María Luisa Paúl
@marialuisapaul.bsky.social
Covering national news — with a focus on immigration — for The Washington Post.
☘️Notre Dame ‘21 grad. 🇻🇪 Venezolana, siempre.
Catch me at maria.paul@washpost.com
☘️Notre Dame ‘21 grad. 🇻🇪 Venezolana, siempre.
Catch me at maria.paul@washpost.com
Reposted by María Luisa Paúl
“These are people who did everything by the book, paid taxes, had no criminal records, opened businesses and contributed to their communities...now they have become collateral damage in this cruel, unjust and inhumane political game.”
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Venezuelans begin fleeing U.S. as protections end and threat of war looms
TPS expired for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans on Friday. Many are shuttering business, selling homes and boarding planes, or scrambling to find a way to stay.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 8, 2025 at 7:42 PM
“These are people who did everything by the book, paid taxes, had no criminal records, opened businesses and contributed to their communities...now they have become collateral damage in this cruel, unjust and inhumane political game.”
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
The decision to revoke TPS for over 600K Venezuelans triggered “the largest mass illegalization of a group in this country’s history.”
Many are shuttering business, selling homes and boarding planes. Others are scrambling to find a way to stay. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Many are shuttering business, selling homes and boarding planes. Others are scrambling to find a way to stay. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Venezuelans begin fleeing U.S. as protections end and threat of war looms
TPS expired for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans on Friday. Many are shuttering business, selling homes and boarding planes, or scrambling to find a way to stay.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:00 PM
The decision to revoke TPS for over 600K Venezuelans triggered “the largest mass illegalization of a group in this country’s history.”
Many are shuttering business, selling homes and boarding planes. Others are scrambling to find a way to stay. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Many are shuttering business, selling homes and boarding planes. Others are scrambling to find a way to stay. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Reposted by María Luisa Paúl
Scoop: The Trump admin's videos boasting triumphs on immigration have used misleading footage from months ago or thousands of miles away
When we showed them the errors, DHS said they make a lot of videos and the White House said it'll keep making "banger memes"
wapo.st/4nuDGwf
When we showed them the errors, DHS said they make a lot of videos and the White House said it'll keep making "banger memes"
wapo.st/4nuDGwf
Trump administration uses misleading videos to portray chaos, push deportations
Official videos purporting to show the triumph of recent immigration operations used footage that was years old or recorded thousands of miles away, a Washington Post analysis found.
wapo.st
October 29, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Scoop: The Trump admin's videos boasting triumphs on immigration have used misleading footage from months ago or thousands of miles away
When we showed them the errors, DHS said they make a lot of videos and the White House said it'll keep making "banger memes"
wapo.st/4nuDGwf
When we showed them the errors, DHS said they make a lot of videos and the White House said it'll keep making "banger memes"
wapo.st/4nuDGwf
Reposted by María Luisa Paúl
DHS just posted a Little Dark Age edit. Clear pattern of black-pilled memes and fashy fancams that reflects who ICE wants to recruit
www.instagram.com/bydrewharwell/
www.tiktok.com/@drewharwell
www.instagram.com/bydrewharwell/
www.tiktok.com/@drewharwell
October 24, 2025 at 3:04 PM
DHS just posted a Little Dark Age edit. Clear pattern of black-pilled memes and fashy fancams that reflects who ICE wants to recruit
www.instagram.com/bydrewharwell/
www.tiktok.com/@drewharwell
www.instagram.com/bydrewharwell/
www.tiktok.com/@drewharwell
Some patrol neighborhoods and raise phones when arrests unfold. Others pass out whistles, sell out vendors or attempt to be “holy nuisances” for ICE.
Inside Chicago’s grassroots resistance to an intense immigration crackdown w/ @bellwak.bsky.social,Ben Strauss www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
Inside Chicago’s grassroots resistance to an intense immigration crackdown w/ @bellwak.bsky.social,Ben Strauss www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
How Chicago’s MMA gyms, cyclists and pet shelters are uniting to resist ICE
Teachers, clergy and MMA students are finding ways to counter immigration authorities’ attempts to detain undocumented neighbors.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 23, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Some patrol neighborhoods and raise phones when arrests unfold. Others pass out whistles, sell out vendors or attempt to be “holy nuisances” for ICE.
