by Max Blau ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. The mother of an Arizona man who died after being unable to find mental health treatment is suing his health insurer, saying it broke the law by publishing false information that misled its customers.Ravi Coutinho, a 36-year-old entrepreneur, bought insurance from Ambetter, the most popular plan on HealthCare.gov, because it seemed to offer plenty of mental health and addiction treatment options near his home in Phoenix. But after struggling for months in early 2023 to find in-network care covered by his plan, he wasnt able to find a therapist. In May 2023, after 21 calls with the insurer without getting the treatment he sought, he was found dead in his apartment. His death was ruled an accident, likely due to complications from excessive drinking.Coutinho was the subject of a September 2024 investigation by ProPublica that showed how he was trapped in whats commonly known as a ghost network. Many of the mental health providers that Ambetter listed as accepting its insurance were not actually able to see him. ProPublicas investigation also revealed how customer service representatives and care managers repeatedly failed to connect Coutinho to the care he needed after he and his mother asked for help. The story was part of a yearlong series, Americas Mental Barrier, that investigated the ways insurers employed practices that interfered with their customers ability to access mental health care.The lawsuit, filed on May 23 in Maricopa County by Coutinhos mother, Barbara Webber, accused the insurer Centene, along with the subsidiary that oversaw her sons plan, Health Net of Arizona, of publishing an inaccurate and misleading provider directory. The suit also accused the companies of breaking state and federal laws, including ones that require directories to be kept accurate.The errors in the Ambetter directory gave Coutinho a false impression about the kinds of mental health care that were actually available, the lawsuit said. According to the lawsuit, the failure to correct those errors concealed the fact that Centene companies had provided insufficient services through the Ambetter plan.The lawsuit draws upon the findings of ProPublicas investigation, summarizing Coutinhos repeated attempts to find a therapist in Ambetters network and to get Centene representatives to connect him with a mental health provider that he could actually see. The lawsuit also describes how Arizona insurance regulators had previously informed Health Net of Arizona that it had failed to maintain accurate provider directories. Health Net of Arizona promised to correct the errors. Regulators did not fine the insurer and declined to answer ProPublicas questions about whether the Centene subsidiary addressed their concerns. Centene and Health Net of Arizona didnt respond to multiple requests for comment on the lawsuit. ProPublica previously reached out to Centene and Health Net of Arizona more than two dozen times and sent them both a detailed list of questions. None of their media representatives responded.One of the 25 largest companies in America, Centene and its subsidiaries have been accused in past lawsuits of purposefully misrepresenting the number of in-network providers by publishing inaccurate directories. Centene lawyers have previously denied such claims in two of the bigger cases, in Illinois and California. Both cases are ongoing. The top trade group for the industry, AHIP, has told lawmakers that companies contact in-network providers to ensure the listings are accurate. AHIP also stated that the companies could correct inaccuracies faster if providers did a better job updating their listings. Providers have told ProPublica, however, that insurers dont always remove their names from insurer lists when they officially request to leave their networks.Mel C. Orchard III, a partner with The Spence Law Firm who is representing Webber, told ProPublica that he intended to bring the case before a jury to hold Centene accountable for negligence and consumer fraud. The lawsuit does not state a specified amount that Webber is seeking in damages.Ravi is an example of the abject failure of the insurance industry to do what its supposed to do and that is to insure us in times when we need them the most, Orchard told ProPublica. Instead they prey upon our vulnerabilities; that is what happened in this case. Watch a live performance of Max Blaus investigation of Ravi Coutinhos death, performed by actors Oscar Isaac, Kathryn Erbe and Bill Camp, produced by Theater of War Productions and presented by WNYC.

by Ginny Monk and Dave Altimari, The Connecticut Mirror This article was produced for ProPublicas Local Reporting Network in partnership with The Connecticut Mirror. Sign up for Dispatches to get our stories in your inbox every week. The Connecticut Senate on Friday overwhelmingly passed the most significant reform to the states towing policies in decades, a measure lawmakers said would help protect drivers from predatory towing.House Bill 7162 overhauls the states century-old towing statutes and comes in response to an investigation by the Connecticut Mirror and ProPublica that showed how state towing laws have come to favor tow companies at the expense of drivers. It takes several steps to make it harder to tow vehicles from private property and easier for drivers to retrieve their vehicles after a tow.The bill, which passed the House of Representatives last week with wide bipartisan support and little debate, sailed through the Senate on a 33-3 vote. Its reform that ensures transparency, it ensures fairness and accountability, but does all of this without undercutting the essential work that ethical and professional tow operators do each and every day for us, keeping our roads safe and our properties accessible, said Transportation Committee Co-chair Sen. Christine Cohen, D-Guilford. Weve learned over the years, and particularly over the last year due to some investigative reporting, of some particularly egregious circumstances.A spokesperson for Gov. Ned Lamont said the governor plans to sign the bill into law.Republican Sen. Tony Hwang, ranking member of the Transportation Committee, also spoke in favor of the bill. The bill got about a half hour of debate ahead of passage, and there were no comments in opposition.Hwang, who represents Fairfield, said the bill strikes the right balance between the interests of towers and consumers.I want to acknowledge that our press had an important part to bring out transparency and some of the bad actions, and I think in this bill we address some of those issues, Hwang said. We took measures to ensure that there is due process, and what has been discovered to have occurred in a criminal action, I believe, should never, ever happen again, to undermine the trust that we have to have in this process.Connecticuts law allows tow companies to begin the process to sell vehicles after just 15 days. CT Mirror and ProPublica found that it is one of the shortest windows in the nation, and that the law has particularly impacted people with low incomes. Reporters spoke with people who said towing companies required them to pay in cash or wouldnt allow them to get personal belongings out of their vehicles. Many couldnt afford to get their towed vehicles back and lost transportation or jobs because of it.After weeks of negotiations, lawmakers said they came to a compromise with the towing industry. Two bills were merged to include massive reforms to towing procedures from private property and rate increases for highway tows that typically follow car accidents.The bill that passed and would take effect Oct. 1 requires tow companies to accept credit cards and doesnt allow them to tow vehicles immediately just because of an expired parking permit or registration. Vehicles cant be towed from private property without notice unless theyre blocking traffic, fire hydrants or parked in an accessible spot.Under the bill, towing companies can still start the sales process for vehicles worth $1,500 or less after 15 days, but they would now have to take more steps to give the owner a chance to claim the vehicle. The Department of Motor Vehicles would be required to check whether the driver filed any complaints about the tow before approving the sale, and the tower would have to send a notice ahead of the sale to the registered owner and lienholders via certified mail, with receipts of delivery.The actual sale couldnt go through until 30 days after the tow.The bill also requires that towers take at least two photos before they tow a vehicle one of the violation that resulted in a tow and another of any damage to the vehicle. Cohen said this would help determine if vehicles had any missing parts before the tow, a seeming nod to the news organizations story about a DMV employee who the agencys investigators found schemed with a towing company to undervalue vehicles and sell them for thousands in profit. (The employee denied he did anything wrong, and the agency ultimately took no action in that case.)The bill also establishes a working group to study how to handle proceeds from the sales of towed vehicles. State law requires that towing companies hold profits in escrow for a year in case the vehicle owner claims them, then remit that money to the state. But CT Mirror and ProPublica found the DMV never set up a system for that process to occur.Additionally, it calls for the DMV to work with the states attorney general to develop a consumer bill of rights on towing.Tow companies have to be available after hours and on weekends to allow people to get their vehicles or personal property. In a story published this month, CT Mirror and ProPublica reported that tow truck companies sometimes hold onto peoples belongings to pressure them into paying their towing fees.Under the new law, drivers will be allowed to retrieve their belongings from their vehicles, even if they havent paid the towing fees. State regulations currently allow vehicle owners to retrieve only personal property which is essential to the health or welfare of any person.Cohen listed many of the issues outlined in the news outlets reporting as some of the worst abuses of predatory towing practices.Timothy Vibert, president of Towing and Recovery Professionals of Connecticut, said the industry initially opposed the bill because towers believed it would impede their ability to tow cars and clear traffic. He also said towers werent involved enough in the original draft. But they worked with lawmakers on the bill over several weeks, and he issued a statement in support this week.The people of Connecticut deserve safety, accountability and transparency when their cars are towed, and so do the people who work for Connecticuts towing companies who risk our lives every day to make our roads safe, Vibert said. We all need clear, easy-to-follow rules.DMV Commissioner Tony Guerrera commended the House and Senate.The DMV fully supports this initiative, as it not only enhances the framework for fair and equitable enforcement of towing laws but also provides a clear path forward for our agency to advance these efforts, Guerrera said in a statement.Cohen said that the bill aims to fix a broken process, and that lawmakers had worked on some aspects of it for years before the bill passed.News of the bills passage brought relief to Melissa Anderson, who was featured in a CT Mirror and ProPublica story after her car was towed and sold from her Hamden apartment because of an expired parking permit.The bill requires a 72-hour grace period before a car can be towed for an expired parking sticker to allow people time to get a new one.Im glad we made a difference, Anderson said. This is going to help a lot of people.The bill next heads to Lamonts desk.The Governor appreciates all the work that went into this legislation, which provides greater protections for the public and their vehicles, Lamonts spokesperson, Rob Blanchard, said in a text message. He plans on signing the legislation once it reaches his desk.

