Thy Vo

Colorado forced to share personal Medicaid data with Trump administration, including ICE The state’s flagship safety net hospital, Denver Health, distributed a one-page notice about patient privacy that carried ground-shaking implications, especially for Colorado’s immigrant population.

Denver Health told Medicaid patients that “limited” personal information could be shared with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

coloradosun.com/2026/02/11/d...

For my latest story I reviewed over 100 cases where immigrants challenged their ICE detention in federal court in Washington. In most of those cases, judges determined ICE was holding people illegally.

SpaceX shrugged off toxic exposure complaints at Starlink lab Workers say exposure caused serious health issues including a hospitalization and a miscarriage

Customer support workers shared ventilation with lab workers who wore PPE to protect them from toxic fumes. Records show SpaceX didn't act on complaints about health problems for a year, installing fume extractors before an inspection. www.investigatewest.org/a-starlink-l...

Americans by Name, Punished for Believing It - Bolts In a small Alaska town, American Samoans face prosecution for voting in the only country they’ve ever known. They live in a limbo, created by colonial expansion, that now confuses even public official...

Did you know: American Samoa is the *only* territory or state where people are born without automatic citizenship and voting rights.

Few understand the fine print of this democratic exclusion. Many, including public officials and non-citizen American Samoans themselves, find it extremely confusing.

SpaceX shrugged off toxic exposure complaints at Starlink lab Workers say exposure caused serious health issues including a hospitalization and a miscarriage

Customer support employees reported health issues and SpaceX safety managers flagged ventilation problems. But records show the company did not improve ventilation at a Washington office for nearly a year, until the state began investigating.

www.investigatewest.org/a-starlink-l...

ICE Threw Thousands of Kids in Detention, Many For Longer Than Court-Prescribed Limit Former immigration staffers argue ICE is choosing to detain families for prolonged periods to speed deportations and compel them to leave.

New Data shows at least 3,800 children, including infants, have been put in detention since Trump took office. Many were held for long stretches. “There is no other way to describe it; it’s a jail for children," one parent said.
www.themarshallproject.org/2025/12/17/c...

Here’s how Denver police fly drones to 911 calls, triggering fears about privacy and surveillance The people on the street didn’t look up. They didn’t seem to know a police drone was hovering above, recording them as officers a mile away watched.

🧵Denver PD began testing drones as first responders in October after signing contracts w/ Skydio and Flock, saying they'll improve public safety. But these "flying cops" raise concerns for privacy advocates, council members and police oversight board, @denverpost.com's Shelly Bradbury reports

One Idaho atty said she planned to represent two men sent to Las Vegas for detention, but they were deported before she could get in touch again. Attorneys in Oregon have flagged similar concerns in a recent lawsuit.

People often have to find new lawyers in unfamiliar states to represent a loved one in detention - an added hurdle to legal representation. Attorneys also fear moving detainees is an attempt to advance their deportation.

@rachelspacek.bsky.social reports on what's happened to many Idaho undocumented immigrants detained after an Oct. 19 raid. A number were sent to states like Nevada for detention, forcing their families to scramble to find out where they are being held.

Idaho immigrants detained far from home, and from their attorneys Many undocumented immigrants arrested at an Idaho racetrack are being detained in Nevada and other states, making it harder for attorneys and family to find them

ICE has taken the stance that anyone in the country illegally is subject to mandatory detention/ineligible for bond. Though most judges have said this flouts due process, it means many immigrants are stuck in detention w/ no clear end date.
www.investigatewest.org/idaho-immigr...

“Every media era gets the fabulists it deserves” Back in August, the Press Gazette's Charlotte Tobitt reported that Wired and Business Insider had taken down AI-generated articles by a "freelancer" named "Margaux Blanchard." It was a case study of…

"Victoria Goldiee” had freelanced for The Cut and The Guardian. After Nicholas Hune-Brown, executive editor of The Local, greenlit her pitch, the red flags started popping up. www.niemanlab.org/2025/11/ever...

Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with 'suspicious' travel patterns The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious.

NEW AP INVESTIGATION: With license plate readers and local law enforcement partnerships, Border Patrol is monitoring American drivers and detaining those exhibiting ‘suspicious’ travel patterns in the U.S. interior. w/
@garanceburke.bsky.social. apnews.com/article/immi...

Student journalists say they were banned from campus after they covered a pro-Palestine protest The University of Colorado Boulder banned three student journalists from campus and charged them with code of conduct violations after they covered a pro-Palestine protest in October.

this is disturbing CU Boulder news... and good reporting by Olivia Doak.

www.dailycamera.com/2025/11/20/c...

