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Martha Bellisle

@marthabellisle.bsky.social

3.8K followers 660 following 92 posts

Based in Washington state. A finalist for the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Journalism for the Lethal Restraint project. Frontline documentary was a finalist for two Emmy Awards. On Signal = MBatAP Stories: https://apnews.com/author/martha-bellisle

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Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · May 5

I'm humbled and thrilled to announce that our AP, three-year project Lethal Restraint is a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting! apnews.com/projects/inv...

Lethal Restraint – AP/FRONTLINE investigation

An AP and PBS "Frontline" investigation documenting police use of force.

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · 7d

A coalition of health care providers, religious groups, university professors and others filed a federal lawsuit Friday to stop the new $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications.
apnews.com/article/immi...

Lawsuit seeks to stop Trump's $100,000 fee for H-1B visas

In what appears to be the first major challenge to the new $100,000 fee required for H-1B visa applications, a coalition of health care providers, religious groups, university professors and others fi...

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · 21d

CA Gov. Newsom signs new law prohibiting most law enforcement officers from wearing masks or neck gators while conducting official business -- the first such law in the nation. DHS says it would put officers at risk of doxing. apnews.com/article/cali...

California bans most law enforcement officers from wearing masks during operations

California has become the first state to ban most law enforcement officers from covering their faces while conducting official business. Gov.

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · 21d

Lawyers for Oregon firefighter detained by Border Patrol while working at WA wildfire are asking a federal judge to order his release from an ICE facility. They say his arrest was illegal. Homeland Security says he wasn't a firefighter - just cutting wood. apnews.com/article/fire...

Lawyers for firefighter ask judge to order his release from ICE facility

Lawyers for an Oregon firefighter who was taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol agents while fighting a Washington state wildfire are asking a federal judge to order his release from an immigration...

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · 22d

Four soldiers with an elite special operations unit are dead after their Black Hawk helicopter crashed near Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Army officials say the cause is under investigation.
apnews.com/article/army...

Army says 4 soldiers died in a helicopter crash in Washington state this week

The U.S. Army is confirming the deaths of four special operations soldiers aboard a U.S. Army MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that crashed near Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · Sep 3

Four Idaho police officers who fatally shot an autistic teen more than a dozen times as he waved a knife inside a fence in his backyard in April will not face criminal charges, according to the state attorney general. apnews.com/article/poli...

Idaho attorney general says officers who fatally shot intellectually disabled teen won't be charged

Four Idaho police officers who fatally shot an autistic, nonverbal teenage boy who was holding a knife on the other side of a chain-link fence in April were justified in their actions and will not fac...

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · Sep 3

Democratic governors of Washington, Oregon and California, critical of the Trump administration's CDC policies, have formed a West Coast Health Alliance that seeks to provide science-based recommendations on vaccines apnews.com/article/cdc-...

Governors of Washington, Oregon and California form a health alliance

The Democratic governors of Washington, Oregon and California have created an alliance to safeguard health policies, believing the Trump administration is putting Americans’ health and safety at risk ...

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · Aug 29

Lawyers for one of the wildland firefighters arrested by Border Patrol are demanding he be released, saying his detention was illegal and that he was on track for a special visa that was still being processed. apnews.com/article/immi...

Lawyers demand Border Patrol release firefighter arrested while battling Washington wildfire

Lawyers are demanding the release of a longtime Oregon resident arrested by Border Patrol while fighting a Washington state wildfire.

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · Aug 28

2 Firefighters battling a blaze on Washington's Olympic Peninsula were arrested by Border Patrol agents during a BLM investigation into 2 Oregon contractors, sparking outrage over the Trump administration's immigration policies. apnews.com/article/immi...

2 firefighters battling Washington state wildfire arrested by Border Patrol

A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol operation at the site of a wildfire on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula sparked condemnation by Sen. Patty Murray.

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · Aug 27

As ICE deportation flights reach record highs, the airlines running the trips have taken steps to make it more difficult to view and track the planes used to carry shackled migrants across the country and around the world, according to groups monitoring the flights. apnews.com/article/ice-...

US deportation flights hit record highs as carriers try to hide the planes, advocates say

As Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation flights reach record highs, the airlines running the trips have taken steps to make it more difficult to track the planes used to carry shackled peop...

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · Aug 14

I'm thrilled to share that our AP Lethal Restraint project has won a 2025 Edward R. Murrow Award in the category of News Series. apnews.com/projects/inv...

Lethal Restraint – AP/FRONTLINE investigation

An AP and PBS "Frontline" investigation documenting police use of force.

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · Jul 30

A dozen Democratic members of Congress are suing the Trump administration after being denied access to ICE detention centers and field offices. They say they have a legal right to oversight of these facilities apnews.com/article/ice-...

12 members of Congress sue Trump administration to ensure access to ICE detention centers

A dozen members of Congress who have been blocked from making oversight visits at immigration detention centers are suing the Trump administration to ensure they are granted entry into the facilities,...

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · Jul 30

German biathlon champion Laura Dahlmeier has died on a mountain peak in northern Pakistan after a climbing accident, a government spokesman said Wednesday, and efforts are underway to retrieve her body. apnews.com/article/paki...

