Human Impact Project

Maisa Lopes Eliaser, a 32-year-old Brazilian national married to Fort Polk Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo, was detained by ICE on July 8, 2026, after missing an immigration appointment and overstaying a tourist visa she had used to enter the U.S. in 2019. She spent more than a month held at the ICE processing center in Basile, Louisiana, separated from the couple's five-year-old son. On August 14, she was placed on a deportation flight to Brazil, but after a stop in Bogotá, Colombia, ICE officers received a call and gave her the choice to return to the U.S., which she took, and she was released from custody. Eliaser said she struggled to sleep and felt dehumanized by the detention experience. Following media coverage and a Congressional inquiry into deportations of military family members, she has a new immigration appointment to reopen her case and pursue her green card application, while the family's appeal remains pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Ledgar Ramses Delgado-Reyes, a 25-year-old Venezuelan man who entered the U.S. seeking asylum in 2023 and was granted work authorization, was reunited with his wife, Madeline Ramos-Delgado, in Las Cruces after posting a $14,000 bond following nearly a year in immigration detention. Reyes said he was called in to sign paperwork correcting an address discrepancy and was told it would be quick, but was instead detained by ICE officers. His attorney said an immigration judge found he had no criminal history, was not a flight risk given his U.S. citizen wife had relocated to be near him, and had a possibility of success in his pending asylum claim. His family raised the bond money through a GoFundMe campaign.

Blerim Skoro, a 55-year-old Kosovo-born cab driver from Staten Island with an American wife and three children, was detained by ICE agents on August 3 while checking in at an immigration office in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Skoro says he spent years working as a confidential informant for U.S. intelligence agencies, infiltrating al-Qaeda training camps in Pakistan and helping secure convictions of members of al Qaeda, al Shabaab and Hezbollah. In November 2022 a federal judge granted him deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture after finding he faced risk of torture and death if returned to Kosovo. His wife, Susan Skoro, said he was taken away after checking in at the front desk, and his former attorney and his taxi union's executive director described him as having led a law-abiding life and performed courageous work for the United States. His attorney, Joshua Dratel, filed a habeas corpus petition arguing ICE detained him without first seeking required judicial permission, and the case has proceeded through expedited briefing in federal court.

Fidel, a Guatemalan immigrant working toward U.S. citizenship, was taken into ICE custody Monday morning while driving to work in Stamford, Connecticut. His wife, Olga Guerra, a U.S. citizen, found his car abandoned in the street after friends alerted her that he was seen talking with agents. He was later able to call her from a detention facility in Colorado, expressing worry for their three children. Guerra described him as "a nice husband, a great dad" and "a very hardworking person" who always cares about his family, and has secured legal representation for him.

Cristy Maryori Villafranca Trejo, 29, wife of active-duty Army Sgt. Hedár Leonel Turcios Juárez at Fort Bliss, was detained by ICE agents on July 11 outside an El Paso-area Walmart as their 6-year-old U.S. citizen daughter watched masked agents handcuff her. She fled Honduras in 2016 and received a 2017 removal order after missing a court hearing she says she was never notified of; she had no criminal record and served as the family's primary caregiver, including during her husband's nine-month deployment. She was held at Camp East Montana on Fort Bliss, where she and her husband reported an infection, unsanitary conditions and dirty clothing, consistent with a Human Rights Watch report citing excessive force and medical neglect at the facility. Despite a pending Board of Immigration Appeals case and military parole-in-place application, she was deported to Honduras on August 24. Turcios, a naturalized U.S. citizen since 2024, said, "She has been my everything... I'm just asking for my family to be together so I can continue with my military career," and has continued his duties while arranging child care alone and paying for private legal representation. Rep. Veronica Escobar opened a congressional inquiry and visited her in detention, saying her heart "breaks for her, her children and the soldier who must feel so betrayed by the country he is sacrificing for." She is at least the seventh spouse or parent of an active-duty service member deported under the administration's immigration crackdown, according to an Associated Press tally.

Heriberto 'Eddie' Reyes-Ochoa, a 34-year-old marine construction worker who came to the U.S. from Minatitlán, Veracruz, Mexico as an unaccompanied 14-year-old and has lived in the country for 20 years, was detained after a minor traffic accident near Kiln, Mississippi. A Mississippi Highway Patrol trooper cited him for following too closely and driving without a license, then informed him of an immigration warrant and determined he lacked legal status; he was taken to Hancock County jail before ICE took custody and transferred him to Adams County Correctional Center in Natchez. Reyes-Ochoa had been in the final stages of obtaining a green card through consular processing and was awaiting a visa interview when detained. He has been married for over a decade to U.S. citizen Catherine Cool, who is pregnant with their first child due in January. DHS initially claimed he had been charged with felony hit and run, a claim Hancock County officials disputed. His wife and attorneys are pursuing a habeas corpus petition seeking his release on bond.

