Lauren Villagran
@laurenvillagran.bsky.social
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📥 51
📝 9
National reporter for USA TODAY. Human migration. Borders. Preguntona. Fronteriza.
CBP may have downed a balloon with a laser. Is a 'cartel drone' next? Reporting from my home base in El Paso >>
www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
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CBP may have downed a balloon with a laser. Is a 'cartel drone' next?
Feds apparently shot down a balloon - not a drone - near the border. But concern over cartel drones persists.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/02/13/balloon-mexican-drug-cartel-drone-border/88629709007/
1 day ago
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reposted by
Lauren Villagran
ProPublica
4 days ago
Four months after the raid, federal prosecutors have not filed criminal charges against anyone who was arrested. Nearly all of the immigrants have already been deported. We’ve interviewed 15 immigrants detained that night; all denied gang membership.
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The Real Story Behind the Midnight Immigration Raid on a Chicago Apartment Building
The Trump administration has claimed the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had taken over the building. But new documents make no mention of the gang and reveal federal agents had information about “ille...
https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-venezuela-immigration-ice-raid-landlord-tren-de-aragua?utm_campaign=propublica-sprout&utm_content=1770768012&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky
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‘Like (Amazon) Prime but with human beings’: Trump’s plan to warehouse detained immigrants is running into local anger 👉 Read
@christophercann.bsky.social
in USA TODAY👇
www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
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Will that warehouse become an ICE detention center? Locals push back.
ICE has expressed interest in purchasing at least a dozen commercial warehouses since December as it seeks to rapidly expand its detention space.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/02/05/ice-warehouse-communities-push-back/88495305007/
9 days ago
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Exclusive from @USATODAY: Immigrant families described the conditions in ICE detention… where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos is being held, too.
www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
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Life for immigrant families in detention: sick children, no doctors
A public outcry over family immigration detention is growing. 'No child that is 5 years old should be in detention like that.'
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/01/29/immigrant-families-conditions-detention-sick-kids/88405597007/
16 days ago
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"We were saying: The border will become the nation," said Fernando Garcia, executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights. "And then it happened."
www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
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Immigration agents have clashed with the public before. What to know.
Border Patrol has a history of tough law enforcement near the US-Mexico border. Now they're using the same tactics in cities nationwide.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/01/18/us-mexico-border-minneapolis-ice-enforcement-protesters/88178071007/
27 days ago
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reposted by
Lauren Villagran
Hans E. Offerdal
about 1 month ago
"days after U.S. forces captured Nicolás
#Maduro
, sobering realities are setting in...And inside
#Venezuela
, Maduro may be gone, but the regime's repression was swift and iron-fisted", write
@laurenvillagran.bsky.social
and
@cuevasreports.bsky.social
in a fine piece for
@usatoday.com
#BrokenPromise
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For Venezuelan migrants stripped of legal status, hope turns to unease
Trump ousted the controversial leader of their country. But Venezuelans in the US said recent immigrants don't feel safe enough to go home.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/01/10/trump-ousted-venezuela-nicolas-maduro-immigrants-safety/88034921007/
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reposted by
Lauren Villagran
drdconlon
4 months ago
A powerful report from
@laurenvillagran.bsky.social
, cuts through misconceptions about detention, who is detained, sheds important light on how awful food and care are in detention:
eu.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
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ICE says it provides 'proper meals.' Detainees see crystalized jelly, rancid beans and iced bologna
In the business of immigration detention, researchers say 'bad food is the business model.'
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/10/19/immigrant-detainees-hungry-in-ice-detention/86163312007/
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He won asylum & US citizenship. He voted for Trump. Now his family may lose their legal status.
@usatoday.com
#immigration
www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
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He won asylum and voted for Trump. Now his family may have to leave.
Biden offered humanitarian protections during a period of record migration. Now Trump is revoking their status.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/06/trump-biden-migrants-legal-status-border-crisis/82740159007/
10 months ago
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reposted by
Lauren Villagran
NY Times Pitchbot
11 months ago
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reposted by
Lauren Villagran
Rebecca Plevin
11 months ago
Trump's mass deportation effort has rapidly expanded to include immigrants whose application for legal status in the country is under review. Even those married or engaged to U.S. citizens are being detained by ICE, USA TODAY has learned.
@laurenvillagran.bsky.social
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He voted for Trump. Now his wife sits in an ICE detention center.
ICE's deportation actions signal that anyone who isn't a U.S. citizen is 'at risk – period,' immigration attorney says.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/03/16/mass-deportation-ice-detains-non-criminals/82304354007/
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Mexico's president
#ClaudiaSheinbaum
had sharp words for
#Trump
after he threatened her country w/ tariffs. Hear more on today's The Excerpt from
@usatoday.com
art19.com/shows/5-thin...
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Israel and Hezbollah reach cease-fire
Israel and Hezbollah have reached a cease-fire agreement. USA TODAY National Immigration Reporter Lauren Villagran discusses the response in Mexico after President-elect Donald Trump's tariff threats...
https://art19.com/shows/5-things/episodes/db99313e-4025-4105-a8e1-487bb5dd0b09
about 1 year ago
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Stephen Miller: On day one, “the occupation ends and liberation day begins.” More on the man behind Trump’s immigration agenda:
www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
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Who is Stephen Miller, architect of Donald Trump's mass deportation plans?
He helped design Trump's Muslim ban. Now, he will help the president-elect carry out his signature campaign promise: mass deportation.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/11/21/stephen-miller-trumps-mass-deportation-architect/76260908007/
about 1 year ago
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Here, there and everywhere as @laurenvillagran ✍🏻
about 1 year ago
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