Honduras Defense Official and U.S. Drug War Ally Tied to Narco-Trafficker, Notorious Mercenary Firm
Documents and interviews link Col. Elias Melgar Urbina to a convicted drug trafficker and a security company accused of assassinating activists.
John Washington
John Washington is a staff writer at Arizona Luminaria, a community-focused media outlet where he writes about the border, climate change, democracy, and more. His first book, "The Dispossessed: A Story of Asylum at the US-Mexico Border and Beyond," was published in 2020 by Verso Books. Washington is also a translator, having co-translated, most recently, "The Hollywood Kid," by Óscar Martínez and Juan Martínez, and Blood Barrios, by Alberto Arce, which won a PEN Translates Award. Find more of his work at www.jblackburnwashington.com.
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The War on Immigrants
After Being Deported by U.S., Walter Cruz-Zavala Disappeared in Notorious Salvadoran Crackdown
U.S. courts twice said he faced torture or murder at the hands of gangs or the Salvadoran state. ICE deported him anyway.
The War on Immigrants
Border Patrol Agents Are Trashing Sikh Asylum-Seekers’ Turbans
“The turban is sacred.” At least 64 Sikh men have had their headwear confiscated and discarded by Yuma’s Border Patrol.
The War on Immigrants
Fifth Migrant Woman Alleges Sexual Assault Against Nurse at ICE Jail
CoreCivic provided incorrect information to journalists investigating the allegations — and ICE says two investigations remain open.
ICE Jail Nurse Sexually Assaulted Migrant Women, Complaint Letter Says
“I was shaking, I was scared, I wanted to leave. It was the worst day of my life.”
Internal CBP Documents Detail “Transnational Effort to Shut Down Asylum”
The U.S. government’s militarized response to the 2019 crisis made it much worse, advocates say.
Catastrophic Asylum Program “Remain in Mexico” Could Get Even Worse, Depending on the Supreme Court
Migrants are being detained in squalid conditions in Juárez, Mexico, amid the Biden administration's court-ordered reboot of the program.
A Photographer Watched Syria’s Children While Their Government Bombed Them
In his book “Witnesses to War,” photographer Bassam Khabieh confronts the world with life and death in Syria's 10-year civil war.
The War on Immigrants
ICE Discussed Punishing Immigrant Advocates for Peaceful Protests
Internal documents show how ICE surveilled immigrant advocates' protest activities — and floated retaliating against them for it.
The War on Immigrants
“Nothing Is Changing”: ICE Sends Detainees to Irwin Prison Despite Pledges to Close It
Irwin, an ICE prison plagued by abuse allegations, is at the center of the Biden administration’s promises on detention reform.