Max Blau

Q&A: ProPublica’s Max Blau on bridging investigation and narrative, live at University of Georgia - The Sunday Long Read The SLR Podcast hit the road (somewhat virtually) for the first time this summer. SLR co-founder Jacob Feldman spoke to ProPublica’s Max Blau at the University of Georgia in partnership with the schoo...

I spoke with @thesundaylongread.bsky.social for their podcast, which was recorded live in front of the MFA students of @ugagrady.bsky.social. We chatted about how I reported on ghost networks for @propublica.org's "America's Mental Barrier" series.

Listen here: sundaylongread.com/2025/09/26/p...

A Farmworkers Visa Promised Her a Better Life. It Was a Trap. Sofi left behind her child in Mexico for the promise of providing him a better life. She ended up a victim of an operation that is alleged to have exploited the H-2A visa program — and the workers it ...

Sofi left behind her child in Mexico for the promise of providing him a better life by coming to the U.S. on a farmworker visa. She ended up in a trap.

“Not all of us get to be smiled upon by the United States,” she said.

By @maxblau.bsky.social

“Proximity is power” : Max Blau on mixing investigative and feature writing (Live at UGA) Podcast Episode · The Sunday Long Read Podcast · 09/26/2025 · 1h 11m

Kudos to UGA MFA alum @maxblau.bsky.social for reporting a terrific story and thanks to @thesundaylongread.bsky.social for featuring him and our program on its podcast. Take a listen! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p...

Q&A: ProPublica’s Max Blau on bridging investigation and narrative, live at University of Georgia - The Sunday Long Read The SLR Podcast hit the road (somewhat virtually) for the first time this summer. SLR co-founder Jacob Feldman spoke to ProPublica’s Max Blau at the University of Georgia in partnership with the schoo...

Don't miss our Q&A with @propublica.org's @maxblau.bsky.social on bridging investigation and narrative, live at the University of Georgia. sundaylongread.com/2025/09/26/p...

Trump’s Attack on Visas Working illegally is riskier, but working legally is becoming impossible.

I went on @slate.com's What Next podcast to discuss my ongoing H-2A visa series for @propublica.org. Listen to our convo about the perils of the program, tough choices facing foreign farmworkers, and the difficulties of clamping down on abuse and exploitation.
slate.com/podcasts/wha...

Trump’s Attack on Visas Working illegally is riskier, but working legally is becoming impossible.

Does your food come from a system of modern day slavery here in the US? I'm guest-hosting for Mary Harris today on What Next, @slate.com's daily news pod. ProPublica's @maxblau.bsky.social joined to share his reporting on H-2A visas for seasonal farmworkers, who will be more vulnerable under Trump.

A Farmworkers Visa Promised Her a Better Life. It Was a Trap. Sofi left behind her child in Mexico for the promise of providing him a better life. She ended up a victim of an operation that is alleged to have exploited the H-2A visa program — and the workers it…

In 2021, Javier Sanchez Mendoza Jr. pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in forced labor as part of a federal investigation that exposed widespread abuses of H-2A workers across Georgia.

This is the story of what one of those workers endured.

By @maxblau.bsky.social

A Farmworkers Visa Promised Her a Better Life. It Was a Trap. Sofi left behind her child in Mexico for the promise of providing him a better life. She ended up a victim of an operation that is alleged to have exploited the H-2A visa program — and the workers it…

"She was sold the American dream with a farmworker visa. She ended up in a nightmare." — @maxblau.bsky.social & Zaydee Sanchez @propublica.org

Migrant workers ensnared in 'slavery' scheme on American farms A federal investigation known as Operation Blooming Onion exposed widespread abuses of H-2A workers across Georgia, ranging from wage theft to sexual abuse.

A big thanks to @wbur.org for chatting with me about @propublica.org's investigative series into harms happening within America's H-2A program. You can listen here: www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2...

Employers Have Exploited and Abused H-2A Farmworkers for Years. It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way. The seasonal visa program has failed to protect migrant farmworkers from wage theft, forced labor, violence and death. Experts, lawyers and advocates say there are ways to reduce and even stop the har...

NEW: The H-2A visa program has failed to protect migrant farmworkers from wage theft, forced labor, violence and death.

Here’s what experts, lawyers and advocates think would make the program safer.

By @maxblau.bsky.social

Max Blau, Reporter I cover health care, the environment, agriculture and immigration for ProPublica’s South unit.

I’m continuing to report on the state of the H-2A program in the months ahead. Are you a H-2A worker? Do you employ H-2A workers? Are you a regulator? Or have another role related to the H-2A program? I’d like to hear from you. Please get in touch: propublica.org/people/max-b...

Employers Have Exploited and Abused H-2A Farmworkers for Years. It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way. The seasonal visa program has failed to protect migrant farmworkers from wage theft, forced labor, violence and death. Experts, lawyers and advocates say there are ways to reduce and even stop the har...

The H-2A visa program has failed to protect migrant farmworkers from wage theft, forced labor, violence and death. Experts, lawyers and advocates say there are ways to reduce and even prevent the harms. Here's what they think would make the program safer. www.propublica.org/article/h-2a...

How to Contact ProPublica or Send a Tip Securely — ProPublica Our job is to hold people and institutions accountable. To do that, we need evidence.

Read Sofi’s full story and learn more about the challenges facing America’s H-2A program in our ongoing series. Got a tip? Contact us at propublica.org/tips

This past June, the Trump administration went one step further, suspending any enforcement of the new program’s rules until that litigation is resolved.

