Thrilled to share that my collab w/ KQED's Close All Tabs podcast took home an award from the Public Media Journalists Association. Our 35-minute episode -- reported from Ukraine -- was honored with second place in the Enterprise Reporting category. www.pmja.org/pmja-2026-aw...

As immigration enforcement intensifies, parents across the Bay Area are making detailed plans for who will care for their children if they are detained, deported, or otherwise separated from their families. #MsReads via @eltimpano.bsky.social

Preparing for the unthinkable

As immigration enforcement intensifies, parents across the Bay Area are making detailed plans for who will care for their children if they are detained, deported, or otherwise separated from their…

eltimpano.org

I'm back from a month of touching grass - nice to see my last feature from @eltimpano.bsky.social republished by @19thnews.org ! Read it below:

19thnews@19thnews.org · last mo.

Mass deportations, workplace raids, and the erosion of protections for various categories of humanitarian immigrants have reshaped everyday life for communities across the Bay Area, injecting fear into routines as ordinary as the walk to school. From @eltimpano.bsky.social:

Despite becoming a U.S. citizen two years ago, an Oakland mother recently began planning for her children in case she is detained or deported. @ehellerstein.bsky.social examines the growing use of family preparedness plans in the Bay Area. www.eltimpano.org/english/immi...

Preparing for the unthinkable

As immigration enforcement intensifies, parents across the Bay Area are making detailed plans for who will care for their children if they are detained, deported, or otherwise separated from their fam...

eltimpano.org

My last article for @eltimpano.bsky.social: I met the main source of this story at a workshop a few months ago. Despite winning her asylum case and becoming a US citizen, she was preparing for an unthinkable eventuality: That she could get detained, deported, and separated from her children:

El Tímpano@eltimpano.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Despite becoming a U.S. citizen two years ago, an Oakland mother recently began planning for her children in case she is detained or deported. @ehellerstein.bsky.social examines the growing use of family preparedness plans in the Bay Area. www.eltimpano.org/english/immi...

What a nice last day gift from KQED's The Bay, which, in honor of the World Cup, just re-upped our episode from last year about the immigrant youth finding refuge in the beautiful game. I hope you'll give it a listen! ⚽ www.kqed.org/news/1208726...

The Immigrant Youth Finding Safety in Local Soccer Leagues | KQED

Before the World Cup touched down in the Bay Area, local soccer leagues have provided a rare place of solace for immigrant youth.

kqed.org

My final article for @eltimpano.bsky.social explores how immigrant parents are preparing for the possibility of detention and deportation, and grappling with the fear those preparations bring into family life. I hope you'll give it a read: www.eltimpano.org/english/immi...

Preparing for the unthinkable

As immigration enforcement intensifies, parents across the Bay Area are making detailed plans for who will care for their children if they are detained, deported, or otherwise separated from their fam...

eltimpano.org

My final article for @eltimpano.bsky.social explores how immigrant parents are preparing for the possibility of detention and deportation, and grappling with the fear those preparations bring into family life. I hope you'll give it a read: www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/p...

Parents prepare for the unthinkable

The Weekly Dispatch Plus, an El Tímpano farewell. Welcome to El Tímpano’s Weekly Dispatch. I’m Erica Hellerstein, senior immigration, labor, and economics reporter. One of the first lessons you learn ...

eltimpano.org

One of my last articles for ET!

El Tímpano@eltimpano.bsky.social · 2mo ago

For six months, a decentralized network of volunteers has stood watch outside Oakland schools with large immigrant populations, keeping an eye out for federal immigration agents. @ehellerstein.bsky.social joined them on shifts outside East Oakland schools. www.eltimpano.org/english/immi...

For six months, a decentralized network of volunteers has stood watch outside Oakland schools with large immigrant populations, keeping an eye out for ICE. i joined them on shifts outside East Oakland schools. "I feel safer with them around," a parent told me. www.eltimpano.org/english/immi...

