Poynter reports:

In 2021, Venezuelan journalist Luz Mely Reyes moved to the United States because she didn’t want to be silenced. As an outspoken advocate for the freedom of expression, Reyes no longer felt safe in Venezuela, where reporters have been threatened, arrested and beaten.

Now in the U.S., however, she finds that she must often silence herself.

“In my country (Venezuela), I never self-censored. Here, I have to avoid some topics because I feel that it’s dangerous for my status,” said Reyes, who as a green card holder is a permanent legal resident of the U.S. but not a citizen.

As President Donald Trump and his administration have cracked down on immigration and free speech alike, some non-citizen journalists working in the U.S. have started to censor themselves, wiping their social media accounts and avoiding making statements that could be construed as criticism of the administration. They have delayed or canceled travel plans, fearful of being detained and deported — some to home countries hostile to the press. One journalist even reported removing their old bylines.

Those journalists’ fears are not unfounded. Last month, Salvadoran journalist Mario Guevara was arrested by local police while covering anti-Trump protests in Atlanta and then handed over to and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Guevara, who has lived in the United States for 21 years, is in the country legally, said Katherine Jacobsen, the U.S. program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists. [Continue reading…]