Isabela Dias
@isabelaalhadeff.bsky.social
Reporter at Mother Jones covering immigration, Latin America, and more. Falo português.
In 2022, Jair Bolsonaro flew to Florida after losing reelection. In 2025, Eduardo Bolsonaro "self-exiled" in the United States. Now, defeated Flávio Bolsonaro is reportedly headed to the US to request asylum.
Yet another defeated Bolsonaro flees to the United States
Under investigation, Flávio Bolsonaro has reportedly left Brazil after his election loss.
motherjones.com
Flávio Bolsonaro lost a legitimate election with record participation by millions of votes. In a speech just now, he refuses to recognize the results, calling on his followers to not "give up" on Brazil.
Lula's Suprise Win Blocks Trump’s Push for a Far-Right Brazil
The 80-year-old incumbent will serve a fourth term in office.
motherjones.com
A major hit for the Donroe Doctrine. Lula wins a fourth term in a historic comeback.
Lula's Suprise Win Blocks Trump’s Push for a Far-Right Brazil
The 80-year-old incumbent will serve a fourth term in office.
motherjones.com
“While Trump rode the wave of discontent back into office in 2024, his cruelty turned the tide on that same anti-immigration sentiment." In a Trump-voting rural Maryland county, a conservative sheriff who wants more collaboration with ICE faces a challenger for the first time in two decades.
A Sheriff called Maryland “Disneyland for illegal immigrants.” Can a wedding photographer oust him?
In this red enclave, a political newcomer is betting voters are done with Trump’s deportations.
motherjones.com
If Flávio Bolsonaro becomes president of Brazil, his brother Eduardo could be foreign minister. He has an arrest warrant after being convicted of trying to interfere with his father’s criminal case by lobbying the Trump administration. Among MAGA and far-right influencers in the US, he's a star.
MAGA world is counting on a Bolsonaro win in Brazil
“We’re going to achieve the Golden Era of Latin America,” Eduardo Bolsonaro said at a far-right Washington gala.
motherjones.com
What do a Texas fund and a production company in North Carolina have to do with the Brazilian elections? With @apublica.org, I explain the circuitous path of millions of dollars to finance a biopic that paints Jair Bolsonaro as a leader who “fought the system” that tried to silence him.
How a Bolsonaro biopic ended up at the center of Brazil’s presidential election
“This movie is going to be a nightmare for the left.”
motherjones.com
ICE took Luis and his son Andrés into custody together. Then, the agency separated them transferring the boy as "unaccompanied" to ORR, which cares for migrant kids with no parent or legal guardian. Andrés ended up in foster care. The new interior family separations w/ @samanthamichaels.bsky.social:
“You kidnapped my son”
ICE is now separating children from their parents and deeming them “unaccompanied.”
motherjones.com
Flávio Bolsonaro got 56 million votes yesterday. He's under investigation for alleged “money laundering, illicit capital flight, corruption" after he negotiated a $24-million investment from a now-jailed banker—accused of leading the biggest bank fraud in Brazil's history—to finance the movie.
How a Bolsonaro biopic ended up at the center of Brazil's presidential election
“This movie is going to be a nightmare for the Left.”
motherjones.com
“Twenty-five years is not temporary—25 years is a lifetime." The struggle of Salvadorans fleeing the country’s civil war was a determining factor behind the legislative framework for TPS. Now, that protection is under threat. My latest for @motherjones.com:
"A sword of Damocles": Salvadoran TPS holders are in limbo as DHS does nothing
They fought for protected status. Now they could lose it.
motherjones.com
This new one from me has been a long time coming: Pete Hegseth’s spiritual advisor wants an America dominated by “biblical masculinity.” I went over to his house for brunch. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Pete Hegseth dreams of holy war. Meet his spiritual adviser.
Doug Wilson preaches iron discipline and male dominance. One of his disciples runs the Pentagon.
motherjones.com
A staggering 55 people have died in ICE custody since Trump's return to office. But the agency's official death toll record-keeping doesn't account for people like Prisciliano, whose health deteriorated in detention but died shortly after the agency released him from custody to be hospitalized.
The Deaths ICE Doesn’t Count
Prisciliano Trejo Ricano passed away in the hospital days after being released from detention.
motherjones.com
The tragedy traces back to an ICE stop and deportation of Nixon Giovanni Pérez Paz. A year later, amid acute struggle, his wife, Glendy, decided to "self-deport." Weeks after reuniting, the couple was found dead in a field. “If my brother hadn’t been deported…Both of them might still be alive.”
She followed ICE’s advice to self-deport. Five weeks later, she was dead.
A St. Louis mother took her three daughters to reunite with her deported husband in Guatemala. Neighbors found the couple bound and shot in a sugarcane field.
motherjones.com
More than 60 people protected under a landmark settlement agreement for families who were separated at the border have been detained and at least 16 have been deported by the Trump administration. "The perpetuation of forcible separation upon this group is never ending," one lawyer told me.
Separated at the border, torn apart again
Years after being split up and reunited, a family gets caught in Trump’s immigration dragnet.
motherjones.com
Read my July 18 story for the original reporting that the New York Times didn’t link to... www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Assault, misogyny, verbal threats: Records detail new allegations against Rep. Max Miller
Police reports and filings in a bitter custody dispute raise new questions about the conduct of an Ohio Republican as he campaigns for a third term.
motherjones.com
Eric Umansky@ericumansky.bsky.social · 3mo agoGOP House member--and fmr Trump advance man--allegedly -threw boiling water on his then-wife -held a gun to her head -broke his daughter's collarbone. She's 2 -abused abuse a fmr Trump WHer too When a reporter asked him about it , he threatened to block their # www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/u...
