Anna Oakes
@annaoakes.bsky.social
Freelance reporter in (mostly) NYC covering immigration, politics, protests, and more. Words in The City, The Intercept, Documented, Rolling Stone, Hell Gate, CTXT. Signal: annao.06
Reposted by Anna Oakes
ICE has now spent over half a BILLION dollars just on purchasing warehouses around the country to convert into detention camps.
If these mega-camps are utilized to the full capacity ICE intends, they'll be the largest prisons in the country, with little real oversight. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
If these mega-camps are utilized to the full capacity ICE intends, they'll be the largest prisons in the country, with little real oversight. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ICE to begin detaining immigrants inside Social Circle warehouse in April
Homeland Security plans to build warehouse detention facilities in other cities being met with opposition.
www.ajc.com
February 9, 2026 at 5:56 PM
ICE has now spent over half a BILLION dollars just on purchasing warehouses around the country to convert into detention camps.
If these mega-camps are utilized to the full capacity ICE intends, they'll be the largest prisons in the country, with little real oversight. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
If these mega-camps are utilized to the full capacity ICE intends, they'll be the largest prisons in the country, with little real oversight. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
At Delaney Hall, the privately-run ICE detention facility in Newark, visitors are forced to wait for hours in life-threatening cold to see their loved ones. But those conditions, advocates say, are arbitrarily imposed.
Latest for @documentedny.bsky.social:
documentedny.com/2026/02/09/v...
Latest for @documentedny.bsky.social:
documentedny.com/2026/02/09/v...
Visitors to Delaney Hall Wait for Hours in an Unheated Tent to See Their Loved Ones - Documented
The tent, purchased by county officials, was installed after complaints about the lack of protection against cold temperatures.
documentedny.com
February 9, 2026 at 5:16 PM
At Delaney Hall, the privately-run ICE detention facility in Newark, visitors are forced to wait for hours in life-threatening cold to see their loved ones. But those conditions, advocates say, are arbitrarily imposed.
Latest for @documentedny.bsky.social:
documentedny.com/2026/02/09/v...
Latest for @documentedny.bsky.social:
documentedny.com/2026/02/09/v...
Reposted by Anna Oakes
The technology deployed on the border includes everything from hyper-visible tethered aerostats to stealthy devices like unattended ground sensors to detect footsteps, and license plate scanners disguised as traffic cones.
And border tech isn't staying at the border.
And border tech isn't staying at the border.
How AI Surveillance Tech is Creeping From the Southern Border Into the Rest of the Country
Surveillance technology has long been part of policing the border. ICE’s growing raids are bringing it to many other areas.
www.themarshallproject.org
February 9, 2026 at 2:42 PM
The technology deployed on the border includes everything from hyper-visible tethered aerostats to stealthy devices like unattended ground sensors to detect footsteps, and license plate scanners disguised as traffic cones.
And border tech isn't staying at the border.
And border tech isn't staying at the border.
Reposted by Anna Oakes
A mother and her 2 young kids, including her US citizen 4-year-old daughter, were trapped in a hotel room for weeks without contact from the outside world as the Trump administration sought to deport them.
"We were experiencing a nightmare," she told @thecity.nyc.
www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/28/i...
"We were experiencing a nightmare," she told @thecity.nyc.
www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/28/i...
ICE Detained a 4-Year-Old U.S. Citizen and her Honduran Family in Hotels for Weeks
The mother and her two young children, one of them born in the United States, were not able to contact the outside world for nearly three weeks while being held in hotel rooms in Queens and Louisiana.
www.thecity.nyc
January 28, 2026 at 7:35 PM
A mother and her 2 young kids, including her US citizen 4-year-old daughter, were trapped in a hotel room for weeks without contact from the outside world as the Trump administration sought to deport them.
"We were experiencing a nightmare," she told @thecity.nyc.
www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/28/i...
"We were experiencing a nightmare," she told @thecity.nyc.
www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/28/i...
Reposted by Anna Oakes
Trump Has Already Spent $500 Million Deploying Troops to U.S. Cities
A report from the Congressional Budget Office reveals the immense expenses of the Trump administration’s military occupations.
theintercept.com/2026/01/29/t...
