Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez
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alanfherrera.bsky.social
Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez
@alanfherrera.bsky.social
6 followers 21 following 90 posts
I write about my experience as a writer and press freedom advocate living in exile since fleeing the U.S. Founding board member of the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the USA. All opinions my own. https://alanfherrera.substack.com/
alanfherrera.substack.com
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Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · Sep 24
I fled the US to avoid #ICE. Some thoughts.

In the autumn of 2019, I enjoyed a meal at a steakhouse on Madison Avenue with the older and catatonically wealthy Scottish man I’d been dating for several months. He’d had a long career in finance, was recently divorced, and had a surly preteen daughter.
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alanfherrera.bsky.social
Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · 1d
My latest: alanfherrera.substack.com/p/the-day-wi...

"I am marked—a man with his papers, carrying his papers, who never wanted to be here carrying his papers and now has to live with the knowledge that he is carrying his papers."
The Day Will Come When You Won't Be
I am still there in New York, carrying my papers. I am carrying my papers. Someone will ask for them soon enough.
alanfherrera.substack.com
alanfherrera.bsky.social
Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · 14d
Resharing.
alanfherrera.bsky.social Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · Sep 24
I fled the US to avoid #ICE. Some thoughts.

In the autumn of 2019, I enjoyed a meal at a steakhouse on Madison Avenue with the older and catatonically wealthy Scottish man I’d been dating for several months. He’d had a long career in finance, was recently divorced, and had a surly preteen daughter.
alanfherrera.bsky.social
Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · 14d
A former lover got a swastika tattooed on his chest shortly after Donald Trump was elected in 2016. He insisted I was mistaken, that Trump was not the figurehead for a white supremacist and fascist movement. The latest from a press freedom advocate in exile: substack.com/@alanfherrer...
I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore
To think of myself as an American now would feel like identifying with the oppressor.
substack.com
alanfherrera.bsky.social
Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · 18d
My latest - reflections on SCOTUS, the looming decision on conversion therapy, and life in exile: alanfherrera.substack.com/p/conditiona...
Conditional Love and the Court’s Looming Decision on Conversion Therapy
Every single person who has attempted to turn my sexuality against me has only ever thought of themselves—of their foolish discomfort.
alanfherrera.substack.com
alanfherrera.bsky.social
Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · 24d
My latest: alanfherrera.substack.com/p/decision-t...

"He spoke as Trujillo once did, with the authority of fear, the kind that bent a nation until nearly every family bore its loss—someone killed or vanished, tortured or exiled."
Decision to Leave
If I were still in the U.S., I can almost feel it: a hand would reach into my pocket, fingers grazing a birth certificate, a passport card, tokens of belonging made meaningless.
alanfherrera.substack.com
alanfherrera.bsky.social
Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · 27d
Proud of the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents, for which I lead editorial operations, for joining this powerful and necessary statement. You always have an ally in me @freedom.press!
freedom.press Freedom of the Press Foundation @freedom.press · 27d
Proposed restrictions on visas for reporters show the U.S. “becoming less open and welcoming to foreign journalists…It is antithetical to the core values of American society as embodied in the First Amendment.”

Proud to join @rsf.org and others in this statement.
rsf.org/sites/defaul...
alanfherrera.bsky.social
Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · 27d
As a founding board member of the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the United States (though in the interest of trasparency, I stepped down to lead editorial operations for our org), I am so proud to join you in this fight and to have shared this with our audience.
alanfherrera.bsky.social
Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · 27d
A deplorable decision but absolutely part of a wider plan to crush dissent. The administration and its surrogates are already limiting access to Pentagon info—the safety of journalists will take a hit. There is no presumption of innocence and no respect for the work they do in this environment.
alanfherrera.bsky.social
Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · 28d
Straight-up. The disinformation machine is in full swing to justify the wider implementation of a police state. The Trump regime is just pushing, pushing, pushing to see who will take the bait.
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Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · 28d
This is precisely what is happening and what anyone who paid attention for the last decade knew would happen. I came very close to getting arrested by ICE myself and took matters into my own hands and left swiftly. It's horrific watching all this from abroad, albeit from a safe place.
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Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · 28d
Considering I fled them myself... I couldn't agree more. Horrific what's going on, all of it. And even more sickening to watch what's happening from abroad.
alanfherrera.bsky.social
Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · 28d
Abundantly clear to anyone who's paid attention to this saga from the beginning... to say nothing of the last decade. How depressing to see this all coming to fruition but I'm glad organizations like yours and CPJ and RSF (and mine, AFPC-USA) are leading the fight.
alanfherrera.bsky.social
Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · 28d
My latest: substack.com/home/post/p-...

"I feel caught between an alternate reality and the heavy burden of concern for those in New York and beyond. ... There is a pain I wake to when I think of people I may never see again. There is a guilt in forming new friendships under these circumstances."
A Cure for Longing: Living Between Two Worlds After Fleeing America
I feel caught between an alternate reality and the heavy burden of concern for those in New York and beyond.
substack.com
alanfherrera.bsky.social
Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · Sep 26
My latest: substack.com/home/post/p-...

"My day-to-day concerns are not about evading ICE arrest—not anymore. I am now tasked with taking into account certain customs, with remembering, in a nation where I am largely anonymous, that God’s word can be a conversation starter."
A Quiet Holiday, An Uneasy Peace
Who do you talk to when you’re torn from your home even while life in the U.S. still goes on, for most, as normal? How do you communicate the legitimacy of these horrors?
substack.com
alanfherrera.bsky.social
Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · Sep 24
This self-censorship undermines the press’ role in providing an accurate portrayal of current events and weakens the democratic function of a free press. Ensuring press freedom means upholding journalists' rights to report without fear of retribution or undue influence.
alanfherrera.bsky.social
Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · Sep 24
The impact on journalists’ safety goes beyond individual well-being; it affects the very fabric of press freedom. When journalists feel intimidated or fear for their safety, they may avoid covering certain stories or censor their work to avoid backlash.
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Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · Sep 24
Mario Guevara's case is just a sign of what's to come. You can count on the Trump admin to use ICE to deal further blows to press freedom. The press should anticipate and will have to respond accordingly to a wider crackdown on journalists, truth-tellers, dissenters, citizens and non-citizens alike.
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alanfherrera.bsky.social
Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · Sep 24
This is precisely why being a student of history is so important. Those of us who've paid attention clearly see that this won't end well won't for them. It never does. Bravo to your team for your excellent work as advocates. The Association of Foreign Press Correspondents stands with you.
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Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · Sep 24
A horrific abuse of press freedom in plain sight. The US government cannot be trusted to safeguard these rights and the case against Guevara is only a taste of how the administration plans to employ ICE as part of a wider crackdown on political dissent. #FreeMario
pressfreedom.bsky.social Committee to Protect Journalists @pressfreedom.bsky.social · Sep 24
UPDATE🚨 An immigration board issued a final removal order last night for journalist Mario Guevara. He could be deported any moment. We renew our demand for his immediate release. #FreeMario
aclu.org ACLU @aclu.org · Sep 24
BREAKING: Last night, an immigration board wrongly issued a final removal order for Emmy award-winning journalist Mario Guevara. ICE has detained Mario for over 100 days for his reporting, despite a previous order that he be released on bond.

This means he could be deported at any moment.
alanfherrera.bsky.social
Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · Sep 24
2023 stats, for reference: www.governing.com/management-a....
Roughly Half of Counties Have One Local News Outlet or Less
The number of nonprofit news outlets is holding steady but 203 counties are news deserts, leaving thousands of communities without access to local news.
www.governing.com
alanfherrera.bsky.social
Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · Sep 24
The more connected Americans feel to their communities, the more satisfied they are with their local political news coverage. Americans who are more attached to their communities find it easier to find voting information, likely correlating with how many local news outlets still exist in their area.
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Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · Sep 24
In 2023 alone, more than 130 local newspapers closed or merged and now around 56% of counties in the US have one or fewer local news outlets. These developments contribute to a sense of detachment some feel toward their local communities—culminating in a general disinterest in local news altogether.
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Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · Sep 24
@freedom.press @onefreepress.bsky.social @pressfreedom.bsky.social @mediaanddemocracy.bsky.social
alanfherrera.bsky.social
Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · Sep 24
On the subject of Mario Guevara's ICE arrest, the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the USA has published a statement of its own that I encourage you to share widely: "Press freedom cannot exist where journalists are punished for telling the truth."

foreignpress.org/news-stateme...
AFPC-USA Responds to the Imminent Deportation of Journalist Mario Guevara — FOREIGN PRESS
"History will not protect those abusers who believe they can act with impunity,” said Chairwoman Nancy Prager-Kamel.
foreignpress.org
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Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez @alanfherrera.bsky.social · Sep 24
People around the US are living in an information environment w/ fewer local alternatives and will have no option other than national news and social media for information and that ultimately does local stories a disservice; they are footnotes on national news, though no less real to those impacted.