Inside Chicago’s grassroots resistance to an intense immigration crackdown w/ @bellwak.bsky.social,Ben Strauss www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
Inside Chicago’s grassroots resistance to an intense immigration crackdown w/ @bellwak.bsky.social,Ben Strauss www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
Reposted by María Luisa Paúl
Read my latest with @marialuisapaul.bsky.social and Ben Strauss on how Chicago neighbors are responding to federal immigration crackdowns ➡️
An MMA gym, pet shelters and volunteer grocery patrols are part of Chicago's community effort to thwart a federal crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
Chicagoans band together against ICE, using tamales and whistles
Teachers, clergy and MMA students are finding ways to counter immigration authorities’ attempts to detain undocumented neighbors.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 23, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Read my latest with @marialuisapaul.bsky.social and Ben Strauss on how Chicago neighbors are responding to federal immigration crackdowns ➡️
Reposted by María Luisa Paúl
Exclusive: The Trump administration said immigration enforcement will “remain unchanged” through the government shutdown.
But at least one team at ICE isn’t going into work: the office that ensures detention centers meet federal safety standards.
But at least one team at ICE isn’t going into work: the office that ensures detention centers meet federal safety standards.
ICE kept most offices open in shutdown — but not the one inspecting detention centers
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s entire Office of Detention Oversight has been placed on furlough, despite surging numbers of detainees.
wapo.st
October 7, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Exclusive: The Trump administration said immigration enforcement will “remain unchanged” through the government shutdown.
But at least one team at ICE isn’t going into work: the office that ensures detention centers meet federal safety standards.
But at least one team at ICE isn’t going into work: the office that ensures detention centers meet federal safety standards.
Reposted by María Luisa Paúl
Here's a good report on the election from the dream team of @schmidtsam.bsky.social @marialuisapaul.bsky.social @datab.ae and Ana Vanessa Herrero
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/0...
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/0...
Maduro lost election, tallies collected by Venezuela’s opposition show
Edmundo González likely beat President Nicolás Maduro in the July 28 election by millions of votes, a review of data from election receipts shows.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 6, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Here's a good report on the election from the dream team of @schmidtsam.bsky.social @marialuisapaul.bsky.social @datab.ae and Ana Vanessa Herrero
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/0...
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/0...
Reposted by María Luisa Paúl
When a judge told Claudio David Balcane González “Welcome to the United States,” he sobbed. He had finally been granted asylum.
Then ICE detained him for 63 more days @marialuisapaul.bsky.social reports
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Then ICE detained him for 63 more days @marialuisapaul.bsky.social reports
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
A Venezuelan singer won asylum. ICE detained him for two more months.
The singer known online as Davicito59 won his asylum case in July. Still, ICE kept him in custody for two more months — a holdup several experts called unlawful.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 6, 2025 at 8:42 PM
When a judge told Claudio David Balcane González “Welcome to the United States,” he sobbed. He had finally been granted asylum.
Then ICE detained him for 63 more days @marialuisapaul.bsky.social reports
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Then ICE detained him for 63 more days @marialuisapaul.bsky.social reports
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Reposted by María Luisa Paúl
Mario Guevara, an Emmy-award winning reporter, was deported to El Salvador — a nation he fled more than two decades ago. He was arrested while covering a protest of the Trump administration in a case that has alarmed free speech groups.
U.S. deports journalist Mario Guevara to El Salvador, family says
Mario Guevara, an independent journalist, was arrested while covering a protest of the Trump administration in a case that has alarmed free speech groups.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 3, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Mario Guevara, an Emmy-award winning reporter, was deported to El Salvador — a nation he fled more than two decades ago. He was arrested while covering a protest of the Trump administration in a case that has alarmed free speech groups.
