Human Impact Project

Douglas Menjivar, a 50-year-old Salvadoran immigrant and activist who exposed sexual assault in immigration detention, was arrested by ICE in June 2025 during a routine check-in despite being married to a U.S. citizen and having a reopened legal case. After being detained at Montgomery County ICE facility and struggling with mental health issues, Menjivar and his wife decided he would voluntarily depart to Spain rather than face deportation, leaving behind his wife who had lived in the U.S. her entire life.

Cary López Alvarado, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen nine months pregnant, was detained by immigration agents in Hawthorne, California on Sunday. López Alvarado said agents shoved her during the arrest, causing her to lose her balance as she tried to protect her stomach. After her release, she experienced sharp stomach pains and was hospitalized for one day for monitoring. López Alvarado and her cousin Alberto Sandoval, also a U.S. citizen, were doing maintenance work when agents in Border Patrol uniforms arrived in marked CBP vehicles following a white pickup truck carrying two undocumented workers, including her partner Brian Nájera.

Freelance photojournalist Ted Soqui was shot in the back with three rubber bullets in rapid succession by federal officers while covering anti-deportation protests at LA's Federal Building on June 9, 2025. Soqui, who had covered protests throughout his decades-long career, took precautions after being struck with crowd-control munitions the previous day, wearing personal protective equipment and positioning himself 50 to 100 feet from officers and protesters while using a long lens to photograph from afar. The federal officers who shot him were identified as ICE or DHS agents based on department patches visible on their uniforms. The Los Angeles Press Club filed a lawsuit against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem characterizing the shooting as a "misuse of militarized weapons" that could cause significant and serious harm.

Laura, a 32-year-old Colombian woman who entered the U.S. undocumented in February 2022 with her husband Luis and their 13-year-old son Angel, was diagnosed with metastatic gastric cancer after months of avoiding medical care due to fear of ICE detention. Her husband Luis was arrested at their North Miami home and transferred to Pine Prairie ICE Processing Center in Louisiana on June 8. Laura delayed seeking medical treatment out of fear she would be detained without her son, but eventually sought care at an urgent facility near Aventura and was diagnosed with terminal cancer that had spread to her ovaries, lungs, and back. She was hospitalized for a combined 14 days without insurance and has a final deportation order; she plans to return to Colombia with her son.

Nick Stern, a 60-year-old British freelance journalist and photographer who has lived in the U.S. for 18 years, was struck by a 40mm less-lethal munition that embedded approximately one inch into his leg while covering ICE raid protests in Los Angeles on June 7, 2025. Despite being clearly identifiable as press with visible credentials and cameras, Stern was hit around 9 p.m. while documenting the demonstrations outside a Home Depot. The projectile created a five-centimeter wound with significant muscle damage, and emergency surgeons treated the injury as they would a rifle gunshot wound. Stern was carried away by protesters and required emergency surgery at a trauma unit to remove the embedded round; an X-ray revealed the bullet had lodged in his leg. He avoided permanent nerve damage but sustained significant trauma. Stern was one of at least 11 journalists targeted by law enforcement during the protests; other reporters were also struck by tear gas, pepper balls, and less-lethal rounds. Status Coup News, where Stern had previously freelanced, filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell alleging excessive force against journalists covering the protests.

Arzou Hami, an Iranian woman suffering from serious mental health issues, was detained in June 2025 as part of a sweep of Iranian migrants following U.S. military action against Iran. She was detained by Buffalo ICE agents at the Niagara County Jail before being transferred to Texas. Her attorney alleged in court filings that her detention prevented her from receiving mental health medications. Her attorney reported she has received some medication, but it is not the same as what she was previously prescribed.

Marta Alicia Dominguez, 51, from El Salvador, was arrested by Dallas Police in May 2025 on a family dispute charge. After her criminal case was dismissed, ICE placed a detainer and transferred her to custody. She presented herself at the Paso del Norte port of entry in 2017 and was granted entry after a credible fear interview. A judge granted her asylum in October 2025, but DHS filed an appeal and continues to hold her in Eloy Detention Center. She has contracted Hepatitis A and B, lost 30 pounds, and her health has significantly declined while in detention.

During an ICE checkpoint in Bon Secour, Alabama staffed by ICE agents, Alabama State Troopers, and Baldwin County Sheriffs, a young person's arm was broken during an attempted detention into an unmarked vehicle. According to witnesses, an officer told him to "pop it back in." The person was released without charges but required hospitalization for the arm injury. A trooper's badge number was recorded at the scene.

Iris Dayana Monterroso Lemus, a Guatemalan woman, lost her son to a stillbirth while detained by ICE at Richwood Correctional Center in Louisiana. The Trump administration publicly disputed her account, claiming she received full prenatal care, but federal documents later obtained by The Intercept show a lack of prenatal care and no record of a scheduled OB-GYN visit or ultrasound. Ten days after the stillbirth, Monterroso Lemus was shackled, put on a plane, and deported to Guatemala, causing her postpartum visit to be canceled. An OB-GYN physician who reviewed the records said the administration's denial appeared aimed at covering itself, while a senator called the treatment of pregnant women in custody unconscionable.

