Human Impact Project

Heidy Sánchez, a 44-year-old Cuban immigrant and home health aide who arrived in the U.S. in 2019, was detained by ICE on April 22, 2025, during what she believed was a routine check-in appointment at the Tampa office while nursing her one-year-old daughter, a U.S. citizen born prematurely with seizures. She was handcuffed and separated from her child as her husband, Carlos Yuniel Valle, a U.S. citizen who owns a landscaping company, heard her screaming. Two days later, Sánchez was deported to Cuba on a flight with 81 other migrants, arriving without a passport, identification, or documentation explaining her removal. She had no criminal record, held a social security card and driver's license, paid taxes, and was complying with her ICE supervision order. Her daughter, distressed by the separation, refused to eat. From Cuba, Sánchez has recorded tearful video pleas to President Trump and searches for internet access up to ten times daily to video call her daughter. U.S. Representatives María Elvira Salazar and Kathy Castor have called for her reunification, with Castor filing a humanitarian parole request. DHS disputed her account, claiming she was offered the choice to take her child or place her with a relative. Eight months later, Sánchez remains separated from her daughter and husband.

Doris Flores and her husband were taken into immigration detention from their trailer home in Lakeland, Florida, one night in January, leaving their 4-month-old daughter Briany, a U.S. citizen, and her 8-year-old half-sister Briana without a caregiver. Flores turned to the family's pastor, the Rev. Israel Vázquez, and his wife, also a pastor at their Pentecostal church, who took in the girls rather than see them placed in foster care. A ProPublica analysis found the Trump administration has detained the parents of more than 11,000 U.S. citizen children and has deported mothers of U.S. citizens at four times the rate of the previous administration.

Anabell, a 35-year-old Nicaraguan asylum seeker with three children who came to the U.S. in 2022 and worked in food service in Milwaukee, was detained by ICE during a mandated check-in and held at Campbell County Detention Center in Kentucky. She learned she was pregnant during intake but says she received no prenatal vitamins, blood test, ultrasound, or doctor visit, and was also required to carry heavy items. In late March, after experiencing heavy vaginal bleeding, severe abdominal pain, cramping and numbness, she submitted a written plea for help and was hospitalized for a suspected miscarriage, but was later told she was not pregnant and that her hormone levels did not support that conclusion, leaving her unclear on what happened to her pregnancy. She has continued to experience pain, vomiting and hair loss without follow-up care. Democratic Reps. Delia Ramirez and Gwen Moore visited her at the detention center and, along with her attorney, have been unable to obtain her medical records despite repeated requests, and are pushing for her release. DHS has reported nearly 500 pregnant, nursing or postpartum detainees between January 2025 and mid-February 2026, including 16 reported miscarriages, a count that would not include Anabell's case.

Usiel Sanchez Romero, an Omaha contracting business owner who came to the United States without authorization in 2013, was detained by ICE during a traffic stop on March 21, 2026. Romero, who has no criminal record and is married with an 8-year-old son, has operated his contracting business for seven years. Following his detention, he was taken to Pottawattamie County Jail and held without a bond hearing. Romero is suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Pottawattamie County, seeking either his release from custody or a bond hearing in immigration court.

Women detained at Baker County Detention Center in Florida have shared a video describing poor living conditions while awaiting immigration processing. They allege inadequate access to hygiene supplies, broken clothing, moldy food, and substandard bedding including mattresses made of insulation. One woman claims to have been transferred through over 30 facilities in a month and often slept on floors.

Misslenys Hernandez Zabala, a Venezuelan asylum seeker with a valid work permit and Social Security number, was detained by ICE on March 20, 2026, after dropping her 10-month-old son, Maximiliano, off with his nanny on her way to work in Nashville. She also has a 12-year-old daughter and cares for a 9-year-old niece, and she and her partner, Maximiliano's father, say they had been under surveillance before her arrest and have received no reason for her detention. The family came to the U.S. in 2021 seeking asylum and has attended all required court dates, with their next hearing scheduled for 2028. Advocates brought the baby to DHS offices requesting her release as a breastfeeding mother, but ICE refused, amid reports that ICE has deported 363 pregnant, postpartum, or nursing women in the past 13 months.

