Honored to be part of the The Washington Post team named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for our immigration coverage. Tres venezolanas, dos boricuas, un argentino, una tica and more telling stories across borders, languages and lives. www.pulitzer.org/finalists/st...

Scoop: The U.S. attorney’s office in DC spent most of 2025 refusing to certify applications for U visas, which offer a pathway to residency to immigrant crime victims who cooperate with police. The office recently worked through the backlog www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

The sequence is striking: Shortly after opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa was kidnapped by unidentified men, the Venezuelan government announces it has asked the court to revoke his precautionary measures and move him to house arrest.

Here's who the Washington Post just laid off.

I’m among today’s Washington Post layoffs. It was an absolute dream to cover everything — from immigration, to Venezuela to politics to national breaking news — over the past 5 years. If you’re hiring or know of someone who is: mpaulrangel(at)gmail(dot)com

Two cases of measles were confirmed at Dilley, ICE’s main family detention center. In Arizona, at least three people in immigration custody have contracted measles this year. “I can’t think of a better incubation environment for transmission of measles than a detention facility.” wapo.st/4qZ2GOK

Liam Conejo Ramos is among the escalating number of children swept up in the administration’s immigration enforcement dragnet. The average number of people in family detention has more than tripled since the beginning of the fiscal year. W/ @arelisrhdz.bsky.social Gift link: wapo.st/3LWg1rT

Judge ordered 5-year-old released, but data shows ICE is detaining more kids www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/... w/ @marialuisapaul.bsky.social

If you need a small moment of hope, meet Grandpa Max. After losing everything in Venezuela and arriving in Miami with almost nothing, this 78-year-old engineer-turned-baker is remaking his life one pie at a time. “If you have to start again, you start again.” wapo.st/4600Nsw

Breaking news: An ICE officer fatally shot a 37-year-old woman during an operation in Minneapolis on Wednesday, federal authorities said, an incident that came as the Trump administration has staged a massive enforcement effort in the city.

On today’s @washingtonpost.com front page: The Venezuelan government unleashes a new wave of repression. “I have hope things could get better without Maduro. From where I am, all I see is the same people who destroyed my country still in power. They’re still persecuting us. And we’re still afraid.”

For a moment, some Venezuelans allowed themselves to celebrate Nicolás Maduro’s fall. But as the government moves to crush dissent, joy has given way to fear, dread & uncertainty. “It feels like it did after the presidential elections in 2024. We won, but we also lost.” My latest: wapo.st/45HA83w

According to Venezuela’s National Press Workers Guild, at least 14 journalists have been detained today — most, while reporting from the National Assembly. At least 3 were detained by military counterintelligence officers, who went through their phones, emails and social media.

Lots of uncertainty for Venezuelans in the U.S. but Nestor Galavis in DC summed up a collective sentiment: “ Today, just let me be happy. We’ve been suffering for 27 years.” @davidovalle.bsky.social + @marialuisapaul.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Over the past year, we at @washingtonpost.com investigated what happened to the group of Venezuelans the US sent to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT — from their disappearance, to how they were sent there, to what they endured inside and the aftermath for their families. 🧵Here’s what we found:

INSIDE EL CECOT (GIFT LINK) The Post's reporting on the Salvadoran prison where the Trump administration sent migrants deported from the United States, based on interviews with 16 former detainees wapo.st/3KUUv6n

New: We obtained thousands of internal chat messages from the ICE team creating viral videos of raids and "EPIC takedowns." A scramble to satisfy the White House and "feed the beast" spawned a new "propaganda" machine, current and former officials told us. "It's a war!" wapo.st/4s6YnC5

A night meant for joy, in a year marked by fear. As immigration enforcement intensifies, families shared how they’re spending Nochebuena — navigating absence & court hearings, taking pride in their roots and leaning into the quiet insistence of hope. A beautifully illustrated story wapo.st/4qn4pws

Schools had long been considered off-limits for immigration enforcement. But our review found federal agents operating in the periphery of campuses — detaining parents in at least 10 states this year, and using tear gas, car chases and gunfire near schools www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

“These are people who did everything by the book, paid taxes, had no criminal records, opened businesses and contributed to their communities...now they have become collateral damage in this cruel, unjust and inhumane political game.” www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

The decision to revoke TPS for over 600K Venezuelans triggered “the largest mass illegalization of a group in this country’s history.” Many are shuttering business, selling homes and boarding planes. Others are scrambling to find a way to stay. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Scoop: The Trump admin's videos boasting triumphs on immigration have used misleading footage from months ago or thousands of miles away When we showed them the errors, DHS said they make a lot of videos and the White House said it'll keep making "banger memes" wapo.st/4nuDGwf

DHS just posted a Little Dark Age edit. Clear pattern of black-pilled memes and fashy fancams that reflects who ICE wants to recruit www.instagram.com/bydrewharwell/ www.tiktok.com/@drewharwell

Some patrol neighborhoods and raise phones when arrests unfold. Others pass out whistles, sell out vendors or attempt to be “holy nuisances” for ICE. Inside Chicago’s grassroots resistance to an intense immigration crackdown w/ @bellwak.bsky.social,Ben Strauss www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

Read my latest with @marialuisapaul.bsky.social and Ben Strauss on how Chicago neighbors are responding to federal immigration crackdowns ➡️

Exclusive: The Trump administration said immigration enforcement will “remain unchanged” through the government shutdown. But at least one team at ICE isn’t going into work: the office that ensures detention centers meet federal safety standards.

