Human Impact Project

Yasmani Noel Moreno de Armas, a 31-year-old Cuban who arrived in Florida by raft in 2016 under the 'Wet Foot, Dry Foot' policy and ran a small trucking business between Miami and Tampa to help support his parents near Orlando, was detained by ICE in West Palm Beach on May 11, 2025, after his green card bid under the Cuban Adjustment Act was denied. He was held for about a year before being deported in late July/August 2026 not to Cuba but to the Central African Republic on a roughly 21-22 hour shackled flight, learning his destination only hours into the trip. Moreno, who manages diabetes and asthma, said the flight left him ill and triggered an anxiety attack. He is now confined at the Maison Confort lodging in Bangui alongside migrants from Afghanistan, Vietnam and Russia, without a passport, visa or legal status, suffering stomach problems and allergies, and says he was kidnapped twice by armed men he believed were security forces, with family and a fellow detainee paying about $100 for his release. A Cuban embassy representative told him Cuba would not take him back because he left as a 'rafter' migrant, and he fears returning there given a past imprisonment for trying to flee. 'They brought us here illegally,' he said, adding his parents 'went crazy, crying and yelling' when he told them where he was; his attorney is negotiating with federal officials for his return.

Eber, a two-year-old U.S. citizen, remains in Mexico in the care of María Estela Díaz and Miguel Maldonado Mendoza after his father was deported to Venezuela in early 2024 and his mother that February. The couple took him in because he needed surgery to remove half of his left lung due to a cyst and could not travel with his seven-year-old brother Isaac, who joined their parents months later. The surgery was successful and Eber has recovered well, though Díaz and Maldonado have faced financial strain covering his care and have turned to GoFundMe campaigns for support. His mother has registered the case with Venezuela's 'Gran Misión Vuelta a la Patria' program to speed up consular processing, but the family still has no confirmed date for the visa Eber needs as a U.S. citizen to enter Venezuela. Díaz said Eber no longer recognizes his biological mother and now calls her and Maldonado 'mama' and 'papa.'

Samuel Nnamdi, a 45-year-old pastor and father of five at a small church in Mesquite, Texas, was detained by ICE agents on July 6 while on his way to his job at UPS, still in his work uniform, where he had worked legally for five years with employment authorization and no criminal record. He was later deported to Ghana, a country he had never visited and has no ties to, despite a 2019 immigration judge ruling granting him withholding of removal protecting him from being sent back to his native Nigeria, where he said gunmen had threatened to kill him for preaching. His attorney, Julie Justice, said he was not given proper notice before being deported. His case has been described as part of a broader pattern of third-country deportations, in which the government removes people to nations with which they have no ties through diplomatic agreements with foreign governments. Nnamdi now lives in hiding in West Africa, separated from his wife and children, two of whom are U.S. citizens, connecting with them through video calls before school and on weekends.

Peterson Nozil, a 37-year-old Haitian national who has lived in Springfield since August 2022, was stopped and arrested while driving home with his family in the car. He had been inspected at the border, granted humanitarian parole, later received temporary protected status, held a valid work permit, and had applied for asylum. His attorney, Maria Otero, filed a habeas corpus petition on Oct. 1 in the Southern District of Ohio seeking a bond hearing and his release from the Butler County Jail, joining several other Haitian nationals in southwest Ohio challenging ICE's mandatory detention policy. The petition was supported by exhibits including his marriage license, his daughter's birth certificate, an employer letter, a church certificate, and letters of support. Judge Matthew W. McFarland ordered the government to respond to the petition by Oct. 5.

Elder Chavez Carranza, an 18-year-old junior at Asbury High School in Albertville, Alabama, was detained by ICE on December 30, 2025, after a state trooper stopped him for speeding and driving without a license and contacted immigration officials. Chavez Carranza, originally from Copan, Honduras, fled violence and poverty and entered the U.S. at age 14, later being granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, though a separate deferred-action and green card application remains unresolved. He is held at Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana, where he says he has lacked adequate food and dental care, works as a painter earning $1 per day, and shares a room with 54 other men. His sister and legal guardian, Maryuri Chavez Carranza, a former teacher, said he calls her daily and misses his teachers, friends, senior year activities, and the birth of his nephew. By September 2026 he had spent more than 200 days in detention, as advocates including Angela Del Valle organized vigils across three states and raised concerns about conditions at Winn, where two detainees had died in less than two months.

