Reporting immigration

Sophie Carson

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|USA TODAY NETWORK – WISCONSIN

Ruano had become a prominent symbol in Milwaukee of the impact of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, even on longtime workers who are well-established in their communities. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been expanding their reach – and adopting a much more aggressive attitude – with an annual budget of nearly $30 billion thanks to a historic infusion of funds from Congress.

While many American news outlets are covering the detention and deportation of immigrants in the U.S., there’s a dearth of on-the-ground, personal reporting on their lives after deportation.

So, in late October, four months after Ruano returned to a homeland she had not seen in 14 years, Carson and Hernandez traveled to the Salvadoran coast to report on the new reality she found herself navigating. Spending time with her – thanks in part to support from the Pulitzer Center – allowed the journalists to see the impact of immigration enforcement on a family that had been living, working, teaching and worshiping in Milwaukee for more than a decade.

Here are some questions and answers on the reasons for the reporting effort.

Why is Yessenia Ruano’s story newsworthy?

We first learned about Ruano at a February news conference at the offices of Voces de la Frontera, an immigrant advocacy group. Sitting at a table with her then-9-year-old daughters and her parish priest, Ruano wore a tracking device on her wrist and showed reporters her valid work permit and driver’s license. She had a check-in appointment with ICE officials coming up, and she was scared they would detain her on-site.

One reason we first covered her story and have continued to follow it: Ruano is representative of the Trump administration’s expanded immigration crackdown, which has targeted even those with U.S. citizen children, deep community ties, productive work histories and no criminal convictions.

What’s more, she was willing to speak out publicly about it. Few immigrants facing deportation have wanted to identify themselves and share their stories because they are worried about public backlash or impact on their cases.

After that news conference, I pulled her aside to ask a few more questions.

She showed me a stack of papers from the last 14 years, documenting how she’d tried to acquire legal status and remain in the U.S. She was not living in the shadows; she had done almost 20 in-person check-ins with ICE.

In getting to know her story, it became clear just how many hurdles, pitfalls and setbacks immigrants like Ruano face in trying to 'fix their papers,' or become legal residents. Her story speaks to the complexity of a backlogged U.S. immigration system – and the impossible choices some, including Ruano, are facing after ICE removed deportation protections for people who fled danger and applied for crime or trafficking victims’ visas.

How do you approach immigration coverage?

Those who cover immigration at the Journal Sentinel have focused on identifying big-picture immigration enforcement trends, correcting misinformation by verifying details through official and community-based sources, and centering the experiences of real people in our reporting.

As in any other beat in the newsroom, it’s important we hold taxpayer-funded agencies accountable. That could be reporting on the tension between local prosecutors and federal deportation agents, or the opening of new ICE office buildings, or the frustration of immigrants who entered through legal pathways during the Biden administration but have seen those pathways deemed illegal by the Trump administration.

What are your backgrounds?

I cover immigration and faith for the Journal Sentinel, and Jovanny Hernandez is a photojournalist.

My beat started out as religion and faith, and it’s grown to include immigrants and refugees. The 2021 arrival of Afghan evacuees at Fort McCoy prompted me to learn more about refugee resettlement in Milwaukee, and since then, I’ve written about a range of immigration issues. I earned journalism and Spanish degrees in college and conducted most of the interviews in El Salvador in Spanish.

Hernandez’s work spans every department in the newsroom. As part of his personal artistic endeavors, he also captures the vibrant culture of Milwaukee’s Latino community and the rich traditions of his family’s native Oaxaca, Mexico. He said his photography, both for the Journal Sentinel and for his personal projects, is intended to authentically represent diverse communities, highlighting their people, customs, and lived experiences. He speaks fluent Spanish.

Inside

Timeline

From El Salvador to Milwaukee and back.

Page 4A

Full Story

Yessenia Ruano and her family start over in El Salvador.

Page 9A