Human Impact Project

In a smuggled video from the 1,000-bed South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, run by GEO Group, detained women describe abuse, medical neglect and family separation. Larina says ICE separated her from her five-month-old daughter after she called police during a domestic violence incident and was arrested instead of her husband; she says she has been ordered deported but has remained detained for three months. Other mothers at the facility say they do not know where their children were taken after being separated, and one Cuban woman remained detained even after winning her case because the Department of Homeland Security appealed. Kelly, a Venezuelan woman with one failing kidney, says the facility denies her testing, medication and specialist care, leaving her with painful urination and fluid retention, unsuitable frozen food and no clean water; other women describe a miscarriage, pregnancy without adequate care, an amputation, and say one detainee was placed in solitary confinement after recording video while others faced hitting and threats for speaking out.

A Mexican woman, known in the Stockton music scene as DJ Reina Azteca, was detained at Otay Mesa Detention Center starting December 18, 2025, for nearly four months. She first came to the U.S. as a child, self-deported to Mexico in 2020, and re-entered in August 2021; she was later detained during an immigration check-in while enrolled in the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program and had a pending U-Visa and open asylum case. She says she requested deportation but was told she had to remain in detention, and alleges she was forced to take a pregnancy test after initially refusing, was held in a cold holding cell without adequate clothing, and faced other harsh conditions; CoreCivic disputes some of her claims, including about phone access. She lost her DJ music library when her account was deactivated and is now borrowing music from friends to resume gigs, but cannot fully rebuild her library or open a bank account until the federal government returns her confiscated identification documents.

Garnet Smith, a 44-year-old U.S. Army veteran originally from Jamaica, was released from the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma on July 21, 2026, after spending over nine months in ICE detention. During his detention, Smith reported experiencing sexual assault by a GEO Group guard during a pat-down search, as well as inadequate medical care for a broken hand and poor detention conditions including inedible food and foul drinking water. A federal judge granted Smith's habeas corpus petition on July 20, finding that his earlier bond hearing violated his due process rights and that his prolonged detention was unlawful. Smith continues to fight a deportation order to Jamaica while advocates call for an investigation into the alleged sexual assault.

Loba, a transgender woman from El Salvador, was detained at California City ICE detention center for six months in 2025. She experienced sexual harassment and intimidation from guards while housed in male dormitories. Due to the traumatic conditions and lack of support for LGBTQ+ detainees, she signed voluntary departure paperwork and self-deported to El Salvador.

The Trump administration invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport more than 230-260 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador's CECOT supermax prison in March 2025, alleging ties to Tren de Aragua and MS-13. A federal judge ordered a halt to the deportations and verbally directed the flights to turn back, but the administration proceeded, saying the planes had already left US territory. Neither government publicly identified the detainees or provided evidence of gang affiliations; internal DHS data later showed only 32 had US criminal convictions, most for nonviolent offenses, and roughly 75% had no US criminal record, with at least 27 never having been ordered removed. Detainees were held incommunicado, with reports of torture, beatings, sexual violence, and prolonged solitary confinement, while the US paid $6 million to house 300 migrants at the facility. After about four months, the Venezuelans were transferred to Venezuela in a prisoner exchange, though the administration reported losing track of 137 of them. In 2026, a federal judge ordered the administration to facilitate the return of more than 130 of these men to the US for their immigration proceedings.

A former ICE detention officer named David Courvelle pleaded guilty in federal court to sexually abusing a woman while she was in federal custody at an ICE facility in Louisiana over several months. Courvelle faces up to 15 years in prison and fines up to $250,000.

David Courvelle, a former contract detention officer at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a Nicaraguan detainee in federal custody. Between May and July 2025, Courvelle engaged in multiple sexual encounters with the detainee inside the facility, including in a janitorial closet, while enlisting other detainees to act as lookouts. He also smuggled gifts into the facility to maintain the relationship. The case was uncovered when investigators obtained recordings of phone calls between Courvelle and the detainee, prompting his resignation.

The ACLU and human rights organizations released reports on 12/8/2025 documenting conditions at Fort Bliss, the largest immigration detention site in the U.S., specifically at Camp East Montana, a tent facility in El Paso. Based on interviews with over 45 detained immigrants and 16 sworn declarations, the reports detail physical abuse, sexual abuse by officers, medical neglect, and coercive deportations to third countries. Specific cases cited include a teenager beaten into unconsciousness and another who sustained a broken tooth and ear damage, a Cuban immigrant whose head was slammed against a wall, and Geraldo Lunas Campos, whose death in ICE custody at a nearby facility was ruled a homicide following reports an officer choked him.

