Isabela Dias
@isabelaalhadeff.bsky.social
Reporter at Mother Jones covering immigration, Latin America, and more. Falo português.
Proton Mail: [email protected]
Signal: isabeladias.14
https://www.motherjones.com/author/isabela-dias/
Proton Mail: [email protected]
Signal: isabeladias.14
https://www.motherjones.com/author/isabela-dias/
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Isabela Dias
@isabelaalhadeff.bsky.social
· Jul 28
Trump is making thousands of rule-abiding immigrants undocumented
Inside the largest delegalization campaign in modern US history.
www.motherjones.com
“You enter legally, and suddenly, because of someone else’s whim, you’re illegal. It doesn’t make sense.”
I wrote about the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan TPS holders losing legal status overnight as a result of the Trump administration's mass deportation push.
I wrote about the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan TPS holders losing legal status overnight as a result of the Trump administration's mass deportation push.
Catalina “Xóchitl” Santiago spent nearly two months in ICE detention—despite having protection under DACA—until a federal judge ruled that the government had no reason to keep her in custody and ordered her release.
DHS is still vowing to "explore every available option to remove" her. My latest:
DHS is still vowing to "explore every available option to remove" her. My latest:
Then they came for the Dreamers
Immigrants brought here as children were told they wouldn’t be deported. Now, they’re being targeted anyway.
www.motherjones.com
November 11, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Catalina “Xóchitl” Santiago spent nearly two months in ICE detention—despite having protection under DACA—until a federal judge ruled that the government had no reason to keep her in custody and ordered her release.
DHS is still vowing to "explore every available option to remove" her. My latest:
DHS is still vowing to "explore every available option to remove" her. My latest:
Reposted by Isabela Dias
Then they came for the Dreamers.
Read @isabelaalhadeff.bsky.social's heartbreaking look at the fear and chaos the Trump administration has wrought onto the lives of young people brought to the United States.
"A real betrayal."
Read @isabelaalhadeff.bsky.social's heartbreaking look at the fear and chaos the Trump administration has wrought onto the lives of young people brought to the United States.
"A real betrayal."
Then they came for the Dreamers
Immigrants brought here as children were told they wouldn’t be deported. Now, they’re being targeted anyway.
www.motherjones.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Then they came for the Dreamers.
Read @isabelaalhadeff.bsky.social's heartbreaking look at the fear and chaos the Trump administration has wrought onto the lives of young people brought to the United States.
"A real betrayal."
Read @isabelaalhadeff.bsky.social's heartbreaking look at the fear and chaos the Trump administration has wrought onto the lives of young people brought to the United States.
"A real betrayal."
Reposted by Isabela Dias
Some background on the absolute monarchy where the Trump administration is now paying to imprison people deported by ICE
Story here: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Story here: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
October 8, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Some background on the absolute monarchy where the Trump administration is now paying to imprison people deported by ICE
Story here: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Story here: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Russ Vought's neighbors have strong feelings about him:
"You asked what it is like living near such a man. Frankly, I'd rather not, but this is a wonderful neighborhood and, unlike Mr. Vought himself, we do not want our neighbors (even Mr. Vought) to be traumatized. So we just live with it."
"You asked what it is like living near such a man. Frankly, I'd rather not, but this is a wonderful neighborhood and, unlike Mr. Vought himself, we do not want our neighbors (even Mr. Vought) to be traumatized. So we just live with it."
Russ Vought is Trump’s shutdown hero. His neighbors think his work is "abhorrent."
The people living near Trump's "grim reaper" of government cuts have put up signs letting him know they stand with federal workers.
www.motherjones.com
October 5, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Russ Vought's neighbors have strong feelings about him:
"You asked what it is like living near such a man. Frankly, I'd rather not, but this is a wonderful neighborhood and, unlike Mr. Vought himself, we do not want our neighbors (even Mr. Vought) to be traumatized. So we just live with it."
"You asked what it is like living near such a man. Frankly, I'd rather not, but this is a wonderful neighborhood and, unlike Mr. Vought himself, we do not want our neighbors (even Mr. Vought) to be traumatized. So we just live with it."
