Human Impact Project

Ubaldo Marquez Calderon, 67, was a longtime De Soto, Kansas resident known for biking around town collecting aluminum cans and feeding stray cats at a trailer park every morning. ICE detained him on September 13 at a Casey's gas station near the local high school and held him at the CoreCivic-run Midwest Regional Reception Center in Leavenworth. His attorney, Chad Sublet, said Calderon signed a voluntary departure document he did not understand, and while detained he developed a urinary tract infection after being denied water. After more than 20 years living in the U.S. with no criminal record, Calderon was removed to Mexico, arriving around September 28. De Soto community members paid for his flight to Jalisco, and neighbors described him as a 'staple in the community,' saying the town feels 'pretty broken' without him.

Carol Williams Black was detained by ICE for roughly seven months as part of a legal dispute over bond hearings for noncitizens with criminal records fighting deportation. His case became moot after he received a final order of removal and permanently left the United States, prompting the Supreme Court to focus its review on a different detainee's case.

D.C., a 62-year-old Dominican citizen who entered the U.S. without authorization, has been held by ICE since September 2025 after completing a state prison sentence tied to a 1998 drug conviction, along with earlier convictions for possessing a forged instrument, a domestic assault, and criminal contempt. A district court ordered that he receive a bond hearing under Second Circuit precedent requiring hearings when mandatory detention becomes 'unreasonably prolonged,' but denied his request for immediate release. The Supreme Court has now agreed to hear the Trump administration's appeal in the case, Genalo v. D.C., to decide whether the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that he poses a flight risk or danger to remain in custody; the case is part of a broader dispute over a July 2025 policy mandating detention for immigrants in deportation proceedings.

Antonio Frometa Ascón, a 63-year-old Cuban immigrant who came to the U.S. in 1994 after being paroled through Guantánamo, has been in ICE custody since Aug. 14, 2025, when Florida Highway Patrol stopped him on his way to work under the state's Operation Tidal Wave crackdown. He was first held at the South Florida Detention Facility, where he alleges a guard's blow left him partially deaf, then transferred to Camp East Montana in El Paso, where he witnessed a detainee's death, and later moved to the ICE El Paso Service Processing Center. Cuba has refused to accept his deportation, and he has refused removal to Mexico as a third country, citing fears of cartel violence and extortion. His first granddaughter was born while he has been detained, and he says he has not been able to meet or hold her. He has filed pro se and attorney-assisted habeas corpus petitions arguing his prolonged detention violates the Supreme Court's Zadvydas v. Davis limits on indefinite confinement, and a federal judge has yet to rule as his health and mental state decline and his family says he has grown depressed awaiting word from his lawyer.

Adwoa, a 21-year-old bisexual woman from Ghana, fled years of violence and ostracism after neighbors accused her family of witchcraft over her sexuality. Despite obtaining a US court guarantee that she would not be deported back to Ghana, she was instead sent to Cameroon earlier this year, where same-sex relations are illegal and punishable by up to five years in prison. She has been held at a government-run detention facility in Cameroon for several months, describing her situation as feeling like "a criminal" and fearing she could be killed if returned to Ghana.

Nathan 'Nate' Samudzi, a delivery driver from Yankton, South Dakota originally from Zimbabwe, was detained by ICE for a second time this year after reporting to the agency's Sioux Falls sub-field office. He was quickly transferred to a detention center and then to Minneapolis for a deportation flight, but a federal judge granted an emergency Temporary Restraining Order about 30 minutes before the flight was scheduled to depart. Samudzi holds a valid work permit, had begun the citizenship process, and had been under strict GPS monitoring since a prior detention in February; his wife, a local schoolteacher, said he complied with every condition. ICE told reporters Samudzi had a conviction for drug possession and distribution, but his attorney said this is false, explaining he has only a misdemeanor marijuana ingestion conviction from age 20 and a separate charge that was dismissed a year later. Judge Jerry Blackwell has ordered ICE cannot remove or transfer Samudzi from the District of Minnesota while his legal team pursues an emergency habeas corpus petition citing fear of persecution if returned to Zimbabwe, a country he has not lived in since age four. He remains held at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Fort Snelling, Minnesota, as family, friends, and South Dakota's congressional delegation seek updates on his case.

Luis Manuel Chavarría-Galeano, a 48-year-old exiled Nicaraguan journalist who hosts the interview program Café con Voz, was detained by ICE agents on September 14, 2026 while working as an Uber/Lyft driver near Orlando to supplement his journalism income. He fled Nicaragua in 2018 after police raided his newsroom and imprisoned colleagues over his reporting critical of Daniel Ortega's government, filing for asylum in the U.S. in June 2019 with a pending case, a valid work permit, and no U.S. criminal record. In 2023, the Ortega-Murillo government stripped him and 93 other journalists, writers, and activists of their citizenship. His wife, Daykel Santamaría, said she received only a brief call before his phone was taken, during which he asked her to contact a lawyer and notify journalists. He was held at Baker Correctional Facility and then Krome North Service Processing Center, where press freedom groups including the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, Nicaraguan opposition members, and U.S. lawmakers such as Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar called for his release. An immigration judge granted him bond on September 23, and he was released on September 26, with a future immigration court hearing scheduled.

