Silvia Foster-Frau

Silvia Foster-Frau Archives

Congratulations to @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social for her reporting on ankle monitoring, which recently made it onto the new White House Recommended Reading list. Keep up the great work!

(With gratitude to Trump for helping to boost underreported stories)

www.whitehouse.gov/media-bias-r...

White House spokeswoman Leavitt now has a family connection to an ICE arrest Bruna Ferreira, a Boston-area woman who is the mother of Leavitt's nephew, is now in custody at an ICE facility in Louisiana.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt now has a family connection to an ICE arrest: the mother of her nephew was detained in Revere, Mass. @wbur.org @simonfrios.bsky.social
www.wbur.org/news/2025/11...

‘Welcome to hell’: Inside the megaprison where the U.S. deported migrants Interviews with 16 former detainees of El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center offer the most complete view yet of conditions inside the notorious prison.

"If the detainees’ accounts are true, their treatment may have violated UN conventions against torture...".

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0... via @asteckelberg.bsky.social, @teoarmus.bsky.social, @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social, @marialuisapaul.bsky.social & @washingtonpost.com

‘Welcome to hell’: Inside the megaprison where the U.S. deported migrants Interviews with 16 former detainees of El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center offer the most complete view yet of conditions inside the notorious prison.

On the front page of today’s @washingtonpost.com: What 16 of the migrants deported by the U.S. to El Salvador’s CECOT experienced in that notorious mega prison

w/ Sam Schmidt, Helena Carpio @marialuisapaul.bsky.social @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social @asteckelberg.bsky.social

ICE moves to shackle some 180,000 immigrants with GPS ankle monitors A June 9 memo directed ICE field officers to significantly expand the number of immigrants under round-the-clock surveillance.

ICE moves to shackle immigrants w/ GPS ankle monitors

"A June 9 memo directed ICE field officers to significantly expand the # of immigrants under round-the-clock surveillance."

For pregnant women, ICE will use wrist monitoring devices

From @douglasmac.bsky.social & @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social

Breaking - and happy! - news!!! The @nahjdc just won the National Chapter of the Year award! Feeling so proud and so grateful for the community we have created here. May we have more and more and more Latinos in news! @morelatinosinnews.bsky.social

GOP tax bill bets big on Trump’s immigration agenda despite poll warnings The GOP tax bill stands to deliver a $170 billion windfall to turbocharge immigrant detentions and deportations. But public approval of Trump’s approach has soured.

GOP tax bill bets big on Trump’s immigration agenda despite poll warnings.
(Marianne LeVine and @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social, Washington Post-unlocked)
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

El Salvador says for first time that U.S. controls fate of jailed deportees Officials acknowledge that more than 130 Venezuelan migrants at a megaprison in El Salvador remain under U.S. responsibility, contradicting Trump administration claims.

El Salvador says for first time that U.S. controls fate of jailed deportees @washingtonpost.com @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social wapo.st/44gKEi6

A powerful tool in Trump’s immigration crackdown: The routine traffic stop ICE is working with local police to arrest more undocumented immigrants at traffic stops. In a break with the past, many arrestees have no violent criminal record.

Wash Post: A Powerful Tool in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown: The Routine Traffic Stop by Silvia Foster-Frau. @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social

Gift link! wapo.st/4nlucVj

Trump officials plan to resettle 1,000 Afrikaners while blocking other refugees Refugees that a federal judge had ordered the Trump administration to admit are being barred from entry under the president’s travel ban even as Afrikaners are allowed in.

Scoop: The Trump administration plans to resettle 1,000 Afrikaners by the end of September
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Two refugee families. Two very different experiences under Trump. A South African family was given a fast track to entering the U.S. as refugees. A family from Myanmar is struggling amid cuts to resettlement agencies under Trump.

Two refugee families - one from South Africa, the other from Myanmar. Two very different experiences under Trump.

@silviafosterfrau.bsky.social reports from the city both are now starting over in: Birmingham.

www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

COMBINED DIVISIONS: PODCAST – NARRATIVE 🎙️🎧

🥇 1st Place: "The Harvard Plan," Staff, @bostonglobe.com
🥈 2nd Place: "America's Toxic Tap Water Problem," @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social, ‬Emma Talkoff, & Monica Campbell, @washingtonpost.com

Covering Tragedy: How Pulitzer Winner Silvia Foster-Frau Tackles Mass Shootings YouTube video by National Press Foundation

The @washingtonpost.com's Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social is also a member of @harvard.edu's 2026 Nieman Fellowship class. She spoke with 2024 @nationalpress.bsky.social Widening the Pipeline fellows last December. www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyCi...

The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard announces its 88th class of fellows - Nieman Foundation The Nieman Foundation for Journalism has selected 22 accomplished journalists from around the world as members of the class of 2026.  The new cohort, representing nine countries, includes reporters, e...

Meet the new class! We’re pleased to introduce the 2026 Nieman Fellows, 22 accomplished journalists who cover stories around the globe. They’ll join us at @harvard.edu this fall to study, investigate and collaborate. Welcome to all. nieman.harvard.edu/the-nieman-f...