Reposted by Isabela Dias
@isabelaalhadeff.bsky.social wrote what remains the definitive profile of Russel Vought last year. He's going to try and use the shut down to further his dream of an imperial Christian presidency and "traumatizing" federal workers www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
The bureaucrat who could make Trump's authoritarian dreams real
Russ Vought has a plan to take presidential power to new heights.
www.motherjones.com
October 1, 2025 at 7:55 PM
@isabelaalhadeff.bsky.social wrote what remains the definitive profile of Russel Vought last year. He's going to try and use the shut down to further his dream of an imperial Christian presidency and "traumatizing" federal workers www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Isabela Dias
It's the last day of our September fundraiser!
Please consider supporting our non-profit newsroom as we double down on fearless reporting—just as corporate media caves to Donald Trump.
Your donations will be matched dollar-for-dollar. Thank you so much!
Please consider supporting our non-profit newsroom as we double down on fearless reporting—just as corporate media caves to Donald Trump.
Your donations will be matched dollar-for-dollar. Thank you so much!
secure.motherjones.com
September 30, 2025 at 1:41 PM
It's the last day of our September fundraiser!
Please consider supporting our non-profit newsroom as we double down on fearless reporting—just as corporate media caves to Donald Trump.
Your donations will be matched dollar-for-dollar. Thank you so much!
Please consider supporting our non-profit newsroom as we double down on fearless reporting—just as corporate media caves to Donald Trump.
Your donations will be matched dollar-for-dollar. Thank you so much!
"It’s a blueprint for authoritarianism wrapped in barbed wire and dressed up as local revival.”
ICE has its eyes on an idle Core Civic-owned prison in Walsenburg. Local officials have welcomed the potential influx of money and jobs. But residents are pushing back. My latest for @motherjones.com:
ICE has its eyes on an idle Core Civic-owned prison in Walsenburg. Local officials have welcomed the potential influx of money and jobs. But residents are pushing back. My latest for @motherjones.com:
"Godsend" or "concentration camp"? A lucrative ICE deal divides a Colorado town.
Trump has unleashed a gold rush among private prison companies taking on immigration detention. In cash-strapped cities, residents aren’t sure the money is worth it.
www.motherjones.com
September 29, 2025 at 1:35 PM
"It’s a blueprint for authoritarianism wrapped in barbed wire and dressed up as local revival.”
ICE has its eyes on an idle Core Civic-owned prison in Walsenburg. Local officials have welcomed the potential influx of money and jobs. But residents are pushing back. My latest for @motherjones.com:
ICE has its eyes on an idle Core Civic-owned prison in Walsenburg. Local officials have welcomed the potential influx of money and jobs. But residents are pushing back. My latest for @motherjones.com:
In another loss in the courts for Trump, a federal judge just blocked the administration from revoking legal status from hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and Haitians in the United States. Judge Chen ruled that the termination of TPS exceeded the DHS Secretary’s authority and violated the law.
Trump is making thousands of rule-abiding immigrants undocumented
Inside the largest delegalization campaign in modern US history.
www.motherjones.com
September 5, 2025 at 8:00 PM
In another loss in the courts for Trump, a federal judge just blocked the administration from revoking legal status from hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and Haitians in the United States. Judge Chen ruled that the termination of TPS exceeded the DHS Secretary’s authority and violated the law.
Today, DHS announced the termination of the 2021 TPS designation for Venezuela, adding to the largest de-legalization push in modern US history: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Trump is making thousands of rule-abiding immigrants undocumented
Inside the largest delegalization campaign in modern US history.
www.motherjones.com
September 4, 2025 at 2:02 AM
Today, DHS announced the termination of the 2021 TPS designation for Venezuela, adding to the largest de-legalization push in modern US history: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Isabela Dias
“They’re going to kill me here,” Neri Alvarado thought.
Alvarado was allegedly targeted by the Trump administration because of his tattoo of an autism awareness ribbon. Now, free from El Salvador's notorious CECOT prison, Alvarado wants the world to know what they lived through.
