WLRN News presents a highlights package of our 2025 immigration coverage, documenting the seismic shift in American immigration policy and its profound impact on the South Florida community. Through "The Human Cost of a New Immigration Era," Americas Editor Tim Padgett went beyond the headlines of federal mandates to uncover the granular, often harrowing reality of life for those caught in a rapidly expanding enforcement net.
South Florida serves as the epicenter for these policy changes, housing some of the largest Venezuelan, Haitian, and Central American populations in the country. This collection of coverage began in March by exposing the breakdown of due process, where a simple tattoo was used to justify the summary deportation of someone to a high-security prison in El Salvador. As the year progressed, Padgett's reporting for WLRN News tracked the evolution of this crackdown—from the "traps" set within federal immigration offices to the reports of mistreatment at 'Alligator Alcatraz,' a detention facility in the Everglades where WLRN investigated allegations of abuse and neglect.
In this entry you can listen to the audio from the following six reports by WLRN Americas Editor Tim Padgett, originally published March through August 2025:
- Was a Venezuelan deported as a terrorist because of a tattoo celebrating his child?
- Taken by ICE moments after securing a path to legal migrant status: A Honduran's story
- Despite court reprieves, lawful migrants fear Trump will keep fighting to make them deportable
- Can the 'broken promise' principle stop Trump from axing migrants' parole?
- 'They chained me to the ground': Detainees at Alligator Alcatraz allege harsh punishment by guards
- As more migrants self-deport, many say a surge in racism is a key factor
