In today’s
@washingtonpost
, with record-breaking migration, comes record-breaking death. A Texas border county has struggled to keep up.
Our dispatch w/colleagues
@falamarina
&
@Volpe_Daniele
, who made images along with the amazing
@jabinbotsford
I’ve been in Puerto Rico a few days, have only tweeted when I’m ready to share something and thought it through. I’ve interviewed dozens of ppl abt how they are managing the quakes. But it wasn’t until I felt tonight’s 5.2 quake that I personally witnessed the ineffable fear...
As Uvalde waits for Arredondo’s firing, I can’t get this parent’s words, written in the revived La Voz newspaper, out of my head: “There is laundry in the dryer that is Amerie’s. Clothes I never need to fold again. Clothes that are right now warmer than her body.”
@OrtizGuajillo
Maria was bad.
But what I am seeing — even with the helpers & volunteers responding — is something different and acutely alarming, difficult to understand unless you live it. I get it now. As I’m sure my colleagues out here already do and can express more cogently than I.
Protests are expected today. Why are Puerto Ricans mad?
— unused disaster aid found in warehouse
— politicized disaster/incompetence
— politicians who seem not to respond to needs
— slow recovery
— deepening strife, poverty
— add your own, boricuas
They told me they’re nervous. They’ve talked abt the unpredictability. I’ve seen the bags under their eyes and kids who wear sneakers to bed so they’re ready to run. I’ve visited several barrio encampments and seen the menacing cracks but now I understand the emotional toll ...
The mental and emotional health of the thousand sleeping outside in informal camps in their barrios and those sleeping on Govt-provided cots in official encampments, is deteriorating rapidly. They aren’t sleeping, some don’t eat and when u ask them how long they will do this...
I watched a young mother (21) nearly have a heart attack from the tension she bears. I saw a woman, who suffers from depression & anxiety, collapse to the ground in panic. Another grabbed me to cry and wail b/c I was the closet thing to her when the ground shook....
“There is no one more interested in seeing the money used correctly than everyday Puerto Ricans...We kicked out a governor because of it.” —
@mikesotoclass
Calls for protest today as Puerto Rico tries to recover from 3 disasters in 3 years.
In today’s
@washingtonpost
, one of few textile factories left in the country is using its stock of cotton fabric— typically used for napkins in high-end restaurants — to make breathable, washable, face masks:
The answer is they have no idea. They are waiting/expecting the worse & the lack of hope is giving way to desperation. The temblors are constant. Most are 3s and 4s and barely noticeable but these folks are hypersensitive. Tonight’s 5-er is exactly what they fear...
Counter protesters are now marching down and taking a knee just on South Boulder Avenue in Tulsa. There appear to be about 50 countries protesters surrounded by a sea of Trump supporters heading to the rally.
More people are dying in Puerto Rico as its healthcare system crumbles.
We partnered w/
@cpipr
to bring this monthslong examination of mortality data in 🇵🇷 and asking the local govt. why 2022 was so deadly for Boricuas.
#wepanoticias
This DC boricua is headed to the Lone Star as the Post's new southern border correspondent. Pumped to join
@mariasacchetti
@NickMiroff
@ahauslohner
on the immigration team. Never expected any of this but geez, Papa Dios es bueno. Aprecio tips, advice y ayuda.
I’m walking out this Thursday and ask, dear follower, that you not cross the picket line and refrain from engaging with Washington Post content for 24 hours during our strike. We’re worth more.
Workers
@washingtonpost
have been in contract negotiations with our bosses for 18 months.
But the company is refusing to pay us what we’re worth or bargain in good faith.
So on Dec. 7, we’re walking off the job for 24 hours.
In today’s
@washingtonpost
, Puerto Rico is aging more rapidly than most places on Earth as younger people leave. That leaves the elderly to face the ravages of storms on their own.
"Puerto Rico is not made for the old," an 86-year-old woman said.
Who dat? A Pulitzer Prize winner!!! Pero antes de todo hija de Vivian, nieta de Maria, esposa de Leah. She’s an
@NAHJ
leader,
@merrillcollege
alum,
@lavozlatinaumd
co-resurrector y pues, y pues, my best friend. We always knew. La chingona más dura
@Marissa_Jae
.
NEW: “If the cops had done their job, the medics might’ve had a chance,” — father of Xavier Lopez, who emerged w/a pulse from a Uvalde classroom. Delays & dysfunction followed. He didn’t survive.