Amanda Ungaro, a 41-year-old Brazilian former model who had lived in the U.S. for over two decades, was arrested in June 2025 on fraud charges tied to unlicensed cosmetic procedures at a Florida wellness center. She was held for roughly three and a half months at ICE facilities in Miami and Louisiana before being deported to Brazil in October 2025. Ungaro alleges her ex-partner Paolo Zampolli, a Trump associate and presidential special envoy and the father of their teenage son, contacted senior ICE official David Venturella to ensure she was detained and removed amid a bitter child custody dispute. Zampolli and the Department of Homeland Security denied the allegations, with DHS saying her removal was based on a visa overstay and the fraud charges. An arrest warrant remains open should she return to the United States.

Jiaye You, a fourth-year Chinese-American student at University at Buffalo, was arrested by ICE after attending a routine immigration hearing in New York City and is currently held at Jackson Parish Correctional Center in Louisiana. The reason for his detention remains unclear. His professor has launched a GoFundMe campaign that has raised over $24,000 for legal fees, and the university has expressed support for his case.

Raúl Tapia, a Mexican immigrant who has lived in the United States for about 25 years, was detained by ICE agents while driving to work with his son near their home in Georgetown, Delaware. According to his family, three unmarked black trucks surrounded their van at a stop sign, and six masked agents broke the van's windows and forcibly removed Raúl without presenting a warrant. His son Dante said agents questioned him about his birthplace before releasing him and detaining his father. Delaware court records show Raúl has no criminal history, and his wife Beth said the family had recently begun working with a new attorney to resolve his immigration status. He is being held in a detention center in Philadelphia and is expected to be transferred to Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania, with an immigration hearing scheduled. Community organizations including La Esperanza and the ACLU of Delaware raised concerns about the warrantless stop and tactics used.

Alvaro Velasquez, a high school senior at Roosevelt Schools in Nassau County, New York, was detained by ICE in May 2025 weeks before graduation. He was held at a detention center in Texas for several months before self-deporting to Guatemala. Superintendent Dr. Shawn Wightman traveled to Guatemala at his own expense to deliver Velasquez's cap, gown, and diploma in person after being denied access to him at the detention facility.

A Venezuelan man with a U.S. citizen son was detained at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, despite having been previously released by ICE. Court records indicate ICE reassessed his tattoos as a basis for re-detention. He was among at least 16 asylum seekers released by federal court order after successful litigation challenging their detention.

A former career public servant from Afghanistan who fled violence and was granted work authorization to work as a supermarket cashier and Uber driver was among at least 16 asylum seekers detained at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, and later released by federal court order. The detention was based on alleged violations of the Intensive Supervision Appearance program.

Jefferson Fernando Cando Llano, 29, a father of a 6-year-old boy seeking asylum from Ecuador, was detained by masked Border Patrol agents in unmarked vehicles at a laundromat parking lot in Browne's Addition, Spokane on March 8. Cando Llano came to Spokane three years ago with his wife to escape trauma and violence in Ecuador and has an open asylum case with no criminal record. Friends who witnessed the encounter could not identify the agents and filed a missing persons report with Spokane police, fearing a kidnapping. Cando Llano was held for 10 days at Kootenai County Jail before being released after his attorney filed an appeal against a removal order issued by an immigration judge. The incident raised concerns among local police about the use of unmarked vehicles and masks by federal agents in immigration enforcement operations.