A report from the Congressional Budget Office reveals the immense expenses of the Trump administration’s military occupations.
theintercept.com/2026/01/29/t...
Trump Has Already Spent $500 Million Deploying Troops to U.S. Cities
A report from the Congressional Budget Office reveals the immense expenses of the Trump administration’s military occupations.
theintercept.com
January 29, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Trump Has Already Spent $500 Million Deploying Troops to U.S. Cities
A report from the Congressional Budget Office reveals the immense expenses of the Trump administration’s military occupations.
theintercept.com/2026/01/29/t...
A report from the Congressional Budget Office reveals the immense expenses of the Trump administration’s military occupations.
theintercept.com/2026/01/29/t...
Reposted by Anna Oakes
“I just want my children to grow [up] safely,” she said. “Is that too much to ask?”
As the U.S. Moves to End Haiti’s TPS, Families Brace for the Unthinkable - Documented
The decision to end Temporary Protected Status for Haiti has left thousands of families facing the prospect of returning to a country engulfed by violence and political collapse.
documentedny.com
December 20, 2025 at 2:53 PM
“I just want my children to grow [up] safely,” she said. “Is that too much to ask?”
Reposted by Anna Oakes
“‘The extreme show of force here — seven armed agents in facemasks — was to intimidate staff so they could arrest our client in contravention of city law,’ Molly Lauterback, an immigration attorney with Brooklyn Defender Services, said in a statement.”
My latest months-long investigation: Inside the surge in ICE visits to NYC homeless shelters under the Trump administration.
Several incidents raise questions about whether city staff and federal agents are following the laws.
gothamist.com/news/ice-ent...
Several incidents raise questions about whether city staff and federal agents are following the laws.
gothamist.com/news/ice-ent...
ICE enters NYC shelters armed and without judicial warrants, reports show
Here's how 'incident reports' detail interactions between federal immigration enforcement officers and staff at city shelters for immigrants.
gothamist.com
December 15, 2025 at 5:24 PM
“‘The extreme show of force here — seven armed agents in facemasks — was to intimidate staff so they could arrest our client in contravention of city law,’ Molly Lauterback, an immigration attorney with Brooklyn Defender Services, said in a statement.”
Amidst bike thefts and ICE raids, delivery workers have been organizing their own self defense networks.
I followed one of these groups, El Diario de los Deliveryboys, on their Virgen de Guadalupe procession for @documentedny.bsky.social.
documentedny.com/2025/12/16/b...
I followed one of these groups, El Diario de los Deliveryboys, on their Virgen de Guadalupe procession for @documentedny.bsky.social.
documentedny.com/2025/12/16/b...
Bicycles and Blessings: Delivery Workers Honor Our Lady of Guadalupe in Annual Procession - Documented
Now in its fifth year, this caravan of deliveristas marked the feast day by pedaling to 14 immigrant businesses across Washington Heights, East Harlem, and the South Bronx.
documentedny.com
December 17, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Amidst bike thefts and ICE raids, delivery workers have been organizing their own self defense networks.
I followed one of these groups, El Diario de los Deliveryboys, on their Virgen de Guadalupe procession for @documentedny.bsky.social.
documentedny.com/2025/12/16/b...
I followed one of these groups, El Diario de los Deliveryboys, on their Virgen de Guadalupe procession for @documentedny.bsky.social.
documentedny.com/2025/12/16/b...
Reposted by Anna Oakes
Emergency calls were made to 911 at least 15 times a month from Stewart Detention Center for six months in a row as of November 1.
ICE Prison’s 911 Calls Overwhelm a Rural Georgia Emergency System
The 911 operator couldn’t send an ambulance because it was already responding to another call from ICE’s Stewart Detention Center.
interc.pt
December 16, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Emergency calls were made to 911 at least 15 times a month from Stewart Detention Center for six months in a row as of November 1.
With @nickpinto.bsky.social at Cuomo headquarters for @hellgatenyc.com
Tune into the liveliest livestream in the city, starting now!
www.youtube.com/live/fKA4Vpk...
Tune into the liveliest livestream in the city, starting now!
www.youtube.com/live/fKA4Vpk...
November 5, 2025 at 1:07 AM
With @nickpinto.bsky.social at Cuomo headquarters for @hellgatenyc.com
Tune into the liveliest livestream in the city, starting now!
www.youtube.com/live/fKA4Vpk...
