About Me

Monique O. Madan

Monique O. Madan is a national investigative reporter at USA TODAY.

Before that, she spent more than a decade at the Miami Herald where she covered the immigration beat through a local, national and international lens.

In 2021, Madan was honored for her collective investigative reporting on the “Immigration Pandemic.” Beginning her reporting while she herself battled COVID, Madan ultimately interviewed more than 400 ICE detainees behind bars during the course of a year and chronicled their deteriorating living conditions as cases skyrocketed in facilities nationwide.

Her reporting has also revealed major gaps in immigration policies and procedures, including those concerning a man detained for 11 years. Madan’s investigation led to his release. Another of her series uncovered that immigration officials were coercing detainees to self-deport, a process that was halted after her reporting was published.

In 2019, Madan’s accountability reporting uncovered how former Trump Chief of Staff, John Kelly, was profiting from the detention of migrant children. In a narrative series, Madan– who is passionate about building and fostering trust with the communities she covers– documented the lives of migrant children living in secret camps.

Madan started at the Miami Herald in 2008. Since then, she took on various beats including immigration, government and breaking news. In 2012 she broke one of the most pivotal social justice stories of our time– the death of Trayvon Martin. In 2018 she produced award-winning work on her narrative and deadline coverage of the Florida International University Bridge Collapse.

After leaving Miami for a few years, Madan’s work appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald and The Dallas Morning News. In 2019 she was a Reveal Fellow at the Center for Investigative Reporting. Madan is often requested to speak about her reporting on NPR, WLRN and various national TV news outlets.

Madan, who was born to Cuban parents, is a graduate of Harvard University, Emerson College and the Honors College at Miami Dade College. She’s currently based in Miami with her husband and beloved mini-lab, Ruby, as well as Storm, the mini-schnauzer. She’s a lover of mat pilates and cafecito.

Monique O. Madan
Monique O. Madan

After leaving Miami for a few years, Madan’s work appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald and The Dallas Morning News. In 2019 she was a Reveal Fellow at the Center for Investigative Reporting. Madan is often requested to speak about her reporting on NPR, WLRN and various national TV news outlets.

Madan, who was born to Cuban parents, is a graduate of Harvard University, Emerson College and the Honors College at Miami Dade College. She’s currently based in Miami with her husband and beloved mini-lab, Ruby, as well as Storm, the mini-schnauzer. She’s a lover of mat pilates and cafecito.

Monique at Work