Federal ICE agents arrested a U.S. citizen Somali woman born in Edina near Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis on Wednesday. According to her cousin, agents zip-tied her, mocked her hijab, and touched her inappropriately before taking her to Sherburne County Jail in Elk River. She was released Thursday after more than 24 hours in custody once her husband provided her passport card proving her citizenship.

Pauline Nadege Binam, 36, a Cameroonian woman who came to the U.S. at age 2 and identifies as queer, remains held at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, as of August 2026. Advocates Noël Heatherland and Timoria McQueen Saba recently visited her through a glass partition for about 40 minutes, describing her as exhausted but hopeful, and noting she has found some solace reading nearly a book a day and bonding with other detainees, including another Cameroonian woman. She remains separated from her 17-year-old U.S. citizen daughter and continues to fear seeking medical care after a doctor removed one of her fallopian tubes during an earlier detention at Irwin County Detention Center without her consent. Her attorney is pursuing a U visa tied to her cooperation with authorities after surviving domestic violence and may seek to reopen her removal case based on fears of persecution if returned to Cameroon.

Silvia Reyna Mendoza, who has lived in the United States for 40 years and is a mother of 8, reported sexual misconduct by an ICE contractor. A judge issued an order prohibiting her deportation. ICE deported her the following day. She is currently in ICE detention in Kern County while her family pursues her case.

Queer and trans immigrants detained at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center alleged they were forced into an unsanctioned work program performing hard manual labor for minimal pay, and sexually harassed and assaulted by an assistant warden named Manuel Reyes between 2023 and 2025. Detainees reported facing medical neglect, retaliation for reporting abuse, and having their complaints systematically ignored by ICE officials. Four detainees filed administrative complaints under the Federal Tort Claims Act, and civil rights complaints were submitted to DHS oversight bodies by RFK Human Rights, the ACLU of Louisiana, and the National Immigration Project.

Ramiro G., a 45-year-old Cuban man detained at Camp East Montana, was twice subjected to attempted forced expulsion to Mexico. On September 22, 2025, he was woken at midnight, chained, and bused with about 15 mostly Cuban men to the border. Guards told them to cross into Mexico. Ramiro refused, saying he was Cuban, had no ties to Mexico, and had previously been kidnapped by a cartel there. Some men crossed; Ramiro and three others refused and were returned. On December 15, guards tried again, this time telling him he was being transferred to another facility. When he overheard guards mention the Santa Teresa port of entry, a guard admitted the transfer was being carried out 'in secret.' He began shaking uncontrollably. Other detainees banged on doors in protest until he was returned to his cell. Guards had told him: 'Your country won't take you; leave now or we'll lock you up for life.'

The Washington Post interviewed 16 former detainees of El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) to document conditions inside the megaprison where the U.S. has deported migrants. Detainees reported beatings, isolation, sexual assault, and other forms of mistreatment within the facility.

Marisol Ordonez Vargas, a transgender woman originally from Central America, was detained by ICE in October 2023. She alleged she was denied toilet paper and medical treatment for a badly broken nose, and said she was sexually assaulted during her month in custody but did not report it because she did not trust guards and feared it would delay her release.

During a transfer in mid-April, dozens of men were gathered into a cell early in the morning with feet shackled and hands tied behind their backs. They waited hours while food sat visible through bars. When lunch was provided at 7 p.m. — only after another guard protested — the men could not reach plates with their hands. 'We had to bend over and eat off the chairs with our mouths, like dogs,' one man said. At FDC, upon arrival and after visits including from legal counsel, officers forced detainees to undergo invasive visual cavity searches. A 21-year-old Guatemalan man described being ordered to 'get completely naked, turn around, bend down, and get on all fours and cough.' An officer later admitted ICE detainees did not need such procedures.

Border Patrol agent Shane Millan pleaded guilty in federal court to telling multiple women to expose their breasts during virtual interviews as a condition for entering the United States. Millan admitted to sexually coercing at least four women during interviews in August 2023, falsely claiming the exposure was part of a legitimate search. He faces up to two years in prison and a $200,000 fine at his July 7 sentencing.