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A South Sudanese family making their way through a flooded path on a tricycle
Ayuen Kuol, 31, making his way through a flooded path in Malual-Chot village in Jonglei State, South Sudan, on a tricycle donated by the nonprofit Light for the World. (KC Cheng/The Xylom)

Projects

A Tale of Three Sudans

Our Editor-at-Large Kang-Chun Cheng became the first known female photojournalist to report from the disputed Ilemi Triangle. Crisscrossing the borders of Kenya, South Sudan, and Sudan, she takes a hard look at how residents in the conflict-ridden region have adapted to climate-induced disasters by prioritizing sustainable agriculture, disability, and dietary alternatives.

This series received an Honorable Mention in the Excellence in International Reporting category at the 2026 Asian American Journalist Association Journalism Excellence Awards.

Can The Ilemi Triangle’s Forgotten Pastoralists Trade Arms for Peace?
Locals in the disputed and increasingly resource-starved East African region are taking tentative steps to embrace climate-smart agriculture. But that requires reckoning with their way of life.
The XylomKang-Chun Cheng 鄭康君
Fragile, Flooded South Sudan Asks: What About Those With Disabilities?
The idea that the world is becoming a better place, and there are less and less needs in terms of humanitarian aid, is over.”
The XylomKang-Chun Cheng 鄭康君
River Nile Blues: Famished Sudanese Turn to the Humble Sweet Potato
Bread has traditionally been Sudan’s primary food source, but sweet potatoes have replaced it due to disruptions around the Sudan civil war.
The XylomRahiem Shadad
A child in a black shirt lies on the shoulder of an older man in a red shirt
Two Texas Coastal Bend residents during a TCEQ Notice and Comment Hearing involving the renewal of Enbridge Ingleside Energy Center’s Federal Operating Permit in Portland, Texas, on Jan. 11th, 2024. (Alex Ip/The Xylom)

'All Hell Breaks Loose': How Big Oil Ruined a Small Texas Town

Ingleside on the Bay, Texas, is the Crude Oil Export Capital of the United States: in 2024, nearly half of the country's exported crude oil was handled at three facilities within a 1.5-mile radius of City Hall. However, two oil spills later, residents have had enough.

This three-part series produced by The Xylom and co-published by Drilled, Floodlight, and Deceleration won Excellence in Science Reporting, Small/ Medium Newsroom in the 2026 Online Journalism Awards, and was a finalist for the Best Investigative Journalism Award (Micro Division) at the 2026 Nonprofit News Awards.

‘Our Slice of Heaven That You’re Willing To Turn Into Hell for a Profit.’
Three export terminals that captured half of the U.S. crude oil export industry have formed around Ingleside on the Bay, turning the Texas Coastal Bend town into an unlikely fenceline community.
The XylomAlex Ip 葉清霖
‘I Was Having a Good Time’: How Did a Small Town in South Texas Get Hit With Two Oil Spills?
A playing field tilted towards regional officials, Texas Republicans, and foreign energy companies turned sleepy Ingleside on the Bay, Texas, into the Crude Oil Export Terminal of the United States, and did local residents in.
The XylomAlex Ip 葉清霖

A map of the United States with circles showing the number of H-1B workers approved in the first three quarters of FY 2025
Photo illustration by Alex Ip/The Xylom. Source: Alex Ip

The Most Detailed Maps of H-1B Visa Holders Joining America's Top Research Institutions

A new analysis by The Xylom shows for the first time just how much America’s top research institutions have grown to depend on the specialized knowledge of H-1B skilled workers — of which 71% of approved beneficiaries in FY 2024 were from India, followed by 11.7% from China — and how this delicate balance might be disrupted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s crackdown on legal immigration.

The Most Detailed Maps of H-1B Visa Holders Joining America’s Top Research Institutions
A new analysis by The Xylom shows for the first time just how much America’s top research institutions have grown to depend on the specialized knowledge of H-1B skilled workers — and how this delicate balance might be disrupted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s crackdown on legal immigration.
The XylomAlex Ip 葉清霖
An Indian man in an orange t-shirt next to his newborn
Jaswinder “Lucky” Singh shortly after the birth of his youngest son Jasdeep, who was born with severe mental and physical disabilities. Singh, at the courthouse to receive his green card, was seized by ICE and deported in 2025.

Unseen: The Impact of Trump’s Draconian Immigration Policies on Asian Americans

Headlines on immigration are dominated by heart-wrenching coverage of children being violently separated from their parents on street corners and in front of schools. A less-visible version of immigration enforcement — what The Lancet called “the silent trauma” — is equally devastating and holds the potential for lasting harm. Nova Institute Media Fellow Simran Sethi spent three months speaking with families facing these challenges and experts who are alarmed by the development.

Unseen - The Xylom
Headlines on immigration are dominated by heart-wrenching coverage of children being violently separated from their parents on street corners and in front of schools. A less-visible version of immigration enforcement — what The Lancet called “the silent trauma” — is equally devastating and holds the potential for lasting harm. Nova Institute Media Fellow Simran Sethi spent three months speaking with families and experts. This series is produced by Mindsite News and copublished by The Xylom.
The XylomSimran Sethi/MindSite News