Human Impact Project

Juan José Ramos Ramos, a 39-year-old former telephone technician from Venezuela, was detained during an ICE appointment and deported to El Salvador's CECOT prison on March 15, 2025, under the Alien Enemies Act. The Trump administration alleged he was a Tren de Aragua gang member, but he was detected by immigration agents riding in a car with a Venezuela sticker. During his four months in CECOT, he said he endured severe beatings, humiliation, and psychological abuse, and told reporters he had wanted to end his life rather than continue enduring the conditions. He was released as part of a three-country deal in July 2025 that freed 238 Venezuelan men from the prison, and returned to Venezuela on July 18, 2025. A review of government data by ProPublica, the Texas Tribune and Venezuelan journalists found that at least 197 of the released men, including Ramos, had no criminal convictions in the U.S.

Yoderlyn Daviana Acosta Peña, a 21-year-old Venezuelan migrant living and working in Chicago, was arrested in February 2025 on suspicion of gang membership in Tren de Aragua based on subjective criteria including tattoos. On March 15, 2025, while being deported via charter plane, an ICE officer physically assaulted her, grabbing her by the hair and punching her in the face. She was deported to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act without due process.

Fabian Schmidt, a German-born electrical engineer and green card holder who was detained by CBP officers at Boston Logan Airport on March 7, 2025, and interrogated for days before being transferred to ICE custody at the Donald W. Wyatt detention facility in Rhode Island, was held for a total of two months before his release. He now lives in Nashua, New Hampshire, where he has married his partner, Bhavani Hodgkins, with whom he has an 8-year-old daughter. Schmidt is paying roughly $60,000 in legal fees and related costs stemming from his detention, and says he is pursuing U.S. citizenship and writing a book about his experience. The German embassy had previously confirmed it was in close contact with U.S. authorities and the family during his detention.

Border Patrol agent Shane Millan pleaded guilty in federal court to telling multiple women to expose their breasts during virtual interviews as a condition for entering the United States. Millan admitted to sexually coercing at least four women during interviews in August 2023, falsely claiming the exposure was part of a legitimate search. He faces up to two years in prison and a $200,000 fine at his July 7 sentencing.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent, Andrew Josiah Segura, was charged with assault and evidence tampering following an incident on February 19, 2025, in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. The charges allege he assaulted a handcuffed detainee and physically threatened CBP employees while performing official duties.

Tarlis Marcone De Barros Gonçalves, a transgender asylum seeker from Brazil who fled threats to her life, entered the U.S. near El Paso on February 15, 2025, and was detained at the Otero County Processing Center before being flown to a U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. In a declaration filed as part of the lawsuit Espinoza Escalona v. Noem—brought by the ACLU, Center for Constitutional Rights, and International Refugee Assistance Project to stop ICE from sending immigrants to Guantánamo—she said she was housed with five men despite objecting, searched by male guards, allowed outside only 25 minutes a day, and given just one set of clothes with little food. She said guards communicated only in English, which she does not speak, and that she had no privacy using the bathroom or showering. She was later transferred to an ICE facility in Pine Prairie, Louisiana, where agents shackled her so tightly during the flight that she was in pain for days afterward.

US officials kept approximately 100 deported Indian migrants in shackles for a 40-hour flight back to India, including during bathroom breaks and a refueling stop in Guam. The deportees reported being treated harshly and kept in shackles throughout the journey. Indian lawmakers protested in parliament and opposition parties burned Trump effigies. The incident occurred days before an expected visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House.

ICE, DEA, and FBI conducted a raid on Cedar Run Apartments on February 5, 2025, using battering rams and flashbangs to breach units while searching for drug traffickers and targeting migrant families from Venezuela, Colombia, Haiti, and Central America. The operation relied on approximately two dozen administrative warrants and two judicial warrants, but residents reported not being shown or given copies of warrants, raising Fourth Amendment questions about forced entry procedures. Legal experts disputed whether administrative warrants authorize forced entry, while some officials defended the federal agencies' actions as lawful.

Alfonso Garcia Vega, a 61-year-old man with health issues including a possible brain tumor, was arrested by ICE agents in a Sunnyslope neighborhood raid on Sunday. ICE deployed an armored truck with a battering ram, at least 12 unmarked vehicles, flash-bang grenades, and dozens of armed agents to arrest him. His son Marco Garcia stated that ICE officers showed his father a picture of a man named Alfonso, but it was not him, and that his father called from an ICE detention center saying the photo did not match his identity. Garcia said his father has multiple health issues and is seeking a diagnosis for a possible tumor. Neighbors described the operation as overly aggressive for a single elderly man.

Brazil's government responded after 88 of its nationals arrived in the country handcuffed following their deportation from the United States. The Brazilian government called the treatment degrading and a flagrant disregard for fundamental rights and demanded an explanation from Washington. Colombia announced it would not allow US deportation flights to land in the country, turning away military aircraft carrying deported migrants.

Brazilian migrants deported from the United States arrived at Belo Horizonte International Airport on January 25, 2025, reporting abuse, threats, and degrading treatment by U.S. immigration agents during their deportation flight. The deportees reported they were handcuffed for 50 hours without air conditioning, subjected to poor conditions, and opened an emergency door to alert Brazilian authorities. The Brazilian government requested explanations from the Trump administration regarding the treatment of the passengers.

Minneapolis rapper Nur-D was arrested by federal agents on January 24 while participating in protests. The arrest occurred following the shooting death of Alex Pretti by U.S. Border Patrol agents. Nur-D says he was hit by a projectile, thrown to the ground, and arrested for allegedly assaulting a federal officer. He is pursuing legal action against the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, and U.S. Border Patrol.

A volunteer with Carpinteria Sin Fronteras was pepper-sprayed by an ICE agent on January 14 while observing and recording ICE vehicle stops from a public sidewalk. Video footage shows the agent deploying spray toward the volunteer, who was filming the encounter. The confrontation included a heated verbal exchange in which the agent stated that interfering with enforcement is a felony. No arrest was made, though the agent threatened federal charges against the volunteer.

A Brazilian man was caught up in a fight between detainees in the Krome canteen in late January. Staff took him outside and beat him. One guard choked him; when he bit in self-defense, another yanked his arm backwards, causing a serious injury. He was denied a sling and given only basic pain medication for a few days. In late March or early April, he sustained knee injuries during recreation. Despite visible swelling and signs of infection, he was denied timely care. By the time he was hospitalized, staff had to drain fluid from both knees. Hospital staff told him any further delay could have resulted in amputation. He required a wheelchair but was assigned to a top bunk at FDC despite repeated requests to be moved.

In January 2025, agents held a 21-year-old U.S. citizen at gunpoint and handcuffed him during an immigration raid at the Philadelphia car wash where he worked.

An unnamed migrant who returned to a mountain town in Michoacán took a job managing a cattle herd for a local rancher. The rancher had not obtained required vetting and approval from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel before hiring the outsider. Upon discovering the unauthorized employment, sicarios arrived at the migrant's home and fired multiple rounds of bullets into the building. The worker fled out the back door as gunmen stormed in, losing all his possessions. He subsequently went into hiding in Michoacán's capital.