by Anjeanette Damon and Mollie Simon ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. The former operator of one of the largest HomeVestors of America franchises has agreed to plead guilty to federal wire fraud in connection with a sprawling Ponzi scheme targeting people who believed they were investing in his real estate empire.Federal prosecutors in Texas identified 80 victims defrauded of nearly $40 million by Charles Carrier since 2018. Though Carrier agreed to plead guilty to only one count of felony wire fraud involving one $200,000 transfer, he admitted to the broader scheme as part of the deal and agreed to pay restitution the amount of which has yet to be determined. The charge also carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence and the possibility of millions of dollars in fines. A federal judge will decide the sentence.Carrier owned Dallas-based C&C Residential Properties, one of the most successful franchises in the HomeVestors chain, which is known for its We Buy Ugly Houses slogan. HomeVestors terminated Carriers franchise in October 2024, after receiving a tip that he had been defrauding investors. It has since sued him for infringing on the companys assiduously protected trademark. Carrier has not yet responded to the lawsuit.In a story published this month, ProPublica detailed how Carrier bilked millions of dollars from scores of investors across Texas, including both wealthy businesspeople and older adults of more modest means who depended on the investment income for daily expenses. According to new court documents, losses to individual investors range from $35,000 to $11.6 million. The plea agreement was filed in court two weeks after the article was published. Carrier took loans from investors to finance his house-flipping business, initially using the money to buy and renovate older houses to sell for a profit. Carrier promised each loan would be secured by an ownership interest in a house and that he would pay 8%-10% interest in monthly installments over the course of the loan.For many years, investors received reliable monthly payments. In 2018, however, Carrier started taking out multiple loans on individual properties, sometimes providing investors with deeds he never recorded and racking up debt far beyond the value of the houses, according to court documents. Carrier also admitted to forging signatures and notary stamps so he could sell properties without notifying the investors or paying off their notes, according to court documents. Carrier admitted to using investor money to pay personal credit card balances, business operating expenses and interest obligations to earlier investors, according to court documents.The fact that Carriers plea deal contains only a single charge left some victims even more angry.Thats ridiculous, said Ron Carver, who lost $300,000 and whose father lost $200,000 before he died. They will let him plead out and he might get a slap on the wrist.A spokesperson for the U.S. attorneys office said they cant comment on a pending case.Carriers lawyer, Tom Pappas, said it wasnt Carriers intention to defraud anybody of their money.Pretty much all of his money was put into his business to try and make it successful so investors would be successful, Pappas said, adding that Carrier didnt fund a lavish lifestyle. Without providing details, Pappas said changes in the real estate market overtook Carrier and the thing just got away from him.Although Carrier agreed to plead to only one count, the entirety of the fraud identified by prosecutors will be considered by the judge during sentencing.Pappas said Carrier is committed to repaying every investor every dollar he can to make them whole. Pappas said he expects the restitution will likely be much lower than the $40 million in losses identified by prosecutors, as the lawyers are wrangling over the value of the investors losses. In February, Carrier signed an asset liquidation agreement allowing prosecutors to oversee the sale of his remaining properties, with the proceeds going toward restitution.Pappas said he expects Carrier will serve time in prison.Depending on the amount of the loss, theres a strong possibility he may go to jail, he said. But again, we are doing everything we can to make everybody as whole as we can.

by Mica Rosenberg, ProPublica; Perla Trevizo, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune; Melissa Sanchez and Gabriel Sandoval, ProPublica; Ronna Rsquez, Alianza Rebelde Investiga; and Adrin Gonzlez, Cazadores de Fake News Leer en espaol. ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published.This article is co-published with The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsroom that informs and engages with Texans. Sign up for The Brief Weekly to get up to speed on their essential coverage of Texas issues. Its also co-published with Alianza Rebelde Investiga (Rebel Alliance Investigates), a coalition of Venezuelan online media outlets, and Cazadores de Fake News (Fake News Hunters), a Venezuelan investigative online news organization. The Trump administration knew that the vast majority of the 238 Venezuelan immigrants it sent to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador in mid-March had not been convicted of crimes in the United States before it labeled them as terrorists and deported them, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security data that has not been previously reported. President Donald Trump and his aides have branded the Venezuelans as rapists, savages, monsters and the worst of the worst. When multiple news organizations disputed those assertions with reporting that showed many of the deportees did not have criminal records, the administration doubled down. It said that its assessment of the deportees was based on a thorough vetting process that included looking at crimes committed both inside and outside the United States. But the governments own data, which was obtained by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and a team of journalists from Venezuela, showed that officials knew that only 32 of the deportees had been convicted of U.S. crimes and that most were nonviolent offenses, such as retail theft or traffic violations. The data indicates that the government knew that only six of the immigrants were convicted of violent crimes: four for assault, one for kidnapping and one for a weapons offense. And it shows that officials were aware that more than half, or 130, of the deportees were not labeled as having any criminal convictions or pending charges; they were labeled as only having violated immigration laws.As for foreign offenses, our own review of court and police records from around the United States and in Latin American countries where the deportees had lived found evidence of arrests or convictions for 20 of the 238 men. Of those, 11 involved violent crimes such as armed robbery, assault or murder, including one man who the Chilean government had asked the U.S. to extradite to face kidnapping and drug charges there. Another four had been accused of illegal gun possession.We conducted a case-by-case review of all the Venezuelan deportees. Its possible there are crimes and other information in the deportees backgrounds that did not show up in our reporting or the internal government data, which includes only minimal details for nine of the men. Theres no single publicly available database for all crimes committed in the U.S., much less abroad. But everything we did find in public records contradicted the Trump administrations assertions as well. ProPublica and the Tribune, along with Venezuelan media outlets Cazadores de Fake News (Fake News Hunters) and Alianza Rebelde Investiga (Rebel Alliance Investigates), also obtained lists of alleged gang members that are kept by Venezuelan law enforcement officials and the international law enforcement agency Interpol. Those lists include some 1,400 names. None of the names of the 238 Venezuelan deportees matched those on the lists. The hasty removal of the Venezuelans and their incarceration in a third country has made this one of the most consequential deportations in recent history. The court battles over whether Trump has the authority to expel immigrants without judicial review have the potential to upend how this country handles all immigrants living in the U.S., whether legally or illegally. Officials have suggested publicly that, to achieve