Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed. trib.al/9Sxu9IN

Guatemalan migrants living abroad sent home $2.106 billion in Sept. 2025 as remittances. This continues the trend we have seen this year, as migrants send home more money each month to support their families. Their economy relies on this money. This year we will likely see $25 billion sent home.

24,576 pounds of cheddar cheese to Food Bank for the Heartland in Nebraska; 270,000 eggs to Harvest Hope Food Bank in South Carolina; 4,640 pounds of chicken legs to Maui Food Bank in Hawaii --> just some of the food aid canceled by Trump projects.propublica.org/trump-food-c...

A federal judge in El Paso has ordered the immediate release of Catalina “Xóchitl” Santiago from ICE detention. The immigration rights activist and DACA recipient has been detained since Aug. 3. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Efraín Fueres, an Indigenous land defender, was shot and killed in Ecuador on Sunday while marching in protest of high living costs and government crackdowns on Indigenous and environmental activists. 🧵 insideclimatenews.org/news/2909202...

"With an apology, the wounds will never heal." Mexico's former top immigration official made his first public apology for the fire in an immigration facility in Juárez that left 40 migrants dead and 27 other injured. The apology is part of his ploy to avoid charges for the fire. My story:

"The United States would not be what it is if it were not for the Mexican women and men who work on the other side of the border." Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum shared the successes of her first year yesterday in Juárez, taking the time to celebrate Mexican migrants in the U.S. My story:

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum will be presenting the report of her first 11 months in office this afternoon in Ciudad Juárez. I’ll have a story for the El Paso Times at some point today. Thousands have gathered at the Juárez Vice baseball stadium for her appearance.

🚨NEW: For the first time in history, the single largest group of people arrested in the interior and sent to ICE detention is people with NO criminal record. As of yesterday's data release, 40%(!) of those arrested in the interior and detained by ICE had no prior conviction or pending charges.

News is now reporting that two "detainees" were killed. Unclear whether that means people who were actively being transported or whether that means it was people going to the ICE Field Office for a check-in who got shot going into the building.

A judge in El Paso, Texas is considering a habeas petition challenging the continued detention of Catalina "Xochitl" Santiago, an immigrant rights advocate and DACA recipient in El Paso. The DHS laywer's arguments today highlighted the Trump administrations attempts to detain DACA recipients.

A judge in El Paso, Texas is considering a habeas petition challenging the continued detention of Catalina "Xochitl" Santiago, an immigrant rights advocate and DACA recipient in El Paso. The DHS laywer's arguments today highlighted the Trump administrations attempts to detain DACA recipients.

I was just notified of ANOTHER death in ICE custody — the 16th since Trump took office. The second death TODAY. This is absolutely unacceptable.

I just had Claude help me write a Python script to query the Deportation Data Project's enormous "ICE encounters" file since Oct 2023. Here is everyone who had a "departure date" listed, which seems to indicate deportations. Total is 117,339 from 1/21-7/28, which seems very close to correct?

38% increase in Border Patrol migrant apprehensions from July to August at the US-Mexico border. July-August change for nationalities over 50 apprehensions: Colombia +132% Cuba +98% Nicaragua +61% Honduras +46% Mexico +44% Other Countries +27% El Salvador +24% Venezuela +22% Guatemala -2%

Today a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to must refrain from deporting over 600 unaccompanied minors back to Guatemala. My story for the El Paso Times.

Today a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to must refrain from deporting over 600 unaccompanied minors back to Guatemala. My story for the El Paso Times.

The Trump administration issued a new expanded geographic targeting order along the border. The new order requires money service providers file reports on every transaction over $1000. A previous order issued in April has faced challenges in courts, with 3 judges ruling it violates the law.

Lee Gelernt just told the judge that the U.S. should be outraged at the possibility that its “diplomatic assurance” from Ghana is being violated and men threatened with being sent to torture . This the U.S. government emphatically did not do.

What in the world happened with ICE's flights to southern Mexico in August? That's the most flights to any country in a single month since @thcartwright started this essential monitoring project back in 2020. Don't miss this report.

An immigration judge in El Paso granted a motion to end the removal proceedings against Catalina "Xóchitl" Santiago, the El Paso based DACA recipient and immigrant rights advocate, who is detained by ICE. Her partner confirmed the ruling this morning.

Guatemalan immigrants sent home another historic amount of money as remittances in August. They sent home $2.368 billion last month amidst Trumps growing crackdown on immigrants. Guatemala is one of the countries that fully relies on remittances. Data comes from Guatemala's Central Bank.

🚨NEW: Reversing *generations* of practice, the Board of Immigration Appeals gives ICE exactly what it demanded, ruling that any undocumented immigrant who entered illegally is categorically ineligible for release from detention on bond — expanding mandatory detention by millions of people.

Trump’s campaign against immigrants is affecting their ability to work, and it's hurting businesses in California. One restaurant owner says sales have dropped by 30%-40% because immigrant customers fear leaving their homes, reports @bgirledukate.bsky.social capitalandmain.com/ice-raids-pu...

