Staff
Mel Leonor Barclay
Latest from Mel
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How one woman’s victory in Virginia explains Democrats’ success
Democratic women proved effective messengers in an election focused on the rising cost of living and the effects of Trump’s second term.
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Democrats hold on to Virginia House, a win for the future of abortion and LGBTQ+ rights
Measures on abortion rights, marriage equality, redistricting and more hung on the balance as voters decided on control of the state’s lower chamber.
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Virginia elects Democrat Abigail Spanberger as state's first woman governor
Spanberger’s campaign asked voters to weigh in on Trump’s second term and promised to address cost-of-living issues.
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Virginia makes history with first Muslim woman elected to statewide office
Trump’s travel ban inspired state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi to first run for office. Years later, she said fighting bigotry and the “chaos” of Trump’s second term is top of mind.
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Without the federal government, almost no money exists to fight domestic violence
Work to prevent intimate partner violence, feed families in shelters fleeing abuse or help survivors file for legal protection would not exist on the scale it does today if the federal government stepped back.
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Winsome Earle-Sears has already made history. Can she do it again?
Amid Trump’s attacks on immigrants and racial equity, the Virginia gubernatorial candidate is quietly hitting new milestones for Black Republican women in politics.
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Domestic violence nonprofits are winning against the Trump administration in court
A series of lawsuits has, at least temporarily, blocked the administration from putting ideological demands on groups that combat domestic violence and sexual assault.
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ICE keeps detaining pregnant immigrants — against federal policy
But the number is impossible to measure since Congress let lapse a requirement that ICE report how many pregnant, postpartum and nursing immigrants are in custody.
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Immigrant victims of domestic violence and human trafficking sue over ICE policies
Immigrants with pending applications for visas created to protect victims of crime argue that new Trump administration policies are illegally stripping away deportation protections.
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ICE fears put pregnant immigrants and their babies at risk
Fear of deportation is deterring people without permanent legal status from critical care. Doctors are worried for their health — and the health of their pregnancies.