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Melissa Sanchez

@melissa-sanchez.bsky.social

10K followers 420 following 180 posts

Reporter at @ProPublica.org interested in immigration and labor. Based in Chicago. Also a fan of parenting memes.

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Melissa Sanchez @melissa-sanchez.bsky.social · Jul 30

The terror began immediately. Salvadoran guards beat them with their fists, boots and batons, shot them with rubber pellets, and forced them to lick other men's backs.

What happened when we sent 230+ Venezuelans to a prison known for human rights abuses.

www.propublica.org/article/vene...

Now That They’re Free, Venezuelan Men Want the World to Know What They Endured in CECOT

Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration say they endured months of physical and mental abuse inside a Salvadoran prison. Though happy to be home, they say the fact that they were released ...

www.propublica.org

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Reposted by Melissa Sanchez

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere @tylerplariviere.bsky.social · 2d

Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something bitch’ before shooting

chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10...

Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b----' before shooting

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government's claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorn...

chicago.suntimes.com

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T. Christian Miller @tchristianmiller.bsky.social · 8d

1/ In August 2020, the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, made an extraordinary request to President Trump’s ambassador, Ronald Johnson. A previously undisclosed report tells what happened next, according to a new ProPublica investigation. 🧵 ⬇️

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Melissa Sanchez @melissa-sanchez.bsky.social · 8d

A little bit of rainbow to welcome me to Providence, RI 🥰

Small bit of rainbow seeing over building, near setting sun, through taxi car window

Melissa Sanchez @melissa-sanchez.bsky.social · 8d

Looking forward to this convo tomorrow with such great journalists!!

Luis Hernandez @radiostoryteller.bsky.social · 8d

Speaking at Brown Wednesday, Oct 1st with a panel of amazing reporters.

@arelisrhdz.bsky.social

@melissa-sanchez.bsky.social

Sophia Wotman, University News Editor for The Brown Daily Herald

Looking forward to a great conversation.

Reposted by Melissa Sanchez

Luis Hernandez @radiostoryteller.bsky.social · 8d

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Melissa Sanchez @melissa-sanchez.bsky.social · 9d

Meanwhile the other one fills my reporter notebooks with gifts like this

4 year old drawing of stick person with big eyes

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Melissa Sanchez @melissa-sanchez.bsky.social · 11d

So the kid was trying to make fun of us but omg I love this…. Beep-boop

Drawing by 8 year old of bearded dad with hammer and smiling mom at her computer

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Till Eckert @tilleckert.com · 13d

1/ I’m Till Eckert, a ProPublica reporter. For the past 2 weeks, I’ve been going to the same NY immigration courthouse.

Nearly every time, I see ICE agents arresting immigrants. Today, a woman was slammed to the ground after begging officials not to take her husband away.

Thread 👇

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Josh Kaplan @josh-kaplan.bsky.social · 12d

NEW: Kristi Noem has been widely criticized for slowing down FEMA's response to natural disasters.

But she fast-tracked $11 million+ to fix a Florida tourist attraction — after one of her big donors reached out. www.propublica.org/article/kris...

Kristi Noem Fast-Tracked Millions in Disaster Aid to Florida Tourist Attraction After Campaign Donor Intervened

The DHS chief has been widely criticized for slowing down FEMA’s response after natural disasters. Texts and emails obtained by ProPublica point to an effective way to get help faster: have one of Noe...

www.propublica.org

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Melissa Sanchez @melissa-sanchez.bsky.social · 13d

Some bright news from the federal government: $37 million toward research to reduce stillbirths.... Really stunning development due to reporting by @deldeib.bsky.social
www.propublica.org/article/nih-...

NIH Launches New Multimillion-Dollar Initiative to Reduce U.S. Stillbirth Rate

Clinical teams across the country are forming a five-year, $37 million consortium to research stillbirth, a long-neglected public health concern. “There’s no question that the ProPublica reporting was...

www.propublica.org

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Chris Bing @chrisbing.bsky.social · 15d

Seen on the DC metro:

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Mica Rosenberg @micarosenberg.bsky.social · 23d

Come join us
@propublica.org
We are hiring an investigative reporting fellow in Washington D.C. for a two-year position to cover the ever expanding world of immigration news. Apply here! grnh.se/dpwvle3d6us

Ancil Payne Reporting Fellowship

New York City, United States

grnh.se

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Melissa Sanchez @melissa-sanchez.bsky.social · 15d

Come join us at @chihacknight.org to talk about our project on the Trump administration's deportation of Venezuelan men to a foreign prison -- starting now! chihacknight.org/events/2025/...

