Human Impact Project

Arnoldo Bazan, a 16-year-old U.S. citizen and student at Alief Hastings High School in Houston, was beaten and choked by masked ICE agents on October 23, 2025, when they stopped his father, Arnulfo Bazan Carrillo, during a drive to school near Gessner Road and Beechnut Street. Bystander video showed agents restraining Arnoldo with an arm around his neck while he told them he was a minor and a citizen; he was also subjected to racial slurs and later treated for bruises and welts consistent with choking. He was held for several hours before ICE confirmed his citizenship and released him. His father, an immigrant from Michoacán with a prior deportation and a misdemeanor DWI conviction, was arrested and, according to immigrant rights group FIEL, intimidated into signing a voluntary departure before being deported to Reynosa, Mexico. ICE disputed the abuse allegations, claiming Arnoldo elbowed an agent and that Arnulfo rammed a federal vehicle and fled. Arnoldo later testified before Congress about the incident.

Eledoro Valenzuela Rodríguez, an undocumented Cuban immigrant, was taken into ICE custody on March 24, 2026, from Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami-Dade. Rodríguez has a final deportation order issued in 1980 that had never been executed and an extensive criminal history spanning over four decades across multiple states, including prior residence in New York and Maryland. He faced outstanding charges in Miami for cocaine possession with intent to sell, firearm possession by a convicted felon, and breaking and entering. ICE stated it plans to ensure his swift deportation.

Abel Ortiz, an undocumented immigrant who arrived in Los Angeles as an infant and spent 38 years building a life there, self-deported to Mexico City in August 2025 under pressure from Trump administration immigration enforcement policies. Though Mexican-born, Ortiz identified as American and had established a hair salon business and community ties in LA. Seven months after his departure, he works as a hair stylist in Mexico City but struggles with displacement, grief over leaving his life and friends behind, and identity questions as he adapts to a country where he spent only nine months of his life and speaks Spanish only haltingly.

A 10-year-old U.S. citizen girl recovering from brain cancer was deported to Mexico along with her undocumented parents and four American-born siblings in February 2025. The family was detained at an immigration checkpoint while traveling from Rio Grande City to Houston for the child's emergency medical checkup. The girl, who had undergone surgery to remove a brain tumor, has been unable to continue her specialized medical treatment and rehabilitation in Mexico. An 11-year-old U.S. citizen recovering from brain cancer was deported to Mexico with her family by Border Patrol agents despite her documented citizenship and need for ongoing medical treatment. The family was traveling to Houston for emergency care when agents ignored a hospital letter the family had used previously at checkpoints and detained the family, deporting them the next day. The citizen child's 18-year-old brother, Fernando Hernández García, was not detained and remained in the U.S. to earn money and send medicine to his sister. The family's lawyers report they have been unable to access proper medical care in Mexico and have applied for humanitarian parole.

Angelina Lopez-Jimenez and her daughter Wendy Godinez-Jimenez were detained by plainclothes ICE officers at San Francisco International Airport on the night of March 22, 2026, as the mother was being escorted to an outbound flight. Video shows the girl crying as officers detained her mother, who was later taken through the airport in a wheelchair; a bystander who filmed the scene said officers would not identify themselves when asked. DHS said Lopez-Jimenez had an outstanding 2019 removal order, resisted officers during the arrest, and that the family was being repatriated to Guatemala. SFO said it was not notified in advance, called the incident isolated, and said airport operations were not disrupted, while local officials have voiced criticism of the detention.

Heidy Sánchez, a 44-year-old Cuban immigrant and home health aide who arrived in the U.S. in 2019, was detained by ICE on April 22, 2025, during what she believed was a routine check-in appointment at the Tampa office while nursing her one-year-old daughter, a U.S. citizen born prematurely with seizures. She was handcuffed and separated from her child as her husband, Carlos Yuniel Valle, a U.S. citizen who owns a landscaping company, heard her screaming. Two days later, Sánchez was deported to Cuba on a flight with 81 other migrants, arriving without a passport, identification, or documentation explaining her removal. She had no criminal record, held a social security card and driver's license, paid taxes, and was complying with her ICE supervision order. Her daughter, distressed by the separation, refused to eat. From Cuba, Sánchez has recorded tearful video pleas to President Trump and searches for internet access up to ten times daily to video call her daughter. U.S. Representatives María Elvira Salazar and Kathy Castor have called for her reunification, with Castor filing a humanitarian parole request. DHS disputed her account, claiming she was offered the choice to take her child or place her with a relative. Eight months later, Sánchez remains separated from her daughter and husband.

Following President Trump's mass deportation campaign, federal agents have conducted large-scale immigration enforcement crackdowns across multiple U.S. cities, including a five-week operation in New Orleans, resulting in hundreds of thousands of arrests and deportations. Companion animals including dogs, cats, bunnies, and chickens have been left behind by deported families, overwhelming pet rescue organizations and animal control agencies. In New Orleans East, residents Luis and Nivia Burke have taken in a growing number of stray and abandoned pets, including a dog named Rocky whose owner left him behind when he returned to Honduras after growing fearful of detention. The Louisiana SPCA, which handles animal control for the city, reported the number of surrendered animals in 2025 was nearly double that of previous years, a rise attributed to both immigration arrests and families sheltering in place out of fear of deportation.

On March 22 at San Francisco International Airport Terminal 3, TSA agents alerted ICE to the presence of Angelina Lopez Jimenez and her daughter, who had removal orders issued in 2019. ICE agents detained the pair as they prepared to board a flight to Miami. Multiple airport employees and passengers called 911, unaware of the immigration enforcement action. Lopez Jimenez and her daughter were subsequently deported to Guatemala.

