Back in June, 22-year-old registered nurse Vilma Palacios had just accepted a position at Touro Infirmary in New Orleans when she was arrested by ICE agents. She then spent six months in a detention center, all while family members and immigration advocates called for her release, pointing to her community involvement, lack of a criminal record and commitment to nursing during a time of a nursing shortage.
But in late December, she returned to Honduras, a country she had not visited since she left as a child. Palacios joins us to share her story, her experience in detention and why she still has hope.
Since May of 2020, WWNO’s Rosemary Westwood has been a leading reproductive health care reporter in the U.S. She’s broken stories on restricted access to abortion care, rising rates of whooping cough and growing numbers of medications listed as controlled substances. She also created, hosted and reported the award-winning podcast, Banned, telling the story of Mississippi’s last abortion clinic — which lost the case that overturned Roe v. Wade. After nearly five years with the station, Rosemary is moving on to a new opportunity
She joins us to reflect on her career and journey with WWNO and WRKF.
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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Alana Schreiber. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber. Matt Bloom and Aubry Procell are assistant producers. Our engineer is Garrett Pittman.
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