ProPublica has sued the U.S. Department of Education W/ @jsmithrichards.bsky.social www.propublica.org/article/educ...

So proud of my long-time reporting partner and friend @stacystclair.bsky.social This is great for the Tribune and great for Chicago! www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/06/t...

Last night, @repbonamici.bsky.social and 70 other House members sent a letter to Linda McMahon and Kimberly Richey, the head of the Office for Civil Rights, urging them to address the backlog of discrimination complaints. "We are deeply troubled by these reports, and so is the public," it said.

New documents show a raid on a South Shore apartment complex was prompted by claims that immigrants were squatting in units — not that it had been taken over by Tren de Aragua — and was blessed by the complex's owner, @melissa-sanchez.bsky.social & @jodiscohen.bsky.social report for @propublica.org

BREAKING: The Trump administration repeatedly said the aggressive apartment raid in Chicago last fall was prompted by intel on a gang takeover. New docs show the real motivation was to get alleged squatters. And the landlord and manager helped them. www.propublica.org/article/chic...

A note from our editors:

BREAKING: The two federal immigration agents who fired on Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti are identified in government records as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez.

I’ve been in Minneapolis the last few days reporting on the ICE raids happening across the city. This morning federal agents shot and killed a man, identified by the AP as Alex Pretti. This marks the third shooting by federal agents since Operation Metro Surge started in Minnesota last month.

ADDITIONAL STORY TODAY: What the Trump administration’s videos from the midnight Chicago raid *didn’t* show: www.propublica.org/article/chic...

1/ I’d like to share what’s happened since Sept. 30, the night of the most dramatic raid of the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago. Under the cover of darkness, 37 immigrants were taken from an apartment complex …🧵

Remember the immigration raid on the apartment complex in Chicago almost two months ago? The one with the Black Hawk helicopter and federal agents rappelling on ropes? @ProPublica decided to take a deeper look. We found little evidence to support the government’s claims. 🧵

We at @propublica.org looked into the immigration raid that happened in Chicago's South Shore in late September. We found many of the Venezuelans detained in that raid, looked into them, and spoke to several of them.

You probably saw videos of a nighttime raid in Chicago. Agents rappelling from a helicopter, bursting down doors, questioning brown-skinned immigrants. We investigated -- and found little evidence to support the government’s claims about Tren de Aragua. www.propublica.org/article/chic...

"Federal prosecutors have not filed criminal charges against anyone who was arrested. Nor have they revealed any evidence showing that two immigrants arrested in the building belonged to the Tren de Aragua gang, or even provided their names."

In Sept, @homelandgov.bsky.social raided a Chicago complex and took dozens of immigrants — under the cover of darkness. Officials called it a victory against terrorism. A team @propublica.org set out to check the claims, and find and talk with the Venezuelans: www.propublica.org/article/chic...

"Following public outcry, the U.S. Department of Education has restored funding for students who have both hearing and vision loss, about a month after cutting it..." www.propublica.org/article/trum...

U.S. Department of Education reverses decision and will fund programs for students who are both deaf and blind. But the money will flow a different way. www.propublica.org/article/trum...

🚨Come work with me at @propublica.org! We are hiring a reporter to cover higher education — the best beat there is. 🏫 job-boards.greenhouse.io/propublica/j...

Chicago prosecutors have dropped nearly 100 pending cases against people accused of drunk and dangerous driving and other traffic offenses. Why? The ex-Chicago cop involved in their arrests lied and forged records to dodge his own traffic offenses. www.propublica.org/article/chic...

Former cop Jeffrey Kriv has pleaded guilty to lying under oath and forging reports to get out of speeding/other tickets. And with his credibility at issue, prosecutors now have dropped 92 cases where he had been an arresting officer, @propublica.org found. www.propublica.org/article/chic...

🚨 JOURNALISM JOB ALERT🚨 @propublica.org is hiring a reporter for our amazing Midwest team! Read some of the key details below and apply here: job-boards.greenhouse.io/propublica/j...

NEW: After the @northdakotamonitor.com and ProPublica reported on how oil companies take millions in royalties from mineral owners, more than a half-dozen lawmakers are now proposing a committee to study the issue and suggest solutions. “Something has to be done,” one legislator said.

NEW: Federal funding for organizations that help students with hearing and vision loss across eight states will stop at the end of the month, according to letters sent by a top Education Dept. official and obtained by ProPublica. By @jodiscohen.bsky.social @jsmithrichards.bsky.social

BREAKING: Trump’s Education Dept. cancels grants that help students who are both deaf and blind. “How low can you go?” said one person who works with DeafBlind students and their families. W/ @jsmithrichards.bsky.social for @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/trum...

Why some Illinois farmers have “one foot stuck in the mud, the other in government bureaucracy.” Impressive story, with impressive photographs published by @propublica.org and @capitolnewsil.bsky.social Part 1 of 2: www.propublica.org/article/illi...

A billboard to recruit Proud Boys members has popped up above the cornfields in rural Illinois — and next to a high school. capitolnewsillinois.com/news/billboa...