Tune into the liveliest livestream in the city, starting now!
www.youtube.com/live/fKA4Vpk...
Reposted by Anna Oakes
Documented went down and spoke with vendors who said federal agents stormed Canal Street without warning — leaving dozens detained and the community in shock and confusion. 📝 @KEXU3 and @Anna_Oakes1
🔗 documentedny.com/2025/10/23/ice-raid-chinatown-vendors-arrested
🔗 documentedny.com/2025/10/23/ice-raid-chinatown-vendors-arrested
'This is Lawless Terror': Chinatown Reacts to ICE's Street Vendor Raid on Canal Street - Documented
Confusion, fear and outrage grip NYC after ICE arrests and detains street vendors, some of whom had legal status or U.S. citizenship.
documentedny.com
October 23, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Documented went down and spoke with vendors who said federal agents stormed Canal Street without warning — leaving dozens detained and the community in shock and confusion. 📝 @KEXU3 and @Anna_Oakes1
🔗 documentedny.com/2025/10/23/ice-raid-chinatown-vendors-arrested
🔗 documentedny.com/2025/10/23/ice-raid-chinatown-vendors-arrested
Reposted by Anna Oakes
As masked federal agents target street vendors on Canal Street, THE CITY watched one street vendor being detained.
As the operation carried on, agents were confronted with a spontaneous crowd of protesters.
MORE HERE: www.thecity.nyc/2025/10/21/i...
As the operation carried on, agents were confronted with a spontaneous crowd of protesters.
MORE HERE: www.thecity.nyc/2025/10/21/i...
October 22, 2025 at 1:09 AM
As masked federal agents target street vendors on Canal Street, THE CITY watched one street vendor being detained.
As the operation carried on, agents were confronted with a spontaneous crowd of protesters.
MORE HERE: www.thecity.nyc/2025/10/21/i...
As the operation carried on, agents were confronted with a spontaneous crowd of protesters.
MORE HERE: www.thecity.nyc/2025/10/21/i...
Dina and her husband spent their life savings to flee Venezuela. This week her husband was detained by ICE, in front of their children, during a mandatory asylum hearing.
In July, she told me how her family longed for safety and stability after years of precarity.
tinyurl.com/3uknzf5y @thecity.nyc
In July, she told me how her family longed for safety and stability after years of precarity.
tinyurl.com/3uknzf5y @thecity.nyc
Mayor Adams Closed NYC’s Migrant ‘Welcome Center.’ More Arrive Every Day.
Mayor Eric Adams celebrated the Roosevelt Hotel’s closure and the city’s handling of the migrant crisis. A mother who spent a year there offered her own mixed assessment.
www.thecity.nyc
October 16, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Dina and her husband spent their life savings to flee Venezuela. This week her husband was detained by ICE, in front of their children, during a mandatory asylum hearing.
In July, she told me how her family longed for safety and stability after years of precarity.
tinyurl.com/3uknzf5y @thecity.nyc
In July, she told me how her family longed for safety and stability after years of precarity.
tinyurl.com/3uknzf5y @thecity.nyc
Reposted by Anna Oakes
These high-profile cases are already having a chilling effect on immigrants' speech across the country.
https://documentedny.com/2025/10/10/mahdawi-ozturk-new-york-legal-battle-first-amendment-constitution/
https://documentedny.com/2025/10/10/mahdawi-ozturk-new-york-legal-battle-first-amendment-constitution/
October 15, 2025 at 4:03 PM
These high-profile cases are already having a chilling effect on immigrants' speech across the country.
https://documentedny.com/2025/10/10/mahdawi-ozturk-new-york-legal-battle-first-amendment-constitution/
https://documentedny.com/2025/10/10/mahdawi-ozturk-new-york-legal-battle-first-amendment-constitution/
Reposted by Anna Oakes
A. Diallo, an immigrant from Guinea, says he has been placed under surveillance by ICE without explanation, and is facing years of uncertainty while his asylum case is resolved.