Venezuelan artist Claudio David Balcane González won asylum in July, at a time when the vast majority of such petitions are being denied.
ICE kept him in custody for 63 more days — well past the government’s appeal deadline. Lawyers say that was illegal. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
ICE kept him in custody for 63 more days — well past the government’s appeal deadline. Lawyers say that was illegal. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
A Venezuelan singer won asylum. ICE detained him for two more months.
The singer known online as Davicito59 won his asylum case in July. Still, ICE kept him in custody for two more months — a holdup several experts called unlawful.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 3, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Venezuelan artist Claudio David Balcane González won asylum in July, at a time when the vast majority of such petitions are being denied.
ICE kept him in custody for 63 more days — well past the government’s appeal deadline. Lawyers say that was illegal. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
ICE kept him in custody for 63 more days — well past the government’s appeal deadline. Lawyers say that was illegal. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
I resurrected my cheese beat to write about Emilia D’Albero, the first American to win “Meilleure Fromagère du Monde” (that’s fancy for “Best Cheesemonger in the World.”)
Here’s a slice of joy for these ✨unprecedented✨ times www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
Here’s a slice of joy for these ✨unprecedented✨ times www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
Meet the first American to win ‘Best Cheesemonger in the World’
Emilia D’Albero won the Mondial du Fromage, one of the world’s top cheese competitions, held every two years in Tours, France.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 3, 2025 at 7:13 PM
I resurrected my cheese beat to write about Emilia D’Albero, the first American to win “Meilleure Fromagère du Monde” (that’s fancy for “Best Cheesemonger in the World.”)
Here’s a slice of joy for these ✨unprecedented✨ times www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
Here’s a slice of joy for these ✨unprecedented✨ times www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
Unlike in other shootings in the U.S., the victims of the one in a Dallas ICE office so far are faceless and nameless.
Though it was immigrants who ultimately paid the price of violence, they’ve seldom been mentioned by officials who have cast LEO as victims www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Though it was immigrants who ultimately paid the price of violence, they’ve seldom been mentioned by officials who have cast LEO as victims www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
For migrants, Dallas attack — and Trump response — marks another indignity
In the hours after the shooting, Trump officials cast law enforcement officers as the victims and asked people to pray for them — seldom mentioning the migrant victims.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 26, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Unlike in other shootings in the U.S., the victims of the one in a Dallas ICE office so far are faceless and nameless.
Though it was immigrants who ultimately paid the price of violence, they’ve seldom been mentioned by officials who have cast LEO as victims www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Though it was immigrants who ultimately paid the price of violence, they’ve seldom been mentioned by officials who have cast LEO as victims www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Reposted by María Luisa Paúl
NEW: ICE has arrested so many people in Trump's D.C. crackdown that it's crowding the agency’s Northern Virginia processing site, lawyers say, creating "dangerous" conditions in a site not meant to keep people overnight.
w/ Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff & @marialuisapaul.bsky.social
w/ Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff & @marialuisapaul.bsky.social
ICE holding facilities overcrowded amid surge in immigration arrests
Immigration agents have arrested so many people in their D.C. crackdown that they are crowding the agency’s processing site in Northern Virginia, lawyers say.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 12, 2025 at 6:30 PM
NEW: ICE has arrested so many people in Trump's D.C. crackdown that it's crowding the agency’s Northern Virginia processing site, lawyers say, creating "dangerous" conditions in a site not meant to keep people overnight.
