Human Impact Project

Daniela lost her three-month pregnancy while in immigration detention custody. She was transferred between detention facilities across multiple U.S. states over nearly four months and reports she did not receive appropriate medical treatment for her pregnancy while detained.

On August 10, 2026, ICE agents detained at least 33 people across the Capital Region of New York, including Albany, Schenectady, and Colonie, in more than 15 separate incidents over roughly six hours. Among those detained was an Ecuadoran family of four — parents Kevin Ushiña and Veronica Saquillo and their children, ages 5 and 9 — who had lived in Albany for two years and had withdrawn from the asylum process the previous year over fears of detention at a check-in. The mother and children are being held at the Dilley Detention Center in Texas, while the father is held in a facility in western New York. Albany Mayor Dorcey Applyrs said she was “deeply unsettled” by the increased ICE activity and met with local advocacy coalitions supporting affected families.

Iliana Noeli Lick, 30, an Argentine national who legally entered the U.S. on a tourist visa and was awaiting an asylum interview with USCIS, was arrested by ICE at Philadelphia International Airport on July 11 while attempting to travel to Kansas City to watch the Argentina national team play in the World Cup quarterfinal. Lick has worked as a nanny caring for three young children in South Philadelphia for two years and has no criminal record. She was transferred between multiple ICE detention facilities in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico, where she was held with nine others in a small cell with one window and one toilet. After one month in custody, Lick was released on a $10,000 bond and required to surrender her passport and license and wear an ankle monitor. She is awaiting a court date to determine whether she will be deported or allowed to remain in the country.

A Ravenswood parent was detained by immigration in July in front of their family's home and transferred to an out-of-state detention facility. The family, facing constant stress and fear of ICE involvement, decided to self-deport together rather than pursue an uncertain legal path and risk lengthy detention. An attorney is representing the family through the self-deportation process to ensure they are treated fairly and arrive together in their destination country.

Jack Chung, a lawful permanent resident and asylee who fled China after participating in pro-democracy protests, was taken into ICE custody on August 8 following what his family describes as a retaliatory report from a business associate. Chung, a father of three including a newborn, was transferred through Washington State and Virginia before being detained at a facility in Natchez, Mississippi, thousands of miles from his wife and children in Alaska. His wife Mojo is now caring for their newborn and two young sons alone in Alaska without his income, and the family is raising money for legal representation to fight the detention.

Marco Uriel Rodriguez Hernandez, an immigration detainee, had won a finding that the government was unlawfully denying him a bond hearing. He was then transferred out of the privately run Aurora detention center to an unknown location and later found to be held in Texas. After his attorney, Skylar M. Larson, filed a new habeas petition, Colorado's Chief Federal Judge Daniel D. Domenico issued a temporary restraining order barring ICE from removing him, and the order was emailed to federal prosecutors. Despite this, ICE deported Rodriguez Hernandez to Mexico the following morning without allowing him to contact his attorney. Government attorneys said officials in Texas who carried out the removal were unaware of the court's order and said they 'greatly regret the error.' Domenico ordered the government to take all available steps to facilitate his return to the United States.

Eduardo Aguirre Esparza, a 53-year-old Mexican national and small business owner who has lived in the United States for over 20 years, was arrested by ICE on July 23, 2026, while working on a home remodeling project in West Seattle. Approximately 20 ICE agents in unmarked vehicles surrounded him, allegedly physically pushing him and threatening him when he refused to sign a voluntary departure form; he requested his lawyer instead. Without appearing before a judge or having contact with his attorney, Aguirre Esparza was transferred between multiple ICE facilities over three days and flown to El Paso, Texas, where he is detained at ERO El Paso Camp East Montana. His wife, Stacey Fitzpatrick, a U.S. citizen attorney, disputes ICE's claim that he has a 2005 DUI arrest from Kansas, noting he has never lived in Kansas and background checks show only a resolved 2015 traffic citation. Aguirre Esparza has a pending green card application and is married to a U.S. citizen with deep community ties. Community members organized rallies and fundraisers in West Seattle to raise awareness and support for his family, and Senator Patty Murray called the arrest "fundamentally wrong and un-American."

