Arelis R. Hernandez
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Periodista @washingtonpost | Texas border/immigration correspondent | @aajajcamp leader | @nahj | @arehernandez.19 on Signal
Articles by Arelis R. Hernandez
As Trump rallies his base in Ohio, a Haitian migrant is laid to rest nearby
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — As Pierre Damas Bel's father watched his firstborn's casket being lowered into a grave, President Donald Trump's supporters were arriving to hear him speak at a high school 25 miles away. The two events — one cloaked in anguish, the other jubilant — occurred within hours of each other Saturday in southwestern Ohio. They offered starkly different visions of how Trump's immigration crackdown is affecting America.
As Trump rallies his base in Ohio, a Haitian migrant is laid to rest nearby
Politics 9 hours ago ICE Is Everywhere and Acting with Impunity The New Yorker - Jonathan Blitzer • 9h Arrests have reached a record high—nearly fifty-one thousand in August alone—with agents conducting operations nationwide at hospitals, at airports, and outside schools.
Sending armed ICE agents to polling places would be a federal crime, lawsuit says
Show Caption Hide Caption White House says ICE vehicle stops remain necessary ICE enforcement tool White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said ICE vehicle stops will continue as officials address recent deaths.
Sending ICE to polling places would be crime, suit says
In Brief Latino civil rights groups, Common Cause and Denver sued to block armed immigration agents from polling places. The lawsuit relies on an 1865 federal law that generally prohibits armed federal personnel at election sites. Plaintiffs argue a federal immigration presence could intimidate voters and suppress turnout. Election officials in states including Minnesota have prepared contingency plans and legal responses.
Protected status expires for Salvadorans shielded from deportation for decades
Scores of immigrants from El Salvador who have been shielded from deportation for decades because of ongoing violence and natural disasters in their homeland could now face removal from the United States after their benefits expire Wednesday. Salvadorans were the first immigrant group granted temporary protected status (TPS), initially in 1990 to those fleeing the country’s civil war and again in 2001 after two massive earthquakes.
Sending armed ICE agents to polling places would be a federal crime, lawsuit says
Sending armed ICE agents to polling places would be a federal crime, lawsuit says (washingtonpost.com) Sending armed ICE agents to polling places would be a federal crime, lawsuit says By Arelis R.
Sending armed ICE agents to polling places would be a federal crime, lawsuit says
Now The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals compared ICE’s policy to Japanese internment. A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected ICE’s effort to detain millions of people without bond, comparing it to the “historical stain” of Japanese internment during World War II. “Mass detention of marginalized …
TPS expires for an immigrant group shielded from deportation for decades
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Massachusetts) speaks last week on Capitol Hill in support of renewing temporary protected status for Salvadorans living in the United States. (Maxine Wallace/The Washington Post) Scores of immigrants from El Salvador who have been shielded from deportation for decades because of ongoing violence and natural disasters in their homeland could now face removal from the United States after their benefits expire Wednesday.
California mom sends $10,000 a week to buy food for kids in ICE detention
Edgarianny Cortez Gervis and her daughter were going hungry. The pair from Venezuela were being held at a federal immigration detention facility in Dilley, Texas, and beginning to lose weight. Cortez Gervis was pregnant and struggled to keep down the rice and meat mash that workers served in the cafeteria. Her child barely ate and was suffering from diarrhea.
Haitian immigrant in Ohio takes his own life after losing temporary protected status, family says
A Haitian immigrant who had grown increasingly distraught after losing his protection from deportation and being outfitted with an ankle monitor was run over and killed Monday in what his family believes was a suicide. Pierre Damas Bel, 20, parked on the shoulder of Interstate 70 in Springfield, Ohio, some time before 8:45 a.m., got out of his vehicle and walked into westbound traffic, the Ohio State Highway Patrol told local media outlets.
ICE begins deporting Haitians who lost TPS back to homeland
The first deportation flight to Haiti since the Trump administration ended humanitarian protections for 350,000 people living in the United States landed Thursday in the Caribbean nation, and activists say immigration arrests are beginning to ramp up. The flight carrying 170 people, ranging in age from 19 to 71, landed in Cap-Haitien, on the northern coast of Haiti.