the presidents goals of deporting millions of immigrants, the administration was considering suspending habeas corpus, the longstanding constitutional right allowing people to challenge their detention.Hours before the immigrants were loaded onto airplanes in Texas for deportation, the Trump administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, declaring that the Tren de Aragua prison gang had invaded the United States, aided by the Venezuelan government. It branded the gang a foreign terrorist organization and said that declaration gave the president the authority to expel its members and send them indefinitely to a foreign prison, where they have remained for more than two months with no ability to communicate with their families or lawyers. Lee Gelernt, the lead attorney in the American Civil Liberties Unions legal fight against the deportations, said the removals amounted to a blatant violation of the most fundamental due process principles. He said that under the law, an immigrant who has committed a crime can be prosecuted and removed, but it does not mean they can be subjected to a potentially lifetime sentence in a foreign gulag.White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in response to our findings that ProPublica should be embarrassed that they are doing the bidding of criminal illegal aliens who are a threat, adding that the American people strongly support the presidents immigration agenda. When asked about the differences between the administrations public statements about the deportees and the way they are labeled in government data, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin largely repeated previous public statements. She insisted, without providing evidence, that the deportees were dangerous, saying, These individuals categorized as non-criminals are actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gang members and more they just dont have a rap sheet in the U.S. As for the administrations allegations that Tren de Aragua has attempted an invasion, an analysis by U.S. intelligence officials concluded that the gang was not acting at the direction of the Venezuelan government of Nicols Maduro and that reports suggesting otherwise were not credible. Tulsi Gabbard, Trumps director of national intelligence, fired the reports authors after it became public. Her office, according to news reports, said Gabbard was trying to end the weaponization and politicization of the intelligence community. Our investigation focused on the 238 Venezuelan men who were deported on March 15 to CECOT, the prison in El Salvador, and whose names were on a list first published by CBS News. The government has also sent several dozen other immigrants there, including Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who the government admitted was sent there in error. Courts have ruled that the administration should facilitate his return to the U.S. We interviewed about 100 of the deportees relatives and their attorneys. Many of them had heard from their loved ones on the morning of March 15, when the men believed they were being sent back to Venezuela. They were happy because they would be back home with their families, who were eager to prepare their favorite meals and plan parties. Some of the relatives shared video messages with us and on social media that were recorded inside U.S. detention facilities. In those videos, the detainees said they were afraid that they might be sent to Guantanamo, a U.S. facility on Cuban soil where Washington has held and tortured detainees, including a number that it suspected of plotting the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The Trump administration had sent planes carrying Venezuelan immigrants there earlier this year. They had no idea they were being sent to El Salvador. Among them was 31-year-old Leonardo Jos Colmenares Solrzano, who left Venezuela and his job as a youth soccer coach last July. His sister, Leidys Trejo Solrzano, said he had a hard time supporting himself and his mother and that Venezuelas crumbling economy made it hard for him to find a better paying job. Colmenares was detained at an appointment to approach the U.S.-Mexico border in October because of his many tattoos, his sister said. Those tattoos include the names of relatives, a clock, an owl and a crown she said was inspired by the Real Madrid soccer clubs logo. First image: Colmenares mother, Marianela Solrzano, and sister at their home in Venezuela. Second image: Photos of Colmenares as a child in Venezuela. (Adriana Loureiro Fernndez for ProPublica and The Texas Tribune) Colmenares was not flagged as having a criminal history in the DHS data we obtained. Nor did we find any U.S. or foreign convictions or charges in our review. Trejo said her brother stayed out of trouble and has no criminal record in Venezuela either. She described his expulsion as a U.S.-government-sponsored kidnapping.Its been so difficult. Even talking about what happened is hard for me, said Trejo, who has scoured the internet for videos and photos of her brother in the Salvadoran prison. Many nights I cant sleep because Im so anxious.The internal government data shows that officials had labeled all but a handful of the men as members of Tren de Aragua but offered little information about how they came to that conclusion. Court filings and documents we obtained show the government has relied in part on social media posts, affiliations with known gang members and tattoos, including crowns, clocks, guns, grenades and Michael Jordans Jumpman logo. We found that at least 158 of the Venezuelans imprisoned in El Salvador have tattoos. But law enforcement sources in the U.S., Colombia, Chile and Venezuela with expertise in the Tren de Aragua told us that tattoos are not an indicator of gang membership.McLaughlin, the DHS spokesperson, said the agency is confident in its assessments of gang affiliation but would not provide additional information to support them.John Sandweg, a former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said, for political reasons, I think the administration wants to characterize this as a grand effort thats promoting public safety of the United States. But even some of the governments own data demonstrates there is a gap between the rhetoric and the reality, he said, referring to the internal data we obtained.The government data shows 67 men who were deported had been flagged as having pending charges, though it provides no details about their alleged crimes. We found police, court and other records for 38 of those deportees. We found several people whose criminal history differed from what was tagged in the government data. In some cases that the government listed as pending criminal charges, the men had been convicted and in one case the charge had been dropped before the man was deported. Our reporting found that, like the criminal convictions, the majority of the pending charges involved nonviolent crimes, including retail theft, drug possession and traffic offenses. Six of the men had pending charges for attempted murder, assault, armed robbery, gun possession or domestic battery. Immigrant advocates have said removing people to a prison in El Salvador before the cases against them were resolved means that Trump, asserting his executive authority, short-circuited the criminal justice system.Take the case of Wilker Miguel Gutirrez Sierra, 23, who was arrested in February 2024 in Chicago on charges of attempted murder, robbery and aggravated battery after he and three other Venezuelan men allegedly assaulted a stranger on a train and stole his phone and $400. He pleaded not guilty. Gutirrez was on electronic monitoring as he awaited trial when he was arrested by ICE agents whod pulled up to him on the street in five black trucks, court records show. Three days later he was shipped to El Salvador.But the majority of men labeled as having pending cases were facing less serious charges, according to the records we found. Maikol Gabriel Lpez Lizano, 23, was arrested in Chicago in August 2023 on misdemeanor charges for riding his bike on the sidewalk while drinking a can of Budweiser. His partner, Cherry Flores, described his deportation as a gross injustice. They shouldnt have sent him there, she said. Why did they have to take him over a beer? Jeff Ernsthausen of ProPublica contributed data analysis. Adriana Nez and Carlos Centeno contributed reporting.

