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Julia Luz Betancourt

@julialuz.bsky.social
99 followers 37 following 45 posts

🔎 Investigative Journalist 📰 Prism, BreakThrough News, YES! Magazine, Truthout + 📲 Signal: julesthejourno.09 🗯️ Opinions my own www.julialuzbetancourt.com

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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Follow our team! 💫🚀
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Immigration enforcement in the U.S. is changing our climate. But immigrants are finding new ways to survive in a hotter, more hostile America. Read my latest for @counterstream.bsky.social
peaceandriot.org
Seeking Sanctuary in America — Peace & Riot
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
As devastating, ableist, and utterly classist as this news is, working people need to remember that a better system is possible. We will build a system that works for us instead of against us — but we must fight for it together.
propublica.org
The Trump Administration Aims to Penalize Disabled Adults Who Live With Their Families
A rule change pushed by White House officials would slash benefits or end support for as many as 400,000 Supplemental Security Income recipients with Down syndrome, dementia and other disabilities who...
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
ICE and CBP’s use of AI-powered surveillance technology threatens people and movements everywhere. But communities are rising up to defend themselves and the planet. 🍃 Read my latest for @counterstream.bsky.social’s new issue of Peace & Riot:
peaceandriot.org
Policing the Planet — Peace & Riot
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
housing is a human right. end billionaires.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 21/04/2026
We asked people who lived in homeless encampments that were cleared out in city “sweeps” to write about what object was the hardest for them to lose. “They took my baby pictures and my moms obituaries,” a man in California wrote. (Published Dec. 2024)
projects.propublica.org
“I Have Lost Everything”: The Toll of Cities’ Homeless Sweeps
Cities often take belongings — including important documents and irreplaceable mementos — when they conduct sweeps of homeless encampments. ProPublica gave notecards to people across the country so th...
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Prism @prismreports.org · 19/04/2026
In the throes of President Trump’s mass deportation campaign, immigration enforcement embeds within colleges, with little to no community oversight, legal transparency, or guardrails, @julialuz.bsky.social reports. As more colleges enter into partnerships with ICE & CBP, students are fighting back.
prismreports.org
Universities agree to immigration enforcement on campus
Of the colleges that have entered into partnerships with ICE and CBP since last year, only St. John’s University in New York has backed out
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Ungovernable Jamie Lynn @jamielynnkitten.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
There wasn’t a list in the article of the 17 colleges, so I made my own! They’re all in Florida for now (yes, including Santa Fe College, I checked and it’s in Gainesville). Data from DHS: www.ice.gov/identify-and...
287g Colleges

1. District Board of Trustees of Pensacola State College
2. Florida A&M University Board of Trustees
3. Florida Gulf Coast University Police Department
4. Florida International University Police Department
5. Florida Polytechnic University Police Department
6. Florida Southwestern State College Police Department
7. Florida State College at Jacksonville Police Department 
8. Florida State University Police Department
9. New College of Florida Police Department
10. Northwest Florida State College Police Department
11. Santa Fe College Police Department
12. Tallahassee State College Police Department
13. University of Central Florida Police Department
14. University of Florida Police Department
15. University of North Florida Police Department
16. University of South Florida Police Department
17. University of West Florida Police Department
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Why have universities held tightly onto partnerships with ICE despite students and faculty overwhelmingly speaking out against them? Read my latest for @prismreports.org
prismreports.org
Universities agree to immigration enforcement on campus
Of the colleges that have entered into partnerships with ICE and CBP since last year, only St. John’s University in New York has backed out
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
My latest. Tap in 👇🏽
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
The law firm Proskauer Rose LLP has been behind several union busting efforts at universities and media companies across the country. They just claimed another college — my alma mater. Please share, circulate and support the St. John’s faculty, who are again fighting for their right to unionize.
chronicle.com
Another College Stops Recognizing Faculty Unions, Citing Catholic Identity and Need for ‘Flexibility’
St. John’s University said core academic decisions were being tied up in collective bargaining. It’s the latest institution to invoke its faith-based mission.
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Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Scoop: Police have recently been ordered to be "as vague as permissible" in the Flock system about the searches they do in a message shared with several major police departments around the country by the FBI. Actively avoiding transparency is now the strategy: www.404media.co/police-told-...
404media.co
Police Told to Be ‘as Vague as Permissible’ About Why They Use Flock
The documents show law enforcement sees themselves as being consistently and universally under threat from the people it is supposed to protect.
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Prism @prismreports.org · 05/01/2026
In light of the escalating violence against Venezuela, let us not forget who ultimately suffers: the Venezuelan people. Published in mid-December, Prism spoke with Venezuelan refugees on the chaotic & violent conditions they face in Mexico. prismreports.org/2025/12/18/v...
prismreports.org
Venezuelan migrants return home to conditions worse than what they fled
Mexico has become a reluctant receiving country for asylum-seekers to the U.S., including thousands of Venezuelan migrants
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
I’m looking for more immigration, higher ed, surveillance, and intelligence experts to share their expertise with me for this story. Please drop suggestions below or share with your networks! Ty ✨
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unraveled @unraveledpress.com · 19/11/2025
The rapid normalization of the violence is the point
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
I’m investigating university partnerships with ICE for @prismreports.org with support from the lovely editor @tinavasquez.bsky.social 📲 Send me a message on Signal at julesthejourno.09 or email me at julesthejourno@proton.me ⚠️ Do NOT use a school-provided email address
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
*pretends to be shocked* great reporting, btw
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
Can we just pause and think for a second about why 42 million people in the U.S. are on SNAP… 42 MILLION. That is more than the population of the entire state of California.
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Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
The Walton family (who own Walmart) are worth over $400 billion, yet many of their employees are on SNAP. Bezos is worth over $400 billion, many Amazon employees require SNAP. The people who need help are not the problem. It’s corporate greed. It’s an unwillingness to pay a living wage.
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
While Trump’s NSPM-7 memo claims so-called anti-Christian beliefs are signs of “left-wing violence,” a Chicago pastor who belongs to a Presbyterian church was shot in the head with a pepper ball by ICE. You can’t make this up.
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
I can’t believe I have to check my credit score through all of this.
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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 03/10/2025
Fact-check: Most of the goons in Trump's deportation army aren't even ICE agents. Only about 13% of the personnel carrying out Trump’s deportation agenda are employed by ICE’s primary deportation unit; the rest are pulled from other jobs. Check out the full report: tinyurl.com/yvavwh4f
A pie chart entitled "ICE, ICE, Maybe?" with a dek that says "a fraction of deportation personnel are employed by ICE's primary deportation unit." 

