Melissa Sanchez is a reporter at ProPublica. She joined ProPublica in 2017 and is focused on immigrants and low-wage workers. Her work here examining Chicago’s punitive ticketing and debt collection system helped prompt major reforms, including changes to state law and an end to driver’s license suspensions over ticket debt. She previously worked for The Chicago Reporter, Catalyst Chicago, el Nuevo Herald in Miami and the Yakima (Wash.) Herald-Republic, and has received numerous local and national awards for her reporting. She lives in Chicago with her husband, their two young children and two cats. She is the daughter of immigrants from Mexico and El Salvador, and she speaks Spanish.
Melissa Sanchez es una reportera de ProPublica. Se unió al equipo en 2017 y se enfoca en historias sobre inmigrantes y trabajadores de bajos ingresos. Sus reportajes examinando el sistema de multas de tránsito en Chicago impulsó grandes reformas, incluyendo nuevas leyes estatales que eliminaron la norma que suspendía las licencias de conducir por deudas de tráfico. Previamente Melissa trabajó para The Chicago Reporter, Catalyst Chicago, el Nuevo Herald en Miami y el Yakima Herald-Republic en el estado de Washington. Ha recibido varios premios locales y nacionales por sus reportajes. Vive en Chicago con su esposo, dos hijos pequeños y dos gatas malcriadas. Es hija de inmigrantes de México y de El Salvador y habla español.
Here is our annual report on the breakdown of our staff and how we’re working to create a more diverse news organization and inclusive journalism community.
A ProPublica investigation showed how language barriers contributed to authorities wrongly blaming a dairy farm worker for his son’s death. Lawmakers have responded.
We need your help to understand the challenges facing dairy farm workers. We especially want to hear from farmers, medical professionals, regulators and anyone else with perspective from inside the community.
When an 8-year-old Nicaraguan boy was run over on a Wisconsin dairy farm, authorities blamed his father and closed the case. Meanwhile, the community of immigrant workers knows a completely different story.
A system intended to protect young immigrants while they wait for new homes has instead been overused, experts say, leading to prolonged stays in federal custody.
Cities nationwide look to Chicago as officials wrestle with whether speed cameras have improved traffic safety enough to justify their financial burden on Black and Latino motorists.
Nearly 200 Afghan children brought here without family by the U.S. government during the haphazard military pullout are languishing in federal custody.
Here is our annual report on the breakdown of our staff and how we’re working to create a more diverse news organization and inclusive journalism community.
A ProPublica analysis found that traffic cameras in Chicago disproportionately ticket Black and Latino motorists. But city officials plan to stick with them — and other cities may adopt them too.
After ProPublica’s report that Afghan children at a Chicago shelter were hurting themselves, Sen. Dick Durbin asked federal officials to investigate. In the meantime, Heartland Alliance, the facility’s operator, now has interpreters in its shelters.
Some Afghan children at a Chicago shelter have hurt themselves or others, leaving workers overwhelmed. Employees say the shelter has never experienced this level of chaos and isn’t equipped to provide kids with services they need.
In 2018, ProPublica reported on how vehicle tickets in Chicago disproportionately harm low-income, Black residents. This latest set of reforms proposes lowering ticket costs and providing debt relief for low-income residents.
Dos años después de una investigación de ProPublica, el Departamento de Servicios para Niños y Familias de Illinois todavía no está cumpliendo con una orden de una corte federal para mejorar el servicio a las familias hispanohablantes.
Two years after a ProPublica investigation, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services still is not complying with a federal court order to better serve Spanish-speaking families.
If Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs the measure that lawmakers passed this week, motorists will no longer lose their licenses for unpaid red-light and speed camera tickets.
Immigrant teenagers who work overnight shifts in suburban factories dream of a better life for children they don’t yet have. So did the author’s father.
Inmigrantes menores de edad que hacen turnos nocturnos en fábricas suburbanas sueñan con una vida mejor para hijos que todavía no tienen. El padre de la autora hizo lo mismo.
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