Personal news: I’m excited to announce I’ve joined the @apnews.com in its Mexico City bureau as a global editor I’m excited to take on this new role editing LatAm/global news, and don’t worry, you’ll still see my byline from time to time. New and old colleagues: reach out if you’re in CDMX!

Honored to be among this esteemed list of journalists including many of my @houstonlanding.bsky.social colleagues to win a Texas Managing Editors award for my specialty reporting on people with disabilities, a group often ignored by news media 🤩 www.texasmanagingeditors.org/2025/04/26/t...

I'm so proud of all the work we've done at @houstonlanding.bsky.social Honored to be a Livingston finalist alongside HISD reporter @ashersmall.bsky.social, a great journalist and human who I feel lucky to have met at the Houston Landing houstonlanding.org/two-houston-...

The recent immigration crackdown has led to key witnesses in Harris County being taken into ICE custody, making it more difficult to prosecute cases My latest for @houstonlanding.bsky.social on how the DA is handling this houstonlanding.org/after-increa...

ICYMI: DHS confirms to me that it cut staff in civil rights and immigration oversight agencies as a part of a broader gov effort to reduce the size of gov. DHS spox Tricia McLaughlin says it "must streamline oversight to remove roadblocks to enforcement."

We are sending people for indefinite detention without trial at a foreign gulag because they have tattoos about soccer teams and about loving their mothers.

Immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela admitted through a Biden administration parole program could become vulnerable to deportation in a little over a month if they haven’t already secured another legal status.

Kevin Zaldaña Ramírez was detained by ICE in Houston in Feb. despite having legal status. After ICE declined to release him, a judge granted him bond, according to his lawyer. But now the family is struggling to pay houstonlanding.org/how-am-i-goi...

The immigration system is complex and overwhelming, so @houstonlanding.bsky.social has been publishing guides to help navigate this system My latest on how to avoid immigration fraud and scams: houstonlanding.org/fear-could-b...

Kevin Zaldaña Ramírez fled El Salvador after gangs tried to recruit him. He was granted a special legal status for minors, but was detained in Houston anyway. His mother Yolanda, who depends on Kevin because of her limited vision, called for his release houstonlanding.org/trumps-aggre...

From @annacat.bsky.social, a story of two people that have been picked up under the Trump admin in recent weeks despite having legal status. In one case, a Border Patrol agent arrested a DACA recipient after claiming that a person can't have a work permit without having a visa (total nonsense).

Wow. Now people who came here legally through a temporary program that Trump ended cannot adjust their status

Immigrants in detention face an uphill battle to win their cases, and some decide to give up altogether. Here's what it's like to try to win a case to stay in the US while detained @houstonlanding.bsky.social houstonlanding.org/inside-deten...

For my latest story, I reported on the lives of the undocumented contract workers who helped power Elon Musk's expansion in Austin. Sweeping debris, laying plumbing and pouring concrete, these workers built facilities that helped make Musk’s $400 billion fortune. Read for free: bloom.bg/41gG6a3

I'm still seeing this mistake People who came through the CBP One app did NOT get "asylum interviews" On the contrary, it was people who came b/w ports of entry who got screening interviews CBP One just allowed people to go on & apply for asylum as an exception to restrictions

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston has laid off nearly a quarter of its employees after President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending a refugee resettlement program.

Venezuelans are among the fastest growing immigrant populations in Houston, and the decision to revoke an extension of TPS could strip many of them of deportation protections by the end of the year My latest for @houstonlanding.bsky.social houstonlanding.org/revoking-tem...

The deportees included two pregnant women and more than 20 children, Colombian officials said. Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo: “Being a migrant is not a crime" @schmidtsam.bsky.social reports from Bogotá with @mariasacchetti.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

If Noem chooses to terminate the Venezuelan TPS designation that will suddenly be set to expire in April again, that could mean around 300,000 people would lose their jobs and deportation protections in a single day. Another 300,000 would be set to lose the same in September.

A reminder to everyone that nothing we’ve seen so far from ICE is particularly out of the ordinary, if a little stacked together. The effort for now is a marketing one, making it seem like they have more capacity, and people buying into the idea that raids are new is this strategy succeeding

I have heard from multiple sources today that lawyers who provide Know Your Rights presentations in ICE detention centers have been kicked out completely. These presentations are sometimes the only way people in detention find out details about the process they’re going through.

Maria is among the many exiled Nicaraguan journalists who fled the Ortega-Murillo government's crackdown and repression. A Biden program was her one hope to reunite with her 13-year-old son, but it was ended this week. houstonlanding.org/we-dont-have...

If you're having trouble keeping up with all the immigration changes this week - from the border to birthright citizenship to refugee resettlement - here are some of the key policies that would impact Houston houstonlanding.org/these-are-th...

DHS has announced on its website that it has restarted Remain in Mexico. No explicit mention of the Mexican govt's cooperation in this plan, which is crucial to be able to carry it out www.dhs.gov/news/2025/01...