Delaney Hall, a for-profit ICE detention center in Newark, faced scrutiny after detainees began a hunger strike and reported spoiled food, lack of medical care, and inadequate gynecological services, including an 18-year-old high school student and a woman who said she miscarried without assistance. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was handcuffed and arrested on trespassing charges while visiting the facility with congressional representatives, repeating 'I'm not resisting' as agents restrained him; he was held for five hours before charges were dropped. Rep. LaMonica McIver, who stood between Baraka and ICE agents during the visit, was later charged with three felony counts of assaulting federal agents after the government claimed she had 'slammed' an agent; she is still fighting the case. Days later, on Memorial Day, Senator Andy Kim visited to mediate between protesters and detainees, standing with arms raised between armed ICE agents and the crowd before agents fired tear gas and pepper balls at him and demonstrators, leaving him needing aid for burning eyes and throat. New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill was denied entry but heard from detainees' family members about conditions inside.

Godfrey Wade, a 65-year-old Jamaican-born U.S. Army veteran and lawful permanent resident who came to the U.S. at 15 in 1975, was deported to Jamaica on February 5, 2026, while his appeal remained pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals. Wade worked as a chef, tailor, tennis coach and fashion designer while raising six children and three grandchildren with his fiancée April Watkins. He was detained by ICE for nearly five months following a September 2025 traffic stop for driving without a valid license, held at Stewart Detention Center in Georgia and later Richwood in Louisiana, where he endured overcrowding, inadequate food, a water outage, and illness that caused significant weight loss. His deportation stemmed from a 2014 in absentia removal order tied to a 2008 misdemeanor bounced-check conviction, after immigration court notices were mistakenly sent to the wrong address. His daughter said he was removed without warning, arriving in Jamaica with only the clothes he wore before being hospitalized for pneumonia; his fiancée and daughter said he drew portraits of fellow detainees to lift their spirits and have since raised funds and a petition seeking him a day in court. In October, a Douglas County Superior Court judge granted his habeas corpus petition, voiding the 2008 conviction and giving him a new chance to fight his case, which remains pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a 24-year-old Venezuelan man living in north Minneapolis, was shot in the leg through his front door by ICE agent Christian Castro during a January 2026 raid tied to Operation Metro Surge. His partner, Indriany Mendoza Camacho, said agents threw tear gas into the home, which had children present, before entering to detain him; the bullet also traveled into a child's room. Federal prosecutors initially charged Sosa-Celis and his cousin/roommate Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna with assaulting officers with a shovel and broom, but surveillance video contradicted the officers' sworn testimony, and the charges were dismissed after the Justice Department acknowledged agents had lied under oath. ICE's Acting Director Todd Lyons said two officers may have lied and placed them on leave. Hennepin County prosecutors later charged Castro with four counts of second-degree assault and falsely reporting a crime; he was arrested in Texas by DHS agents and Texas Rangers. Texas Governor Greg Abbott refused to extradite Castro, prompting a lawsuit from Minnesota's attorney general, and the Justice Department subsequently charged Castro only with making false statements. An Assistant U.S. Attorney who objected to that decision was fired and is now under investigation for allegedly leaking case information.

Christian Omar González, a 27-year-old Cuban man living in Hialeah, Florida, has been held at an ICE facility in Miramar for nearly two months after being arrested on August 5 while riding as a passenger to his job in West Palm Beach. His mother and grandmother have publicly pleaded for his release, with his mother saying 'mi niño no es ningún delincuente,' insisting he has no criminal record. ICE said he was arrested during a joint operation with the Florida Highway Patrol following alleged traffic violations, though the vehicle's driver, U.S. citizen Luis Villalba, disputes that account and says he was never ticketed. González left Cuba in 2022 to avoid mandatory military conscription after the July 11 protests, and his asylum case is pending; a bail request was denied because he was classified as an 'arriving alien,' a category that bars the immigration judge from granting bond. His family says they have taken on debt trying to secure his release, and his attorneys note his case coincides with a pending U.S. Supreme Court review of whether ICE can detain migrants in this category without bond. The Miramar facility where he is held has reportedly held as many as 342 people despite an official capacity of 56.

A woman was detained by ICE agents during a vehicle stop in North Austin, Texas, on October 1, reportedly near where she had just dropped her 9-year-old son off at his school bus stop. A video of the arrest, shared widely on social media by Leonardo Pelaez, showed a child crying nearby as vehicles with flashing lights idled in the background. Austin Mayor Pro Tem Jose "Chito" Vela publicized the footage, calling the arrest "evil" and "wrong" and saying a school bus stop was an inappropriate location for ICE enforcement. ICE said it released the woman about 10 minutes after learning she was the sole caregiver for minor children, but disputed that any children were present during the stop or that the crying child was related to her. Vela's office later confirmed the child was safe and with family.

