February 28, 2025

By Marquita Brown

Before sending an immigrant journalist to a sanctuary city to report on the impact of ICE raids, leaders of Feet in 2 Worlds had to weigh safety concerns against the benefits of on-the-ground reporting.

They went back and forth about the issue before deciding to pivot and connect to sources remotely, said Mia Warren, managing director of the nonprofit news organization. The risks weren’t worth it.

“My team is all immigrants of different statuses or children of immigrants. I’m a child of an immigrant,” said Warren, whose mother is Korean. “That means that what’s happening affects us directly and isn’t just something we’re reporting on. Moving through this moment and doing this kind of work, you’re also living through it and experiencing it. That can be very, very intense.”

“It’s not just reporting on the communities. The journalists that we work with are a part of these communities, which completely changes the equation.”

News outlets that focus on immigration and immigrant communities are reporting news and sharing crucial information at a time of marked vulnerability for much of their key audiences — and in some cases, themselves. Reporters may be naturalized citizens or visitors on work visas or even asylum-seekers.

Their work exposes some incongruity with longstanding ideas of journalistic principles of objectivity and engagement. But for an industry struggling with historic levels of distrust and disengagement, they also illustrate ways to deeply connect to news audiences.

Local, immigrant-focused outlets are providing an essential service that can’t be replicated by national media, said Joel Simon, the director of the Journalism Protection Initiative at CUNY’s Craig Newmark School of Journalism.

“Even if the handful of national news organizations who routinely focus on immigration issues continue to cover them in a comprehensive way, there is just no way that they can cover these immigrant communities with the richness and depth that they deserve,” Simon said. “And there’s just no way that they can serve the communities themselves because they don’t engage with this kind of media. It doesn’t reflect their perspective.”

Facing shared threats of immigration crackdowns

Immigrant journalists are uniquely positioned to go beyond traditional news coverage to tell rich stories about the communities they serve.

“It is really a lot more appealing to people, to sources, to talk with those reporters, because they know their story is understood. I mean, these are journalists who had to flee for their lives, so it builds credibility.” — Kathreen Harrison, Amjambo Africa

Warren referred to “this objectivity myth” that she’s encountered throughout her career. Immigrant journalists have “nuance and specificity in their lived experiences that enable them to do deeper reporting than someone who isn’t from that community. That’s not just something that applies to immigrant journalists but whatever your identity is.”

Some noncitizens are more willing to talk to journalists from their country of origin, said Kathreen “Kit” Harrison, co-founder and editor of Amjambo Africa, which is based in Maine. Journalists from Amjambo Africa represent several countries, from Burundi to Sri Lanka, and speak various languages. The publication’s content is available in French, Kinyarwanda, Portuguese, Swahili, Somali, and Spanish.

“It is really a lot more appealing to people, to sources, to talk with those reporters, because they know their story is understood,” Harrison said. “I mean, these are journalists who had to flee for their lives, so it builds credibility.”

Harrison avoids assigning potentially triggering work to her reporters. The team understands they can tell her if they have concerns about an assignment. Amjambo Africa also accepted a funding package from the Knight Foundation that included a psychologist consultation with the team. Harrison said she was surprised by the number of reporters who wanted to participate.

“We cover difficult topics, from families separated by deportations to communities devastated by natural disasters, and that takes a toll on us. There are few opportunities to process what we experience as journalists, and even fewer chances to disconnect from the stories we tell,” she said. “Despite these difficulties, we strive to create an internal support system, reminding each other of the importance of mental and physical well-being. We prioritize breaks when possible, encourage a culture of open communication about work stress, and find ways to redistribute workloads when needed. However, we recognize that we need more structure and resources to address this challenge in a sustainable way.”

Balancing its mission, sustainability, and the staff’s well-being remains one of the biggest changes facing the Spanish-language Enlace Latino NC, Co-founder and Executive Director Paola Jaramillo said.

“Burnout is real. Personally, I feel exhausted by the overwhelming amount of information, and many times, I don’t know where to focus my response,” she said. “As an emerging and relatively new media organization, we lack the resources to provide structured mental health support for our team. We also can’t afford to take much time off, as we operate in a constant state of information urgency, always addressing the next pressing issue. This continuous cycle keeps us in a state of permanent alert.”

Protecting vulnerable immigrant sources

Journalists must also be mindful of how details included in their reporting might affect their sources. The smallest detail in a news report — any inaccurate or conflicting information — can be grounds for denying an asylum application, Harrison said. That’s something other publications tend to not understand, she said: “Any discrepancy can have a huge impact.”

“We explain how and why a new law, executive order, or policy shift impacts their daily lives. Making complex issues clear and relatable ensures that our coverage is useful and accessible to those directly affected.” — Paola Jaramillo, Enlace Latino NC

To protect vulnerable sources, some news outlets allow them levels of anonymity. Amjambo Africa photographers avoid capturing someone’s face without permission. El Tímpano also advises caution against other identifiers such as family names, country of origin, license plates and capturing images in potentially sensitive locations.

Enlace Latino NC builds strategic alliances to better serve communities. “The impact of our journalism is multiplied when we build alliances with community organizations and other media outlets,” Jaramillo said. “These partnerships not only expand the reach of our information but also reinforce trust in our work. When trusted organizations stand behind us, the community is more likely to do the same.”