Neighborhood watch

After Trump threatened an ICE surge in the Bay Area, hundreds of volunteers began standing guard outside Oakland schools. Six months later, they say the work has only just begun.

eltimpano.org

Last week, a procedural deadline quietly passed for people seeking asylum in the U.S. @ehellerstein.bsky.social unpacks the local impact of the new change and why it represents a fundamental shift from how the asylum system has historically functioned. www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/d...

Death by 1000 cuts to asylum leaves Bay Area immigrants in limbo

Community-powered immigration news from the Bay Area.

eltimpano.org

Member states and the European Parliament have struck a deal on the Return Regulation to build deportation camps (aka return hubs) in faraway countries. It’s a turning point for migration policy. The EU migration enters uncharted territory.

EU approves strictest-ever migration law, including return hubs

A new EU law will allow migrant return hubs outside the bloc and home searches in a bid to crack down on irregular migration. Civil society groups point to a “xenophobic" turn in EU politics. #EuropeN...

euronews.com

Was out last week when the Weekly Dispatch was named the best politics/policy newsletter in California by the Sacramento Press Club, beating out Politico! It's a lot of work to put out a comprehensively reported, community-powered newsletter every week, but very worth it. Congrats to the team!

Since 2015, more than 6,300 youth who immigrated to the U.S. alone have resettled in Alameda County. But many of those children now face an uncertain future amid potential cuts on both the state and federal level, @ehellerstein.bsky.social reports. www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/w...

With funding imperiled, thousands of unaccompanied minors in California could be left without legal aid

Community-powered immigration news from the Bay Area.

eltimpano.org

A little bit of Friday ~personal news~ I'm beyond honored (and a bit in shock) that I've been selected as a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan 😭 I'll be spending the academic yr in Ann Arbor working on a project about America's history wars. wallacehouse.umich.edu/announcing-t...

Meet 2026-2027 Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellows

This cohort of 19 journalists will join us in the fall and spend an academic year tackling individual journalism projects and pursuing solutions to help newsrooms respond to today's challenges. Meet t...

wallacehouse.umich.edu

What an honor to see the Weekly Dispatch as a finalist in the Sacramento Press Club's Golden State Journalism Award for the best politics/policy newsletter. When we launched this, I had no idea what I was doing. I've since written 40+ originally reported editions sacpressclub.org/6th-golden-s...

6th Annual Golden State Journalism Finalists

The Sacramento Press Club is proud to announce the finalists in The Golden State Journalism Awards, the club’s sixth annual journalism contest, honoring the best work centered on state politics and pu...

sacpressclub.org

Next week, Gov. Newsom will release a revision of CA’s proposed 2026-27 state budget. @ehellerstein.bsky.social explains the clash over the future of health care access for 200,000 lawfully present immigrants set to lose Medi-Cal due to changes enacted in H.R. 1. www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/s...

State lawmakers and Newsom clash over immigrant health care

A week before the release of Governor Gavin Newsom's revised 2026-27 California budget, the state finds itself at a crossroads.

eltimpano.org

From the terrific new book Undue Process by NBC immigration reporter Julia Ainsley: How the Trump administration fired a DHS press person because she refused to call undocumented immigrants "scumbags" in a press release.

Why hasn't the Bay seen the kinds of large-scale, sweeping ICE raids that have paralyzed life in Minneapolis, Chicago, and LA? It may be because of four structural constraints, unique to the region, that together make it harder to carry out mass deportations 👇 www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/w...

Why has the Bay Area avoided large-scale immigration raids?

A new study by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute offers a compelling explanation.

eltimpano.org

April 2: guards cut all phone access in the housing units without warning. When detainees protested, CRS officers allegedly punched a man, threw another to the ground, kicked him in the head, and pinned him by the neck. A third detainee's wrist was broken. The entire cage was pepper-sprayed.

