Erica Hellerstein

I'm just smiling bc 1) Benito made a show for people who know history, and 2) so many people in town for the Super Bowl are shocked to realize the Bay Area is one of the most beautiful places on earth & that they fell for the organized right wing propaganda campaign

Photo shows a young girl with her cat

This is Maria, a 6-year-old detained by ICE last year.

She began to unravel soon after arriving at a detention center in Texas, wetting the bed after years without accidents, crying through the night and begging to breastfeed again.

Most of all, she wanted to be reunited with her cat, Milo. 1/

Bay Area to ICE ahead of Super Bowl: We’re ready The Weekly Dispatch Community-powered immigration news from the Bay Area. Welcome to El Tímpano’s Weekly Dispatch. I’m Erica Hellerstein, senior immigration, labor, and economics reporter. There are m...

While it’s unclear if the Trump admin will deploy ICE agents to the Super Bowl as it has promised, local rapid response networks are working 24/7 to ensure immigrants feel safe as thousands flock to the Bay.

Latest Weekly Dispatch by @ehellerstein.bsky.social:
www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/b...

DHS Secretary says filming ICE is illegal and amounts to doxxing.

They’re absolutely wrong.

Recording law enforcement in public spaces is protected by the First Amendment — and courts have affirmed that right time and again.

Watch @freedom.press’s @trevortimm.bsky.social explain.

Just talked to an organizer in the Bay a few minutes ago who told me Minneapolis has led to an explosion of interest in hyperlocal foot patrols and neighborhood pods locally. This has been happening since LA. Networks sharing lessons across state lines & replicating successful strategies.

And tbh, the people who have the most interesting perspectives + whose voices are most valuable rn will probably be shut out. People whose parents pay their rent and who have rich techie partners who foot the bills will be able to publish a few fancy mag pieces a yr and call it a day.

Journalism!

YouTube video by Freedom of the Press Foundation 3 things you need to know about the arrests of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort

🔴 Three things you should know about the arrests of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort (hint: this never ends well for the government).

1. They were just doing their job.
2. The government keeps losing these cases.
3. We must call out attacks on journalists of color.

Watch @adamrose.bsky.social explain:

Hundreds rally in Fruitvale Plaza for anti-ICE ‘National Shutdown’ protest The demonstration was part of a nationwide general strike held in solidarity with immigrants and residents of Minneapolis as ICE agents intensify immigration enforcement.

Friday's demonstration in Fruitvale was part of a nationwide strike held in solidarity with immigrants and residents of Minneapolis.

El Tímpano's @ehellerstein.bsky.social and @kat-nagasawa.bsky.social spoke with participants about what motivated them to show up.

www.eltimpano.org/english/immi...

Precisely why I've been losing sleep over what could happen in Oakland

A statement from Sahan Journal, Minnesota Star Tribune, Minnesota Public Radio, Minnesota Reformer, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, Center for Broadcast Journalism and Minnesota Newspaper Association:

Support Independent Journalism | GF

Georgia Fort's is chilling, and it's being overshadowed by the equally chilling arrest of Don Lemon.

A GoFundMe is being set up for Fort. In the meantime, you can support her work directly – without paying massive fundraising platform fees – through her website:

www.georgiafort.com/support

Georgia Fort Arrested After St. Paul Church Protest Georgia Fort arrested after federal agents executed a warrant tied to a St. Paul church protest she documented as a journalist.

It's not just Don Lemon! Journalist and BLCK Press Founder Georgia Fort was arrested for reporting on a Minneapolis church protest.

Don Lemon has been taken into custody after anti-ICE confrontation in St. Paul, Minnesota, earlier this month. https://cnn.it/4roAO6t

Indigenous Central Americans are erased in the immigration debate. They get lumped in with Latino stories, face language barriers here, and if deported, return to Guatemala to be stigmatized and discriminated against. Their invisibility isn’t accidental.

This moment will be defined by what we choose to record - Poynter Local press and local residents must document history as federal force grows routine

"A French documentary filmmaker was searching through a flea market when she found a photo album that chronicled Nazi-occupied Paris from 1940 to 1942. A note in the front read, 'If you find this album, take care of it and have the courage to look at it.'”

www.poynter.org/commentary/2...

Immigration officers assert sweeping power to enter homes without a judge's warrant, memo says An Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo obtained by The Associated Press reveals that the agency allows immigration officers to forcibly enter homes to make arrests without a judicial warrant.