After the family separation crisis of 2018, many impacted families earned legal status in the United States through a settlement agreement. Years later, some of them are being detained and deported by the Trump administration. This week on @revealnews.org, one mother relives her worst nightmare.
Children are being left behind as ICE detains parents across the country
Six miles from Mar-a-Lago, Guatemalan families are being ripped apart. Kids are left to fend for themselves as ICE detains their parents.
motherjones.com
Mirsy Alva López was separated from her 3-year-old son in 2018. Then last year, she was deported despite having legal protection. On this week’s @revealnews.org, how the Trump administration is violating a settlement agreement for separated families.
Children are being left behind as ICE detains parents across the country
Six miles from Mar-a-Lago, Guatemalan families are being ripped apart. Kids are left to fend for themselves as ICE detains their parents.
motherjones.com
In 2018, Mirsy Alva López arrived at the US-Mexico border with her 3-year-old son Ederson. Then border patrol agents ripped him from her arms and took him away. [1]
Separated at the Border, Torn Apart Again
Years after being split up and reunited, a family gets caught in Trump’s immigration dragnet.
motherjones.com
“We never went far enough to repair the original sin of the separations at the border. And now we’re perpetrating that same harm all over again.” I wrote about how the Trump administration is violating a landmark settlement agreement for families who were separated at the border years ago.
Separated at the Border, Torn Apart Again
Years after being split up and reunited, a family gets caught in Trump’s immigration dragnet.
motherjones.com
The DOJ filed the first-ever application with an “alien terrorist” removal court dormant since its creation in 1996. “The fact that the government had never previously used this process…speaks to the discomfort that just about everyone who’s ever looked carefully at the statute has come away with.”
The Trump administration is trying to revive a “Zombie” deportation court
"It's like getting into a car that came out of the factory 30 years ago but has never been started."
motherjones.com
This week, TPS for Haitians is expected to end. No state will feel the impact more than Florida, home to roughly 350,000 -- many of them healthcare workers. “The workers are suffering, but the patients are going to suffer more.” My latest for @motherjones.com: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Florida's nursing homes are bracing for life without Haitian TPS workers
The Supreme Court ended its legal status. Their patients will pay the price.
motherjones.com
Imagine being a kid and learning both your parents were arrested by ICE. You’ll have to pay rent and survive on your own. I shadowed four siblings—US citizens near Mar-a-Lago—as they try to do that. I'll be thinking about their story for a long time 1/x www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
ICE took Mom and Dad. Now the Perez kids are home alone.
Four American siblings left to fend for themselves—and they're not the only ones.
motherjones.com
ICE took mom and dad. Now the Perez kids are home alone.
ICE took Mom and Dad. Now the Perez kids are home alone.
Four American siblings left to fend for themselves—and they're not the only ones.
motherjones.com
Jared Kushner’s leading role in the bungled negotiations makes him complicit in what, by most accounts, has been a costly and humiliating defeat for the administration—and for the nation. Check out our latest cover story: tinyurl.com/7feeb4hw
Immigrants are dying in ICE detention. A key watchdog office is now gone.
Immigrants are dying in ICE detention. A key watchdog office is now gone.
"An utter disregard for safety and just humane treatment."
motherjones.com
Deaths in ICE custody have reached a record high; 49 people since January 2025. As many as 29 just in this fiscal year. But the Trump administration is shutting down an independent DHS oversight office that handles complaints about conditions and treatment in detention facilities.
Immigrants are dying in ICE detention. A key watchdog office is now gone.
"An utter disregard for safety and just humane treatment."
motherjones.com
“I live in constant fear that I will be subjected to further baseless detentions just for going about my daily life." On May 2, Leonardo Garcia Venegas, a Florida-born US citizen, was detained by ICE in Alabama for the third time (!) in the span of a year. And he's suing the federal government.
ICE keeps detaining the same US citizen again, and again, and again. He’s fighting back.
“I only wish to live my life in peace,” Leonardo Garcia Venegas said in a declaration.
motherjones.com
A judge ordered her return after a wrongful deportation. Now comes the hard part. “I think a lot of people assume that the story ends when your loved one comes back. But that’s just the beginning of when the healing process starts.”
A Judge Ordered Her Return After a Wrongful Deportation. Now Comes the Hard Part.
"They failed me once, they made a mistake once, what makes you think it's not going to happen again?"
motherjones.com
The "justices’ immigration histories span much of the American experience...In each case, these newcomers paved the way for a descendant to reach the privileged pinnacle of the country’s civic life. These nine men and women will now sit in judgment of citizenship for their fellow countrymen."
In Supreme Court Justices’ Histories, a Story of Immigration in America
nytimes.com
When the SCOTUS justices hear oral arguments over Trump’s effort to rewrite the Constitution and limit birthright citizenship in Trump v. Barbara tomorrow, they'll be considering arguments pushed by a handful of controversial legal scholars. @pemalevy.bsky.social and I unpacked their theories here:
The nonsense case against birthright citizenship
Meet the conservative legal minds telling the Supreme Court to side with Trump.
motherjones.com