Human Impact Project

Erick Pena, a 29-year-old from Honduras who came to the U.S. as a child, was detained by ICE in October while on his way to work. He had an approved petition for permanent residency through his U.S. citizen wife. After three months in ICE custody, he was released on bond while his deportation case is pending. His wife Synthea, a U.S. citizen, started a GoFundMe to cover legal fees and government costs as they pursue a hardship waiver.

Maikol Carreno, a 24-year-old Venezuelan barber in Yuma, Arizona, was detained by ICE agents while giving a haircut at Stay Faded Barbershop. Carreno, who arrived in the U.S. in 2023 seeking asylum, has been married to his U.S. citizen wife since March and was transferred to Eloy Detention Center; his asylum case has not yet advanced. His wife, who is close to giving birth to their first child, says it took days to locate and speak with him, and the family has started a fundraising campaign to cover legal costs. The barbershop's owner says Carreno's job and clients will be waiting for his return.

Maria, 39, who came to El Paso from Ciudad Juárez on a visitor visa fleeing violence targeting her husband, a Mexican doctor now a naturalized U.S. citizen, was detained on Sept. 9, 2025, immediately after an immigration judge ordered her deportation at a hearing. About seven plainclothes, masked agents handcuffed her outside the courtroom and took her to the El Paso Processing Service Center, where she remained detained through Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. She was released Jan. 20, 2026, with an ankle monitor, and said she and her four U.S.-born children underwent family therapy after the ordeal.

D.A., a political activist who was violently attacked in Nigeria and is married to a U.S. citizen, was granted protection from removal to Nigeria in June after a judge found he faced persecution there. He says ICE agents beat him when he refused to board a military cargo plane bound for Ghana, where he was flown with a dozen other West African men and women. After more than two weeks in Ghana's Dema Camp, where deportees faced heat, mosquitoes and unsanitary conditions, he was sent to Togo without travel documents and is now staying in a hotel room with other deportees, relying on money sent by his family in the United States.

Joseluis Ramirez, who moved to the U.S. from Mexico as a teenager and has lived in the country for roughly two decades, was stopped and detained by ICE while driving to work in Wapato, Washington on Aug. 31, after several vehicles blocked him at a stop sign. Ramirez has no criminal record and had worked at the same fruit company for 15 years, serving as the sole provider for his wife Vanessa Jimenez and her five children, all U.S. citizens, including a stepson, Evan Frias, who calls him 'dad.' Days before his arrest, Jimenez had confronted and filmed ICE agents outside the Yakima County jail and at the Yakima Municipal Court, and she suspects agents used a photo of her vehicle or license plate data to track down her husband. Agents reportedly encouraged Ramirez to sign self-deportation papers, which he declined. His bond request was later denied, and his family has filed a habeas corpus petition and started a GoFundMe to cover legal fees and household expenses while caring for two children with developmental delays and managing Jimenez's own disabling injury.

Francisco Hernandez-Corona, an undocumented immigrant who had lived in the U.S. for most of his life, self-deported to Mexico. He was married to a U.S. citizen, but a permanent bar from a childhood unauthorized entry prevented him from adjusting his status while in the country, leaving him with no legal pathway to remain.

Charlotte, a U.S. citizen from California, says her husband, who is from Afghanistan and arrived in the U.S. in 2016 on a valid student visa, has been detained at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania for over a year and a half. In early 2025, while visiting family in Maryland, he was pulled over by a sheriff in West Virginia and arrested without a stated reason, then transferred to ICE detention. He had a REAL ID driver's license and a work permit valid until 2029, and he and Charlotte have a young son, JJ, who was diagnosed with ADHD and autism and was very close to his father. Charlotte sold her belongings and moved to Maryland to be closer to him, and says ICE has not allowed him to sign voluntary departure paperwork to self-deport.

