Human Impact Project

A 25-year-old Australian woman and former New South Wales police officer was detained by U.S. border officials at Honolulu's airport in May 2025 while visiting her husband, a U.S. Army lieutenant stationed on Oahu. It was her third visit since their December 2024 wedding. During secondary inspection, officers questioned her about her tattoos and the legitimacy of her marriage, then subjected her to fingerprinting, a DNA swab, and a strip and body cavity search before holding her overnight and deporting her to Australia.

Marie Ange Blaise, a 44-year-old Haitian woman, died on April 25, 2025, at Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, Florida, after spending more than 10 weeks in ICE custody. She had been detained since mid-February after being stopped at an airport in Saint Croix, Virgin Islands without a valid immigrant visa, and was transferred through multiple facilities including San Juan, Krome North Processing Center in Miami, and a Louisiana facility. According to fellow detainees, Blaise experienced what appeared to be a seizure while in a kneeling position. When other women began screaming for help, guards ignored their pleas. One officer approached, looked at Blaise without intervening, and walked away. It took approximately eight minutes for a medical provider to arrive and another 15 to 20 minutes for a rescue team. She was pronounced dead shortly after. Following her death, facility staff told the women to stop making comments about what they had witnessed.

Cliona Ward, a 54-year-old Irish national who has legally resided in the United States for approximately 40 years, was detained by ICE after returning from a trip to Ireland where she visited her ill father. Ward, a green card holder, was questioned about criminal convictions from 2003-2008 related to drug possession charges. She claims these convictions were expunged. Ward is being held in an ICE facility in Tacoma, Washington, and is scheduled to appear before an immigration judge in Seattle to argue her case.

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.

Issa Salma Baouna, a 49-year-old green-card holder from Niger, was denied reentry to the United States at John F. Kennedy International Airport on March 6 after CBP determined he was inadmissible due to a prior removal order from 2022. Baouna had been ordered removed following an arrest for assault and visa overstay, and was paroled back into the country multiple times in 2023. After voluntarily returning to Niger, he contracted malaria that led to kidney failure. His wife left the U.S. with their two children to reunite with him.

Lewelyn Dixon, a 64-year-old green card holder and University of Washington lab technician, was detained by ICE on February 28, 2025, after returning from the Philippines, following discovery of a 2000 embezzlement conviction by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Dixon had lived legally in the United States for over 50 years and completed restitution on her conviction in 2019. She is currently held at the Northwest ICE Detention Facility and is not bond eligible, with her first hearing scheduled for July 17. Her family and supporters have called for her release.

Ward Sakeik, a 22-year-old stateless Palestinian woman, was detained by ICE for 141 days after being flagged at an airport in the U.S. Virgin Islands upon returning from her honeymoon, despite having legal authorization to remain in the U.S. under an order of supervision. She has since been released. Sakeik has described conditions in ICE facilities as including overcrowding and inadequate food.