Deported by the US, detained in Venezuela — then lost in the earthquakes
Juan Carlos Villegas Castillo spent years casting nets into the Caribbean off Venezuela’s eastern coast. When the sea could no longer provide enough to support his five children, he crossed the Darién Gap and found construction work in Chicago. He was given permission to temporarily live and work in the United States, his family said, and hoped to return to Venezuela to build a house and buy a boat of his own. Eduardo José Osal Mujica never wanted to make the United States his home.
TPS for Haitians officially ends, putting thousands out of work and in limbo
A federal judge on Wednesday took the final step in allowing the Trump administration to terminate temporary protected status for 350,000 Haitians, meaning many are likely to lose their jobs and be at risk of deportation back to a country the United States says remains dangerous. U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes of the District of Columbia had enjoined the administration in February from ending TPS for Haitians, and a federal appeals court had refused to lift the ban.
ICE begins outfitting Haitian immigrants with ankle monitors, attorneys say
The Department of Homeland Security has begun summoning Haitian immigrants in Ohio to check-in appointments with federal officers who are outfitting them with ankle monitors, in what appears to be a new enforcement effort after the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to end their humanitarian protections.
Thousands of immigrant children may soon face a judge alone
Thousands of immigrant children may soon face a judge alone (washingtonpost.com) Thousands of immigrant children may soon face a judge alone By Arelis R. Hernández 2026073023090200 SAN ANTONIO — Tens of thousands of immigrant children who arrived in the United States as unaccompanied minors in recent years may be forced to face a judge alone after a federal contract providing them legal representation expires on Friday.
How the ICE shooting has shaken the teens of Houston’s Magnolia Park
How the ICE shooting has shaken the teens of Houston’s Magnolia Park (washingtonpost.com) How the ICE shooting has shaken the teens of Houston’s Magnolia Park By Arelis R. Hernández 2026071210010200 HOUSTON — Every weekend since school ended, a group of Mexican American teenagers in this city's oldest Latino neighborhood have gathered in a century-old house for a different kind of education. The high-schoolers are met by original art, antique photographs and sweet-smelling incense.
Videos show ICE pursuing van in unmarked vehicles before fatal shooting in Houston
Videos that capture the minutes leading up to and immediately after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot an undocumented Mexican immigrant in Houston early Tuesday morning show agents aggressively following a white work van and then approaching the vehicle on foot.
Migrants who saw man killed by ICE in Houston say he did not ram officers
A police work on Canal Street in Houston, Tuesday, July 7, 2026, after a shooting. (Jacob Lujan/Houston Chronicle via AP) HOUSTON - The three men who were arrested during an immigration operation that resulted in the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo said a federal officer fired at them almost immediately after exiting his vehicle and that at no point did the driver veer in his direction.
Migrants who saw man killed by ICE in Houston say he did not ram officers
Migrants who saw man killed by ICE in Houston say he did not ram officers (washingtonpost.com) Migrants who saw man killed by ICE in Houston say he did not ram officers By Arelis R. Hernández 2026071005010100 HOUSTON — The three men who were arrested during an immigration operation that resulted in the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo said a federal officer fired at them almost immediately after exiting his vehicle and that at no point did the driver veer in his direction.
Feds sideline local Texas officials in probe into fatal ICE shooting, district attorney says
Rhonda Smith holds a sign while listening to a during a news conference regarding Tuesday's shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Wednesday, July 8, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) The district attorney in Harris County, Texas, said Wednesday that federal authorities have sidelined local officials from participating in an investigation into the fatal shooting of a Mexican man in Houston by an immigration officer.
He saw a video of a Mexican man shot by ICE. It was his father.
