Keri Blakinger

THREAD: When I got arrested, a woman I met my first day in jail told me I should take notes on everything and someday write a book. A decade later, I FINALLY have – and now you can buy it here. I wish she had lived to see this. read.macmillan.com/lp/corrections…

Our latest @HoustonChron exclusive based on the 911 call logs in Kerr County "offers a new look at how the catastrophic Independence Day flooding turned into the county’s deadliest disaster in recent years" -- h/t @DugBegley, @carolineghisolf and @keribla. houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-t…

If you still think Gawker was the good guy after it published a sex tape of a private citizen, then you really need to do some introspection. That publication was a cancer.

We have fans 🖤 If anyone else would like to be a fan as well, here's the story in question. Just remember, you can't properly hate on us unless you read the whole thing! A hate click is still a click and we appreciate it. houstonchronicle.com/news/investiga…

how it started / how it's going

ICE releases deaf Mongolian immigrant after holding him for months without interpreter calmatters.org/justice/2025/0…

NEW: We listened to hours of scanner traffic and analyzed 911 logs to put together a visualization - complete w/maps + audio embeds - showing how the disaster response unfolded in Kerr County on July 4. w/@DugBegley @carolineghisolf @AmandaDrane houstonchronicle.com/projects/2025/…

Worth your time, #Texas from @neenareports and @keribla

Welcome to #Texas: Kerr County river authority had $3.4mln in reserves but chose to cut taxes and turn down a 0% interest loan from the state rather than fund a $1 mln flood warning upgrade. Great reporting by @neenareports & @keribla houstonchronicle.com/news/investiga… via @houstonchron

Outstanding work. You both did a great job digging into the intersection of property taxes & river authorities. This is why I subscribe to @HoustonChron. I hope #txlege reads this

I wrote the government this week, asking why Javier had been arrested. A senior DHS official said in an email, “Deferred action does not confer any form of legal status in this country.”

We hired an American Sign Language Interpreter so I could interview Javier and allow him to tell his story in his own words. Since his release, he’s been scared to go out for fear the ankle monitor will bring agents back to arrest him. Despite that, he returned to work this week

I waited at Javier’s South L.A. apartment, where he’s lived since he was a boy. His neighbors cried when he arrived.

Javier was released July 8, nearly a month after he’d been arrested. They put an ankle monitor on him before letting him go. His brother & cousin booked last minute flights to El Paso. They had to rent a car, once they realized Javier’s Real ID was no longer in his wallet.

At the July 2 bond hearing, the government lawyer acknowledged Javier has DACA protection, which had just been renewed and will not expire until 2027. The judge granted the minimum for bond and said the government could monitor, but was not required to do so.

They held him in detention in downtown L.A. before putting him on a flight to El Paso. It was his first time on a plane. He spent it in handcuffs. His attorney and family said they weren’t able to speak with Javier for weeks. The first time they saw him was at his bond hearing

When ICE pulled over in front of him, he gestured that he couldn’t hear. He took out his wallet to show his Real ID. He said an agent took the wallet from his hand. He tried to type to them in his phone, but they took that too.

Javier, who arrived in California around 5 years old, was working at a car wash in Temple City when he saw coworkers begin to run. He couldn’t hear the shouts of “migra.” A woman gestured at him to run, so he did. It wasn’t until later that he realized they were running from ICE.

🚨 On June 13, ICE arrested Javier Diaz Santana, a DACA recipient granted protection to legally work and live in the U.S. Javier, 32, is deaf and uses sign language to communicate. ICE held him for 25 days and released him with an ankle monitor. latimes.com/california/sto…

The river authority in Kerr County had a recent decision to make — upgrade a safety sensor system along the Guadalupe, or give property tax cuts to area residents. It chose the latter. @neenareports and @keribla report. houstonchronicle.com/news/investiga…

Exclusive: Kerr County river authority chose tax cuts over alert system upgrades before deadly floods, via @neenareports and @keribla houstonchronicle.com/news/investiga… via @houstonchron