Exiled journalists fled repression in Nicaragua. Now they face immigration uncertainty in the U.S.

Luis Galeano’s recent detention underscores the risks many other exiled Nicaraguan journalists face as the Trump administration ramps up its immigration crackdown. The detention of Nicaraguan journalist Luis Galeano on Sept. 14 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents heightened concerns among many Nicaraguan journalists living in exile in the United States amid the uncertainty caused by the tightening of U.S. immigration policies under the Trump administration. Galeano, who was released 11 days later following protests by various international organizations, is the latest in a series of Latin American journalists detained by U.S. immigration authorities. The risk of deportation has particularly serious implications for Galeano and other Nicaraguan journalists whose nationality and assets were stripped by the government of co-presidents Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo. If Galeano is deported, it is unclear where he could be sent. “If he is deported to Nicaragua, his life would be at risk,” Nayel Martínez, vice president of Independent Journalists and Communicators of Nicaragua (PCIN for its initials in Spanish), told LatAm Journalism Review (LJR). “He entered the United States, applied for asylum and was later stripped of his Nicaraguan nationality.” Deporting Nicaraguan journalists would also represent a blow to independent journalism in the country, which survives largely thanks to exiled journalists after years of repression and the Nicaraguan government’s near-total control of the media. The Inter American Press Association has described independent journalism inside Nicaragua as an activity persecuted and punished by the state, while the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) estimates that hundreds of journalists have fled the country since 2018. Many of those journalists have sought refuge in other countries, particularly Costa Rica and the United States. However, while the administration of President Donald Trump has denounced the Ortega-Murillo regime — in part for silencing and exiling journalists — U.S. immigration policies under the current administration have increased pressure on those same journalists and other Nicaraguans who fled repression. CPJ shares the concerns for Galeano and other Nicaraguan journalists seeking political asylum in the U.S. “The United States must remain a refuge for journalists fleeing persecution, and immigration enforcement measures must never become a tool for restricting journalism or legitimate freedom of expression,” José Carlos Zamora, CPJ’s regional director for the Americas, told LJR. “Galeano must be afforded all due process protections in his asylum application.” Galeano’s detention last month took place while he was working for a ridesharing app. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Galeano was detained because he had overstayed the period of authorized stay he was granted when he first arrived in the country. Galeano has an asylum application pending in the United States. According to immigration authorities, having an open case while waiting for an immigration benefit does not grant a person legal status to be in the country. Legal organizations have argued that U.S. law allows people with pending asylum applications to remain in the country while their cases are resolved. In a statement, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services representative said the agency reviews each asylum application on a case-by-case basis. The representative added that USCIS does not comment on individual cases. Galeano fled Nicaragua for the United States in 2018. At the time, he worked for the news outlet 100% Noticias, which was raided on Dec. 21 of that year. He had left the country on vacation when he learned that the state had issued an arrest warrant for him. During the raid, his colleagues and friends Miguel Mora and Lucía Pineda — who ran the outlet — were imprisoned and later charged with “promoting and inciting hatred”. Both were released under a controversial amnesty law. Galeano said he escaped “by a miracle” during the 12th Ibero-American Colloquium on Digital Journalism, held in Austin, Texas, in 2019 and organized by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, which publishes LJR. fFrom the moment he arrived to the United States, Galeano said he knew he had to continue working to overcome the “information blackout” in his country. That was how “Café con Voz,” the program he hosted on 100% Noticias, was reborn in exile on his YouTube channel. It currently has 170,000 subscribers. “With his Café con Voz program, we ‘nicas’ stay informed about everything that is happening in our country,” Nicaraguan journalist Tifani Roberts, who works for Univision in the United States, told LJR. News such as the recent Organization of American States (OAS) resolution calling on Nicaragua to hold elections and release political prisoners only received attention thanks to Galeano and the many other journalists living in exile, Roberts said. Galeano’s detention highlights the legal uncertainty faced by other people seeking political asylum in the United States. Immigration detentions have skyrocketed during Trump’s second term. His administration has also ended the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program for nationals of countries like Venezuela, halted humanitarian parole programs for citizens of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, and made it virtually impossible to apply for asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. The situation is particularly concerning for journalists with pending asylum applications given that the United States is currently the main destination for journalists living in exile, Mariana Belloso, coordinator of the Latin American Network of Journalists in Exile (Relpex), told LJR. According to Relpex data, of the 426 journalists registered with its network, 131 are Nicaraguan, or about 30%. According to PCIN, at least 20 Nicaraguan journalists were in the United States under humanitarian parole as of last year. According to CPJ, three journalists have been deported from the United States in recent years. Mario Guevara, from El Salvador, is the only one from Latin America. However, in addition to Galeano’s case, CPJ has documented the detentions of Colombian journalist Estefany Rodríguez in Tennessee and Venezuelan journalist Wilmer Solano in Florida. Both have pending asylum applications. Galeano is also an example of what journalists in exile mean to audiences in Nicaragua. The crisis facing journalism in Nicaragua intensified in 2018 alongside mass protests against Ortega. The government’s response was repressive. According to figures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, at least 355 people were killed. Journalism became one of the government’s main targets. During the protests, journalist Ángel Gahona was killed while broadcasting live. Since then, journalists have been detained and charged with crimes like treason. Several media outlets were raided and their offices seized by the government, forcing many journalists to leave the country. One recent report on the situation in Nicaragua, published in April by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) to mark Ortega’s 20 years in power, highlights the “success of the strategy to annihilate independent journalism.” Dozens of journalists are imprisoned, 61 media outlets have been shut down and more than 300 journalists have gone into exile, according to the report. Nicaragua ranks 168th out of 180 countries in RSF’s World Press Freedom Index. That is why independent journalism produced by exiled journalists has become a vital source of information about Nicaragua — and it is now at risk because of U.S. immigration policies, Roberts said. “Nicaraguans owe a debt to these journalists who, because of what they do, have lost everything. They did not sell their conscience; they decided to pay the price of informing people,” she said. “That price was enormous. Can you imagine losing your nationality and being left without a homeland?” This story was translated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera