Immigration reporter @nysfocus / @Report4America corps member What should I know? isabelle@nysfocus.com or Signal: 202-768-5650
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In Mississippi, if you believe a loved one could pose a threat to themselves or others because of a mental health issue, you can file paperwork to have them evaluated.
But first, they might have to go to jail – without being charged with a crime. (THREAD)
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By the end of his detention, the boy was the only child still living in the shelter.
“He appears sad, isolated, reluctant to engage, and often unwilling to speak."
Federal immigration officials held an 8-year-old boy in a Brooklyn shelter for nearly seven months despite the fact that he had US citizenship.
Here's how it happened and what it took to secure his release. nysfocus.com/2026/06/18/us-c…
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Isabelle Taft retweeted
NEW: The ICE detention center near Buffalo has banned book deliveries, New York Focus has learned.
Rejected books include a Spanish-English dictionary, a translation of a George R.R. Martin novel, and “The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work.”
nysfocus.com/2025/10/08/bata…
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Isabelle Taft retweeted
Hello good people of X, I have some news: This week, I'm starting a new beat @MSTODAYnews covering the city of Jackson. My time on the higher ed beat has been challenging, enlightening and full of growth, but I'm so excited for something new.
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From the comments:
The ship of state is now
riddled with self-inflicted holes,
and soon the dream it evokes
will sink beneath the waves.
If this were theatre, this titanic, ghostly ship
could do no better job communicating
this moment in history
nytimes.com/2025/02/19/us/ss…
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Thank you Hannah and @jduffyrice for highlighting this story.
there were so many good pieces so it was hard to narrow them down! first is this piece about how the sprawling infrastructure of the criminal legal system fills in for our nonexistent mental health care system, and everyone loses: propublica.org/article/bapti…
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This job will be absolutely fascinating.
Mississippi Today is hiring reporters for a new desk, led by me, to cover the many inspiring, gut-wrenching, profound, absurd, delightful, layered, deeply human stories of my home, Jackson, MS. Please share! mississippitoday.org/2024/11…
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Isabelle Taft retweeted
It is such a joy to see @ayewolfe of @MSTODAYnews recognized among the @time Time100 Next 2024.
As @JudyWoodruff writes in the conclusion of her profile of Anna: “At a time when journalism is struggling to survive, Anna reminds us why it matters.”time.com/7023485/anna-wolfe/
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Isabelle Taft retweeted
📢📢📢 We're growing! New York Focus is looking for a full-time reporter to cover social services and public benefits across New York state.
Apply and help us get the word out!
nysfocus.com/hiring
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Isabelle Taft retweeted
from Cabot, Pennsylvania — @byEduardoMedina and I covered the funeral for Corey Comperatore, who was killed after shielding his family from gunfire on Saturday.(w/ valuable assist from @IsabelleTaft)
nytimes.com/2024/07/19/us/co…
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Isabelle Taft retweeted
Mouse will have two premieres for our print issue in New York! The first will be at the @nplusonemag offices. Due to limited space, that one requires an RSVP. The second will be a Haunted House in Park Slope. RSVP here: nplusonemag.com/online-only/… (and thanks n+1!)
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Isabelle Taft retweeted
Super honored to have gotten this recognition for the Shaky Science, Fractured Families series @IsabelleTaft, @WillStribling & I did in late 2022/early 2023!
Mississippi Today has won the 2023 Bill Minor Prize for Investigative Reporting, along with other honors from the Mississippi Press Association. buff.ly/4blMTRq
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Isabelle Taft retweeted
Mississippi's prison officials spent $4,500 to use the state plane to travel to a TN town to interview a Mississippi inmate about a security threat against a public official.
Yet the state agency won't share any details surrounding the incident.
mississippitoday.org/2024/06…
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After four wonderful years in Mississippi, I have a new job. Starting Monday I'll cover national news as a fellow at the New York Times.
I'm grateful to everyone who shared their stories with me and to all my colleagues at @MSTODAYnews and @sunherald.
nytco.com/careers/newsroom/n…
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Isabelle Taft retweeted
In the US, people with severe mental illness often end up in jail bc there is no real system of care. @IsabelleTaft found something far more shocking in DeSoto County, MS: hundreds of patients awaiting treatment were sent to the county jail.
propublica.org/article/bapti…
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When Sydney Jones arrived at Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto during a mental health crisis, her family assumed she would soon receive treatment.
Instead, the hospital sent her to jail, though she was charged with no crime.
Why did this happen? (THREAD)
mississippitoday.org/2024/05…
ALT Portrait of a young woman sitting on a bed, her hands folded on her lap.
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A year later, Sydney is doing better. But she wants to remember what happened, so she keeps mementos: The Bible she read in jail, the notebook where she took notes during group therapy, and wristbands. The white one identified her as a patient; the yellow, as a prisoner.
ALT Sydney Jones holds the yellow wristband she wore while jailed in DeSoto County during the commitment process. The wristband is labeled with her booking photo, height, weight and booking number.
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Read the full story of what happened to Sydney – and dozens of other people in Desoto County in recent years – here, for @MSTODAYnews and @propublica, with reporting by @agnel88_philip and @mrsimon22 and photos by @EricJShelton
mississippitoday.org/2024/05…
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