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Julia Barajas
What I cover
I strive to bring nuance and context to the issue of immigration, which is often cast as a competition for limited resources or a concern for public safety.
Beholden to no political party, I document the impact of federal immigration policy on Southern California communities—including U.S. citizens of color—while holding our government accountable. My coverage centers human suffering and resilience, with an emphasis on how communities are taking collective action in response to this evolving landscape.
My background
I’ve covered a broad range of issues for English and Spanish-language news media—everything from environmental injustice to the arts. Most recently, I was LAist’s higher education reporter. My work has been recognized by the California News Publishers Association, the Los Angeles Press Club, the Press Club of Atlantic City, and the Society for Features Journalism.
My goals
I pledge to reflect SoCal’s economic, ethnic, racial, and linguistic diversity in my reporting. This means making it a point to include people who speak Armenian, Arabic, Farsi, Khmer, Korean, Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Zapotec, and all the other beautiful languages in the place we call home—while acknowledging that Tongva is the first language of this land.
How to contact me
If you or your community have been affected by federal immigration policy, I want to know about it. Also, if you have ideas about stories I should be covering, I welcome your thoughts. You can reach out by email. I'm at jbarajas@laist.com. Or, if you have a tip you’d like to share more privately, you can reach me on Signal. My username is @jbarajas.68.
Stories by Julia Barajas
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Florence-Firestone residents who organized against the demolition have mixed feelings about the new space.
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Tens of thousands of people have been waiting for help since they won a lottery last year.
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Staff members and volunteers at a Boyle Heights nonprofit are helping renters navigate the labyrinth of local housing rules.
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Staff and volunteers at InnerCity Struggle will go door-to-door through neighborhoods on the Eastside.
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The L.A. County Board of Supervisors will vote Tuesday on whether to expand the region’s guaranteed income program to make it more widely available to former foster youth.
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Pandemic-era eviction protections in place since March 2020 expire across L.A. County on Friday.
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Parents and students pivoted while a three-day strike shut down Los Angeles Unified School District. There were teachable moments, some more successful than others.
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Labor and environmental groups say wealthy corporations are using these initiatives to overturn laws.
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More than 3,300 Angelenos have already weighed in. But we’re still waiting to hear from you!
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From biking to volleyball, these homegrown groups are open to all.
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Over the last decade, scores of programs have promised coding skills for a new economy. Many of their graduates succeed. And many don't, left on the hook for some of the same high costs as traditional higher education.
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