Sarah Betancourt

Freelance reporter, Formerly worked for CommonWealth

About Sarah Betancourt

Sarah Betancourt is a long-time Latina reporter in Massachusetts. Prior to joining Commonwealth, Sarah was a breaking news reporter for The Associated Press in Boston, and a correspondent with The Boston Globe and The Guardian. She has written about immigration, incarceration, and health policy for outlets like NBC, The Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, and the New York Law Journal. Sarah has reported stories such as a national look at teacher shortages, how databases are used by police departments to procure information on immigrants, and uncovered the spread of an infectious disease in children at a family detention center. She has covered the State House, local and national politics, crime and general assignment.

Sarah received a 2018 Investigative Reporters and Editors Award for her role in the ProPublica/NPR story, “They Got Hurt at Work and Then They Got Deported,” which explored how Florida employers and insurance companies were getting out of paying workers compensation benefits by using a state law to ensure injured undocumented workers were arrested or deported. Sarah attended Emerson College for a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Communication, and Columbia University for a fellowship and Master’s degree with the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism.

About Sarah Betancourt

Sarah Betancourt is a long-time Latina reporter in Massachusetts. Prior to joining Commonwealth, Sarah was a breaking news reporter for The Associated Press in Boston, and a correspondent with The Boston Globe and The Guardian. She has written about immigration, incarceration, and health policy for outlets like NBC, The Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, and the New York Law Journal. Sarah has reported stories such as a national look at teacher shortages, how databases are used by police departments to procure information on immigrants, and uncovered the spread of an infectious disease in children at a family detention center. She has covered the State House, local and national politics, crime and general assignment.

Sarah received a 2018 Investigative Reporters and Editors Award for her role in the ProPublica/NPR story, “They Got Hurt at Work and Then They Got Deported,” which explored how Florida employers and insurance companies were getting out of paying workers compensation benefits by using a state law to ensure injured undocumented workers were arrested or deported. Sarah attended Emerson College for a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Communication, and Columbia University for a fellowship and Master’s degree with the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism.

Stories by Sarah Betancourt

ICE

ICE arrests man in East Boston park

Agency says Guatemalan immigrant was in US illegally

Is in-person learning right for every community?

Codcast guests say one-size-fits-all approach won’t work

DOC ordering second round of universal COVID-19 testing for prisoners

Cases jump from 3 to 33 at MCI-Concord

Should all life sentences be reviewed?

Vacated conviction, $3.1m settlement raise issue anew

Despite new metrics, high-risk COVID-19 communities double

Death toll in Mass. from coronavirus tops 10,000

Walsh moves forward with police reform initiatives

Sets in motion creation of 3 new boards, offices

Eliminating MBTA ferries called ‘terrible idea’

Hull, Hingham residents say lives would be disrupted

COVID-19 cases at MCI-Norfolk rise to 172

Pressley, Rollins press Baker to release inmates

06/10/20

DeLeo backs budget debate on abortion access

Last week he said spending bill not the place for policy reforms

Election result draws tear-filled cheers — and jeers

Biden and Trump supporters gather in downtown Boston

Baker presses for in-person learning

'The time to get kids back to school is now,' says Riley

COVID-19 cases jump as new rules take effect

115 cases in October traced to places of worship

Judge rejects pretrial restrictions on Walsh

Holyoke Soldiers’ Home officials plead not guilty

Enrollment declines cropping up in public schools

Worcester, Lynn seeing drop in students

Winds of change don’t blow on Beacon Hill

The down-ballot Democratic surge never happened

Biden wave in Mass. doesn’t translate in House

GOP holds its own but doesn’t make many gains

COVID-19 cases balloon at MCI-Norfolk

After governor’s remarks, all staff being tested

Trump and Biden differ sharply on immigration policy

Maintaining a hard line versus expanding pathways for foreign arrivals

DeLeo, Spilka promise abortion debate in lame duck session

See threat to women’s reproductive rights at national level

COVID-19 spike at MCI-Norfolk

Positive cases jump from 2 to 26

Prisoners try again for home confinement

MCI-Norfolk inmate dies from medical condition after petitioning

COVID-19 cases in Mass. schools up sharply 

No sign of clustered outbreaks  

Dalializ, a kindergartener at the Kelly School in Holyoke, asks a question to an Enchanted Circle teaching artist. school education holyoke, photo by sarah betancourt

Role of school rapid testing debated

Some say more regular surveillance is needed

2 prisoners test positive at MCI-Norfolk

Inmates isolated; facility-wide testing initiated

Baker nominates Kimberly Budd as chief justice

She would become first black woman to head SJC

MCAS exams coming in spring, education officials say

Even schools in ‘red‘ towns urged to do in-person learning

Mass. judge stays Fair Housing Act changes

Says Trump administration failed to follow procedures

Ballot box security to be boosted following fire 

Galvin directs local election officials to enhance protection measures 

ICE questions, then releases, undocumented Lynn resident

His attorney says she was shocked at release

It’s COVID-19 crunch time

As cases rise, should we keep opening or shut down?