In two moving pieces of journalism in the last week, Associated Press journalists cast a powerful spotlight on the toll of White House immigration policies on young children.
One story started with a brainstorming question posed by immigration beat team reporter Nomaan Merchant to enterprise editor Pauline Arrillaga: Could we profile a single block or community where multiple immigrants had been picked up, and explore the impact of those arrests?
Through source work, Merchant zeroed in on a community in Kentucky that was the site of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid. One by one, Merchant built a network of contacts of those affected by the two-day operation in December.
One by one, Merchant built a network of contacts of those affected by the two-day operation last December.
Video journalist Manuel Valdes and photographer Greg Bull joined Merchant on a trip to the community to chronicle the effects of the raid. Their reporting turned up examples of people who were arrested by happenstance, and with no criminal records – despite the administration’s mantra that the raids are for public safety. Perhaps the most poignant reporting and images focused on a 4-year-old boy whose father was arrested.
Edgar Perez Ramirez, left, stands with his 4-year-old son, Franco, in their home in Covington, Ky., on April 28, 2018. Perez left San Marcos, Guatemala, for Kentucky after his father was killed. He was heading to work when agents stopped and arrested him in December.
AP Photo / Gregory Bull
Franco Perez walks past his mother, Carmelinda, in their apartment in Covington, Ky., on April 28, 2018. Franco didn't go to preschool for 15 days after his father's arrest because Carmelinda was too afraid to leave the house to take him.
AP Photo / Gregory Bull
Two women cross a street in Covington, Ky., on April 27, 2018. Covington was one of five cities where ICE arrested immigrants in the U.S. illegally during a two-day operation in December 2017.
AP Photo / Gregory Bull
A man walks by a framed poster of a U.S. flag inside the Tercer Dia restaurant in Covington, Ky., on April 28, 2018. Restaurants like this serve a community of Guatemalan immigrants that was hit hard by ICE's December operation.
AP Photo / Gregory Bull
Don Sherman of the local Immigrant Dignity Coalition talks to a Guatemalan immigrant outside a home in Florence, Ky., on May 1, 2018. …“We don’t know what's going to happen in the future,” Sherman says. “We're doing what is like a triage ... and there's still a lot of suffering.”
AP Photo / Gregory Bull
A poster announcing available jobs hangs in the window of the store La Guadalupana in Florence, Ky., on April 27, 2018. The manager of one warehouse says immigrant workers are prized for their work ethic and reliability.
AP Photo / Gregory Bull
School social worker Kerry McHugh talks to children at John G. Carlisle Elementary School in Covington, Ky., on April 27, 2018. McHugh and other people who work in northern Kentucky schools have had to respond to families in crisis after losing a parent in the raid.
AP Photo / Gregory Bull
An employee sorts through boxes at the Win.It America warehouse in Walton, Ky., on May 1, 2018. After an ICE agent arrested one of the company's employees, the warehouse lost 28 workers over several weeks and struggled to meet its shipping deadline.
AP Photo / Gregory Bull
Children play at recess at John G. Carlisle Elementary School in Covington, Ky., on April 27, 2018. At least three students here had a parent arrested in December when ICE agents raided Covington and four other cities.
AP Photo / Gregory Bull
A set of crosses are displayed for sale at La Guadalupana in Florence, Ky., on April 27, 2018. Many people who had a relative arrested in the raid or left in fear that might be next have turned to their faith.
AP Photo / Gregory Bull
A sign in the cafeteria welcomes children at the John G. Carlisle Elementary School in Covington, Ky., on April 27, 2018. After agents arrested the parent of two students at the school, one of the students told an interpreter that they only had eggs to eat in the house.
AP Photo / Gregory Bull
Sister Juana Mendez, center, speaks to a Guatemalan family in her office in Florence, Ky., on April 30, 2018. Mendez's Sisters of Charity helped families affected by the ICE raid pay rent and bills, and organized a session to help parents prepare for what would happen to their children if they were deported.
AP Photo / Gregory Bull
Carmelinda Perez tries to sooth her crying son, Franco, after he ran out of the house looking for his father in Florence, Ky., on April 28, 2018. "We continue with fear," says his father, who was among roughly two dozen people arrested during and immediately after the December 2017 ICE operation.
AP Photo / Gregory Bull
Meanwhile, Arizona immigration reporter Astrid Galvan was looking for ways to tell the stories of children separated from their parents at the border. She found a juvenile docket in Phoenix immigration court and camped out there for the day there in pursuit of stories, the only reporter in the courtroom.
What she found was a major story that affected the national debate on immigration – a 1-year-old boy who had a court appearance with a lawyer. Upon seeing the boy, she opened up her notebook and described in vivid detail how he nursed from his bottle, asked his care giver for “agua” and cried when the care giver retrieved his diaper bag. She then captured the money quote as a judge expressed his bafflement at having to advise a defendant of his rights when the defendant was a 1-year-old boy in diapers.
Galvan camped out at Phoenix immigration court – she was the only reporter in the courtroom.
Galvan's story was a smash hit. Front pages in El Paso, Tucson and various cities in Mexico and Latin America. It received shoutouts from Poynter and Columbia Journalism Review as an example of the great work journalists are doing to keep attention on the border and immigration. Stephen Colbert mentioned the story in his monologue and media outlets from far and wide reached out to Galvan for interviews about her coverage.
The raid story received tremendous play as well. It was the front page story in the Cincinnati Enquirer – the media market where the raid occurred. The story averaged an impressive 1:30 engagement time and 23,000+ page views. The more than 200 source matches included big industry names like the Miami Herald. Many of the social interactions are attributed to our own APNews.com, reinforcing the idea that our social medial promotion efforts paid off.
For enterprising and compelling stories that drove the narrative on immigration policy, Galvan, Merchant, Valdes and Bull win this week’s Best of the States award.