Online: Investigating the Trump administration’s deportations to a maximum security prison in El Salvador - Chi Hack Night

A team of ProPublica and Texas Tribune reporters, working in collaboration with Venezuelan journalists, spent several months investigating who the men really were. Contrary to the administration’s cla...

chihacknight.org

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Aura Bogado @aurabogado.bsky.social · 19d

More than a dozen immigration judge were just fired. Such firings have been common on Friday evenings and often involve newer judges still on probation. But today's firings include a Sacramento IJ who's been on the bench close to 20 years.

"The judge version of Jimmy Kimmel," one source told me.

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Melissa Sanchez @melissa-sanchez.bsky.social · 22d

Belmont Cragin

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ProPublica Guild @propublicaguild.org · 23d

We can’t produce fearless investigative journalism without job security and a fair contract. After almost two years of bargaining, we need your help.

Show your support for @propublica.org workers by adding your name to our petition: actionnetwork.org/petitions/te...

Fair Contract Now for ProPublica Guild

We, the workers of ProPublica, provide our readers with deeply researched, unbiased news that holds power to account. This work is more important now than ever, but our staff can’t properly contribute...

actionnetwork.org

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Reposted by Melissa Sanchez

Max Blau @maxblau.bsky.social · 25d

This past June, the Trump administration went one step further, suspending any enforcement of the new program’s rules until that litigation is resolved.

The number of H-2A visas issued has increased every year since Sofi arrived.

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Max Blau @maxblau.bsky.social · 25d

Over the past few years, I’ve been fascinated with one of the largest federal investigations happening in Georgia, known as Operation Blooming Onion. So I partnered with Zaydee Sanchez to uncover the untold story of an unnamed victim at the heart of the case. 🧵

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Melissa Sanchez @melissa-sanchez.bsky.social · 26d

Mexican consulate identifies immigrant killed by ICE in Chicago suburb as 38 year old Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, from the state or Michoacán.

Press release from Mexican consulate in Chicago

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Melissa Sanchez @melissa-sanchez.bsky.social · 26d

Immigrant dead, ICE officer injured in Chicago
www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09...

DHS Statement on ICE Officer Seriously Injured in Line of Duty and Shooting in Chicago During Traffic Stop | Homeland Security

This morning, while carrying out an enforcement operation targeting a criminal illegal alien, the alien resisted arrest, attempted to flee the scene and dragged a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcem...

www.dhs.gov

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Reposted by Melissa Sanchez

Jessica Lussenhop @jlussenhop.bsky.social · 28d

Good morning friends, I've got some ✨ news ✨ www.propublica.org/atpropublica...

Jessica Lussenhop to Host Forthcoming ProPublica Weekly Podcast

ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.

www.propublica.org

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Reposted by Melissa Sanchez

Jodi Cohen @jodiscohen.bsky.social · 28d

BREAKING: Trump’s Education Dept. cancels grants that help students who are both deaf and blind.

“How low can you go?” said one person who works with DeafBlind students and their families.

W/ @jsmithrichards.bsky.social for @propublica.org

www.propublica.org/article/trum...

Programs for Students With Hearing and Vision Loss Harmed by Trump’s Anti-Diversity Push

Citing concerns about DEI, the U.S. Department of Education has halted funding for programs that support students with combined hearing and vision loss in eight states. “How low can you go?” one advoc...

www.propublica.org

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Melissa Sanchez @melissa-sanchez.bsky.social · 28d

This is a story about the insurance industry and unfair denials, and how somebody working in the system stepped up to make a difference. But it’s also a remarkably human and compassionate look at mental health, and a normal successful person can completely unravel - it can happen to any of us.

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Melissa Sanchez @melissa-sanchez.bsky.social · 28d

She wasn’t sure she could get him there in his condition, but she had to try. At one point, he dropped to the airport floor. “I can’t do it anymore,” he said.

“You have to,” she told him.

Gripping, intimate story by one of the best, @deldeib.bsky.social
www.propublica.org/article/ment...

“Just Let Me Die”: After Insurance Repeatedly Denied a Couple’s Claims, One Psychiatrist Was Their Last Hope

After a North Carolina man attempted suicide twice, his wife tried to get him help at an inpatient clinic. But their insurance provider refused to cover the treatment, deeming it “not medically necess...

www.propublica.org

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Melissa Sanchez @melissa-sanchez.bsky.social · Sep 8

It’s hard to say whether ruling applies nationwide or is limited to LA area. But there is little doubt that it will have the practical effect of further emboldening the administration’s uncompromising efforts to deport unauthorized immigrants around the country.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/u...

Supreme Court Lifts Restrictions on L.A. Immigration Stops

www.nytimes.com

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