Congratulations to NPF fellows @danielstrauss.bsky.social and Ridwan Karim Dini-Osman and NPF speaker @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social! 🎉

Trump’s 48-hour scramble to fly migrants to a Salvadoran prison The administration rounded up some of the Venezuelans two days before the flights took off, pressing forward even as Venezuela agreed to accept deportees.

A look inside Trump's 48-hour scramble to fly migrants to a Salvadoran prison, from @blaskey_s, @schmidtsam.bsky.social, @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social, @AnaVHerrero, @arelisrhdz.bsky.social @marialuisapaul.bsky.social & @karendeyoung1
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Judge orders return to U.S. of second migrant deported to El Salvador A federal judge in Maryland has ordered the Trump administration to return a Venezuelan man who was sent to a megaprison in El Salvador despite having protection from removal.

BREAKING Separate federal judge orders Trump administration to return second man sent erroneously to El Salvador megaprison @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social reports. ICE had agreed not to deport Cristian, a 20 year-old Venezuelan, until his asylum case was decided
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

RNA FOIA tip sheet How to file a state FOIA request — and find records without FOIA Joshua Eaton State and local public records: Varies by state law Each state has its own version of the federal Freedom of Information ...

Spoke about FOIA and public records this morning at RNA alongside @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social and @jamesvgrimaldi.bsky.social, moderated by the great @reporterdeepa.bsky.social.

Here’s the tip sheet I shared: bit.ly/rnafoia

Venezuelan immigrants sent to prison in El Salvador — from intersecting POVs - Nieman Storyboard Plus: how to leak to a journalist, interviewing for detail, and embracing rejection

This week's Nieman Storyboard newsletter, featuring stories from @isabelaalhadeff.bsky.social, @nlanard.bsky.social, @mckenziefunk.com, @jonathanblitzer.bsky.social, @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social, and more.

niemanstoryboard.org/2025/04/04/v...

#longreads #reporting

Despite refugee status in the U.S., young Venezuelan was deported to Salvadoran prison E.M. and his girlfriend fled persecution in their native Venezuela in 2021 and dreamed of making a new life in the United States.

Had missed this story in the Miami Herald about a man that already been granted refugee status being removed under the Alien Enemies Act declaration to CECOT. The other identified removals I'd heard of were undocumented or asylum seekers, first I'm hearing of approved refugees being targeted

“A Washington Post article by Silvia Foster-Frau followed the story of four Venezuelan friends who had come to the U.S. illegally. They shared a townhouse in Dallas, where immigration officials picked them up last Thursday. The men signed deportation papers, expecting to return to Venezuela, but🧵1/2

For four Venezuelan friends, Alien Enemies Act cuts short an American dream President Donald Trump used the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans accused of being gang members. Relatives of men sent to El Salvador deny the allegation.

The 4 friends grew up blocks from each other in Venezuela. They lived & played soccer together in Dallas. Then they were arrested last week, their families say, & sent to the Salvadoran mega-prison.
A story on the 4, accused of gang membership though the Post found no such record:
wapo.st/4iW6RWW

For four Venezuelan friends, Alien Enemies Act cuts short an American dream President Donald Trump used the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans accused of being gang members. Relatives of men sent to El Salvador deny the allegation.

Here is the gift link:

wapo.st/4iW6RWW

Thanks so much, Bill.

For four Venezuelan friends, Alien Enemies Act cuts short an American dream President Donald Trump used the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans accused of being gang members. Relatives of men sent to El Salvador deny the allegation.

Extraordinary reporting, carefully written, about 4 Venezuelan men who wound up in a Salvadoran hellhole prison, based on what looks like evidence as scant as a few tattoos.

Via
@silviafosterfrau.bsky.social

Free link ⤵️

wapo.st/4iW6RWW

For four Venezuelan friends, Alien Enemies Act cuts short an American dream President Donald Trump used the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans accused of being gang members. Relatives of men sent to El Salvador deny the allegation.

4 men from Maracaibo, Venezuela “were eking out a new life in Dallas, where they worked long hours and shared a townhouse. Then, on Thursday, armed officers showed up at their home, arrested them” and now, they're in a Salvadoran gulag.

From WashPost @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social:

Thank you, Bill.

For four Venezuelan friends, Alien Enemies Act cuts short an American dream President Donald Trump used the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans accused of being gang members. Relatives of men sent to El Salvador deny the allegation.

This is why I pay for @washingtonpost.com

Tell me what other news orgs are going to be able to pay to do this kind of reporting over and over.

Same thing for @nytimes.com.

Good work on this @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social.

Gift link below.

For four Venezuelan friends, Alien Enemies Act cuts short an American dream President Donald Trump used the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans accused of being gang members. Relatives of men sent to El Salvador deny the allegation.

New: I spoke to the families of 4 migrants - friends in Venezuela who then lived as roommates in Dallas. They say the 4 men were arrested on Thurs and sent to the Salvadoran mega-prison after Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act. Please read their stories:
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Mercedes Yamarte thought her son & his 3 roommates were getting deported back to Venezuela. Then she saw his face in Bukele’s video advertising the arrival of 200+ migrants to El Salvador’s mega-prison. “I didn’t have words. I couldn’t speak.”
Please read: t.co/3BJtuL8gSf