Human Impact Project

Joy, a 19-year-old immigrant, arrived in the United States five years ago with her husband and children. Her husband was detained by ICE, and during the detention his vehicle was damaged and impounded, leaving Joy without transportation and facing immediate eviction. Before she could communicate with her husband following his detention, he was deported to Louisiana. Because one of their four children was born in the U.S., the family cannot self-deport together or be accepted into family detention, leaving Joy to navigate obtaining passports and supporting her children alone.

Jesus Acevedo-Sanchez was detained by ICE agents on June 11, 2026, at Commodore John Rodgers Elementary/Middle School in Southeast Baltimore during a preschool graduation ceremony. When agents attempted to arrest him, Acevedo-Sanchez refused lawful commands and violently resisted, using his vehicle to evade law enforcement and dragging an ICE officer in the process. He faces federal charges for resisting and impeding federal officers and destruction of government property. Children who were in the vehicle were removed and cared for by family members, while school staff secured other children in the building. Acevedo-Sanchez has a history of evading ICE, including a prior collision with an ICE vehicle in April 2026. He is being held at a Baltimore detention facility. Two undocumented immigrants were detained by ICE agents at Commodore John Rodgers Elementary/Middle School during a school graduation ceremony on June 11, 2026. The individuals were pursued by ICE agents and drove into the school parking lot with children in the vehicle. During the detention, one individual punched federal officers and faces federal charges for assaulting a federal officer. The arrests resulted in children being separated from their parents and caused distress among those present. School officials and state leaders condemned the enforcement action at the sensitive location.

Guadalupe Cabrera Mejia, an employee at Glenn Valley Foods meatpacking plant in Omaha, Nebraska, was detained on June 10, 2025 during an ICE workplace enforcement operation that resulted in 76 arrests. Her son, Luis Mejia, then 19, was released and left to support the separated family. Federal prosecutors charged Cabrera Mejia with felony misrepresentation of a Social Security number, alleging she used the number of a U.S. citizen who had previously reported identity theft to the IRS; a judge ordered her held pending trial, and ICE placed a detainer on her. She later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year in prison. Investigators initially alleged a broader identity theft scheme involving more than 100 U.S. citizens' stolen Social Security numbers across several states, though a year later she remained the only worker charged with identity fraud. Of those arrested in the raid, about 17 were deported immediately, 25 were released on bond, and 25 were transferred to other facilities, with most remaining in immigration court proceedings months later.

ICE conducted a raid on Glenn Valley Foods meatpacking plant in Omaha, Nebraska on June 10, 2025, detaining approximately 76 undocumented workers. The operation involved roughly 80 federal and local agents. One year after the raid, community leaders reported ongoing negative economic and social impacts in South Omaha's business district, including loss of business activity, reduced consumer traffic, and increased fear among immigrants. Of the detainees, close to 10 self-deported, others were granted bond and temporary work permits while facing immigration proceedings.

Leo's parents, ages 60 and 62, were detained by ICE and held separately at facilities within an hour of Palatka, Florida. The parents have lived in the United States since the 1990s and operated Palatka Buffet for nearly 20 years before their son Leo took over the family business with Leo's Fine Sushi. They are facing deportation to China. Their son has launched a fundraiser to support legal fees and family expenses during their detention.

Jesus Alexis Cruz, 16, was detained by ICE following a traffic stop in Morrisonville, Illinois on June 9, 2026. Local police towed his vehicle, and ICE agents subsequently picked him up at a nearby gas station. Cruz's family, which includes documented relatives, requested his release to their custody, but ICE denied the request. He was transferred to a juvenile detention facility in Texas without family involvement in the transport. Representative Nikki Budzinski's office became involved to seek answers regarding his detention and transfer.

Juan Nicolás, a two-month-old infant, was detained with his mother Mireya López Sánchez, his 16-month-old sister, and his father after they were apprehended near Eagle Pass, Texas, while seeking asylum. The family was held at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, a CoreCivic-run facility that had recently been under quarantine for measles, where conditions reportedly included rotten food and contaminated water, causing his mother's milk supply to stop. With no doctor on site, Juan Nicolás developed severe breathing problems, vomiting, and gastroesophageal reflux disease, and his mother found him unresponsive and choking on his own vomit before he was hospitalized and diagnosed with RSV and severe bronchiolitis. He was discharged back into ICE custody and deported to Mexico with his family hours later, left with only $190 from their detention commissary account. Journalist Lidia Terrazas and advocacy groups helped the family find shelter and medical care in Mexico, and they later relocated to Guatemala, where they have relatives. Rep. Joaquin Castro called the deportation 'heinous.' A June 9 analysis by MS NOW and The Marshall Project found ICE has detained more than 500 children under age three since January 2025, citing inadequate medical care as a recurring problem.

Kaleth, a 2-year-old boy seeking asylum, was detained with his family in March 2026 after they attended a routine ICE check-in appointment in California, which they had never missed since seeking asylum in 2024. His father was handcuffed and sent to an adult detention facility in California, while Kaleth and his mother Joani were transported over 1,000 miles away to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas. Separated from his father, Kaleth became despondent, stopped eating for 12 days, vomited when his mother tried to force him to eat, and eventually stopped having bowel movements, conditions attributed to depression. Following legal intervention, Kaleth and his mother were released in April 2026 and reunited with his father. His legal representative said Kaleth devoured four packets of applesauce in the car from the airport and has since recovered.

Three Collinsville, Illinois teens — Jesus Alexis Cruz, 16; Hector Cruz Sanchez, 19; and Jonathan Godoy, 19 — were detained by ICE on June 9, 2026, in Morrisonville, Illinois, while traveling for a summer job doing internet line work. They were pulled over by the Morrisonville Police Department, after which ICE took them into custody. Cruz, 16, is being held at an unidentified detention facility in Texas, while Sanchez and Godoy are detained at Ste. Genevieve Detention Center in Missouri. The Illinois Attorney General's Office noted that state law sharply limits local police participation in federal immigration enforcement, and State Rep. Katie Stuart called the incident "horrifying." U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski said her office is seeking answers and pledged to use oversight tools to demand transparency, noting the detentions came two weeks after she toured the Ste. Genevieve facility and heard detainee concerns about access to medical care.

Ricky, a longtime U.S. resident who arrived as a young child in 2000 and lost his DACA status, was detained by ICE. He is married to an American citizen, Katya, and they have two young children in East Tennessee. His family is seeking legal assistance for a T Visa application, waiver, work permit, and other relief options to prevent his deportation to Mexico, where they say he faces safety risks.

Juana, a mother of four with no criminal record, was arrested by ICE agents on the side of the road in Grants Pass on June 9, 2026. A bystander videotaped the arrest, which showed agents handcuffing her and placing her in an unmarked vehicle while her van was left locked on the roadside. She was transported to the Tacoma immigration detention center and is facing deportation.

A woman was detained by ICE for over one year and separated from her children, who were placed in the care of their father and stepmother. Following her release, she is seeking to regain custody of her children after serious allegations of child abuse emerged against the stepmother. She requires legal assistance to navigate both her ongoing immigration case and family court custody proceedings.

Willian, the father of two U.S.-citizen children and son of a naturalized U.S. citizen, was detained by ICE while at work on Monday. He has active work authorization issued by the U.S. government and was actively pursuing his immigration case through the legal system. A federal judge subsequently ordered that he cannot be transferred or removed while his case is reviewed.

During summer 2025 ICE raids in Southern California, federal agents arrested thousands of undocumented immigrants in neighborhoods, workplaces, and homes. Giovanni, a Salvadoran worker at a car wash in the San Fernando Valley, was detained for six months at Adelanto ICE Processing Center after refusing to sign deportation documents, while three coworkers were quickly deported to Mexico. His family was left without his income and faced potential displacement.

Abdullahi Mohamed, a Somali immigrant who had lived in the U.S. for more than 25 years with valid work authorization, was detained by ICE near Portland, Maine, and held for over seven weeks in Massachusetts before being rapidly transferred across multiple states, including Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, in December 2025. His family lost contact with him for about five days, piecing together his whereabouts through a lawyer's email, a call from another detainee's wife, and a brief two-minute call from Mohamed himself at an undisclosed airport. He reported being beaten and shackled during the transfers and enduring long periods without food or water. ICE did not respond to his lawyer's requests for release or to habeas petition efforts before he was deported to Somalia, where he has no family or means of support; his wife remains in hiding in the U.S. due to her immigration status. A Marshall Project investigation found that rapid, multi-transfer detentions like his have become increasingly common under the Trump administration, with transfers of five or more times more than tripling since the final year of the Biden administration.

Thien, who arrived in the U.S. as a refugee in 1984 at age 3 and became a permanent resident, lost his green card status at 16 due to a mistake. After serving his sentence, he was placed on an order of supervision rather than deported because Vietnam was not accepting deportees. For 24 years, he complied with every condition of the order, maintained work authorization, built a business, and raised a family. When he attended a scheduled immigration appointment, he was detained within 10 minutes without an interview and is now facing deportation.

Akram Mahmoud Omar, 77, a Palestinian-born lawful permanent resident who lived in the United States for 50 years, was detained by ICE in October 2025 during a routine check-in at Angola prison's ICE detention facility. While in custody, Omar suffered a heart attack and underwent triple-bypass surgery. On May 29, 2026, Federal Judge Brian Jackson ordered Omar's release, finding ICE violated his constitutional rights and due process. However, on June 8, 2026, ICE re-arrested Omar at his home without warning and attempted to deport him to Israel the following morning, directly defying the judge's order. A second emergency court order forced ICE to release him again and prohibited further detention or removal pending a June 24 hearing.

Dy Nguyen, a Vietnamese refugee who lived in the United States for 27 years, was detained by ICE for almost 8 months beginning in October 2025 before being deported to Vietnam. During his detention at Stewart Detention Center in Atlanta, his newborn son was born, whom he never physically held. His attorney at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund pursued legal action for his release, but the case was delayed for over six months. Nguyen was shackled for 35 hours during flights and spent an additional 30 hours on buses traveling through Vietnam after deportation, separated from his family of five and his church community.

A man was detained by ICE on May 21, 2026, while taking his car for repair. He has no criminal record and worked to support his family. His wife and three children have been left to manage on a single income and are struggling with rent, utilities, groceries, and other expenses, while also seeking legal representation for his immigration case.

Gerardo Reyes Gonzalez, a 44-year-old father, was arrested on March 14, 2026, during a traffic stop in San Marcos while sitting as a passenger in his 17-year-old son's truck. Police initiated the stop based on an emergency call about a vehicle matching the truck's description, though the reported incident never occurred. He was charged with Interference with Public Duties after allegedly trying to prevent his son from being removed from the vehicle. Reyes Gonzalez was transferred to ICE custody and detained for over two months. The Hays County District Attorney dropped the criminal charge on May 11, and a federal judge granted his habeas corpus petition on June 1, ordering his release. The San Marcos Police Department was found to have committed multiple policy violations, including making inaccurate statements in court documents and failing to verify facts before arrest. His daughter Lupe Sarinana credited community activism and a petition with over 200 signatures for his release.