North Dakota doesn’t protect its private mineral owners from losing their royalty income. Other states do. Here’s the latest @northdakotamonitor.com and @propublica.org story. www.propublica.org/article/nort...

NEW: An investigation by ProPublica and @texastribune.org found more than 60 instances of nepotism, self-dealing and conflicts of interest among 27 private schools that likely would have violated state laws had the schools been public. By Lexi Churchill and @emsimani.bsky.social

1/ Early on in President Trump’s second term, I spent a few weeks observing Chicago’s immigration court to get a sense of how things were changing. One afternoon in March, the case of a 27-year-old Venezuelan asylum-seeker caught my attention. I want to tell you his story 👇

NEW: Greystar, which manages nearly 950,000 apartments, has agreed to stop using “anti-competitive” algorithms to suggest rents. ProPublica previously showed how such software lets landlords set rents in a way that could result in cartel-like behavior. By @heathervogell.bsky.social

Frustrated North Dakota mineral owners asked their lawmakers for help with a decade-old issue: Companies taking their royalty income. Lawmakers gave them a program that hasn’t helped. The latest @propublica.org and @northdakotamonitor.com story on the issue: www.propublica.org/article/nort...

NEW: Frustrated by oil companies mysteriously withholding large amounts of royalties, North Dakota mineral owners lobbied for change. Instead, lawmakers provided an oversight program that, owners say, fails to address the issue it was created to solve. With @northdakotamonitor.com

“It’s a matter of fairness.” In North Dakota, mineral owners feel “cheated” by oil companies. Check out this thoroughly-reported story and stunning visuals in a @propublica.org and @northdakotamonitor.com collaboration www.propublica.org/article/nort...

NEW: Oil companies are holding back a large portion of revenue payments to the people they lease drilling rights from, often with little explanation. But the industry has an outsize influence in the state, and public officials have refused to take action. With @northdakotamonitor.com

ND mineral owners have sought the state’s help as the oil industry takes deductions from royalty payments. Public officials have refused to take action, which some attribute to the industry’s outsize influence on the state. With @propublica.org buff.ly/zOs8iTi

The U.S. Supreme Court just gave the Trump administration the go-ahead to slash the Education Department. I have been reporting on eduction for decades. If you have been impacted by this news, please reach out to me on Signal at jodireporter.88 www.propublica.org/getinvolved/...

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Education Dept. can carry out mass firings it began in March. So I'm here to remind you that we're continuing to report on changes at ED, including to its civil rights division. If you have been affected, we're listening: www.propublica.org/getinvolved/...

Thrilled that @lastweektonight.com featured our @propublica.org reporting on Grace as part of a segment on juvenile justice. You can read the entire series about Grace and Michigan’s failures here: www.propublica.org/series/grace

@lastweektonight.com also cited the July 2020 story by @jodiscohen.bsky.social on Grace, the Michigan teen who was sent to juvenile detention for failing to do her schoolwork: www.propublica.org/article/a-te...

NEW: North Dakota lawmakers wanted an ethics commission but then they made it essentially toothless. Very good story from Jacob Orledge and Mary Steurer of the @northdakotamonitor.com, with editing from @propublica.org's @jodiscohen.bsky.social. www.propublica.org/article/nort...

1/ We got government data showing that the Trump administration knew the majority of Venezuelan men it sent to a prison in El Salvador had no criminal record in the U.S. - and that only a handful had been convicted of violent crimes - before calling them all terrorists and deporting them.

It took 12 stories from 2022 to 2023. (And, a couple of follow-up stories too, right?) Now, there's a law that protects kids. Excellent work @jodiscohen.bsky.social and @jsmithrichards.bsky.social!

BREAKING: Illinois lawmakers ban police from issuing tickets and fines to students at school. This comes 3 years after our @propublica/chicago tribune investigation into the practice. W/@jsmithrichards.bsky.social www.propublica.org/article/illi...

Here is a video of the student with autism being draged down the hallway on his back after he refused to walk to the gym.

NEW: The school did not contact police about the teacher who dragged the young boy by his ankle until after the boy’s father complained. And yet... This school has regularly called the cops on students for years. By @jsmithrichards.bsky.social @jodiscohen.bsky.social @propublica.org

This happened at a school that the Education Department is supposed to be monitoring. The latest from me and @jsmithrichards.bsky.social @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/garr...

NEW: The Great Lakes hold 95% of all the surface freshwater in the United States. Severe cuts have decimated the NOAA Great Lakes lab. Scientists worry they’ve lost the ability to protect the public from toxic algal blooms, which can kill animals and sicken people. My story for @propublica.org

The Education Department was deep into an investigation of a school district where students allegedly played whipping sounds from their phones during a lesson about slavery. Then in March, Trump fired all of the employees working on the case. By @jsmithrichards.bsky.social & @jodiscohen.bsky.social

The Education Department’s civil rights office “is the most useless it’s ever been, and it’s the most dangerous it’s ever been.“ Latest story in @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/educ...

**If you work or worked for the Department of Education, use Signal to directly contact reporter @jsmithrichards.bsky.social at jsmithrichards.93 or reporter @jodiscohen.bsky.social at jodireporter.88.