Alvarado was allegedly targeted by the Trump administration because of his tattoo of an autism awareness ribbon. Now, free from El Salvador's notorious CECOT prison, Alvarado wants the world to know what they lived through.
August 25, 2025 at 6:11 PM
“They’re going to kill me here,” Neri Alvarado thought.
Alvarado was allegedly targeted by the Trump administration because of his tattoo of an autism awareness ribbon. Now, free from El Salvador's notorious CECOT prison, Alvarado wants the world to know what they lived through.
Alvarado was allegedly targeted by the Trump administration because of his tattoo of an autism awareness ribbon. Now, free from El Salvador's notorious CECOT prison, Alvarado wants the world to know what they lived through.
Reposted by Isabela Dias
Proud to announce that we’ve been nominated for six Online Journalism Awards, including General Excellence in Journalism!
Here's a thread of some of our amazing stories that've been recognized this year. 🧵
Here's a thread of some of our amazing stories that've been recognized this year. 🧵
2025 Online Journalism Awards
awards.journalists.org
August 22, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Proud to announce that we’ve been nominated for six Online Journalism Awards, including General Excellence in Journalism!
Here's a thread of some of our amazing stories that've been recognized this year. 🧵
Here's a thread of some of our amazing stories that've been recognized this year. 🧵
“There’s no family here, there are no lawyers here, nobody exists here.”
For four months, Neri Alvarado, Julio Zambrano, and so many others wondered if they were ever going to leave CECOT alive. Now, they want to clear their names and justice for what they had to endure. With @nlanard.bsky.social:
For four months, Neri Alvarado, Julio Zambrano, and so many others wondered if they were ever going to leave CECOT alive. Now, they want to clear their names and justice for what they had to endure. With @nlanard.bsky.social:
“What they did there was torture us”
Now free, the Venezuelan men the Trump administration sent to El Salvador want the world to know what they lived through.
www.motherjones.com
August 7, 2025 at 6:17 PM
“There’s no family here, there are no lawyers here, nobody exists here.”
For four months, Neri Alvarado, Julio Zambrano, and so many others wondered if they were ever going to leave CECOT alive. Now, they want to clear their names and justice for what they had to endure. With @nlanard.bsky.social:
For four months, Neri Alvarado, Julio Zambrano, and so many others wondered if they were ever going to leave CECOT alive. Now, they want to clear their names and justice for what they had to endure. With @nlanard.bsky.social:
“You enter legally, and suddenly, because of someone else’s whim, you’re illegal. It doesn’t make sense.”
I wrote about the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan TPS holders losing legal status overnight as a result of the Trump administration's mass deportation push.
I wrote about the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan TPS holders losing legal status overnight as a result of the Trump administration's mass deportation push.
Trump is making thousands of rule-abiding immigrants undocumented
Inside the largest delegalization campaign in modern US history.
www.motherjones.com
July 28, 2025 at 3:13 PM
“You enter legally, and suddenly, because of someone else’s whim, you’re illegal. It doesn’t make sense.”
I wrote about the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan TPS holders losing legal status overnight as a result of the Trump administration's mass deportation push.
I wrote about the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan TPS holders losing legal status overnight as a result of the Trump administration's mass deportation push.
"The female guards would count to 20 as they administered the beatings, and if the prisoners complained or cried out, they would start again...Tito Martínez, one of the inmates, recalled that a prison nurse was watching. 'Hit the piñata,' she cheered."
No One Was Supposed to Leave Alive
Venezuelans deported by the Trump administration say they were tortured during their four months in CECOT.
www.theatlantic.com
July 24, 2025 at 3:42 PM
"The female guards would count to 20 as they administered the beatings, and if the prisoners complained or cried out, they would start again...Tito Martínez, one of the inmates, recalled that a prison nurse was watching. 'Hit the piñata,' she cheered."
Late last night, Julio Zambrano's sister sent me this photo of him home with his mother in Venezuela.
July 22, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Late last night, Julio Zambrano's sister sent me this photo of him home with his mother in Venezuela.
