Codell Rodriguez

I'm a news editor specializing in coaching and executing big ideas. For around 20 years, I have guided reporters to tell the most important stories affecting their communities and beyond with strategy focusing on respectful dialogue, hands-on editing, teaching and positive and constructive feedback.

I consider myself an idealist in this industry. I believe as we face change, we can shed old ways of thinking to embrace new, younger audiences while keeping older audiences informed. This isn't through clickbait, but through strong, insightful journalism and getting that work to as many people as possible with strong narratives, alternative story forms and a powerful social media presence. 

I am passionate about reporting for communities of color and underserved populations while also uplifting journalists of color often ignored or mishandled in this industry.

Some of my topics of interest include immigration, gun and mass violence, extremism, economic inequity and police brutality.

Look what I edited!

Houston Chronicle •

EVENT: Know your rights under Trump's deportation plans, with law experts

What can Houston-area residents expect under President Trump's proposed mass deportation plans? What are your rights as a resident or immigrant, or if you have loved ones who are concerned? Readers are invited to a live virtual event at 12 p.m. on Thursday, February 6  where Rep. Sylvia Garcia; University of Houston law professors Anna Cabot, Assistant Dean of Clinical Programs, and Associate Professor of Law Daniel Morales; and Jennefer Canales-Pelaez, a lawyer from the Immigrant Legal Resource...
Houston Chronicle •

'He was only bones': Abandoned siblings testify in murder trial

A year later, in 2021, the boy and two siblings were rescued from the dark, bug-infested west Harris County apartment, where deputies found that they had been living alone with their brother’s skeletal remains. At the time, authorities expressed horror at their living conditions and described the discovery as one of the most disturbing cases of their careers. Investigators found a lock on the outside of the bedroom door.

A year later, in 2021, the boy and two siblings were rescued from the dark...
El Paso Times •

'Arbitrary' and 'absurd': Uneven enforcement at Texas border prompts migrants to try, try again

Marie Martine and Briyanne Jeanniton fled their native Haiti, traveled for years on parallel journeys across two continents before landing at the Texas border.Their paths never crossed but, in March, they each made what they hoped would be their last leg: They surrendered to Border Patrol agents, one in El Paso, the other in Del Rio.They met remarkably different fates.  Agents in Del Rio gave Jeanniton, 23, a “credible fear” screening that put her on a legal path to seek asylum — she acknowledge...
El Paso Times •

The Capitol insurrection was no surprise to border residents. El Pasoans have seen pro-Trump extremism before.

When Donald Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, the violence stirred dark memories for many El Pasoans.

Residents in this border city have seen in the past four years how the president's followers have gone to extreme ― even deadly ― lengths to execute his agenda on their own terms.

Vigilantes calling themselves the United Constitutional Patriots patrolled the U.S.-Mexico border with automatic weapons in nearby Sunland Park, N.M., holding migrant families at gunpoint. A priva...
Houston Chronicle •

Salvadoran man with work visa held in ICE detention facility for nearly a month

ICE officials said that Ramirez’s “authorization to work in the U.S. does not confer him with any form of lawful status in the U.S. and does not prevent ICE from detaining or placing him into immigration proceedings.” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approved Ramirez's SIJ visa in 2022 and exercised discretion to defer action on him for four years because immigrant visa numbers were not available, records show, "making him a low-priority case for removal and authorizing him for employme...
Houston Chronicle •

Ex-Houston cop Goines sentenced to 60 years in prison for Harding St. killings

The jury, some of whom stepped in to hear Ryan Tuttle's words, reached their decision after about 10 hours of deliberations, more time than what was taken to convict him in the deaths. The jury heard nearly a month of testimony about the botched raid and other allegations against the veteran officer who prosecutors said targeted vulnerable Houstonians.

The jury, some of whom stepped in to hear Ryan Tuttle's words, reached their decision after about 10 hours of deliberations, more time than what...
Houston Chronicle •

Know your rights: Join our live event with law experts on SB4

The Houston Chronicle is launching a series of live virtual events that peel back the curtains on our newsroom. Readers are invited to join us for VIP interviews, fascinating Q&As and on-the-record discussions on topical issues.

The Houston Chronicle is launching a series of live virtual events that peel back the curtains on our newsroom. Readers are invited to join us for VIP interviews, fascinating Q&As and on-the-record discussions on topical issues.

What are my rights under Texas' immigran...
El Paso Times •

'Every day I see death': Gravediggers in Juarez perform grim labor as COVID-19 death toll rises in Mexico

CIUDAD JUAREZ- Guadalupe Uribe stood by herself in the dusty terrain of Parque Funeral Sueños Eternos, a cemetery in Ciudad Juárez. Six feet away stood her sister holding their fragile mother, who shed tears behind a face shield.The open gravesite for Uribe's father, Jose Uribe Ruelas, was previously dug alongside 18 other graves awaiting COVID-19 burials.Uribe's family gathered in front of the gravesite, staring from a distance and staying with the members of their households."He's the fourth...
Houston Chronicle •

New ICE warrant policy could slow Houston police response times, experts say

The policy — implemented in recent weeks after more than 700,000 ICE administrative warrants were added to a database accessible by patrol officers — raises questions for both local and national agencies and outside observers of how long must an officer wait for ICE to show up, how will it affect a patrol officer’s ability to respond to other crimes and how is it constitutional for police to detain someone with no criminal charges.

The policy — implemented in recent weeks after more than 700,00...
Houston Chronicle •

20 detained in ICE raid at Houston business, officials confirm

Those detained were taken to a Conroe facility for administrative immigration violations, according to an ICE spokesperson. He did not identify any criminal charges facing those taken into custody. Investigators visited Texas Couplings LLC Tuesday after an I-9 audit found discrepancies with the business, the spokesperson said. An I-9 form is a document to verify employment eligibility.

