Julia Barajas

El exilio del periodismo salvadoreño es el capítulo más reciente de un patrón que se repite en Centroamérica.

En este episodio hablamos con Óscar Martínez, Carlos Martínez y colegas de la región sobre sus experiencias.

🎧 Escucha: elhilo.audio/266

Thank you. Our newsroom has prepared a radio segment

The protective visas that may never come Programs meant to make it easier to prosecute domestic violence and trafficking cases are under threat. The safety of thousands of immigrant women is at risk.

1/ Twenty-five years ago, lawmakers from both parties created two new visas:

🟣 U visas for victims of domestic violence and other serious crimes
🟣 T visas for victims of human trafficking

Abrego Garcia Detained Again After Government Signaled It Would Re-Deport Him

Before his immigration check-in, Kilmar Abrego Garcia delivered an emotional plea to immigrants and the immigrant rights community. “Regardless of what happens here with ICE, promise me this that you will keep fighting, praying, believing in dignity — not only for me but for everyone,” he said.

Cuando Jhoanna Sanguino vio el nombre de su sobrino en la lista de los 252 venezolanos deportados a la megacárcel de El Salvador, el mundo se le vino abajo. Pero en medio de todo el dolor, decidió que haría todo lo posible para sacarlo. Su historia aquí: elhilo.audio/259

Trump delays limits on gas used to clean medical equipment. What it means for LA families worried about cancer Public health experts say sustained exposure to ethylene oxide increases the risk of various cancers.

Trump just issued a proclamation that delays a rule meant to tighten ethylene oxide emissions at companies that use the gas to sterilize medical equipment, @juliabarajas.bsky.social reports for @laist.com. UCLA Prof. William Boyd says no other president has gone this route. laist.com/news/health/...

Bukele, emboldened by Trump, is arresting prominent critics While the Trump administration deepens ties with El Salvador, its millennial president is cracking down on dissenting lawyers, activists and journalists.

Bukele is arresting lawyers, targeting NGOs and chasing journalists from El Salvador.
The Trump administration says he’s a model for the region @schmidtsam.bsky.social reports

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

As we marched through our local streets, we made our voices heard,” she said. “We will be remembered as the class that made a difference. A class that stood up for what we believe in, who spoke up for our parents and grandparents when they were told they didn't have a voice. We were united not only by our culture, but by our shared belief that education can help us fight for justice and freedom. I'm incredibly proud to call myself a member of this class.” Atop their white robes, several of her classmates wore stoles resembling the flags of countries their families hail from. Many of their caps also bore the same message: “Para mis padres” — “For my parents.”

Found this @laist.com piece interviewing graduating seniors in LA—some of whom have family members afraid of attending ceremonies right now—to be quite moving.

laist.com/news/educati...

Trump Asked EPA Employees to Snitch on Colleagues Working on DEI Initiatives. They Declined. EPA staff didn’t use a tip line set up by the Trump administration to identify and assist in slashing programs focused on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.

“I’m not surprised that nobody turned in their colleagues,” a retired EPA worker said.

His former co-workers understood the importance of addressing pollution that disproportionately impacted communities of color, he added. “That’s part of the mission — it has been for decades."

How We’re Using AI The rapid development of AI is already changing how journalists operate. Reporters, editors, executives, and others across the news industry share their advice on how to engage—and where to draw the l...

AI is already changing how journalists operate. Reporters, editors, executives, and others across the news industry share their advice on how to engage—and where to draw the line. By Mike Ananny and Matt Pearce in collaboration with USC's AI for Media & Storytelling. www.cjr.org/feature-2/ho...

The Mystery of ICE’s Unidentifiable Arrests In early March, the agency announced that it had arrested forty-eight people in New Mexico—a month later, their identities and whereabouts remain unknown.

ICE officers are now reportedly required to meet arrest quotas each day, from a few hundred to between 1,200 and 1,500 nationwide. Jonathan Blitzer reports on the mystery of the agency’s unidentifiable arrests.

Congress Has Demanded Answers to ICE Detaining Americans. The Administration Has Responded With Silence. Amid increasing reports that U.S. citizens have been caught up in the Trump administration’s immigration dragnet, a dozen members of Congress have written to the government with pointed questions. Non...

NEW from me: Amid increasing reports that U.S. citizens have been caught up in the Trump administration’s immigration dragnet, a dozen members of Congress have written to the government with pointed questions. None has received a reply.
www.propublica.org/article/trum...

The gates of Harvard University. The text reads: "Harvard Says It Will Not Comply With Trump Administration's Demands." Photo by Sophie Park for The New York Times.

“No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,” Alan Garber, Harvard’s president, said about President Trump's demands. nyti.ms/4jzSS9W

Breaking News: Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia student activist who is a legal permanent resident, was arrested by ICE at a meeting he thought was a step to becoming a U.S. citizen. nyti.ms/4cxlwG4

Alabama Can’t Prosecute Those Who Help With Out-of-State Abortions, Judge Rules The state attorney general had raised the possibility of charging doctors with criminal conspiracy for recommending abortion care out of state.

Alabama cannot prosecute doctors and reproductive health organizations for helping patients travel out of the state to obtain abortions, a federal judge ruled on Monday. Alabama has one of the strictest abortion bans in the U.S.

Some Americans Have Already Been Caught in Trump’s Immigration Dragnet. More Will Be. Federal immigration authorities have a history of wrongfully detaining U.S. citizens. Advocates warn that the Trump administration’s immigration policies mean that more citizens will get caught up in…

“It’s really everyone — not just noncitizens or undocumented people — who are in danger of having their liberty violated in this kind of mass deportation machinery,” said Cody Wofsy, the deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.

By @nicolefoy.bsky.social

Ohio school voucher program: Data shows nearly 90% of participants are not low-income It’s a dramatic turnabout from the program’s stated initial purpose.

“State data shows nearly 90% of students enrolled in Ohio’s voucher program this year are not low-income qualified, a dramatic turnabout from the program’s stated initial purpose.”

Haitian immigrants went to Colorado for the promise of jobs. What they found is being called human trafficking. Haitian immigrants moved to Colorado on the promise of a good job and a place to stay—only to be mistreated. Now, they fear deportation.

“Going back to Haiti is a death sentence, really.”

Haitian immigrants moved to Colorado on the promise of a good job and a place to stay—only to be mistreated. Now, they fear deportation.

Ted Genoways with @thefern.org reports for our latest episode of Reveal.

Transportation Memos Favor Places With Higher Birth and Marriage Rates US Department of Transportation policies also call for rolling back climate and so-called DEI measures.

In particular, the memo also calls for DOT to favor projects that “require local compliance or cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.”

Important work from @kendrawrites.com on what's happening at the Dept of Transportation www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

“People Will Die”: The Trump Administration Said It Lifted Its Ban on Lifesaving Humanitarian Aid. That’s Not True. Organizations that provide vital care for desperate and vulnerable people around the world have been forced to halt operations, turn away patients and lay off staff. “I’ve never seen anything that sca...

Staffers at "U.S.-funded medical facilities in Sudan who care for severely malnourished children had a choice to make: Defy President Donald Trump’s order to immediately stop their operations or let up to 100 babies and toddlers die.

They chose the children."

www.propublica.org/article/trum...

The American Oil Industry’s Playbook, Illustrated: How Drillers Offload Costly Cleanup Onto the Public Oil executive Tom Ragsdale walked away from his old wells, making the pollution left behind the state of New Mexico’s problem. His tactics, however, are ubiquitous in the industry.

More than 2 million oil and gas wells sit unplugged in the U.S., many leaking contaminants into waterways, farmland and neighborhoods.

Time and time again, oil companies have walked away — leaving taxpayers to pay for cleanup. Here’s how.

As the Olympics Approach, Los Angeles Considers Crackdown on Illegal Vacation Rentals City officials are proposing stricter enforcement, higher fines and new technology in part to prevent rent-controlled apartments from being listed on Airbnb and Booking.com, the subject of a Capital…

NEW: As Los Angeles continues to combat rent-controlled apartments being illegally listed as vacation rentals, the city has proposed higher penalties: from $1k for first violations for the smallest properties to $64k for a third violation for the largest.

Mississippi communities scarred by ICE raids fear future under Trump Morton and nearby towns in central Mississippi saw the biggest workplace ICE raids in the country in 2019, when nearly 700 workers were arrested from chicken processing plants. Five years later, the impact is still felt here, even as activists and immigrants brace for more workplace raids under a second Trump term.

The incoming Trump administration has said workplace raids will be restarted as part of their mass deportations promise.

This has left people in the area anxious about the deep impact new workplace raids could have on the community's economy and psyche. www.npr.org/2024/12/09/g...

Concerned About Your OB-GYN Visit? A Guide to What Should Happen — and What Shouldn’t. As we’ve reported on sexual misconduct by OB-GYNs, many women told us they didn’t know what was normal. With the help of providers, patients and experts, we created this guide.

As we’ve reported on sexual misconduct by OB-GYNs, we’ve learned that many women felt they didn’t know what was normal during a visit, or didn’t know what they could do to speak up.

We created this guide to help fill this gap. 👇

Ahead of the centennial, I spoke with the reporters, editors, and advisers who’ve brought the paper to life. They reflected on the importance of student journalism. They also shared what inspires them; what scares them; and how they're preparing for whatever comes next.

'I'm gonna be out there, fighting': These college students are pursuing journalism in spite of, well, everything Record layoffs. The threat of AI. A free fall in public trust. All around, journalism is crumbling. And yet, at Santa Ana College, these students and educators are keeping the faith.

If you’ve been feeling down about journalism's future, I invite you to read this story about the 100th anniversary of Santa Ana College’s student newspaper . . .

w/ photos by: Brian Feinzimer

laist.com/news/educati...

Texas Lawmakers Push for New Exceptions to State’s Strict Abortion Ban After the Deaths of Two Women The new legislation, prompted by ProPublica’s reporting, comes after 111 Texas doctors signed a public letter urging that the ban be changed because it “does not allow us as medical professionals to d...

The new legislation, prompted by ProPublica’s reporting, comes after 111 Texas doctors signed a public letter urging that the ban be changed because it “does not allow us as medical professionals to do our jobs.”

Mexico Has Spent Years in a Legal Cannabis Limbo. Will its New President Bring Clarity? - Cannabis Wire Claudia Sheinbaum has expressed an openness to reform, but cannabis policy does not appear to be at the top of her priorities.

In addition to my higher ed reporting, I’ve also started freelancing again.

Here’s my first story for Cannabis Wire in a long time, which delves into the state of cannabis policy in Mexico:

cannabiswire.com/news/2024/11...