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Reporter at @ProPublica.org interested in immigration and labor. Based in Chicago. Also a fan of parenting memes.
1/ It should be forgiven. It should be forgotten. If she spoke of it again, the sins would be hers, she was told.
But she could never forget. And neither could the other girls.
This is the story of how her church enabled a child abuser for years 👇
[content warning: sexual abuse]
We updated this story to add that DHS acknowledges at least 4 of the Venezuelans detained in raid are a low public safety risk. A judge the. ordered them released. We were about to publish a story about this… then an appeals court stayed order. The men will remain in detention or may be deported
You probably saw videos of a nighttime raid in Chicago. Agents rappelling from a helicopter, bursting down doors, questioning brown-skinned immigrants.
We investigated -- and found little evidence to support the government’s claims about Tren de Aragua.
Authorities said Tren de Aragua “terrorists” had taken over the building. A ProPublica investigation found little evidence to back up the government’s claims. For the first time, the Venezuelans arres...
Reporter @melissa-sanchez.bsky.social speaks to @npr.org about @propublica.org's report on the South Shore Chicago apartment building raid. www.npr.org/2025/11/18/n...
NPR's Leila Fadel speaks to ProPublica reporter Melissa Sanchez, who fact-checked the Trump administration's claims about a high-profile immigration raid in Chicago.
Meet one of the Venezuelans detained in the South Shore raid
TikTok video by ProPublica
17/ My essay on the Venezuelans detained the night of the raid was first sent in our Dispatches newsletter, which spotlights wrongdoing around the country. Sign up to receive it every Saturday: www.propublica.org/newsletters/...
16/ The Department of Homeland Security did not answer our questions about the raid. In a statement, it said the operation was “performed in full compliance of the law.” You can read the full statement here. www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
15/ When her husband calls her from detention, a knot forms in the back of her throat. Primera said she wants to lift his spirits. She assures him that everything is fine. She had forced a smile on her face as she told me this, but her eyes were shiny with tears.
14/ Primera and her daughters are now living in a homeless shelter in Chicago, while her husband waits in jail to be returned to Venezuela. Primera said she rarely leaves the shelter, afraid of getting detained again - and separated from the girls.
13/ Yelianny Primera was released after the raid, with an ankle monitor and instructions to get her three young daughters’ birth certificates and passports in order so they can be returned to Venezuela together. Her two youngest daughters are U.S. citizens.
12/ MejĂas and her son returned to Venezuela with even less than what her family had when they had left. Her son’s toys, clothes, shoes and tablet. The green backpack with $600 in savings. The used SUV her husband had bought to get to work. All of it was gone.