Viktoriia Bulavina, a Ukrainian immigrant married to a U.S. citizen, was handcuffed and detained by federal immigration agents immediately after a marriage-based green card interview at the USCIS office in downtown San Diego. She was held for five days in poor conditions, including an open toilet in view of guards, expired food, and denial of medication, before being released following media coverage and attorney intervention. She now faces removal proceedings.

A small panga-style boat carrying migrants capsized off Torrey Pines State Beach near San Diego, killing four people including a 14-year-old boy and resulting in a 10-year-old girl missing at sea. The children's father is in a coma and their mother remains hospitalized. Five Mexican citizens have been charged with human smuggling resulting in death and other related crimes.

Abelardo Avellaneda Delgado, a 68-year-old construction worker who had lived in the United States for 40 years, died on May 5, 2025, while being transported from Lowndes County Jail to Stewart Detention Center in Georgia. The coroner suspected an aortic aneurysm as the cause of death, though the exact cause remained under investigation. According to his family, Delgado had no prior health conditions but was placed in a wheelchair during his detention and given medications he had never taken before. He had been detained multiple times since 1979 as an undocumented immigrant.

Sen Miao Lin, a 67-year-old Chinese man, was detained at Delaney Hall ICE detention center where he repeatedly asked for but never received medication for his Type 2 diabetes and hypertension for nearly a month. At one point during his detention, he collapsed, lost consciousness, and was rushed to the emergency room. His attorney filed a federal lawsuit alleging this medical neglect in May 2025. His case is one of over 70 lawsuits filed by detainees at Delaney Hall alleging medical neglect and deficiencies at the facility.

Marisol Ordonez Vargas, a transgender woman originally from Central America, was detained by ICE in October 2023. She alleged she was denied toilet paper and medical treatment for a badly broken nose, and said she was sexually assaulted during her month in custody but did not report it because she did not trust guards and feared it would delay her release.

America Perez Ramirez, 52, was ordered by DHS to check in at an ICE field office and bring airline tickets for deportation to Mexico with her 11-year-old U.S. citizen daughter Yoselin, who has Maple Syrup Urine Disease, a life-threatening rare genetic disorder. Yoselin requires her mother's care to survive and her University of Florida doctor stated she cannot live without current treatment. Perez Ramirez, who came on an H2-B labor visa and was trafficked by her employer, had received four previous stays of deportation under prior administrations, but was denied another stay this time.

Multiple U.S. citizen children have been deported to Honduras alongside their undocumented mothers during immigration enforcement actions, according to PBS NewsHour reporting. In one case, a 2-year-old girl identified only by the initials VML in court filings was deported with her mother. In another case reported by correspondent Laura Barrón-López, a Texas family's two U.S. citizen siblings, ages 4 and 7, were deported with their mother within 24 hours of being detained; the younger child has late-stage cancer and was sent without his medication. The mother in the Texas case had a removal order dating back years, issued after she failed to appear at a hearing following her arrival in the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor, and said she was unaware of the order. Attorneys say these cases are part of a broader pattern of U.S.-citizen children being removed alongside their parents during enforcement actions.

ICE deported at least two families including three U.S. citizen children aged 2, 4, and 7 from New Orleans in early morning operations on April 25, 2025. The families were held without legal access. One child with metastatic cancer was deported without medication and a pregnant mother was deported without prenatal care arrangements. The deportations occurred after ICE reversed course and expedited the process before courts reopened. A habeas corpus petition had been filed.

A 4-year-old U.S. citizen child with Stage 4 cancer and his 7-year-old sister were deported to Honduras with their mother on Friday morning. ICE was aware of the child's active cancer treatment in the United States but deported him without his medication. Attorneys say the mother did not sign or write any consent, did not speak with lawyers or family before deportation, and wanted to make alternative arrangements for her U.S. citizen children.

Marie Ange Blaise, a 44-year-old Haitian woman, died on April 25, 2025, at the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, Florida, while in ICE custody. She had been detained since mid-February after being stopped at Saint Croix International Airport for attempting to board a flight without a valid visa, and was issued an expedited removal notice before being transferred through multiple facilities including San Juan, Krome North Processing Center in Miami, and a Louisiana facility. Fellow detainees said Blaise had complained of chest pains for hours; staff checked her blood pressure, found hypertension, gave her pills, and told her to rest. She later began shaking and screaming, and when other detained women cried out for help, guards reportedly ignored their pleas, with one officer approaching, looking at her, and walking away. It took roughly eight minutes for a medical provider and 15 to 20 more minutes for a rescue team to arrive; she was pronounced dead at 8:35 p.m. Facility staff reportedly told the women afterward to stop discussing what they had witnessed.

Amilcar Lisser-Posadas, a 29-year-old Honduran national and former DACA recipient with two U.S. citizen daughters, was apprehended in Shelby County, Tennessee in March 2025 for driving with an expired license and transferred to ICE custody. He was moved between multiple detention facilities over four weeks and filed a legal request citing fear of persecution in Honduras, which received no response. At Alexandria Staging Facility, he was detained for approximately 12 days in overcrowded conditions with inadequate sanitation, food, and medical care—arriving sick with chest congestion, fever, and ear infection but receiving no medication until the final two days. On April 23, 2025, he was deported to Honduras on GlobalX charter flights despite his pending legal request. He was later apprehended again at the southern border in May 2025 attempting to reunite with his family and is now facing deportation again from a federal prison.