Leslie Berestein Rojas Immigration and Emerging Communities Reporter
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Leslie Berestein Rojas is KPCC's Immigration and Emerging Communities Reporter.
An award-winning journalist with several years’ experience reporting on immigration issues, Berestein Rojas most recently covered immigration on the U.S.-Mexico border for the San Diego Union-Tribune. She has retraced the steps of migrants along desert smuggling trails, investigated immigrant detention contractors, and told the stories of families left behind in Mexico’s migrant-sending towns.
A native of Cuba raised in Los Angeles, Leslie has also written for Time, People, the Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Times. She has reported from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
Stories by Leslie Berestein Rojas
Con ganas: Meet political artist Ernesto Yerena (Video)
KPCC videographer Julie Platner recently caught up with artist Ernesto Yerena, the artist behind the familiar "We Are Human" poster of a smiling child holding flowers. Done in his signature shades of turquoise and light red, the poster is a collaboration with artist Shepard Fairey, with whom Yerena has worked as an assistant.
American snapshot: Lawndale
For those who think the holidays are over, they aren't. The oval-shaped confection on the poster in the window of this bakery in Lawndale is a Rosca de Reyes, a ring-like cake with a toy baby Jesus baked into it (yes, weird) topped with dried fruit and powdered sugar.
TRAC vs. ICE: Report claims more disparity in deportation stats
The back-and-forth between immigration authorities and a university center that tracks federal data has become more heated, after Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) sent out a press release today once again accusing the federal government of inflating its deportation statistics and withholding public information.
Con ganas: Meet political artist Ernesto Yerena (Video)
KPCC videographer Julie Platner recently caught up with artist Ernesto Yerena, the artist behind the familiar “We Are Human” poster of a smiling child holding flowers. Done in his signature shades of turquoise and light red, the poster is a collaboration with artist Shepard Fairey, with whom Yerena has worked as an assistant.
In the news this morning: Using an iPad to cross the border, tough times for GA agriculture, a mistakenly deported teen, more
Man Uses iPad, Not Passport, To Gain Entry To U.S. - NPR A Canadian man used an image of his passport that he had saved on his iPad to cross the border into the U.S. twice, instead of his passport.
ICE issues immigration detainers for L.A. arson suspect Burkhart and his mother
Not only was the mother of Los Angeles arson suspect Harry Burkhart not in deportation proceedings, but it seems immigration authorities until recently had no record of her being in the United States since her last recorded exit almost five years ago.
Definitely not a deportation case: Complaint lists allegations against L.A. arson suspect's mom
The federal complaint against Dorothee Burkhart, the mother of suspected arsonist Harry Burkhart, is rather a lengthy list of fraud accusations from Germany.
L.A. arson suspect's mother not a deportee - she faces criminal charges, possible extradition
UPDATED: According to the U.S. Marshals Service, Dorothee Burkhart was arrested in Los Angeles last Wednesday "pursuant to the issuance of a provisional arrest warrant, which seeks her extradition to the Republic of Germany, where she faces numerous counts of fraud.
Who had the longest wait for an immigrant visa this month?
It's the start of a new month and a new year, but the line to enter the United States legally is as long as ever. According the U.S. State Department’s monthly Visa Bulletin, which lists the categories of hopeful immigrants whose turn is up to receive visas, there are some relatives of U.
In the news this morning: Latinos supporting Obama in Iowa, paralyzed deportee dies, Romney says he'd veto Dream Act, more
In Iowa's First Majority Latino Town, Frustrated Obama Backers Stand By Their Man - ABC News "In a state where only 5 percent of the population is Latino, West Liberty is the first town where the majority of the population belongs to the nation’s fastest-growing minority.
German fugitive mother of LA arson suspect tells judge her son might have been taken by Nazis
The mother of Harry Burkhart — the suspect in more than 50 Los Angeles arson fires — told a federal judge Tuesday that her son is mentally ill and suggested he might have been taken by the Nazis.
L.A. arson suspect had recently 'made a scene' in immigration court
Immigration officials have yet to release more details, but police in Los Angeles are saying that Harry Burkhart, the 24-year-old man arrested on suspicion of a long string of arsons in the city throughout the weekend, recently became upset in immigration court over his mother's deportation case.
The top five immigration stories of 2011
During the past week, Multi-American has been counting down the biggest and most influential immigration stories of 2011. That's not to say there were only five: It's been a major year for stories related to the immigration debate, especially as the battleground has shifted to the states, record deportations have continued, and the Obama administration's expansion of federal-local partnerships such as the Secure Communities fingerprint sharing program continues to draw controversy.
Top five immigration stories of 2011, #1: The battle in the states
A year ago, when Multi-American was counting down the top five immigration stories of 2010, topping the list with Arizona's game-changing SB 1070 was a no-brainer. Not necessarily because news of the 2010 anti-illegal immigration law dominated immigration coverage last year, but because of the lasting impact the law was bound to have on other states.
In the news this morning: Obama and Latino voters, ICE's detainee hotline, 'All-American Muslim' show takes on 9/11, more
Latino voters: Obama more appealing than GOP rivals - Los Angeles Times A Pew Hispanic Center study has found that a majority of Latino voters are unhappy with President Obama over how he's handled immigration, but that they'd still prefer to vote for him over the current crop of GOP rivals.