Reginaldo Quej, Erwin Orlando Xoy Acaham, and Catherine Migdalia Rax Sis, all Guatemalan nationals working at Chile & Chili's Taqueria in Tallahassee, Florida, were detained on September 25, 2026 when ICE and Florida Highway Patrol attempted to stop a vehicle suspected of carrying someone without legal status near the restaurant. The three fled on foot before being caught and handcuffed, with security footage capturing the scene; ICE said the taqueria itself was not the target. One detainee, a 23-year-old woman, worked to financially support her mother, who has cancer, and her two younger sisters in Guatemala. Owner Shannon/Marco Tenorio, a naturalized U.S. citizen, described the workers as 'good people trying to make a living,' said some were in the process of finalizing immigration paperwork or seeking asylum while others held DACA status and work permits, and noted it was the third immigration operation the business had faced in just over a month. Remaining staff quit out of fear, prompting the business to permanently close. An immigration attorney said none of the three had a serious or prior criminal history, though their legal statuses varied, and all remained in ICE custody at detention centers far from Tallahassee. Community members raised nearly $13,000 via GoFundMe, and the Tallahassee Immigrant Rights Alliance organized a protest rally at the restaurant.

Ricardo Aparecido Barbosa da Cunha, a Brazilian immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for over 20 years and owns a home and business in Massachusetts with his wife and two U.S.-born children, was detained by ICE in September 2025 after a traffic stop in Norwood, Massachusetts while driving to work. He had an asylum application and work permit after entering the country around 2005. Under a Trump administration policy issued in July 2025, DHS classified him as an 'applicant for admission' subject to mandatory detention and held him without a bond hearing in Buffalo, New York. He challenged the detention in federal court; a district judge ordered his release, and he was later released on bond. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected the government's interpretation, joining judges in nine of eleven federal appeals courts who have ruled against it. On October 1, 2026, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to review the administration's appeal, with the ACLU warning the case could affect thousands to millions of noncitizens detained under the same policy.

Angel and Alex Tixe, Ecuadorian brothers-in-law working on a roofing crew repairing Mary Richards' 160-year-old farmhouse in Cornwall, Vermont, were detained on Aug. 8, 2026, after ICE agents in three unmarked SUVs surrounded the property. Reporting indicates the stop began when a passing ICE agent spotted the crew on the roof. Agents did not present a warrant or identify themselves despite Richards' repeated demands, handcuffing one worker in the yard while others fled, some hiding in a tree, before the men were taken out of state to a detention facility in Massachusetts. Angel, whose wife Maria Tixe has a pending asylum case, was released on bail after 15 days in custody and returned to Vermont. Alex, Maria's 30-year-old brother and father of an 18-month-old son, remained detained, with his sister-in-law saying she was still fighting for his release. "We aren't criminals," Tixe said. "We came to work and to help our children get ahead." State Sen. Ruth Hardy, who visited Richards and spoke with the crew manager, said the arrests appeared to reflect racial and ethnic profiling and called the incident traumatic. Migrant Justice and Addison County advocates organized support, and a GoFundMe for the men's families and legal defense raised over $7,600.

Carlos Moreno, a Venezuelan asylum seeker who is legally blind and hard of hearing, was detained by ICE agents in March 2026 as he and his wife, Wendys Martinez, left a Schuylkill County courthouse after paying a $277 noise citation for playing music at their Pottsville home. He was transferred through a York processing facility and Moshannon Valley Processing Center before arriving at Cambria County Prison, roughly 200 miles from home, where he says staff failed to keep his hearing aids charged, never fixed his broken cane, and did not provide promised translation services, forcing him to rely on other detainees to interpret and leaving him largely confined to his cell for nearly six months. Moreno said the conditions pushed him to consider abandoning his asylum appeal; after his appeal deadline passed, Martinez gave birth to their son alone on the Fourth of July. Cambria County, which has earned more than $1.5 million detaining immigrants like Moreno under a federal agreement, later transferred him to facilities in Louisiana and then Texas to await deportation to Venezuela. Cambria County's warden said Moreno received adequate care but declined to provide details, citing privacy and security procedures.

Darline Jean Baptiste, a 33-year-old Haitian woman, was arrested by ICE in Springfield, Ohio on Aug. 14 while returning home from work during what the agency called a "targeted alien enforcement operation," and has since been held at the Butler County Jail. She entered the U.S. through a Florida airport in November 2023 under a humanitarian parole program, financially supports two children in Haiti, and said she fled her homeland due to daily threats of violence. An immigration judge denied her a bond hearing, ruling he lacked jurisdiction because she was considered an "arriving alien," and later withdrew her bond request entirely. On September 23, 2026, she filed a federal habeas corpus petition in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, naming the warden of Butler County Corrections Center as respondent, supported by exhibits including her I-94, employment authorization document, an employer letter, and letters of support. In her court declaration, she said she is not a flight risk or danger to the community and committed to attending all future immigration court hearings if released. The government's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss her petition, and her attorneys filed a response in opposition on October 1, 2026.

