40 Stories of ICE: Detained, Deported, Disappeared... Real-Life American Horror

A non-exhaustive list of lives uprooted by a system with no guardrails—where innocence, legality, and even citizenship offer no protection.

Heinous, haunting, heartbreaking; these were some of the feelings that bubbled up as I gathered their stories.

This list was collected by searching months of news articles and will be updated as cases progress and more people are swept up in this system. Each name is linked to a news article with more information. If you know of a name that’s not on this list, please feel free to post an article link in the comments.

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Aditya Wahyu Harsono - Indonesia - Student Visa

Harsono is a supply chain manager at a hospital in Marshall, Minnesota and married to a U.S. citizen. He believed his F-1 student visa was valid through June 2026 and had also applied for a green card after marrying (and fathering) a U.S. citizen. His lawyer says that as of March 28, the day after his arrest, his visa was active, and that the government revoked it without any notice to him, and then claimed he had overstayed. The revocation cites two incidents in his record: graffitiing a semi-truck (misdemeanor, $100 fine), and an arrest during a 2020 protest, which was dismissed.

Alexi Canas - El Salvador - Long-Time Noncitizen

Alexi Canas is a 49-year-old father and local businessowner who appeared for a brief two-day restitution sentence for driving on a suspended license. While in custody, ICE placed a hold on him, promptly detained him after he served his sentence, and sent him to a detention facility 1000 miles away. While he has traffic tickets, he has no criminal record. He is the husband of a U.S. citizen and the father of 8 U.S. citizens and has lived here for more than 30 years.

Alfredo "Lelo" Juarez Zeferino - Mexico - Unknown: arrived as a child

Lelo is an outspoken advocate for immigrant farmworkers, even being interviewed about his experience in 2016 as a 16 year old farmworker. He was pulled over while driving his girlfriend to work, and when he asked the officer for a warrant, the officer broke his window and arrested him. He has no criminal record and was brought to the U.S. as a child.

Alireza Doroudi - Iran - Student Visa

Alireza is a 32 year old doctoral student in mechanical engineering at the University of Alabama. Unlike the other students on this list, there is no evidence that Doroudi took place in any protests or expressed pro-Hamas sentiments. To date, his lawyers have not been provided with a reason for his arrest, nor has he been charged with a crime.

American Citizens, unnamed - Mexico/U.S. - A family of 7 bearing 3 noncitizens and 4 U.S. citizens

A family of 7; two illegal immigrant parents, with 4 out of 5 kids being U.S. citizens. They were detained at a routine immigration checkpoint while on the way to an emergency checkup for their 10-year-old (recovering from brain cancer), despite their papers from doctors and lawyers having worked before. They were given the choice to leave the U.S. citizens or be deported together; they chose together. The family alleges human rights abuses while being detained, and they still cannot disclose their names because they were dropped off in an area of Mexico known for kidnapping U.S. citizens.

Andry Hernandez-Romero - Venezuela - Active and pending asylum case

Hernandez is a 31-year-old gay makeup artist from Venezuela who did not enter illegally, but requested asylum at the border and waited for his hearing. At the hearing, he explained that he was fleeing persecution due to his sexual orientation and political views, but an agent at the border identified the crown tattoos (on his wrists, labeled "Mom" and "Dad") as evidence he was Tren de Aragua, and kept him detained while his asylum case was heard. Despite no removal order, never having committed a crime, and a pending immigration case, he was sent to the prison in El Salvador.

Arbella Rodriguez Marquez - Unknown - Legal Resident

Marquez was with two coworkers (not driving) when they were pulled over, and she has been detained since. Her best friend, who was driving at the time, says she has no criminal record and is a legal resident.

Armando Reyes Rodriguez - Honduras - Seeking Asylum

Rodriguez came from Honduras seeking asylum, and he wore an ankle bracelet to ensure his whereabouts were known to ICE; he and his family lived in Dayton for a few years. He got a call saying to come to Blue Ash to have his ankle monitor removed; his pastor drove him there, but he was instead detained and remains detained still. He has no criminal history, and the pastor describes him as a good man.

Bachir Atallah & Jessica Fakhri - Unknown - U.S. Citizen for 10 years

Atallah, a 10-year American citizen and Trump voter, was stopped while returning home from Canada with his wife. He was detained for 5 hours and treated roughly, gave access to his emails under duress, and wasn't released until intervention from his sister, an immigration attorney.

