Governments worldwide are restricting press freedom, with the U.S. experiencing a drastic decline under the second Trump administration. Funding cuts to public media, lawsuits, federal censorship, and confrontations with ICE have become the norm. Journalists of color, Latino and immigrant journalists are disproportionately impacted. In this episode, we are joined by Maritza Félix, the founder and director of Conecta Arizona, and José Zamora, the regional director for the Americas at the Committee to Protect Journalists to discuss the state of press freedom and what it means for our democracy.

This story is part of our democracy and election coverage: The Latino Factor: How We Vote.

Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio program in the U.S., centering Latino stories and hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa.

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Estefany Rodríguez, a Nashville-based journalist from Colombia, was arrested and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement this past March. In this episode, Estefany gave Latino USA a shocking account about her detention and the inhuman conditions she experienced and witnessed. Estefany’s lawyers argue that her detention was retaliation for her reporting on immigration enforcement and ICE operations.

We discuss what Estefany’s case shows about the conditions of immigration detention, and what it means that immigrant journalists could be targeted for their reporting in the United States.

This story is part of our democracy and election coverage: The Latino Factor: How We Vote.

Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio program in the U.S., centering Latino stories and hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa.

Follow the show to get every episode.

Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for exclusive episodes, sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes chisme on Latino USA and all our podcasts.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this intimate reflection, Colombian-American producer Tasha Sandoval takes listeners with her as she returns to her native Colombia, after a lifetime of living in the United States. For a few years, Tasha has had a growing desire: to find out what life would be like if she relocated to the country her parents left, to go back to her homeland. And she’s not the only one– Latin American diasporas in the U.S., including many U.S.-born Latinos, are seeking connections to their ancestral homes Tune in as Tasha tries to answer a question: What happens when you are willing to return home?

Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio program in the U.S., centering Latino stories and hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa.

Follow the show to get every episode.

Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for exclusive episodes, sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes chisme on Latino USA and all our podcasts.

Follow us on TikTok and YouTube. Subscribe to our newsletter.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.