by Jeremy Kohler ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. Across the country, Republican lawmakers have been working to undermine or altogether undo the will of the voters by making it harder to pass amendments and laws through citizen-led initiatives.In Missouri, the 2025 legislative session was dominated by Republican lawmakers trying to reverse two major measures that voters had put on the ballot and approved just months before; one made abortion in the state legal again, while the other created an employee sick leave requirement. GOP lawmakers in Alaska and Nebraska also have moved to roll back sick leave benefits that voters approved last year, while legislators in Arizona are pushing new restrictions on abortion access, despite voters six months ago approving protections. At the same time, Republican leaders in Florida, Utah, Montana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Ohio, North Dakota and South Dakota have approved efforts to restrict citizen-led ballot initiatives or are considering measures to do so, essentially trying to make it harder for voters to change laws outside legislatures.In some cases, legislators arent just responding to measures that voters approved; theyre acting shortly after citizen-led efforts failed but came too close for comfort, such as an abortion-rights initiative in Florida, which in November fell just short of the 60% of votes needed to pass and loosen the states ban on the procedure.Republican elected officials across these states make strikingly similar arguments: They say the initiative process is susceptible to fraud and unduly influenced by out-of-state money. Whats more, they say that they, as elected officials, represent the true will of the people more than ballot initiatives do. In his opening speech on the first day of Utahs legislative session in January, Senate President Stuart Adams urged lawmakers to push back against citizen-led ballot initiatives, warning that unelected special interest groups outside of Utah were using the process to override our republic and cast aside those who are duly elected. Utah lawmakers then passed a law tightening the process. They required initiative sponsors to detail how their proposal would be funded and, if it makes the ballot, pay for costly publication of the ballot language in newspapers across the state potentially adding $1.4 million in expenses. They also voted to put a 2026 measure before voters that would require a 60% supermajority for any tax-related initiatives.The battle between direct democracy and representative government isnt new, and it hasnt always been the domain of just Republicans. Democrats have done the same thing, although perhaps not with the same frequency, when voters have taken steps they had campaigned against. Whats different now, political observers say, is that the tension has reached a new level. State lawmakers, primarily Republicans the past few years, are routinely trying to undermine voter majorities.This is very much connected to the rise of authoritarianism that weve seen across the country, said Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, executive director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, a nonprofit that tracks and supports ballot measures across the 26 states and the District of Columbia that allow some form of direct democracy. They cant win fairly, so theyre trying to rewrite the rules to get their way no matter what a majority of folks in their state wants.In Missouri, overturning the will of voters has almost become the legislatures main business. Lawmakers wasted no time moving to undo a constitutional amendment that legalized abortion up to fetal viability, advancing a new measure to place another amendment on the ballot that would ban it again. They also moved to repeal a sick leave requirement and portions of a minimum wage increase, which had also passed through the initiative process but which Republicans have said are harmful to businesses. The bill has gone to Gov. Mike Kehoe, who has indicated that he will sign it.In addition, Missouri lawmakers passed, and the governor signed, a new law that limits the ability of courts to intervene when the legislature writes ballot language for proposed constitutional amendments. Critics say the law opens the door to misleading ballot language, giving politicians and partisan officials more power to frame initiatives in a way that could mislead voters. Kehoe said in a statement that the law streamlines complex procedures while protecting the rights of every Missourian.State Rep. Brian Seitz, a Republican from Branson, has supported multiple failed efforts to change the states initiative process hed prefer a 60% threshold rather than a simple majority, as it is now and backed the sick leave repeal and the amendment to restore Missouris abortion ban. Weve been elected in a representative republic to see to the needs of the people, he said, and thats exactly what were going to do. Missouri State Rep. Brian Seitz reviews a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion at the state Capitol in April. (David A. Lieb/AP Photo) State Rep. Ashley Aune, a Democrat from Kansas City and the House minority leader, recalled that one of her first fights as a lawmaker was over the expansion of Medicaid, which voters approved in 2020 but Republican lawmakers refused to fund the following year.They thought they were being clever and of course, the courts told them they are not clever. They had to fund it, Aune said. But Ive seen this nearly every year Ive been here, and this year has been the absolute worst.In response to lawmakers efforts, a new campaign called Respect Missouri Voters is recruiting volunteers to collect signatures for a statewide ballot measure in November 2026. The measure would bar lawmakers from overturning voter-approved initiatives or undermining the citizens ability to use the initiative process.In several states, Republican legislators are trying to change the initiative petition process by imposing stricter rules on who can collect signatures and how petitions are submitted and raising the threshold for passing amendments. They are also trying to limit out-of-state funding, shorten signature-gathering windows and give themselves more power to rewrite or block voter-approved measures.Arkansas is one example of where this is playing out. Last year, abortion rights supporters turned in more than 100,000 signatures for a ballot measure that would have loosened the states near-total abortion ban. But the state Supreme Court upheld a lower courts ruling blocking the proposal from making the ballot, deciding that organizers had made a technical error in how they submitted paperwork for a portion of the signatures that had been collected by paid canvassers.This year, state Sen. Kim Hammer, a Republican from Benton, led a push to pass a series of laws aimed at the ballot initiative process. They place requirements on petition circulators and signers, including mandates that the signer read the ballot title in the presence of a canvasser or have it read to them, that canvassers ask signers to show photo ID and that they inform signers that petition fraud is a crime. They also expand state oversight, giving officials more power to disqualify petitions.The League of Women Voters of Arkansas has filed a lawsuit challenging some of the new laws, along with existing restrictions, arguing that they violate the U.S. Constitution. Arkansas Secretary of State Cole Jester said in a statement that they were basic, commonsense protections, and we look forward to fighting for them.Hammer said hes concerned that outside groups are using Arkansas as a testing ground for policy changes, and he wants to prevent that by keeping the ballot process as pure as possible. They drop the rock in the state, and it just ripples out from there, he said in an interview. So its to the benefit of abortionists and to the benefit of the marijuana industry and others to be able to do whatever they have to do to get a foothold. Republican Sen. Kim Hammer, left of center, answers questions about proposed laws that would alter the citizen-initiated ballot measure process during an Arkansas Senate committee hearing in February. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) Dan Smith, a political scientist at the University of Florida who studies direct democracy, said it wasnt long ago that voters might punish a candidate for opposing a popular policy like raising the minimum wage or expanding health care. But that connection has largely been severed in the minds of voters, he said. Today, many voters experience a kind of cognitive dissonance: They support abortion rights or paid sick leave at the ballot box but continue voting for politicians who oppose those policies. They dont see the contradiction, he said, because partisanship has become more about team loyalty than policy.Smith said the disconnect is reinforced by gerrymandered legislative and congressional districts, which are drawn to favor Republican candidates and help maintain their supermajority control. They can override or ignore voter-backed initiatives with little political risk.Direct democracy in the United States took root during the Progressive Era of the late 1800s and early 1900s, especially in the West and Midwest, where newer states had less entrenched political structures and were more open to reform. These regions were often skeptical of centralized power, and reformers pushed for tools like the initiative and referendum to give citizens a way to bypass political machines and corporate influence. The first state to adopt the initiative process into its constitution was South Dakota in 1898. Now its one of the states where legislators are trying to undermine it.Most East Coast and Southern states never adopted initiative processes at all. Their constitutions didnt allow for it, and lawmakers have shown little interest in surrendering power to voters through direct legislation. Some academics have argued the process is barred by Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution, which requires states to produce governments by electoral processes. While efforts to override or undermine voter-approved initiatives are now almost exclusively driven by Republicans, Democratic-controlled legislatures have also tried to rein in direct democracy when it clashed with their priorities.After California voters passed Proposition 13 in 1978 to limit property taxes and later Proposition 209 in 1996 banning affirmative action Democrats sought ways to blunt or undo their impact through legislation and legal challenges.In the mid-2000s, Colorado Democrats began pushing to restrict the initiative process after a wave of conservative-backed measures passed at the ballot box. A key example was Amendment 43, a 2006 initiative placed on the ballot by citizen petition, which amended the state constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman. It passed with 55% of the vote and effectively banned same-sex marriage in the state until the U.S. Supreme Court overturned such bans in 2015.In 2008, Colorados Democratic-controlled legislature placed a referendum on the ballot that would have made it harder for people to petition to change the state constitution. The measure, also backed by some Republicans, failed at the polls. But in 2016, voters approved a citizen-initiated measure that raised the bar for constitutional amendments by requiring signatures from every state senate district and a 55% supermajority to pass. More recently, Democrats have sought to overturn Colorados taxpayer bill of rights, which voters enacted through initiative petition in 1992. The measure prohibits tax increases without voter approval. Democrats have argued the law may be unconstitutional because it strips the legislature of its budgetary authority.But most of the states that allow citizen-led ballot initiatives are Republican-controlled, which means the fight over direct democracy is often playing out in red states. At the center of the GOP argument is the claim that voter initiatives are driven by outside influence and funding. Smith called it hypocrisy.If you ask lawmakers to not take any outside contributions when they are running for office, they would find every reason under the sun to oppose it, he said.Efforts to change the initiative process have themselves drawn heavy outside funding. In August 2023, Ohio voters decisively rejected Issue 1, a Republican-backed proposal to raise the threshold for passing constitutional amendments from a simple majority to 60%. The measure also would have made it harder to place initiatives on the ballot by requiring signatures from at least 5% of voters in all 88 counties.Backers claimed the changes were needed to protect the constitution from out-of-state special interests but the campaign itself was funded mostly by $4 million from conservative Illinois billionaire Dick Uihlein.Just three months later, Ohio voters returned to the polls and approved a new Issue 1 this time a constitutional amendment guaranteeing abortion rights up to fetal viability. It passed with nearly 57% of the vote.In 2006, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment to raise the threshold for future amendments to 60% but the measure itself passed with just 57.8% of the vote, a margin that wouldnt meet the standard it created.That irony came into sharp focus in 2024, when a ballot measure to protect abortion rights received 57% of the vote more support than a similar measure in Missouri, which passed with just under 52% yet failed in Florida due to the supermajority rule.After the election, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican lawmakers began pushing for even tougher restrictions on the process, pointing to a report issued by the governors administration alleging widespread petition fraud in the push for the abortion rights measure. The governor signed a law prohibiting felons, non-U.S. citizens and non-Florida residents from serving as petition circulators; limiting the number of signed petitions a volunteer can collect before being required to register as an official canvasser and requiring signers to write either the last four numbers of their Social Security or drivers license number on petitions.In response, several groups have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the new restrictions. Florida Decides Healthcare, which is working to place a Medicaid expansion initiative on the 2026 ballot, has argued that the law imposes vague and punitive restrictions that chill political speech and civic engagement. The state has not yet responded to the lawsuit; the lead defendant, Secretary of State Cord Byrd, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.I think that what happens here is being watched and copied, Mitch Emerson, executive director of Florida Decides Healthcare, said in an interview. And if these attacks on democracy work in Florida, theyll spread.

