Human Impact Project

Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Quinones, a Cuban man with prior convictions in Florida, was arrested by ICE in April 2025 and placed on a deportation flight that was diverted to a U.S. military base in Djibouti after a federal judge found it violated migrants' due process rights. The flight, carrying eight men including fellow Cuban Enrique Arias-Hierro, held them in a converted shipping container, according to court filings. On July 3, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the lower court's order, and the flight proceeded, with Rodriguez-Quinones arriving in South Sudan on July 4.

Enrique Arias-Hierro, 46, of Cuba, had been ordered removed by an immigration judge in 1999 and did not appeal. He was arrested by ICE in early May 2025 and placed on a deportation flight to South Sudan, which a federal judge initially halted, diverting the flight to a U.S. military base in Djibouti where he and other migrants were held for weeks. The U.S. Supreme Court later overturned that judge's order, and Arias-Hierro arrived in South Sudan on July 4, 2025.

Tuan Thanh Phan, a Vietnamese man ordered removed by an immigration judge in 2009, was arrested by ICE in May 2025 and placed on a deportation flight to South Sudan, part of a group of eight men sent there under the program. A federal judge had ruled that the flight violated a court order requiring migrants be given a meaningful opportunity to object to removal on safety grounds. After nearly a year in South Sudanese custody, Phan was repatriated to Vietnam on June 19, 2026, in a move coordinated by the Vietnamese government and South Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Nyo Myint, a man from Myanmar who lived in Lincoln, Nebraska, was taken into ICE custody in February 2025 after being released on probation in 2023, then placed on a July 2025 flight to South Sudan along with seven other men after weeks of detention at a U.S. military base in Djibouti. His former defense attorney, Nathan Sohriakoff, said Myint did not speak English, communicated through interpreters, and appeared cognitively limited but not incompetent. On February 25, 2026, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy issued an 81-page ruling finding that the government's third-country deportation program violated due process and the Convention Against Torture, carrying out removals with less than 16 hours' notice and preventing detainees from contacting lawyers or appearing in court.

Kyaw Mya, a man from Myanmar who lived in Iowa, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in February 2025 after losing an appeal of a 2021 removal order. He was placed on a deportation flight to South Sudan that a federal judge later found violated a court order requiring migrants be given a meaningful opportunity to object to their removal.

At least eight people were arrested by ICE agents as they left San Diego's immigration court on Thursday. ICE agents waited in hallways and arrested people after their hearings. The tactic has also occurred in New York City, Miami, and Seattle. Immigration lawyers stated the practice discourages people from attending their court hearings.

ICE agents arrested multiple individuals outside the Phoenix immigration court on Tuesday, May 21, 2025, including at least two people immediately after their court hearings. One documented case involved a Venezuelan man in his 20s who had entered through the CBP One program and was preparing for a credible fear interview. Attorneys noted that some individuals whose cases appeared to be dismissed were taken into custody. The arrests followed a January DHS directive that reversed protections for courthouse arrests, a policy that had previously restricted ICE enforcement in sensitive locations. Similar enforcement actions occurred at immigration courts across the country, with agents in Los Angeles positioned to coordinate notifications when cases were dismissed. The Trump administration has expanded immigration enforcement by enlisting agents from multiple federal agencies including the U.S. Marshals Service, DEA, ATF, and FBI.

A.D., a teenager from Guinea arrested by Suffolk County Police on May 16, 2025, has been held in adult ICE custody at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center for nearly two months, turning 17 during his detention. ICE has disputed claims that he is a minor, with a spokesperson saying he is not, and the agency has cited dental X-rays conducted June 17 and alleged forged Guinean identification documents to support its determination that he is an adult. His attorneys have presented a passport, birth certificate, New York Family Court records and federal HHS records all listing his birth year as 2009. Federal Judge Marilyn J. Horan has ordered ICE to transfer A.D. into the custody of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement while a new age assessment is conducted.

V.M.L., a 2-year-old U.S. citizen born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on January 4, 2023, was detained by ICE on April 22, 2025, during a routine check-in at an Intensive Supervision Appearance Program office in New Orleans. She was apprehended alongside her undocumented mother and 11-year-old sister. When her father provided citizenship documents and his attorney filed emergency motions for habeas corpus and a temporary restraining order to prevent deportation, an ICE officer told the father they would deport his family anyway. The child and her mother were deported to Honduras on April 25, 2025, before the court could rule on the legal motions. The mother was held in an undisclosed location, cut off from family and counsel, and reportedly coerced into accepting deportation under duress. Federal Judge Terry Doughty expressed strong suspicion that the government deported a U.S. citizen "with no meaningful process" in violation of due process protections and scheduled a hearing for May 16 to investigate.

