Andrea Castillo

I am a reporter at The Fresno Bee, covering immigrant and ethnic communities. Previously I worked as a reporter at The Oregonian in Portland, where I wrote about immigration and Latino issues, among other beats. In 2013, I became an immigration reporting fellow through the Institute for Justice and Journalism. I graduated from Washington State University in 2012. My stories have been published in The Seattle Times, MSNBC.com, The Spokesman-Review and the Times of India.

Articles

J. Lee, 38, was detained over the summer at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center for overstaying a tourist visa. While there, he s

Health Equity & Social Justice

Mental Health & Trauma

Community & Public Health

Healthcare Systems & Policy

California police got hundreds of calls about abuse in private ICE detention centers. Cases were rarely prosecuted

An investigation reveals a system in which violence can be perpetuated against detainees with impunity, both by other detainees and facility staff.

Race and Equity

Immigrant and Migrant Health

Mental Health

Community Safety

Patient Safety and Ethics

Amid deluge of California drought coverage, health focus offers reporter a fresh angle

As wells ran dry in the drought-stricken Central Valley this summer, a public health crisis went less noticed. The Fresno Bee's Andrea Castillo decided to focus her reporting on East Porterville, where nearly half the town's 7,500 people have dry wells.

Race and Equity

Environmental Health

Aida Beltrán, 41, inspects an apple tree in her backyard in East Porterville on Sept. 9. As neighbors around them began to lose their well water, Beltrán and her husband stopped watering their lawn, plants and most of their trees to help conserve water. The family is now enduring the drought after their well went dry last November. SILVIA FLORES sflores@fresnobee.com

Health Equity & Social Justice

Environment & Climate

Mental Health & Trauma

In East Porterville, drought escalates mental health issues

In a town whose problems already include air pollution, water contamination and poverty, the California drought has spurred a growing health crisis, worsening respiratory conditions and burdening those with other illnesses, such as 49-year-old Manuel León.

Race and Equity

Environmental Health

Mental Health

Juana Garcia, 49, lives in drought-ravaged East Porterville. [Photos by Silvia Flores/The Fresno Bee]

Community & Public Health

Health Equity & Social Justice

Children & Families

Healthcare Systems & Policy

Water, and hope, run dry for Central Valley woman caught in drought

“Sometimes I think I’m just about to fall asleep,” said Juana Garcia, a mother with five children, two chronic diseases, one waterless home and zero income. “But then I start thinking, what am I going to do about water? Will I last much longer here? Yes, mentally I get very stressed out.”

Environmental Health

Poverty and Class

Chronic Disease

Juana Garcia, 49, watches as volunteers Donna Johnson, 72, center, and Ruben Perez, 68, deliver non-potable water to barrels on her back porch in East Porterville, California on June 4, 2015. Garcia, who suffers from lupus and arthritis, has difficulty lifting heavy objects and making the 15 minute walk with her children to a local church for showers several times a week. SILVIA FLORES sflores@fresnobee.com

Drought disaster in East Porterville turns to budding health crisis

This story is the first in an occasional series about the drought’s effects on health. Andrea Castillo’s reporting was undertaken for the California Health Journalism Fellowship, a program of USC’s Annenberg School of Journalism.