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Hi {{first_name | friend}},

Jezzini is back. If you’ve never heard that name, don’t worry. The Mexican social media creator and comedian left the virtual world abruptly in 2025, after a series of posts that worried his fans. He posted a video yesterday. I haven’t had time to watch it, but I’m linking it here in case you want to. Is his return a sign the world is healing?

In this newsletter, I’m exploring the hyphen between:

- Fernando

I met Cesar at his home after his first day delivering burritos door-to-door.

“I made 25 burritos today for delivery,” he said. “I don't think I even made any money. I think I just made enough to pay the cost of what I spent for this day.”

Cesar is a DACA recipient living in Southern California who, up to a couple of months ago, was working a white collar office job after graduating from Cal Poly Pomona.

“I always wanted to sell food, but not like this,” he said. “Not in a way where I had to desperately start selling food in order to make some income.”

In December, Cesar submitted his renewal application for his DACA work permit, four months before it was set to expire. DACA, or Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals, is a federal program that allows people brought to the United States illegally as minors to apply for a legal work permit and temporary protection from deportation. His permit would usually arrive two to three weeks after applying.

“When two months came in, I started researching and searching, and I started coming up on videos and articles about others experiencing the same thing,” he said.

The new permit didn’t arrive in time. His existing work permit expired, and his company laid him off.

“It had to be done,” Cesar said. “There's no other option.”

Cesar quickly pivoted to selling burritos on the street. First, he was selling them out of a stand in the Los Angeles area, but he pivoted to home deliveries shortly after.

“I started feeling unsafe at my stand,” he said. “I would go on lives on TikTok, and I just felt like my location was now being well known by many. And at that point, I just started feeling unsafe, mostly because … I was receiving messages [from strangers] that they're going to find me and deport me and things like that.”

Cesar is one of dozens of DACA recipients who have gone public about the delays they’re experiencing. And they’re far from the exception.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has said most of its DACA renewals are taking 3.5 months and has said the delay is due to “more thoroughly screening and vetting all aliens.”

In April, USCIS re-implemented finger-printing background checks for renewal applications, and experts think that could be behind the delays.

I also spoke to Maria Dona, a DACA recipient who was a customer operations manager in the food tech industry up until March, when her work permit expired. She submitted her renewal application at the end of December.

“I was going through a divorce, moving apartments, and it was just a lot of finances having to be put around in different places like security deposit, movers,” she said. “And it's like, well I need this $600 for my DACA renewal. I don't have it right now. So I had to wait until the end of December to renew my DACA and I was just hoping and praying that 90 days should be enough for USCIS to renew my application, but now we are on like day 146.”

Dona had been selling pastries and desserts through her home bakery, Harina Haus. When her permit officially expired, she doubled down on the venture. She makes treats like peach cobbler with masala chai, ube tres leches cakes and milk bread cinnamon rolls.

With Cesar and Dona’s stories, I was struck by how well their businesses were received by people online. After sharing their stories on social media, Cesar got support from singer Becky G. Dona closed the largest order count ever at the end of May. But it doesn’t change the fact that their status is in limbo. On top of that, the sales are unpredictable. Cesar has a mortgage to pay, and Dona recently shared in a video that she had made her June rent payment but was unsure if she’d be able to make her July payment.

“I tell a lot of people I'm okay, but I think that's far from the truth,” Dona said. “I'm not okay. I wake up with so much anxiety and so much fear, even like having to drive to the grocery store to buy some flour. That's a scary two minutes for me because I don't know what's going to happen, right? Am I going to get into an accident? Am I going to get deported? I have no idea. So mentally, I'm not well. And Harina Haus has provided, like, these very happy moments in which I get to meet people and connect with people and I want to be able to cherish it, but I can't because I'm just so — there's so much fog up here, and it's just so negative up here. And I hate it. I absolutely hate it.”

“It is depressing,” Cesar said. “It is mentally draining physically as well. But I want the DACA community to know that I am here for them, and I know they're here for me, and I want them to keep sharing their stories with their friends or family or their neighbors. Keep advocating for yourself and keep advocating for us and to stay strong.”

If you would like to support either Maria or Cesar, you can do so here:

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You’ve probably heard of “No Sabo” kids, people who come from Spanish-speaking heritage but don’t speak the language themselves.