Brayan Omar Sánchez, a 26-year-old Honduran truck driver and owner of a pressure-washing and painting business who had lived in South Florida for nearly a decade after fleeing gang violence that killed his father and other family members, was detained by ICE agents on May 13 while heading to a job site. He was transferred through detention centers in Colorado, Arizona, California and Texas before being flown roughly 21 hours to Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, on July 30 along with five other men — Cuban nationals Omar Rodríguez, Arístides Fernández, Yasmany Moreno and Daniel Lázaro Fuente, and Ecuadorian Mauricio Alvarado. Sánchez said he never signed deportation paperwork, believed he had asylum protection and a court order preventing removal, and said an ICE officer threatened the group with violence the night before if they refused to board the plane. He described arriving with only $20, which was confiscated by customs, and said he and the others are being held at a hotel in Bangui fearing for their safety. Sánchez is asking the Honduran government and members of Congress to help secure his return to the United States.

Salvador Alvarenga Valle was arrested by ICE on July 17, 2026 while voluntarily appearing for a routine supervisory check-in, despite having lived in Tennessee's Middle District for 21 years and having no criminal record. He is married with two children and is the primary caretaker for one of his daughters, who has a life-threatening medical condition. A 2005 removal order against him had been vacated in 2024, and he has an active immigration case seeking relief under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act. After his arrest, ICE transferred him to a detention facility in Mason, Tennessee, denied him bond, and attempted to move him to Louisiana before an immigration judge in Memphis ultimately granted him bond of $1,500 on July 21, 2026.

A Guatemalan man who has lived in the United States since 2018 and works as a waiter in Baltimore, Maryland, was detained by ICE officials in Maryland on August 5, 2026. He was subsequently transferred to the Caroline Detention Center in Virginia, where he remained held for about three weeks. DHS classified him as an 'applicant for admission' under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(a), subjecting him to mandatory detention without bond under § 1225(b)(2). He filed a habeas corpus petition arguing this classification violated the Immigration and Nationality Act, his due process rights, and the Administrative Procedure Act, and sought release and a bond hearing. The federal court found that because he was already present in the U.S. rather than arriving at the border, his detention was governed by the discretionary detention provisions of § 1226(a). The court granted his petition, ordering his prompt release and a bond hearing before an Immigration Judge within 14 days, and enjoined the government from re-detaining him absent specified circumstances.

The Guardian's investigation found at least 10 cases since January 2025 in which ICE subjected detained immigrants to involuntary force-feeding through nasogastric tubes. Three cases are detailed: an Afghan man force-fed daily for nearly six months at Port Isabel in Texas starting September 2025, after a federal judge ordered the treatment eight days into his hunger strike without a hearing or his input; a Ukrainian man with severe bipolar disorder, whose attorney intervened to stop his force-feeding at Krome Service processing center in Miami after 44 days on hunger strike; and a Saudi Arabian woman who went on hunger strike in Louisiana in June 2025 and was transferred to Texas, where ICE sought permission to force-feed her before she broke her strike. A doctor overseeing the Afghan man's case described him as frail and using a wheelchair after months without food, said he was restrained by a use-of-force team during feedings, and called the continued treatment "medically necessary." In six of the 10 cases reviewed, detained immigrants lacked legal representation during court proceedings.

José Padilla, a 41-year-old car wash worker who had lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years, was detained by ICE on January 27, 2026 while working in Los Angeles, one of over 1,400 people detained in the LA area that month and among at least 373 car wash workers detained between June 2025 and January 2026. He was held in a downtown LA facility before being transferred to Adelanto and then California City Detention Facility, three hours from his Watts home. His wife, Alma Ramirez, described him as a present father who helped pay bills, did chores, and cared for their children — 17-year-old Alex, who has autism and relied on his father for daily bathing, homework help and school meetings, seven-year-old José Jr., and two-year-old Joaquin. The family struggled emotionally and financially in his absence, with two children starting therapy, while Padilla worked in the detention center kitchen to send money home. On August 4, 2026, he was released with help from the Immigrant Defenders Law Center and reunited with his family at Union Station; he continues fighting his immigration case, and the family has kept a GoFundMe open for legal fees.

Claudia Carolina Rodríguez Caglianone, a 28-year-old Venezuelan who entered the U.S. on a student visa in January 2017, was detained by ICE agents at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on July 17 after passing through TSA security while boarding a domestic flight. She had a pending asylum application and previously held Temporary Protected Status, and had earned bachelor's and master's degrees in business administration at St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, where she also captained the women's soccer team. She was held for eight days at the Miramar processing facility, describing overcrowding, moldy food, and lack of access to showers, before being transferred to the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach for nine more days, during which she lost about 15 pounds. On August 3, an immigration judge set bond at $5,000 and she was released; Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz publicly supported her and conducted an inspection of the Pompano Beach facility.

