press freedom | The NewsGuild

RELEASE: Federal judge orders DHS/ICE to halt arrests and use of chemical weapons on Chicago press, peaceful protestors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 9, 2025

Media Contact: Dylan Manshack, dmanshack@cwa-union.org | (202) 445-4033

CHICAGO – Today, a federal judge barred Department of Homeland Security agents, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs & Border Patrol, from using force against journalists and protesters who don’t pose a threat to agents. A full copy of the lawsuit and restraining order can be found here.

Newsletter: Chicago Guild sues ICE

Violence against journalists continues to be committed by the United States government.

The Chicago Guild joined others in suing Immigration and Customs Enforcement for attacking journalists. The suit was filed yesterday and comes after repeated clashes between protestors and ICE agents at a facility in Broadview. Federal agents targeted several Guild members while reporting on the clashes despite being visibly identified as members of the press.

Chicago News Guild sues ICE over attacks on journalists at Broadview protests

Chicago NewsGuild joins federal lawsuit to stop ICE and DHS agents from targeting reporters at Broadview protests. The Guild release the following statement:

Guild members each day do the hard and sometimes dangerous work of reporting the news in our region. The past few weeks, the repeated clashes between protestors and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the ICE facility in Broadview has been one of the top headlines, and our members are the ones doing the reporting.

ACTION: NewsGuild-CWA joins calls on DHS to withdraw journalist visa proposal

The NewsGuild-CWA calls on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to withdraw its proposed rule that would change the I visa program for foreign journalists working in the United States.

Statement on law enforcement targeting journalists in Los Angeles

Media Contact: Dylan Manshack, dmanshack@cwa-union.org | 202-445-4033

WASHINGTON (June 11) — The NewsGuild-CWA, representing more than 28,000 journalists and other workers across North America, released the following statement from Jon Schleuss, president of The NewsGuild-CWA, on the police targeting of reporters in Los Angeles:

A letter to Kristi Noem: The targeting of reporters in LA is inexcusable.

(The following letter was sent to Kristi Noem, United States Secretary of Homeland Security, on June 9, 2025 by a coalition of press organizations concerning the targeting of journalists during unrest in Los Angeles.)

DC Circuit Court overturns stay, orders restoration of funding to Radio Free Asia

Late last night, the full bench of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit lifted a stay that had blocked a preliminary injunction ordering the U.S. Agency for Global Media to distribute Congressionally mandated funds to grantees including Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe and others.

Victory for Press Freedom and Workers: Court Grants Preliminary Injunction to Protect the U.S. Agency for Global Media

April 22, 2025

WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a preliminary injunction in Widakuswara v. Lake, affirming the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) was unlawfully shuttered by the administration, Acting Director Victor Morales and Special Adviser Kari Lake. The decision enshrines that USAGM must fulfill its legally required functions and protects the editorial independence of Voice of America (VOA) journalists and other federal media professionals within the agency and newsrooms that receive grants from the agency, such as Radio Free Asia and others.

Defend Our Free Press: National membership meeting

MEMBERS ONLY: We’re holding an emergency all-hands national membership meeting to defend a free press. Workers, unions, and journalists are under attack—and we’re fighting back.

The NewsGuild joins joint statement condemning government attacks on press freedom

The NewsGuild-CWA signed on to the following statement released by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) on February 21, 2025: