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Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, migrants and asylum seekers are facing an increasingly dire situation along the southern U.S. border. Pulitzer Center-supported journalists Maria Hinojosa and Anna-Catherine Brigida have covered how the Trump administration’s efforts to push refugees back from the border, deny undocumented immigrants stimulus benefits, and sustain deportation flights have exacerbated the challenges already facing migrants. Adding to the conversation is Maria Zamudio, another Pulitzer Center-supported journalist who focused her reporting project on how the military failed veterans who were deported even before the pandemic.
Join their conversation on Thursday, July 30, 2020, at 2 pm eastern/ 1 pm central, as part of the Talks @ Pulitzer Focus on Justice online series.
The three journalists bring to the table years of experience reporting on immigration and refugee issues for major media outlets, sharing their work before and during the pandemic, and the trends they have seen in U.S. policy and its impact on those risking their lives to travel north.
Hinojosa is a veteran reporter who serves as the anchor and executive producer of the Peabody Award-winning show Latino USA, distributed by NPR, as well as the co-host of Futuro Media’s In The Thick podcast. Her 30-year career has included hundreds of stories for outlets such as PBS, CBS, WNBC, CNN, and NPR. Her Pulitzer Center-supported project “The Moving Border” examines the impact of U.S., Mexico, and international organizations’ attempts to push refugees back towards southern Mexico and Guatemala.
Brigida is a freelance journalist based in Nicaragua who has covered migrant caravans, deportations, and family separation for publications including The Washington Post, The Guardian, Time, Texas Monthly, Al Jazeera, and others. Working with The Texas Observer and other journalist grantees, Brigida’s Pulitzer Center-supported project “From Texas to Central America: How Tough Policies in the COVID-19 Era Are Endangering Asylum Seekers” explores the effects of U.S. policies on migrants during the coronavirus pandemics.
Zamudio is an immigration reporter for WBEZ whose work has appeared in the Associated Press, The New York Times, NPR, NBC 5 Chicago, Telemundo, and Univision, among others. In 2015, Zamudio and a reporting team from Latino USA received a Peabody National Award for their coverage of Central American migrants. Her Pulitzer Center-supported project “Exiled Soldiers” tells the stories of deported U.S. veterans, including nine suffering from service-connected disabilities.
The Pulitzer Center's reporting and educational outreach on mass incarceration and related justice issues is supported by the Art for Justice Fund and other donors. The Art for Justice Fund was created by Agnes Gund in partnership with the Ford Foundation and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.