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

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

If you are looking for a weekend read, I'd love to share my #longread for @eltimpano.bsky.social on the complex realities facing Indigenous Mayan immigrants affected by the administration's immigration crackdown, and the erasure they confront in the US and abroad. www.eltimpano.org/english/immi...

🧵1/ A few months ago, I began speaking with Fabiana, a Maya Mam woman who, along with her husband and daughter, was deported from Oakland to Guatemala in February 2025 while their attorneys were preparing to file a U-Visa case. www.eltimpano.org/english/immi...

I'm really happy to share a piece I've been working on @eltimpano.bsky.social that has been many months in the making. It's about the multifaceted challenges facing Indigenous Mayan immigrants swept up in the second Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. www.eltimpano.org/english/immi...

For the past few months, I've been talking to an Indigenous Maya woman who was recently deported to Guatemala from Oakland with her family. The story is as much about the present as it is about the past. My deep dive: www.eltimpano.org/english/immi...

Investigative reporter @ehellerstein.bsky.social looks at how Ukraine’s culture of tech innovation — and its surprising ties to Silicon Valley — are fueling the country’s resistance through an army of engineers, coders, hackers, and tinkerers. www.kqed.org/news/1206467... via @kqednews.kqed.org

I used to teach a volunteer journalism class at Branham in San Jose, so this is extra A) disgusting and B) mind-boggling to me. Genuinely took my breath away. I also wonder how these young boys have been influenced by folks like Nick Fuentes etc www.mercurynews.com/2025/12/09/s...

For ProPublica filmmaker Mauricio Rodríguez Pons, Yineska and her family represent the many Venezuelans who’ve come to the U.S. seeking safety and opportunity — and, in many ways, his own immigration story. Watch “Status: Venezuelan,” out now.

A 6-year-old boy is missing after ICE arrested him and his dad in NYC last week and shipped them off to separate facilities. www.thecity.nyc/2025/12/02/i... @thecity.nyc @gwynnefitz.bsky.social

Did you know that drones are responsible for ~70% of all deaths in the war in Ukraine? Or that the first computer in continental Europe was made in a bombed out building in Kyiv in 1951? Learn this + more in my pod on the tech nerds transforming the future of conflict www.kqed.org/news/1206467...

After one of the worst acts of racial terror in our history, *we erased it.* We didn't teach it. We didn't take anyone to trial. Police records disappeared. So did newspaper archives. The silence continued until 2020, when people, you could say, woke up. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/u...

Players are roleplaying in Fortnite to teach each other their rights when encountering ICE officials “I would slip [the warrant] under the door, but there’s no space under the door,” the agent says. The civilian pauses. “Well. Sounds like a personal problem.” www.404media.co/ice-defense-...

If DIY tech becomes standard in conflicts, future wars may shift from traditional armies to tech-savvy civilians, altering global security dynamics. #futurism

Looking for a weekend listen? Don't miss my report from Ukraine about the DIY tech nerds on the frontlines of the battlefield. They're transforming this war, and maybe even the future of conflict -- with major implications for the rest of the world. www.kqed.org/news/1206467...

My brilliant former colleague doing brilliant things ✨

Super proud of my friend @ehellerstein.bsky.social for writing/producing her first podcast episode and causally hitting out of the park. Listen for a story of Ukraine's DIY tech nerds on the front lines of the Ukrainian-Russian war:

In June, I went to Ukraine to work on a project abt my family's roots. But somewhere along the way, I fell into a rabbit hole about something else: The army of engineers, hackers & meme warriors fueling Ukraine's resistance against Russia. So I made a podcast about it: www.kqed.org/news/1206467...

This is the first time there has been an effort to publish a dictionary of the Mississippi Choctaw language and dialect. The only dictionaries available in the past have been Oklahoma Choctaw. And the Trump administration terminated the grant. www.mississippifreepress.org/mississippi-...

As I sometimes like to mention, s the only reason you know who Jeffrey Epstein is (that is, if you weren't one of his friends/clients/beneficiaries) is because Ms Brown, below, broke the story of his sweetheart deal to get out of the 2008 trafficking charges.

The most horrifying AI slop of ICE raids you can possibly imagine is wildly viral on Facebook, collectively totaling tens of millions of views from a single account. First spotted by @chadloder.bsky.social www.404media.co/ai-generated...

From @vanessalop.bsky.social: He worked hard to give me a home. ICE took his: How I lost my father to deportation chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2...

In today's Weekly Dispatch, @ehellerstein.bsky.social reflects on how the Fruitvale Día de los Muertos festival brought together thousands to honor their loved ones and celebrate heritage and culture—even amid fears of immigration enforcement. www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/w...

New: The FBI is quietly urging ICE agents to properly ID themselves in the field. In a bulletin to law enforcement last month, it warned of criminals posing as ICE to rob, rape, kidnap—a problem it says now demands national coordination to confront. By me & @carolinehaskins.bsky.social:

In this week's Weekly Dispatch, @ehellerstein.bsky.social shares a postmortem on last week’s events—not only on what unfolded, but on what local orgs learned during what became, in effect, a dress rehearsal for the immigration crackdown that may still come. www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/s...

Two months ago, U.S. Border Patrol posted a hype video, featuring the “banned” version of Michael Jackson’s 1995 song “They Don’t Care About Us,” including its infamous antisemitic slurs. While Border Patrol remained silent, antisemitic accounts on Twitter celebrated the government’s post.