He saw a video of a Mexican man shot by ICE. It was his father. (washingtonpost.com) He saw a video of a Mexican man shot by ICE. It was his father. By Arelis R. Hernández 2026070820321000 SAN ANTONIO — Ronaldo Salgado's mother called him early Tuesday morning worried and seeking answers: His father had headed out to work, she said, and something had gone horribly wrong. The eldest son of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo got in his car and headed to Houston's northern suburbs.
ICE’s arrest of nun heading to church fuels bipartisan backlash in South Texas
ICE’s arrest of nun heading to church fuels bipartisan backlash in South Texas (washingtonpost.com) ICE’s arrest of nun heading to church fuels bipartisan backlash in South Texas By Arelis R. Hernández 2026070114150200 SAN ANTONIO — Sister Leticia "Letty" Ugboaja was walking to Sunday Mass in McAllen, Texas, when federal immigration officers stopped her, confiscated her rosary and put her in handcuffs.
Death of woman released by ICE on a winter day is now ruled a homicide
Death of woman released by ICE on a winter day is now ruled a homicide (washingtonpost.com) Death of woman released by ICE on a winter day is now ruled a homicide By Arelis R. Hernández 2026061615590200 The grainy security footage from the Pittsburgh transit authority shows Daphy Michel seated on a steel bench. She had been released hours earlier from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, and temperatures that night would dip to freezing.
One judge, 143 cases: A day inside new high-stakes mass immigration hearings
Home Syndicated One judge, 143 cases: A day inside new high-stakes… Immigration One judge, 143 cases: A day inside new high-stakes mass immigration hearings A transport bus with barred windows sit outside the immigration court in San Antonio on July 17, 2025. (AP File Photo/Eric Gay) SAN ANTONIO—Immigration Judge Cynthia LaFuente-Gaona typically hears a few dozen cases a day in the Texas courtroom where men, women and children come to implore her to allow them to remain in the United States.
U.S. attorney’s office in California announces probe into elections
The Los Angeles U.S. attorney’s office said it has opened “multiple election fraud investigations,” claiming the California election system has “serious structural vulnerabilities.” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, whose office is also attempting to audit the state voter rolls, confirmed the investigation late Friday and vowed to follow the evidence where it leads. The nature and status of the probes federal prosecutors might be pursuing in California was not immediately clear.
One judge, 143 cases: A day inside new high-stakes mass immigration hearings
American Gateways attorney Erika Gonzalez talks with a woman before she attends her court hearing, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) SAN ANTONIO - Immigration Judge Cynthia LaFuente-Gaona typically hears a few dozen cases a day in the Texas courtroom where men, women and children come to implore her to allow them to remain in the United States. But in recent days, her caseload has swelled. On Wednesday, there were 143 names on her docket.
Spike in border wall spending goes mostly to 2 firms with GOP, White House ties
The Trump administration has sharply accelerated spending on border wall construction, issuing billion-dollar contracts that are the largest in the project’s history and potentially putting the president on track to fulfill his vision of a nearly complete land and water barrier with Mexico by the end of his second term. The Department of Homeland Security has awarded more than $19.4 billion in contracts in the past six months — compared with $2.1 billion from 2016 to 2024.
One judge, 143 cases: A day inside new high-stakes mass immigration hearings
One judge, 143 cases: A day inside new high-stakes mass immigration hearings (washingtonpost.com) One judge, 143 cases: A day inside new high-stakes mass immigration hearings By Arelis R. Hernández 2026060614360300 SAN ANTONIO — Immigration Judge Cynthia LaFuente-Gaona typically hears a few dozen cases a day in the Texas courtroom where men, women and children come to implore her to allow them to remain in the United States. But in recent days, her caseload has swelled.
Spike in border wall spending goes mostly to 2 firms with ties to the Republican Party and White House
A section of border wall ends where new construction begins on Kuuchamaa Mountain Friday, April 24, 2026, seen from Tecate, Mexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) The Trump administration has sharply accelerated spending on border wall construction, issuing billion-dollar contracts that are the largest in the project’s history and potentially putting the president on track to fulfill his vision of a nearly complete land and water barrier with Mexico by the end of his second term.
