Honored to be part of the The Washington Post team named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for our immigration coverage. Tres venezolanas, dos boricuas, un argentino, una tica and more telling stories across borders, languages and lives. www.pulitzer.org/finalists/st...

Pulitzer Finalist: Staff of The Washington Post

For reporting that tracked the impact of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign, following it from a Chicago park to the White House, a tent encampment in Texas and a Salvadoran prison.

pulitzer.org

Scoop: The U.S. attorney’s office in DC spent most of 2025 refusing to certify applications for U visas, which offer a pathway to residency to immigrant crime victims who cooperate with police. The office recently worked through the backlog www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

As ICE ramped up in D.C., immigrant crime victims faced visa roadblocks

The U.S. attorney’s office in D.C. last year stopped issuing visas to crime victims who cooperated with police or prosecutors, complicating investigations.

washingtonpost.com

The sequence is striking: Shortly after opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa was kidnapped by unidentified men, the Venezuelan government announces it has asked the court to revoke his precautionary measures and move him to house arrest.

Here's who the Washington Post just laid off.

I’m among today’s Washington Post layoffs. It was an absolute dream to cover everything — from immigration, to Venezuela to politics to national breaking news — over the past 5 years. If you’re hiring or know of someone who is: mpaulrangel(at)gmail(dot)com

Two cases of measles were confirmed at Dilley, ICE’s main family detention center. In Arizona, at least three people in immigration custody have contracted measles this year. “I can’t think of a better incubation environment for transmission of measles than a detention facility.” wapo.st/4qZ2GOK

Measles cases identified at ICE’s largest detention facility for children

Two detainees at a family immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas, have contracted measles, prompting concern among health experts that the virus could spread

washingtonpost.com

Liam Conejo Ramos is among the escalating number of children swept up in the administration’s immigration enforcement dragnet. The average number of people in family detention has more than tripled since the beginning of the fiscal year. W/ @arelisrhdz.bsky.social Gift link: wapo.st/3LWg1rT

Judge ordered 5-year-old released, but data shows ICE is detaining more kids

As family detentions spike, the Trump administration is increasingly ensnaring the youngest, and most vulnerable, lawyers and advocates say.

wapo.st

Judge ordered 5-year-old released, but data shows ICE is detaining more kids www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/... w/ @marialuisapaul.bsky.social

Judge ordered 5-year-old released, but data shows ICE is detaining more kids

As family detentions spike, the Trump administration is increasingly ensnaring the youngest, and most vulnerable, lawyers and advocates say.

washingtonpost.com

If you need a small moment of hope, meet Grandpa Max. After losing everything in Venezuela and arriving in Miami with almost nothing, this 78-year-old engineer-turned-baker is remaking his life one pie at a time. “If you have to start again, you start again.” wapo.st/4600Nsw

An engineer-turned-baker shared his immigration story. Pie sales surged.

Máximo Mendoza’s pie business, Max & Crust, has attracted attention as he shares his story of remaking his life over and over again.

wapo.st

Breaking news: An ICE officer fatally shot a 37-year-old woman during an operation in Minneapolis on Wednesday, federal authorities said, an incident that came as the Trump administration has staged a massive enforcement effort in the city.

ICE officer fatally shoots woman during Minneapolis operation

A shooting involving an ICE officer took place in a Minneapolis neighborhood amid increased enforcement operations, Mayor Jacob Frey said.

washingtonpost.com

On today’s @washingtonpost.com front page: The Venezuelan government unleashes a new wave of repression. “I have hope things could get better without Maduro. From where I am, all I see is the same people who destroyed my country still in power. They’re still persecuting us. And we’re still afraid.”

For a moment, some Venezuelans allowed themselves to celebrate Nicolás Maduro’s fall. But as the government moves to crush dissent, joy has given way to fear, dread & uncertainty. “It feels like it did after the presidential elections in 2024. We won, but we also lost.” My latest: wapo.st/45HA83w

Fear grips Caracas as a new wave of repression is unleashed in Venezuela

Venezuela’s government launched a far-reaching crackdown after Maduro’s ouster, detaining journalists and civilians and sending armed gangs to the streets.

wapo.st

According to Venezuela’s National Press Workers Guild, at least 14 journalists have been detained today — most, while reporting from the National Assembly. At least 3 were detained by military counterintelligence officers, who went through their phones, emails and social media.

Lots of uncertainty for Venezuelans in the U.S. but Nestor Galavis in DC summed up a collective sentiment: “ Today, just let me be happy. We’ve been suffering for 27 years.” @davidovalle.bsky.social + @marialuisapaul.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

In exile, Venezuelans greet Maduro’s fall with joy — and fear of what comes next

Venezuelans in the Miami suburb of Doral took to the streets in celebration after learning that the U.S. had struck their homeland and removed Nicolás Maduro.

washingtonpost.com

Over the past year, we at @washingtonpost.com investigated what happened to the group of Venezuelans the US sent to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT — from their disappearance, to how they were sent there, to what they endured inside and the aftermath for their families. 🧵Here’s what we found:

INSIDE EL CECOT (GIFT LINK) The Post's reporting on the Salvadoran prison where the Trump administration sent migrants deported from the United States, based on interviews with 16 former detainees wapo.st/3KUUv6n

‘Welcome to hell’: Inside the megaprison where the U.S. deported migrants

Interviews with 16 former detainees of El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center offer the most complete view yet of conditions inside the notorious prison.