German athlete Laura Dahlmeier has died in a climbing accident in Pakistan, officials say

A government spokesman in Pakistan says German biathlon champion Laura Dahlmeier has died on a mountain peak in northern Pakistan after a climbing accident and that efforts are underway to retrieve he...

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · Jul 25

The Trump administration is investigating Oregon's transgender policies after a conservative group filed a complaint with the Dept of Education saying the state was violating civil rights law by allowing transgender girls to compete on girls sports teams. apnews.com/article/trum...

Trump administration investigates Oregon's transgender athlete policies

The Trump administration is investigating the Oregon Department of Education after receiving a complaint from a conservative non-profit group alleging the state was violating civil rights law by allow...

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · Jul 25

Tyler Hassen, the former TX oil executive and DOGE team member, who was named to overhaul the Department of Interior, is leaving the the agency, according to the NYT (citing my AP story) www.nytimes.com/2025/07/25/c...

Controversial Interior Department Aide From DOGE to Leave Agency

www.nytimes.com

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · Jul 23

The 20 year old who fatally shot two Idaho firefighters and then himself had been turned away from the Army in the previous two years, and left a fire station frustrated and angry the month before after learning that he couldn't just sign up immediately apnews.com/article/fire...

Man who killed Idaho firefighters had been turned away by fire department, Army

The man accused of fatally shooting two Idaho firefighters before killing himself had previously tried to join the fire department and became frustrated and angry when he was told that he would need t...

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · Jul 20

Volunteers have flocked to immigration courts after ICE officers started arresting people who showed up for their hearings. They collect family information, provide safe-keeping for personal belongings and monitor ICE actions. apnews.com/article/immi...

Volunteers flock to immigration courts to support migrants arrested in the hallways

A diverse group of volunteers from faith leaders to grandmothers to retired lawyers have been escorting people to immigration courts across the country.

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · Jul 17

Dept of Homeland Security is defending using ICE agents to arrest people at their immigration court hearings, after advocates sued the agency to stop the practice. HS says they can arrest lawbreakers where they find them, but lawyers say the migrants are following the law apnews.com/article/ice-...

Homeland security officials defend immigration court arrests after being sued

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is defending its policy of having Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrest people at their immigration court hearings after a group of immigrants an...

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · Jul 16

A group of immigrants and advocates have filed a lawsuit seeking to stop ICE agents from arresting people at immigration courts. The arrests are part of an expedited removal process that advocates say violates the immigrants' rights apnews.com/article/immi...

Federal lawsuit seeks to stop ICE agents from arresting people at immigration courts

A group immigrants and legal advocates have filed a class-action lawsuit that seeks to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from arresting migrants who appear at immigration courts for pr...

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · Jul 16

Seventeen immigration court judges were fired in recent days amid a major backlog in cases apnews.com/article/immi...

Trump administration fires 17 immigration court judges across ten states, union says

The union said the judges were working in courts in 10 different states across the country — California, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · Jun 12

Our AP story from yesterday apnews.com/article/immi...

Immigration officers intensify arrests in courthouse hallways on a fast track to deportation

Large-scale arrests outside immigration courts have unleashed fear among asylum-seekers and immigrants who are accustomed to remaining free while judges grind through a backlog of 3.6 million cases.

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · Jun 11

Homeland Security is fast-tracking immigrants to deportation by dismissing their cases in immigration court, which allows ICE agents to immediately take them into custody. Many don't have lawyers and had filed for asylum, fearing for their safety should they be sent back apnews.com/article/immi...

Immigration officers intensify arrests in courthouse hallways on a fast track to deportation

Large-scale arrests outside immigration courts have unleashed fear among asylum-seekers and immigrants who are accustomed to remaining free while judges grind through a backlog of 3.6 million cases.

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · Jun 11

A Venezuelan man told an immigration judge in Seattle that he would be killed if sent back to his country, a Haitian man made the same plea. Despite their asylum requests, the gov't lawyer dismissed their cases, and they were taken into custody by ICE outside the courtroom apnews.com/article/immi...

Immigration officers intensify arrests in courthouse hallways on a fast track to deportation

Large-scale arrests outside immigration courts have unleashed fear among asylum-seekers and immigrants who are accustomed to remaining free while judges grind through a backlog of 3.6 million cases.

Reposted by Martha Bellisle

Nick Riccardi @nickriccardi.bsky.social · Jun 9

WASHINGTON (AP) — Health secretary removes every member of scientific committee that advises the CDC on how vaccines should be used.

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · Jun 2

A judge has granted an injunction to stop HS Secretary Kristi Noem from killing a collective bargaining agreement for TSA workers saying the move was retaliation against the union "for its unwillingness to acquiesce to the Trump Administration’s assault on federal workers" apnews.com/article/tsa-...

Judge grants preliminary injunction to protect collective bargaining agreement for TSA workers

A federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction to stop Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem from killing a collective bargaining agreement for Transportation Safety Administration workers.

Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · May 30

Cities big and small, red and blue reacted to the Trump administration’s list of “sanctuary jurisdictions" - some saying they shouldn't be on it and places like Seattle saying "we will not hesitate to protect our people and stand up for our values."
apnews.com/article/immi...

Trump's list of 'sanctuary jurisdictions' includes some that support his immigration policies

Officials in communities from rural to urban and red to blue have blasted the Trump administration’s recently-published list of “sanctuary jurisdictions.”