El Tecolote (2025)

18/12/2025

On Wednesday morning, as San Francisco crews towed RVs in the Bayview, Yerservi M. and his pregnant wife Katia S., stayed inside their home, terrified that stepping out would mean losing it. Officials eventually left, towing three unattended RV homes without permits instead.

Hours later, the threat of a tow truck was replaced by a different city presence: investigators questioning the couple about a city worker with the Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) team who they say sold them a parking permit they desperately needed for $500 in cash.

The couple had told El Tecolote about the alleged permit sale on Nov. 20. After the newsroom contacted the Department of Emergency Management, city officials said permits are not for sale and that the allegation would be taken seriously. El Tecolote’s inquiry was quickly escalated to senior city officials and is now under investigation.

“When something like this happens, they need to pause their [program],” said Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness. “It just opens up the door for exploitation, and that’s exactly what happens.”

Go to eltecolote.org to read our investigation.

17/12/2025

More than 40 faith leaders and immigrant rights activists were arrested outside of San Francisco’s immigration courthouse on Tuesday morning for blocking the entrances to the building. The organized demonstration called for an end to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and demanded due process for immigrants.

Demonstrators chained themselves to the building’s door, locked arms and sang hymns as the San Francisco Fire Department cut through chains and locks. Behind the glass doors, masked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents watched as the arrests unfolded.

📸:

10/12/2025

Ricardo “El Tigre” Peña, one of the Mission District’s most beloved elders and cultural leaders, passed away late Sunday night. Peña leaves a profound legacy in the Bay Area. He worked with youth as a teaching artist at Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, led Danza Azteca performances alongside his wife, Connie, and helped run Mixcoatl, the family’s vibrant 24th Street storefront known for its Indigenous handcrafts.

Peña’s unwavering commitment to preserving Indigenous traditions made him a guardian of memory for the community. The sound of his drums will continue to echo throughout the halls and streets of the Mission, carrying his spirit forward. Peña leaves behind a family and a community who loved him deeply.

As we honor his life, El Tecolote is creating space for community voices. We invite you to share an anecdote, memory or photograph of Ricardo that you are willing to share with us. Selected submissions will be published in the Jan. 8 print edition of El Tecolote, our first issue of the new year. Thank you for helping us preserve his legacy.

Follow the link in our bio to submit your story.

09/12/2025

Advocates warn that SNAP pauses and political standoffs are only a preview of looming, long-term federal cuts that could push more than half a million Californians into food insecurity.

Read more at the link in our bio.
📝: .duranf with
📸: .io

27/11/2025

¿Ha estado tomando estas pastillas peligrosas?

Si las está tomando para aliviar el dolor crónico, consulte a su doctor para que le guíe en el proceso seguro para suspender su uso y buscar alternativas de tratamiento más seguras.

El beneficio temporal de su uso tiene graves consecuencias:

Artri King está empeorando los problemas de salud de muchas personas y, en algunos casos, puede llegar a ser mortal. Además de desarrollar moretones e hinchazón, muchas personas que lo consumen, han tenido efectos secundarios graves, como: trastornos hormonales, debilitamiento de huesos, diabetes, tumores raros incluso la muerte.

Para mayor información, visite la pagina web eltecolote.org.

📹: w/
📝: .duranf w/

26/11/2025

As a child, Alexis Puentes was so immersed in making music that he would forget to eat. “My mother would have to remind me that I was human, that I needed food,” he said. Raised in Artemisa, Cuba, his musician father taught him how to play guitar. By fourteen he picked up the bass: “And that was the point of no return.”

Today, under the stage name Alex Cuba, he is an internationally acclaimed artist known for blending traditional Cuban folk with North American soul, pop, funk and jazz. He has won a Grammy, multiple Latin Grammys and two Juno Awards for his industry-shaking sound.

Cuba will headline this year’s Encuentro del Canto Popular at Brava Theater on Saturday, December 6, 2025. The concert is Acción Latina’s annual fundraiser supporting El Tecolote’s newsroom and arts programs. This year’s lineup also includes the Afro-Peruvian ensemble Warango, Chicana rap artist Diabbla, and DJ Lizzy al Toque from Chulita Vinyl Club.

Ahead of his performance, El Tecolote spoke with Cuba about how he developed a musical language that transcends genres, cultures and borders.

Follow the link in our bio for the full interview.

21/11/2025

San Francisco began enforcing its new two-hour parking policy for RVs and other large vehicles on Nov. 1. The only vehicles exempt from the rules are those covered by the city’s Large Vehicle Refuge Permit, created for residents experiencing vehicular homelessness who had their RVs parked in the city by May 31, 2025.

The permit grants protection from towing and citations. But some immigrants and families say they meet residency requirements, yet are still being denied for reasons they cannot resolve: inoperable vehicles, expired registrations, failed smog tests or missing paperwork from previous owners. Several told El Tecolote they submitted every document they could, yet were still rejected.