San Diego County's Immigrant Legal Defense Program, which provides free legal counsel to detained immigrants and unaccompanied minors, faces significant funding gaps as costs are expected to reach $13.4-$18 million annually while the budget remains at $5 million. The increased demand is driven by a nearly 200% increase in detention levels at the Otay Mesa Detention Center under the Trump administration. Without additional funding from philanthropic and state sources, the program may be unable to maintain current service levels.

Leqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old Palestinian woman who has lived in Paterson, New Jersey since 2016, was released from ICE detention after a year in custody. She was detained in March 2025 during a voluntary check-in at the Newark ICE office and transferred to Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. Her detention followed her participation in a 2024 pro-Palestinian protest outside Columbia University, prompted after Israel killed relatives of hers in Gaza; charges from that arrest were later dismissed and sealed. At the time of her detention, she had a pending green card application through her U.S. citizen mother and a pending asylum application. In February 2026, she suffered a seizure and was hospitalized for three days, during which she remained shackled to her bed and was prevented from contacting family or attorneys; she also reported dizziness, fainting, weight loss, and cited overcrowded conditions and inadequate food at the facility. An immigration judge ordered her released on bond, citing minimal flight risk and serious medical concerns, and the government did not appeal. Her attorneys contend she was targeted for her pro-Palestine advocacy.

An unidentified mother, who asked not to be named out of fear of retaliation, spent more than two months detained at the Dilley family detention center with her 3-year-old son. She described a long line for medication when her son had a fever and recounted asking staff what would happen if a child began convulsing, saying she was told they would need to wait for an ambulance. She said she saw other very sick children at the facility during her detention.

Aury Cadena, a single mother who arrived in the U.S. from Venezuela in 2023 seeking asylum, was arrested by ICE in December during a scheduled check-in appointment she had never missed. She and her three children, ages 10, 8 and 7, were held for 50 days at the Dilley family detention center in South Texas, despite a court-set 20-day limit for children in detention. Cadena said her children asked her what they had done wrong, and described long waits outdoors at night to get medication when her kids had fevers. She and her children were released after a federal judge allowed ICE to track her with an ankle monitor while her deportation case continues, and the family has returned home to San Antonio, where the children are back in school and she cleans apartments to support them.

Vilma Bautista Torres and her 9-year-old son Kenek, who has Level 3 autism, were detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center for more than 80 days despite a federal settlement limiting child detention to 20 days. During detention, Kenek lost access to specialized therapy and schooling, experienced frequent meltdowns, self-harm episodes, and became increasingly disoriented and afraid. After a pro bono law clinic filed a parole request documenting his autism diagnosis and self-harm, ICE released the family with an ankle monitor.

Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, 41, an Afghan national who worked alongside U.S. Army Special Forces in Paktika province starting in 2005, died in ICE custody at Dallas' Parkland Memorial Hospital shortly after his arrest. ICE agents arrested him outside his Richardson, Texas home on March 13, 2026, while he was driving his children to school; his wife's attempt to hand him his inhaler was reportedly rejected by agents. Paktiawal, who evacuated to the U.S. in 2021 after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan and held humanitarian parole valid through 2029 with a pending asylum application, called his brother Naseer that evening saying he couldn't breathe and was shaking and sweating. Hospital staff later found severe tongue swelling and administered epinephrine, but he was pronounced dead shortly after. The Dallas County Medical Examiner ruled the death accidental, caused by anaphylaxis from an adverse drug reaction to an unidentified substance that exacerbated his asthma. DHS said he had been arrested over alleged SNAP fraud and theft, though no charges were filed. His family and advocacy groups are demanding release of the full autopsy report, with his brother asking, "If they know he is going through pain and he is asking for someone to help, what were they waiting for? The last breath?"

ICE agents arrested an undocumented father while he was taking his 15-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter, both U.S. citizens, to school in New Jersey. According to witnesses and the family, agents asked the boy to call a relative but drove away before anyone arrived, leaving the two minors unattended on the roadside. The incident violates ICE policy and DHS directives requiring agents to remain on scene until a third party assumes physical custody of minor children.