The $470 Million Surveillance Program Watching Immigrants Across the U.S. - Documented
A. Diallo, an immigrant from Guinea, says he has been placed under electronic surveillance by ICE without explanation, and is facing years of uncertainty while his asylum case is resolved.
documentedny.com
October 15, 2025 at 3:03 PM
A. Diallo, an immigrant from Guinea, says he has been placed under surveillance by ICE without explanation, and is facing years of uncertainty while his asylum case is resolved.
Federal authorities are using immigration law to limit the First Amendment rights of noncitizens. Legal experts warn that this extension of executive power can be used to censor citizens’ speech, too.
My latest for @documentedny.bsky.social:
t.co/ySnyXiLrpl
My latest for @documentedny.bsky.social:
t.co/ySnyXiLrpl
October 10, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Federal authorities are using immigration law to limit the First Amendment rights of noncitizens. Legal experts warn that this extension of executive power can be used to censor citizens’ speech, too.
My latest for @documentedny.bsky.social:
t.co/ySnyXiLrpl
My latest for @documentedny.bsky.social:
t.co/ySnyXiLrpl
Reposted by Anna Oakes
ICE reactivated its contract with spyware manufacturer Paragon Solutions. You can read more about it here, but what does that mean for using encrypted chat apps like Signal? 🧵(1/8)
EFF Statement on ICE Use of Paragon Solutions Malware
This statement can be attributed to EFF Senior Staff Technologist Cooper QuintinIt was recently reported by Jack Poulson on Substack that ICE has reactivated its 2 million dollar contract with Paragon...
www.eff.org
September 8, 2025 at 10:09 PM
ICE reactivated its contract with spyware manufacturer Paragon Solutions. You can read more about it here, but what does that mean for using encrypted chat apps like Signal? 🧵(1/8)
Reposted by Anna Oakes
Being a NYC government official and trying to bribe Katie Honan is like being an affiliate of a Gotham crime syndicate and trying to bribe Batman. This is comically dumb as hell
BREAKING: Eric Adams Advisor Winnie Greco Handed a CITY Reporter Cash Stuffed in a Bag of Potato Chips
www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/20/w...
www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/20/w...
Eric Adams Advisor Winnie Greco Handed a CITY Reporter Cash Stuffed in a Bag of Potato Chips
THE CITY reported the incident to law enforcement and was promptly contacted by the Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office.
www.thecity.nyc
August 21, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Being a NYC government official and trying to bribe Katie Honan is like being an affiliate of a Gotham crime syndicate and trying to bribe Batman. This is comically dumb as hell
Reposted by Anna Oakes
“If we didn’t have international graduates ... we could not stay open — because what do you do if you miss 80 to 90% of your doctors? You’re done.” @annaoakes.bsky.social spent time at a struggling Brooklyn hospital, and documented how the closing of America is rattling its workforce.
Visa Whiplash Threatens Foreign Doctors Who Keep This Brooklyn Hospital Running
Residents at Brookdale Hospital mostly come from overseas, working in jobs American medical students overlook.
www.thecity.nyc
August 14, 2025 at 3:35 PM
“If we didn’t have international graduates ... we could not stay open — because what do you do if you miss 80 to 90% of your doctors? You’re done.” @annaoakes.bsky.social spent time at a struggling Brooklyn hospital, and documented how the closing of America is rattling its workforce.
Reposted by Anna Oakes
What a way to end my work day: arranging for law enforcement to pick up a potato chip bag stuffed with cash.
BREAKING: Eric Adams Advisor Winnie Greco Handed a CITY Reporter Cash Stuffed in a Bag of Potato Chips
www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/20/w...
www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/20/w...
Eric Adams Advisor Winnie Greco Handed a CITY Reporter Cash Stuffed in a Bag of Potato Chips
THE CITY reported the incident to law enforcement and was promptly contacted by the Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office.
www.thecity.nyc
August 20, 2025 at 11:59 PM
What a way to end my work day: arranging for law enforcement to pick up a potato chip bag stuffed with cash.
Reposted by Anna Oakes
"For months, the international medical residents who make up a significant number of the Brookdale physician staff, have been caught up in a whirlwind of restrictions and regulations regarding their visa and travel status." — @annaoakes.bsky.social reports
www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/14/b...
www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/14/b...
Visa Whiplash Threatens Foreign Doctors Who Keep This Brooklyn Hospital Running
Residents at Brookdale Hospital mostly come from overseas, working in jobs American medical students overlook.
www.thecity.nyc
August 14, 2025 at 11:54 AM
"For months, the international medical residents who make up a significant number of the Brookdale physician staff, have been caught up in a whirlwind of restrictions and regulations regarding their visa and travel status." — @annaoakes.bsky.social reports
www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/14/b...
www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/14/b...
Reposted by Anna Oakes
Barely an hour ago, Palestinian journalist Anas Al-Sharif warned us all:
“If this madness doesn’t end, Gaza will be reduced to ruins, its people’s voices silenced, their faces erased — and history will remember you as silent witnesses to a genocide you chose not to stop.”
Israel just killed him.
“If this madness doesn’t end, Gaza will be reduced to ruins, its people’s voices silenced, their faces erased — and history will remember you as silent witnesses to a genocide you chose not to stop.”
Israel just killed him.
August 10, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Barely an hour ago, Palestinian journalist Anas Al-Sharif warned us all:
“If this madness doesn’t end, Gaza will be reduced to ruins, its people’s voices silenced, their faces erased — and history will remember you as silent witnesses to a genocide you chose not to stop.”
Israel just killed him.
“If this madness doesn’t end, Gaza will be reduced to ruins, its people’s voices silenced, their faces erased — and history will remember you as silent witnesses to a genocide you chose not to stop.”
Israel just killed him.
Reposted by Anna Oakes
@columbiauniversity.bsky.social’s President Claire Shipman said the school retained full independence, “but it gave in to virtually all of Trump's demands.”
@meghnadbose.bsky.social and @annaoakes.bsky.social write for the @theintercept.com about how Columbia “refashioned [itself] in Trump’s image”
@meghnadbose.bsky.social and @annaoakes.bsky.social write for the @theintercept.com about how Columbia “refashioned [itself] in Trump’s image”
How Columbia’s Leadership Refashioned the University in Trump’s Image
Columbia University President Claire Shipman said the school retained full independence, but it gave in to virtually all of Trump's demands.
theintercept.com
August 7, 2025 at 10:28 PM
@columbiauniversity.bsky.social’s President Claire Shipman said the school retained full independence, “but it gave in to virtually all of Trump's demands.”
@meghnadbose.bsky.social and @annaoakes.bsky.social write for the @theintercept.com about how Columbia “refashioned [itself] in Trump’s image”
@meghnadbose.bsky.social and @annaoakes.bsky.social write for the @theintercept.com about how Columbia “refashioned [itself] in Trump’s image”
Much of what the Trump administration has demanded, Columbia has conceded – though they insist otherwise.
@meghnadbose.bsky.social and I tracked months of government demands and secretive Columbia rule changes, for @theintercept.com.
theintercept.com/2025/08/07/c...
@meghnadbose.bsky.social and I tracked months of government demands and secretive Columbia rule changes, for @theintercept.com.
theintercept.com/2025/08/07/c...
How Columbia’s Leadership Refashioned the University in Trump’s Image
Columbia University President Claire Shipman said the school retained full independence, but it gave in to virtually all of Trump's demands.
theintercept.com
August 7, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Much of what the Trump administration has demanded, Columbia has conceded – though they insist otherwise.
@meghnadbose.bsky.social and I tracked months of government demands and secretive Columbia rule changes, for @theintercept.com.
theintercept.com/2025/08/07/c...
@meghnadbose.bsky.social and I tracked months of government demands and secretive Columbia rule changes, for @theintercept.com.
theintercept.com/2025/08/07/c...
Reposted by Anna Oakes
🚨DHS asks the Supreme Court to halt an injunction restricting the ability of ICE and Border Patrol to stop and question people based on factors such as speaking Spanish, being Latino, doing day labor, or being in certain areas.
Hard not to read this as a request for a license to racially profile.
Hard not to read this as a request for a license to racially profile.
August 7, 2025 at 10:24 PM
🚨DHS asks the Supreme Court to halt an injunction restricting the ability of ICE and Border Patrol to stop and question people based on factors such as speaking Spanish, being Latino, doing day labor, or being in certain areas.
Hard not to read this as a request for a license to racially profile.
Hard not to read this as a request for a license to racially profile.