Dr. Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national and postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University on a valid research visa, was arrested by federal agents on March 17, 2025, outside his home in Arlington, Virginia. Plainclothes ICE agents detained him and transported him over 1,300 miles to detention facilities in Texas, where he remained for nearly two months in poor conditions. The Trump administration cited his social media posts supporting Palestinian rights and his wife's family connection to Gaza as grounds for visa revocation. On May 14, 2025, Federal Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles ordered his release on bond, ruling that his statements constituted constitutionally protected political speech, that the First Amendment applies to noncitizens, and that his detention violated due process protections with no evidence of wrongdoing.

A 33-year-old South Sudanese man was released on discretionary parole from Nebraska prison custody on May 2, 2025, and arrested by immigration authorities six days later. He was one of eight men, from six different countries, placed on a deportation flight to South Sudan on July 4, 2025, after being held for weeks at a U.S. military base in Djibouti. On February 25, 2026, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy issued an 81-page ruling declaring the entire third-country deportation program, including his removal, unlawful, finding the government violated due process and the Convention Against Torture by giving detainees less than 16 hours' notice. He represented himself in his appeals.

Akbor Miah, a Bangladeshi national also known by the alias Shahidul Islam, was arrested by U.S. Marshals in New York on May 6, 2025, and extradited to Florida in connection with the shooting death of Monica Islam, his sister-in-law, whose body was found along a road in Mount Dora in May 2025. Investigators said she was killed after leaving a convenience store in Eustis where the two worked together, and evidence including her DNA and a bullet was later found in Miah's car. ICE has lodged a detainer with the Lake County Jail requesting his transfer to federal custody after the criminal case concludes. Records show Miah first entered the U.S. in 2016, was arrested by ICE in February 2018, received a final removal order that November, was deported in January 2019, then re-entered the country and was released by federal authorities in March 2022.

ICE officers arrested dozens of delivery and rideshare drivers at the gates of Camp Pendleton military base in California as part of an "interagency security initiative" launched in May 2025. Many of those detained had temporary permission to work in the U.S. and were employed by apps like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and GrubHub. Federal judges have repeatedly found the detentions violated due process, yet the base and ICE continue the practice.

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.

A pregnant mother and her 2-year-old U.S. citizen daughter were deported to Honduras after the mother was given less than two minutes on the phone with her husband to decide the child's fate. Attorneys say ICE denied the family contact with lawyers and each other throughout the process. ICE produced a one-page note in Spanish claiming consent, but her attorney states she was forced to write it and did not willingly consent to the deportation.

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.

A 2-year-old U.S. citizen was apparently removed to Honduras on Friday with her mother, who had been ordered deported, according to a federal judge in Louisiana. The child's mother, a Honduran national, was seized by ICE on Tuesday morning in New Orleans while attending a scheduled check-in appointment with an Intensive Supervision Appearance Program office. During approximately three days in ICE custody, the mother and her two daughters were separated from family and legal counsel. U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty wrote that the child was sent to Honduras "with no meaningful due process" and expressed "strong suspicion that the Government just deported a U.S. citizen." The mother's attorney stated that ICE mischaracterized the removal as the mother's voluntary choice and that she was pregnant and prevented from contacting lawyers or family to make arrangements.

Erasmo Zavala Almanza, a 50-year-old undocumented Mexican immigrant, was arrested by ICE agents in April 2025 after cooperating with Berks County police in investigating the fatal shooting of his 20-year-old daughter and wounding of his granddaughter. Despite applying for a U visa with support from the District Attorney's Office and receiving a favorable bona fide determination from USCIS along with deferred action and work authorization, ICE detained him at Moshannon Valley Processing Center and initiated deportation proceedings. A federal judge intervened, and after 45 days in detention, Zavala was released and returned to his Berks County apartment, where he was reunited with his wife Maria, daughter, granddaughter Selene, and other family members. His case remains part of a broader legal dispute over ICE's policy of detaining crime victims and witnesses who have applied for humanitarian visas.

Dario Quevedo Marquez, a Venezuelan immigrant, was arrested by federal immigration agents on April 15 as he left a South Side Chicago courthouse after a hearing on a misdemeanor battery charge. His wife said agents told her to stay quiet or face arrest herself. The arrest occurred at a courthouse, violating state law and a Cook County judge's order banning civil immigration arrests without warrants at local courthouses.

Hugo, a father of five and husband of a U.S. citizen veteran who had lived in the U.S. since age 16, was detained by ICE at a courthouse during what should have been a final hearing for permanent residency. Despite being in an active legal process and authorized to be in the U.S., officials ordered him to continue his case from Mexico and deported him. ICE later admitted the detention was a mistake, but Hugo has been separated from his family.