Carlos Tellez Sanchez, a 35-year-old Venezuelan man who fled to Dallas, Texas in 2021, worked days at a car dealership and nights delivering for Uber Eats to support his family. He held a 2021 Withholding of Removal order protecting him from deportation to Venezuela and had no criminal record beyond civil immigration violations, but was detained by ICE in December 2025 during what he believed was a routine check-in appointment. After nearly eight months in detention, he was flown in handcuffs to Liberia on August 20, 2026, along with 19 other deportees, nearly 6,000 miles from his wife and newborn U.S. citizen son, whom he has only seen via video calls since the boy's birth. His brother, Juan Tellez, described him as 'a good person and hard worker' who 'doesn't deserve what happened to him.' He said returning to Venezuela is not an option because he fears for his safety there, and he is now staying at a hotel in Liberia while deciding whether to seek asylum there or travel elsewhere.

Carlos Rodríguez López, a 35-year-old Cuban man who lived in Miami Gardens after 16 months in ICE detention, was placed on an August 20 deportation flight to Liberia under a U.S.-Liberia removal agreement. He and other detainees refused to disembark, arguing Liberia was not their country and would endanger them; Liberian authorities also refused to accept them. Instead of returning to the U.S. as expected, the plane was diverted to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, where Rodríguez López and roughly 40 other deportees were met by masked police, searched, and taken to a hotel without passports or legal assistance. His wife, Igrayne Ribot Hernández, a U.S. citizen who runs a family business in Miami Gardens and has a nine-year-old daughter with him, said he had rebuilt his life after serving an 11-month sentence for a prior conviction and called the deportation to a country with no ties to him unlawful and inhumane. A habeas corpus petition filed in November 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana remains unresolved, and Rodríguez López told Univision by video call that he considers the diversion an illegal deportation.

Daniel Fúnez, a Honduran roofer who had lived in the United States for 15 years, was deported and arrived at the Ramón Villeda Morales airport in La Lima, Honduras on August 19, 2026. Fúnez, who moved to the U.S. at age 12 and settled in Hanover, Pennsylvania, said he was linked to a crime committed by a friend and spent five months in a federal prison in Philadelphia before immigration agents took him into custody, moved him to a detention center near Harrisburg, then to Louisiana, and deported him. He left behind his wife, a U.S. citizen daughter of Salvadoran immigrants who was eight months pregnant at the time of his deportation, and said he plans to work in roofing in Honduras while his wife considers joining him there or in El Salvador.

Diana Vera, a 27-year-old Ecuadorian woman, was detained by ICE agents on August 6 at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport while traveling with her husband, a U.S. citizen, to celebrate his birthday. According to her mother, Mercedes Espinoza, agents approached Vera by name and detained her, citing an existing deportation order, despite the couple presenting their marriage certificate and evidence of an ongoing process to regularize her status after she entered the U.S. legally on a visa. The Department of Homeland Security told CNN it has intensified screening at airports using data from the Transportation Security Administration to prevent people without legal status from taking domestic flights. The family has launched a fundraising campaign to cover legal costs while seeking her release on bail.

Keiber Alexander Esposito Martinez, a Venezuelan asylum seeker who entered the U.S. legally in 2023, was detained by ICE while driving to or from his job in Buffalo. Over three years he rose from dishwasher to sous chef at Casa Azul restaurant in the Allentown neighborhood, holding legal work authorization and a New York driver's license with no criminal record. Restaurant owner Zina Lapi called him a 'model citizen' and said his detention caused other asylum-seeking employees to quit out of fear. Martinez, who is married to a U.S. citizen, is being held at the federal detention facility in Batavia. His attorney, Matthew Borowski, filed a federal lawsuit seeking his release, saying the family received no explanation for the detention and alleging visibly Latino or Bangladeshi individuals are being targeted.

Marcos Gaspar-Da Silva, a general contractor and former attorney from Brazil living in Bridgton, Maine, was detained by ICE on January 20 after being pulled over in Portland during an enforcement operation. He had a pending asylum case, no criminal record, and a marriage-based green card petition filed by his U.S. citizen wife, Alessia. Over nearly seven months in custody, he was transferred through facilities in Massachusetts, Louisiana and Arizona, where he and his wife described overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and inadequate medical care, including going untreated for a toothache until the tooth was pulled and losing more than 26 pounds. U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree's staff supported Alessia and helped expedite his petition while pressing officials about his medical care. In August, an immigration judge granted him adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident through his wife's petition, and he was released on August 13, reuniting with his wife and 11-year-old daughter, though he described lasting emotional numbness and difficulty eating and sleeping.