Amanda Ungaro, a 41-year-old Brazilian former model who had lived in the U.S. for over two decades, was arrested in June 2025 on fraud charges tied to unlicensed cosmetic procedures at a Florida wellness center. She was held for roughly three and a half months at ICE facilities in Miami and Louisiana before being deported to Brazil in October 2025. Ungaro alleges her ex-partner Paolo Zampolli, a Trump associate and presidential special envoy and the father of their teenage son, contacted senior ICE official David Venturella to ensure she was detained and removed amid a bitter child custody dispute. Zampolli and the Department of Homeland Security denied the allegations, with DHS saying her removal was based on a visa overstay and the fraud charges. An arrest warrant remains open should she return to the United States.

Alvaro Velasquez, a high school senior at Roosevelt Schools in Nassau County, New York, was detained by ICE in May 2025 weeks before graduation. He was held at a detention center in Texas for several months before self-deporting to Guatemala. Superintendent Dr. Shawn Wightman traveled to Guatemala at his own expense to deliver Velasquez's cap, gown, and diploma in person after being denied access to him at the detention facility.

A growing number of detainees in U.S. immigration detention centers have signed voluntary departure agreements in exchange for promised cash payments ranging from $1,000 to $3,000. Immigration lawyers describe the practice as psychological pressure to discourage migrants from defending their cases in court. Many detainees report signing under pressure to escape harsh detention conditions, though most experience significant delays in receiving promised funds. Luis Andrés Monterroso López, 29, detained at Alvarado detention center in Texas, signed such an agreement and was deported to Guatemala in December 2025. He eventually received $2,600 through Western Union in March 2026, which he used to establish a mechanic shop in his village.

Chih-Ming 'Petey' Feng, a well-known line cook in Dallas's restaurant industry, was deported to Taiwan on March 19, 2026, after spending more than 130 days in ICE custody. Feng was detained on November 6, 2025, when he attended a follow-up ICE appointment after overstaying his visa since 2010. He was deported to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, where his parents live, with his mother and sister currently battling cancer.

Rafael Rubio, a New York City Council data analyst, was ordered deported to Venezuela by a federal immigration judge after being detained by ICE for more than two months. The judge deemed Rubio's asylum application abandoned due to a missing signature on paperwork. Rubio had overstayed a 2017 tourist visa. According to DHS, he has a prior arrest for assault.

Alejandra Juarez, a Mexican immigrant and wife of decorated Marine combat veteran Temo Juarez, was deported during the first Trump administration, leaving behind her husband and two school-age daughters. In 2021, after lawmakers' intervention, President Biden granted her humanitarian parole to reunite with her family. However, her parole expired in June 2025, and she has no path to citizenship. She signed a document as a teenager that permanently barred her from legal status. With the administration ramping up immigration enforcement and ending parole programs, Juarez sees no viable legal option and must leave the country by July 4 to celebrate her younger daughter's 16th birthday before departing.

Celia, a single mother of five, was arrested by ICE at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport on March 12, 2026, while boarding a flight to San Diego after attending her stepson's military graduation. She had a pending U-visa application certified by the U.S. Attorney General's Office after coming forward with claims of sexual abuse by a former officer at Federal Correctional Institution Dublin in California, where she had been incarcerated. Despite informing ICE agents of her pending U-visa and assisting in the federal investigation, supervisors told agents to proceed with her deportation regardless of her pending immigration relief. She was sent to Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, and was deported to Mexico about a week later. Her attorney, Susan Beatty, characterized the action as "a slap in the face."

Lorenzo Chavez Rascon, a 22-year-old Utah man, was arrested on February 23, 2026, on suspicion of selling drugs, but the substances were determined to be dried pinto beans. He was released from initial criminal custody but subsequently detained by ICE based on a detainer, despite holding deferred action status from a pending U-visa petition. On March 11, 2026, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking his deportation and ordered the government to explain why he should not be released, ruling that his continued detention violated his constitutional due process rights. As of March 14, he remained in federal custody.

A 14-year-old Brazilian national was detained by ICE agents in Marlborough, Massachusetts on March 10, 2026, during an operation targeting suspected gang members. She was transferred to a juvenile detention facility in New York without following proper legal procedures. A federal judge ordered her immediate release on March 12, 2026, finding the detention and out-of-state transfer violated constitutional protections and questioning why she was not turned over to state child welfare authorities instead. She was reunited with her aunt and uncle in Massachusetts but received a notice to appear in immigration court and now faces deportation to Brazil. Her attorney plans to challenge the deportation and petition for special immigrant juvenile status.

Five Venezuelan construction workers with valid work permits were detained by federal immigration authorities on March 6-7 while working on Buffalo Bills stadium construction. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, two of the men crossed the border illegally and three overstayed their visas. All five are being held at Batavia Federal Detention Facility awaiting removal hearings.

On March 9, 2026, ICE detained and deported two 12-year-old twin sisters who are U.S. citizens born in Orlando, Florida, after their mother attended a scheduled immigration appointment at an ICE facility. ICE invoked a "family unity" policy to take the children into custody and deport them to Guatemala. The mother had previously submitted paperwork requesting the children remain with their grandmother, though ICE stated she verbally requested to take them with her. A federal court granted a habeas corpus petition filed by the grandmother, ordering the children's immediate return to the United States at ICE's expense and restraining ICE from rearresting them.

Pío Figueroa, a Latin convenience store owner in Russellville, Alabama, was detained by ICE on January 30 while transporting $21,000 in cash to a bank for his money transfer business. The funds, collected from community members sending remittances to Latin America, have not been accounted for since his arrest. His legal team notes that ICE agents do not use body cameras, making it impossible to track what happened to the money. Figueroa was held at Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana and now faces deportation proceedings.