Ivan, 27, a construction worker from Guatemala who has lived in Minnesota since 2019 with no criminal record beyond minor traffic violations, was arrested on September 11 after ICE agents ran his work vehicle's plates at a Columbia Heights gas station and followed him to a Menards parking lot. A federal judge later granted his habeas petition, but when he arrived at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis for release, five federal agents were already waiting and took him into custody at Freeborn County Jail. "I didn't even make it to see the sun," Ivan told MPR News by phone from the jail, speaking in Spanish. His attorney, Steven Appelget, had argued agents lacked probable cause or a warrant for the initial arrest.

Michael "Sandy" Sims, 42, a Philadelphia lighting technician born in Ireland and raised in London, was detained by ICE agents at the San Jose airport on September 2 as he returned from a business trip. Sims, married to U.S. citizen Jennifer Sims since 2017 and the subject of an approved I-130 family petition toward a green card, had worked in entertainment lighting since 2002, including tours for Metallica, Usher, and Florence + the Machine. He was held at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield. DHS claimed Sims faced a domestic battery charge in Nevada, but his wife, his immigration lawyer, and a search of Nevada court records found no record of any such case. Sims was deported to the United Kingdom days before an October 8 bond hearing he and his wife had hoped would lead to his release. Friends and family started a GoFundMe campaign that had raised nearly $21,000 toward legal expenses.

Elisthene Petit Kat, 38, a Haitian national living in Springfield, was arrested Aug. 15 as a passenger in a vehicle stopped by North Hampton police officers acting under an agreement with ICE, allegedly for missing a hearing he was never informed about. He lawfully entered the U.S. in June 2023 with humanitarian parole after fleeing violence with his partner and young daughter, applied for asylum, worked at an auto parts assembly factory, attended church regularly, and was the sole provider for his family in Springfield while also supporting a 7-year-old son who remains in Haiti. U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett ruled Sept. 30 that ICE must release him from the Butler County Jail or provide a bond hearing within a week, rejecting the agency's argument that he was subject to mandatory detention as an 'arriving alien' despite having lived in the U.S. for years, and writing that the court was 'puzzled' by ICE's position. Petit Kat's petition noted he was not assessed for flight risk or danger, was not promptly served with a warrant, and did not speak with an ICE officer for days after being jailed. The ruling comes as half a dozen other Haitian citizens have challenged the legality of their ICE detention at the same jail, with advocates expecting more detainees in southwest Ohio to file similar challenges.

Gedion Masunsu, 42, a Waltham resident who spent 16 years seeking political asylum after working for American military contractors in Iraq and completing the Waltham Police Department's Citizens Academy, was deported to Uganda on September 30, 2026, after 19 months in ICE detention, most of it at the Strafford County jail in Dover, NH. He had been arrested on assault charges involving his now-wife that were dismissed by a Massachusetts judge within three months, but his paralegal, Rosette Serwanga, said the charges were not promptly removed from his record and likely influenced his case; an immigration judge denied him bond twice even after he was granted withholding of removal. A federal judge denied his habeas corpus petition challenging his detention without prejudice in December 2025. After the government appealed his withholding of removal, the judge issued a removal order and the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed his case on September 15, 2026, reportedly because his former attorney filed the appeal late. Masunsu said ICE removed him within hours of an inquiry from an aide to Sen. Edward Markey, despite telling officials at a Burlington, MA holding facility that he still had 15 days to appeal. He suffered an untreated rotator cuff injury during an ICE transport van ride, married his partner, Sylvia Mamutabi Mugisha, while detained, and her daughter Paris Kirunda wrote that he 'embraced my siblings and me with genuine love, kindness, and respect.' Fellow detainees described him as a devout Christian whose daily prayer meetings calmed tensions at the jail. He is now in a Kampala hotel with no family or friends remaining in Uganda, relying on financial assistance from the Ugandan community in Boston.

Alicia Labrador, a Venezuelan dermocosmiatrist and founder/CEO of the Aliestetic beauty and MedSpa brand, was detained by federal immigration authorities on September 30, 2026, while dropping off her 16-year-old daughter at a friend's home in Doral's Ibis Villas neighborhood. She also serves as vice president of the Hispanic Women's Chamber of Commerce of Doral. Her attorney, Ros Ana Guillén, says Labrador has a pending asylum application, valid work authorization, and a current driver's license, and family members say she entered the U.S. legally on a visa in 2016 with no criminal record. Her son, Héctor Sánchez, said he learned of the detention when his mother called him while she was with officers, telling Telemundo, 'I couldn't even speak.' Reports conflict on her location, with some saying she was transferred the same evening to a detention facility in Texas, while her attorney says she may be held at a CBP transit facility in Florida where she has not been permitted to visit her. She now faces deportation proceedings, and her family says they are focused on bringing her home.