Badar Khan Suri - India - Active Visa as Visiting Scholar

Badar Khan Suri is a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University, teaching at the Alwaleed center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, who has lived in Virginia for three years. His wife was born in Gaza and is a U.S. citizen. Suri was accused of “spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media” and determined to be deportable by the Secretary of State’s office. Suri, who has no criminal record, holds a visa authorizing him to be in the U.S. as a visiting scholar, and his wife is a U.S. citizen, according to the motion.

Becky Burke - UK - Tourist

Becky Burke is a Welsh tourist who was backpacking across North America on a 4-month trip, detained while trying to leave. After an hour of interrogation, officials determined she was working in the country and violated her travel authorization. She remained detained for 19 days until media pressure caused ICE to prioritize her case.

David Gomez - Unknown - Legal Permanent Resident

David Gomez was brought to the United States as a child at the age of 5, has lived here more than 30 years, and became a lawful permanent resident in 2011. He was caught smoking marijuana in his car in 2016, which triggered immigration proceedings. Although he no longer has physical possession of his green card, he is still legally considered a permanent resident while his case is pending. Despite that, he was detained on March 3rd during a scheduled immigration appointment and promptly moved across the country to a detention center in New Mexico. He is a single father two children, one with autism, and the sole provider to his elderly mother.

Dogukan Gunaydin - Turkey - Student Visa

Gunaydin is a graduate student at the University of Minnesota. He was arrested outside his home and told his visa was revoked because he pled guilty to a misdemeanor DWI in 2023. His case is pending; although he was granted release on bail, DHS immediately appealed to keep him detained.

Eduardo Daboin Rall - Venezuela - Seeking Asylum

Rall is a Venezuelan national being held at the Bluebonnet facility in Texas. He was one of 28 men on a bus headed to the airport to be deported to the prison in El Salvador when a middle-of-the-night Supreme Court order forced the busses to turn around. He was in tears during the episode. He is quoted in the interview: “I’ve never missed a court appearance. I’ve never missed an appointment with immigration or ICE,” Daboin Rall said. “The truth is: I don’t have any criminal record. I’ve done everything correctly according to the rules of this country.”

Fabian Schmidt - Germany - Legal Permanent Resident

Fabian Schmidt, a longtime U.S. green card holder and electrical engineer, was detained upon returning from Luxembourg, despite having a valid and recently renewed green card with no known legal issues. His family says they were given no clear explanation—only that his card had been “flagged.” His mother, Astrid Senior, described disturbing treatment: Schmidt was violently interrogated for hours at Logan Airport, stripped, put in a cold shower, and left seated in that condition. He was hospitalized days later. Schmidt lives in the U.S. with his partner and their 8-year-old daughter, both U.S. citizens.

Felipe Zapata Velasquez - Columbia - Student Visa

Velasquez is a student at the University of Florida who was arrested after a routine traffic stop. After being accused of traffic violations, he was told his visa was revoked, and given the choice to remain detained while he fights it, or be deported. He chose deportation.

Frengel Reyes - Venezuela - Active and pending asylum case

Reyes is a 24 year old Venezuelan father who was living in the United States and working as a house painter. Despite having no tattoos, no evidence of gang ties, and no criminal record in the U.S. or Venezuela, AND despite having an upcoming hearing on his active and pending asylum case, he was sent to the prison in El Salvador. His lawyer and the immigration court are now trying to navigate his case while he sits in a prison in another country.

Gladys and Nelson Gonzalez - Colombia - Long-Time Noncitizens

The Gonzalez's arrived from Colombia seeking asylum in 1989. They have never missed an immigration appointment, nor have they broken the law. Nevertheless, they were detained at a routine check-in and deported back to Colombia. They have lived here for 35 years, raising three daughters and recently welcoming their first grandchild.

Jasmine Mooney - Canada - Detained while applying for temporary visa

Jasmine Mooney is 35-year-old actress who spent 12 days at an ICE detention center before being released to Canada.

Jerce Reyes Barrios - Venezuela - Never entered the country; waited at the border for an appointent to request asylum for 4 months, as instructed. Finally got his appointment, they arrested him, and now he's in El Salvador.

Barrios is a 36-year-old professional soccer player and coach from Venezuela, and father of 2, with no criminal history. He fled the country and followed all rules at the American border; he scheduled an appointment, waited for 4 months in Mexico, and then presented himself at the border as told by officials... and they sent him to the prison in El Salvador. The evidence presented by DHS appears to be his tattoo of a crown on a soccer ball, and a 10 year old Facebook photos of Barrios flashing what they call a gang sign... his lawyer says it's sign language for "I love you".

