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I am a bilingual writer and journalist with eight years of experience reporting for local, statewide, and national outlets. My work features in The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Texas Tribune, WUNC News, and the Border Belt Independent. Born in Miami, Florida to Cuban and Nicaraguan parents, I cover immigration, education, and culture across the U.S., using deep storytelling and personal narratives to break down complex issues.

Border Belt Independent •

Facing Backlash, Robeson County Group Reverses Decision to Halt Pre-K Funding 

More than 70 people crowded into the Robeson County Partnership for Children’s office in Lumberton on Friday to urge the group to allow the public school district to maintain Shining Stars, a pre-K program that serves low-income children and children with disabilities.  


The partnership’s pre-K committee had voted 5-3 on October 13 to end its $1 million partnership with Public Schools of Robeson County, which runs the program in Lumberton and Pembroke.  Some committee members cited a Septembe...
Border Belt Independent •

Columbus County Sheriff’s Office Says it Worked with ICE on Traffic Checkpoint

Javier Carbajal says he was driving home on Thursday with a co-worker from their job as electricians when they encountered about a dozen Columbus County Sheriff’s Office vehicles at a checkpoint in Tabor City.  


Carbajal said deputies asked for proof the men are U.S. citizens. Carbajal, who is of Mexican heritage but was born in North Carolina, showed them his driver’s license. But deputies detained Edgar Barrera Guizar, an undocumented immigrant from Oaxaca, Mexico who has lived in the U.S....
Border Belt Independent •

Remembering the Life and Death of Sara Graham

Kirsten Locklear Oxendine was working her shift as a Robeson County 911 dispatcher on February 4, 2015, when she answered a call about a missing 18-year-old woman. 


Although she had grown accustomed to answering heart-wrenching calls, something about the disappearance of Sara Graham stuck with Locklear Oxendine. 


Graham, a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina who had moved to Robeson County six months earlier, was the daughter and stepdaughter of local sheriff’s deputies. She was l...
Border Belt Independent •

In Some Parts of N.C., Majority-Black Public Schools Are First on the Chopping Block

For many families, the last day of school before summer break is marked by feelings of joy and accomplishment, a time to check off another milestone in their children’s educational journey. But at East Arcadia School in Bladen County, sadness and frustration loomed over the final day of classes on June 4. 


Students won’t return to the school this fall. The Bladen County school board voted 5-4 in March to close it and send most of the 59 students to Clarkton School of Discovery 24 miles away....
Border Belt Independent •

Bladen County School With Long History of Educating Black Students Could Close

Kenneth Keith walked up to the speaker’s podium on Monday donning a bright red-and-white varsity jacket with “1969 East Arcadia Alum” embroidered on the front. 


Keith had a message for the Bladen County school board during a public hearing on a proposal to close East Arcadia School: Please don’t close East Arcadia School.  


“If you delay it, you can listen to what other people have to say and look at some other plans here,” he said. “You can reinvest in the school.”


The school district...
The Washington Post •

Matthew Perry died of the effects of ketamine, autopsy says

The actor’s death was an accident, the autopsy found. He was found unresponsive in his hot tub, and the manner of death was labeled “drug and drowning related,” according to the medical examiner’s report. Other contributing factors included coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, a drug used to treat opioid use disorder, the medical examiner wrote in a news release.

The actor’s death was an accident, the autopsy found. He was found unresponsive in his hot tub, and the manner o...
The Washington Post •

Disney World abruptly starts banning third-party tour guides

In the 15 years she has worked as a Disney travel planner and tour operator, Melinda Hanks has built a host of ways to keep her youngest clients enchanted while they explore Disney World.She carries plastic jewels in her black fanny pack, ready to be thrown in the air once Ariel starts showing off her treasure-filled grotto on the “The Little Mermaid” ride at Magic Kingdom. And with fake cobwebs all over her blond hair, Hanks has kids convinced she tussled with a ghost at the Haunted Mansion.

I...
The Washington Post •

State Department warns Americans not to travel to Lebanon

The U.S. State Department has raised its travel warning for Lebanon to its most severe level, advising Americans on Tuesday “do not travel” there because of rocket, missile and artillery exchanges between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.

The U.S. State Department has raised its travel warning for Lebanon to its most severe level, advising Americans on Tuesday “do not travel” there because of rocket, missile and artillery exchanges between Israel and the Iranian-backed mil...
Los Angeles Times •

This protester couldn't save Nicaragua, but he's restoring an L.A. monument to its beloved poet

Using a paintbrush and a spatula, Alex Vanegas smeared cleaning solution over a brass bust of the Nicaraguan poet and national idol Rubén Darío. The bust, stationed in a park south of downtown L.A., had been marred with rust that had spread across its backside. Gray stains tarnished Darío’s brocaded waistcoat, and a long, staggered crack ran along his head. Vanegas first glimpsed the statue days after arriving in Los Angeles less than a year ago. One of the best-known dissidents against the Nica...
Latino Reporter •

Quinceañera vendors overwhelmed by demand as pandemic restrictions ease

LOS ANGELES – It was an hour past the time when she would typically be clocking off her eight-hour shift, and Karina Dominguez was threading a new needle on her Singer sewing machine, the untouched satin fabric laid out before her. 


In half an hour, a 16-year-old girl would walk through the shop’s doors ready to try on her tightly-fitted quinceañera gown. Dominguez had to work fast.


She gathered her scissors and measuring tape, stared back at the ticking clock and began to envision the int...
The Texas Tribune •

Gov. Greg Abbott's veto of Legislative funding hits 2,100 Texas staffers

Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.When Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed funding for Texas’ legislative branch, he said he was taking the drastic action as retribution after more than 30 Democrats walked out of the regular session, killing a GOP priority voting bill.But the veto of the Legislature’s funding reaches far beyond the $600 monthly stipend for the more than 30 House Democrats in Abbott’s crosshairs. It goes further than t...
The Texas Tribune •

Texas border wall may not be feasible, or even legal

Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.Gov. Greg Abbott’s announcement Thursday that Texas would build a border wall to stem the flow of migrants through its southern border has sparked denunciations, confusion and threats of legal action.“States don’t have authority over immigration and our borders, that’s a federal authority,” said Domingo Garcia, national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens. “It’s not c...
The Texas Tribune •

Texas-Mexico border wall will be built by the state, Gov. Greg Abbott says

Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday that Texas will build a border wall along the state’s boundary with Mexico — but provided no details on where or when.Abbott declared his plans during a press conference in Del Rio. He said he would discuss the plans next week. The Biden administration issued a proclamation that stopped border wall construction on his first day of office.Abbott announced...
The Reporter: The Student Newspaper at Miami Dade •

ICE Directive Puts Fate Of International Students At MDC In Jeopardy

When Victor Hugo Batistela moved more than 4,000 miles from his home in São Paulo, Brazil three years ago, it was to attend school in the United States.
Batistela has taken full advantage, maintaining a 4.0 GPA in The Honors College at Wolfson Campus.  
But now, the 18-year old’s dream of attending Cornell University might be on hold. 
On Monday, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program—part of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement—issued guidelines that would force international students...
The Reporter: The Student Newspaper at Miami Dade •

Haitian Native Finds New Home On MDC Basketball Court

Dev Ostrowski can’t imagine his life had he not been adopted from an orphanage in Haiti. 
He recalls his time in a crowded orphanage near Port-au-Prince until adoptive parents Steven and Susan Ostrowski brought him to their suburban home in Connecticut. 
“It makes you so appreciative of so many things because I ended up here,” Ostrowski said. “Think about it. If I was in Haiti, I would have never thought about this moment right now. Just knowing what you’ve already been through, you can use it t...