ICE agent charged in Minneapolis assault is arrested in Texas
ICE agent charged in Minneapolis assault is arrested in Texas (washingtonpost.com) ICE agent charged in Minneapolis assault is arrested in Texas By Arelis R. Hernández 2026052918000400 Christian Castro, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent charged in the shooting of an immigrant during a Minneapolis crackdown, was arrested in Texas early Friday, according to the Hennepin County attorney's office.
ICE agent charged in shooting of immigrant during Minneapolis crackdown
ICE agent charged in shooting of immigrant during Minneapolis crackdown (washingtonpost.com) ICE agent charged in shooting of immigrant during Minneapolis crackdown By Arelis R. Hernández 2026051819520300 Minnesota prosecutors issued a warrant for the arrest of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who allegedly shot a Venezuelan immigrant during the federal government's enforcement surge in Minneapolis early this year. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty identified Christian J.
Two high school basketball players released after being detained by ICE
Two high school basketball players released after being detained by ICE (washingtonpost.com) Two high school basketball players released after being detained by ICE By Arelis R. Hernández 2026043021520200 Two high school basketball players from the Republic of Congo have been released from federal immigration custody after they were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement while waiting to board a bus to school, their attorney said.
A massive border wall expansion is underway
In this March 27, 2017 photo, tourists pose for photos in Santa Elena Canyon near a cliff face that is in Mexico, on the banks of the Rio Grande river in Big Bend National Park in Texas.
A massive border wall expansion is underway
The number of visits to the San Antonio Missions increased sharply last year, new National Park Service data shows. Why it matters: The jump came at a …
New DHS memo outlines plan to detain refugees for further vetting
The Department of Homeland Security issued a memo Wednesday stating that federal immigration agents should arrest refugees who have not yet obtained a green card and detain them indefinitely for rescreening — a policy shift that upends decades of protections and puts tens of thousands of people who entered during the Biden administration at risk.
New Homeland Security memo outlines plan to detain refugees for further vetting
The predominantly Somali neighborhood of Cedar-Riverside in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski, File) The Department of Homeland Security issued a memo Wednesday stating that federal immigration agents should arrest refugees who have not yet obtained a green card and detain them indefinitely for rescreening - a policy shift that upends decades of protections and puts tens of thousands of people who entered during the Biden administration at risk.
Lawyer wants new trial in earlier case involving ICE officer who shot Renée Good
Arelis R. Hernández An attorney for a man convicted of assaulting the federal immigration officer who later killed Minneapolis resident Renée Good is planning to ask for a new trial, contending that the fatal shooting calls for a reexamination of the earlier case and whether proper training was followed.
El enfrentamiento sobre las tácticas de ICE podría desencadenar otro cierre parcial del gobierno en Estados Unidos
El Capitolio de Estados Unidos. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura El Congreso se enfrenta a otro cierre parcial del gobierno en 10 días a menos que los demócratas lleguen a un acuerdo con el presidente Donald Trump y los republicanos sobre las nuevas restricciones a las autoridades federales de inmigración, y algunos legisladores clave de ambos partidos no se muestran optimistas.
Standoff over ICE tactics could trigger next partial government shutdown
Activists are approached by a federal agent brandishing a firearm, for following agent vehicles, on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy) Congress is staring down another partial government shutdown in 10 days unless Democrats strike a deal with President Donald Trump and Republicans over new restrictions on federal immigration authorities - and some key lawmakers in both parties are not optimistic.
Judge ordered 5-year-old released, but data shows ICE is detaining more kids
SAN ANTONIO – The 5-year-old boy, in a blue knit bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack, was returning from preschool when immigration officers detained him late last month in Minneapolis. A few days later, officers there took custody of a 2-year-old girl after breaking her family’s car window.
ICE memo: Warrant not needed for entry
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo instructs agents and officers that they can enter a person's home to arrest them without a judicial warrant, a move that immigration lawyers and advocates say violates the Constitution. The memo was included in a disclosure to senators by Whistleblower Aid, a nonprofit legal organization, based on information provided by two of their clients, government employees who are not named in the document. It requests that lawmakers investigate its claims.
