Borderless Magazine

We are excited to welcome Camilla Forte, our new staff photojournalist, to the Borderless Magazine team. Forte will join us later this summer through the 2025 CatchLight Local Fellowship, which is in partnership with Report for America. Before joining Borderless Magazine as a Catchlight/RFA Corps member, Forte was the multimedia producer for The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit newsroom focused on covering innovation and inequality in education. She holds a B.A. in photojournalism from Columbia College Chicago. As a student, she was a Borderless Pathways Photo Fellow, participated in the New York Times Institute and was the Director of Photography of the Columbia Chronicle. “I am so excited to join Borderless Magazine and cover the city and communities that have shaped me as a journalist since the very beginning of my career. As a first-generation immigrant, the mission of Borderless has always been very close to my heart, and I am looking forward to the opportunity to expand the magazine’s visual coverage, with empathy at the forefront, and ensure Chicago’s immigrant communities feel seen.” Stay tuned for her powerful, community-centered photojournalism. https://lnkd.in/eAEEecxA

So so so incredibly proud of Mauricio Peña Hillary Flores Diane Bou Khalil & the rest of the Borderless Magazine crew. You’re doing such important journalism — and you deserve to be celebrated tonight! CHICAGO! If you don’t already read Borderless, change that tonight. Here’s a great first story about one of my favorite local business owners: https://lnkd.in/g-ZxNPn9 #immigration #immigrantstories #localjournalism #localnews #indienews #nonprofitnews

Congratulations to Katrina Pham of Borderless Magazine and Emeline Posner of the Investigative Project on Race and Equity, finalists in the Small Newsroom category for “Investigating Chicago’s Migrant Shelters.” We celebrated the nomination at Beyond the Byline, hosted by Better Government Association and Illinois Answers Project, as part of The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Awards. I attended the event alongside the Borderless team, including Hillary Flores, our deputy editor, and Ghazala Irshad, a member of our board. The evening also featured a thoughtful Q&A with Jelani Cobb, Ph.D., Dean of Columbia University Journalism School.

💵 In early April, Trump’s 10% #tariff on nearly all countries took effect. The impact on the food market has been “chaotic,” as one business owner put it. https://lnkd.in/dTFwr7Kv Read the full story by Fatema Hosseini. Photos by Max Herman/Borderless Magazine

Congratulations to Mauricio Peña! He was awarded a 2025 Studs Terkel Award at the 30th annual Community Media Awards. Thank you Borderless Magazine for the invite, it was wonderful to see Mauricio receive the honor.

Mauricio Peña, editorial director of Borderless Magazine, was awarded a 2025 Studs Terkel Award at the 30th annual Community Media Awards. The award, named after legendary Chicago journalist Studs Terkel, honors a body of work that exemplifies Terkel’s “gift of elevating people’s voices above power.” Read more by clicking the link below.

On April 11, 2025, Borderless Magazine, in partnership with the Walder Foundation, hosted the 2025 Chicago Immigration Journalism Convening. This event was designed to strengthen immigration coverage across Chicago's local news landscape at a moment of rapid changes in the U.S. immigration system.  The convening brought together leading nonprofit and local news organizations, including the Chicago Sun-Times, Investigative Project on Race and Equity, Cicero Independiente, Injustice Watch, Block Club Chicago, Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV), and South Side Weekly. The day began with a closed-door conversation with immigration legal experts Keren Zwick and Mark Fleming of the National Immigrant Justice Center. Following the conversation, Borderless’ Marketing and Engagement Manager Diane Bou Khalil and Executive Director Nissa Rhee held a workshop to give local journalists the skills they need to produce more ethical, accurate and accessible immigration coverage. With more than 1.7 million immigrants calling Chicago home, this convening marked an important step toward a more informed and inclusive local media ecosystem that reflects Chicago's diversity. Thank you, Walder Foundation, for making this training possible. Photos by Oscar Gomez/Borderless Magazine.

Borderless Magazine is bringing our community members together to support facts over fear with a spring fundraiser! 🎉 Join us for the “House Party at Haymarket House” 🗓️ Friday, May 16 @ 7:30 PM 🎟️ Early Bird Tickets: $35 (Available until Apr 7!) https://lnkd.in/gu_Zxq8z

On Thursday, April 24 at 7PM, don’t miss a new episode of Chicago Newsroom 2.0 as guest host Darrious Hilmon leads a timely conversation on how nonprofits are preparing for increased scrutiny under a potential Trump administration. Joining him are Sufyan Sohel and Swathi Staley, along with notable leaders Christa A. Hamilton, Kelwin Harris, and Monica W., who share how they are navigating and leading with intention in turbulent times. The episode also features a one-on-one with Hillary Flores from Borderless Magazine on the case of U.S. citizen Abrego Garcia, who remains blocked from returning home, and a deep dive into nonprofit effectiveness with Christine Leung and Stephen McClain, Ed.D. from reCentered Partners. 📺 Watch it on CAN TV19 🌐 Stream at cantv.org 📱 View it anytime on the CAN TV+ app!

Our Audience Engagement Reporter, Katrina Pham, joined a panel at FOIA Fest 2025 to talk about the nuances of covering immigration. Alongside Alma Campos (MindSite News), Francia Garcia Hernandez (Block Club Chicago), Elvia Malagón (Chicago Sun-Times), and Irene Romulo (Cicero Independiente), Katrina shared insights on building trust with immigrant communities, navigating sensitive interviews, accessing immigration data, and finding your voice as a new immigration reporter. Photos by Grace Del Vecchio.