Ashley Cleek
Ashley Cleek is a reporter and producer working on stories about law and immigration. She's reported stories for PRI in Turkey, India, Ukraine and Russia, and across the US. She lives in New York but still calls Alabama home.
Ashley Cleek is a reporter and producer working on stories about law and immigration. She's reported stories for PRI in Turkey, India, Ukraine and Russia, and across the US. She lives in New York but still calls Alabama home.
For this nurse trained abroad, working at a US hospital is years away
Only 40 percent of nurses trained abroad pass the US licensing exam the first time. But educators say it’s not because they aren’t qualified.
The government says it will help reunite families they separated at the border — but not all of them
The government says Border Patrol agents in the Southwest speak Spanish — but many migrants speak Indigenous languages
This mother, already deported, doesn’t know if she’ll ever be reunited with the daughter taken from her at the US border
For this mother and daughter, separated a year ago at the southern border, Trump's ‘zero-tolerance’ policy isn’t new
With smuggling costs skyrocketing, parents balance risk and debt for their children's future
The cost of smuggling has gone up in the last year — sharply. But, for the safety of their children, parents get references, take out loans and make the best smuggling decision they can.
The complicated reasons why some people overstay their US visas
For some people, overstaying their visa was never the plan. Rather, it is the result of one, or several, extenuating circumstances that convince immigrants they cannot or do not want to return to their countries.
The courts called him a terrorist, but one judge and several politicians want him to be able to stay in the US
Depending on whom you ask, Malachy McAllister is either an Irish terrorist or a persecuted asylum seeker. Either way, he’s been facing deportation for 10 years.
Weighing the risks of a 'sanctuary' campus
With some students worrying more about deportation, the pressure on campuses to declare themselves safe spaces is intensifying. But not everyone is on board.
Bodegas — a sacred New York institution — are always open. But they weren't on Thursday.
On Thursday, Yemeni bodega owners in New York declared a strike: They would close for eight hours, from noon to 8 p.m., in protest of Trump's immigration and refugee restrictions.
This green card holder is trying not to panic, but she's making back-up plans
Denise Ajiri has legal permanent residence in the US. She cannot go back to Iran because she is a journalist who has worked for US-government backed media.
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How this torture survivor from Chad made good on 'a pact with God'
Souleymane Guengueng, at home in the Bronx, once helped imprison a brutal former president of Chad. Now, he hopes to teach others how he did it.
Some persecuted writers get a new life in the US. But exile isn't easy.
For a writer from Bangladesh, life in Pittsburgh is safer. But he feels that “I am in exile not just physically, my mind is also in exile.”
This Pittsburgh restaurant offers takeout and a side of politics
Craving some Koobideh from Iran? Arepas from Venezuela? Head to Pittsburgh’s Conflict Kitchen, where a rotating menu features food from countries in conflict with the United States.
A Puerto Rican enclave in Brooklyn confronts the realities of rising prices and gentrification
Antoinette Martinez grew up in Sunset Park with her extended Puerto Rican family. But with real estate values skyrocketing, there's no way she'll ever be able to get her own place in the neighborhood.