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Jack Herrera

@jherrerx.bsky.social
5.9K followers 115 following 24 posts

Freelance reporter, un tipo chido I cover the border and other bad news. I write about how changing demography impacts individual lives, in particular in Latino communities. Work in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Texas Monthly

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Reposted by Jack Herrera
Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Really grateful for @gabydvj.bsky.social's in-depth reporting, especially crucial in finding the continuity amidst the new chaos and cruelty, and clearly showcasing the lines between what people can do for each other on their own, and what government needs to do. www.theverge.com/policy/87710...
theverge.com
ICE is pushing Minneapolis underground
Scenes from a city under siege
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Reposted by Jack Herrera
Alex Ip 葉清霖 @alexip718.com · 04/02/2026
INBOX: Washington Post Ukraine Correspondent Lizzie Johnson announces that she has been laid off in the middle of a below-freezing war zone without power, heat, or running water.
lizzie johnson
@lizziejohnsonnn
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I was just laid off by The Washington Post in the middle of a warzone. I have no words. I'm devastated.
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lizzie johnson
@lizziejohnsonnn
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Jan 25
Waking up without power, heat, or running water. (Again.) 

But the work here in Kyiv continues. Warming up in the car, writing in pencil — pen ink freezes — by headlamp.
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Reposted by Jack Herrera
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Again, this is FALSE. Administrative warrants are NOT signed by an immigration judge (or any judge at all). They are generated and signed by ICE officers themselves with no external oversight whatsoever. Here is a blank sample warrant. Note who signs off on it; an "immigration officer."
A copy of a blank administrative warrant. The only person who signs it at the end is an "immigration officer."
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Reposted by Jack Herrera
Chabeli Carrazana @chabeli.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
In Minneapolis, for every story detailing the fallout of the federal crackdown, there are as many stories of people like Bri, a mom donating breastmilk for babies whose mothers are detained by ICE. Bri's story: 19thnews.org/2026/02/minn...
19thnews.org
When one mother was taken by ICE, another stepped in to donate breastmilk
Moms in Minneapolis are donating diapers, food and time to help families who have been ripped apart by ICE.
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Reposted by Jack Herrera
Robert Downen @robertdownen.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
“If (Taylor Rehmet) were to lose by six points, that’d be worth talking about,” one political expert told me ahead of last night's race. “And if Rehmet were to win? You’d say, ‘Holy shit.’” Rehmet won by 14 points.
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Jack Herrera @jherrerx.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
The southern frontier is quiet enough that Border Patrol agents have time to go brutalize Minnesotans. But people are still crossing. Who are they? I found out in a peculiar way—by getting briefly confused for a smuggler and stopped on the Rio Grande: www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
texasmonthly.com
Is Anyone Still Crossing the Border? Yes, Actually.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has boasted that border crossings have dropped to zero. That’s not true.
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Reposted by Jack Herrera
Robert Downen @robertdownen.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Five presidents in five years. High-profile firings and cancellations. Crackdowns on dissent. Inside state leaders’ efforts to remake Texas A&M University.
texasmonthly.com
What’s the Matter With Texas A&M?
Five presidents in five years. Firings of “woke” professors. Crackdowns on Plato. Inside state leaders’ efforts to remake a great university.
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Jack Herrera @jherrerx.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
The southern frontier is quiet enough that Border Patrol agents have time to go brutalize Minnesotans. But people are still crossing. Who are they? I found out in a peculiar way—by getting briefly confused for a smuggler and stopped on the Rio Grande: www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
texasmonthly.com
Is Anyone Still Crossing the Border? Yes, Actually.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has boasted that border crossings have dropped to zero. That’s not true.
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Reposted by Jack Herrera
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
BIG news from @bloomberg.com, which confirms that ICE has gone ahead and *purchased* multiple commercial warehouses with the aim of converting them into mass detention camps. This is likely to be the big detention story of 2026 — literal warehousing of people. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
bloomberg.com
ICE Begins Buying ‘Mega’ Warehouse Detention Centers Across US
Plans for such centers and jails in nearly two dozen communities have sparked protests over suitability, proximity to homes and schools.
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Dara Lind @daralind.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
In 2023 NYT laid out Trump’s mass deportation plan: detain immense numbers of people in such miserable conditions that they’re compelled to stop fighting their cases & agree to leave. They’re still getting to “immense numbers.” But the core concept is working for them. mailchi.mp/43a225b48ded...
mailchi.mp
The Throughline: Don’t Lose Sight of Detention Atrocities
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404 Media @404media.co · 30/01/2026
SCOOP: 404 Media is publishing a version of the user guide for ELITE, a tool Palantir made for ICE which brings up dossiers on individual people and provides a “confidence score” of their address. The full user guide here:
404media.co
Here is the User Guide for ELITE, the Tool Palantir Made for ICE
404 Media is publishing a version of the user guide for ELITE, which lets ICE bring up dossiers on individual people and provides a “confidence score” of their address.
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José R. Ralat 🌶️ @tacotrail.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
From the compa @jherrerx.bsky.social for @texasmonthly.bsky.social: "In the year since Trump has taken back the White House, border crossings have not stopped. What’s changed are the types of border crossings the Border Patrol is seeing."
texasmonthly.com
Who Is Still Crossing the Border?
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has boasted that border crossings have dropped to zero. That’s not true.
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Reposted by Jack Herrera
ProPublica @propublica.org · 29/01/2026
Trump is dispatching Border Czar Tom Homan to Minnesota to "manage operations on the ground." In case you missed it, here's our investigation into Homan and his relationships with government contractors/consultants cashing in on the deportation business:
propublica.org
Trading on Tom Homan: Inside the Push to Cash in on the Trump Administration’s Deportation Campaign
A Pennsylvania businessman who had Tom Homan on his payroll led companies to believe his connections to the future border czar could help advance their bids for government work, industry executives sa...
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The Latino Vote Podcast @thelatinovote.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
The people building the houses should be able to buy the houses. After hearing about @gallego.senate.gov new housing plan to build 8 million new units, @chuckrocha.bsky.social & @mikemadrid.bsky.social discuss could why housing is THE fight for Latino Voters Full episode here: youtu.be/KoPgbC3KJQI
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Jack Herrera @jherrerx.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
I do wonder if this was the administration's logic in getting Bovino so much air-time, making him so prominent—they get a less-than-consequential fall-guy for when BP and ICE take things too far
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Reposted by Jack Herrera
Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Wrote about the observers. The people standing by and filming and the risk they are taking to let the world see what is happening. It's crucial and its the only way to combat the lies and blatant propaganda. www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
theatlantic.com
Believe Your Eyes
People are risking their lives to document agents in Minneapolis.
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Jeff Rueter @jeffrueter.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Kare 11 local news just read, in full, this statement from Michael and Susan Pretti, the parents of Alex Pretti. "Please get the truth out about our son."
Statement from Michael and Susan Pretti
Parents of Alex Jeffrey Pretti

