Michael Barajas

ICE detains reporter Estefany Rodríguez in Nashville - Nashville Banner Reporter Estefany Rodríguez, detained by ICE with no arrest warrant, may face deportation. Her attorneys seek immediate review of the legality of her case.

Another reporter arrested by ICE. Estefany Rodríguez, a reporter for Nashville Noticias and Univision 42 Nashville, faced death threats in Colombia, came to the U.S. legally and had applied for asylum. Now she is being sent back. Nashville Banner got the story

nashvillebanner.com/2026/03/05/j...

How State and Local Leaders Are Responding to ICE: Your Questions Answered - Bolts The violence of Trump’s immigration crackdown in cities across the country and the killing of protesters by federal agents have put pressure on local leaders to change their approach to... Read More

our whole staff at Bolts worked together to tackle reader questions about local and state responses to the federal immigration dragnet. lots of info here: boltsmag.org/how-state-an...

anyway i don't know much about Givens beyond the scandals that have made headlines in recent years. was clearly not expecting this kind of blowout. very curious to see what happens next -- she faces the same crises Creuzot struggled with, from an overcrowded and deadly jail to state interference

Interview with Texas Exoneree Christopher Scott: 'I kept hope alive that one day I was going to be free.' - Innocence Project

Creuzot had a lot of backing, but Givens also had support from some notable figures in DFW like Christopher Scott, who was wrongfully convicted of murder in Dallas and has become an avid and impressive activist since his 2009 exoneration, more bg on him here innocenceproject.org/news/intervi...

YouTube video by Amber Givens For Dallas County DA Creuzot what happens in the justice system when no one is watching you?

The most pointed critique from Givens during the campaign was over this scandal involving missing evidence, w/ her arguing that Creuzot downplayed it, see this campaign video www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbkz...

Dallas District Attorney Speaks About Dallas PD Evidence Issues New information in a memo to Dallas City Council members Friday showed even more police videos than known before were improperly labeled.

Givens and Creuzot have an interesting history — she oversaw a high-profile murder case years ago where questions about missing evidence eventually snowballed into a scandal over Dallas police wrongfully deleting terabytes of data www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/d...

State commission sanctions Dallas judge Amber Givens State District Judge Amber Givens was admonished and reprimanded by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for complaints filed several years ago.

Givens, who's basically now the next DA since she faces no GOP candidate in November, had some rocky years on the bench and is now appealing state sanctions over allegations that she let a court reporter impersonate her during virtual hearings and wrongfully detained someone after being recused

As Election Nears, Dallas Politicians Have Few Answers for Their Jail Crisis - Bolts For years, Mason McCormick thought he might never leave the Dallas County jail. His partner, Tammy Hinton, says that McCormick tried “to stay in good spirits,” but that grew increasingly... Read More

Creuzot, also a former judge, beat a GOP incumbent in 2018 w/ backing from reform groups bc he supported jail diversion and dropping petty charges related to homelessness or addiction—policies that drew intense backlash from GOP lawmakers who then passed new restrictions on local DAs


some bg

John Cruezot concedes to Amber Givens in Dallas DA Democratic primary upset Despite the incumbent district attorney raising more in contributions than his challenger, Givens was ahead in the unofficial vote tally Wednesday morning.

one stunning down-ballot result in TX last night that folks might’ve missed was the ouster of Dallas’ two-term DA, John Creuzot, by Amber Givens, an embattled former judge who previously clashed w/ the DA in her court 

www.keranews.org/elections-20...

Chris's conviction was overturned & he's been out of Angola since November, but the state is *still* trying to reinstate his guilty verdict & death sentence. The family of the girl he was accused of killing now believes deeply in his innocence & has filed a remarkable amicus brief:

The Massachusetts Department of Correction has been fighting me for months, trying to withhold data about its collaboration with ICE.

Yesterday, I won that fight, and obtained records showing that the state has transferred more than 2,000 people into ICE custody since 2009.

A quick thread:

The Chicago real estate firm leasing an empty prison to ICE Highlands Real Estate Investment Trust looks to profit from President Trump's anti-immigrant agenda.

new: highlands reit, a small chicago-based real estate firm, is renting an empty prison it owns in colorado to ice and private prison giant geo group.

highlands is part of a network of private contractors hoping to get a cut of the $45 billion allocated to warehouse immigrants through 2029.

