, and transferred them out of state at approximately 2 a.m., preventing the attorney from filing additional documents the following day.