Human Impact Project

Anna Brauch, a local artist, was detained by ICE agents on January 8, 2026, in Northeast Minneapolis while standing near her car, which bore the message "trans rights are human rights." She was seized and beaten during the arrest, sustaining tendon injuries from rough handling. Brauch was transported to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building but was ultimately released. The detention occurred during "Operation Metro Surge," a surge of 3,000 ICE agents deployed to Minnesota in early January 2026.

Rebecca Pinyerd, a 70-year-old Filipina lawful permanent resident who has lived in the United States for over 40 years, was scheduled for deportation to the Philippines but the flight was cancelled after airline officials determined she was medically unfit to fly due to advanced kidney disease, thyroid complications, and uncontrolled hypertension. She remains in immigration detention at Clay County Jail in Indiana with no new deportation date announced. Her family has expressed concerns about her access to medical care while in custody and has called for an independent medical evaluation.

Hanne Daguman, a Norwegian national who entered the U.S. on an F-1 student visa in 2022, was detained by ICE on November 17, 2025, during a USCIS marriage-based green card interview in San Diego after acknowledging her visa had lapsed. Daguman, who has Type 1 diabetes and no criminal record, was held for nine days at Otay Mesa Detention Center, where she said she was denied proper medical care and experienced dangerously high blood sugar levels and untreated infections. A court hearing in her case was scheduled for November 24, 2025. In January 2026, a judge terminated her removal case, but she remains fitted with an ankle monitor that ICE has not yet authorized for removal despite the court order.

Oudone Lothirath, a 57-year-old Laotian refugee who arrived in the U.S. in the early 1980s, was detained by ICE in January 2026 during an immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota. While held for 10 days at a detention facility in El Paso, Texas, he missed vital chemotherapy sessions for terminal Hodgkin's lymphoma and received no medical care for his diabetes and heart condition. After his release, he was too weakened to continue his remaining chemotherapy treatments, and his cancer subsequently spread to his bone marrow. His care assistant, Christina Vilay, said he would have had "many more months" to live had he completed his scheduled chemotherapy. Lothirath, a working member of the Minneapolis Lao community who attended a local Buddhist temple and held a current work authorization card issued in 2023, is now receiving hospice care.

ICE agents detained a pregnant woman at Karmel Mall in South Minneapolis, holding her face-down on the ground while handcuffed. Witnesses reported that she was unable to breathe during the detention and shouted that she was pregnant. Bystanders protested the incident, with dozens of neighbors gathering at the scene and pelting agents with snowballs. Video of the encounter circulated on social media documenting the use of force during the detention.

Tiago Alexandre Sousa-Martins, a 30-year-old Portuguese immigrant who arrived in the U.S. at age 13 and became a licensed general contractor and homeowner in Baltimore, was shot multiple times by ICE agents during a targeted enforcement operation in Glen Burnie, Maryland, on Christmas Eve while driving to an electrical job. Agents said they fired after Sousa-Martins allegedly tried to run them over; his van then crashed into a tree. Anne Arundel County Police later contradicted DHS's account, saying one person DHS identified as a passenger in the van was actually already in ICE custody in a separate vehicle at the time of the shooting. Sousa-Martins was hospitalized for about two weeks with spine, lung and thigh injuries before being detained at facilities in Maryland and Virginia, where his attorneys said ICE denied him prescribed medication and physical therapy. He had applied for a visa for trafficking survivors, citing abuse by his father, and was protected from deportation under a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling. After pleading guilty to damaging government property and being sentenced to time served, a federal judge granted his habeas petition and ordered his release after nearly nine months in custody, reuniting him with his partner and two young sons. "Today, I can finally say I am free," he said, while advocacy group We Are CASA said it continues seeking accountability from ICE.

Óscar José Araujo-Mejía, a 21-year-old from El Salvador who had lived in the U.S. for four years and worked at McDonald's, was seriously injured after ICE agents pursued his vehicle through Glen Burnie, Maryland. A relative who witnessed the chase said agents in unmarked vehicles rammed his car and beat him while pulling him from the vehicle, while ICE and DHS said agents fired after Araujo-Mejía failed to stop and drove into several ICE vehicles, nearly striking an agent before crashing between two buildings. He suffered a head wound requiring 29 stitches, fractures to his vertebrae and skull, and was later listed in fair condition at a Maryland trauma center. A passenger from Portugal was also injured in the crash. His family said hospital policy prevented them from visiting him or receiving updates on his condition, and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore criticized ICE's enforcement tactics in the state following the incident.