13% percent of the graph is shaded in orange, with ICE ERO written in white, while the remaining 87% of the graph is shaded in gray and labelled Other
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 03/10/2025
Before engineering the Trump administration's government shutdown response, Russ Vought spent years building Project 2025 strategy. “We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected,” he said in 2023. “When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work.” (Pub. Oct. 2024)
propublica.org
“Put Them in Trauma”: Inside a Key MAGA Leader’s Plans for a New Trump Agenda
Private videos reveal Trump adviser Russ Vought’s “shadow” plans for using the military on protesters, defunding the EPA and villainizing civil servants.
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
Every journalist covering the White House, government, free speech, repression, etc. should honestly report on what this is: an attempt to manufacture consent for what would be a dictatorial power grab.
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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 30/09/2025
With his ban on military shaving waivers, Pete Hegseth knows damn well who he’s pushing out: Black troops.
motherjones.com
If only Pete Hegseth's military shaving crusade was just stupid
Hegseth knows damn well who he's pushing out: Black troops.
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
Have you heard of Flock Safety? The surveillance company was once a small technology startup with a mission to “eliminate” non-violent crime. Now it’s becoming a one-stop shop for law enforcement to buy and plug into all the big brother-esque tech they can get. My latest for BreakThrough News 👇🏽
breakthroughnews.org
Meet Flock: The Surveillance Company Building America’s ‘Authoritarian Tracking Infrastructure’ « BT News
BT News
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Welcome to the era of digitized white supremacy.
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
When big tech companies and imperialist states are able to roam unchecked, it is inevitable that they will join forces. This is a byproduct of capitalism.
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NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
This is real I shit you not
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Prism @prismreports.org · 05/08/2025
Our tax dollars & the U.S.’ support of Israel enable the occupying force to commit genocide. We've compiled an ongoing, updating list of fundraisers for Palestinian liberation. We owe Palestinians our money & support. If you’re able to share funds, here are orgs & grassroots efforts to start.
prismreports.org
Fundraisers for Palestinian liberation: We owe Palestinians our money and support
For those of us outside of Gaza, we are witnessing the U.S.-backed, Israeli-imposed mass starvation and famine of Palestinians in Gaza. Prism has
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
“The Supreme Court’s assault on democracy and President Donald Trump’s are tightly intertwined… Trump may be behind this plan, but it was the Supreme Court that made such brazen partisan gerrymandering possible.”
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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 05/08/2025
Thousands of newly obtained documents show that Clearview AI’s founders always intended to target immigrants and the political left. Now their digital dragnet is in the hands of the Trump administration.
motherjones.com
The shocking far-right agenda behind the surveillance tech used by ICE and the FBI
Clearview AI’s founders always intended to target immigrants and the political left. Now their digital dragnet is in the hands of the Trump administration.
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Anodyne @anodynesix.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
"[Federal a]gents wait at schools, courthouses, hospitals, and churches, searching for immigrants to detain. They point guns at passersby ... They conduct surprise checkpoints miles from U.S. borders, confiscate phones, and question people about their political beliefs."
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Prism @prismreports.org · 04/08/2025
Since the start of Trump’s second term, colleges in both blue & red states have signed contracts with ICE & CBP, ‪@julialuz.bsky.social‬ reports. Universities have become yet another set of tools in the government’s mass deportation arsenal. prismreports.org/2025/07/31/h...
prismreports.org
How universities are deepening ties with federal immigration agencies
ICE and CBP are merging with institutions of higher education to form a new academic police state to assist in immigration enforcement
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
I reported for @prismreports.org on how universities are another tool in the government’s mass deportation arsenal.
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NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
Opinion | Don't get angry at ICE agents. They are just following orders. by Adolf Eichmann
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
My next story explores how universities are deepening ties with ICE and CBP as students and faculty prepare to return to their campuses in the fall. I’m going to keep following this story as the impacts of these ties become more and more undeniable. If you have tips, Signal me: julesthejourno.09 📲
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Mondoweiss @mondoweiss.net · 24/06/2025
As the U.S. and Israel escalates their war with Iran, Israel is doing something else: annexing Palestine under the radar. Roads for settlers. Cages for Palestinians. mondoweiss.net/2025/06/how-...
mondoweiss.net
How Israel is using the war with Iran to accelerate its annexation of the West Bank
Israel is using the war on Iran to further its colonization and annexation of the West Bank, turning Palestinian communities into caged enclaves.
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NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
In order to maintain ideological diversity, I make sure that 50% of my organization's hires are Trump supporters, even though only 2% of my applicants are Trump supporters. Here's why DEI at universities must be banned.
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
I’m writing a story on universities partnering with federal immigration agencies (to be published in @prismreports.org) and am looking for sources! 📲 Please read the attached images for more details and reach out to me if any of the following apply to you. 🔁 Share this post!
CALL FOR SOURCES

