Transit police are calling immigration on transit riders—and most of the time they aren't documenting it Freedom-of-info docs indicate Transit Police calls to CBSA have risen. But in available 2024 data, 91% of calls didn't go into daily duty reports as required www.defactomedia.ca/transit-poli...

can the weather just be chill* already *warm

Zool Suleman is a long-time immigration lawyer & the executive director of BC non-profit MARU He spoke to De Facto about what our newly reported data reveal about police collaboration, Vancouver’s “access without fear” movement, & immigration detentions. www.defactomedia.ca/a-troubling-...

check out the second investigation by me and @emmaarkell.bsky.social, and the third part in @defacto_ca's debut series on immigration enforcement. we found transit police appear to be breaking their own policy on documenting calls to CBSA over 90% of the time www.defactomedia.ca/transit-poli...

my hot take it that it should be easier to fire or demote someone in a leadership role for this kind of ethical breach than it is to fire/cancel the contract of a regular reporter or freelancer for that same breach leaders should be held to a higher standard, not a lower one

When we say "burn it down" we mean systems of oppressions, not our province, which inevitably will burn down faster as we waste water building facilities so people can ask AI for a recipe. Hard to make that soup Karen without water.

translation: please, we desperately need to pay off all these GPUs and investors are starting to ask questions

I woke up, desperately turned it off before realizing I hadn't read it. figured if it happened to be a tsunami warning I'd find out the old fashioned way (waking up underwater)

why does this sentence sound like the 14 words when placed next to Elon Musk's face

Our latest investigation, based on ATIP request from 2024, out on @defacto-ca.bsky.social today. Sign up to get the next one this week

"They see their peers being targeted by Transit Police, and there’s this perception that they’re being singled out." – Aman Chandi, Movement

Another @defacto-ca.bsky.social investigation from @godfrey.bsky.social and I! We compared FOI data from border enforcement and Vancouver Transit Police and found VERY different numbers. Are transit cops not documenting their calls to immigration? Read more at defactomedia.ca ⬇️

More good reporting here, finding Transit Police are violating policy to record immigration status checks. “People rely on [transit] and do not want to feel like they're under the threat of being detained or deported just because they're accessing public services.” - Hasan Alam, president of BCCLA.

Incredible feature by @emmaarkell.bsky.social. Are you horrified by America's brutal (and often illegal) so-called immigration crackdown? Then you should know what police in your own backyard are doing. It's not cool.

“Transit Police may be violating the policy upwards of 90% of the time.” Excellent reporting by @godfrey.bsky.social and @emmaarkell.bsky.social at @defacto-ca.bsky.social

check out the second investigation by me and @emmaarkell.bsky.social, and the third part in @defacto_ca's debut series on immigration enforcement. we found transit police appear to be breaking their own policy on documenting calls to CBSA over 90% of the time www.defactomedia.ca/transit-poli...

Vega Jiménez’s story is heart-wrenching. @davidpball.bsky.social’s recount is especially poignant in the context of @defacto-ca.bsky.social’s recent investigation by @emmaarkell.bsky.social and @godfrey.bsky.social which exposes VPD’s soaring information sharing with CBSA.

icymi: since Ken Sim was elected mayor, VPD immigration checks have been through the roof. community members say the practice puts undocumented migrants at risk of facing violence @defacto-ca.bsky.social investigation by me and @emmaarkell.bsky.social www.defactomedia.ca/vpd-immigrat...

personally I think it's a very big deal that the Canada bureau chief for the @nytimes.com — certainly one of the highest-paid journalists in the country — asked an unspecified "AI tool" what Poilievre said & published its AI-hallucinated quotes in her reporting.

Hey fellow sex workers, please take note of this.

Lucía Dominga Vega Jiménez was terrified of being sent back to her violent ex-boyfriend in Mexico. So when Transit Police handed her over to Canada Border Services Agency over a $2.75 unpaid fare, and CBSA was about to deport her, she made a tragic decision. www.defactomedia.ca/cbsa-custody...

it's a literally criminal interest rate. you wouldn't say someone was charged with "theft," why are they doing that for a criminal interest rate?

the biggest tech companies in the world are endorsing a new bill that would shove AI onto kids in school www.404media.co/literacy-in-...

PART 2 of MY INVESTIGATION: Watch how ChatGPT gave me chilling advice—as I simulated planning a mass shooting. This 9-minute video and story contain shocking behavior from OpenAI’s chatbot. OpenAI keeps saying it improved safeguards, but that's not what I found. www.motherjones.com/media/2026/0... 🧵

Vancouver Coastal Health secures new location for Thomus Donaghy Overdose Prevention Site at 900 Helmcken. Previous location at 1060 Howe responded to 480 ODs, closed Jan 31. Lease begins June 1. Mayor Ken Sim moving urgent motion today directing city staff to use all tools to prevent its opening.

got up bright n early on Sunday to have a lovely chat with @youcaughtscott.com and my @defacto-ca.bsky.social colleague @davidpball.bsky.social for The North State! we talked about the co-op and the state of Canadian journalism and Scott said it gave him hope!