BREAKING: Immigration officers are asserting sweeping power to enter homes without a judge’s warrant, a memo obtained by AP says.

Newsom’s budget proposal rolls back immigrant health care The Weekly Dispatch Community-powered immigration news from the Bay Area. Welcome back to El Tímpano’s Weekly Dispatch. I’m Erica Hellerstein, senior immigration, labor, and economics reporter. Last F...

Last Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom released his proposed 2026–27 California state budget.

In today’s Weekly Dispatch by @ehellerstein.bsky.social, we take a closer look at the proposal and what his budget might mean for immigrant communities across the state.

www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/n...

Medical examiner believes death of man in ICE custody was homicide, recording says A fellow detainee says he witnessed Geraldo Lunas Campos being choked to death by guards at the ICE detention center in Texas on Jan. 3.

SCOOP from Douglas Macmillan

Medical examiner believes death of man in ICE custody was homicide, recording says

www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Oglala Sioux Tribe accuses federal authorities of treaty violation after four members detained by ICE “Members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe are United States citizens. We are the first Americans.”

The Department of Homeland Security is refusing to release information on 3 detained Oglala Lakota tribal members who are being held at Fort Snelling, a former concentration camp for Native people, unless the tribe enters into an immigration agreement with ICE.

Erased by deportation data The Weekly Dispatch Community-powered immigration news from the Bay Area. Welcome back to El Tímpano’s Weekly Dispatch. I’m Erica Hellerstein, senior immigration, labor, and economics reporter. After ...

In our first Weekly Dispatch of 2026, @ehellerstein.bsky.social brings you the story of an Indigenous Maya family deported last year to Guatemala—a story that's been erased by deportation data.

www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/e...

Erased by deportation data The Weekly Dispatch Community-powered immigration news from the Bay Area. Welcome back to El Tímpano’s Weekly Dispatch. I’m Erica Hellerstein, senior immigration, labor, and economics reporter. After ...

In @eltimpano.bsky.social's first Weekly Dispatch of 2026, we bring you the story of an Indigenous Maya family deported last year to Guatemala. Their story has been erased by deportation data.

And, reflections on Venezuela + Renee Nicole Good.

www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/e...

Names aren't classified, publishing a government higher-up's name is not "doxxing," and journalists are entitled to publish news, even if it is classified, as long as they don't break the law to get it.

It's not the press's job to keep the government's secrets.

The response to Kent State

www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/202...

Inside ICE’s Tool to Monitor Phones in Entire Neighborhoods 404 Media has obtained material that explains how Tangles and Webloc, two surveillance systems ICE recently purchased, work. Webloc can track phones without a warrant and follow their owners home or t...

New: we've obtained material explaining how an ICE surveillance system, called Webloc, works. Draw shape on a map, see all phones available there, follow them home. All without warrant

“This is a very dangerous tool in the hands of an out-of-control agency.” www.404media.co/inside-ices-...

NEW: An ICE officer killed a person in broad daylight in Minneapolis today — with posted video appearing to contradict the DHS statement claiming self-defense, as the driver appeared to be attempting to drive away when shot.

MPR: www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

Video: bsky.app/profile/dani...

Invisible in the data: A Maya family struggles to rebuild in Guatemala after being deported A Maya Mam family’s deportation reveals the erasure Indigenous immigrants face in the U.S. and back home.

More than 37,000 ppl have been deported to Guatemala over the past year. But you won't find info about Indigenous deportees in U.S. or Guatemalan government data bc it doesn't exist. So we set out to tell the story of one Mayan family rendered invisible in the data

www.eltimpano.org/english/immi...

92-year-old judge handling Maduro case ‘doesn’t give a s--t what anyone thinks about him’ Lawyers who have practiced before the Clinton appointee say he’s known to operate a bit differently.

Sounds like a Hellerstein through and through 😜

www.politico.com/news/2026/01...

As safe spaces shrink, immigrant youth find solace in “the beautiful game” Amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, soccer provides a refuge for young newcomers.

The cool thing about supporting small, local nonprofit newsrooms is that you can help us consistently scoop the larger national pubs that publish the same stories we do 8 months later!

www.eltimpano.org/english/immi...

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Our latest investigation, months in the making & reported from Oakland to Guatemala.

The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 2/5