The label usually comes with shame and judgment when it shouldn’t. Learning Spanish is a long and windy road, but it can also be fun!

Yo Sabo is a family-friendly card game that brings generations together in a shared learning and entertainment experience. It’s easy to play — even your abuelita can get it on it. The game includes various cards: Cómo Se Dice (translation), Prueba Time (trivia) and Chancla (challenge) cards.

The game was born out of personal strife. Carlos co-founded it out of his own desire to improve his Spanish after always being known as a “No Sabo” kid. Plus, when you play the game, you’re supporting a Latino-owned small business! ¿Cómo se dice “I love it” in Spanish?

Check it out here.

Taco Bell, The Home Depot and Walmart are powerhouse brands in the U.S., but there are certain Latin American markets these companies just haven't been able to crack. Why? I looked into this for my latest long-form video.

I post a mini-doc every two weeks on my YouTube channel. Subscribe to the channel so you don’t miss the next one.

A Salvadoran American goes to space. NASA has named the astronauts for its next Moon mission, Artemis III. Frank Rubio, born in Los Angeles to Salvadoran parents, will be one of the mission specialists. Rubio’s 371-day mission aboard the International Space Station in 2023 is the longest single spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut in history. [BBC]

Ms. Rachel meets with children outside ICE detention center. On Monday, the children’s entertainer sat outside Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, where she met with children separated from their parents in ICE custody. “I will always stand with these families,” she wrote in an Instagram post reflecting on the visit. [NJ.com]

A telenovela like no other. Edy Suárez, a Cuban content creator and actor, who has gone viral many times over for his telenovela scenes where he plays every character, is now making an entire multi-episode telenovela. “Mi Castigo Es Amarte” premieres June 22 on his YouTube channel, and you can watch the trailer here.

The Pope got to meet Bad Bunny. Or Bad Bunny got to meet the pope. The encounter took place Monday in Spain during Pope Leo’s official visit to the country. Bad Bunny is there performing a sold-out 12-date tour. The encounter appeared to be brief. A Vatican spokesman told reporters that the artist was “with his family and some other people” and that Leo “greeted them briefly before leaving the stadium.” [Financial Times]

A major Chicago Latino festival is canceled. Michelada Fest, an annual Latino music festival, announced it made the “difficult decision” to cancel the event slated for June 26. “The costs of producing a festival of this size have risen rapidly across every part of the event, and we do not have the same capital or backing as larger players to absorb those pressures,” the festival said in an Instagram post. The festival will instead return to its roots as a “free street festival” in September. [@Michefestchi]

Strike averted before the World Cup. Days after voting to approve a strike, stadium workers at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, reached a tentative deal to avert one. About 2,000 food and beverage workers were threatening to strike. The workers were seeking better safety rules and a ban on ICE agents. The news comes as the stadium prepares to host its first 2026 FIFA World Cup match tomorrow. [ABC7 Los Angeles]

World Cup-adjacent songs are here. There are official World Cup songs, like Shakira’s and Burna Boy’s “Dai Dai” on the official FIFA album. And then there are songs like “So Bella” from Yahritza y Su Esencia and LOW CLIKA. The latter is an unofficial World Cup song. It’s not affiliated with FIFA, but it contains heavy nods to celebration, connecting across cultures and soccer. [Watch my video]

The New York Times looks into the controversial Mexican Adidas jerseys. A few days ago, I made this video about the allegations swirling in relation to the third kit jerseys Adidas produced in partnership with Mexican artisans and a company called Someone Somewhere. There were reports some women were saying they were paid less than the minimum wage. Well, The New York Times went to Naupan, Puebla, and got access to paystubs. [The New York Times]

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This section is a random musing from the week that is not related to my work as a journalist, usually. 

This week’s rant: You know how they say time goes by fast the older you get? That is true, but the last two months have been the fastest of my life. I have been really busy with work, which is great, but I think what has made it go by faster is that I have different types of work (video editing, reporting, workshops, teaching, etc.). Transitioning between two to three different types of work in one day has made days fly by. And I don’t love it. I feel exhausted by the end. Am I describing burnout? Lol.