I’m a bilingual investigative journalist and writer based in Chicago. I currently serve as lead reporter and immigration project editor at South Side Weekly, an alt-weekly on the South Side of Chicago, where I cover immigration, ICE raids, the immigration legal system, and issues affecting immigrant communities. I also produce explainers, guides, and in-depth investigations to help readers understand complex policies and their real-world impact.

I also contribute to The Guardian and have worked as a freelance journalist, with stories published in WTTW, Crain’s Chicago Business, Univision, and LaVoz/SunTimes.

In 2023, I led reporting for Mindsite News and palabra (NAHJ), focusing on the intersection of immigration and mental health. I covered the experiences of families who survived the Darien Gap, exploring the lasting trauma and challenges they faced in accessing treatment, and reported on children afraid to attend school due to ICE raids in their communities. The series, Silent Battles, won the Insight Award for Explanatory Journalism from the Nonprofit News Awards.

Before taking on these current roles, Alma worked as a global health misinformation writer and fact-checker for a UNICEF program in collaboration with Public Good Projects, debunking COVID-19 misinformation that focused on Southeast Asia and North Africa.

I was also a digital producer for Univision Chicago, where I spearheaded the newsroom’s digital initiatives and covered the nightly breaking news. While there, I reported on the 2019 mayoral election, including Lori Lightfoot’s victory, as well as aldermanic races, COVID-19 developments, and the George Floyd protests.

In 2019, I was a Civic Reporting Fellow with City Bureau.

I studied literature and philosophy, training me to analyze texts, evaluate arguments, and interpret multiple perspectives—skills that sharpen my critical thinking and inform my investigative reporting.

I am currently learning French and have been devouring the works of Annie Ernaux.