
Lionel Ramos
State Government ReporterLionel Ramos covers state government at KOSU. He joined the station in January 2024 after covering race and equity as a Report For America corps member at Oklahoma Watch, a nonprofit investigative newsroom in Oklahoma City.
Born into the circus, Ramos traveled across the country in an RV with his family for the first half of his life. He eventually landed in San Antonio, Texas, where he attended high school and community college before transferring to Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. He holds a bachelor's degree in English with a focus on Creative Writing from Texas State, where he covered local and student government for the school's newspaper, The University Star.
At Oklahoma Watch, Ramos reported statewide on the rising political capital of Latinos in Oklahoma, the resettlement of Afghan refugees, the stakes for Indigenous Oklahomans in the Supreme Court's 2023 Brackeen v. Haaland decision, unemployment, housing, and veterans issues.
-
House Speaker-elect Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, wants input from Oklahomans on how their state government could be more efficient. The House launched an online portal this week in hopes of collecting that feedback.
-
Gov. Kevin Stitt is launching Operation Guardian, which aims to prepare the Oklahoma Department of Corrections and all tiers of law enforcement to deport hundreds of unauthorized immigrants arrested for crimes unrelated to their immigration status.
-
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a press release Tuesday that he’s against a new federal immigration process meant to keep families of mixed statuses together. He’s filed an amicus brief against it in a federal court case in Texas.
-
Oklahoma’s flagship Muslim civil rights group says news of an Afghan refugee in Oklahoma planning a terrorist attack should compel Oklahomans to have more compassion for each other and be aware of the factors that push people from any background to extremely violent behavior.
-
Oklahomans will head to the polls Tuesday to decide runoffs, local ballot initiatives and more. Here are a few of the races Oklahoma public radio reporters are keeping an eye on this election cycle.
-
The Oklahoma Supreme Court says that State Question 832 will have a 10-day protest period in an opinion released last week. The opinion offers clarity about whether the period should be 10, 20 or 90 days long — a conundrum caused by new laws that conflict with current statutes and each other.
-
Oklahoma’s finances are doing better than expected, as state revenues this year exceed estimates and state savings accounts swell thanks to hefty deposits.
-
A federal judge said Friday that Oklahoma’s new immigration law cannot take effect because it undermines federal authority by allowing local police to engage in immigration enforcement. It’s a ruling that aligns with how federal courts in other states have handled legal action over similar laws.
-
Local law enforcement agencies in Oklahoma are preparing for the implementation of the state's new law criminalizing people without legal immigration status. Some agencies refuse to implement it, others say they have no choice — but all agree unauthorized immigration is a problem.
-
In his June 13 court filing in the Western District Court of Oklahoma, Drummond took aim at each of the federal government’s complaints about the state’s new law criminalizing anyone in the country without legal permission.