Claudia Rodríguez, a 29-year-old Venezuelan immigrant who earned her master's degree in business administration from St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, was detained by ICE at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in July while attempting to board a flight to North Carolina. Rodríguez arrived in the U.S. legally in 2017 on a tourist visa, applied for asylum within six months, and was granted Temporary Protected Status in 2023 while her asylum case remains pending. She was transferred between two South Florida detention facilities, spending eight days at the ICE office in Miramar in severely overcrowded conditions—sleeping on floors in a cell with 75 people, unable to shower or change clothes, and losing 15 pounds. Her cousin Gabriel Domínguez described her as an exemplary athlete with no criminal record. U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz visited the Miramar facility to advocate for her release, calling the detention "unacceptable." Rodríguez was released on Monday evening.

Luis Alberto Ramirez Zavala, a Chicago-area man who had spent most of his life working as a ranch hand in rural Illinois, was detained by ICE during a routine appointment with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Missouri on July 18, 2026, regarding his pending application for legal status. He had no criminal record and had been following the immigration process for years to adjust his status. Ramirez Zavala was detained based on a removal order issued more than 30 years ago. He was transferred from a county jail in Missouri to an ICE detention facility in Texas and deported to Mexico approximately two weeks after his arrest. His daughter, Air Force Tech. Sgt. Wendy Gbeve, was present at his USCIS appointment and has been advocating for his release. Ramirez Zavala was married for 30 years to a legal permanent resident. His family expressed being heartbroken by the separation and sought funds for legal defense and support.

A crew of five Ecuadorian roofers, several of whom had come to the U.S. during the Biden administration to seek asylum and were still in that process, were driving to a job site in Vermont when they were pulled over and detained by ICE agents. All five were transported to a detention center out of state, but with legal help they secured bond hearings before an immigration judge and were ultimately released.

Diana Rodríguez Pardo and Jairo Alzate Elejalde, a Colombian couple with Spanish citizenship, were detained by ICE agents immediately after landing at Las Vegas International Airport, where they had traveled from California to celebrate a birthday. The couple had entered the U.S. legally about two years earlier under a visa waiver program and later filed for asylum before their 90-day authorization expired. They were separated and sent to different detention facilities—Jairo remained in Nevada while Diana was transferred first to Arizona and then to Denver, Colorado. Their two children, ages 8 and 16, are now being cared for by relatives, and the family is seeking an immigration attorney and raising funds to cover legal costs while pursuing a possible bail release.

A man who was granted voluntary departure by an immigration judge in 2017 but never left the country, causing that order to automatically convert into a final removal order under federal law. In June 2025, he was detained after law enforcement executed a search warrant at his place of employment, and he was held for nearly a year at the Montgomery Municipal Jail under a material witness warrant. On May 22, 2026, a magistrate judge dismissed the material witness warrant and ordered his release, but he was not released and remained in custody for reasons unknown to the court. He filed a federal habeas corpus petition on July 31, 2026, seeking release or a bond hearing before an immigration judge. Respondents indicated that ICE had only lodged a detainer at the time the petition was filed and did not take physical custody of him until August 4, 2026, after which he was transferred to a facility within the Northern District of Alabama. The court dismissed the petition without prejudice, finding both that Petitioner failed to comply with a show-cause order and that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction because he was not in ICE custody at the time of filing, noting jurisdiction now lies only in the district of his current confinement.

A man was detained by ICE in Fairbanks, Alaska on July 31, 2026, despite being in the United States legally and actively working toward permanent resident status. His sister describes him as hardworking and honest, someone who pays taxes, works steadily, and helps support their mother and his grandchildren. Within 24 hours of his detention in Fairbanks, he was transferred to Anchorage; his family fears further transfers out of state will make it increasingly difficult for them to communicate with him, secure legal representation, and advocate for his rights. The family is raising funds to cover immigration attorney fees, legal filings, travel, and communication costs necessary to fight for his release.

A Honduran citizen who entered the United States through the southern border in 2021 and was briefly detained by ICE before being released. He subsequently settled in New Jersey. On July 31, 2026, ICE apprehended him in Pottsville, Pennsylvania and detained him at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia. On August 6, 2026, ICE transferred him to Moshannon Valley Processing Center and detained him under Section 1225 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which provides for mandatory detention. He filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention. The federal court granted his petition, holding that Section 1226(a)—not Section 1225(b)(2)—governs the detention of noncitizens who have entered without admission but have long resided in the interior. The court ordered his immediate release and a temporary seven-day enjoinder against re-detention. If the government seeks to re-detain him after that period, it must first provide him with a bond hearing before an immigration judge.