Borderless Magazine

There have been a few key moments that have solidified Dr. Thaer Ahmad’s passion for medicine and humanitarian aid over the years. One being how the circumstances of oppression in Palestine led to his father developing rheumatic heart disease, and another being how a young cousin was shot and killed by Israeli forces after advocating for better prison conditions. Now, Ahmad is based in Chicago’s South Side. He works as an emergency medicine physician and has been involved in humanitarian relief for over a decade. Borderless Magazine spoke to Dr. Ahmad about his commitment to humanitarian aid, his experiences volunteering in Gaza and his advocacy efforts since. This story was supported by @braveofus and produced using our collaborative as-told-to method, where we interview people and share their stories in their own words. ✍️ Read Dr. Thaer Ahmad’s story as-told-to @taramobasher at the link in our bio. 📸 Photos by @camillafortesilva with support from @catchlight.io and @report4america (1,6), and courtesy of Dr. Thaer Ahmad (2,3,5)

Illinois residents must use their REAL IDs to board domestic flights or enter federal buildings after federal requirements took effect last year. With travel season just weeks away, Borderless Magazine compiled a guide to what you need to know about the REAL ID and how it's required for boarding flights. ✍️ Read the full guide by @taramobasher at the link in our bio. 📸 Photos by @camillafortesilva with support from @catchlight.io and @report4america (1) and Oscar Gomez/Borderless Magazine (2)

We just published our impact report for the first quarter of 2026, detailing what community-centered immigration reporting looks like when done with care, depth and accountability. Our impact reports are an opportunity for us to reflect on our work and for you to see behind the curtain, holding us accountable to our commitment to serving Chicago’s immigrant community with practical resource guides, hard-hitting investigations and uplifting community features. ✍️ Learn more about our work from January through March by reading the full Q1 Impact Report at the link in our bio. 📸 Photos by @camillafortesilva with support from @catchlight.io and @report4america

Elected officials and local rapid responders say they have documented immigration agents’ presence in and around hospitals in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs over the last eight months. A new law in Illinois aims to address hospitals’ responses to these situations by requiring hospitals to enact policies outlining how staff will interact with immigration agents on their premises. The law is called the Health Care Sanctity and Privacy Law. It requires hospitals to have a point person to talk to ICE and ask for a warrant if agents try to enter private areas. It also bans hospitals from sharing private medical information with ICE unless agents have a signed judicial warrant or subpoena. Some advocates have raised concerns over whether the law is enough to protect immigrants from immigration enforcement in hospitals. Others say it’s a positive step toward expanding immigrant access to healthcare in Illinois. ✍️ Read more about the Health Care Sanctity and Privacy Law in the full story by @by.katrinapham at the link in our bio. 📹 Video by @by.katrinapham

On one day of the year, Asians become the majority in the Illinois State Capitol building, as Christian Taylor of @advancingjusticechicago puts it. It’s for the annual Asian American Action Day — and this year, hundreds of community members lobbied in Springfield for legislation and funding to support immigrant communities. Some immigrant services have been cut in this year’s proposed budget as Illinois faces financial pressure from President Trump’s signature tax cuts bill and federal policy changes. AAA Day’s policy agenda included funding healthcare programs for immigrants, immigrant legal and social services, inclusive history, and halal/kosher meals in public schools. Advocates hope that introduced legislation, such as a digital advertising tax, can create the revenue sources needed to fund social services. The PAVE coalition consists of 19 Asian American organizations throughout the Chicagoland area, such as @hanacenterchicago , @vai_chicago , @indoamericancenter , @caslmedia , @cbcacchicago , @afirechicago and more. ✍️ Read the full story by @by.katrinapham at the link in our bio. 📸 Photos by @camillafortesilva with support from @catchlight.io and @report4america (1,7,8) and Sarah Yeo and HANA Center (2,3,5)