Here's a good report on the election from the dream team of @schmidtsam.bsky.social @marialuisapaul.bsky.social @datab.ae and Ana Vanessa Herrero www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/0...

When a judge told Claudio David Balcane González “Welcome to the United States,” he sobbed. He had finally been granted asylum. Then ICE detained him for 63 more days @marialuisapaul.bsky.social reports www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Mario Guevara, an Emmy-award winning reporter, was deported to El Salvador — a nation he fled more than two decades ago. He was arrested while covering a protest of the Trump administration in a case that has alarmed free speech groups.

Venezuelan artist Claudio David Balcane González won asylum in July, at a time when the vast majority of such petitions are being denied. ICE kept him in custody for 63 more days — well past the government’s appeal deadline. Lawyers say that was illegal. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

I resurrected my cheese beat to write about Emilia D’Albero, the first American to win “Meilleure Fromagère du Monde” (that’s fancy for “Best Cheesemonger in the World.”) Here’s a slice of joy for these ✨unprecedented✨ times www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

Unlike in other shootings in the U.S., the victims of the one in a Dallas ICE office so far are faceless and nameless. Though it was immigrants who ultimately paid the price of violence, they’ve seldom been mentioned by officials who have cast LEO as victims www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

NEW: ICE has arrested so many people in Trump's D.C. crackdown that it's crowding the agency’s Northern Virginia processing site, lawyers say, creating "dangerous" conditions in a site not meant to keep people overnight. w/ Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff & @marialuisapaul.bsky.social

On the front page of today’s @washingtonpost.com: What 16 of the migrants deported by the U.S. to El Salvador’s CECOT experienced in that notorious mega prison w/ Sam Schmidt, Helena Carpio @marialuisapaul.bsky.social @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social @asteckelberg.bsky.social

Some pets are surrendered. Some are left behind when their owners are detained or deported. Others are simply found wandering the streets or inside abandoned homes. Animal shelters say Trump’s immigration crackdown is pushing them to the brink. My latest: www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

The US government has sent innocent men to be beaten and raped in a foreign gulag www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

“Welcome to hell” We spoke to 16 Venezuelans the U.S. sent to a mega-prison in El Salvador. This is the most complete view yet of the conditions they faced — which, some experts said, may violate conventions against torture. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

For 141 days, Ward Sakeik sat in immigration detention — stateless, newly married and nearly deported twice, despite a federal judge’s order. In her first interview since being released, she tells her story — one that epitomizes the human cost of Trump’s immigration crackdown. wapo.st/4lvpOBc

EXCLUSIVE/BREAKING Gregory Sanabria Tarazona, a Venezuelan activist tortured inside Nicolás Maduro's notorious El Heliocoide prison, is seeking asylum in the U.S. Weeks before his initial hearing, he was making a routine check-in when ICE detained him @schmidtsam.bsky.social reports wapo.st/3HE9dwu

After a week of immigration raids and military presence, mariachis and folklórico dancers are now energizing LA protests with their music — a way to reclaim space in a city they helped build, in a country that hasn’t always made them feel like they belong. www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

Our investigation into Venezuela’s presidential election is a finalist for a NAHJ award. A huge team effort by reporters in Caracas & DC made it happen. But the story exists because brave Venezuelans, some now detained in El Helicoide or living in hiding, risked everything to get the truth out.

Claudio David Balcane, aka Davicito, was a rising star in Chicago’s Venezuelan dembow scene. After dropping “Donaltron” — a viral song asking Trump not to deport him — ICE arrested him. He's now facing removal. I spoke to him from detention. Here’s his story: www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Venezuelans have long considered the Miami suburb of Doral their refuge. President Trump’s immigration crackdown is calling that into question.

Mexico said 181 Mexicans irregularly crossing the US border died during 2025's first 4 months, more than double compared to the same period last year www.borderreport.com/immigration/...

NEW -- Trump's eroding immigration approval rating follows an iron law of ICE enforcement: the more Americans see what it looks like, the less they tend to support mass deportation www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

The Argentine government described the operation as an “extraction” @schmidtsam.bsky.social and @marialuisapaul.bsky.social report www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Incredible reporting by the Washington Post on the Trump administration's hurried, lawless effort to carry out illegal renditions to El Salvador - to terrorize people. (Including how they violated court directives.) Take a moment to read the entire thing: www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Our team uncovered new, key details about the US government’s mad dash to send 260+ Venezuelans to El Salvador. The group included refugees who had been thoroughly vetted by the State Department and UN, TPS holders and scores of people w/ no criminal records www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

I’m tracking the U.S. citizens who have gotten detained, removed or swept up in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. If this has happened to you or a loved one, my dms and inbox are always open! I’m also on Signal via marialuisapaul.68 www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...