Read our joint investigation:
👊🏾
@propublica
@TexasTribune
In remembering Uvalde’s 21 lives lost, surviving families seeking accountability, the
@washingtonpost
investigated the actions of an array of senior & supervising cops who failed to swiftly stop the gunman, still have jobs.
Doc:
First byline on the beat from Tejas —>Trump administration has acquired little of the private land in Texas it needs for border barrier w/
@NickMiroff
Nearly 200 protested in deeply Catholic Laredo, a border community predating both the nation & state. A few years ago, this kind of public demonstration would be unthinkable in this socially conservative, working class city — home to the lone antiabortion Democrat in DC.
Bexar County now reporting the death toll has risen to 53. Fifty-three, 40 male & 13 females, unique individuals w/families, hopes and desires — as migrants, lost their lives in this tragedy.
NEW & UPDATED: Death toll in San Antonio migrant truck tragedy rises to 51. Grief has enveloped city known for embrace of immigrants while fears abound that this summer will be a season of death.
@EvaRuth
@NickMiroff
@mariasacchetti
MORNING UPDATE: Puerto Rico has been devastated by at Cat-1 storm that has dropped more than 2 feet of rain in some parts. Power slowly coming back. Here's a visual recap of what went on nearly five years to the day H. Maria pounded the island archipelago:
This all happened after the Washington Post inquired about cases in which undocumented immigrants were handed over to ICE agents after traffic stops.
#journalism
#accountability
Puerto Ricans from all over the island have spent their weekend distributing supplies to the southwest. Incredible numbers of people. I haven’t seen the roads this congested since I’ve been here. The caravans of charity are everywhere. This is a super small example.
Puerto Rico’s stars are here, MLB catcher
@Yadimolina04
&
@Residente
leading the march against Puerto Rico’s government with help from local teachers union and hundreds of protesters.
“Que llueva, que llueva, que Ricky va pa’ fuera!” — these are children singing. In the rain. Completely soaked. The definition of exuberance.
Translation: Let it rain, let it rain, Ricky (Gov. Ricardo Rossello) will go away.
Foto from before the rain.
#ParoNacional
“This decade that we’re going into now will be the most important of our lives. We’re kind of running out of options. And we’re running out of time.” via
@sarahkaplan48
President Trump is visiting Dayton shooting victims at local hospital, protesters followed him from a main street here. They are partially blocked from motorcade view behind local emergency vehicles parked on the sidewalk. They are shouting: “9 deaths, 32 seconds!”
In today’s
@washingtonpost
, a Uvalde grandmother and the granddaughter she’s raising struggle to trust the schools again and manage their trauma from the Robb Elementary school shooting. Class begins Tues. after a wknd of celebration but not w/o fear.
The protest group outside the Governor’s mansion, La Fortaleza. Is developing, reminiscent of the Summer of ‘19 but remains to be seen if it will grow like past demonstrations. That said, I’ve learned not to underestimate fellow boricuas and their indignation.
A Puerto Rican guillotine of the resistance flag. Worth noting, Puerto Rico has one of the highest indices of income inequality in the world. Protester tells me that they want to move up elections now to remove the current government. “We gave them a chance, and they struck out.”
Find me another mass protest or mobilization like this in the United States. Don’t be confused, though, this is serious. Puerto Ricans find every which way to express themselves, dance and music is just one. Read more:
As Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine takes the stage at Dayton vigil, the crowd starts screaming “Do something!” and it soon breaks into a chant.
Dayton mayor reminds crowd this is a vigil and they are here to heal.
San Juan mayor
@CarmenYulinCruz
is out here in the streets offering water to protesters and keeping city hall open for reporters to file in the press room. The marchers are on their way.
I met Nancy at the Matamoros migrant camp >than 1 year ago. We connected, stayed in touch during the pandemic and she let me into her world. This is her crónica. This two-part audio doc for
#PostReports
is a window into costs/impact of MPP thru her words:
Desperate migrants seeking asylum at border face a new hurdle: tech
We spent 2 weeks talking & visiting migrants, advocates in 🇲🇽 to see how exactly Biden’s app is working for the most vulnerable. Here’s their words.
Video:
Que qué? Un podcast en español del Washington Post, junto a una sección de opinión en español? Get outta here. We are doing it! Subscribe hoy.
#wepa
cc:
@NAHJ
#MoreLatinosInNews
Today’s
@washingtonpost
story abt Texas Gov. Abbott wldnt be complete w/o links (online) pointing readers to the extraordinary accountability work of some of the state’s best journalists. Read up on it all in next tweet 1/2
Black leaders in Tulsa are outraged by Trump’s planned rally during a pandemic -
@DeNeenLBrown
has been writing about Tulsa/the massacre forever. There is no byline more essential than hers to understand the context, history of Black Tulsa.