by Mary Hudetz ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. As he has promoted the Trump administrations Make America Healthy Again agenda, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, has lamented the toll that processed foods have taken on the health of Americans, in particular Native Americans.Prepackaged foods have mass poisoned tribal communities, he said last month when he met with tribal leaders and visited a Native American health clinic in Arizona.Weeks later, in testimony before the House Appropriations Committee, he said processed foods had resulted in a genocide among Native Americans, who disproportionately live in places where there are few or no grocery stores.One of my big priorities will be getting good food high-quality food, traditional foods onto the reservation because processed foods for American Indians is poison, Kennedy told the committee. Healthy food is key to combating the high rates of chronic disease in tribal communities, he said.Yet even as the president tasks Kennedys agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture with improving healthy eating programs, the USDA has terminated the very program that dozens of tribal food banks say has helped them provide fresh, locally produced food that is important to their traditions and cultures.That program the USDAs Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement program began under President Joe Biden in late 2021 as a response to challenges accessing food that were magnified by the pandemic. Its goal was to boost purchases from local farmers and ranchers, and the funding went to hundreds of food banks across the country, including 90 focused on serving tribes. In March, the Trump administration decided the program did not align with its priorities. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins defended the cut of a half-billion dollars by calling the program a remnant of the COVID era.The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But in a statement, a USDA spokesperson said the department continues to distribute hundreds of millions of dollars through more than a dozen other nutrition programs that help families meet their nutrition needs. For tribal communities, the spokesperson said, that includes the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations for low-income households.When that program started in the 1970s, it offered processed foods colloquially known as commodities. Over the years, the government has added salmon, frozen chicken, produce and other more nutritious options for tribes to include in recipients monthly food packages. But few tribes who participate in the Food Distribution Program can purchase food directly from farmers and ranchers, as they were able to do with the now-canceled grant program. Instead, most choose from the USDAs list of approved and available foods.Kelli Case, an attorney for the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative at the University of Arkansas, said the program cut by the Trump administration was widely considered an overwhelming success because tribes selected foods based on their nutritional needs and what people actually want to eat.Having the opportunity to tailor a program makes a huge difference, she said.On reservations, the problems addressed by the now-canceled program had been an issue for generations, perpetuated by a string of federal policies, Case added. The pandemic merely highlighted and exacerbated those issues, she said.For instance: In the 1800s, tribes in the West began losing access to traditional food sources such as berries, salmon and bison even though treaties promised tribes the right to hunt and fish. Some were removed from their homelands.The federal government instead provided tribal members with food rations flour, lard, sugar, coffee and other staples. At the same time, the forcible removal of Native children to boarding schools upended families ability to pass along knowledge about the foods they hunted and harvested.The now-canceled grants helped fill a void, tribes said. First image: Jason Belcourt, the Chippewa-Cree Tribes sustainability coordinator. Second image: Two of the tribes bison bulls at the Buffalo Child Ranch. (Aaron Agosto for ProPublica) On the Rocky Boys Indian Reservation, in an especially remote stretch of Montana, Jason Belcourt said he believed the Chippewa-Cree Tribe was finally getting closer to providing nutritious, local food to every tribal member in need. He expects the tribes USDA funding for local food purchases to run out within weeks. The funding $400,000 in the past several years helped the tribe buy beef and produce from local ranchers and farmers. The money supplied roughly 250 households on a reservation where the nearest supermarket is about 20 miles away.We wanted to make sure that we didnt turn away anybody, Belcourt said. There are families that go without meals; there are kids that go without meals.The tribe also used the money to help harvest bison from the tribes herd, which Belcourt said has done wonders, not only in terms of the food value. The harvests became community events where younger tribal members learned how their ancestors butchered and used the buffalo. A sense of tribal identity was being restored, he said. Theres a lot of cultural sharing. Theres a lot of remembrance from the old timers of what their grandparents told them and how to use the buffalo, Belcourt said. And, believe it or not, theres some healing thats going on.The harvests will continue, Belcourt said. But its unclear how he will make up for the loss of $150,000 in funding that the USDA previously awarded the tribe for local food purchases over the next year.Other tribes are similarly concerned about the future.The Walker River Paiute in Nevada was the first to receive one of the grants to source local food, including $249,091 in 2022. The community, 115 miles southeast of Reno, used most of the money on locally sourced produce and eggs, according to the USDA. Of the reservations 830 residents, both Native American and not, 40% had received food purchased using the grant, according to the tribe.I truly believe no one knows the needs of our tribal citizens better than the tribe, Amber Torres, then the tribes chairman, said in a news release.In late March, a dozen nonprofits that advocate for Native Americans sent a letter to USDA Secretary Rollins, urging her to reinstate the critical program as a step toward respecting the sovereign status of tribes. At a recent meeting with USDA officials, tribal leaders again emphasized that they want a say over the food distributed on their reservations. First image: A community garden run by the Help Lodge to foster food sovereignty and sustainability on the Rocky Boy's Reservation. Second image: Empty planter shelves in an unused greenhouse at the Help Lodge. Funding cuts have made it difficult to maintain a full staff. (Aaron Agosto for ProPublica) Tribal communities still have access to the handful of federal food programs. However, last year, the Government Accountability Office, the watchdog arm of Congress, found that some posed barriers to peoples ability to get the food they want or need.For example, individuals who accept the commodity programs offerings cannot also receive assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps. As a result, a households needs can go unmet. Sometimes SNAP offers essential cooking ingredients oil, seasoning or yeast that the commodity program may not provide, according to the study.(The local food program was not included in the GAO report.) On the Fort Belknap Reservation in Montana, the USDAs local food program had become a reliable fixture, especially since the federal commodity program was paused there, said Tescha Hawley, who is Gros Ventre, or Aaniiih, and a social worker on the reservation. Structural problems had shuttered the building where the commodity program food was warehoused.A nonprofit Hawley founded, Day Eagle Hope Project, helped her tribe secure $2 million from the USDA to buy fresh local food and process bison meat from its herd. Assiniboine and Gros Ventre tribal members who are capable of gathering wild, nutrient-rich berries exchange them for payment through the grant. She distributed the food first from a shipping container on her property and later a community center.Over the past few years, the tribe and her nonprofit have distributed thousands of pounds of food. She anticipates the money that remains from past grant funding cycles will run out this winter. For people who can get to a grocery store, up to 45 miles away from some of the reservations communities, many will have to make SNAP benefits stretch at a time when food prices are rising.So that means even less food for the month, Hawley said. People will go without.Belcourt said he has begun seeking other grants, and a tribal staffer makes runs to collect food donations in Havre, more than 20 miles away, and Great Falls, about 90 miles away.We don't have a Plan B, Belcourt said of the abruptly canceled grant. Given the short notice, its tough to find a funder in that timeframe.

