Annie Waldman
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anniewaldman.bsky.social
Annie Waldman
@anniewaldman.bsky.social
Covering health care @ProPublica. Signal: 347-549-0332. Email: [email protected]. (Also #COYS)
ICE has sent more immigrant kids into the federal shelter system this year than in the previous 4 years combined.

Under Trump, the average stay in custody is ~6 months, up from a month under Biden.

Eye-opening story from @micarosenberg.bsky.social, @marioarizabaez.bsky.social + ProPublica team:
ICE Sent 600 Immigrant Kids to Detention in Federal Shelters This Year. It’s a New Record.
Under a zero tolerance policy, the first Trump administration separated immigrant children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border. New data suggests separations are happening all over the count...
www.propublica.org
November 24, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by Annie Waldman
Major measles outbreaks have repeatedly cropped up in the Southwest this year. Yet at IHS hospitals in the region, agency officials deemed “measles” and “immunizations” a "medium risk" in internal agency emails.

Staffers, including doctors, now need to get approval to use them in public messaging
NEW: Officials at the Indian Health Service have deemed terms like “immunizations” and “vaccines” risky “buzzwords” that require approval to be used in social media posts, pamphlets and presentations for patients.
The Indian Health Service Is Flagging Vaccine-Related Speech. Doctors Say They’re Being Censored.
Officials have deemed terms like “immunizations” and “vaccines” risky “buzzwords” that require approval to be used in social media posts, pamphlets and presentations.
www.propublica.org
November 21, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Reposted by Annie Waldman
Reporter Andy Mannix from the @startribune.com and I have been speaking to women all over the country about allegations of child sexual abuse in the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church. This is the story of how one perpetrator in Minnesota escaped consequences for years: www.propublica.org/article/sexu...
Young Girls Were Sexually Abused by a Church Member. They Were Told to Forgive and Forget.
In Minnesota, leaders of an Old Apostolic Lutheran Church community enabled a child abuser by telling his victims that once the sins were “washed away in the blood of reconciliation,” they could never...
www.propublica.org
November 20, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Reposted by Annie Waldman
NEW:

In 2024, Tierra Walker was sick and getting sicker. She was also pregnant.

She knew abortion was illegal in Texas, but thought there was an exception for women like her, whose health was at risk. Doctors told her there was no emergency.

Then she died.

www.propublica.org/article/texa...
“Ticking Time Bomb”: A Pregnant Mother Kept Getting Sicker. She Died After She Couldn’t Get an Abortion in Texas.
Walker is one of several women ProPublica found with underlying health conditions who died when they couldn’t access abortions.
www.propublica.org
November 19, 2025 at 11:08 AM
After a bird flu outbreak tore through Midwestern barns, killing millions of chickens and spiking egg prices, the federal government didn’t investigate if the virus was airborne.

So ProPublica did.

Absolutely terrifying reporting from @natlash.bsky.social:

www.propublica.org/article/bird...
What the U.S. Government Is Dismissing That Could Seed a Bird Flu Pandemic
Egg producers suspect bird flu is traveling through the air. After a disastrous Midwestern outbreak early this year, we tested that theory and found that where the wind blew, the virus followed. Vacci...
www.propublica.org
November 18, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by Annie Waldman
I should add that we're still very much reporting on what's happening with civil rights in schools: www.propublica.org/getinvolved/...
November 18, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Reposted by Annie Waldman
NEW: When Andrew Tate landed in the US, Customs & Border Protection seized his electronic devices. But @propublica.org found that a White House official told DHS to return the devices, emphasizing that the request came from the White House.

By @robert-faturechi.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Schapiro
The White House Intervened on Behalf of Accused Sex Trafficker Andrew Tate During a Federal Investigation
Federal authorities were chided for seizing electronic devices from Tate and his brother, and told to return them, records and interviews show. Experts said the intervention was highly inappropriate.
www.propublica.org
November 18, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Reposted by Annie Waldman
In 48 other states, new moms have access to Medicaid for up to one year after they give birth. Not in Wisconsin.

There, the limit remains two months. And it’s only because of one man: Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. / My latest story for @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/wisc...
He Vowed to “Protect the Unborn.” Now He’s Blocking a Bill to Expand Medicaid for Wisconsin’s New Moms.
Splitting with anti-abortion members of his own party, Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has refused to join 48 other states in ensuring that vulnerable women have access to potentially lifesaving ...
www.propublica.org
November 17, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Reposted by Annie Waldman
NEW: We’ve uncovered the first known example of taxpayer money flowing from DHS to businesses controlled by Kristi Noem’s allies and friends.

It’s part of a money trail that’s been shrouded in secrecy—and involves $220 million, a mysterious Delaware LLC & a horse named Gill.
November 14, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Reposted by Annie Waldman
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.

www.propublica.org/article/chic...
“I Lost Everything”: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged With a Crime
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...
www.propublica.org
November 13, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Reposted by Annie Waldman
NEW: 2020 footage said to be in 2025. A neighbor who keeps reappearing in the same clip, said to be on different days & months. A broadcast from elsewhere suggested as Portland.

How Fox News misled its viewership -- which may have included the president.

www.propublica.org/article/port...
“Riots Raging”: The Misleading Story Fox News Told About Portland Before Trump Sent Troops
After reviewing coverage from the network and hours of social media videos that preceded Trump’s decision, ProPublica found that Fox’s portrayal of “Portland rioters” routinely instigating violence wa...
www.propublica.org
November 12, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Reposted by Annie Waldman
JOB ALERT! We are hiring a business editor.

You have an unerring instinct for the jugular of the wealthy & powerful? Build a team with me and we’ll get after it!

job-boards.greenhouse.io/propublica/j...

You can email me or on Signal at 718-496-5233
Senior Editor, Business
New York City, United States
job-boards.greenhouse.io
November 12, 2025 at 2:43 PM
NEW: Billions of pounds of food are imported to the U.S. each year.

The FDA inspects foreign producers to ensure what we're eating is safe from pathogens and dangerous manufacturing practices.

But now, after Trump's drastic staff cuts, these inspections have plummeted to a historic low.
🧵/
Foreign Food Safety Inspections Hit Historic Low After Trump Cuts
The dramatic shift in oversight comes at a time when the U.S. has never been more reliant on foreign food, which accounts for the vast majority of the nation’s seafood and more than half its fresh fru...
www.propublica.org
November 6, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by Annie Waldman
NEW: We reviewed 700+ videos, hours of footage from ICE protesters and counterprotesters in Portland.

In 2 months before Trump said he was sending the National Guard, federal officers fire on, grab, pepper-spray or tear gas people 20 times -- without charging anyone. "Gratuitous," one expert said.
What Really Happened in Portland Before Trump Deployed the National Guard
In the two months before Trump’s decision, criminal charges were announced against only three people. On nights when physical conflict did erupt, it often came from police firing on, shoving, pepper-s...
www.propublica.org
November 5, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Since childhood, @zysaidso.bsky.social has advocated for racial equity in Charlottesville schools.

Yesterday, she was elected to the city's school board.

From seven years ago, our profile of her and the gaping achievement gap in the city's education system:
www.propublica.org/article/char...
November 5, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Reposted by Annie Waldman
NEW: Amid concerns over the Biden administration's regulation of the crypto industry, billionaire tech investor Marc Andreessen, a longtime Democrat, donated more than $5 million to groups supporting Trump ahead of the 2024 election.

Since then, he's gotten what he called for: a hollowed-out CFPB.
Tech Billionaire Marc Andreessen Bet Big on Trump. It’s Paying Off for Silicon Valley.
The Trump administration’s gutting of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been good for venture capitalists like Andreessen, who previously accused the agency of “terrorizing” fintech startups and crypto companies.
www.propublica.org
November 5, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Reposted by Annie Waldman
72-year-old cancer patient Phillip Lewis said he was woken up and marched outside his home in his robe and underwear before federal officers even checked his ID.

