CPJ is honored to present its 2026 International Press Freedom Award to Colombian journalist Estefany Rodríguez.
Estefany Rodríguez is a Spanish-language reporter for the local Tennessee news outlet Nashville Noticias. She was detained on March 4, 2026 by federal agents and held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in Alabama and Louisiana despite being in the United States legally. Rodríguez was in a car marked with “Nashville Notícias” branding and in the company of her husband, a U.S. citizen. Department of Homeland Security officials alleged that there was a warrant out for her arrest in a March 7 post on X.
In a habeas petition reviewed by CPJ, Rodríguez’s lawyers argued that her detention violated her First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights, and that her detention was in relation to her coverage of ICE actions in the United States. On March 19, Rodríguez was released on a $10,000 bond, after more than two weeks in custody.
Leading up to her detention, Rodríguez had reported on immigration enforcement operations in Nashville. She came to the United States in 2021 from her native Colombia, after receiving death threats in connection with her reporting. She arrived on a tourist visa and then sought asylum. Rodríguez’s case is emblematic of the way in which immigration authorities have increasingly been used to chill speech that is critical of the Trump administration and its policies.