Alex Pena

New York

Senior Video Journalist at The New York Times

Producer, CBS Reports Documentaries

Articles

What is stopping Trump from exiling you to a foreign prison?

3 weeks ago | miamiherald.com | Alex Pena |Alex Peña

WASHINGTON - With cameras rolling in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump told reporters this week that he would carefully study the law before deciding whether to exile Americans accused of violent crimes to prisons overseas, where, according to his administration, U.S. courts are powerless to respond.
What is Tren De Aragua?

3 weeks ago | miamiherald.com | Alex Pena |Alex Peña

President Donald Trump’s deportation of alleged foreign gang members, including the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, has made headlines, with his administration facing allegations that it is not following due process and wrongly imprisoning innocent people. Tren de Aragua, which was designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. in February 2025, has been repeatedly mentioned by Trump as part of his hardened immigration crackdown.
‘Crime of tattooing’: Why experts say body ink is no way to ID Venezuelan gang members

1 month ago | miamiherald.com | Alex Pena |Alex Peña

Stars, crowns, roses and watch tattoos can land you in prison if you are a Venezuelan man in the United States. U.S. immigration agents have been flagging Venezuelans, especially men, for suspected ties to the feared Tren de Aragua gang based on tattoos, including animals, basketball symbols and reggaeton lyrics. The Trump administration invoked a 227-year old wartime law last month to target Venezuelans, sending hundreds of alleged members of the gang to a mega prison in El Salvador.
Supreme Court lets Trump seek deportations under wartime law

1 month ago | miamiherald.com | Alex Pena |Alex Peña

WASHINGTON - A divided U.S. Supreme Court let President Donald Trump resume using a wartime law to try to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members, giving the administration a boost in a high-profile clash over the limits of presidential power. Granting an emergency request by Trump on a 5-4 vote, the justices tossed out a lower court order that had paused deportations under the Alien Enemies Act while litigation continues.
US asks Supreme Court to halt order to undo deportation error

1 month ago | miamiherald.com | Alex Pena |Alex Peña

WASHINGTON - The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to intervene Monday and block a lower court order mandating the return of an immigrant mistakenly deported to El Salvador in a high-profile challenge to the administration's immigration crackdown. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia and his family filed a lawsuit in Maryland federal court, arguing that the removal violated an immigration judge's 2019 order that he not be deported to El Salvador due to possible persecution.
Trump turns to Supreme Court on wrongly deported Salvadoran

1 month ago | miamiherald.com | Alex Pena |Alex Peña

WASHINGTON - The Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block an order to bring back a Maryland man who immigration officials conceded was wrongly deported to a notorious prison in his native El Salvador. The administration filed its request Monday just as a federal appeals court unanimously declined to block U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis's order, which gives the United States until 11:59 p.m. Eastern time to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Sudanese refugees flee to Chad amid deadly airstrikes

1 month ago | miamiherald.com | Alex Pena |Alex Peña

The first stop for many Sudanese refugees fleeing deadly ground attacks and airstrikes in Sudan is a remote mobile medical clinic along the border with Chad, operated by Doctors Without Borders. Sudan’s civil war is entering its third year, and increasing airstrikes have been a driving factor for many refugees now fleeing the country for safety in Chad.
Sudanese Refugees Flee to Chad Amid Deadly Airstrikes

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Alex Pena |Alex Peña

Back transcriptAirstrikes in Darfur Missed Their Target. These Refugees Were Hit Instead. Airstrikes carried out by the Sudanese military in Darfur have been sending refugees fleeing for safety and medical treatment, as they describe being victimized by bombs intended for the army's opposition. Ten-year-old Isah Abdallah Fadul was injured last year in an airstrike at a busy market in Darfur.
U.S. Foreign Aid Cuts Hit Sudanese Refugees Fleeing Violence and Famine in Darfur

1 month ago | businessandamerica.com | Alex Pena |Alex Peña

U.S. foreign aid cuts impacting Sudanese refugees in Chad have reduced already razor-thin margins for lifesaving resources like food and water, and other U.S. government-funded programs including mental health counseling and education. “When we told [the students] the decision, that we’re going to close the school, most of them were crying,” said Aballah Abakar Abdallah, a teacher at the only secondary school in Aboutengue refugee camp, near the border of Sudan.
U.S. Foreign Aid Cuts Hit Sudanese Refugees Fleeing Violence and Famine in Darfur

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Alex Pena |Alex Peña

These Sudanese Refugees Fled War. Now, Crucial U.S. Aid Is Running Out. Sudanese refugees at the Aboutengue Camp in Chad, most of whom are women and children, say they are desperate for help just weeks after the U.S. government announced drastic foreign aid cuts in January. Fatehiyya Mohamed Adam is a Sudanese refugee who first fled war in 2023 and then lost everything after an accidental fire ripped through this refugee camp along the Chad-Sudan border.