Opposition to Mega Prison Project Shapes a Local Election in Rural Arkansas - Bolts Incarceration has become a central issue in Western Arkansas, where the governor wants to build a new prison that has angered and mobilized residents.

Before Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders announced a megaprison a mile from his house, Colt Shelby hadn’t voted in 15 years.

Now he says he won't miss another election.

Ahead of Tuesday's special election, I took a look at how incarceration has become the race's biggest issue in a deeply red district.

Mississippi's Black Voters Brace for SCOTUS to Gut Their Political Clout - Bolts Black Mississippians won a key ruling last year in a case that challenges how the state elects supreme court justices. But the U.S. Supreme Court may soon weaken the Voting Rights Act and erase their ...

NEW: Black voters in Mississippi are on the brink of a major victory — a federal judge ordered the state to redraw its state supreme court districts to ensure greater Black representation.

But GOP lawmakers are dragging their feet for now, looking toward SCOTUS & its Callais order to "save" them:

Massachusetts Could Be the Next State to Give Abuse Survivors a Pathway Out of Prison - Bolts The Massachusetts Survivors Act emulates recent resentencing reforms across the country that allow for reduced sentences for people with convictions related to their abuse.

incarcerated survivors continue to organize for these reforms, see this recent story from @victorialaw.bsky.social on a resentencing bill that they're pushing this year in MA -- including by testifying about horrific abuse in public legislative hearings boltsmag.org/massachusett...

For Third Year, California Kills Bill to Help Incarcerated Domestic Violence Survivors - Bolts Advocates in California have pushed for relief for people convicted of harming their abuser, hoping to build on states across the political spectrum that have adopted such reforms.

these kinds of reforms have hit opposition from prosecutors in red and blue states. after yet another failed attempt in CA last year, one criminalized survivor reflected on how “the climate right now is for punishment, not for restoring things and not for looking at what’s right”

Oklahoma Gives Incarcerated Survivors of Domestic Violence a New Chance at Freedom - Bolts The Oklahoma Survivors’ Act reduces sentences for people whose convictions stemmed from their abuse. It passed despite prosecutors’ objections and an initial veto by the governor.

i really love how Pam’s story centers the organizing that has happened among incarcerated survivors and their families, who have been integral in pushing these kinds of resentencing reforms

boltsmag.org/louisiana-ju...

boltsmag.org/oklahoma-sur...

They Were Convicted of Killing Their Abusers. A New Law Offered a Second Chance at Freedom. An Oklahoma law was supposed to help reduce the sentences of women who killed their abusers. Why are nearly all of them still in prison?

survivors of domestic violence who are in prison for fighting back against an abuser have inspired and helped pass resentencing reforms in red and blue states in recent years. @pamelacolloff.bsky.social reports how opposition from prosecutors is still keeping them behind bars

Opposition to Mega Prison Project Shapes a Local Election in Rural Arkansas - Bolts Incarceration has become a central issue in Western Arkansas, where the governor wants to build a new prison that has angered and mobilized residents.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders' plan to build a huge mega-prison in rural Arkansas has drawn major opposition, with some residents saying it's made them think differently about incarceration in the face of organizing.

Now that's bleeding into a local election, as candidates vow to fight the governor.

NEW:

Hidden in Plain Sight: Surveillance at the Arizona Border From hidden license plate readers to AI-powered cameras, federal agents have built a vast monitoring network that stretches deep into Arizona.

Hidden in traffic cones & highway signs: CBP & DEA have built a covert license plate reader network across Arizona, some 130+ miles from the border, scanning every car on Tohono O'odham land.

Read full story🔗🦂:

A majority of the 16 U.S. states under total Democratic control now ban 287(g) partnerships with ICE. Maryland and New Mexico just joined that list, following Maine in January.

I wrote about this landscape and these new reforms in @boltsmag.org:

boltsmag.org/maryland-new...

Amid Mass ICE Arrests, Trump Pardon Recipient Juan Orlando Hernández Given Special Treatment After the former Honduran president was pardoned, ICE dropped its detainer on him, and he was whisked away to a luxury hotel in New York City.

After railing against narcoterrorists + deporting migrants w/no criminal record, President Trump pardoned the former Honduran president last year – then federal officials lifted his ICE hold & whisked him to the Waldorf Astoria

My latest for @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/trum...