Is your university partnering with ICE or CBP?
I'm seeking sources for a story about universities partnering with federal immigration agencies including Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Message me securely:

Signal: julesthejourno.09
Email: julesthejourno@proton.me

Do not use your school-provided email address.CALL FOR SOURCES
Please share, Linkedin friends!

I'm writing a story for Prism (prismreports.org) about universities partnering with federal immigration agencies including Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

President Donald Trump has emboldened agencies like ICE and CBP to carry out mass deportations. My story will explore the partnerships universities are forming with these agencies and highlight real-time grassroots efforts to protect immigrants and fight for sanctuary campuses.

I want to hear from YOU if:

- You are a student, faculty member or staff member who can speak about how your university's partnership with CBP/ICE is impacting your campus community.

- You are involved in a grassroots effort to protect immigrant communities on your campus. I want to know how you've organized thus far and whether your administration has responded to your demands.

- You are an immigrant student and/or university worker or come from an immigrant background. I want to ensure your experiences and voices are centered in this story.


Reach out to me on Signal at julesthejourno.09 or via email at julesthejourno[at]proton.me. Do NOT use your school-provided email address (I recommend an end-to-end encrypted email service). Your privacy matters and I will work with you to agree on attribution.

Please repost and share to help me reach more people!
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Atima Omara @atimaomara.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
Not taking anything away from Senator Padilla because he was treated atrociously But I JUST want to remind everyone that the Congresswoman LaMonica McIver, a Black woman, was just indicted for just asking questions at an ICE detention center in her state Keep that same energy of support for her
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
Verifying myself for the Journalists of Color slack. journalistsofcolor.us If you are a journalist of color, please consider joining! 👇🏽
journalistsofcolor.us
Journalists of Color
We are a community of Journalists of Color aka JOCs, and this website is for you – the public – to peruse, find out what we’re all about and maybe even join us.
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Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 23/05/2025
This comment period ends today, 5/23, at 11:59 pm ET. Please do comment asap if you believe the government should allow us to get COVID vaccinations. I can't believe we even have to petition them about this, but here we are.
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
In my first piece for my newsletter, I talk about what inspired the title “ANTAGONiSTIC” and what it means to embody the term👇🏽
open.substack.com
Introducing ANTAGONiSTIC
Unfiltered stories for the fed the F*CK up!
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NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
Why did South Africans do away with Apartheid? Because they became too woke.
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
With @yesmedia.bsky.social closing this June, I’ve finally gone full throw-myself-to-the-wolves vibes and done the scariest thing a writer can do… start a Substack. 🤭 To keep up with my independent journalism and other writings, subscribe here: tinyurl.com/2d5hjhkn
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YES! Media @yesmedia.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: After nearly 30 years of publishing independent, justice-centered journalism, YES! Media will sunset operations at the end of June 2025. Read our full farewell message here: buff.ly/mrp7eo8
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Julia Luz Betancourt @julialuz.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
There’s so much to say and too little room, so I’ll let my LinkedIn post speak for itself. Thank you to @freeblackgirl.bsky.social for opening the door for journalists like me and making way for solutions-accountability journalism. I am forever grateful.
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