It was more than Know Your Rights. At schools across the city, teachers have organized “compassion funds,” mental health resources, legal clinics and ICE watch patrols to support students afraid of immigration enforcement. And they did it all on their own time. These “sanctuary groups” have created safe spaces for students and reassured their families — a critical support since teachers have noticed attendance drop when ICE presence spikes. Through it all, students are still finding ways to move forward under the fear of family separation. ✍️ Read the full story by Samantha Monje at the link in our bio. 📸 Illustration by @jen.kneefer (1), photos by @camillafortesilva (4) with support from @catchlight.io and @report4america , and @maxhermanphoto (7)

Tens of thousands of people rallied across Chicago and marched to Union Park to celebrate International Workers’ Day, known as May Day, on Friday. This year marks the 140th anniversary of a strike in Haymarket Square that sparked the movement that led to the eight-hour workday. While the day is celebrated every year in Chicago to support labor rights, many took the opportunity to broaden support beyond labor to include immigration issues. The calls for action during the march come amid heightened immigration enforcement over the past year. Many called for defunding and the abolishing of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), funding towards communities of color and prioritizing workers over billionaires. 📹 Video by @byaydali

Under a new law aimed at protecting immigrant access to healthcare, Illinois hospitals have created policies outlining what staff should do if faced with immigration agents. But some are wondering: will federal agents listen to hospital policy? After Trump took office, he repealed a policy restricting ICE from conducting enforcement in sensitive locations, such as hospitals. Elected officials and advocates reported that ICE agents were present in hospitals and surrounding areas in the fall. The situations left staff unsure of what to do and patients afraid, even if agents weren’t making arrests directly on hospital property, advocates said. ✍️ Read the full story by @by.katrinapham at the link in our bio. 📸 Photos by @camillafortesilva with support from @catchlight.io and @report4america

A state panel tasked with documenting the impacts of Operation Midway Blitz had its final meetings this week, revealing “consistent, intentional violations of the law and deliberate institutional cover-up” in the shooting of Marimar Martinez in Brighton Park. The panel, called the Illinois Accountability Commission, also shared body camera footage of federal agents' aggressive enforcement in Little Village, Old Irving Park, Lakeview and Evanston. The commission will submit a final report of its findings to Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday, having conducted 16 investigations, interviewing over 60 witnesses and studying nearly 100 hours of body camera footage. ✍️ Read the full story by @taramobasher at the link in our bio. 📸 Photos by @camillafortesilva with support from @catchlight.io and @report4america

Cook County’s immigration unit has grown since it began five years ago, adding more public defenders to represent detained people as detentions surged the past year under the Trump administration. It’s now part of 70 government-backed programs across the country providing free legal representation in immigration court. A decade ago, only three programs like it existed. ✍️Read the whole story written by @byaydali in the link in our bio. 📹 Video by @byaydali with press conference footage by @by.katrinapham

This year marks five years since the Cook County Public Defender’s (CCPD) immigration unit became a permanent division. But the last year has tested it. More and more people are seeking free legal guidance as they or their loved ones face deportation under the Trump administration’s sweeping policy changes. Two years ago, the CCPD’s immigration division hotline received only a handful of calls each week. Now, the office receives back-to-back calls from people seeking help, according to Cruz Rodriguez, one of the division’s attorneys. ✍️ Read the full story by @byaydali at the link in our bio. 📸 Photos by @camillafortesilva with support from @catchlight.io and @report4america

CHICAGO! 📡 Join us for special screenings of @stealthisstoryplease with exciting Q&A participants plus representatives from vital local orgs in partnership with @indiemediachi . Participating groups include @wzrdchicago , @lumpenradio , @borderless_mag and more. Show your love for independent media. Get tickets now at StealThisStory.org! 🎤 ABOUT STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE!: Fiercely independent journalist Amy Goodman has spent three decades holding the powerful to account, reporting from war zones and the Democracy Now! newsroom. In Steal This Story, Please!, Oscar-nominated filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin craft a riveting portrait of journalism’s power – and peril – in an era of corporate control and political attacks on truth.