“We are heartbroken but also very angry.

Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact.

I do not throw around the ‘hero’ term lightly. However, his last thought and act was to protect a woman. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He had his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down, all while being pepper sprayed. 

Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.
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Jack Herrera @jherrerx.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Oh damn, oh shoot, others are doing unto me as I hath done unto others
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Reposted by Jack Herrera
Sam Levin @samtlevin.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Liam is one of four Columbia Heights, MN school district students who have been taken by ICE in the last two weeks, the school district said. Liam's teacher: “He is so kind and loving, and his classmates miss him. He ... just brightens the room. All I want is for him to be back here and safe.”
smiling portrait of Liam, age 5, in a school picturewitness photo, courtesy of the school district, showing Liam outside his front door with a masked agent by his side.
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Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
1. ICE has STOPPED PAYING for medical treatment for its 73,000 detainees ICE has not paid its bills to 3rd party providers since OCTOBER and the situation will likely persist for MONTHS, a Popular Information investigation reveals Meanwhile, critically ill ICE detainees are not receiving care 🧵
popular.info
ICE has stopped paying for detainee medical treatment
ICE halted payments in October, and the situation will persist for at least several more months
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Reposted by Jack Herrera
Nick Bednar @nicholasbednar.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
I'll point out that @mprnews.org has covered the fraud ad nauseum. We all know about it (thanks to public radio). No one is pro-fraud. It's bad. State and federal prosecutors have been prosecuting it. Both the governor and the AG have been investing heavily in fraud detection. There's no cover up.
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Texas Monthly @texasmonthly.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
A treaty between the U.S. and Mexico aims to manage resources that flow between nations. What happens when the water dries up?
texasmonthly.com
Mexico Is Sending Texas Billions of Gallons of Water. It Won't Be Enough.
A treaty between the U.S. and Mexico aims to manage resources that flow between nations.
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Reposted by Jack Herrera
sar @cryptkick.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
“These are just bandaids. They’re just buying time—for what, I don’t know,” I cannot emphasize enough how serious the water supply issue is in the North American west, and it just keeps getting worse.
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Jack Herrera @jherrerx.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
I've traveled through the Rio Grande watershed, from up on the continental divide in Colorado down through the basin in Mexico, where rivers flow north, providing the water for millions of Texans. The US wants more water from MX. But at the end of the day, we're both fucked. 1/3
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
NOW— Mass ICE arrests happened/are happening at the Manhattan immigration court at 290 Broadway on the 20th floor. I was just outside the building and an observer came out crying, confirmed they witnessed people getting detained outside courtrooms while families watched and wept.
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Jack Herrera @jherrerx.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
A Texas county found a way to make money on migrants traveling north: cops arrested them on trespassing charges, and kept them in jail until they paid bail. When they paid, the jail handed them over to ICE. They got deported. The county kept their bail: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/u...
nytimes.com
For One Texas County, Arresting Migrants Made Big Money
Kinney County, along Texas’ border with Mexico, collected some $1.7 million in bail from migrants who were deported before they could make their court appearances. The money was never returned.
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Reposted by Jack Herrera
Jonathan Blitzer @jonathanblitzer.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
Don’t miss this excellent @jherrerx.bsky.social piece on how a Texas county, under Operation Lonestar, is taking (and not returning) the bail money of migrants who have been deported. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/u...
nytimes.com
How One Texas County Has Profited Off of Migrant Deportations
Kinney County, along Texas’ border with Mexico, collected some $1.7 million in bail from migrants who were deported before they could make their court appearances. The money was never returned.
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Reposted by Jack Herrera
krm @kmcn13.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Step 1: Attest migrants for "trespassing." Step 2: Release on bail. Step 3: deport before hearing, forfeiting bail.
nytimes.com
How One Texas County Has Profited Off of Migrant Deportations
Kinney County, along Texas’ border with Mexico, collected some $1.7 million in bail from migrants who were deported before they could make their court appearances. The money was never returned.
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Reposted by Jack Herrera
Joel Montfort @montfort.me · 01/05/2025
Kinney County, TX, is swindling immigrants out of their bond money by arresting them, immediately handing them over to ICE, who quickly deports them, and then keeping the money. $1.6M so far. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/u...
nytimes.com
How One Texas County Has Profited Off of Migrant Deportations
Kinney County, along Texas’ border with Mexico, collected some $1.7 million in bail from migrants who were deported before they could make their court appearances. The money was never returned.
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Steven Rich @datab.ae · 01/05/2025
me contribution to this story was taking a spreadsheet that had been printed out, roughly hand-redacted and then scanned but skewed into, well, an actual spreadsheet so we could calculate forfeited bail for these migrants.
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Steven Rich @datab.ae · 01/05/2025
a small Texas county found a way to make money off migrants: arrest them for trespassing, make them post bail to get out of jail, turn them over to ICE, collect forfeited bail money. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/u...
Over the past four years, the county has refused to return $1.7 million in bail from migrant trespass cases, according to a Times analysis of county budget records obtained through a public records request. The forfeitures are the equivalent of what it would take to pay for the entire sheriff's department for a year, or the county judge and county attorney's office combined for over three years.
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Jack Herrera @jherrerx.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
I spent over a year fighting the county for records, including these budget docs
