Arielle Levin Becker

This is 18-mo-old Amalia waving to me when she was detained.

She was hospitalized with a respiratory infection while at ICE’s Dilley facility for immigrant families.

She’s one of dozens of detainees who I spoke to via video and phone calls, letters and an in-person visit. 🧵1/

When one mother was taken by ICE, another stepped in to donate breastmilk Moms in Minneapolis are donating diapers, food and time to help families who have been ripped apart by ICE.

A newborn in Minneapolis hadn’t eaten for a day and a half.

ICE agents took her mother when she went to work, trying to make money for diapers.

Her 16-year-old and Bri, a local mother of two, saved that baby's life. @chabeli.bsky.social tells their story

Medicaid Data Sharing Crisis: Will HHS Break the Law to Help ICE? When people share information with a health care program, they very reasonably expect their personal information will be used for their health care, and otherwise kept private. However, recent moves b...

From my colleague Leo Cuello: #Medicaid Data Sharing Crisis: Will HHS Break the Law to Help ICE? ccf.georgetown.edu/2026/01/29/m...

Jewish seniors are offering to hide their Haitian caregivers as Trump's TPS end looms - Jewish Telegraphic Agency "That reminds me of Anne Frank,” said the CEO of one Jewish senior residence reeling as Temporary Protected Status for Haitians is set to end.

Some of the 500 seniors at Sinai Residences in Boca Raton, Florida, including many Holocaust survivors, asked if they could hide the building’s Haitian staff in their apartments.

“That reminds me of Anne Frank,” Rachel Blumberg, president and CEO of the center, sad.

www.jta.org/2026/01/30/u...

Immigration enforcement drives health concerns in CT CT residents who fear they or a loved one could be deported say they are facing mounting mental and physical health problems.

“Across Connecticut, residents who fear they or a loved one may be deported are self-isolating and facing mounting mental and physical health consequences as a result.”

ctmirror.org/2026/01/27/i...

“In a region that had legislated its commitment to life, she would spend her final days struggling to find anyone to save hers.”

~40% of Hepatitis B infections are caught in childhood. It is contagious enough that it can be spread just from sharing common household objects.

The chance of chronic infection (ie does not clear, and is associated with high rates of liver failure and cancer) ranges from 50%-90% in this age group.

really important advice for folks planning on ACA insurance

'Why won't you help me?' Pregnant women and their babies are dying in jail Dozens of pregnant women locked up in county jails described excruciating pain, saying their cries for help were ignored as they miscarried or gave birth into cell toilets or on filthy jail floors.

One woman chewed through her umbilical cord after giving birth in jail — another delivered into a cell toilet

'Why won't you help me?' Pregnant women and their babies endure inhumane conditions in jails

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

I'm on the #EconJobMarket! I study how policies and childhood environments shape outcomes of low-income & vulnerable kids.

In my JMP, I study the effects of allowing youth who would have aged out of foster care at 18 to stay until 21—offering support their peers not in foster care get from parents.

This is a picture of the cover of a report. It has text that says "Maternal Health Equity: A Blueprint for Connecticut" and the logo of the Connecticut Health Foundation. It has several photos on it that show women and babies and children of various ages.

We are excited to present Maternal Health Equity: A Blueprint for Connecticut.

The blueprint aims to reduce life-threatening complications of pregnancy in Black women, and outlines steps our state can take now to make progress.

www.cthealth.org/publication/...

KFF/New York Times 2025 Survey of Immigrants: Health and Health Care Experiences During the Second Trump Administration | KFF This report, based on a KFF/New York Times survey from fall 2025, provides data on health and health care experiences of immigrant adults ages 18 and over in the current policy environment. Four in te...

Important finding: 18% of immigrant parents report they’re avoiding signing up for government health care and other programs

This is the “chilling effect” in action which will lead to more uninsured kids

1/4 kids in U.S. have an immigrant parent; most kids are citizens

www.kff.org/immigrant-he...

He worked hard to give me a home. ICE took his: How I lost my father to deportation

"Deportation has taken away the father I once knew and given me back a person I no longer recognize." Vanessa Lopez, audience engagement specialist at the Chicago Sun-Times writes:

Trump Administration Live Updates: Officials Demand States ‘Undo’ Work to Send Full Food Stamps

In addition to everything else, this is a very weird choice of a hill to die on.

Trump Administration Live Updates: Officials Demand States ‘Undo’ Work to Send Full Food Stamps www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11...

In their own handwriting: What CT's unhoused residents want you to know As the number of people experiencing homelessness in Connecticut grows, people living outside and in their cars share what they wish others knew.