Those detained were taken to a Conroe facility for administrative immigration violations, according to an ICE...
Houston Chronicle •

HPD Chief Troy Finner announces retirement, Whitmire says

In the email, a department employee wrote to then-Chief Art Acevedo about a failure-to-stop-and-give-information investigation that was suspended despite a witness being able to identify a license plate number. The employee wrote that it was “suspended — lack of personnel.” Finner was copied on that email and responded “this is unacceptable, look into it and follow up with me.”

In the email, a department employee wrote to then-Chief Art Acevedo about a failure-to-stop-and-give-information inves...
El Paso Times •

Uvalde Justice of the Peace ID'd school shooting victims in town where 'we know everybody'

UVALDE, Texas — Uvalde Justice of the Peace Eulalio Diaz worked into the night identifying 19 children and two adults who were gunned down in an elementary school classroom in Uvalde, Texas. Diaz said families waiting at the Civic Center for news of their children provided DNA swabs to authorities to aid in the identification process.“Some of the children were not in good shape,” Diaz said.Uvalde does not have its own medical examiner, so Diaz was called upon to identify the victims in a mass sh...
El Paso Times •

Salsa music and Cohibas in a Mexican Border town: Cubans stake their claim in Juárez

At the Caribbean Queen restaurant in downtown Juárez, Cuban Tomás Gómez hands down heaping plates of pork, plantains, yellow rice and other comfort foods of the island he left behind. The cooks are Cuban migrants and most of the diners are, too.A Cuban flag billowing outside the building, just blocks south of the U.S. border, serves as a nod to their new plans.They’re here to stay.As prospects for winning asylum in the U.S. have diminished, thousands of Cubans have decided to make Juárez hom...
El Paso Times •

'Living in the shadows': Visa could give undocumented mass shooting victims chance to help

When the bullets rained down on country music fans in Las Vegas on the night of the nation’s deadliest mass shooting, dozens of undocumented women — hired to clean the festival’s portable toilets — were among those who fled or hid from the gunfire.

The women — some physically injured, others psychologically traumatized — are now seeking a special U visa designed to protect immigrant victims of crime in the U.S. who agree to cooperate with law enforcement, said Gabrielle Jones, lead immigration...
El Paso Times •

Mystery hero who saved baby remains unknown months after El Paso Walmart shooting

Who is the unidentified Walmart hero?

That remains one of the mysteries of the mass shooting in El Paso.

The stranger who helped victims during the massacre remains unknown more than three months after the Aug. 3 attack at the Cielo Vista-area Walmart.

Cellphone video obtained by the El Paso Times appears to show the man rushing out of the store carrying a baby with blood on its clothes.

"We've been unable to identify him. Nobody has come forward and nobody has identified him," Sgt. Enrique...
El Paso Times •

'I'm not that optimistic': Sen. José Rodríguez contemplates where gun safety is headed in Texas

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to correct a quote from Sen. José Rodríguez.AUSTIN — State Sen. José Rodríguez stood in an Austin home as he reflected on a round table meeting held in the aftermath of the Aug. 3 mass shooting in his home of El Paso. The retiring senator had a receptive audience on the October evening. The gathering was for a Texas Gun Sense fundraiser, and those in the room were part of the uphill climb to change gun laws in the state. As he spoke, the lights ab...
El Paso Times •

The first call: Between the chaos, call takers and dispatchers look back to Aug. 3 shooting

Emergency call taker Bernardette Falcon and fire dispatcher Jacqueline Castro clocked in sometime before 6:30 a.m. for the day shift.No radio traffic was coming in so Castro and her coworkers walked around, got an extra cup of coffee from the cafeteria and talked about how slow that Saturday morning was. At 10:39 a.m., the first call came in."911. What's your emergency?" Falcon said."It's at Walmart. There's an active shooter. It's a shooter. You have to send someone," she recalled a female voic...
Houston Chronicle •

Houston police directed to call ICE during traffic stops, one family affected

Nationwide, more than 1.4 million removal orders haven't been executed, largely because someone wasn't in immigration court when the order was handed down and federal authorities don't know their whereabouts, she said. In other cases, federal authorities do know their location, but can't remove them because their country of origin won't accept their return.

Nationwide, more than 1.4 million removal orders haven't been executed, largely because someone wasn't in immigration court when the order...
Houston Chronicle •

Plainclothes ICE agents make several arrests at Houston immigration court

The arrests at the South Gessner Road Immigration Court were the first examples of such arrests to be publicized in Houston, though rumors of ICE agents taking people in custody on their court dates have swirled for weeks. The arrests are similar to others made at courts in other cities around the country.

The arrests at the South Gessner Road Immigration Court were the first examples of such arrests to be publicized in Houston, though rumors of ICE agents taking people in custody on their cour...
Houston Chronicle •

She called 911 to report domestic abuse. Then Houston police called ICE on her.

The woman, an immigrant from El Salvador who has lived in Houston for seven years, had a removal order stemming from the denial of her asylum claim. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents declined to pick her up because they said there was no one to take custody of her children, according to a copy of the police report obtained by the Houston Chronicle through a public records request.

The woman, an immigrant from El Salvador who has lived in Houston for seven years, had a removal order ste...
Houston Chronicle •

Crime is surging in this Houston neighborhood, bucking citywide trends

“We do not feel comfortable driving down Braesvalley (Drive), even in the day, and definitely not in the dark,” he said. “The shopping center we used to like to go to, with a drug store and grocery store … We don’t go anymore.”

“We do not feel comfortable driving down Braesvalley (Drive), even in the day, and definitely not in the dark,” he said. “The shopping center we used to like to go to, with a drug store and grocery store … We don’t go anymore.”

“Segments with older aged housing tend to...