ProPublica ProPublica announced Wednesday its joining a cross-industry effort to explore how artificial intelligence technologies can responsibly contribute to the work of investigative journalism. As part of the program, ProPublica will hire an engineer for the two-year fellowship. The program is supported by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism and will include four other newsrooms: The Boston Globe, The Dallas Morning News, The Baltimore Banner and Arizona State Universitys NEWSWELL. At ProPublica, the engineer will explore how machine learning might help its award-winning engagement reporting group, which powers many of our most ambitious, crowdsourced investigations. From callouts and tip lines to citizen-fueled science, these reporters gather leads and evidence from communities around the country. Were eager to explore how large language models can help us evaluate, categorize and route incoming tips more efficiently ensuring they reach the right journalist, faster. We believe these technologies have the potential to help our journalists and our readers find needles in the haystack, said Ben Werdmuller, senior director of technology. Were excited to explore whats possible in ways that align with our values and standards. As part of the program, the participating news organizations will work collaboratively with one another and the broader news industry to share what they learn, product developments, case studies and technical information needed to help replicate their work in other newsrooms. The goal of the Lenfest AI Collaborative and Fellowship is to help local news publishers leverage new AI technology to build sustainable businesses. The program launched in October 2024 with $10 million in support from OpenAI and Microsoft each awarding $2.5 million in direct funding and $2.5 million in software and enterprise credits. The Lenfest Institute is proud to partner with OpenAI and Microsoft to expand the AI Collaborative and Fellowship program. The five publishers joining the program are leaders in the field, and we look forward to sharing what they learn with the rest of the industry, said Lenfest Institute Executive Director and CEO Jim Friedlich. Together with Open AI and Microsoft, the Institute is committed to exploring ethical uses of AI to advance sustainable solutions for local news. About ProPublica ProPublica is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. With a team of more than 150 dedicated journalists, ProPublica covers a range of topics, focusing on stories with the potential to spur real-world impact. Its reporting has contributed to the passage of new laws; reversals of harmful policies and practices; and accountability for leaders at local, state and national levels. Since it began publishing in 2008, ProPublica has received eight Pulitzer Prizes, five Peabody Awards, eight Emmy Awards and 16 George Polk Awards. About The Lenfest Institute for Journalism The Lenfest Institute creates solutions for the next era of local news by investing in sustainable business models at the intersection of local journalism and community in Philadelphia and nationwide.

by Brett Murphy and Anna Maria Barry-Jester ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. American diplomats in at least two countries have recently delivered internal reports to Washington that reflect a grim new reality taking hold abroad: The Trump administrations sudden withdrawal of foreign aid is bringing about the violence and chaos that many had warned would come.The vacuum left after the U.S. abandoned its humanitarian commitments has destabilized some of the most fragile locations in the world and thrown refugee camps further into unrest, according to State Department correspondence and notes obtained by ProPublica.The assessments are not just predictions about the future but detailed accounts of what has already occurred, making them among the first such reports from inside the Trump administration to surface publicly though experts suspect they will not be the last. The diplomats warned in their correspondence that stopping aid may undermine efforts to combat terrorism.In the southeastern African country of Malawi, U.S. funding cuts to the United Nations World Food Programme have yielded a sharp increase in criminality, sexual violence, and instances of human trafficking within a large refugee camp, U.S. embassy officials told the State Department in late April. The worlds largest humanitarian food provider, the WFP projects a 40% decrease in funding compared to last year and has been forced to reduce food rations in Malawis sprawling Dzaleka refugee camp by a third.To the north, the U.S. embassy in Kenya reported that news of funding cuts to refugee camps food programs led to violent demonstrations, according to a previously unreported cable from early May. During one protest, police responded with gunfire and wounded four people. Refugees have also died at food distribution centers, the officials wrote in the cable, including a pregnant woman who died under a stampede. Aid workers said they expected more people to get hurt as vulnerable households become increasingly desperate.It is devastating, but its not surprising, Eric Schwartz, a former State Department assistant secretary and member of the National Security Council during Democratic administrations, told ProPublica. Its all what people in the national security community have predicted.I struggle for adjectives to adequately describe the horror that this administration has visited on the world, Schwartz added. It keeps me up at night. In response to a detailed list of questions, a State Department spokesperson said in an email: It is grossly misleading to blame unrest and violence around the world on America. No one can reasonably expect the United States to be equipped to feed every person on earth or be responsible for providing medication for every living human.The spokesperson also said that an overwhelming majority of the WFP programs that the Trump administration inherited, including those in Malawi and Kenya, are still active.But the U.S. funds the WFP on a yearly basis. For 2025, the Trump administration so far hasnt approved any money in either country, forcing the organization to drastically slash food programs.In Kenya, for example, the WFP will cut its rations in June down to 28% or less than 600 calories a day per person a low never seen before, the WFPs Kenya country director Lauren Landis told ProPublica. The WFPs standard minimum for adults is 2,100 calories per day.We are living off the fumes of what was delivered in late 2024 or early 2025, Landis said. On a recent visit to a facility treating malnourished children younger than 5, she said she saw kids who were walking skeletons like I havent seen in a decade.Since taking office, President Donald Trump has pledged to restore safety and security around the world. At the same time, his administration, working alongside Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency, swiftly dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development, canceling thousands of government-funded foreign aid programs they considered wasteful. More than 80% of USAIDs operations were terminated, which crippled lifesaving humanitarian efforts around the world.Musk, who did not respond to a request for comment, has said that DOGEs cuts to humanitarian aid have targeted fraudulent payments to organizations but are not contributing to widespread deaths. Show us any evidence whatsoever that that is true, he said recently. Its false.For decades, American administrations run by both parties saw humanitarian diplomacy, or soft power, as a cost-effective measure to help stabilize volatile but strategically important regions and provide basic needs for people who might otherwise turn to international adversaries. Those investments, experts say, help prevent regional conflict and war that may embroil the U.S. If you dont fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition, Jim Mattis, who was defense secretary during Trumps first administration, told Congress in 2013 when he led U.S. Central Command.Food insecurity has long been closely linked with regional turmoil. But despite promises from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that lifesaving operations would continue amid widespread cuts to foreign aid, the Trump administration has terminated funding to WFP for several countries. Nearly 50% of the WFPs budget came from the U.S. in 2024.Since February, U.S. officials throughout the developing world have issued urgent warnings forecasting that the Trump administrations decision to suddenly cut off help to desperate populations could exacerbate humanitarian crises and threaten U.S. national security interests, records show. In one cable, diplomats in the Middle East communicated concerns that stopping aid could empower groups like the Taliban and undermine efforts to address terrorism, the narcotics trade and illegal immigration. The shift may also significantly de-stabilize the transitioning region and only serve to benefit ISIS standing, officials warned in other correspondence. It could put US troops in the region at risk.Embassies in Africa have delivered similar messages. We are deeply concerned that suddenly discontinuing all USAID counter terrorism-focused stabilization and humanitarian programs in Somalia will immediately and negatively affect U.S. national security interests, the U.S. embassy in Mogadishu, Somalia, wrote in February. USAIDs role in helping the military prevent newly liberated territory purchased at a high cost of blood and treasure from getting back into the hands of terrorists is indisputable, and irreplaceable, the officials added.The embassy in Nigeria described how stop-work orders had caused lapses in oversight that put U.S. resources at risk of being diverted to criminal or terrorist groups. (A February whistleblower complaint alleged USAID-purchased computers were stolen from health centers there.) And U.S. officials said the Kenyan government faces an impending humanitarian crisis for over 730,000 refugees without additional