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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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A quick guide to dealing with road closures and snowy conditions.
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The system’s Board of Regents voted Wednesday to implement the changes.
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Thousands of University of California campus and health center employees are on a two-day strike after stalled negotiations.
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California has made a new grade, transitional kindergarten, available for four-year-olds. LAist reporters spent a day in three schools to find out what students do in class.
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Jonathan Caravello was detained while protesting mass raids at cannabis facilities this summer.
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Immigration raids have caused some U.S. citizens to carry their passports to the store, to school or to work. But what documents to have on you depends on your citizenship.
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Faculty filed a public records lawsuit to get details of a negotiation that has mostly taken place behind closed doors.
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At Pasadena City College, a professor helps students gear up for the naturalization test. But lately, she’s been feeling conflicted about her role.
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The university says the compact, as the Trump administration called it, could undermine free inquiry and academic excellence.
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After the Supreme Court let federal agents treat the widely spoken language as grounds for suspicion, some Spanish speakers have opted to avoid using it in public. Others are doubling down.
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Experts say students shouldn't readily forgo federal aid. But a California-only program may be a good alternative in some cases.
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The beloved ice cream was discontinued in 2022. The Salt & Straw ice cream chain is aiming to improve on our childhood memories with a new version.