Karla, an activist who publicly exposed medical neglect of a lesbian woman with cancer detained in Eloy, has herself been detained at the same facility. Activists are demanding her immediate release, protection from retaliation, and access to her hormones while in detention.

A family is calling for the release of an Arlington man detained by ICE, citing the health condition of his son.

Walter Francisco Cerrato Cabrera, a 48-year-old Honduran deckhand who had worked on oyster boats for 20 years, drowned on December 18 while jumping into Bayou La Loutre to avoid U.S. Coast Guard agents who had stopped at the docks. Cerrato and a younger coworker jumped from their boat when agents approached, but Cerrato, who could not swim, drowned in the bayou. The incident occurred amid increased immigration enforcement operations in lower St. Bernard Parish.

Immigrant families detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas describe prolonged stays, despondent children, limited access to potable water, and inadequate food in court declarations filed in December 2025. A report from Human Rights First and RAICES found more than 5,600 people, including parents, toddlers and newborns, were held at the facility between April 2025 and February 2026, alleging months-long detentions, limited access to asylum protections, poor medical care and psychological harm. A Canadian citizen living in Texas said she and her 7-year-old daughter were detained for hours at a checkpoint and later transferred to a processing center despite her pending lawful immigration status. ICE and the Department of Homeland Security maintain the facility is safe and family-friendly, providing food, medical care, education and legal access, and say some detained families raise enforcement or security concerns.

Neysis Mairena, a Nicaraguan immigrant six months pregnant with twins, was hospitalized while in ICE detention at the Basile, Louisiana processing center after experiencing contractions. She was shackled to a hospital bed during her hospitalization. Mairena had been arrested on allegations of child endangerment related to an incident in which her 7-year-old daughter was present during an altercation with her partner; her attorney states she was acting in self-defense. She was released from detention on November 26, 2025, following a news outlet's inquiry into her case.

Jose Paniagua Calderón was detained in front of a Mexican restaurant on East 4th Plain Boulevard in Vancouver, Washington. Videos on social media show him screaming in pain as a silver-colored SUV drives over his legs during the detention. ICE denies that its agents ran over Paniagua's legs, while his family alleges ICE agents denied him medical care and forced him into their vehicle. He is reportedly being held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma.

ICE detained a critically ill man who was traveling to receive medical treatment. Williams Javier Toro Enamorado, a 27-year-old Honduran man with end-stage kidney disease, was detained by ICE agents on November 19 while traveling to a dialysis appointment during an operation called "Charlotte's Web." He claims he was denied dialysis treatment and pressured to sign a voluntary deportation order, with officers allegedly telling him "If you want to leave, sign. If not, you're going to die here." He is being held at an ICE detention center in Folkston, Georgia, over 360 miles from his family in North Carolina.

ICE agents arrested Julio, a man with end-stage kidney failure requiring regular dialysis, as he returned home from a medical appointment. He was held in detention facilities and denied appropriate medical care, eventually suffering a severe stroke while hospitalized under ICE surveillance. His family, all U.S. citizens including a military servicemember, advocated for his release but ICE refused despite his critical medical needs.

Beatriz Pastrana Candela, detained by ICE in Tempe last November, said medical and detention staff at the Eloy Detention Center repeatedly told her she was not pregnant despite a positive pregnancy test, and she later miscarried. She was placed in a segregated room for her mental health after reporting hallucinations in which she saw herself holding her baby and heard voices telling her to hurt herself, and she needed a wheelchair due to difficulty walking; she described the small, barred outdoor area she was allowed into as another cage. Five months after the miscarriage, Pastrana remains in detention, and the Florence Project has worked with three other women who were pregnant at Eloy between January and June 2026, including one held until she was seven months pregnant.

Elmer M., a 28-year-old Guatemalan man, developed a rash on his penis that became infected because the facility failed to provide soap or supplies to wash or treat it. Starting in December, he asked guards and signed up to see a medic daily. As of March — four months later — he had still not been seen by a medic.

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.