resources, as local officials struggle to confront al-Shabaab, a major terrorist threat in the region, while also maintaining security inside the countrys refugee camps.In early April, Jeremy Lewin an attorney in his late 20s with no prior government experience who is currently in charge of the State Departments Office of Foreign Assistance and running USAID operations ordered the end of WFP grants altogether in more than a dozen countries. (Amid outcry, he later reinstated a few of them.) The State Department spokesperson said the agency was responding on Lewins behalf.In Kenya, the WFP expects a malnutrition crisis after rations are cut to a fourth of the standard minimum, Landis said. She is also concerned about the security of her staff, who already travel with police escorts, given the likelihood that there will be more protests and that al-Shabaab might make further incursions into the camps.In order for the U.S. to deliver its usual food aid to Kenya by the end of the year, it needed to be put on a boat already, Landis said. That has not happened. A nurse evaluates a child for malnourishment at a WFP-supported health clinic in Turkana County, Kenya, in April 2025. (Courtesy of World Food Program/Kevin Gitonga) In recent days, South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia have begged a visiting government delegation from the U.S. not to cut food rations any further, according to a cable documenting the visit. Aid workers in another group of camps in North Africa reported that they expect to run out of funding by the end of May for a program that fights malnutrition for 8,600 pregnant and nursing mothers. Despite being one of the poorest countries in the world, Malawi has been a relative beacon of stability in a region thats seen numerous civil wars and unrest in recent decades. Yet in early March, officials there warned Washington counterparts that cuts to the more than $300 million USAID planned to provide to the country in aid a year would dramatically increase the effects of the worsening economy already in motion.At the time, 10 employees from a USAID-funded nonprofit had recently shown up unannounced at USAIDs offices in the capital Lilongwe asking for their unpaid wages after the U.S. froze funding. The group left without incident, and its unclear if they were paid, but officials reported that they expected countries around the world would face similar issues and were closely monitoring for increased risks to the safety and security of Embassy personnel. (Former employees at another nonprofit in a nearby country also raided their organization out of desperation for not being paid, according to State Department records.)An hours drive from the nations capital, Dzaleka is a former prison that was transformed into a refugee camp in the 1990s to house people fleeing war in neighboring Mozambique. In the decades since, it has ballooned, filling with people running from conflicts in Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi. The camp, which was built to hold around 10,000, is now home to more than 55,000 people. A woman goes door to door selling secondhand clothes in the Dzaleka refugee camp. (African Media Online/Alamy Stock) Iradukunda Devota, a refugee from Burundi, came to Malawi when she was 3 and has lived at Dzaleka for 23 years. She now works for Inua Advocacy, which provides legal services and advocates on behalf of refugees in the camp. She said tension is high amid rumors that food and other aid will be cut further. Since 2023, the Malawi government has prohibited refugees from living or working outside the camp, and there has already been an increase in crime and substance abuse after food was cut earlier this year. This is happening because people are hungry, Devota told ProPublica. They have nowhere to turn to.Now, the Malawi government is likely to close its borders to refugees in response to the funding crisis and congestion in Dzaleka, the WFPs country representative told the State Department, according to agency records.Diplomats continue to warn the Trump administration of even worse to come. The WFP expects to suspend food assistance in Dzaleka entirely in July.The WFP anticipates violent protests, the embassy told State Department officials, which could potentially embroil host communities and refugees, and targeting of UN and WFP offices when the pipeline eventually breaks.ProPublica plans to continue covering USAID, the State Department and the consequences of ending U.S. foreign aid. We want to hear from you. Reach out via Signal to reporters Brett Murphy at +1 508-523-5195 and Anna Maria Barry-Jester at +1 408-504-8131.

by Jodi S. Cohen and Jennifer Smith Richards ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week.Illinois legislators on Wednesday passed a law to explicitly prevent police from ticketing and fining students for minor misbehavior at school, ending a practice that harmed students across the state. The new law would apply to all public schools, including charters. It will require school districts, beginning in the 2027-28 school year, to report to the state how often they involve police in student matters each year and to separate the data by race, gender and disability. The state will be required to make the data public.The legislation comes three years after a ProPublica and Chicago Tribune investigation, The Price Kids Pay, revealed that even though Illinois law bans school officials from fining students directly, districts skirted the law by calling on police to issue citations for violating local ordinances. The Price Kids Pay found that thousands of Illinois students had been ticketed in recent years for adolescent behavior once handled by the principals office things like littering, making loud noises, swearing, fighting or vaping in the bathroom. It also found that Black students were twice as likely to be ticketed at school than their white peers.From the House floor, Rep. La Shawn Ford, a Democrat from Chicago, thanked the news organizations for exposing the practice and told legislators that the goal of the bill is to make sure if there is a violation of school code, the school should use their discipline policies rather than disciplining students through police-issued tickets.State Sen. Karina Villa, a Democrat from suburban West Chicago and a sponsor of the measure, said in a statement that ticketing students failed to address the reasons for misbehavior. This bill will once and for all prohibit monetary fines as a form of discipline for Illinois students, she said. The legislation also would prevent police from issuing tickets to students for behavior on school transportation or during school-related events or activities. The Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police opposed the legislation. The group said in a statement that while school-based officers should not be responsible for disciplining students, they should have the option to issue citations for criminal conduct as one of a variety of resolutions. The group said its concerned that not having the option to issue tickets could lead to students facing arrest and criminal charges instead.The legislation passed the House 69-44. It passed in the Senate last month 37-17 and now heads to Gov. JB Pritzker, who previously has spoken out against ticketing students at school. A spokesperson said Wednesday night that he was supportive of this initiative and plans to review the bill.The legislation makes clear that police can arrest students for crimes or violence they commit, but that they cannot ticket students for violating local ordinances prohibiting a range of minor infractions. That distinction was not clear in previous versions of the legislation, which led to concern that schools would not be able to involve police in serious matters and was a key reason legislation on ticketing foundered in previous legislative sessions. Students also may still be ordered to pay for lost, stolen or damaged property. This bill helps create an environment where students can learn from their mistakes without being unnecessarily funneled into the justice system, said Aimee Galvin, government affairs director with Stand for Children, one of the groups that advocated for banning municipal tickets as school-based discipline.The news investigation detailed how students were doubly penalized: when they were punished in school, with detention or a suspension, and then when they were ticketed by police for minor misbehavior. The investigation also revealed how, to resolve the tickets, children were thrown into a legal process designed for adults. Illinois law permits fines of up to $750 for municipal ordinance violations; its difficult to fight the charges, and students and families can be sent to collections if they dont pay.After the investigation was published, some school districts stopped asking police to ticket students. But the practice has continued in many other districts. The legislation also adds regulations for districts that hire school-based police officers, known as school resource officers. Starting next year, districts with school resource officers must enter into agreements with local police to lay out the roles and responsibilities of officers on campus. The agreements will need to specify that officers are prohibited from issuing citations on school property and that they must be trained in working with students with disabilities. The agreements also must outline a process for data collection and reporting. School personnel also would be prohibited from referring truant students to police to be ticketed as punishment.Before the new legislation, there had been some piecemeal changes and efforts at reform. A state attorney general investigation into a large suburban Chicago district confirmed that school administrators were exploiting a loophole in state law when they asked police to issue tickets to students. The district denied wrongdoing, but that investigation found the district broke the law and that the practice disproportionately affected Black and Latino students. The states top legal authority declared the practice illegal and said it should stop.

