Human Impact Project

Two Azerbaijani men, Fazal and Alikhan, who immigrated legally to the U.S. and were married in Charlotte, were detained by ICE after a routine immigration appointment in January. Alikhan was moved to Stewart Detention Center in Georgia where he became ill and received inadequate medical care until a U.S. Senator intervened. Unable to face prolonged detention, Alikhan announced in February he would self-deport rather than continue fighting his case, with Fazal planning to follow.

Approximately 50 Cuban nationals detained by ICE accepted deportation believing they would return to Havana. Their plane landed at Guantánamo Naval Base instead. The men have been at the U.S. military facility since before Christmas. Due to Cuba's restrictions on flights from the base to the island's interior, U.S. authorities must transfer them back to U.S. territory before handing them over to Cuban authorities, extending their detention for weeks.

Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41-year-old Haitian man, died in December 2025 at the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, less than a day after being detained. ICE initially said he experienced an unexplained "medical emergency" and attributed his death to "natural causes," but a medical examiner later determined he died from a pulmonary embolism. An ambulance transporting him to University Hospital was delayed by five minutes as officials prioritized allowing a van of new detainees into the facility. His death came amid widespread complaints from detainees at Delaney Hall about contaminated water, spoiled food, and inadequate medical care, and was one of at least two deaths at the facility and one of 23 deaths in ICE custody during the year.

Two former detainees at the Everglades immigration detention center in Florida testified in federal court that they faced retaliation for trying to access legal representation while in custody. They described monitored phone calls being dropped when attorneys were mentioned and being denied access to pen and paper to communicate with lawyers. One detainee, from Haiti, alleged he was forced to sign self-deportation papers he did not understand without being allowed to consult an attorney beforehand. Civil rights attorneys cited these accounts as part of a push for a temporary injunction requiring the facility to provide detainees the same legal access afforded to those held in federally-run facilities.

Roberto Betancourt, a Venezuelan journalist who fled to Miami with his wife in 2014 after years of armed attacks and death threats from pro-government colectivos over his political reporting, produced political analysis of Latin America in the U.S. alongside exiled journalist Patricia Poleo. An immigration judge granted him deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture in 2024, barring his return to Venezuela. Under a February 2025 DHS directive to re-detain people with CAT protections for third-country removal, ICE took him into custody on July 14, 2025, and over six months transferred him between 12 detention facilities, holding him in shackles for up to 25 hours and in rooms so cramped detainees took turns lying down. Agents tried to push him across the border at Tijuana in December 2025, then tried to force him onto a plane to Venezuela at Arizona's Mesa Gateway airport until a U.S. Marshal intervened. On January 26, 2026, four armed agents at the Nogales port of entry told him "they'll deport you with punches if it's necessary"; he refused to sign the removal notice but was forced onto a Mexican bus and arrived at Tapachula's Siglo XXI migration center on January 28, where deportees were given ten days to seek refugee status or leave Mexico. He later won permission to travel to Mexico City, where he applied for refugee status and launched a sports journalism platform while his wife, seven-year-old son, and ten-year-old daughter remain in Miami. As of September 2026, he remains in Mexico still awaiting resolution of his case, which is among roughly 20,000 third-country removals to Mexico carried out under the policy. "I need to find a way to guarantee stability for my family, for my kids," he said.

A viral video shows dozens of detainees held in overcrowded conditions at ICE's Baltimore Field Office without adequate beds, bathrooms, or hygiene products, with individuals held for up to 10 days in a short-term processing facility. Maryland lawmakers, including U.S. Senators and Representatives, have been denied or are awaiting permission to visit the facility to observe conditions firsthand. Detainees have reported allegations of beatings and inadequate food and medical care, and the footage has reignited concerns about detention conditions amid an ongoing federal lawsuit alleging constitutional violations.