Loving ML's immigration reporting in general, but this one hit me hard bc it is the exact story of my family. Also from present-day Ukraine, immigrated to the US just before a 1920 pogrom wiped out their town, & the remaining Jews were later killed in the Holocaust missionlocal.org/2025/10/the-...

A dinosaur talking with an NPR producer.

New - Fraudsters are posing as immigration attorneys & staging fake virtual court hearings to steal from ppl seeking legal help. Scammers advertise on TikTok to appear legit—stealing real lawyers’ names & bar numbers. Victims have lost thousands & risk deportation www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/h...

In today's Weekly Dispatch, @ehellerstein.bsky.social reports on the rise in scams targeting immigrants seeking legal help—where fraudsters pose as legitimate attorneys, make false promises and charge for services that may never be delivered. www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/h...

ICYMI: This week's newsletter is all about @eltimpano.bsky.social's collab with Latino USA. It's the story of Pedro, a farmworker who survived Half Moon Bay's mass shooting. He lost his brother in the attack and was shot 5 times. Then he discovered the accordion. www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/w...

I've been doing longform writing for so long, it was a fun experience to take myself out of my comfort zone with a longform radio piece. I'm excited about the next edition of E's radio - a longform podcast about my reporting in Ukraine. Hopefully out next month! www.latinousa.org/2025/10/03/m...

Thrilled to share the long-awaited collab btw @eltimpano.bsky.social + Latino USA! I spent months reporting on an accordion class helping the farmworker survivors of the Half Moon Bay shooting heal from their trauma. It's a piece abt grief, love, healing & culture. www.latinousa.org/2025/10/03/m...

Now available in your podcast feeds — @ehellerstein.bsky.social's Latino USA episode on an unconventional music program in Half Moon Bay that's helping farmworkers heal from trauma through the accordion. Ep will also air live on @kqednews.kqed.org tonight at 6 pm! www.latinousa.org/2025/10/03/m...

After a recent SCOUTS ruling lifting limits on ICE sweeps in LA & ongoing raids, Gov. Newsom signed a suite of bills to strengthen immigrant protections. Bay Area leaders also unveiled a new regional effort to financially support immigrants impacted by enforcement: www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/a...

In today's Weekly Dispatch, @ehellerstein.bsky.social reports on how increased immigration enforcement is preventing immigrant families from accessing necessary health care, triggering delays, mental health crises, and worsened outcomes. 👇 www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/h...

"We’re seeing a quarantine effect, but not from a virus. Families are isolating out of fear, raids, surveillance, and discrimination.” My latest on health care in California in the shadow of ICE. www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/h...

My latest is a deep dive into a recent ruling narrowing the grounds for domestic violence survivors to obtain asylum. It's also abt the historical exclusion of women from the asylum framework, and the long fight over how gender fits into a system created decades ago www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/a...

After her hearing at 26 Federal Plaza, a woman was detained and escorted toward the stairwell. Her husband, confused and in shock, was guided toward the exit. Minutes later, he broke down in the elevator. They entered together, but he left alone. This happens here daily. #ICE

In honor of #LaborDay, we've been looking into trades where immigrant labor is essential. @ehellerstein.bsky.social's last newsletter detailed how CA fast food workers are striking for safer conditions and calling on employers to protect them from ICE raids. www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/c...

This was exactly my recent experience in Kyiv! Everything felt enunciated: conversation, culture, ideas, even life. After I left, there was something I missed about being in this constant state of enunciation. Everything felt flat by comparison

The "Big Beautiful Bill" will strip food stamps from roughly ~74,000 refugees, asylees & other immigrants w humanitarian protections in CA. In the East Bay, some ppl are withdrawing CalFresh applications over concerns abt their data being shared w ICE. My latest: www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/s...

Last month, we reported that the IRS was preparing a system that would share millions of taxpayers' data with ICE. Now we can confirm data was officially transferred ⤵️

My latest digs into into “immigration trauma.” Migration, family separation & daily threats of detention are inflicting chronic stress on immigrant communities—especially kids—showing up emotionally & physically in anxiety & toxic stress that can stunt development www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/w...

Our latest newsletter by @ehellerstein.bsky.social dives into immigration trauma and how migration, detention and separation shape families' mental health. It also highlights powerful cultural and arts-based healing work happening with farmworkers in Half Moon Bay. www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/w...

I've been having a tough time readjusting back to CA after Ukraine. It's felt impossible to integrate my time there into my daily life here. I figured I was just depressed or struggling to process the intensity of what I experienced. But I think I've found a diff culprit: Bay Area gloom summer

Hirsch’s Generation of Postmemory was a strangely cathartic and incredibly formative text for me. When she has something to say, I listen

BBC News: Do you think you were a witness to war crimes? American veteran who worked at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid distribution center: Without question I witnessed war crimes.

"Six years ago, American Jewish institutions had the strength and clarity to call out a genocide... They used the language of the Holocaust to refer to a genocide against another group of people. Today, legacy Jewish institutions refuse to use the same language." www.jta.org/2025/07/25/i...

If you know me, you know I love reading, talking & writing (when I can!) abt history, memory & identity. It was such a pleasure to write this piece for @eltimpano.bsky.social abt how the memory of Japanese American incarceration fueled last week's ICE protest in CA www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/h...