Surprise surprise (not surprised), it turns out, he wasn't the guy they were looking for.

If only his story were unique.
“I Don’t Feel Safe”: Black Memphis Residents Report Harassment by Trump’s Police Task Force
A pastor was pulled over for looking lost. A 72-year-old was marched out in his bathrobe due to mistaken identity. Memphis’ mayor welcomed the federal law enforcement surge, but some residents say the...
www.propublica.org
November 3, 2025 at 3:10 PM
For years, some big polluters were allowed to estimate their own emissions.

Now, the intrepid @lisalsong.bsky.social has found emissions at facilities were far higher than their estimates.

Terrifying reporting w/ incredible pics from @annie-flanagan.bsky.social that make me feel like I'm choking:
Air Pollution From Industrial Facilities Is Far Worse Than Estimated
The Trump administration has put a stop to EPA rules that would have required more than 130 industrial facilities to install air monitors to measure pollution. Millions of people living near these pla...
www.propublica.org
October 31, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Until now, Social Security disability benefits have been easier to qualify for as a person reaches 50+.

Trump's new rules would end that. Under the new plan, millions, many in red states, could find it more difficult to qualify.

Important story from Eli Hager:

www.propublica.org/article/soci...
October 31, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Reposted by Annie Waldman
"At one steel industry plant near Pittsburgh, a potent carcinogen was found at levels more than 30 times higher than estimated."

If you read to the end you'll find an asthmatic cat photo 😭

My latest, 📸 by Annie Flanagan. Shocking pics that look like pre-EPA days

www.propublica.org/article/epa-...
Air Pollution From Industrial Facilities Is Far Worse Than Estimated
The Trump administration has put a stop to EPA rules that would have required more than 130 industrial facilities to install air monitors to measure pollution. Millions of people living near these pla...
www.propublica.org
October 30, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Annie Waldman
Charlottesville finally took down its Confederate monuments in 2021.

The statue of Robert E. Lee was melted down.

The statue of Stonewall Jackson was given to artist Kara Walker.

This is what she did with it:

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Breathtaking, unsettling, healing: a new exhibit by Black US artists transforms Confederate monuments
The sweeping exhibition Monuments opens in Los Angeles on 23 October and is on view through May
www.theguardian.com
October 18, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Reposted by Annie Waldman
NEW: We obtained a trove of emails detailing Jeffrey Epstein’s relationship with the Wall Street billionaire Leon Black. The messages show Epstein demanding tens of millions of dollars from Black, insulting his children and advising on a settlement with a woman. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/b...
Money, Women and Taxes: Jeffrey Epstein’s Fiery Friendship with a Wall Street Titan
www.nytimes.com
October 18, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Reposted by Annie Waldman
Hi, I'm the ProPublica reporter who's been tracking an unusual stat: U.S. citizens grabbed by immigration agents.

I did it because the government isn’t.

This is what I found.
October 18, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Behind Russell Vought's plan to dismantle the government:

"We have to be able to defund agencies that are the cause of the time we are in...and that is why we are focusing so much on **woke and weaponized**."

What an insightful profile of the "shadow president" from @andykroll.bsky.social:
Russell Vought, Trump’s Shadow President
From the wholesale gutting of federal agencies to the ongoing government shutdown, Russell Vought has drawn the road map for Trump’s second term. Vought has consolidated power to an extent that inside...
www.propublica.org
October 17, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Justice Brett Kavanaugh: “If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U.S. citizen...they promptly let the individual go."

The reality: Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents.

A must read from the very talented @nicolefoy.bsky.social:
More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.
The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...
www.propublica.org
October 16, 2025 at 6:54 PM