wapo.st

New: We obtained thousands of internal chat messages from the ICE team creating viral videos of raids and "EPIC takedowns." A scramble to satisfy the White House and "feed the beast" spawned a new "propaganda" machine, current and former officials told us. "It's a war!" wapo.st/4s6YnC5

‘It’s a war’: Inside ICE’s media machine

Thousands of internal ICE messages show how its public affairs team has coordinated with the White House to satisfy Trump administration demands for viral arrest videos

wapo.st

A night meant for joy, in a year marked by fear. As immigration enforcement intensifies, families shared how they’re spending Nochebuena — navigating absence & court hearings, taking pride in their roots and leaning into the quiet insistence of hope. A beautifully illustrated story wapo.st/4qn4pws

For Latino families, Nochebuena looks different this year

Traditionally a night for celebration, the Christmas Eve holiday takes on a pall amid expanded immigration enforcement.

wapo.st

Schools had long been considered off-limits for immigration enforcement. But our review found federal agents operating in the periphery of campuses — detaining parents in at least 10 states this year, and using tear gas, car chases and gunfire near schools www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

In cities targeted by ICE, empty desks and school disruptions follow

One in 5 students in Charlotte missed school after a recent ICE crackdown began. It’s the latest city where schools felt the impact of Trump’s deportation effort.

washingtonpost.com

“These are people who did everything by the book, paid taxes, had no criminal records, opened businesses and contributed to their communities...now they have become collateral damage in this cruel, unjust and inhumane political game.” www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Venezuelans begin fleeing U.S. as protections end and threat of war looms

TPS expired for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans on Friday. Many are shuttering business, selling homes and boarding planes, or scrambling to find a way to stay.

washingtonpost.com

The decision to revoke TPS for over 600K Venezuelans triggered “the largest mass illegalization of a group in this country’s history.” Many are shuttering business, selling homes and boarding planes. Others are scrambling to find a way to stay. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Venezuelans begin fleeing U.S. as protections end and threat of war looms

TPS expired for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans on Friday. Many are shuttering business, selling homes and boarding planes, or scrambling to find a way to stay.

washingtonpost.com

Scoop: The Trump admin's videos boasting triumphs on immigration have used misleading footage from months ago or thousands of miles away When we showed them the errors, DHS said they make a lot of videos and the White House said it'll keep making "banger memes" wapo.st/4nuDGwf

Trump administration uses misleading videos to portray chaos, push deportations

Official videos purporting to show the triumph of recent immigration operations used footage that was years old or recorded thousands of miles away, a Washington Post analysis found.

wapo.st

DHS just posted a Little Dark Age edit. Clear pattern of black-pilled memes and fashy fancams that reflects who ICE wants to recruit www.instagram.com/bydrewharwell/ www.tiktok.com/@drewharwell

Some patrol neighborhoods and raise phones when arrests unfold. Others pass out whistles, sell out vendors or attempt to be “holy nuisances” for ICE. Inside Chicago’s grassroots resistance to an intense immigration crackdown w/ @bellwak.bsky.social,Ben Strauss www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

How Chicago’s MMA gyms, cyclists and pet shelters are uniting to resist ICE

Teachers, clergy and MMA students are finding ways to counter immigration authorities’ attempts to detain undocumented neighbors.

washingtonpost.com

Read my latest with @marialuisapaul.bsky.social and Ben Strauss on how Chicago neighbors are responding to federal immigration crackdowns ➡️

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 10mo ago

An MMA gym, pet shelters and volunteer grocery patrols are part of Chicago's community effort to thwart a federal crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

Exclusive: The Trump administration said immigration enforcement will “remain unchanged” through the government shutdown. But at least one team at ICE isn’t going into work: the office that ensures detention centers meet federal safety standards.

ICE kept most offices open in shutdown — but not the one inspecting detention centers

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s entire Office of Detention Oversight has been placed on furlough, despite surging numbers of detainees.

wapo.st

Here's a good report on the election from the dream team of @schmidtsam.bsky.social @marialuisapaul.bsky.social @datab.ae and Ana Vanessa Herrero www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/0...

Maduro lost election, tallies collected by Venezuela’s opposition show

Edmundo González likely beat President Nicolás Maduro in the July 28 election by millions of votes, a review of data from election receipts shows.

washingtonpost.com

When a judge told Claudio David Balcane González “Welcome to the United States,” he sobbed. He had finally been granted asylum. Then ICE detained him for 63 more days @marialuisapaul.bsky.social reports www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

A Venezuelan singer won asylum. ICE detained him for two more months.

The singer known online as Davicito59 won his asylum case in July. Still, ICE kept him in custody for two more months — a holdup several experts called unlawful.

washingtonpost.com

Mario Guevara, an Emmy-award winning reporter, was deported to El Salvador — a nation he fled more than two decades ago. He was arrested while covering a protest of the Trump administration in a case that has alarmed free speech groups.

U.S. deports journalist Mario Guevara to El Salvador, family says

Mario Guevara, an independent journalist, was arrested while covering a protest of the Trump administration in a case that has alarmed free speech groups.

washingtonpost.com

Venezuelan artist Claudio David Balcane González won asylum in July, at a time when the vast majority of such petitions are being denied. ICE kept him in custody for 63 more days — well past the government’s appeal deadline. Lawyers say that was illegal. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

A Venezuelan singer won asylum. ICE detained him for two more months.

The singer known online as Davicito59 won his asylum case in July. Still, ICE kept him in custody for two more months — a holdup several experts called unlawful.

washingtonpost.com