In the wake of a high-profile shooting involving an Afghan man and subsequent immigration crackdowns announced by former President Donald Trump, AP reporters across the country mobilized to document a sharp increase in immigration arrests targeting Afghans.
Seattle reporter Martha Bellisle began tracking arrests after noticing patterns in local court records and immigration filings. She was soon joined by Rebecca Santana in Washington and Julie Watson in San Diego to expand the scope of the reporting and verify a broader trend.
At the same time, video producer Sahar Akbarzai was working on a similar story while visiting Sacramento. She connected with Afghan families and community advocates and teamed up with San Francisco-based photographer Godofredo Vasquez to document firsthand accounts of detentions and the fear sweeping refugee communities.
Together, the team uncovered and documented roughly two dozen immigration arrests of Afghans, many of whom had been legally resettled or were awaiting legal resolution of their cases. The reporting gave visibility to an otherwise quiet but growing enforcement action, contextualized within post-attack rhetoric and shifting policy.
The result was a cohesive, multiformat package that captured the human impact of political decisions — and highlighted the strength of AP’s cross-regional collaboration.
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