Detainees at ICE's Broadview Detention Center filed a class action lawsuit on October 30, 2025, alleging subhuman conditions including insufficient food and water, extreme temperatures, poor sanitation, and abusive officers. One day later, on October 31, ICE reported that two weeks of surveillance footage from the facility, sought as evidence in the case, was lost in a system crash; government lawyers said they lacked resources to preserve it. By January 2026, the Department of Homeland Security shifted its explanation, filing court documents claiming the footage was never recorded in the first place rather than lost. DHS further argued the footage would be irrelevant because conditions at the facility have since improved.

Fong Khang, a Cambodian immigrant, was pardoned by the Minnesota Board of Pardons on January 20 for convictions from nearly 20 years ago. Less than 24 hours later, ICE detained him, threatening his ability to remain in the United States. The article also describes the case of Sithy Yi, a Cambodian genocide survivor and refugee, who was detained by ICE after 10 years of compliance with immigration instructions.

A federal lawsuit filed by Public Counsel, CHIRLA, Immigrant Defenders Law Center, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP challenges conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, alleging denied medical care, inadequate nutrition, unsanitary conditions, and retaliation against detainees who speak out. The lawsuit names four plaintiffs and references at least two deaths in custody, including that of Ismael Ayala-Uribe in September 2025. Detainees report untreated infections, denied seizure medication, disease outbreaks, and insufficient food and water.

A protest occurred Saturday at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley when detainees, including many children, demonstrated in solidarity with 5-year-old Liam Ramos who was taken into custody in Minnesota. Attorneys were ordered to leave the facility as approximately 80 percent of detainees poured into open areas chanting "Libertad" (Freedom). Detainees expressed concerns over the child's treatment and the circumstances of his apprehension from a car in his family's driveway.

Cecil Elvir-Quinonez, a 25-year-old Honduran national who has lived in the U.S. since 2014, was arrested on New Year's Eve 2025 after being stopped for speeding in Louisiana. She was separated from her two American-born children, including a five-month-old still breastfeeding at the time of arrest. While in ICE custody, Elvir-Quinonez discovered she was pregnant with her third child. She experienced heavy bleeding and cramps but received limited medical care beyond one emergency room visit. Her youngest child has been repeatedly sick since her arrest, and her five-year-old has developed new speech difficulties. Advocacy groups including the ACLU and National Immigration Project report that Elvir-Quinonez's case is part of a documented pattern: more than a dozen women have suffered medical neglect and mistreatment while pregnant in ICE custody, including cases of women shackled during miscarriages, denied prenatal care, and given inadequate nutrition. The advocacy coalition has urged ICE to release all pregnant detainees.

ICE agents detained five-year-old Liam Ramos and his father at their home in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, using the child as bait to gain entry despite the family having an active asylum case and no deportation order. Federal agents have detained children as young as four years old in ICE custody.

Francisco Gaspar Andrés, a 48-year-old Guatemalan immigrant, died on December 3, 2025, at The Hospitals of Providence East in El Paso after 93 days in ICE custody at Camp East Montana detention facility. He was arrested in Florida on September 1 and transferred to the facility on September 19, marking the first confirmed death there. His health deteriorated in mid-November with complications from alcoholic hepatic cirrhosis, low sodium levels, and kidney failure. He was hospitalized on November 16 and placed on dialysis and a liver transplant list before being pronounced dead on December 3. His daughter said during weekly phone calls he reported suffering from lack of food, lack of medical care, and terrible conditions, and stated: 'My dad was taken to the hospital when he was already dying, and it was too late.' Another detainee confirmed he had asked for help but did not receive it. His wife, Lucía Pedro Juan, was deported to Guatemala on November 28 before learning of his death. An immigration judge had ordered his removal on November 14, two days before his hospitalization. The El Paso County Medical Examiner attributed his death to natural causes stemming from advanced alcoholic liver cirrhosis with renal failure and internal bleeding, though conflicting reports indicate authorities also ruled it a homicide.

Ramiro Santiago Pacheco Martinez, a 53-year-old day laborer who has lived in Pomona, California for nearly two decades with no criminal record, was detained by Border Patrol/ICE agents on November 13, 2025 while waiting at a bus stop to get diabetes medication. He has serious health conditions including congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, diabetes, and a pacemaker, with a history of heart attacks. His daughter, Jax Santana, says he has not consistently received his medication while in custody at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, and according to community members, faith leaders, and advocates, he was denied heart medication for two weeks and required emergency heart surgery while detained. On January 21, 2026, community members rallied to demand his release, and the Pomona City Council subsequently passed a resolution calling on ICE to release him. Local, state, and federal lawmakers have written to the Department of Homeland Security seeking his release.

Andranik Grigoryan, a New York resident detained at Miami Correctional Facility in Indiana, suffered a severe seizure on January 22—his first in nearly a year—after correctional medical staff failed to provide his prescribed anti-seizure medication (Keppra), which he had relied on for years to control epilepsy. He hit his head during the seizure and was left lying in a pool of blood before being taken to a local hospital for treatment. Upon returning to the facility the same day, officers pepper-sprayed him through a cell port while he was still recovering from the seizure and had difficulty standing, causing intense burning and respiratory distress, then moved him to another cell without letting him wash off the spray. The ACLU of Indiana filed lawsuits on his behalf on July 27 against Centurion Health of Indiana and unidentified correctional officers, alleging 14th Amendment violations; the Indiana Department of Correction said it had no statement, and Centurion did not respond to a request for comment.

An Ecuadoran woman seeking asylum was detained at Cumberland County Jail in Portland for five months. In January, ICE transferred her to Massachusetts without court authorization and then to Louisiana via air transport, removing her epilepsy medication despite knowing of her condition. During transfer she was shackled without food or bathroom access, and suffered multiple seizures in Louisiana while receiving no medication for days. U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin found ICE made false and misleading statements to the court, unlawfully detained her without a bond hearing, and deliberately disregarded her medical needs. The judge ordered her released, barred re-arrest, and ordered the government to pay her legal fees of approximately $15,000.

The Bishop Henry Whipple Building in Fort Snelling, Minnesota, which currently serves as a major immigration enforcement processing center, is located on Bdóte, a Dakota creation site that in 1862 became a concentration camp imprisoning thousands of Dakota and Ho-Chunk people during the Dakota Indian Wars. Local residents first raised concerns about the building's use for immigration detainment in 2019. In early 2026, at least three Indigenous people—Jose Ramirez (Red Lake descendant), a Dakota woman, and reportedly four Lakota men—were detained at the building, with Ramirez held for six hours following a confrontation with immigration officials.

Armande Namegni, a 30-year-old Cameroonian asylum seeker, was detained by ICE on January 22, 2026, during a routine immigration check-in in St. Louis. Officers reported finding a pending shoplifting charge on her record. Namegni stated the charge was misattributed to her and should have been cleared. Officers stated it appeared in the court system. She was transported to Phelps County jail in Rolla and remained in custody awaiting her asylum hearing. She was denied bond.

Nasra Ahmed, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen born in Minnesota, was detained by ICE agents on January 15, 2026, after being caught in a parking lot during agents' pursuit of two other men. She says agents handcuffed her and forced her to the ground, causing cuts, bruises, and a head injury that led to a concussion. While held at Sherburne County Jail, Ahmed had a seizure and was taken to a hospital in shackles for an MRI. She says an officer used a racial slur against her during the encounter. Ahmed was released after two days without being charged. Minnesota Rep. Samakab Hussein held a press conference where Ahmed shared her account of the detention.

A man who has lived in the United States for eighteen years was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on January 20, 2026. ICE charged him with entering the United States without inspection. He is currently detained at the Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, Colorado. On April 2, 2026, he filed a Verified Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, requesting a bond hearing. The central dispute was whether his detention should be governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) (which provides for bond hearings) or § 1225(b)(2)(A) (which permits mandatory detention). On April 17, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado granted his habeas petition, finding that § 1226 applies to his case based on precedent from multiple similar cases. The court ordered respondents to provide him with a bond hearing under § 1226(a) within seven days, with the government bearing the burden of proving that his continued detention is justified.