by Rob Davis ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. When police used stun batons to hit garment workers seeking a $14 monthly raise from a Nike factory in Cambodia in 2013, reportedly leading one pregnant woman to miscarry, Nike said it was deeply concerned.The following year, when Cambodian police opened fire and killed four garment workers during widespread demonstrations over low wages, Nike and other brands sent the government a letter expressing grave concern.In 2018, after the government curbed union rights, Nike and other brands again protested, this time in a meeting with government officials. An industry representative described the companies in a news release as increasingly concerned.A year later, another letter: We are concerned.Despite the varying shades of corporate concern, Cambodia continued descending deeper into authoritarian governance, and the size of Nikes contract workforce there kept going up.While Nike has been shrinking its footprint in China, its presence in Cambodia has grown, from about 16,000 factory workers in May 2013, to nearly 35,000 in 2019, to more than 57,000 as of March. Today, Cambodia is the athletic apparel giants third-largest supplier of garments other than shoes, nearly overtaking its clothing production in China.Other Western brands have also continued expanding in Cambodia. The countrys garment exports climbed from $4.9 billion in 2013 to $9.3 billion in 2022, according to World Bank data.Along the way, labor leaders have been jailed; opposing politicians have gone into exile and been arrested or killed; journalists have been locked up and killed; and independent media outlets have been shuttered by the government. Sabrina Manufacturing workers gather at their union headquarters in Phnom Penh while protesting for higher wages at the Nike supplier in 2013. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters) The curbs on unions and free speech are in tension with Nikes code of conduct, which recognizes workers rights to join trade unions and participate in union activities without interference. In countries that restrict union rights, Nike says factories must have an effective grievance process that allows employees to voice concerns over working conditions without fear of retaliation. Nikes continued growth in Cambodia underscores the level of political and labor repression the company has been willing to tolerate in countries that provide inexpensive labor letters of concern notwithstanding. A lot of brands have been signing letters for years as a substitute for real pressure, real change, said Jason Judd, executive director of Cornell Universitys Global Labor Institute.Brands increasing their orders from Cambodia while raising concerns about labor rights are obviously mixed messages, Judd said. And one message, the purchase order, has a lot more weight than the other. Until those are credibly threatened, the government has no reason to act.Khun Tharo, program manager at the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights, was targeted last year after his organization published a report identifying gaps in factory oversight. The government began auditing the legal aid group; Khun faced a criminal complaint that he said his lawyer had been unable to see. Khun Tharo (Sarahbeth Maney/ProPublica) Khun told ProPublica that brands often speak up about worker rights because of prodding by civil society groups or the ire voiced by trading partners.For Nike and other brands, its about protecting their market and accessibility and also credibility. Thats all, Khun said. Without pressure on brands to take action, he said, they will not do it. They will just start to ignore it.Nike did not respond directly to written questions from ProPublica about its expansion in Cambodia amid the countrys intensifying political repression. Instead, it said in a statement: We continue to engage with suppliers, industry organizations and other global stakeholders to develop broad-based approaches to help mitigate longer-term impacts.Labor rights are tenuous in Cambodia. The U.S. State Department said in a 2023 human rights report that significant and systematic restrictions on workers freedom of association exist in Cambodia and that the government failed to effectively enforce laws that protected union and labor rights. Human Rights Watch said in a 2022 report that the governments repression of independent unions had only intensified after the COVID-19 pandemic began.Former Khmer Rouge battalion commander Hun Sen led Cambodia from 1985 until handing control to his son, Hun Manet, in 2023. Hun Sen was brazen in his public dismissals of threats from the West over its assault on labor rights and civil society, said Carlyle Thayer, emeritus professor of politics at Australias University of New South Wales, Canberra. The threats included warnings from Europe, U.S. lawmakers and international clothing brands.The Cambodian government yielded just enough to avoid the full force of economic sanctions, Thayer said.He pointed to an episode in which the European Commission threatened to end tariff exemptions for Cambodian exports over concerns about human rights and labor abuses. Hun Sen directed the countrys courts to quickly decide cases pending against union officials, Thayer said, leading to suspended sentences for some and dropped charges for others.Instead of following through on its threat, the European Commission imposed a scaled-down set of trade restrictions.Brands, including Nike, have had some influence. After workers were killed while protesting for higher wages in 2014, brands supported increasing the minimum wage. The Cambodian government eventually established a process to annually negotiate wage increases.A spokesperson for Cambodias Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training said the incidents that led foreign brands to raise concerns with the government were old, misleading and had been politicized. The spokesperson did not respond to subsequent questions after a reporter noted that the most recent incident happened within the last year.Ken Loo, a spokesperson for the Cambodian garment industrys trade association, said thousands of unions are registered in the country. I do not agree with your presumption that there is a repressive environment here in Cambodia, he said. Individual incidents do not make up the whole story.Many of Cambodias unions are government-aligned groups that Human Rights Watch has called instant noodle unions because they take less time to make than a cup of noodles. Independent unions have long been under assault there, according to American, European and other labor rights observers.Yang Sophorn, president of the independent Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions, was threatened in a July 2020 letter from the countrys labor ministry after joining workers who protested outside a garment factory, Violet Apparel. The factory had closed suddenly during the pandemic. The former Nike supplier went on to become the subject of a long-standing dispute between labor advocates and Nike over wages that workers said they were still owed. Ramatex, Violet Apparels parent company, did not respond to ProPublicas request for comment. Nike has said publicly its found no evidence to support the allegations. Yang Sophorn (Sarahbeth Maney/ProPublica) In its 2020 letter, the government told Yang that she was breaking the law by inciting workers and pressuring the closed factory to pay its employees. The letter said the labor ministry might dissolve her independent union, which represents more than 5,000 workers who make clothes in Nike factories. (The Cambodian labor ministry did not respond to ProPublica's request for comment about the letter.)The labor leader had already received a suspended criminal sentence. The government said she instigated protests over wages, which occurred in 2013 and 2014. That conviction was eventually vacated in what Human Rights Watch said was an effort to placate European officials threatening Cambodias trade access.Yang told ProPublica she was not scared by the Cambodian governments threats against her and her union. If they still want to dissolve it, she said of the union, let it be.Yang said she welcomes investments by Nike and other brands because they provide more jobs for people in her country. But she said workers need good wages, the right to assemble and protections when factories close without paying them. If they just come to exploit our workers, I dont want them, she said.Nike has prided itself on the story of its turnaround since co-founder Phil Knight acknowledged in 1998 that its products had become synonymous with slave wages, forced overtime and arbitrary abuse.One former senior Nike executive, who requested anonymity so they could speak freely about their former employer, said the company had expanded in Cambodia to help diversify its supply chain. The executive said Nike and other brands presence had benefited workers in Cambodia and other countries where it manufactures.Nike has clearly stated that the rule of law and respect for labor rights are significant factors in where the company decides to place orders, the executive said.But, the person said, Are things imperfect, and are there a lot of screwups? Absolutely. Are we concerned when Vietnam or Cambodia takes steps backward? Of course.After Nike last year underwent $2 billion in cost cutting that disproportionately targeted its sustainability staff, including people working on foreign factory oversight, the former executive said they worried that Nikes cuts had affected the companys ability to engage with its stakeholders in the countries where its factories operate.Nike was silent last year when Cambodian authorities cracked down on the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights, the legal aid group. The government launched what was described as a national security audit of the organization, also known as CENTRAL, after it reported on oversight gaps by a United Nations-backed factory watchdog.Two industry groups, one of which counts Nike as a participant, wrote to the government on July 12 saying they had serious concerns that the audits only purpose was retaliation, condemning it in the strongest possible terms.Nineteen major clothing companies from Adidas to VF Corp., owner of the North Face brand followed up Sept. 10 with a joint letter protesting Cambodias assault on the group, also saying they had serious concerns. Nike did not sign that letter.A vibrant civil society, guaranteed in part by freedom of speech, is a key part of what makes Cambodia an important sourcing partner for the apparel and footwear industry, the companies said.Nike did not explain why it was not a signatory when asked by ProPublica. Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said with the steady deterioration in workers rights in Cambodia and President Donald Trumps cuts to U.S. foreign aid, Western apparel companies have an imperative to speak up in Cambodia.Nike and other brands sourcing from Cambodia have an interest in ensuring that organizations like CENTRAL continue to exist and can speak about labor rights issues, Lau said.Khun, the CENTRAL staffer, said he knew the Nike employee who focused on corporate social responsibility in Cambodia, but he said she left the company within the last year. Khun said he didnt know whether anyone had replaced her. (She did not respond to ProPublica, and Nike did not respond to questions about her departure.)CENTRAL this year faced a new government problem. When Trump began to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development in January, CENTRAL and two other groups received notice that they were losing $1.5 million in funding promised for a project intended to document human rights violations and counter Cambodias repression.Less than two months later, the Trump administration attempted to gut Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, some of the only news sources available in Cambodias native language that reported on the countrys authoritarian turn. Former Prime Minister Hun Sen praised Trumps courage, posting an image from 2017 of the two men shaking hands and smiling.Trump was giving a thumbs up. After Donald Trump attempted in 2025 to gut federally funded agencies that published news about Cambodias political repression, Hun Sen, Cambodias longtime leader, shared photos of himself meeting the U.S. president in 2017. (Screenshot by ProPublica) Keat Soriththeavy and Ouch Sony contributed reporting and translation.