Latino USA

This summer, after serving a nine-year sentence in a notorious Texas men’s prison, Estrella was released but wasn’t free. First she was put in immigration detention facilities and then deported. She’s an undocumented trans woman from Mexico caught up in the United States’ criminal and immigration systems. In this episode –reported over a decade–we go to Mexico to document her release, look back on her story, her evolving relationship with host Maria Hinojosa, and what it means to finish serving a criminal sentence when you’re an undocumented immigrant whose freedom is tenuous and bittersweet

Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio program in the U.S., centering Latino stories and hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa.
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Este verano, después de terminar una sentencia de 9 años en una prisión de hombres en Texas, Estrella salió, pero no encontró libertad. Fue transferida a las manos de ICE, a un centro de detención para migrantes para después ser deportada.
Esta es la historia de una mujer trans, migrante de Mexico, sin papeles, regresando a su país como mujer. Es también la historia de una relación inusual entre periodista y fuente.
En este episodio exploramos lo que significa terminar una sentencia penal cuando se es indocumentado en EEUU, y lo que significa la libertad cuando se siente tenue y catartica.

Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio program in the U.S., centering Latino stories and hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa.
Follow the show to get every episode.
Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for ad-free listening, early-access and exclusive bonus episodes with the chisme behind Latino USA and all our podcasts: www.futuromediagroup.org/joinplus.
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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This spooky season we get an extra treat from one of the masters of horror. On October 9th, Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro’s seminal fantasy horror classic, Pan’s Labyrinth, returns for a 20th-anniversary theatrical re-release. Running until October 15th, the anniversary release includes a 3D conversion and the 4K restoration. In a conversation with Guillermo del Toro anticipating the re-release, we dive into the film's themes of fascism, machismo, and violence against women and girls – themes which unfortunately still speak to our current times two decades later.

Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio program in the U.S., centering Latino stories and hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa.
Follow the show to get every episode.
Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for ad-free listening, early-access and exclusive bonus episodes with the chisme behind Latino USA and all our podcasts: www.futuromediagroup.org/joinplus.
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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What identified Nixon as a member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua? Was it a confidential informant's testimony? Was it the rose tattoo on his arm? Was the fact that he was skinny, young, living without parents in a housing complex? After seeking answers from local and federal law enforcement, we travel to Perú to search for Nixon and to find out whether he was a member of Tren de Aragua.

Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio program in the U.S., centering Latino stories and hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa.
Follow the show to get every episode.
Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for ad-free listening, early-access and exclusive bonus episodes with the chisme behind Latino USA and all our podcasts: www.futuromediagroup.org/joinplus.
Follow us on TikTok and YouTube. Subscribe to our newsletter.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before the Venezuelan migrant Nixon Azuaje-Pérez was arrested, a PR firm reached out to national media outlets and told them that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was taking over apartment complexes in Aurora, Colorado. A local politician said the organization was also taking over entire swaths of the city. After that shocking claim, the politician got a call from then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. He was coming to town. The game of telephone that started with spent bullet casings ends with Nixon on a plane headed to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.

Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio program in the U.S., centering Latino stories and hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa.
Follow the show to get every episode.
Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for ad-free listening, early-access and exclusive bonus episodes with the chisme behind Latino USA and all our podcasts: www.futuromediagroup.org/joinplus.
Follow us on TikTok and YouTube. Subscribe to our newsletter.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.