Melissa Sanchez
I report on immigration and labor, and I am based in Chicago.
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What I Cover
I write about immigrants and low-wage work in the Midwest. In this second Trump administration, I plan to pay attention to deportations, including deportations of people in the criminal justice system. I am based in Chicago.
My Background
After joining ProPublica in 2017, I led a project that examined Chicago’s punitive ticketing and debt collection system; that reporting helped prompt major reforms, including the cancellation of 55,000 driver’s license suspensions and millions of dollars in debt forgiveness. In 2018, I was part of a team of reporters who examined conditions at shelters for unaccompanied immigrant children; some of that reporting was included in a ProPublica series on the impact of President Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance policy that was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize.
I was among the first reporters to document the growing number of Central American teenagers who work in factories. Most recently, I worked with my colleague Maryam Jameel to examine conditions for immigrant workers on Wisconsin dairy farms; that reporting prompted a federal civil rights investigation and led to the creation of an $8 million fund to build housing for farmworkers. The series was a finalist for an Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics, among other recognitions.
I previously worked for The Chicago Reporter, Catalyst Chicago, El Nuevo Herald in Miami and the Yakima Herald-Republic in Washington. I am the daughter of immigrants from Mexico and El Salvador and speak Spanish fluently.
How a Fire on a Dairy Farm Led Us to More Than a Year’s Worth of Stories About Immigrant Dairy Workers
ProPublica reporter Melissa Sanchez reflects on what led her to investigate the many dangers and inequities faced by the immigrant workers without whom America’s dairy farms wouldn’t function.
Los trabajadores de las granjas lecheras a menudo aguantan viviendas precarias. La ley no los protege.
El fiscal de Minnesota reveló cómo los trabajadores de una granja lechera carecían de calefacción, plomería y tenían moho en sus viviendas. Estas condiciones son comunes, debido a que estos trabajadores son excluidos de muchas protecciones.
The Law Doesn’t Protect Immigrant Dairy Workers in Substandard Housing
Minnesota’s attorney general exposed conditions at one dairy farm where workers lacked heat and plumbing and dealt with mold in their homes.
El Departamento de Justicia trabaja con un sheriff de Wisconsin para eliminar las barreras lingüísticas
Una investigación de ProPublica en el Condado de Dane de Wisconsin reveló cómo las barreras lingüísticas y los errores de una oficial la llevaron a culpar erróneamente a un obrero de una granja lechera por la muerte de su hijo.
The DOJ Is Working With a Wisconsin Sheriff to Improve How Deputies Communicate With People Who Don’t Speak English
A ProPublica investigation in Wisconsin’s Dane County revealed how a grammatical mistake in Spanish led sheriff’s deputies to wrongly blame a Nicaraguan dairy worker for his son’s death.
Cuando se lesionan, pocos inmigrantes que trabajan en las granjas lecheras reciben compensación laboral
La exención para granjas pequeñas de Wisconsin es una de las muchas exclusiones federales y estatales que históricamente han dejado a los trabajadores agrícolas—y de la industria lechera en particular—con menos derechos y protecciones que otros
When Immigrant Dairy Farm Workers Get Hurt, Most Can’t Rely on Workers’ Compensation
Wisconsin’s exemption for small farms is one of many federal and state carve-outs that have historically left farm workers — and dairy workers in particular — with fewer rights and protections than others.
“Una vez que ya no les sirves a ellos, te botan”
Los trabajadores inmigrantes son esenciales en la industria lechera de Wisconsin. Pero cuando se lesionan, frecuentemente son descartados.
“Once You’re No Good to Them, They Get Rid of You”
Immigrant workers are essential to Wisconsin’s dairy industry. But when they get injured, they’re often cast aside.
La OSHA rara vez investiga las granjas pequeñas. Por eso los defensores de los obreros no reportan muertes o lesiones.
Un mosaico irregular en la implementación de las normas laborales a través del país significa que muchas muertes y lesiones de los trabajadores en las granjas no son investigadas por oficiales de seguridad del gobierno.