w/ Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff & @marialuisapaul.bsky.social
w/ Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff & @marialuisapaul.bsky.social
Reposted by María Luisa Paúl
On the front page of today’s @washingtonpost.com: What 16 of the migrants deported by the U.S. to El Salvador’s CECOT experienced in that notorious mega prison
w/ Sam Schmidt, Helena Carpio @marialuisapaul.bsky.social @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social @asteckelberg.bsky.social
w/ Sam Schmidt, Helena Carpio @marialuisapaul.bsky.social @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social @asteckelberg.bsky.social
‘Welcome to hell’: Inside the megaprison where the U.S. deported migrants
Interviews with 16 former detainees of El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center offer the most complete view yet of conditions inside the notorious prison.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 5, 2025 at 2:14 AM
On the front page of today’s @washingtonpost.com: What 16 of the migrants deported by the U.S. to El Salvador’s CECOT experienced in that notorious mega prison
w/ Sam Schmidt, Helena Carpio @marialuisapaul.bsky.social @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social @asteckelberg.bsky.social
w/ Sam Schmidt, Helena Carpio @marialuisapaul.bsky.social @silviafosterfrau.bsky.social @asteckelberg.bsky.social
Some pets are surrendered. Some are left behind when their owners are detained or deported. Others are simply found wandering the streets or inside abandoned homes.
Animal shelters say Trump’s immigration crackdown is pushing them to the brink. My latest: www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Animal shelters say Trump’s immigration crackdown is pushing them to the brink. My latest: www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Pets are being abandoned, surrendered amid Trump’s immigration crackdown
The heightened need is colliding with a shelter system already stretched thin by post-pandemic overcrowding, chronic staffing shortages and plummeting adoptions.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 1, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Some pets are surrendered. Some are left behind when their owners are detained or deported. Others are simply found wandering the streets or inside abandoned homes.
Animal shelters say Trump’s immigration crackdown is pushing them to the brink. My latest: www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Animal shelters say Trump’s immigration crackdown is pushing them to the brink. My latest: www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Reposted by María Luisa Paúl
The US government has sent innocent men to be beaten and raped in a foreign gulag
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
‘Welcome to hell’: Inside the megaprison where the U.S. deported migrants
Interviews with 16 former detainees of El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center offer the most complete view yet of conditions inside the notorious prison.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 1, 2025 at 5:21 PM
The US government has sent innocent men to be beaten and raped in a foreign gulag
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
Reposted by María Luisa Paúl
“Welcome to hell”
We spoke to 16 Venezuelans the U.S. sent to a mega-prison in El Salvador. This is the most complete view yet of the conditions they faced — which, some experts said, may violate conventions against torture.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
We spoke to 16 Venezuelans the U.S. sent to a mega-prison in El Salvador. This is the most complete view yet of the conditions they faced — which, some experts said, may violate conventions against torture.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
‘Welcome to hell’: Inside the mega prison where the U.S. deported migrants
Interviews with 16 former detainees of El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center offer the most complete view yet of conditions inside the notorious prison.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 31, 2025 at 3:36 PM
“Welcome to hell”
We spoke to 16 Venezuelans the U.S. sent to a mega-prison in El Salvador. This is the most complete view yet of the conditions they faced — which, some experts said, may violate conventions against torture.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
We spoke to 16 Venezuelans the U.S. sent to a mega-prison in El Salvador. This is the most complete view yet of the conditions they faced — which, some experts said, may violate conventions against torture.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
For 141 days, Ward Sakeik sat in immigration detention — stateless, newly married and nearly deported twice, despite a federal judge’s order.
In her first interview since being released, she tells her story — one that epitomizes the human cost of Trump’s immigration crackdown. wapo.st/4lvpOBc
In her first interview since being released, she tells her story — one that epitomizes the human cost of Trump’s immigration crackdown. wapo.st/4lvpOBc
Newlywed detained by ICE freed after 141 days and two deportation attempts
Immigration authorities detained a 22-year-old woman days after she married an American citizen, and sought to deport her twice — even after a judge barred it.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 3, 2025 at 6:53 PM
For 141 days, Ward Sakeik sat in immigration detention — stateless, newly married and nearly deported twice, despite a federal judge’s order.