Jaime Rodriguez, who has lived in the U.S. for over a decade, was detained by immigration officers at a checkpoint near Fort Polk military base in Louisiana while completing a delivery order with his 3-year-old daughter. His wife, Abigail Rodriguez, a U.S. citizen, said officers accepted her ID but rejected her husband's matrícula consular and asked him to step out of the vehicle before handcuffing him, despite him not driving. Abigail said she overheard an officer say to take her husband because "he's illegal," and was herself told she could be taken as well because she did not appear in their database as a citizen, though she was ultimately allowed to leave with her daughter. Family members describe Jaime as a hardworking father who has never been in trouble, and say his children are heartbroken and want him home.

José, a car wash worker at La Cienega Car Wash in Los Angeles, was detained by ICE agents in August 2025. José's wife is a U.S. citizen, and he had a pathway to citizenship before his detention. After a federal judge ordered his release on bond, the car wash had shut down, leaving José without employment. Rev. Andy Schwiebert of Immanuel Presbyterian Church noted that the enforcement operation destabilized families, congregations, workplaces, and entire communities across the region.

Ángel Muñoz, known on social media as Ángel Muñeco, was detained by ICE on August 6. His wife Blondi, a content creator known for her height, confirmed the detention, saying she did not want to make a video about it but did so for his fans. The couple went viral roughly a year earlier after his marriage proposal, and their wedding was celebrated by thousands of followers online. Blondi says Ángel is legally in the United States and that their marriage is valid, but he now faces an administrative process that could result in deportation.

Mohamed Guezoui, born in Algeria, moved to the U.S. after marrying an American citizen. After his marriage ended, he found community through his friend Staci Tighe, whom he met at karaoke. Tighe was struggling through an illness at the time, and Guezoui visited her daily to offer support before his arrest. While working his shift at King Kabab restaurant in West Virginia, three masked ICE officers arrested him at his workplace. He was eventually deported. His detention marked the beginning of Operation Country Roads, a DHS enforcement sweep that resulted in approximately 600 arrests across West Virginia, primarily relying on local law enforcement cooperation.

Andrey Kalyakin, who entered the United States legally on a J-1 exchange visitor visa more than sixteen years ago and is married to a U.S. citizen, is being held by ICE at the Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana. In a letter, Kalyakin describes his years living in the U.S. and details conditions in detention, stating he has been denied basic medical care and given spoiled milk and brown tap water.

Kaitlyn Tracey, a 33-year-old Canadian citizen, was arrested on July 3, 2026, after allegedly slapping a teenage girl twice on the Point Pleasant Beach boardwalk during Fourth of July weekend. The confrontation occurred after Tracey objected to the girl's sweatpants displaying political slogans and allegedly verbally harassed her about her clothing. Police documented the assault on video. Tracey had entered the U.S. on April 14, 2024, on a tourist visa that expired September 6, 2024, remaining in the country illegally. She was charged with simple assault, endangering the welfare of a child, harassment, and obstruction. On August 4, 2026, a federal immigration judge ordered her deportation to Canada after she pleaded guilty to assault; she received a one-day jail sentence credited to time served. Her husband, Matthew Geroni, a U.S. citizen married to Tracey for over three years, disputed the characterization of events and alleged the arrest was politically motivated, claiming the viral video had been taken out of context. He launched fundraising efforts and social media campaigns to secure her release, raising $4,857 toward a $10,000 goal.

Jorge Luis Eliecer Ruiz, a 36-year-old Venezuelan national, was detained by ICE on August 3, 2026, after being stopped near the intersection of Wiles Road and State Road 7 in Coconut Creek. He is married to Courtney Walter, a U.S. citizen who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The couple married in 2025 and filed an I-130 family-based petition in September 2025 to establish Ruiz's lawful permanent residency. Walter said the stress of her husband's detention has worsened her health, causing her to lose weight and struggle to eat. Ruiz is being held at the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach. His attorney, David Estrella, is pursuing a habeas corpus petition and argues that Ruiz has withholding of removal protection that prevents his return to Venezuela.

Zena Gebrgzabher, a 39-year-old Eritrean truck driver who lived in Maryland, was deported by the Trump administration to the Central African Republic after being arrested during a routine ICE check-in appointment. He had won protection under the Convention Against Torture in 2017 barring his deportation to Eritrea, after fleeing forced military conscription and imprisonment there, but that protection did not prevent officials from sending him to a third country. His wife and 5-year-old son, both U.S. citizens, live in Maryland; his wife, Yrgalem Gehrehiwet, called the deportation "unfair and inhumane" and said their son has been deeply affected by his father's absence. CBS News found no criminal record for Gebrgzabher beyond traffic and immigration violations, and he is now stranded in Bangui without documents.