Armelle Bondonga Bradshaw, who came to the United States from the Democratic Republic of Congo at age 9, was detained by ICE during her final green card interview on Aug. 12. She had married U.S. citizen Terrance Bradshaw, whom she met online in 2022, after her family's asylum case was denied, and her marriage-based petition had been approved by USCIS. The couple had held a traditional Congolese engagement ceremony blessed by both families in May 2025 and attended premarital counseling through their church. Officers separated her from her husband and 19-month-old son in the interview lobby, placed her in handcuffs, and she has no criminal history, leaving Terrance to care for their child while Armelle remains detained in an Indiana jail.

Geovani Maradiaga Ochoa, a Honduran immigrant who lived in the Bronx for 20 years with a U.S. citizen wife and daughter, was arrested at an ICE check-in and detained at 26 Federal Plaza for six days without access to shower or toothbrush. He stated he felt mistreated during detention. His sworn affidavit is part of a lawsuit by Make the Road New York, the NYCLU, and ACLU seeking to improve conditions at the facility.

Orlais Lores Mayeta, a Cuban national, was detained by federal officers near his home in Stockbridge, Georgia on August 2, and is being held at the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia. His wife, Kayla Lores Mayeta, a U.S. citizen who is five months pregnant, says the detention stems from a paperwork error in which their attorney submitted his Cuban Adjustment Act application to USCIS instead of the immigration court, despite his open immigration case. An immigration judge denied him bail, and his final hearing is set for September 30. Kayla says the detention has left her covering household, pregnancy, and legal expenses alone, and the family has launched a fundraising campaign for support.

A man in his mid-30s who came to Huron as a teenager without legal status was detained by ICE outside his home in August 2025 and subsequently deported to Guatemala. His wife, a U.S. citizen, and their two children (ages 2 and 9) were left behind. The family had consulted multiple lawyers about obtaining legal status for him but found no feasible options under current law. The man now lives with his parents in Guatemala while his family struggles financially and emotionally in South Dakota.

Juan José Estrada Lopez, a 42-year-old Nicaraguan national working on a Kona coffee farm, was detained by ICE agents in August 2025 during a green card interview and held at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu for over five months without charges or bond. He had entered the U.S. in 2022 and was married to a U.S. citizen, Emily Estrada, who sought assistance from the ACLU of Hawaii after private attorneys quoted expensive fees. Lopez was released on January 27, 2026, after an immigration court granted him a green card and lawful permanent resident status, with the government waiving its right to appeal.

Gloria Barazone, a 46-year-old Colombian national married to U.S. citizen Mounque 'Monk' Barazone, was arrested by ICE on July 30 at Newark Liberty International Airport while traveling from New Jersey to Miami. She had entered the U.S. on a tourist visa and had a pending green card application, work authorization request, and Social Security number application after nearly three years navigating the immigration process with her husband, whom he described as a former airport security chief and polygraph examiner in Medellín, Colombia. ICE said she had overstayed her authorized stay, which ended July 17. She was held in New Jersey before being transferred to Louisiana and then the South Texas ICE Processing Center, with her husband saying the transfers disrupted legal efforts and increased the family's legal costs. Mounque Barazone, 77, said he is partially disabled with worsening heart problems, is postponing surgeries, and is pledging his Social Security payments toward her legal defense. He said Republican lawmakers he contacted for help told him they needed consent forms from her to intervene, and he said he does not regret voting for Trump despite his wife's detention.

Carlos Martín Gonzalez, 26, and his older brother Óscar Alejandro Gonzalez, 30, were detained on July 7 after Carlos was pulled over by Florida Highway Patrol in Orlando for a traffic violation (tinted windows and invalid registration). Óscar Alejandro, who was visiting on a valid tourist visa and married to a U.S. citizen, was also detained under unclear circumstances when he arrived to help his brother. Carlos had legally entered on a tourist visa following their mother's death in October. After three days in county jail, both brothers were transferred to the Everglades immigration detention center, known as "Alligator Alcatraz." Their father, Martín Gonzalez, reported that the facility's conditions were inhumane—constant artificial lighting made it impossible to distinguish day from night—and that the brothers were held without case numbers or legal representation, unable to access their lawyer or consulate staff. Mexican consular officials warned of potential civil rights violations. After approximately 20 days in detention, both brothers were released without being charged with any crime and returned to Mexico through diplomatic intervention by Mexican consulates in Orlando and Miami, working with immigration attorneys and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Mahdi Khanbabazadeh, a 38-year-old Iranian chiropractor, was detained by ICE on July 15, 2025, while dropping his child off at Guidepost Montessori School in Beaverton, Oregon. Video footage shows Khanbabazadeh pleading with ICE agents to allow his child to exit the car before his arrest. After he stopped cooperating, ICE officers broke his car window to take him into custody. Khanbabazadeh entered the U.S. on a student visa; ICE claims he overstayed it, while his family states he is married to a U.S. citizen and has already applied and interviewed for a green card. He is currently held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington. His detention occurred as part of a broader surge in ICE arrests of Iranian immigrants under the Trump administration.

Rami Othmane, a 36-year-old Tunisian man married to Dr. Wafaa Alrashid, chief medical officer at Pasadena's Huntington Hospital, was arrested by ICE agents on July 13 while driving to a grocery store in Pasadena. Alrashid witnessed the arrest over FaceTime and followed his location by car. He was held for 13 days at the downtown L.A. ICE facility despite a settlement requiring detainees be held no more than 12 hours, describing conditions including an open toilet, concrete floor sleeping, no toothbrush, minimal food, and extreme cold while suffering from a brain tumor. Othmane has lived in the U.S. since 2015; his prior deportation order was dismissed in 2020, and he and Alrashid married in March 2025 and filed for a green card. After his transfer to an Arizona detention center and 13 additional days there, he was released on bail with an ankle monitor.

Ward Sakeik, a 22-year-old stateless Palestinian woman married to a U.S. citizen, was released from ICE detention on July 2, 2025, after being detained for nearly five months starting in February when she returned from her honeymoon. Sakeik, who has lived in the U.S. since age 8, was arrested at St. Thomas Airport in the U.S. Virgin Islands while under an order of supervision and with a green card application pending. The government attempted to deport her twice, including once while a federal court order was in place, before releasing her.

Army Sgt. Hedar Leonel Turcios Juárez's wife, Cristy Maryori Villafranca Trejo, was detained outside a Walmart near Fort Bliss, Texas in July 2025 after missing an immigration court appearance, with the couple's 6-year-old daughter present. She has since been held at Camp East Montana, a detention facility on Fort Bliss, where Turcios said she developed an infection and went about a week without clean clothing. In August 2026, authorities attempted to deport her but removed her from the flight after a legal appeal was raised; Turcios said neither he nor his lawyer have received updates on her case from immigration officials.

A client of attorney George Rios was detained in July 2025 during a scheduled green card interview at the Fresno USCIS office. The client arrived with his wife, a U.S. citizen, but she was asked to step into the waiting area before ICE agents detained him. He was driven across the border at age four and presented himself to immigration officials, which counted as legal entry. Rios believes the real reason for detention was the client's criminal history, though the client has no criminal convictions and has been in the U.S. for at least 10 years, maintained good moral character, and is eligible for his green card. He is currently detained at a McFarland detention facility. His wife is a U.S. citizen, and his youngest child is less than a year old. Rios must prove several requirements at a hearing to give his client a chance to stay in the country, arguing that deportation would cause extreme hardship on his wife and children.

An Iranian national and his U.S. citizen wife pleaded guilty following a June 21, 2025 confrontation with ICE agents at their Tempe home. Mehrzad Asadi Eidivand pleaded guilty to being an immigrant in possession of firearms and ammunition, while his wife, Linet Vartaniann, pleaded guilty to threatening a federal law enforcement officer. A federal grand jury had indicted the couple on June 24 on these charges after ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers arrived to arrest Eidivand for failing to comply with a 2013 removal order he had unsuccessfully challenged before the Board of Immigration Appeals on several occasions. When officers arrived, Vartaniann refused to open the door, called Tempe police, and threatened to shoot anyone who entered the home; a search warrant executed the next day by ICE Homeland Security Investigations and ERO found two loaded firearms inside. Both face potential prison sentences at their November sentencing hearing.