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Jack Herrera @jherrerx.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
When Texas began arresting migrants for trespassing in '21, many paid hefty bails to get out of jail. The problem? Instead of releasing them, TX handed them over to ICE. I spent a year investigating how one county made up to $1.7 million by taking bail from deported migrants. Via @nytimes.com:
nytimes.com
How One Texas County Has Profited Off of Migrant Deportations
Kinney County, along Texas’ border with Mexico, collected some $1.7 million in bail from migrants who were deported before they could make their court appearances. The money was never returned.
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Columbia Journalism Review @columjournreview.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Trump has offshored his migrant detention regime. Journalists have struggled to cover the "exportations." By @jherrerx.bsky.social. www.cjr.org/feature-2/fo...
cjr.org
Following the ‘Exportations’
In order to remove migrants as quickly as possible, Trump has offshored his detention regime. Journalists have struggled to cover their stories—and that is dangerous.
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Josh Page @joshpage.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Damn! "Over the past four years, [Kinney] county has refused to return $1.7 million in bail from migrant trespass cases..." This amount would "pay for the entire sheriff’s department for a year, or the county judge and county attorney’s office combined for over three years." @jherrerx.bsky.social
nytimes.com
How One Texas County Has Profited Off of Migrant Deportations
Kinney County, along Texas’ border with Mexico, collected some $1.7 million in bail from migrants who were deported before they could make their court appearances. The money was never returned.
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Darrell Silver @darrellsilver.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
"Perhaps it is because they have hit a wall deporting so-called criminals, so now they are going after children and their families in an effort to bump up their deportation statistics” Original reporting today from @jherrerx.bsky.social www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
newyorker.com
The Immigrant Families Jailed in Texas
Children have long been put in migrant detention if they were apprehended at the border. Today, lawyers have found, families are being removed from stable lives in the United States.
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Yana Kunichoff @yanak.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
More detentions lead to more deaths. @jherrerx.bsky.social asks whether we will find out - and from there whether the American public will respond w/ enough care and outrage to change policy www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
newyorker.com
How Many Immigrants Will Die in U.S. Custody?
More detentions will lead to more deaths, but the Trump Administration has options to conceal the losses.
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MikeHallTexas @mikehalltexas.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
"For better or for worse, the meat-packing industry relies on immigrants; changing that would likely require fundamentally changing how America feeds itself." Great story by @jherrerx.bsky.social revisiting the site of a 2006 mass deportation in Cactus, Tx. www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 12/02/2025
A 2006 immigration raid at a beef-packing plant upended Cactus, Texas. Ten percent of the Panhandle town's residents disappeared. @jherrerx.bsky.social writes about the aftermath and what it means for President Trump’s mass deportation plans. @texasmonthly.bsky.social
texasmonthly.com
ICE Came for This Town’s Workforce. It Was Never the Same.
One of the largest ICE raids in American history upended the town of Cactus in 2006. The recovery offers warnings about Trump’s mass deportations.
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Ethan Elkind @ethanelkind.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
What happens after an ICE raid? @jherrerx.bsky.social joins us on Your Call 10am PT to discuss. Then: RFK Jr. confirmation, CFPB closure, & mass federal layoffs. What's the latest? Chris Lehmann @thenation.com discusses. Stream live @kalwradio.bsky.social 10am PT: www.kalw.org/show/your-ca...
kalw.org
What happens after the ICE raids & mass firings of federal workers
One of the largest workplace ICE raid in the US history upended the town of Cactus in 2006. The recovery offers warnings about Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportations.
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Adrian Carrasquillo @adriancarrasquillo.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
Last one for now. Welcome to #BlueCielo! @juliancastrotx.bsky.social @delia.bsky.social @jherrerx.bsky.social @julito77.bsky.social @latnewsletter.bsky.social @alexpadilla4ca.bsky.social @miblogestublog.bsky.social @nikkimcr.bsky.social @anacabrera.bsky.social go.bsky.app/Em6CQBg
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Jack Herrera @jherrerx.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
Talked with @NYMag.flipboard.com.ap.brid.gy about how to understand Latino voting in 2024. Was the huge shift right evidence of true political realignment, or a simply a sign that this election was a referendum on inflation? The answer is “Yes.” nymag.com/intelligence...
nymag.com
The Latinos Who Found Their Inner MAGA
Reporter Jack Herrera says that Trump won over many Latino voters — but Democrats lost them first.
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Jack Herrera @jherrerx.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
When it comes to masculinity and Latino voting, I think we can't fully disentangle the gender split from class. More Latinas (35%) are going to college than Latinos (28%). Meanwhile traditionally masculine jobs—construction, trucking, etc—have gone decades without any real wage growth.
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Ash Ponders is looking for quick photo gigs @ashponders.bsky.social · 03/08/2023
Her bedroom was more than 100°f inside when we arrived, her a/c was out, her dog was sent to live next door: Karen Shute didn't know how much longer she could take it. New work in the LA Times. My first team up with long time friend @jherrerx.bsky.social.
latimes.com
Her bedroom was 100 degrees during Phoenix heat wave — and her AC was out
No U.S. city is more dependent on air conditioning than Phoenix. It's less a matter of comfort than survival.
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Jack Herrera @jherrerx.bsky.social · 17/07/2023
Reporting this week from our climate future: Phoenix, going into its 18th day in a row with heat over 110 Fahrenheit, with no end in sight. Last time the heat was this high, for this long, was 1974. Even a city as adapted for heat as Phoenix is struggling.
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Jack Herrera @jherrerx.bsky.social · 06/07/2023
We gotta decide which platform is new Twitter, I can’t keep checking 5 apps a day
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the ben keeps the flores @limitlessjest.bsky.social · 02/07/2023
Im here for the same reason as everyone else. Excited to connect with fellow fans and celebrate our love for our number one guy Jeremy Renner!
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