The number of H-2A visas issued has increased every year since Sofi arrived.

But though this case revealed how easy it is to exploit and abuse visaholders, little has changed. The Biden administration increased protections for H-2A workers, but several lawsuits filed by states including Georgia have prevented them from fully going into effect.

Mendoza declined multiple requests for an interview and did not provide comments in response to ProPublica’s letters detailing the case. His lawyer has maintained that his relationship with Sofi was consensual. Here’s more details on how we were able to report this story.

Mendoza himself brought over 565 people into the country, with pending visa applications for hundreds more. He wasn’t the biggest player of them all. But a lead investigator testified that he was, unquestionably, the most brutal.

Mendoza became one of the first people indicted in Operation Blooming Onion, which exposed widespread abuses of H-2A workers in Georgia. He later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in forced labor.

Operation Blooming Onion is one of the largest H-2A trafficking investigations ever.

After he was released from jail, Mendoza tracked Sofi down, kidnapped her and drove her to a cemetery. According to evidence detailed in a police report, on the way there Mendoza sought advice from a colleague in Mexico on what to do. The colleague said he should kill her.

Mendoza forced her to live at his house and sign a marriage license. He threatened to have her deported. He repeatedly raped her. But then she escaped. She called the police, and Mendoza was arrested.

A labor contractor named Javier Sanchez Mendoza Jr. helped Sofi secure an H-2A visa for a job at a blueberry farm in Georgia. But he ignored the terms of her contract. She was not sent out to work in the fields like the others. She would not be paid at all.

A Farmworkers Visa Promised Her a Better Life. It Was a Trap. Sofi left behind her child in Mexico for the promise of providing him a better life. She ended up a victim of an operation that is alleged to have exploited the H-2A visa program — and the workers it ...

Sofi left behind her child in Mexico for the promise of providing him a better life. But the farmworker visa that allowed her to come to the U.S. legally ended up being a trap. projects.propublica.org/h2a-visa-far...

Over the past few years, I’ve been fascinated with one of the largest federal investigations happening in Georgia, known as Operation Blooming Onion. So I partnered with Zaydee Sanchez to uncover the untold story of an unnamed victim at the heart of the case. 🧵

He Died Without Getting Mental Health Care He Sought. A New Lawsuit Says His Insurer’s Ghost Network Is to Blame. The mother of Ravi Coutinho, the subject of a recent ProPublica investigation, is suing Centene for publishing “misleading” information that gave her son a false impression about the kinds of mental…

The mother of Ravi Coutinho, the subject of a recent ProPublica investigation, is suing Centene for publishing “misleading” information that gave her son a false impression about the kinds of mental health care that were actually available.

By @maxblau.bsky.social‬

“I Don’t Want to Die”: Needing Mental Health Care, He Got Trapped in His Insurer’s Ghost Network Ravi Coutinho bought a health insurance plan thinking it would deliver on its promise of access to mental health providers. But even after 21 phone calls and multiple hospitalizations, no one could fi...

In case you missed the original story about Ravi's encounters with a ghost network, you can read that here: www.propublica.org/article/ambe...

He Died Without Getting Mental Health Care He Sought. A New Lawsuit Says His Insurer’s Ghost Network Is to Blame. The mother of Ravi Coutinho, the subject of a recent ProPublica investigation, is suing Centene for publishing “misleading” information that gave her son a false impression about the kinds of mental h...

Ravi Coutinho died after being unable to find mental health treatment. Following @propublica.org's investigation, his mother is now suing his health insurer, saying it broke the law by publishing false information that misled its customers. My latest story: www.propublica.org/article/cent...

Trump Administration Knew Vast Majority of Venezuelans Sent to Salvadoran Prison Had Not Been Convicted of U.S. Crimes Homeland Security records reveal that officials knew that more than half of the 238 deportees were labeled as having no criminal record in the U.S. and had only violated immigration laws.

NEW: Of the 238 men deported to the prison in El Salvador, DHS data shows:

• 130 had no U.S. criminal histories aside from immigration violations;
• 32 had been convicted of crimes in the U.S.;
• 6 of those were violent crimes.

1/ The day after the Antioch High shooting, Nashville police arrested a 12-year-old for posting a concerning screenshot on Instagram.

His school was supposed to figure out if it was a valid threat. Instead, the school expelled him with no further investigation.

Helene’s Unheard Warnings As Hurricane Helene barreled toward Yancey County in North Carolina, communities along the Cane River in the Black Mountains were particularly vulnerable. But there were no evacuation orders, and few ...

Standing in awe of the @propublica.org team helmed by @jenniferberryhawes.bsky.social that pulled off this journalistic feat: a stunning narrative that painstakingly captures Helene’s tragedies and NC’s missed opportunities. www.propublica.org/article/hurr.... www.propublica.org/article/hurr...

The Pulitzer Prizes Explanatory Reporting finalists: Alexia Campbell, April Simpson and Pratheek Rebala of the Center for Public Integrity; Nadia Hamdan of Reveal; and Roy Hurst, contributor, Mother Jones. Azam Ahmed, Christina Goldbaum of The New York Times and Matthieu Aikins, contributing writer. Annie Waldman, Duaa Eldeib, Max Blau and Maya Miller of ProPublica.

Our “America’s Mental Barrier” series, which examines how insurance companies interfere with access to necessary mental health care across the United States, was also named a finalist in the explanatory reporting category: www.propublica.org/series/ameri...

Via @pulitzerprizes.bsky.social