From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
On Sunday, a passenger might glance at the driver in the rear view mirror and ask the usual: "Good weekend, mate? Get up to much?" For 37-year-old Bilal Fawaz, the answer could be a little different than the usual traffic complaints or remarks about the drizzle. "I became a British champion. And then I drove this Uber," he plans to say, using the same casual tone he might use to discuss a bottleneck on the North Circular.
It was a dark week for the prime minister, with the departure of his longtime chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, who had become a deeply divisive figure and who took the hit for the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, despite his links to the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But last Thursday morning had for a change been dominated by a different story.
Arthur Liu watched in person along with millions at home on Feb. 19 as his 20-year-old daughter completed a magical run to win the U.S.'s first women's figure skating gold medal since 2002 with a show-stopping performance at the Milan Cortina Games. Arthur Liu shared a joyous hug with his four other children as they roared in celebration for Alysa Liu's feat.
In this photo illustration, an iPhone screen shows various social media apps. Anna Barclay / Getty Images Support justice-driven, accurate and transparent news - make a quick donation to Truthout today! This article was originally published by Documented, an independent, non-profit newsroom dedicated to reporting with and for immigrant communities in New York City. The original article can be accessed here.
some of the city's newest residents lined up outside of immigration court with bated breath as they prepared to face their legally mandated hearings with a judge with the constant threat of masked ICE agents stalking the halls. But on Ash Wednesday, before heading into court, many went to Arias to receive the sign of the cross on their forehead the symbol worn by millions of Christians on the first day of the season of Lent, a time for spiritual reflection and renewal.
An aide to Gov. Maura Healey sued the Trump administration last month, arguing that the government's "arbitrary and capricious" visa application policies could cause her to lose her job. The administration responded this week, contending that Massachusetts federal district court does not have proper jurisdiction and that "national security concerns" outweigh any harm to her. Valentina Amaro Bowser, an immigrant from Venezuela who worked as a media director for Healey beginning in 2023, is suing the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
In October 2025, New York published a series of photographs taken by Stephanie Keith inside of 26 Federal Plaza, where, for months, migrants appearing for routine court hearings were, seemingly at random, detained by federal officers. Keith spent most days stationed in the hallways of the 12th and 14th floors, watching as people arrived, stepped inside their respective courtrooms, and, upon exiting, were muscled away by agents.
The Atlantic's staff writer Nick Miroff is the recipient of the 2025 George Polk Award for immigration reporting for his coverage of the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Miroff broke the story in March 2025 that the Trump administration had erroneously deported Abrego Garcia to a Salvadoran prison despite his protected immigration status, and reported on developments before and after Abrego Garcia's return to the United States.
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke) A Kansas mayor who has supported President Donald Trump for years is now facing years behind bars after state prosecutors said he voted as an illegal immigrant. The New York Times ran a feature on Joe Ceballos this week, who is currently facing multiple charges of voter fraud just months after being re-elected mayor of Coldwater, Kansas, which has a population of 687. The 55-year-old Ceballos is now battling three counts of election perjury and three counts of voting without being qualified.
Inside Government is a Q&A series that gives New Yorkers a glimpse inside the role of the elected officials who represent them. This edition of Inside Government with PoliticsNY features United States Representative Nydia Velázquez. Representative Velázquez serves the Seventh Congressional District which includes parts of Queens and Brooklyn. What are your top legislative priorities for 2026? Immigration, foreign policy and housing
With a forlorn smile, Dailemas Natali Montana Andrade watched her 6-year-old daughter play with other children inside St. Peter's Church in Midtown. Shouldering the weight of the world, she sat with a dozen other families awaiting immigration counsel. At 27, Montana Andrade has been fighting two battles: one for herself to achieve the American Dream, and the other for the return of one of her beloved daughters.
"There doesn't seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for the office," Obama said in the interview, which was posted on YouTube Saturday. "There's this sort of clown show that's happening in social media and on television," Obama added, describing much of the noise around Trump's presidency as a "distraction".
Well, I think it's not just that we cover issues that Americans actually care about in a way that's truly factual, but we cover the issues that I think for so long legacy media has just routinely ignored, Winters replied, adding: I think you can sort of see the convergence of that with what President Trump talked about in 2016, which was immigration, trade deals, and the idea that our government should actually work to represent us
He made a statement after to apologise. I'm not commenting on what Sir Jim Ratcliffe said because after that he said what exactly he wanted to say, but all around the world [it is] the problem that we have in all the countries. We treat immigrants or people who come from other countries as the problem for problems that our countries have and it is a big, big, big, big, big problem.
Sometimes opportunities come in the place that you were born and the place that you go. That is why the place you were born doesn't make a difference. Most people run away from their countries for the problems that are in their country, not because they want to leave. The more we embrace other cultures, truly embrace it, then we will have a better society - I do not have any doubts about that.
Surge overkill: The administration will end its savage immigration crackdown in Minnesota, border czar Tom Homan announced yesterday. Mary Moriarty, the county attorney for Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, said her office would continue to investigate offenses by federal officers. ( MPR News) Trump administration officials hope their retreat will blunt Democratic calls for reforms to Department of Homeland Security forces. ( Politico)
Most American dairy cows are milked by immigrants. On Dale Hemminger's farm in upstate New York, the cows are milked by robots. When a cow wants to be milked, it walks up to a machine that cleans its udder, attaches cups to its teats, draws the milk and dispenses a treat. In a barn that Hemminger plans to open this year, other robots will roam the floor like little automated pooper scoopers, picking up manure.
Ratcliffe has apologised for his choice of language but the FA are looking into whether he has brought the game into disrepute. In an interview with Sky News this week, Ratcliffe said: The UK is being colonised. It's costing too much money. The UK has been colonised by immigrants. As Ratcliffe is a director at United, the comments he made come under FA jurisdiction and are being looked into.
You can't have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in. I mean, the UK is being colonised. It's costing too much money. The UK has been colonised by immigrants. However, the comments sparked controversy and were heavily criticised by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and football campaign group Kick It Out.
In 2020, the year Sir Jim Ratcliffe moved his huge fortune to Monaco, migrants in the United Kingdom made tax contributions estimated to be worth around 20bn. Sir Jim, by jetting off to a tax haven on the French Riviera, saved himself an estimated 4bn. It took some brass neck for the expat owner of Ineos and co-owner of Manchester United football club to lecture the country, using inflammatory and offensive language, on the perils of immigration.
You can't have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in. I mean, the UK has been colonised. It's costing too much money. The UK has been colonised by immigrants, really, hasn't it? I mean, the population of the UK was 58 million in 2020, now it's 70 million. That's 12 million people.
"A participant shall at all times act in the best interests of the game and shall not act in any manner which is improper or brings the game into disrepute or use any one, or a combination of, violent conduct, serious foul play, threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting words or behaviour."
Harvard CAPS/Harris (Jan. 28-29): Mark Penn's polling firm found that 51% of registered voters say Trump is doing a worse job than Biden, compared with 49% who say he's doing better. Rasmussen Reports (Feb. 2-4): The Trump-friendly pollster is fending off MAGA criticism after finding that 48% of likely voters say Biden did a better job as president, compared with 40% who chose Trump. Another 8% said the two presidents have performed "about the same."