Alligator Alcatraz phones were cut off. Then the beatings began, court docs say

Attorneys say the Trump and DeSantis administrations are disregarding a court order requiring access to phones and attorneys for detainees.

miamiherald.com

In our latest Weekly Dispatch, @ehellerstein.bsky.social unpacks how policy changes like the federal government’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act may be exacerbating the health care affordability crisis for California Latinos. www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/l...

Latino Californians awash in medical debt amid sweeping cuts to health care

Community-powered immigration news from the Bay Area.

eltimpano.org

Female octopuses throw rocks at males that bother them, documented in Octopus tetricus

ICE agents shot another driver -- on Tues. He had just asked to call his wife. They shot him six times. One bullet his jaw. Now he can't speak and has been mostly unconscious. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/u...

Victim in ICE Shooting Suffered at Least Six Wounds, His Lawyer Says

nytimes.com

As California commemorated its first Farmworkers Day last week, @ehellerstein.bsky.social spoke to Bay Area women-led organizations that support immigrant workers about how they are processing the recent revelations about César Chavez—and where to go from here. www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/a...

As California marks its first Farmworkers Day, labor advocates reflect on Chavez allegations and what comes next

The Weekly Dispatch Community-powered immigration news from the Bay Area. Welcome to El Tímpano’s Weekly Dispatch. I’m Erica Hellerstein, senior immigration, labor, and economics reporter. In previous...

eltimpano.org

On the 58th anniversary of Dr. King's assassination, it's time to reckon with the media's troubling role in the civil rights struggle. (I pitched this to @nytimes.com who found it "fascinating..[but] the news is making deeper & certainly more historical pieces very hard." But they're the news.) A 🧵

I've been on a self-imposed social media hiatus to touch grass, but have not been posting my work. My latest - an analysis of the César Chavez revelations + what they reveal abt the conditions under which abuse metastasizes. www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/a...

As California marks its first Farmworkers Day, labor advocates reflect on Chavez allegations and what comes next

The Weekly Dispatch Community-powered immigration news from the Bay Area. Welcome to El Tímpano’s Weekly Dispatch. I’m Erica Hellerstein, senior immigration, labor, and economics reporter. In previous...

eltimpano.org

Great great reporting here by @onofftherecord.bsky.social

Timothy Pratt@onofftherecord.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Having loved ones locked up by ICE is radicalizing family across US, incl. Georgia's Mildred Danis-Taylor, who's taken her fight all the way to Congress: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026... @haleaziz.bsky.social @thetattooedjew.com @neonflag.bsky.social @ruwaromman.bsky.social @warnock.senate.gov

On April 1, new changes will go into effect that will cut off food stamp benefits for immigrants w/ humanitarian protections, like refugees, asylees, & trafficking survivors. Here in the East Bay, thousands are likely to lose benefits as a result, I found. www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/t...

Thousands of East Bay immigrants will lose food stamps beginning April 1

Starting April 1, new federal rules will limit who qualifies for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in California as CalFresh.

eltimpano.org

In today's Weekly Dispatch by @ehellerstein.bsky.social, how new federal rules will limit who qualifies for SNAP, known in California as CalFresh. “Unfortunately, the numbers are higher than we originally anticipated." www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/t...

Thousands of East Bay immigrants will lose food stamps beginning April 1

Starting April 1, new federal rules will limit who qualifies for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in California as CalFresh.

eltimpano.org

In our latest Weekly Dispatch by @ehellerstein.bsky.social unpacks what the crackdown on DACA recipients means for California, which is home to the nation’s largest Dreamer population, and includes thousands of estimated DACA holders in the East Bay. www.eltimpano.org/newsletter/a...

A NorCal DACA recipient was deported to Mexico. She’s not the only one

The Weekly Dispatch Community-powered immigration news from the Bay Area. Welcome to El Tímpano’s Weekly Dispatch. I’m Erica Hellerstein, senior immigration, labor, and economics reporter. Like many o...

eltimpano.org