Many more people protesting at the Puerto Rico capitol building yelling “Presos, presos, presos lo queremos,” = “We want them in prison” referring to elected leaders.
First Latina to write Rolling Stone cover story and righteously so, teamed up with other latinas to make all of these firsts👇🏾happen.
#wepa
✊🏾Felicidades
@HexPositive
This image was taken by a source this morning under the Del Rio, Texas bridge where >12K migrants, most of them Haitian, are waiting for processing by Border Patrol. Local officials said the conditions at the site are quickly deteriorating:
“To be a child in Venezuela today is dangerous”
My latest story from my time in
#Venezuela
focuses on the oil rich nation’s youngest and vulnerable: Kids
Now on the
@washingtonpost
homepage, A couple’s journey to the Rio Grande illustrates the perilous trek thousands of Haitian 🇭🇹 migrants undertake to reach the U.S.
It’s not often we the
#Guapos
at the Post get a chance to share a little of our stories. But for a change of pace we wanted to give you a glimpse of how we are our ancestors’ wildest dreams and our histories embedded in the very soil of these Americas:
VIDEO: Drone and footage We shot from the river offer a glimpse of what’s happening in Del Rio where thousands of migrants are gathered and expecting deportation flights today w/
@sfloresjr
:
Omg this is happening, TONIGHT! The
@NAHJ
is collaborating with
@NPPA
to bring a timely conversation about Latine representation in news media through images. Join us here TONIGHT!
👀 San Antonio Latina (longest-serving for English-language TV) news anchor loses job not long after she helps lead
@saahj
effort to document underrepresentation of Latinx in local broadcast news in a majority-Hispanic city. As a new resident, I loved watching
@RomeroIsis
.
@NAHJ
Outrageous. There are many more questions that should be asked. Isis played a huge role in conducting the SAAHJ diversity audit of San Antonio anchors that revealed a lack of Latino representation at TV news stations.
What a tremendous loss for journalism and San Antonians.
Skyrocketing property taxes, investors buying up land, displacement & housing un-affordability is striking a particular nerve in San Antonio from legacy homeowners who gave this city its distinct culture & character. It’s happening all over the 🇺🇸.
More 🇵🇷 news, a
@washingtonpost
satellite imagery and mortality data analysis showed that the longer a Puerto Rican community lacked power, the higher its death rates generally climbed. W/
@abtran
&
@DylanMoriarty
NEW!!! FEMA/HUD set aside billions for Puerto Rico to harden its water utility, but misplaced optimism & a gamble left 1,000s w/o access to WATER after H. Fiona. The 1st (in a few, we hope) of our accountability collab between
@cpipr
&
@washingtonpost
. 🇵🇷
Here's the effort
@cristina_corujo
and I made to try to explain to everyone what Puerto Ricans told us about how they are handling the incessant shaking of their island home:
Waiting to see if Puerto Rican creativity will once again take center stage. Protest is expected at the island Capitol building this afternoon. It’s a holiday today in the US and in Puerto Rico.
We moved from a tension-filled yet largely peaceful situation in downtown Tulsa to a joyous block party in Greenwood, which has been going on for hours but has grown.
Puerto Rico on the front page of the
@washingtonpost
hoy día. w/
@erikaprodriguez
🇵🇷 was just starting to rebuild when Fiona arrived. Puerto Ricans have moved from powerlessness to precarity — and back to powerlessness. Sin luz. Sin agua. Again.
Cricket, famous elsewhere, gives Asian immigrants a Texas foothold - probably my favorite story of the year, photos by the amazing Christopher Lee, in Texas.
I was 16 when I wrote my first ever news story abt baseball returning to Washington. I launched on my career path w/the
#Nationals
, was an RFK original and am wishing on every star, rubbing rosaries and sending entreaties heavenward for the hometown team.
#FINISHTHEFIGHT
#LETSGO
Uvalde families have commandeered this school board meeting and turned this into a listening session. Meanwhile board members meet in closed session about Arredondo’s firing. Quite the scene as relatives tell stories, say their piece, there’s an empty stage behind them.
As Uvalde waits for Arredondo’s firing, I can’t get this parent’s words, written in the revived La Voz newspaper, out of my head: “There is laundry in the dryer that is Amerie’s. Clothes I never need to fold again. Clothes that are right now warmer than her body.”
@OrtizGuajillo
In today’s
@washingtonpost
,
@NickMiroff
& I share what we know about the 1000s of migrants, mostly Haitian, waiting under a bridge in Del Rio on banks of Rio Grande in Texas waiting for BP. Heading back out there to learn more w/the brilliant📸
@sfloresjr
Migrants caught in the web of disinformation: “No sabemos si son fuentes confiables” Venezuelan man says source of info including Breitbart. “We don’t know if these outlets are trustworthy.”
HAPPENING NOW: Jesús, like 100s of other migrants, are trying to cross vía ELPaso, lured by false social media posts, including one by Breibart news, that US is processing migrants. Look for story w
@disolis
@lutorphoto
in
@dallasnews
. Listen in:
In today’s
@washingtonpost
,
#EarthquakePR
news and how the last 2 years have been a tribulation of natural and manmade calamity: “For the very old and the very young, in particular, this is an age of suffering here.”
Rolando Hinojosa-Smith, ‘dean of Chicano authors,’ dies at 93. The RGV native’s fiction served “as a kind of literary mirror, reflecting experiences that were often caricatured or ignored,” for the border region and was foundational for Chicano lit.
It was a cry for help that alerted someone nearby to the truck. The trailer was partly open but the victims were too weak from the triple-digit heat here in San Anto to get out themselves. They just moaned, police said. No water. No A/C. 46 dead, 16 hospitalized.
NEW: We spent extensive time w/a Southeastern Louisiana neighborhood block lashed by Hurricane Ida as they struggled & triumphed over three weeks w/o power, water. So grateful to these LaPlace families.
“They did not go without because they had within.”
In Puerto Rico, the governor made a choice to act swiftly and aggressively but it came at a cost. Now hunger menaces and an economic disaster looms amid fears of coronavirus.
NEW & UPDATED: Death toll in San Antonio migrant truck tragedy rises to 51. Grief has enveloped city known for embrace of immigrants while fears abound that this summer will be a season of death.
@EvaRuth
@NickMiroff
@mariasacchetti
In today’s
@washingtonpost
, Texas is expecting more evacuees but is still trying to get over the feds releasing a woman from isolation while she had tests pending. 1 was positive. What’s a city to do when the threat of pandemic chaotically comes to town?
My
@elpost
debut! I can’t listen to myself in Spanish but please, go ahead — my tía, a teacher in PR for years who first taught me my vowels in Español— would be happy you did.
It’s not often we the
#Guapos
at the Post get a chance to share a little of our stories. But for a change of pace we wanted to give you a glimpse of how we are our ancestors’ wildest dreams and our histories embedded in the very soil of these Americas:
NEW: 🚔Pr. George’s police have always said they don’t work with ICE. But we found 3 instances in which traffic stops in this sanctuary-like county, turned into deportation proceedings. Read how it happened and what the local Govt is doing to change it:
🇵🇷
🇵🇷
🇵🇷
For only the second time in Puerto Rico’s Olympic history, resuena La Borinqueña por el mundo.
🇵🇷
🇵🇷
🇵🇷
😭❤️💪🏽
@JCamachoQuinn
*Not the Costa Rican national anthem, all due respect to Ticos but that ain’t it,
@NBCOlympics
😤
Puerto Rico’s elderly, older adults are facing climate changes alone as the demographics shifts, aging faster than most places on the planet & emigration is pushing working age adults out. What a pleasure it was to sit and spend time w/these lovely ppl.
As many have told me, Gabo Márquez couldn’t have written it better than the political telenovela unfolding here in
#PuertoRico
. A governor holed up in his mansion, protesters just a few 100 yds away piercing the humid air w/chants, tactical police in formation. An island waits.
The horses are getting ready for
#RickyRenuncia
protests in San Juan. Their procession to the Capitol will be part of the beginning of tonight’s demonstrations.
#PuertoRico
Why are so many Haitians and other migrants converging on Del Río?
1. Deportation: &
2. Migration stories:
3. Del Río frustrations:
4. Misery under bridge:
Here they are in front of the federal courthouse after marching from the San Agustin plaza in front of the local cathedral. The willingness to speak out in this majority Latino/Tejano border city has shifted tellingly w/the push against a border wall here.
What an honor to have been part of the team to have told story with the help of Floyd’s family, friends and community. So grateful to them for their trust.
In today’s
@washingtonpost
, a difficult read, the result of months of investigation by reporters in 3 newsrooms
@propublica
@TexasTribune
New records show critical delays getting Uvalde victims hospital treatment after the breach:
The county I previously covered has banned all agencies from cooperating with ICE after our story uncovered that undocumented immigrants were ending up in deportation proceedings after contact with local cops. It was my last story in the beat.