Feds Used Chemical Agents Dozens of Times in Chicago An investigation by reporters from six newsrooms found that agents used chemical irritants nearly 50 times during Operation Midway Blitz.

Several Chicago newsrooms spent two months collecting and analyzing evidence of ICE & Border Patrol's use of tear gas and pepper spray in Chicago.

They found that agents deployed chemical agents nearly 50 times. Most uses occurred after a judge ordered federal agents to restrict their use.

Immigrants begging to be deported are languishing in ICE’s Aurora detention facility Despite the Trump administration’s mass deportation policy, immigrants have languished behind bars in Colorado, largely in the dark about when they will be freed.

Immigrants begging to be deported are languishing in ICE’s Aurora detention facility

Oregon groups: Trump’s overhaul will worsen homeless crisis New rules for a federal homeless housing program require people get treatment if they want housing — a big departure from the past

HUD now requires unhoused people get treatment or enroll in other services if they want federally-funded permanent housing. Oregon providers say that conflicts with the state's funding requirements - forcing them to choose between federal or state dollars
www.investigatewest.org/oregon-homel...

Native kids in WA less likely to be offered jail alternative Lawmakers and researchers push for new tracking measures as racial disparities and decentralized practices shape youth justice outcomes

A report finds Native American and Black youths are the least likely to be offered a path out of the justice system, while white children are most likely to be offered a break. The racial disparities get wider when a youth has a prior offense.
www.investigatewest.org/native-ameri...

Alice Wong, disability justice advocate and author, dies at 51 Wong envisioned a world where disabled people, particularly those from multiple marginalized backgrounds, could live freely and with full autonomy.

19thnews.org/2025/11/alic...

WA lawmaker backed cuts to legal aid for people like herself After being fired from the legal aid group she once led, Rep. Tarra Simmons supported state cuts that crippled similar organizations

The first formerly incarcerated lawmaker in WA had her convictions vacated in 2023, and she said it felt like being freed from an "invisible prison." This year, emails show, she supported cuts to legal aid groups that help others do the same.
www.investigatewest.org/make-it-make...

Native American kids in WA more likely to be arrested Before and after trial and even for low-level, nonviolent crimes, Native American youths are locked up at higher rates

Even before being convicted of a crime, Indigenous youth in Washington state are 6.4 times more likely to be kept in detention than white children.
www.investigatewest.org/native-ameri...

Staff sex abuse in Idaho women’s prisons largely unchecked InvestigateWest reporting exposes sexual abuse by guards, retaliation against victims and a system that fails to track the scope of the problem

"In Idaho prisons, more than two dozen women say guards prey on them with little fear of consequences — and those who speak up are often punished."

The U.S. is a leader in women's incarceration, and behind bars, women are anything but safe. 🧵

Many Washington counties don't verify abusers turned in guns While some counties are devoting money to track down guns, others rely on the honor system to ensure firearms are turned over

Washington state requires certain alleged domestic abusers to surrender their guns, but many counties lack mechanisms to actually verify if guns are turned over, relying on the honor system instead. www.investigatewest.org/many-wa-coun...

Alex Kuhnhausen developed a bacterial infection while in solitary confinement. The repeated failures that followed offer a rare look at how decisions made by prison officials can turn treatable ailments deadly, @brandonblock.bsky.social reports.
www.investigatewest.org/how-a-wa-pri...

The teacher was called to an Aug. 2011 personnel meeting over the allegations. The goal, according to school district records: "To protect Curtis and the District." bit.ly/43uI0Ev

Read the story: www.investigatewest.org/allegations-...

More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days. The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...

Extraordinary NEW story: We Found That More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days. @nicolefoy.bsky.social w/ photos by @sbmaneyphoto.bsky.social

Colorado food banks sound alarm over rising need amid federal cuts to nutrition assistance This spring, the Trump administration cut about $500 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture funding that went toward the Emergency Food Assistance Program, which supplements states’ food bank su…

“We have not been able to get the meats we used to get provided through Emergency Food Assistance,” a Colorado food bank operator says. “In its place, we’ve been getting fish sticks. And not a lot of them.” // Story by @lizzy-hernandez.bsky.social

Andrea Weiskircher thought her life was over after she filed complaints in June 2024. But after she shared what happened to her, other women opened up about their own stories of prison abuse. “They were like, ‘Screw IDOC. It happened to me too, dude,’” Weiskircher said.

"For the next five minutes, the woman listened as four men — a prosecutor, defense attorney, judge and police detective — debated what, exactly, Rogers meant by vagina."

Hard to say what's the most shocking part of this @investigatewest.bsky.social series. But this courtroom dialogue is up there.