How officers used new ICE memo to forcefully enter a Minneapolis home
How officers used new ICE memo to forcefully enter a Minneapolis home (washingtonpost.com) How officers used new ICE memo to forcefully enter a Minneapolis home By Arelis R. Hernández 2026012401150300 With long guns pointed in her direction, Teyana Gibson repeatedly demanded that federal immigration officers show her a warrant as she stood between them and her immigrant husband inside her Minneapolis house.
Her wail at the border as Trump took office went viral and echoes today
Margelis Tinoco still gets flustered when she thinks about the comments that appeared online after a video capturing her weeping on a border bridge as President Donald Trump took office went viral. Stop all that damn crying. Good, get these out of here. Oh no, the horror of being sent back home to your own people. They didnt know about the months-long journey she had taken with her family fleeing armed guerrillas after her sons murder.
Her wail at the border as Trump took office went viral — and echoes today
Her wail at the border as Trump took office went viral — and echoes today (washingtonpost.com) Her wail at the border as Trump took office went viral — and echoes today By Arelis R. Hernández 2026012010013000 Margelis Tinoco still gets flustered when she thinks about the comments that appeared online after a video capturing her weeping on a border bridge as President Donald Trump took office went viral.
They arrived as refugees but now are detained in Trump’s Minneapolis crackdown
ICE watchers patrol their community in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis on Friday. (Joshua Lott/The Washington Post) The family of six had entered the United States as refugees after years of vetting, they said, and at last felt safe from the threat of violence that haunted them in Venezuela. Then came a knock on the door of their home in Minneapolis on Tuesday.
Venezuelčania v exile oslavujú. Madurov pád však vyvoláva aj obavy
Gercimar Botiu ešte pred úsvitom v sobotu prebudil zvoniaci telefón – volali jej príbuzní z Caracasu a hovorili, že venezuelskou metropolou otriasajú výbuchy. Do piatej ráno, keď sa rozšírila správa, že Američania zadržali venezuelského prezidenta Nicolása Madura, už Botia smerovala do El Arepazo v Dorale – do srdca venezuelskej komunity v Miami – dva roky po tom, čo sa so svojimi deťmi vydala na nebezpečnú cestu cez džungľu, aby na americkej hranici požiadala o azyl.
In exile, Venezuelans greet Maduro’s fall with joy — and fear of what comes next
DORAL, Fla. — Gercimar Botia was jolted awake when her phone rang before dawn Saturday — relatives were calling from Caracas to say explosions were rocking the Venezuelan capital. By 5 a.m., as news spread that Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro had been captured, Botia was driving to El Arepazo in Doral — the heart of Miami’s Venezuelan community — two years after she and her children braved a dangerous journey across the jungle to seek asylum at the U.S. border.
For one migrant family, no Christmas lights in New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS — Dinnertime had just ended when there was a loud knock at the door. Jhony grabbed his ID card and the documents showing he had protection from deportation. His wife, Aracely, rushed the children upstairs. Six years ago, Jhony had arrived in New Orleans and found work helping renovate the Superdome,which became a symbol of the city’s fortitude after Hurricane Katrina. Now he stood inside his home with an ear to the door as his mind raced through what he would do if someone broke through.
For one migrant family, no Christmas lights in New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS Dinnertime had just ended when there was a loud knock at the door. Jhony grabbed his ID card and the documents showing he had protection from deportation. His wife, Aracely, rushed the children upstairs. Six years ago, Jhony had arrived in New Orleans and found work helping renovate the Superdome, which became a symbol of the citys fortitude after Hurricane Katrina. Now he stood inside his home with an ear to the door as his mind raced through what he would do if someone broke through.
Trump suspends green-card lottery
President Donald Trump ordered the suspension of the U.S. green-card lottery program on Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem said. The decision comes after authorities said the suspected gunman in the recent shootings at Brown University and the home of an MIT professor used the system to enter the United States. Two students were killed and nine others injured at Brown University on Saturday when a man opened fire inside an engineering building.
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