Enlace Latino NC also focuses on providing context. “We explain how and why a new law, executive order, or policy shift impacts their daily lives,” Jaramillo said. “Making complex issues clear and relatable ensures that our coverage is useful and accessible to those directly affected.”

Meeting sources and key audiences where they are

Communities also respond to the relevance and importance of the information news outlets provide. Scroll through the homepage of an immigration-focused non-profit news outlet, and there likely are headlines promoting practical advice alongside coverage of current events.

A recent Documented article explains how to hire an attorney and pay rent while detained. India Currents lists steps to take if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — ICE — knocks at your door. Amjambo Africa publishes “Know Your Rights” videos in Swahili, French, Spanish, Kinyarwanda, and other languages commonly spoken among Africans and other immigrants in Maine.

“At the moment, that practical information has a lot to do with how to face potential deportation or threats to one’s immigrant status,” said Harrington of Amjambo Africa. “The other focus is on what’s going to happen to programs, services, and things people rely on?”

Enlace Latino NC answers similar questions through online guides that cover topics such as minors’ rights during immigration raids and when to open the door to immigration enforcement officers.

“Our editorial strategy is built on service journalism as a fundamental pillar, ensuring that the immigrant community has access to practical and essential information for their safety and well-being during critical moments,” Jaramillo said. “This approach reinforces our commitment to the community by offering content that goes beyond traditional news coverage and directly responds to their most pressing needs.”

Going beyond traditional news coverage does not mean abandoning journalistic standards. Journalists toe the line between reporting from a clear perspective and producing factual, reliable information their audiences need.

“Our commitment is to the community we serve, which means we cannot remain neutral in the face of disinformation or policies that violate the fundamental rights” of those communities, Jaramillo said. “Our goal is to provide our audience with informational tools that empower them to make well-informed decisions about the issues that impact their lives.”

Upholding “rigorous journalistic standards” is still a key part of the work, Jaramillo continued. Enlace Latino NC clearly distinguishes between news and opinion in its editorial content. The team also adopts “community-centered narratives, amplifying the voices of those who are often marginalized while maintaining a broader context and expert analysis.”

Supporting ‘lifesaving’ journalism on immigration

Providing reliable and factual news reports and resources requires two things many news organizations often lack: funding and staff.

“Immigrants are under attack. Journalists are under attack. When you’re at the crux of both of those identities, we’re in a very fraught time. That’s why immigrant journalists need our support more than ever.” — Mia Warren, Feet in 2 Worlds

Harrison wants Amjambo Africa to produce more informative videos that can go directly to its audience through WhatsApp. She also wants to produce news for other immigrant populations in Maine, such as Syrians and Iraqis, who aren’t served by other news outlets — an expensive expansion.

Those communities are clamoring for news, Harrison said. With enough support, she said, ‘we could do so much more.”

Additional support could help free newsroom leaders from the daily grind of newsgathering to focus on long-term strategic planning and sustainability. If a legacy media outlet has the resources, they should hire an immigrant journalist as a consultant to train staff to cover immigrant communities or handle other tasks such as fact-checking, Warren of Feet in 2 Worlds said. If they can’t hire immigrant journalists, they should pay them and not expect free labor.

“A lot of immigrant news leaders are doing lifesaving work of informing their communities,” she said. “Whether it’s ICE raids, access to resources, debunking misinformation, they’re working really hard,” Warren said. “Immigrant media needs to be invested in, and I mean money. I mean, not a $2,000 grant here or a $2,000 grant there.”

Simon, who was formerly the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists and has written books on press freedom, urged philanthropists and others who “care about the way media functions in a democratic society” to support efforts to help news organizations and individual journalists prepare for what he called a coming “onslaught” of attacks on press freedom and media safety.

“The challenge in this moment is to not let fear overwhelm you,” Simon said. He recommended that news organizations conduct a risk assessment with their staff to focus on what might happen, the likelihood of it happening, and how the organization will respond if it does.

Risk assessment, Simon said, “can help you focus the mind, help you feel like you’re doing what you can, develop the muscles you might need to activate if you do come under attack.”

The process of conducting a risk assessment can lead to stronger relationships between newsroom leadership and staff and also with others that can support the organization when needed.

“It’s not like a magic bullet,” Simon said. “But I think it’s the best way of having a constructive conversation about what are the genuine challenges that we face in this environment? And what are our obligations as journalists, and the level of risk that we need to tolerate or accept, or at least manage in order to do our work?”

Supporting immigrant journalists acknowledges the importance of their work and how they’re uniquely positioned to produce it amid current political and industry challenges.

“Immigrants are under attack. Journalists are under attack. When you’re at the crux of both of those identities, we’re in a very fraught time,” Warren said. “That’s why immigrant journalists need our support more than ever.”

The Institute for Nonprofit News maintains a directory of member newsrooms at FindYourNews.org, where people can search for outlets that cover immigration nationally and locally in communities across the U.S.

INN also curates a Press Freedom & Safety Hub, where journalists can access legal, safety and mental health resources.

Sharene Azimi contributed reporting for this story, which was originally published on INNsights.