Jessica Brosche - Germany - Visitor

Brosche is a tattoo artist who was vacationing in Mexico and decided to visit the U.S. with an American friend, but was arrested at the border, accused of working in the country against her travel regulations. She spent 6 weeks in detention, including a week of solitary, before sent back to Germany.

Jose Daniel Simancas Rodriguez - Venezuela - Crossed illegally, had been in U.S. detention for 9 months

Rodriguez crossed the border illegally in May 2024 was detained by immigration officials. He believes officials pegged him as Tren de Aragua because he was born in Maracay, Aragua state. He had been in custody for around 9 months when he was sent without explanation to Guantanamo Bay. In his sworn statement, while in U.S. custody at Guantanamo, he describes harrowing treatments, harsh punishment, and he tried to take his own life while detained there.

Josue Aguilar - Honduras - Approved marriage based immigration petition

Just minutes after his pathway to legal residency was approved at a USCIS appointment in Miami, a Honduran immigrant was unexpectedly detained by ICE agents — despite his clean record, stable job, and marriage to a U.S. citizen.

Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez - U.S. citizen - U.S. Citizen

Lopez-Gomez is a 20 year old citizen who does not speak English. He and two coworkers were pulled over for going 78mph in a 65mph zone. Lopez-Gomez was a passenger, and says he turned over his ID and social security card, but the police report says he only presented his ID. The trooper charged him with illegally entering the state as an "unauthorized alien" under a new state law, even though a federal judge temporarily suspended enforcement of that law nearly two weeks prior. Even after his mother presented his birth certificate and a judge had determined he WAS a U.S. citizen, the judge had to continue to detain him until she got word from ICE.

Juan Francisco Mendez - Guatemala - Seeking Asylum

Mendez had a pending asylum case, likely to succeed given his wife and son have already been granted asylum. Despite this, an ICE agents smashed his car window and seized him while his wife sobbed and he screamed for help in Spanish. He has no criminal record.

Karim Daoud - Egypt - Unknown; before being detained, he worked and paid taxes with an ITIN

Karim Daoud, a 42-year-old Egyptian national, has lived in the U.S. for over two decades, is married to a U.S. citizen, and is the father of two young children. He was arrested after voluntarily attending a routine appointment related to his work authorization. According to his family, he was misled into visiting an ICE facility under the guise of correcting a clerical error. Daoud has no criminal record and has long paid taxes using an ITIN. A local business owner and friend described him as one of the community’s most respected and hardworking individuals, emphasizing that he has always followed the rules.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia - El Salvador - Noncitizen and deportable, allowed to remain in U.S. until a suitable country was found for deportation. A court specifically ordered he not be sent to El Salvador.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia fled El Salvador with his brother after the Barrio 18 gang threatened their family—demanding extortion payments or forcing one of them to join. Although a U.S. judge ordered his removal, they acknowledged the danger of returning him to El Salvador and directed that he be deported elsewhere. Garcia had been complying with ICE requirements and regularly checking in as his case moved through court. Despite this, he was ultimately sent back to El Salvador based on a police form referencing a confidential informant and his clothing—a Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie—as alleged evidence of gang affiliation. He is now imprisoned in the very country a U.S. court deemed unsafe for him.

Kseniia Petrova - Russia - Student Visa

Petrova is a researcher at Harvard Medical School, originally from Russia. Her visa was revoked after she failed to declare she was carrying frog embryos while coming back from France in February. CBP gave her the option to be deported back to Russia, but she informed them that she feared political persecution for protesting the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022. After this disclosure to immigration officials, she was transported to a detention facility in Louisiana and remains there still. Her lawyer argues that failure to disclose the frog embryos at customs is cause for a fine, but not the revocation of her visa.

Leonel Echavez - Venezuela - Seeking Asylum

Leonel Echavez is a 19-year-old Venezuelan who entered the U.S. by claiming asylum through the CBP One app during the Joe Biden administration. He was living in the United States with an approved work permit and had an immigration hearing coming up. CBP showed up looking for someone else, but detained him to question him about his tattoos. Two days later, he was sent to El Salvador as an alleged Tren de Aragua gang member and remains there still.

Lucas Sielaff - Germany - Visitor

Sielaff is a 25-year-old German citizen. He and his American citizen fiance were arrested trying to reenter the United States because ICE accused Sielaff of living there illegally. Despite having done the same thing before, and despite no proof of the claim, he was held for two weeks before being sent back to Germany.