CT Insider reporters handed dozens of people experiencing homelessness notecards and asked them to share, in their own words, what they wish others knew about being unhoused, what worries them most each day, and what would help them the most.

www.ctinsider.com/projects/new...

48 hours of homelessness in CT: The faces and stories of a growing crisis With affordable housing hard to find in Connecticut, the number of people who are homeless — young and old, in cities and towns — is rising fast.

Homelessness is rising in CT, and fast.

To capture the scope of this crisis, CT Insider dispatched nearly two-dozen reporters and photographers into communities for two days, shadowing people experiencing homelessness and those tasked with trying to help.

www.ctinsider.com/projects/new...

134 unhoused people have died in CT this year. Here are some of their stories. Some who were homeless died from the cold. Others died when their cars caught fire, or they were struck by vehicles. Our obits shine a light on who they were.

“Since the start of the year, at least 134 unhoused people have died. Only two lived long enough to reach the state’s average life expectancy.

Two died before birth. One was a newborn. Another was 15 years old.”

www.ctinsider.com/projects/new...

Amid housing shortage, CT spends millions managing homelessness other ways Amid a housing shortage, Connecticut is spending millions managing homelessness through foster care, jails and ERs. Lawmakers say the issue can be solved.

Spend some time with this whole series. Our state can do better.

www.ctinsider.com/projects/new...

She's 93 and still job searching despite 14 broken arms and other injuries. She can't afford not to work. America's oldest workers keep clocking in — many despite health issues and disabilities. And some can't afford to retire. We talked to nearly 200.

It's expensive to be disabled. Those costs can keep people working past the point where it's in their best interest, including for aging adults. www.businessinsider.com/older-americ...

Just so we’re clear…

SNAP isn’t saved yet. A judge gave the USDA until Monday to decide how or if benefits go out. They could be delayed, reduced, or partial. Nothing’s guaranteed.

Even if payments restart, states still have to reload cards and update systems, so delays are certain.

Marc Lobliner post on X: "Why the hell are we giving food stamps to 40 million people? Does anyone work anymore?"

SNAP isn't about "people who don't work." It's about people who don't get paid enough to live.

Of the 40 or so million people who rely on food stamps:

* Two-thirds are children, seniors, or disabled

* Most working-age adults who receive SNAP are employed—but in jobs that pay poverty wages

Medicare payments to doctors paused as government shutdown drags on The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is pausing Medicare payments to doctors, as negotiations tied to the government shutdown drag on.

Medicare payments to doctors paused as government shutdown drags on www.statnews.com/2025/10/15/c... via @statnews.com

Trump administration says immigration enforcement threatens higher food prices U.S. farmers face labor shortages and potential food price hikes due to Trump’s immigration policy, the administration acknowledged in a Federal Registry document.

Department of Labor says immigration enforcement threatens to raise food prices, seeks to lower farmworker wages.

wapo.st/48Iuil5

Opinion: With health coverage at risk, CT has a chance to lead Connecticut Health Foundation president outlines strategy 'that can position Connecticut to be a national leader in responsibly implementing HR1.'

There is no reason for CT residents go to without health care or go hungry while our state coffers are full.

With coverage at risk, CT has a chance to lead.
www.ctinsider.com/opinion/arti...

Low-income Americans slash spending, a worrying sign for the economy The U.S. economy faces challenges as consumer spending weakens, with lower-income Americans hit hardest by rising prices and economic pressures.

Low-income Americans slash spending, a worrying sign for the economy

www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Opinion | Disney and the Decline of America’s Middle Class

Great article about Disney theme parks being emblematic of the loss of America's middle class (featuring my buddy @lentesta.bsky.social). Things like going to a ball game or a theme park used to be the same for everyone. Now the rich have totally different experiences
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/o...

I'm not an authority on the subject (as the parent of a teen, rather than one myself), but it seems like this whole situation might be a pretty accurate encapsulation of what it's like to be a teen right now.

How a Connecticut man rebuilt his life after being wrongfully locked up for 19 years After receiving a $5.3 million settlement from the state, Jackson is looking to build a new life.

Marquis Jackson spent 19 years incarcerated for a crime he didn’t commit.

After receiving a $5.3 million payout from the state, he’s looking forward. But what does his case say about wrongful conviction in CT?
www.ctinsider.com/connecticut/...

This policy will discourage lawfully present immigrants who are eligible for Medicaid from signing up, or signing their kids up, leaving them without health insurance. That, of course, is a feature, not a bug.

New Medicaid work rules put states in a bind Previous efforts to set work rules in Georgia and Arkansas showed it can get messy.

New Medicaid work rules leave states in a bind

"People will lose coverage. There is no way to stop people who should be eligible from losing coverage. That's the lesson of Arkansas; there will be chaos."

www.axios.com/2025/07/14/m...