Today, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate a legal representation program for detained immigrants with mental health issues who are deemed unfit to represent themselves in court.
I wrote about how critical this government-appointed counsel service is here:
I wrote about how critical this government-appointed counsel service is here:
Trump's DOJ stripped lifeline legal services from the most vulnerable detained immigrants
"Without a lawyer, people don't have a prayer. They don't have a chance in hell."
www.motherjones.com
July 21, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Today, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate a legal representation program for detained immigrants with mental health issues who are deemed unfit to represent themselves in court.
I wrote about how critical this government-appointed counsel service is here:
I wrote about how critical this government-appointed counsel service is here:
Maria Quevedo, the mother of Eddie Adolfo Hurtado Quevedo, told us she was feeling relieved but still scared.
“Happy because God gave me the gift of seeing my son free on my birthday. Scared because my son is going to Venezuela, where he was threatened by the [paramilitary group] colectivos.”
“Happy because God gave me the gift of seeing my son free on my birthday. Scared because my son is going to Venezuela, where he was threatened by the [paramilitary group] colectivos.”
"The bitterness is still there. The anger about what happened to him is still there.”
After four months, more than 200 men sent to El Salvador have been released from CECOT and returned to Venezuela. @nlanard.bsky.social and I spoke with family members and friends waiting to be reunited with them.
After four months, more than 200 men sent to El Salvador have been released from CECOT and returned to Venezuela. @nlanard.bsky.social and I spoke with family members and friends waiting to be reunited with them.
"We were kidnapped"
On Friday, more than 200 Venezuelans disappeared to a megaprison in El Salvador returned home. The horror stories are already emerging.
www.motherjones.com
July 19, 2025 at 2:22 AM
Maria Quevedo, the mother of Eddie Adolfo Hurtado Quevedo, told us she was feeling relieved but still scared.
“Happy because God gave me the gift of seeing my son free on my birthday. Scared because my son is going to Venezuela, where he was threatened by the [paramilitary group] colectivos.”
“Happy because God gave me the gift of seeing my son free on my birthday. Scared because my son is going to Venezuela, where he was threatened by the [paramilitary group] colectivos.”
"The bitterness is still there. The anger about what happened to him is still there.”
After four months, more than 200 men sent to El Salvador have been released from CECOT and returned to Venezuela. @nlanard.bsky.social and I spoke with family members and friends waiting to be reunited with them.
After four months, more than 200 men sent to El Salvador have been released from CECOT and returned to Venezuela. @nlanard.bsky.social and I spoke with family members and friends waiting to be reunited with them.
"We were kidnapped"
On Friday, more than 200 Venezuelans disappeared to a megaprison in El Salvador returned home. The horror stories are already emerging.
www.motherjones.com
July 19, 2025 at 2:08 AM
"The bitterness is still there. The anger about what happened to him is still there.”
After four months, more than 200 men sent to El Salvador have been released from CECOT and returned to Venezuela. @nlanard.bsky.social and I spoke with family members and friends waiting to be reunited with them.
After four months, more than 200 men sent to El Salvador have been released from CECOT and returned to Venezuela. @nlanard.bsky.social and I spoke with family members and friends waiting to be reunited with them.
Reposted by Isabela Dias
NEW: Story from @isabelaalhadeff.bsky.social and me based on interviews with families of the men returned to Venezuela tonight after Trump disappeared them to El Salvador in March.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
"We were kidnapped"
On Friday, more than 200 Venezuelans disappeared to a megaprison in El Salvador returned home. The horror stories are already emerging.
www.motherjones.com
July 19, 2025 at 1:34 AM
NEW: Story from @isabelaalhadeff.bsky.social and me based on interviews with families of the men returned to Venezuela tonight after Trump disappeared them to El Salvador in March.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Earlier today, the mother of Julio Zambrano, one of the Venezuelans sent to CECOT, was told to go to Caracas for some "good news." She's at the airport in anticipation of her son's arrival after four long months. @nlanard.bsky.social and I are in touch with other families as they wait for more news.
