Weather Report #41: I'm Back

Hello, dear reader! Welcome to your Weather Report, a column where I recommend some articles, a book, a movie, and some music for readers to consume.

Here's what you're getting this week:

1. Go watch a micro-documentary I worked on about the Dominican community in Puerto Rico
2. Essays, articles, and columns about: Trump's war in Latin America, the precarity of journalism, the Right's obsession with fantasy fiction, and Woke 2
3. A serious examination into how horizontally-organized military groups wage war against the state
4. A newish "MichaelClaytonlike"
5. Three lowkey emo songs to listen to when you're mopey

If you're interested in seeing the recommendations – and supporting Heavy Weather's quest to keep tabs on collapse – you can become a paid subscriber by clicking the button below. Paid subscribers get access to the MEDIA LIST, a comprehensive list of every book, movie, and video game I've ever recommended. If you're already a paid subscriber, thank you very much! This newsletter would literally not be possible without your support.

What I Did This Week:

The reason that I haven't been as consistent with this newsletter as I originally wanted to is because I've been swamped with work, mainly this series of micro-documentaries about immigrant communities in Puerto Rico with 9 Millones.

The first one finally came out last week, and I'm elated. This one is focused on the Dominican community in Puerto Rico as seen through the struggle of Joel Tavarez Castro and his family. Joel was detained last year as he was walking home from work to celebrate his daughter's birthday, then quickly deported to the Dominican Republic through an expedited removal order, which should only apply to migrants who've been in the US for two years. He had been here for more than 22 years when he was detained and was in the process of regularizing his citizenship. ICE didn't answer our questions as to why he was deported with an expedited removal order, only pointing to a 2011 federal conviction for using a fake license as the reason why he was deported. At the time, he managed to stay in the US because deporting him would cause extreme hardship for his family, the very economic hardship they're facing right now. Joel's wife, Miosoti, is still in Puerto Rico, working desperately to provide for their children. Although there's very few options for him to return, he hopes to come back one day, no matter how long it takes. Even then, it will still be an incredibly uphill battle to regularize his citizenship.

The next micro-documentary, about the Chinese community, will hopefully come out in late March or early April. The third micro-documentary, about Palestinians in Puerto Rico, will come out shortly after that. From what we've reported so far, they're both pretty powerful stories and I'm hopeful they'll hit home for many viewers.

You can watch the whole thing below, and the article based on the video can be found here.

That's it for this week's free stuff. If you want to see the media recommendations and the link roundup, you can become a paid subscriber today.