This week has been very busy for newsrooms across the country. However, it is Latino newsrooms that are stepping up even more to meet the urgency of the moment. Community centered newsrooms like Conecta Arizona, El Timpano, Planeta Venus, Enlace Latino NC and us have been doing the work long before this week.

This week has been a shit show.

We’ve done this work before and we will continue to do it. This time though — our community is facing unprecedented uncertainty. Misinformation on sites like Facebook and X is rampant as people seek to know the latest about ICE in their communities.

In South Carolina, we have been monitoring pages from local community leaders and pages with a sizeable audience, that are spreading information that is incomplete or flat out wrong. We’ve answered dozens of direct messages about possible ICE operations. Tracking down reliable information has been challenging, specially with limited capacity.

On January 29, we brought to light a story of an immigrant man who was simply at his jobsite when he was approached by a White man who began to shout racist slurs, harass him, and ultimately called the police on him. The police showed up and let the immigrant man go, but it wasn’t until we published the video that the Sullivan’s Island Police Department announced they were opening a criminal investigation. Our English-language media colleagues have now picked up the story and we’ve offered to work with them to diversify their sources and provide them tips about what our community is currently facing.

That same day we were the only Spanish-language news organization at a protest in downtown Charleston that ended with the arrest of 7 community members. A volunteer printed and helped distribute information about the city ordinance and constitutional rights.

Our reporting on the demonstration led to a multiracial coalition to form. CHS BLM stepped up to raise funds for the 7 people arrested. Gen Z folks were compelled to seek us out for resources on how to organize — and have begun a grassroots effort to make their voices heard. We shared information with the SC ACLU, who provided legal observers.

This week we have set out to centralize resources in South Carolina. We are building a network of volunteers we can train to combat misinformation online. A network of people we can train to document ICE sightings so that we have first hand accounts in an effort to prevent causing more panic in the community.

We launched a space on our website for folks to access resources that includes:

• A link to print Know Your Rights Cards to go in your wallet
• A map directory of trusted legal services in South Carolina that help immigrants
  • This directory will continue to grow as more organizations are added
• A direct link for the Online Detainee Locator System ICE has

This week we’ve also launched:

• A partnership with the Mexican Consulate to offer Mexican nationals resources they can access from the Mexican government, including a program for legal representation for Mexican nationals in the US.
• A new group where community can report possible ICE activity.
• A dedicated WhatsApp channel where we only share information that has been verified.
• A partnership with legal professionals and community venues to provide information workshops and know your rights presentations.
• Our first volunteer program that stemmed from dozens of folks reaching out wanting to help.
  
  We have answered 78 direct message request with questions about how to find a trusted attorney, how to create a plan for their children in case their family is separated, and fact-checking questions.

It feels like a BIG responsibility that we have on our shoulders as South Carolina doesn’t have infrastructure for immigrant rights work.

We don’t have all the answers and this is not your traditional news reporting. But at a time when legacy media and philanthropic organizations have been slow to act or just completely silent… We are giving it a shot, we have no option, and we won’t be complicit.