The policy leaves these residents with no path to maintain their only shelter, accelerating the risk of towing, displacement and deeper instability for their families.

Go to eltecolote.org to read more.
📸: w/ .io

—
El Tecolote is celebrating 55 years of bilingual, bicultural journalism serving immigrant and working-class Latinos. From now until Dec. 31, every monthly or annual membership gift is matched dollar-for-dollar by NewsMatch, doubling your impact. This is the best time to support our newsroom. Become a founding member at the link in our bio. 🦉

20/11/2025

In San Francisco, a growing number of Latinos who work physically demanding jobs are turning to the supplement Artri King to relieve chronic pain.

This supplement is marketed as natural remedies for pain relief. But there’s a dark side to the pills that has doctors in the city worried. They contain hidden pharmaceuticals that can lead to serious medical conditions, including liver toxicity and death.

Quitting them abruptly can also be very dangerous. And though the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked people to avoid them, the message of their harms doesn’t seem to be getting across to Spanish speaking immigrants, or to the many small businesses in the Mission District that cater to them.

Go to eltecolote.org to read the full investigation.

📝: .duranf w/
📸: w/ .io
—
El Tecolote is celebrating 55 years of bilingual, bicultural journalism serving immigrant and working-class Latinos. From now until Dec. 31, every monthly or annual membership gift is matched dollar-for-dollar by NewsMatch, doubling your impact. This is the best time to support our newsroom. Become a founding member at the link in our bio. 🦉

20/11/2025

A targeted ICE operation near Hoover Elementary in Oakland caused a school lockdown, a car crash and widespread fear.

Follow the link in our bio to read more.

📸+📝: with .io
📹: Courtesy of Adolfo Cardes

19/11/2025

Advocates are gathering outside of three Oakland schools on Wednesday after an ICE/DHS vehicle was spotted parked near Hoover Elementary around 8:40 a.m.

ACILEP, Alameda County’s rapid response network, confirmed that DHS/ICE was present in the neighborhood and said the activity was “likely for targeted enforcement,” but reiterated that agents did not enter Hoover Elementary and that no ICE-related arrests have been confirmed in Oakland as of Wednesday morning.

Bay Resistance, an immigrant-rights organization, has since organized a “solidarity presence” during school pickup hours today:

Harriet Tubman Preschool
Supervised pick-up: 11:00 - 11:45 a.m.
800 33rd St. Oakland, CA 94608

Hoover Elementary
Picket from 12:30 - 2:00 p.m.
890 Brockhurst St., Oakland, CA 94608

YMCA Preschool
Picket from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m.
3265 Market St, Oakland, CA 94608

Advocacy groups and community leaders emphasize the need to separate fact from rumor and to respond with preparation, not panic, and encourage people at risk to:
* Know your rights when interacting with federal agents
* Create a family emergency plan, including who to contact and where to go if a family member is detained.
_
To receive verified updates and know-your-rights resources in Spanish, join our WhatsApp group, where our team will be posting live and answering community questions.

19/11/2025

“City governance should be grounded in competency and public accountability. In his first year, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has favored optics and relationships over process, and working-class families are paying the price.

In the span of a month, two crises exposed Lurie’s approach. The first was the sudden collapse of his most consequential political appointment. A few weeks earlier, a federal immigration operation was halted only after a group of billionaires contacted the president.

Together, these events show how a city that relies on impressions and private access struggles under real pressure. They reveal how the absence of strong leadership leaves public institutions sidelined while private wealth fills the vacuum.”

Follow the link in our bio to read the full op-ed.

📝: Ian Firstenberg
📸: with .io

13/11/2025

Last month, amid a planned immigration enforcement surge that was eventually called off, many parents had to confront a question they’ve long avoided: What would happen to their children if they were detained?

El Tecolote reporter Mariana Duran found that many immigrant families still don’t have an emergency plan in place, and advocates say it often takes multiple sessions for this information to truly sink in.

To directly support families, El Tecolote and Mission Action hosted a community event focused on family preparedness, legal rights and emotional health during a time of rising immigration enforcement. Community leaders from La Colectiva de Mujeres, PODER SF and the Latino Task Force joined Mission Action in a panel where about 30 community members came with questions, concerns and a need for guidance on how to protect their loved ones.

We also just published a family preparedness explainer (read at eltecolote.org) with the five key steps immigration advocates recommend. We’re distributing this information in Spanish through our WhatsApp community, our print newspaper and upcoming community events.
— Help power community journalism that defends, informs and uplifts immigrants. Through Dec. 31, every new membership is matched 12 times, and every one-time gift is doubled (up to $1,000 per donor).

Follow the link in our bio to join. Truly, we can’t do this work without you.

El Tecolote

18/12/2025

17/12/2025

10/12/2025

09/12/2025

27/11/2025

26/11/2025

21/11/2025

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