Reporter | Race and Immigration

Maya Rao covers race and immigration for the Star Tribune.

Rao wrote for The Press of Atlantic City and The Philadelphia Inquirer before moving to Minnesota in January 2012. She previously covered the federal government for the Star Tribune.


Hope, limbo, despair: Mexican family living in Mpls. is deported after asylum bid denied

Family fled Mexico out of fear for their safety and waited for an immigration ruling for four years.


Bangladeshi Americans rally at the State Capitol to call for government reforms in their homeland

Authorities in the South Asia nation are cracking down on protesters against a quota system for government jobs.


Foundation: Minnesota housing finance agency is making racial segregation worse

Minneapolis-based Stairstep Foundation is also upset its concerns are not addressed in a report to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.


For immigrants seeking asylum in Minnesota, success depends partly on which judge they get

Disparities nationwide have created a system that some legal scholars have dubbed 'refugee roulette.'


U president says search for Holocaust center director will resume in 2025

The move comes one week after the university offered the job to Israeli historian Raz Segal.


University of Minnesota pauses search for Holocaust center director amid controversy

Two board members quit in opposition to the hiring of Raz Segal.


Elizabeth 'Betty' Grant, co-founder of Amigos del Mercado in Minneapolis, dies at 77

The organization helps immigrants navigate life in Minnesota; "Betty's dedication to the center was really amazing."


'Democrats will learn a lesson': Some Muslims work to defeat Biden

Opposed to the president's actions in the Israel-Hamas war, some activists are working to defeat him in November.


Day of remembrance honors George Floyd nearly four years after his killing

Community leaders warned against being complacent about making change during one of several events in Minneapolis Friday hosted by the nonprofit Win Back.


Asian Americans have the most income mobility in Minnesota

Asian Minnesotans have higher income mobility rates than not only other racial groups in the state but also Asian Americans in other states.