🔎Looking for East/South Vancouver residents for a story! Have you/someone you know had to surrender a pet in order to find housing? Or have you experienced housing precarity due to a pet? I'd like to speak with you. Message me here or at maddi[at]vancitylookout[dot]com Cat photo as appreciation

My friends are doing this very cool thing. Please follow them at @defacto-ca.bsky.social

listen to my pals @emmaarkell.bsky.social and @davidpball.bsky.social talk about our new co-op, @defacto-ca.bsky.social! we're trying to do things differently in an industry that desperately needs things to be done differently. check out our first story: www.defactomedia.ca/vpd-immigrat...

Canada has quietly been doing ICE style immigrant roundups and racial profiling for years while getting zero mainstream press coverage. Migrant sex workers are specifically targeted and abused

My first investigation for De Facto with @godfrey.bsky.social is out! VPD calls to border services have skyrocketed since 2023. An immigration lawyer told us, "they seem to be running status checks on anyone they have an interaction with if they suspect there could be an immigration issue."

"Increasingly, other interactions with [VPD] often result in people’s immigration status being checked with CBSA—even in traffic stops or encampment clearing." ..."If someone is pulled over in a work van or truck, and an officer sees they have tools, they will sometimes ask for the workers’ papers."

EXCLUSIVE: In 2023, Vancouver Police Department calls to border enforcement for immigration status checks increased 80% compared to 2022. Even without a pandemic-related drop in 2020-22, the 476 calls in 2023 mark a 40% increase compared to 2014-19. www.defactomedia.ca/vpd-immigrat...

Congrats to my colleagues at the new De Facto Journalism Co-op, who today published their first story.

Bombshell investigation by my colleagues @godfrey.bsky.social and @emmaarkell.bsky.social: VPD calls to CBSA to check people's immigration status (even without crime) skyrocketed just after Vancouver's new mayor&council assumed office. Privileged to have edited this file. Please give it a read! 👇

So impressed by this debut feature in @defacto-ca.bsky.social — two years in the making — by @godfrey.bsky.social and @emmaarkell.bsky.social on how VPD calls to border enforcement for immigration status checks have skyrocketed.

Our first investigation is nearly two years in the making, as our reporters @godfrey.bsky.social and @emmaarkell.bsky.social began digging into this story in mid-2024, starting with questions about a TransLink fare evasion enforcement blitz. www.defactomedia.ca/vpd-immigrat...

new from me and @emmaarkell.bsky.social: VPD calls to CBSA for immigration status checks skyrocketed in 2023. lawyers and advocates say VPD may check a person's immigration status, regardless of whether the person is accused of a crime — or even a victim of a crime.

Today is World Press Freedom Day. True press freedom requires freedom of information. But in recent years, governments have shrunk access to info the public deserves, and cuts to newsrooms have shrunk the time & resources that journalists need to rigorously report that info.

As @cityofvancouver.bsky.social cancels funding for it's 4yr-old heat safety kit & DIY air filter distribution program to help vulnerable #Vancouver residents cope with extreme heat, Vancouver Coastal Health is warning participants in today's BMO Marathon about the dangers of extreme heat!

Yesterday we unveiled De Facto, a co-op of journalists shining a light on power Within hours a community of supporters stepped up to back our dream In just a day, we passed $2K for hard-hitting journalism, 96% of it in dependable recurring donations. Thank you so much! www.defactomedia.ca/welcome

On Monday, we’ll publish our first stories—an investigation nearly two years in the making by our reporters @godfrey.bsky.social and @emmaarkell.bsky.social + in-depth context by @davidpball.bsky.social Don’t miss it when it lands. Sign up to get it in your inbox: www.defactomedia.ca#/portal/

Tomorrow is #WorldPressFreedomDay #WPFD2026. Protecting a free press truly takes a partnership: Between journalists unafraid to ask questions—and generous members of the public who believe in independent media. Together, we can interrogate power and highlight truth www.defactomedia.ca

incredibleee 😭 please help support us to do in-depth, independent journalism — we're all doing this off the side of our desk, and the more support we get the more time and energy we can dedicate to this work. there's so much to be done!

In our 1st day, before we even publish anything, our supporters have offered >$2,000 for @defacto-ca.bsky.social In uncertain economic times, 40+ people showed faith in hard-hitting journalism, almost all recurring donations — pledging over $3,500 in dependable startup funding all year Thank you

Squeeeeeee! Also just 🔥 to have May Day be your coming out party.

👀

I'm here for more independent journalism by actual journalists!

Cool people doing cool, meaningful, much-needed things! Super psyched to see this co-op launch 🚀

So honoured to be among this amazing team of people I’ve looked up to for a very long time. Stay tuned for upcoming investigations that interrogate systems of power. The first one drops on Monday.