At @lawfare.bsky.social we're tracking the Trump administration's executive orders—and the inevitable legal challenges that arise. It's a work in progress, but our searchable archive of the EOs is now live, thanks to @annahickey.bsky.social — www.lawfaremedia.org/projects-ser...

Second is rescinding ICE and CBP enforcement actions near “sensitive” areas, such as schools, places of worship, healthcare centers, funerals, social services, relief centers. DHS says in statement that it "trusts (ICE) to use common sense."

Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman has issued two directives; one to curtail humanitarian parole to a case-by-case basis and "phase out any parole programs that are not in accordance with the law."

Jesus was excited for his wife and kids to reunite with him in Houston but their hopes of being together soon were shattered when the CBP One app closed down Monday. Here's how the end of the app has affected Houston-bound migrants: houstonlanding.org/migrants-fam...

It's not just undocumented immigrants. The Trump birthright citizenship EO says that every child born to a parent here on any non-immigrant visa (including student visas and other visas which allow people to live in the US for years) is not a US citizen. Unconstitutional in the extreme.

My 1:00 pm update is out with a summary of key points of the inauguration and Trump's speech as well as a rough transcript. Stay tuned, executive orders are promised by the end of the day. austinkocher.substack.com/p/trump-ii-d...

* US did not lose 38k people building the Panama Canal * China doesn’t control the Canal * US is not “ripped off” by Canal tolls * Panama is not violating the Canal Treaties!

The last time crossings at the border were this low was during and immediately after COVID lockdowns. You have to back to spring 2017 for another time with sub-30,000/month apprehension totals.

Fox's Bill Melugin confirmed this morning that DHS will be directed to immediately suspend the use of the app for migrants seeking appointments at ports of entry. Those who enter this morning will likely be the last for a long time.

Some US immig follows I recc: Policy: @daralind.bsky.social + @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social at @immcouncil.bsky.social @austinkocher.com @yaelschacher.bsky.social @mattcameron.bsky.social @michaelgkagan.bsky.social Writing: @tanvi.bsky.social @aurabogado.bsky.social @annacat.bsky.social

On this point, I want to emphasize specifically that the America First Policy Institute, which has very close ties to incoming Trump officials, is openly saying they think paying a ransom to get your loved one away from kidnappers in Mexico would be a crime and a permanent ban on immigration.

Lots of immigration-related executive orders expected today. Many will be border-related but others will likely impact immigration courts and limit legal migration. A few things that would impact Houston families that I'll be keeping an eye on:

Today I’ll be on the Paso del Norte bridge talking with migrants waiting for their CBP One appointments. Trump threatened during the campaign and following his victory to close the app, which has become the only means to request asylum. (Photo from yesterday morning)

Migrant shelters run by religious organizations in Ciudad Juárez are preparing for another crisis. In the past they received migrants who sought to enter the U.S., but now they are preparing for any mass deportations carried out by the Trump administration. Here is my latest

On inauguration eve, I’m in awe of my @washingtonpost.com colleagues and our commitment to inform fairly, truthfully &justly. I’m a border reporter in league with/ immigration experts @mariasacchetti.bsky.social & @nickmiroff.bsky.social & many others. Watch what we do here!

Changes to asylum, immigration court, and new Texas state policies impacted Houston's immigrant communities in 2024. These were some of the key issues and what to expect under Trump houstonlanding.org/2024-in-immi...

Today 522 Guatemalans were deported on the first four flights to the Central American country from the United States, including one flight from El Paso, Texas. The data comes from the Guatemalan Immigration Institute.

Her son died in the Juárez tragedy in March 2023. Now Doña Florinda has received the indemnification payment for his wrongful death from the Mexican state, but this will not resolve the reasons her son tried to migrate. My story for The El Paso Times about the payments and quest for justice

In this @houstonlanding.bsky.social account of a Venezuelan family's journey to Texas, by @annacat.bsky.social, you'll lose count of the times they have to pay money to criminals to avoid being kidnapped or worse. Mexico seems worse than the Darién Gap. Great narrative:

More than a year after Jose Suarez left Venezuela, his wife, 9-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter finally entered the US, just days after Trump won a second term. We followed their journey and reunification in uncertain times. W/ @lexigraceparra.bsky.social houstonlanding.org/behind-the-j...

houstonlanding.org/behind-the-j... Great stuff from @annacat.bsky.social, who documents an incredible journey

The number of women leaving Texas to get abortions has more than doubled since 2019. This is the story of one Houston teen's journey. By Dion Nissenbaum and @lexigraceparra.bsky.social houstonlanding.org/texas-restri...

The H-2A worker visa program has seen a massive expansion in the past decade. That came with increased abuse by employers. Important reporting by Lillian Perlmutter thebaffler.com/latest/trick...

ICE has been working to extend 14 contracts with private prison companies, expanding immigrant detention under the Biden admin before Trump takes office Great reporting by Jose Olivares: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...