Ankita Rao

2025 was ICE’s deadliest year in two decades. Here are the 31 people who died in custody

The deaths came as the Trump administration ramped up immigration enforcement, detaining a record number of people

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Plane to purgatory: how Trump’s deportation program shuttles immigrants into lawless limbo 44,000 immigrants, 1,700 flights, 100 days: a Guardian investigation of leaked flight data and government detention data reveals the inhumane journey of immigrants shuttled around and outside the US

We analyzed tens of thousands of flights involving Global Crossing Airlines, which is doing most of ICE's domestic and foreign travel. This is what we learned and what has changed under Trump: www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

Mahmoud Khalil on exile, liberation and Ice detention: ‘It was a clear act of cruelty’ His grandparents survived the Nakba and he fled Assad’s Syria. Khalil is no stranger to political persecution, but not even Trump’s crackdown can silence him

“What shocked me, when I was kidnapped [by US immigration], was just how reminiscent that was to cases I witnessed in Syria. You would have plainclothed officers without any warrant come and take you just because of your political speech.”

@oliverlaughland.bsky.social interviews Mahmoud Khalil

By the numbers: the latest Ice and CBP data on arrests, detentions and deportations in the US The Guardian US reviewed figures from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection since Trump’s inauguration

The Guardian US is releasing a new tool today, a tracker tallying the arrests, detentions, and deportations since the start of the second Trump admin. We are going to continue to update as the admin releases new data: www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

Minneapolis mourns traumatizing Catholic school shooting: ‘We’re so tied together’ Tight-knit community rallies around church where assailant opened fire, killing two children and injuring 17

“Never again can we let this happen.” Via @rachelleingang.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Ice used Marriott chain to detain immigrants, despite hotel’s 2019 pledge not to cooperate Sheraton in Louisiana held father and teenage son this month in apparent contradiction of former position

ICE is using a Marriott hotel in Louisiana to detain migrant families before deportation flights

The company said in 2019 it would block use of its hotels to detain families

Marriott did not respond to requests for comment

By @skirchy.bsky.social, Raima Amjad, @maanvisingh.bsky.social & me

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Indiana passes law threatening non-profit status of expensive hospitals Landmark legislation follows local uproar over a Guardian investigation into a major non-profit’s high prices

Journalism matters. This follows reporting by @georgejoseph94.bsky.social, @wcraft.bsky.social, and @jessicaglenza.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Gaza blockade: a Palestinian widow, her children and a cupboard that is almost bare Ibtisam Ghalia and her four children are just one of the families living on brink of starvation with no sign of an end to blockade

"I divide the bread among my children just to curb their hunger." www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

Trump 100 days: tariffs, egg prices, Ice arrests and approval rating – in charts The first few months have seen record-breaking use of executive powers – here are some of the outlying trends

Trump 100 days: tariffs, egg prices, Ice arrests and approval rating – in charts

Readers give their verdict on Trump’s 100 days: ‘Extraordinary destruction’ The president promised an ‘extraordinary’ first 100 days in office but for many that has been true in all the wrong ways

100 @theguardian.com readers react to Trump's first 100 days (in 100 words or less) www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Trump is jailing immigrant families again. A mother, father and teen tell of ‘anguish on a daily basis’ Family incarceration has been revived after Biden – and Jade, Jason and Gabriela are speaking out about their distressing treatment in Texas

I spoke to one of the first families detained after the Trump administration re-started the practice of jailing families together. Jade, 13, said was "confused and scared". Now that she's out, she's still waiting on the government to return her Nintendo Switch.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

Was lucky to celebrate @julianborger.bsky.social’s book launch in person yesterday. A truly moving work from an incredible person and colleague and this is the perfect time to read it.

