Deportations have been a hallmark of the second Trump presidency, and competition among major news organizations is fierce.
The AP has excelled in navigating the fast-moving landscape with experience, tenacity, deftness and teamwork.
The Labor Day weekend story would not have been possible without the source work of immigration reporter Valerie Gonzalez, who has gained the trust of multiple lawyers representing migrant children. It paid off when she was alerted late Saturday that the U.S. government was to deport a group of migrant children to Guatemala in the dead of night.
By 3 a.m. Sunday, Gonzalez had arrived at Valley International Airport in Harlingen, Texas, where she observed from the airport’s perimeter for 12 hours, took photos and video of the children boarding the plane and — after a judge’s 4:30 a.m. order — deboarding, providing the only on-the-tarmac accounts from any major news organization of the dramatic ordeal.
The AP demonstrated strong teamwork among journalists across multiple bureaus throughout the day. Gonzalez worked with Homeland Security reporter Rebecca Santana in Washington, reporter Jennifer Peltz in New York, and correspondent Sonia Perez and photographer Moises Castillo, both in Guatemala, as a court hearing unfolded in Washington and family members arrived at La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City, some 900 miles away.
Just two days earlier, Gonzalez, Santana and Washington-based reporter Amanda Seitz had reported the administration’s intent to remove nearly 700 Guatemalan children, providing critical context for the weekend piece.
From the judge’s wake-up call at 2:30 a.m. on Sunday to the children’s return to their shelter later that night, AP journalists kept reporting to produce powerful coverage illustrating how the children were caught in Trump’s crackdown on immigration.
Judges were impressed by Gonzalez’s source work and determination to tell the story, as well as the teamwork that brought in parallel scenes for dramatic and complete coverage.
For the notable source work, dedication and collaboration, Gonzalez, Santana, Peltz, Perez, Castillo and Seitz earn this week’s Best of AP — First Winner.
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