Adam Mohamed Abdullah, a 31-year-old Somali auto mechanic and asylum seeker living in St. Paul, was arrested by masked federal agents on December 12, 2025 during 'Operation Metro Surge,' despite holding a work permit, Social Security number, a pending asylum application, and no criminal record beyond two parking tickets, and despite regularly attending ICE check-ins. He was moved through detention facilities in Minnesota, Kentucky and Louisiana over roughly nine months before being transferred to Guantánamo Bay's Camp Six in late August alongside fellow Minnesotans Hassan Abdi Abtidoon and Abdullahi Jamal Abdi. His attorney, Marc Prokosch, said communication with him was limited and possibly not confidential, calling the use of the base a 'political scare tactic,' a characterization Sen. Tina Smith echoed after DHS described the group as having serious criminal histories without presenting evidence specific to Abdullah. Abdullah began a hunger strike over lack of information, after which he said guards beat him and placed him in a freezing solitary cell; while detained, his mother died after authorities denied his request for an international call and voluntary departure to see her. The ACLU sued the federal government over its use of Guantánamo for civil immigration detention, with a hearing set for October 14. Abdullah and the other two men were flown through Kenya and deported to Somalia around September 25, 2026.

Jorge Mata Campos, a 51-year-old Costa Rican national who holds valid U visa status as a crime victim, has built a life in the United States working in construction, buying a house, marrying, and raising a 16-year-old U.S. citizen son. He was arrested at his home in Nashville following confusion over a 911 call, after earlier voluntarily visiting ICE offices to try to resolve his immigration case. He entered detention while still recovering from a car accident that had left him incapacitated for months. For about three months he has been held at the Richwood Correctional Center in Louisiana, where he says poor food and inadequate medical care have caused him to lose nearly 15 kilograms. Speaking with La Nación by video call, Mata described punishments imposed on detainees and said some resort to self-harm, telling the outlet, 'No les importamos' ('They don't care about us'). He has requested voluntary departure but has not received a date, and his attorney continues trying to resolve his case.

Luis Silas, a 58-year-old Mexican national, was detained by ICE agents in February 2026 while shopping for wood near 43rd Avenue and Camelback Road in Phoenix to build a bookcase for his wife. Agents appeared to identify him through his car's license plate, addressed him by name, and threw him to the ground during the arrest, injuring his arm. His son, Isaac Luis-Azamar, witnessed the arrest and intervened after believing an agent was about to strike his father; he was himself arrested and accused of assaulting an ICE officer. Silas was held for three days at ICE's Central Avenue processing facility in Phoenix, where he said he was given only a bean burrito every six hours, allowed to shower once, and had to wait to contact his family.

Bryan Omar Sánchez, a Honduran man who had lived in Colorado for about a decade working as a gardener, truck driver, and pressure-washing business owner, was detained by ICE at his home on May 13 and moved through detention centers in Texas and Arizona. Despite a 2020 Convention Against Torture protection barring his return to Honduras and a pending asylum claim, he was placed on a nearly 22-hour flight to the Central African Republic on July 29 without his consent; one officer reportedly mocked him, asking 'Hey, Honduras, why are you going to Africa?' while Sánchez protested, 'Africa? I can't go to Africa.' Once in Bangui, he described being held in a shelter with restricted movement, facing language barriers and limited access to services, prompting Honduras' National Human Rights Commissioner (Conadeh) to demand urgent consular assistance and verification of his well-being. While detained, Sánchez represented himself in filings with Colorado's federal court, arguing he should not have been removed to a country he had never visited. U.S. District Judge Regina M. Rodríguez ruled that ICE violated his due process rights by giving him no notice or opportunity to challenge the removal, and ordered the government to return him to Colorado and release him without conditions such as GPS monitoring.

Stoyan Stoyanov, who has lived in the U.S. for 10 years while navigating his immigration case, says he was unlawfully arrested by ICE and held in detention for three months. He says he lost 24 pounds and developed health issues after being underfed in the detention center, and fell behind on rent and credit card payments as a result. He has started a GoFundMe to help cover legal fees, overdue bills, and medical costs stemming from his detention.

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order, later followed by a permanent injunction, requiring ICE to improve conditions at its 26 Federal Plaza detention facility in Manhattan. Detainees, including Sergio Alberto Barco Mercado, who filed a complaint after mass arrests at the site, were reportedly held on floors without beds, given only two meals a day, and denied hygiene products and access to legal counsel. The court found that ICE willfully violated prior orders and kept detainees in overcrowded rooms without adequate bedding, hygiene supplies, or proper temperature control. The rulings required ICE to provide sleeping mats, hygiene products, and legal access to those held at the facility.

Ana Sanchez Ortiz's mother, who has lived in the U.S. since age 16 and worked for years at National Beef Packing Co. while regularly checking in with ICE, was detained on Sept. 23, 2026, despite a 2011 citizenship petition filed on her behalf that never resulted in naturalization. Family members could not locate her in the federal detention system for several days, and although her daughter rushed diabetes and blood pressure medication to the local jail, ICE agents reportedly would not give it to her. The family later learned she was being held in California and traveled there to try to help her, according to Sanchez Ortiz, a senior bank branch manager who became a U.S. citizen through DACA after arriving in the country at age 4.

Carlos, a recent graduate of Miami Beach Senior High who was preparing to begin college in finance, was detained by ICE and is being held at a Border Patrol facility. His family says he is being given little food, sleeps on the ground with only a paper blanket in cold conditions, and has suffered a recurrence of pancreatic pain that staff reportedly cannot treat because he is under 21. His brother describes him as hardworking and caring, noting he maintained top grades, played high school football, and enjoys mountain biking and helping others at the gym, and says his mental health is deteriorating in custody. The family is raising funds to hire a lawyer, seek bail, and fight his case before a judge.

Malick, a pseudonym for a Senegalese man who fled to the US in 2023, had a work permit and legal protection against deportation to his home country, but was placed on a third-country deportation flight to Ghana. He was held at a remote military camp with little electricity or communication, alongside Rabbiatu Kuyateh, a 58-year-old nurse who fled Sierra Leone's civil war and had lived in the Washington, D.C. area for 30 years. Kuyateh was detained by ICE during a routine check-in in July 2025, and despite a judge ruling she could not be deported to Sierra Leone due to past torture there, her attorney says the government pursued sending her to a third country without a hearing. She was flown to Ghana in shackles on a 10-hour flight, and Malick filmed her being forcibly dragged into a van by people believed to work for Ghana's government when she resisted being put on a bus to Sierra Leone. After the footage spread online, Ghanaian troops arrived at the camp at night with trucks of soldiers. Kuyateh's son, Mohamed Alghali, said he has not seen her since the July check-in.

Carlos Josué Marchena-Marchena, a 36-year-old Costa Rican father of four who worked as a ride-service driver, was found unresponsive on September 18, 2026 at Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, Louisiana, and pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. He had Type 1 diabetes and had been detained since January, transferred between facilities in Michigan, California, and Louisiana; his cousin said his care was adequate in Michigan but worsened after later transfers, though his sister said his decline began in Michigan after he was placed in a security cell following an argument with another detainee. His sister, girlfriend, and a fellow detainee said he repeatedly complained of missed insulin shots, inadequate food and water, and worsening symptoms including chest pain, vomiting, chills, and stomach pain, with his girlfriend saying he called around midnight the night before his death saying his medication wasn't helping. An immigration judge ordered his removal on July 29, 2026, and he had requested bail and voluntary deportation to Costa Rica, both denied. ICE said he received appropriate medical care, while a fellow detainee said he received only irregular insulin shots and a single pill for his symptoms. His death is the third reported at the Louisiana facility since April 2026, following a DHS Inspector General report finding violations in medical care, food service, and use of force, and at least the 58th ICE detainee death nationwide since January 2025. A GoFundMe was launched to return his body to Costa Rica while his family awaits autopsy results.

Tomas Pacajoj Lastor, known as "the mechanic," was detained by ICE on September 22, 2026, around 7:35 a.m. while driving his young son to school. His daughter Baudelia searched for him through multiple phone calls as he was transferred between detention facilities before she confirmed his location and safety. He has not yet been given a court date and is working with an attorney, while his family describes him as a hardworking provider and devoted father who regularly helped neighbors in need. His detention has left the family struggling financially, as his daughter postponed her college plans at Emporia State University to help care for her nine-year-old sibling and support her mother, who has ongoing health issues.

Christina Pérez, a DACA recipient who has lived in the United States for 37 years, was detained by ICE on February 22 while walking to her car, in the midst of renewing her deferred action protection. She was transferred first to a facility in Broadview, Illinois, and later to a jail in Kentucky, where she was held alongside both immigration detainees and people facing criminal charges. When she was detained her son was 10 months old, and after seven months in custody he did not recognize her when she returned home. Pérez was eventually released after filing Form 42B, an application for cancellation of removal and adjustment of status, and said she wants other families in similar situations not to give up and to seek legal counsel quickly.

Jorge (a pseudonym), a Guatemalan man who fled gang extortion threats and joined family in San Diego, was arrested by ICE during a raid on his construction worksite after working there for five months. He spent three months in detention, much of it in frigid holding cells where he slept on bare concrete with only a foil sheet, and developed bronchitis after officers allegedly made cells colder in retaliation for complaints; staff denied him hospital care. He said he signed English-language deportation papers he could not read after being threatened with years in federal detention, later learning the signing carried a 10-year reentry bar, and described being shackled during his deportation flight to Guatemala.