‘I just ask God that he’s OK’: family of Venezuelan musician sent to El Salvador prison agonizes over his fate Arturo Suárez Trejo was caught up in Trump’s immigration crackdown in North Carolina and sent to a notorious Salvadorian prison

Last week I flew to Chile to meet the wife and baby daughter of one of the Venezuelan migrants thrown in jail in El Salvador after being deported by Trump - a talented singer called Arturo Suárez. “If something happens to my husband, I will hold Trump
& Bukele responsible,” she told
me 💔

US law firms quietly scrub DEI references from websites to appease Trump Changes at two dozen prestigious firms underscore Trump’s successful intimidation campaign against legal profession

Read this story and consider what it means for the future of the US legal profession. Consider what it means for how careers will advance, who will be drawn to practice law, who will rise to become judges. This will have long term consequences : www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Federal workers fear Musk’s ‘efficiency’ agency is using AI to spy on them: ‘They are omnipresent’ The billionaire’s Doge may be secretly recording meetings in at least two agencies, according to emails from senior officials

"Over at the state department, IT staff said new monitoring software has been loaded onto computers. Some staffers have started using white noise machines in their offices, or have even turned on an office breakroom sink..." www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

‘A skill you need to save a life’: the US doctors traveling to Mexico for abortion training Since Roe v Wade was overturned, a growing number of would-be abortion providers have begun to leave the country in search of an education as training in the US dwindles

NEW from me: When states ban abortion, they make it harder for doctors to even learn how to perform it. Now, a small but growing number of doctors are leaving the US to learn to become abortion providers.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

They fled Putin’s Russia for the US. After Ice detention, they’re choosing to leave again Sergei and Marina were building a new life in California after protesting the Ukraine war. But Sergei was arrested during a routine check-in – and everything has changed

“I left home so that I wouldn’t be afraid to be put into prison again,” said Marina. “When I came here, I thought, worst case they can refuse us asylum. But I didn’t expect that something like this could happen. Not again.”

‘No guidance and no leadership’: chaos and confusion at CDC after mass firings On 1 April, thousands of workers at HHS and agencies like the CDC were let go, leaving those left to piece together the cuts and mourn the research that can’t go forward

Startling moments in this piece about the CDC cuts: "If a Doge staffer walked through their offices and saw a badge at an untended workstation, its owner would be fired promptly." & Laboratories shut down with biohazards/specimens left unstored. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Doge’s attack on social security causing ‘complete, utter chaos’, staff says Understaffed agency sent into ‘death spiral’ as employees warn Musk-led cuts will lead to structural collapse Office closures, staffing and service cuts, and policy changes at the Social Security Administration (SSA) have caused “complete, utter chaos” and are threatening to send the agency into a “death spiral”, according to workers at the agency. The SSA operates the largest government program in the US, administering social insurance programs, including retirement, disability and survivor benefits. Continue reading...

Doge’s attack on social security causing ‘complete, utter chaos’, staff says

Three critically ill patients in US could have survived with abortions, study shows Doctors in states with abortion bans say patients were not told of abortion care as option for fear of legal consequences

"Nobody will ever know how many women have been harmed or died because of abortion bans preventing appropriate medical care.” Quote by Dr Caitlin Bernard in my piece today: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Wisconsin and Florida races give jolt of energy to Democrats in fight against Trump Democrats motivated by deep anger from voters who say party isn’t doing enough to coalesce around a strategy

"Crawford and Democrats leaned into making the race about Musk, betting that he was unpopular enough with voters that they would be motivated to come out.

That strategy seems to have worked and turnout skyrocketed in Wisconsin." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

US health agency layoffs gut mine safety, infertility and smoking programs Thousands lost jobs as sweeping cuts reshape public health, leaving experts and lawmakers scrambling

"A dark day for public health" www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Booker makes a stand against Trump – and doesn’t stop for 25 hours Democrats have appeared lame and leaderless for 72 days, but then Cory Booker stood up and did something

"Indeed, after 72 days in which Democrats have appeared lame and leaderless, Booker stood up and did something." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

We have jobs openings in DC: enterprise editor, enterprise reporter and senior enterprise reporter. Go get it workforus.theguardian.com/search-jobs-...

Los Angeles wildfires: officials expect death toll to rise as blazes continue Five different fires have killed at least five people, destroyed 2,000 buildings and forced evacuation of 130,000 people

My incredible @us.theguardian.com colleagues based in Los Angeles are producing nuanced, heartbreaking reporting. Follow along > @gabriellecanon.bsky.social @samtlevin.bsky.social @loisbeckett.bsky.social