El Tecolote

01/09/2025

This Labor Day, we honor San Francisco’s day laborers.

As President Trump’s renewed immigration crackdown deepens, finding work has become even harder for the immigrant workers who clean our homes, build our city, and keep our communities alive. ICE raids at hiring corners, arrests at immigration court, and employers demanding work permits are cutting into the opportunities day laborers depend on to pay rent and support their families.

In El Tecolote’s latest edition, we devote our coverage to their fight for survival and dignity:
• ICE fears and loss of work hit San Francisco’s day laborers hard
• An immigrant came to San Francisco for work. One injury changed everything
• Six ways to defend San Francisco’s immigrant day laborers
• These 11 S.F. organizations support day laborers—here’s what they offer
• How immigrants can protect themselves from wage theft in California

We’re sharing information and resources through our bilingual print newspaper and our Spanish-only WhatsApp group. Pick up a free print edition at taquerías, lavanderías, panaderías, and other Latino-owned businesses in the Mission and beyond.

28/08/2025

Maria Zavala, 37, keeps her family’s life in the corner of a hospital room. There are toys and yogurt cups and juice boxes. A small black duffel of clothes and a pair of flip flops sit near the visitor’s chair. For nearly three months, Zavala and her 7-year-old daughter Samara have been sleeping here instead of at home. They do not have one.

Since 2023, Zavala and her family have lived outside on the street, slept in their car and bounced from one hotel to the next before finally moving into the Salvation Army Harbor House a year ago. Now with Samara in the hospital, a new fight has begun.

Samara suffers from CLIPPERS syndrome, a rare inflammatory disease of the brain and spinal cord. Since June, she has endured three major spinal surgeries. Each day she pushes through therapy, walking a few steps or bending for a toy while her mother watches with pride and hope.

But outside the hospital walls, Zavala is battling another crisis. She says the city’s point system called Coordinated Entry, has denied her family permanent supportive housing multiple times without offering enough additional resources, despite two of her three children living with disabilities.

“This system is a mockery and it plays with our mental health constantly,” Zavala said. “Who is San Francisco a sanctuary for if we are always exposed to another kind of deportation or another eviction notice from the shelter?”

Follow the link in our bio to read more.

📸+📝: with .io

28/08/2025

Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate El Tecolote’s 55th birthday! 🦉🎉 We’re still buzzing from all the love, music, memories and community support at our fundraiser party.

And if you believe in bilingual, community-powered journalism, it’s not too late to support our work! You can still donate: https://bit.ly/41Z0QTl

22/08/2025

Gracias for highlighting our legacy!

For 55 years, El Tecolote has been the voice of San Francisco’s Latinx and immigrant communities. Our grassroots, community-first newsroom has been built by the tireless work of committed journalists, volunteers, and community members who believe that bilingual news and storytelling have the power to inform, defend, uplift and empower underserved communities.

Today, El Tecolote is stronger than ever. Rooted in our founding mission, we’re expanding our reach with visually rich storytelling, quick-turn investigations and direct service to Spanish-speaking immigrants via WhatsApp and in-person events.

We could not do this work without you.

🎉 Come celebrate with us at tonight’s birthday fundraiser (2958 24th St.) 🪅✨

And help us continue this work by donating at the link in our bio.

¡Que viva Teco y sus 55 primaveras!

📸: with .io

20/08/2025

Federal officers escalated their use of force this morning as about 30 protesters clashed with ICE officers outside San Francisco’s immigration courthouse.

There have been no mass raids in SF, but ICE has carried out targeted arrests during routine check-ins and even inside courthouse hallways.

In response, immigrant rights activists have staged regular sit-ins, blocking access and sometimes forcing hearings to be postponed, sparking confrontations like today’s that turned violent.

For San Francisco’s immigrant community, the clashes are a stark reminder: enforcement isn’t just rising, it’s growing more forceful.

📸: Tyler Morris
📝: Maura Corkery

15/08/2025

07/08/2025

It’s our birthday month! 🦉✨

To celebrate 55 years of independent community journalism, join us for a birthday fundraiser on Friday, August 22!

There will be cumbia, palomas, sheet cake, a piñata and plenty of good company.

El Tecolote celebrates 55 years of bilingual, community-rooted journalism. Join us for a fundraiser and support local Latino-led reporting.

02/08/2025

During their final practice at Crocker Amazon Soccer Fields, the team behind El Farolito Soccer Club trained with fire. Players shouted instructions and sprinted across the field, fighting for every loose ball. The intensity was matched only by the camaraderie between them. The scene is a glimpse into what makes this team extraordinary: chemistry, confidence and community.

Tonight at 5 p.m., El Farolito will face Hickory FC at the historic Kezar Stadium as they fight to defend their NPSL title and cement their legacy in Bay Area sports history.

But El Farolito’s path to the championship isn’t just about soccer. It’s a story of immigrant grit, sacrifice and the power of community.

Read the full story at the link in our bio.

📝+📸:   with .io 

01/08/2025

He hadn’t moved anything in the house. Their bed was still unmade — it had been like that for days, he said, since the last night they slept in it. Her shoes, tossed near the front door. In the kitchen, their dishes still sat untouched in the sink. He said he couldn’t bring himself to wash the ones they had used to eat breakfast before they left the house that last morning.

“We didn’t know this was the last time she was going to come back,” he told El Tecolote. 

For the past weeks, Roberto has been sleeping on a friend’s couch, too distraught to spend the night alone in his house. 

In July, Roberto’s wife Sandra was arrested by ICE during a routine check-in appointment at the agency’s San Francisco field office. Since then, she has been held in a detention center, waiting for updates on her pending asylum case.

“For them, it’s very normal. But the result is a home destroyed,” Roberto said. “I’m really depressed. I haven’t eaten in days. I’m not hungry, I don’t want to eat anything.”

“She’s my family,” he added. “She’s my home.” 

Follow the link in our bio to read more about how one couple’s journey to build a life together was upended by a single ICE check-in.

📝: .duranf with
📸: with .io

30/07/2025

Despite California’s strong tenant protections, vulnerable immigrant renters are terrified to invoke them out of fear they’ll be deported.

28/07/2025

ICYMI: On Friday, Latino homeless families celebrated a major $30 million win for emergency rent subsidies and extended shelter stays, a victory they helped secure alongside Supervisor Jackie Fielder.

26/07/2025

“Over the past year, I’ve watched my RV community be targeted, harassed, and evicted. Not by accident, but by design.
It began on Bernal Heights Boulevard, where our small group — about 12 RVs with individuals, families, and pets — lived in relative peace. We shared meals and watched each other’s things while folks went to work.

Then came a wave of 311 complaints: reports of sewage, parking issues, even allegations of harassment we believe were fabricated. Police soon followed. Then came the public shaming.”

Follow the link in our bio to read the op-ed by longtime RV resident Armando Bravo Martinez.

📸:  with .io