Ma Yang - Thailand - Legal Permanent Resident

Yang was born in a refugee camp in Thailand, and came to the U.S. at 8 months old. She has lived her entire life here since, all her younger siblings being U.S. citizens, growing up and raising five children, recently welcoming her first grandchild. She accepted a plea deal on a marijuana related charge and served time, not knowing it would affect her green card status. After her release, she was transferred to an ICE facility, then deported to Laos—a country she has never been to. She does not speak the language and knows nobody there.

Mahmoud Khalil- Syria/Algeria - Legal Permanent U.S. Resident

Mahmoud Khalil, a 30-year-old Syrian-born U.S. permanent resident and recent Columbia University graduate, was detained by ICE on March 8, 2025. Known for his pro-Palestinian activism, Khalil was arrested at his campus residence. The Department of Homeland Security claims his activities align with Hamas—a U.S.-designated terrorist organization—raising concerns tied to national security. His detention has ignited widespread campus protests and legal debate, with critics arguing the case raises serious questions about free speech and academic freedom. Legal proceedings are still underway.

Mohammed Hoque - Bangladesh - Student Visa

Mohammed Hoque is a student at Minnesota State who was arrested on March 28 and has been detained since. DHS argues he poses a threat to public safety because of a 2023 disorderly conduct conviction where he pushed a man during an argument. Nobody was injured, Hoque completed his probation and was allowed to travel to Bangladesh and re-enter the country since then. On April 09, an immigration judge ruled he was NOT a danger and ordered him released on bond, but DHS immediately placed a stay of the bond order, ensuring he stays in detention.

Ranjani Srinivasan - India - Student Visa

Ranjani, a 37-year-old doctoral student from India, fled to Canada after learning her student visa had been revoked and ICE agents began knocking on her door. DHS said in a statement that her visa was revoked due to advocating violence and engaging in activities in support of Hamas. Her lawyers strongly deny this characterization and say that Ranjani was engaging in protected political speech.

Renato Subotic - Australian - Visitor

Subotic is an Australian MMA coach who came to the U.S. to coach a seminar. He was instead detained by local officials, stripped, searched, interrogated for 3 hours, then taken to a federal prison for the night, where he stayed housed in a place described as madness. He's seeking legal relief from Australia.

Ricardo Prada Vasquez - Venezuela - Active and pending asylum case

Ricardo Prada Vasquez entered the United States after waiting in Mexico to obtain an appointment per the CBP One app on November 29, 2024. He was working as a delivery driver in Detroit and turned onto the Ambassador bridge by mistake, which goes into Canada. He was detained trying to reenter the U.S. and taken to the Calhoun County Correctional Center in Michigan. He was last heard from on March 15, but has not been seen or heard from since. He is not on the list of names of the men sent to CECOT. A local nonprofit trying to help locate Vasquez states they've searched the ICE database, checked with field offices and detention facilities, and cannot locate him. An ICE officer says he was deported but won't say where to. He has disappeared.

Rui Murras - Portugal - Legal Permanent Resident

Murras is a 32 year old in Connecticut who has lived in the U.S. since 2 years old. Despite his years-old marijuana cases being dismissed, he was detained while returning home from a trip overseas and has been detained since.

Rumeysa Ozturk - Turkiye - Student Visa

On March 25, 2025, Rümeysa Öztürk, a 30-year-old Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents near her residence in Somerville, Massachusetts. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accused her of engaging in activities supporting Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, and subsequently revoked her student visa. NPR
Öztürk's alleged offense was co-authoring a March 2024 op-ed in The Tufts Daily, which criticized Israel's actions in Gaza and called for the university to divest from companies with ties to Israel. This publication led to her being featured on Canary Mission, a website that profiles individuals accused of anti-Israel activities
Following her arrest, Öztürk was transferred to an ICE detention facility in Louisiana, despite a federal judge's order to keep her in Massachusetts. This action sparked widespread protests and legal challenges, with critics arguing that her detention violated her First Amendment rights. A federal judge subsequently halted her deportation pending further court proceedings.

Wendy Brito - El Salvador - Seeking Asylum

Brito has lived in the U.S. for 15 years after seeking asylum here 15 years ago. She went to a routine immigration appointment and never came home. She has 3 children.

Yunseo Chung - South Korea - Legal Permanent U.S. Resident

Chung is a 21-year-old junior at Columbia, and valedictorian at her high school before that. She is a legal permanent resident who's lived in the United States since she was 7 years old. Chung was arrested during a protest at Barnard College earlier this year, prompting the Trump administration to flag her for deportation. She evaded arrest and sued the federal government, arguing they shouldn't be allowed to deport her until she's had a hearing. The request was granted and her case is active.