Trump has stripped, or moved to strip, Temporary Protected Status from over: - 605,000 Venezuelans - 330,700 Haitians - 51,200 Hondurans, - 8,100 Afghans - 7,100 Nepalese - 4,900 Cameroonians - 2,900 Nicaraguans These figures don't even count the hundreds of thousands of parole terminations.

U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, visited the new ICE detention facility that was built on Fort Bliss land in El Paso last week. She described to me what she heard from the men detained there a couple days ago. She heard from distraught people who were not criminals. Here is the story:

Guatemala's corrupt Public Prosecutor's office continues to persecute leaders of the 2023 defense of democracy movement. Today they are seeking to arrest leaders of the autonomous government of the 48 Cantones of Totonicapan. (the photo is wrong, because it depicts Ixil Mayan leaders from Nebaj)

It is always funny to me when I am trying to look up an article to confirm a date and I accidentally find a story that I co-wrote for the Los Angeles Times back in 2021 that I completely forgot about... www.yahoo.com/news/13-youn...

🚨NEW: Declarations filed in the lawsuit against the rushed attempt to deport 600 Guatemalan children reveals the chaotic way the Trump admin carried out the operation. Children were taken out of bed after midnight to be rushed onto planes. One girl "was so scared she vomited."

It has been a year since I moved back to the States. I wish I could express how I feel today, but in short I really just wish I could be with my wife.

Lethal force against a civilian vessel in international waters is a war crime if not in self-defense. If not in self-defense, only non-lethal actions, such as warning shots or disabling fire, are allowed. "Not yielding to pursuers" or "suspected of carrying drugs" doesn't carry a death sentence.

This past Sunday the Trump administration attempted to deport unaccompanied minors back to Guatemala. But a federal judge in DC intervened, blocking the administration from deporting the children. I was there when they got off the plane here in El Paso. Here is my story - tinyurl.com/yc89fa9d

Over the weekend the Trump administration attempted to deport 10 unaccompanied minors from El Paso on an ICE chartered GlobalX flight. The children were taken off the flight hours after a judge ruled that they could not be deported to Guatemala. Here is my story with my photos:

HAPPENING NOW: Judge Sparkle Sooknanan holds an emergency hearing as the Trump admin is reportedly trying—imminently—to deport hundreds of Guatemalan children without required process or access to representation. www.courtlistener.com/docket/71240...

Sooknanan then says that she had an opportunity during the break to read some of the declarations filed by the named plaintiffs. She wants to read from them because they underscore the conflicting information she's received from the government about the children they want to remove.

A number of people have disembarked the ICE air charter flight currently on the ground in El Paso. I cannot tell from here if they are the unaccompanied minor. Also, another GlobalX charter plane has arrived here

DEVELOPING: Advocates are seeking a court order to block the Trump administration’s effort to deport hundreds of unaccompanied minor children to Guatemala. Judge abruptly moved 3 pm hearing up to 12:30 after she was notified that some children “are in the process of being removed" today.

BREAKING: Judge Sooknanan has now expanded her restraining order as she attempts to block ongoing efforts to remove hundreds of Guatemalan children, which their lawyers say are currently underway. www.politico.com/news/2025/08...

BREAKING: Judge Sooknanan says the children are being removed right now so has advanced today’s hearing to 12:30pm. www.politico.com/news/2025/08...

US judge blocks deportations of unaccompanied migrant children to Guatemala reut.rs/4fY0S3K

ICE air deportation flight currently preparing to leave El Paso’s international airport.

A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting 10 Guatemalan children back to their home country, and scheduled an emergency hearing on Sunday afternoon to determine whether the deportations were legal.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott (No familiar relation) has signed the controversial redistricting bill, SB4, in Texas. The bill looks to give an advantage to Republicans, but U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, is gaining a bit more in her district. My story: www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/p...

This story has it all: aquaculture, Black Flag, Bernie Sanders, Star Trek as policy, John Hodgman, male tears, and a candidate citing Luthen’s monologue from Andor. Meet Graham Platner, the Maine oysterman trying to crack the senate. @grahamformaine.bsky.social newrepublic.com/article/1996...

The Mexican government is currently doing maintenance in the deportee reception center in Ciudad Juárez, in part due to areas being affected by recent rains. The facility just across from El Paso has received over 7,200 since it opened in February.

One of the firefighters arrested is an Oregonian. My office has been in touch with his lawyer who says he can't locate his client. My office is working to get more information on his whereabouts ASAP.

This Day in Labor History: August 21, 1791. The Haitian Revolution began. Let's talk about the most successful slave rebellion in history!

NEW: at least a dozen members of Congress have been denied entry to immigration facilities this year when they showed up to conduct oversight as Trump has ramped up his mass deportation efforts. Now they are suing the Trump administration. www.texasobserver.org/dems-in-cong...

“He said, ‘We’ll notify next of kin if she dies.’ And at that moment, I knew that I was no longer dealing with humans.” www.masslive.com/news/2025/08...