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Juan Carlos Chavez - Immigration Reporter

Immigration Reporter

I am from the city of Lima (Peru). When I was a teenager I thought of dedicating myself professionally to football but the passion for reading and writing took me in other ways. This is how I came to journalism, a profession that has allowed me to get to know other cultures, countries and people of all kinds. I live in the United States because I always believed that this was the best place to dedicate myself to the press and tell stories with a human sense. I was not wrong. I went through Miami and finally arrived in Tampa, a city that has its own history and a rich Hispanic tradition. The perfect combination for a journalist like me.

  1. According to a new University of South Florida study, the impact of Florida's tougher immigration policies extends beyond those who lack legal status. Across all groups, they shared a climate of fear, distrust, and constant vigilance.
  2. Venezuela keeps a warship on alert, following the announcement of the presence of U.S. Navy ships in the Caribbean Sea, in Puerto Cabello, Carabobo, Venezuela, on Aug.16, 2025..
  3. Owner Andrew Ashmeade goes through donated items that will help Hurricane Melissa victims in Jamaica at the Jerk Hut on Wednesday in Tampa.
  4. Erik Maltais, CEO and co-founder of Tampa-based Immertec, a VR company bringing the operating room online for surgical training, warns that new six-figure H-1B visa fees could hinder growth for his five highly skilled international employees.
  5. About a dozen protesters gather outside of the 13th Judicial Circuit Court building on Wednesday in Tampa. The group was there to demand the release of Maveline García, who was arrested in September and could receive a deportation order.
  6. Yordanka Rumayor, 44, looks through copies of documents that she provided to Dayana Barreto García for green card applications for herself, her husband, and her son, at her Tampa residence on Sept. 30. Rumayor is among dozens of Cuban immigrants who say García defrauded them out of thousands of dollars while claiming to act as an immigration attorney.
  7. An agent holds a surrendered green card just prior to a naturalization ceremony that was held at a federal courthouse in Tampa, where applicants from 25 countries became citizens during a ceremony on July 18.
  8. Benita Cantero, 42, of Bradenton, shares her story during a press conference where community members gathered to demand the release of her husband, Eddy Macario, 36, at the Church of the Trinity MCC on Thursday in Sarasota. Macario was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in May.
  9. Children play with American Flags during a naturalization ceremony that was held at the Sam Gibbons United States Courthouse. Applicants from 25 countries became citiizens during the ceremony Friday, July 18, 2025 in Tampa.
  10. A security guard stands near a group gathered outside the Department of Homeland Security offices in Tampa in May, where U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is located. The agency handles immigration benefits such as green cards, citizenship, and asylum processing on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security.
  11. People congregate outside the Department of Homeland Security offices on May 23 in Tampa, where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is based to serve western and central Florida counties, including Hillsborough and Polk.
  12. Alexa Figueroa and her daughter stand outside immigration court in Orlando. Figueroa said the judge recommended she find an immigration attorney.
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  14. Ricardo Gonzalez, a 55-year-old Mexican trucker who lives in Sarasota, speaks while stopped at a rest area off Interstate 75 in Ruskin on Tuesday. He said that if the government adds immigration enforcement on top of additional inspections, it could make truckers' jobs harder.
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  16. About half of all U.S. immigrants (52%, or 26.7million people) were born in Latin America. Mexico is still the largest source of immigrants, with more than 11 million people in the U.S.
  17. People wait in a TSA line at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York in 2022.
  18. The Unimex group meets in a public park across the street from El Ranchito De Pepe grocery store Monday, Aug. 11, 2025 in Clearwater.
  19. A group of new U.S. citizens, at right, observe the Pledge of Allegiance during a naturalization ceremony on Friday, June 27, 2025, at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Tampa Field Office.
  20. Parishioners chant to sermons at New Jerusalem Haitian Baptist Church on July 13 in Tampa.
  21. Yaumara Martínez, 37, holds a 2013 photo of herself and her son, Kevin Willians Martínez, before leaving Cuba. She says she has been unable to reunite with Kevin, who is autistic, because the Trump administration halted immigrant visas for Cuban relatives of U.S. permanent residents and imposed a travel ban on the country.
  22. Amid rising immigration enforcement raids and deportations, immigrants and advocates are using apps and digital networks like StopICE.net to track immigration enforcement across the nation.
  23. Hillsborough County's new Aquilla J. Morgan High School was built on 87 acres east of West Lake Drive in Wimauma with a $178 million budget. It has a maximum capacity of 3,500 students. The school held a grand opening ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday.