Author

Melissa Sanchez is a reporter at ProPublica. She joined ProPublica in 2017 and is focused on immigrants and low-wage workers. Her work here examining Chicago’s punitive ticketing and debt collection system helped prompt major reforms, including changes to state law and an end to driver’s license suspensions over ticket debt. She previously worked for The Chicago Reporter, Catalyst Chicago, el Nuevo Herald in Miami and the Yakima (Wash.) Herald-Republic, and has received numerous local and national awards for her reporting. She lives in Chicago with her husband, their two young children and two cats. She is the daughter of immigrants from Mexico and El Salvador, and she speaks Spanish.