Her husband is trapped in a Salvadoran prison. She has no idea how to get him back.
Ripped apart by Trump, one Venezuelan family endures another hell: silence.
www.motherjones.com
July 18, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Earlier today, the mother of Julio Zambrano, one of the Venezuelans sent to CECOT, was told to go to Caracas for some "good news." She's at the airport in anticipation of her son's arrival after four long months. @nlanard.bsky.social and I are in touch with other families as they wait for more news.
“It was a perfect storm.”
In Milford, MA, a town where 30 percent of the population is foreign-born, the arrest of 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes da Silva set off a chain reaction unlike anything the community had seen before. My latest for @motherjones.com:
In Milford, MA, a town where 30 percent of the population is foreign-born, the arrest of 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes da Silva set off a chain reaction unlike anything the community had seen before. My latest for @motherjones.com:
How ICE’s arrest of a high school student activated a Massachusetts town
“We’re trying to find ways the community can defend itself.”
www.motherjones.com
July 15, 2025 at 1:56 PM
“It was a perfect storm.”
In Milford, MA, a town where 30 percent of the population is foreign-born, the arrest of 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes da Silva set off a chain reaction unlike anything the community had seen before. My latest for @motherjones.com:
In Milford, MA, a town where 30 percent of the population is foreign-born, the arrest of 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes da Silva set off a chain reaction unlike anything the community had seen before. My latest for @motherjones.com:
Reposted by Isabela Dias
$100 billion in new ICE funding is about to get unleashed thanks to this bill. Come process that crushing figure with me.
What $100 billion in new ICE funding looks like
The staggering increase is difficult to process. These numbers will help.
www.motherjones.com
July 3, 2025 at 2:33 PM
$100 billion in new ICE funding is about to get unleashed thanks to this bill. Come process that crushing figure with me.
Reposted by Isabela Dias
To mark the 3-year anniversary of the Dobbs decision, I published a guide on all the ways doctors, nonprofits, pilots, and ordinary people are helping people from banned states access reproductive healthcare. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Funder, pilot, survivor, physician: Inside the network assisting abortion journeys
And some women who took them.
www.motherjones.com
June 23, 2025 at 5:18 PM
To mark the 3-year anniversary of the Dobbs decision, I published a guide on all the ways doctors, nonprofits, pilots, and ordinary people are helping people from banned states access reproductive healthcare. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Isabela Dias
Humanitarian parole is over. Now comes the fear.
"This order gives ICE a green light to grab these immigrants and deport them to the hell they escaped from in a legal way.”
"This order gives ICE a green light to grab these immigrants and deport them to the hell they escaped from in a legal way.”
Humanitarian parole is over. Now comes the fear.
Communities in Florida already were suffering after all the other anti-immigrant threats by Trump.
www.motherjones.com
June 5, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Humanitarian parole is over. Now comes the fear.
"This order gives ICE a green light to grab these immigrants and deport them to the hell they escaped from in a legal way.”
"This order gives ICE a green light to grab these immigrants and deport them to the hell they escaped from in a legal way.”
NEW: Frizgeralth de Jesús Cornejo Pulgar was among the 238 Venezuelans removed to El Salvador without due process in mid-March. He has no criminal history or a final order of deportation.
On Friday, a US immigration judge terminated his asylum case, effectively ejecting him from the legal system.
On Friday, a US immigration judge terminated his asylum case, effectively ejecting him from the legal system.
Trump disappeared them to El Salvador. Now, they're being erased by immigration courts.
At least 14 cases of Venezuelans sent to a Salvadoran mega prison have been dismissed by US immigration judges.
www.motherjones.com
June 2, 2025 at 6:13 PM
NEW: Frizgeralth de Jesús Cornejo Pulgar was among the 238 Venezuelans removed to El Salvador without due process in mid-March. He has no criminal history or a final order of deportation.
On Friday, a US immigration judge terminated his asylum case, effectively ejecting him from the legal system.
On Friday, a US immigration judge terminated his asylum case, effectively ejecting him from the legal system.