In her first interview since being released, she tells her story — one that epitomizes the human cost of Trump’s immigration crackdown. wapo.st/4lvpOBc
In her first interview since being released, she tells her story — one that epitomizes the human cost of Trump’s immigration crackdown. wapo.st/4lvpOBc
Reposted by María Luisa Paúl
EXCLUSIVE/BREAKING Gregory Sanabria Tarazona, a Venezuelan activist tortured inside Nicolás Maduro's notorious El Heliocoide prison, is seeking asylum in the U.S. Weeks before his initial hearing, he was making a routine check-in when ICE detained him @schmidtsam.bsky.social reports
wapo.st/3HE9dwu
wapo.st/3HE9dwu
Tortured in Venezuela, he’s asking for asylum. ICE just detained him.
Gregory Sanabria Tarazona was at a routine check-in in Houston on Thursday when he was detained and taken to an ICE processing center.
wapo.st
June 13, 2025 at 10:33 PM
EXCLUSIVE/BREAKING Gregory Sanabria Tarazona, a Venezuelan activist tortured inside Nicolás Maduro's notorious El Heliocoide prison, is seeking asylum in the U.S. Weeks before his initial hearing, he was making a routine check-in when ICE detained him @schmidtsam.bsky.social reports
wapo.st/3HE9dwu
wapo.st/3HE9dwu
After a week of immigration raids and military presence, mariachis and folklórico dancers are now energizing LA protests with their music — a way to reclaim space in a city they helped build, in a country that hasn’t always made them feel like they belong.
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
Mariachis and ballet folklórico energize resistance in L.A. protests
The musicians and dancers say they are pushing back on immigration raids “through the culture and traditions that represent us. We will not be silenced.”
www.washingtonpost.com
June 16, 2025 at 4:55 PM
After a week of immigration raids and military presence, mariachis and folklórico dancers are now energizing LA protests with their music — a way to reclaim space in a city they helped build, in a country that hasn’t always made them feel like they belong.
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
Our investigation into Venezuela’s presidential election is a finalist for a NAHJ award.
A huge team effort by reporters in Caracas & DC made it happen. But the story exists because brave Venezuelans, some now detained in El Helicoide or living in hiding, risked everything to get the truth out.
A huge team effort by reporters in Caracas & DC made it happen. But the story exists because brave Venezuelans, some now detained in El Helicoide or living in hiding, risked everything to get the truth out.
May 31, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Our investigation into Venezuela’s presidential election is a finalist for a NAHJ award.
A huge team effort by reporters in Caracas & DC made it happen. But the story exists because brave Venezuelans, some now detained in El Helicoide or living in hiding, risked everything to get the truth out.
A huge team effort by reporters in Caracas & DC made it happen. But the story exists because brave Venezuelans, some now detained in El Helicoide or living in hiding, risked everything to get the truth out.
Claudio David Balcane, aka Davicito, was a rising star in Chicago’s Venezuelan dembow scene. After dropping “Donaltron” — a viral song asking Trump not to deport him — ICE arrested him. He's now facing removal.
I spoke to him from detention. Here’s his story: www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
I spoke to him from detention. Here’s his story: www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
He begged Trump not to deport him in a viral song. ICE detained him anyway.
Davicito59, one of the singers of “Donaltron,” is facing deportation. Authorities say he has gang ties, which he denies.
www.washingtonpost.com
May 28, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Claudio David Balcane, aka Davicito, was a rising star in Chicago’s Venezuelan dembow scene. After dropping “Donaltron” — a viral song asking Trump not to deport him — ICE arrested him. He's now facing removal.
I spoke to him from detention. Here’s his story: www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
I spoke to him from detention. Here’s his story: www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Reposted by María Luisa Paúl
Venezuelans have long considered the Miami suburb of Doral their refuge.
President Trump’s immigration crackdown is calling that into question.
President Trump’s immigration crackdown is calling that into question.
Supreme Court ruling on Venezuelans ripples through Miami’s ‘Doralzuela’
Venezuelans have long considered the Miami suburb of Doral their refuge. Trump’s immigration crackdown is calling that into question.
www.washingtonpost.com
May 20, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Venezuelans have long considered the Miami suburb of Doral their refuge.
President Trump’s immigration crackdown is calling that into question.
President Trump’s immigration crackdown is calling that into question.