Veronica EscobarVerified account

When I left my job at the El Paso Times in October 2017, I honestly didn’t know what I was going to do. I figured I’d likely have to find a path other than journalism. But I got lucky and stumbled into a series of freelance reporting gigs. 1/

I’ve been in journalism for 35 years, but only spent about 6 months as a reporter. The rest of the time I was an editor, though I did reporting at times. Thanks to some great publications and a few breaks, I was able to work almost full time as a freelancer in 2018. 2/

Thanks to @washingtonpost, @TexasMonthly, @guardian, @ChronOpinion, @SearchlightNM, @ElPasoInc and @borderzine for giving me an outlet to write this year. A special thanks to @CarlosASanchez for giving me so many opportunities at Texas Monthly. 3/

Obviously, so much of my reporting was focused on the border and immigration, issues that dominated much of the national conversation this year. I am so fortunate to be in a position to tell stories about a place I love to regional and national audiences. 4/

Thanks to all those on the border who trusted me to tell so many complex stories. This has been an exhausting year for so many deeply involved in migrant issues. Family separation. Metering. Migrant dumping. I regret I couldn’t cover more of their work. 5/

The issues of migration, border security and immigration will continue into 2019, obviously. I hope to continue to play a role in telling these stories in a way that moves beyond political sloganeering and focuses on the complexities of these topics. 6/