Maria Murriel

Maria Murriel is a reporter interested in migration and identity. Addicted to travel.

I'm interested in stories about migration and identity, as well as journalism that causes people to engage with one another.

I was a reporter and editor at The World and previously built the digital department at WLRN in Miami, my hometown.

I grew up in Peru, and like to tell stories about the Andean region, its culture and diaspora.

I prefer Instagram over Twitter, and I travel every chance I get. Craft beer, cats and single malts are a few of my weaknesses.

Thousands of candlelights lit in front of Poland's presidential palace in memory of the victims of a fatal plane crash. Warsaw, April 2010.

Read this book about writing. About death. (By a gifted novelist.)

Edwidge Danticat's latest book, "The Art of Death," helped her process her mother's death.

Read this book about writing. About death. (By a gifted novelist.)
An attendee leaves flowers for Nabra Hassanen, a teenage Muslim girl killed by a bat-wielding motorist near a Virginia mosque, during a vigil in New York City, U.S. June 20, 2017.

Nabra Hassanen's murder feeds anti-immigrant rhetoric on the conservative internet

Nabra Hassanen's murder feeds anti-immigrant rhetoric on the conservative internet
Afro-Cuban jazz singer Daymé Arocena performs during the New Era concert in Havana, 2016.

Cuba's Daymé Arocena found her religion through music

Cuba's Daymé Arocena found her religion through music
Men walk by a mural that reads "Get the hell of Liberia, Ebola! And don't come back" in Monrovia, Liberia, April 1, 2016.

Ebola is over. Now the US wants a group of West African immigrants to go home.

Ebola is over. Now the US wants a group of West African immigrants to go home.
Women run under a Puerto Rican flag before the National Puerto Rican Day Parade on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan

New York's Puerto Rican Day Parade stirs tensions between the island and the mainland

New York's Puerto Rican Day Parade stirs tensions between the island and the mainland
Children fly kites in a neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, February 8, 2017.

DHS extension of protected status for Haitian immigrants might be the last

About 60,000 Haitian immigrants on temporary protected status received an extension of the program that allows them to live and work legally in the US. But it only lasts six months.

DHS extension of protected status for Haitian immigrants might be the last
This is a rally in support of TPS for Haitian immigrants back in 2009, during a visit by former US President Barack Obama to Miami, Florida.

Haitian immigrants get extension of protected status, worry it might not be long enough

The Department of Homeland Security on Monday extended Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Haitians in the United States. The program will continue to benefit Haitians for six months.

Haitian immigrants get extension of protected status, worry it might not be long enough
The Nordic Resistance Movement (Nordiska motstandsrorelsens), a Nordic National Socialist organisation, demonstrates in central Stockholm November 12, 2016.

White nationalism in Sweden has a long history. Now it also has partners in America.

Richard Spencer, the American white nationalist known for getting punched in the face on camera and extolling Donald Trump with a Hitlerian salute, has formed a new publishing venture with Swedish far-right extremists.

White nationalism in Sweden has a long history. Now it also has partners in America.
How many pengos can you spot?

It's World Penguin Day! Help scientists count penguins.

Penguins are a bellwether of climate change. Scientists use their population size and well-being as indicators of the state of Antarctica.

It's World Penguin Day! Help scientists count penguins.
Bianco factory raid family reacts

A massive ICE raid in this town didn't stop undocumented labor — or illegal immigration

ICE detained hundreds of people and deported most of them. A decade later, New Bedford, Massachusetts, is still home to a large undocumented population.

A massive ICE raid in this town didn't stop undocumented labor — or illegal immigration
Workers who have been fired gather at the management office for Sid Wainer & Son in New Bedford, Mass. on March 10, 2017. Most of the workers are undocumented, and felt their termination was unfair.

Undocumented workers demand rights in a city scarred by a massive raid

Even without legal status, immigrants in New Bedford, Mass. are organizing to face what they think is unfair work treatment.

Undocumented workers demand rights in a city scarred by a massive raid
A security guard looks out of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices in New York, U.S. on August 15, 2012.

Immigration lawyers: Trump crackdown tactics will see fierce legal challenges

The tactics outlined in Homeland Security memos include deporting undocumented immigrants to Mexico regardless of their nationality, and seeking expedited removal of these immigrants — meaning no court hearings, no due process.

Immigration lawyers: Trump crackdown tactics will see fierce legal challenges
Americans started drawing parallels between Orwell's realities and the Trump Administration as early as his first day in office, when Press Secretary Sean Spicer berated and lied to the media in his first briefing.

In our Orwellian reality, reach for 'Animal Farm' with your '1984'

In "Animal Farm," George Orwell traces the slippery slope from democracy to totalitarianism. It looks a lot like the US today.

In our Orwellian reality, reach for 'Animal Farm' with your '1984'
women's march

Portraits of the march: Illustrating the Women's March on Washington

Millions of people around the world took to the streets this weekend to proclaim that women's rights are human rights. We spoke to some marchers in D.C. about why they were there.

Portraits of the march: Illustrating the Women's March on Washington
Jen Marley was at Donald Trump's presidential inauguration protesting against abuses of Native American resources.

Native activists focus on protests — not so much the ballot box

President Trump's record with Native communities is not good, say the Native activists who came to his inauguration to protest.

Native activists focus on protests — not so much the ballot box