In Iowa, Prosecutors Want to Bring Back Court Fees as Bargaining Chips - Bolts Iowa's high court recently ended the practice of making defendants pay fees for charges that get dismissed. Prosecutors are backing legislation to undo the court’s ruling so they can keep using fees a...

After @laurengill.bsky.social investigated how court fines and fees weigh heavily on indigent defendants in Iowa, even after their charges get dismissed, the state's supreme court ended the practice for dismissals. Now she reports on how prosecutors are trying to undo the decision

The Feds Targeted Charlotte. Now a Local Democrat Who Helped ICE Faces Voters. - Bolts North Carolina lawmaker Carla Cunningham voted to mandate compliance with ICE, and derided immigrants on the House floor. The Democrat faces an intense March primary.

For @boltsmag.org, I wrote about the race to unseat Rep. Carla Cunningham in NC. After casting critical votes forcing cooperation with ICE, and backing other Republican legislation, the longtime Democratic lawmaker is facing a strong challenge in next month’s primary.
boltsmag.org/north-caroli...

Activists Want the City to Enforce Code Against the Dallas ICE Field Office. Can It Be Done? Cities across the state and nation are finding ways to hold ICE accountable. Will Dallas?

New in @dmagazine.bsky.social

"In June 2025, DHS waived the original 12-hour limit on holding people at field offices, increasing it to 72 hours...between July and October 15, at least 336 people were held at the Dallas ICE field office for more than 72 hours."

www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/...

"We're able to do this work, finding and bringing you stories that aren’t reported elsewhere, because of our stellar team of journalists across the country who are energized to unearth them. Thanks to their work, we’ve published critical reporting from all over since 2022: I’m proud to say Bolts has produced meaningful stories devoted to all 50 states. Just over the last year, we’ve covered the prosecution of an American Samoan community in Alaska, threats to voting rights in North Dakota, jail deaths in Texas, a state supreme court in Hawaii pushing back against the erosion of civil rights, immigration enforcement in California’s East Bay, the construction of a mega prison in Arkansas, an embattled sheriff’s office in downstate Illinois—plus much, much more."

The email we sent out today celebrating our 4th birthday at @boltsmag.org ! 🎂🎂🎂🎂

mailchi.mp/boltsmag/fou...

As I wrote later on: "Thank you for trusting us and reading us. It blows my mind every day that there are so many of you—and today your support feels very special indeed."

Inside ICE’s Only Contract with a Blue State - Bolts Luis Perez waited 53 and a half years to be freed from prison. When his day finally came, on Jan. 16, 2025, he could practically feel the warmth and quiet... Read More

Massachusetts is the only state run by Democrats that still partners with ICE. I dug into this and found that it’s had profound and very troubling consequences: at least 164 people funneled straight from state prisons to ICE since 2023 alone.

New in @boltsmag.org: boltsmag.org/massachusett...

ICE-Cold Cash: Private Prison Companies and Executives Have Donated Millions to Members of Congress Find out if your representatives have taken cash from the companies fueling ICE’s mass deportation efforts.

@ethanscorey.bsky.social and I have published a database of congressmembers who take money from GEO Group + CoreCivic. Find out if your reps have taken cash from the companies fueling ICE’s mass deportation efforts. Published in @theappeal.org + @inthesetimes.com. theappeal.org/ice-cold-cas...

In Bay Area, Felony Charges Against Student Protesters Prompt Free Speech Concerns - Bolts German Gonzalez grew up about an hour south of Stanford University, in a dusty California farming town where the apples for Martinelli’s sparkling cider are juiced and packaged. In high... Read More

Bay Area prosecutors are continuing to pursue felony charges against pro-Palestine activists who staged sit-ins in 2024

@psfrench.bsky.social reports how the cases represent a notable escalation in punishment against nonviolent demonstrators boltsmag.org/stanford-san...

Virginia’s New Governor Ends ICE Program. Local Contracts Remain, For Now. - Bolts Abigail Spanberger left the 287(g) program, which empowered state law enforcement to detain immigrants. Will Democrats also bar local police and sheriffs from the program?

NEW: Abigail Spanberger this afternoon ordered that all state agencies leave ICE's 287(g) program.

This means that the state police (and some other agencies) will no longer be empowered to detain and arrest people for ICE.

Big, big move by the governor within weeks of coming into office.