Like most of the Venezuelan men deported to a Salvadoran prison, José Manuel Ramos Bastidas had followed U.S. immigration rules. Then Trump rewrote them.<a href="[link removed]><img src="[link removed]" alt="" border="0" /></a>

Nonprofit, investigative journalism on a mission to hold the powerful to account. Donate <[link removed]>

ProPublica <[link removed]> ProPublica <[link removed]>
The Big Story
July 18, 2025 · View in browser <[link removed]>

In today’s newsletter: Detained and then disappeared <[link removed]>; Texas requires detailed accounting <[link removed]> for anti-abortion program; uninvestigated deaths <[link removed]> in Idaho; plus more from our newsroom.

<[link removed]>
He Came to the U.S. to Support His Sick Child. He Was Detained. Then He Disappeared. <[link removed]>

Like most of the more than 230 Venezuelan men deported to a Salvadoran prison, José Manuel Ramos Bastidas had followed U.S. immigration rules. Then Trump rewrote them.

Read story <[link removed]>

 
Impact
Texas overhauls anti-abortion program that spent tens of millions of taxpayer dollars with little oversight <[link removed]>

Photo illustration of a calculator with the word WASTE displayed on its screen <[link removed]> 
Long before Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, Texas funded a program called Alternatives to Abortion, a system of anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers. After abortion became largely illegal in Texas, the program was rebranded as Thriving Texas Families and its budget was dramatically increased; lawmakers said they had shifted the money to supporting needy families affected by the state’s abortion ban.

Last year, a ProPublica/CBS News investigation found the crisis pregnancy centers in the network were riddled with waste and lack oversight <[link removed]>. ProPublica’s Cassandra Jaramillo and Jeremy Kohler reported recently that, following that investigation, Texas health officials are overhauling Thriving Texas Families <[link removed]>, requiring the nonprofits in the program to provide a detailed accounting of their expenses.

Read the Full Story <[link removed]>

 
Quoted

 

 
“Someone shows up with a dead body and just says they died of natural causes. I mean, really, do you just take their word for it?”

 
— Amy Belanger, whose mother, Betty Strong, was brought to the hospital by her husband, Clayton Strong, after her death in 2016. He claimed she’d been suffering from complications of Parkinson’s disease.

Five of six national death investigation experts ProPublica consulted said the coroner should have obtained medical records <[link removed]> to confirm Betty Strong was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, examined the trailer where her husband said she died or both.

Reporter Audrey Dutton <[link removed]> investigates how Idaho’s coroner system allowed crucial evidence to disappear.

Read story <[link removed]>

 
More from the newsroom

 

The Most Interesting Email I Ever Received: Remembering the Incredible Life of DIY Geneticist Jill Viles <[link removed]>

<[link removed]>

The USDA Wouldn’t Let Her Give Up Her House When She Couldn’t Pay Her Mortgage. Instead, It Crushed Her With Debt. <[link removed]>

<[link removed]>

Former NYPD Commissioner Accuses Mayor Adams of Running “Criminal Enterprise” and Cites ProPublica Investigation <[link removed]>

<[link removed]>

RFK Jr. Wants to Change a Program That Stopped Vaccine Makers From Leaving the U.S. Market. They Could Flee Again. <[link removed]>

<[link removed]>

FDA Inspectors Again Find Dangerous Breakdowns at an Indian Factory Supplying Medications to U.S. Consumers <[link removed]>

<[link removed]>

 

 

Find us on Facebook Find us on Facebook Threads <[link removed]> Find us on Instagram Find us on Instagram Instagram <[link removed]> Watch us on TikTok Watch us on TikTok TikTok <[link removed]> Find us on X Find us on X (Twitter) <[link removed]> Find us on Mastodon Find us on Mastodon Mastodon <[link removed]>
Was this email forwarded to you from a friend? Subscribe. <[link removed]>

 
This email was sent to [email protected].

 

Preferences <[link removed]> Unsubscribe <[link removed]>  
ProPublica

155 Ave of the Americas, 13th Floor

New York, NY 10013