Journalist and Translator. Reporting for @lookoutnews.bsky.social Newsletter, short essays on books and politics: https://johnwashington.substack.com/ Latest book, The Case for Open Borders: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2199-the
New piece up at The Guardian, arguing for more accurate language in writing about immigration detention. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Don’t call them ICE detention centers. Call them camps | John WashingtonI’ve spent a decade reporting on immigration enforcement. The word ‘camp’ best captures the political function of these facilitieswww.theguardian.comA transgender woman in Eloy Detention Center told @repyassansari.bsky.social that she was strapped to a wheelchair and interrogated, and then sent to solitary confinement. My latest conversation with the congresswoman for @lookoutnews.bsky.social www.lookoutnews.org/a-trans-woma...
A Trans Woman Says She Was Handcuffed to a Wheelchair at an Arizona Immigration CampGenesis says she was restrained and interrogated for hours after being accused of soliciting sex. Her account, shared with Rep. Yassamin Ansari, adds to growing allegations of abuse inside Eloy Detent...www.lookoutnews.orgI had a great conversation about immigration camps, with @brittashoot.com for @prismreports.org
Britta Shoot"Camps concentrate, immobilize, and exclude populations — and incarcerate people because of who they are or where they are." For @prismreports.org, an honor to talk with @jwashing.bsky.social about his urgent, clarifying new book, How to Close a Camp, out now from Haymarket ⬇️
Here's another excerpt of my new book, now up at @texasobserver.org www.texasobserver.org/excerpt-how-... @haymarketbooks.org
Excerpt: How to Close a CampDetention was sold as both a law-and-order necessity and an economic opportunity, welding together the racist politics of the drug war with the rise of private prisons.www.texasobserver.orgNew book is out today: www.haymarketbooks.org/events/819-h...
New book drops in one week. Find info and events at johnwashington.substack.com @haymarketbooks.org
Latest newsletter, on Eugene Delcroix's novel Small Boat, the dangers of bystanderism, and the recent DOJ indictments against community defenders in Minnesota: johnwashington.substack.com/p/there-is-n...
Honored to have talked to @mattshuham.bsky.social about what a better, more humane, and just immigration system could look like.
Matt ShuhamAhead of July 4, I wanted to know: What would an immigration "revolution" look like? I asked people who would know: a former ICE detainee, a retired immigration judge, a pastor who accompanies people to court, a day laborer organizer, and more. Read what they said: www.huffpost.com/entry/july-4...
Ten minutes out from Arizona's GOP gubernatorial debate. Join me for some drunken live-blogging for @lookoutnews.bsky.social 🥃🍷🍺 Follow along here: www.lookoutnews.org/join-our-dru...
Join Our Drunken Live Blog of the Republican Governor's Primary DebateFour republicans are fighting for GOP votes for the July 21 primaries.www.lookoutnews.orgYall speaking straight to my heart 🖤🦇♥️ @theborderchronicle.bsky.social & @max-pearl.bsky.social www.theborderchronicle.com/vampires-wit...
Vampires without BordersSpanning a thousand years and multiple continents, the new novel Filth Eaters casts vampires as the world's ultimate stateless people.www.theborderchronicle.comLatest newsletter, on the complications and nuances of empathy: open.substack.com/pub/johnwash...
empathy's double-edgeon allies and solidaridadopen.substack.comI had a great conversation about immigration camps with @mskellymhayes.bsky.social for @truthout.org's Movement Memos podcast
Haymarket Books“The immigration camp, it really depends on a lot of local infrastructure. It is up to us, neighbors, community members, and we have the actual power to shut them down.“ @jwashing.bsky.social talks to @mskellymhayes.bsky.social
Glad to be pushing the language around immigration detention. @themarshallproject.org referenced a recent chat I had with @austinkocher.com about what to call these facilities. I advocate for using the term "camp" as in... Immigration Camp Detention Camp www.themarshallproject.org/2026/05/04/i...
Are ICE Facilities Concentration Camps? Experts Reflect on Language.Concentration camps involve the mass detention of civilians, without due process, based on identity rather than something they have done.www.themarshallproject.orgOn the snares and snakes lying in wait for migrants navigating the broken immigration system open.substack.com/pub/johnwash...
snakes in the bureaucratic grassand why to focus on detentionopen.substack.comICE arrested a pregnant woman last November in Phoenix, refused her clean water or sufficient medical care, she claims, and then she miscarried. Five months later, she remains in detention. My latest for @lookoutnews.bsky.social @phoenixnewtimes.com www.lookoutnews.org/ice-said-she...
A Miscarriage in an Ariz. ICE Facility Went IgnoredA pregnant woman says repeated pleas for medical care were ignored at Eloy Detention Center.www.lookoutnews.orgWith Hope Pisoni, I looked into how states are helping to fund anti-LGBTQI hate groups through license plate sales. In AZ, in just five years, the Alliance Defending Freedom has earned about $1.5 million from sales. For LOOKOUT and @unclosetedmedia.bsky.social www.lookoutnews.org/state-progra...
License Plates Are Funding Anti-LGBTQ GroupsA multi-state analysis shows at least $7 million in specialty plate revenue has been directed to groups backing anti-LGBTQ+ campaigns.www.lookoutnews.orgMajor update in the case of Karla Saenz, the transgender asylum seeker who was held for over a month in a men's detention center in Eloy, Arizona. A judge has ordered her immediate release. Story for Lookout: www.lookoutnews.org/judge-orders...
bsky.appHave a book on exactly this, and the long history of that pushback, that is shortly forthcoming. www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2880-h... @haymarketbooks.org
How to Close a Campwww.haymarketbooks.orgRachel MaddowAP publishes a good multi-state rundown on pushback all over the country against plans for huge Trump prison camps: apnews.com/article/immi...