Reporting Between Borders: A Conversation with Journalist Anna-Catherine Brigida

This update was first published by the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College in New York.

On March 15, 2022, the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College and the Pulitzer Center hosted an event with Pulitzer Center grantee Anna-Catherine Brigida. 

From Central America to Texas, the COVID-19 pandemic has seen vulnerable migrants and asylum seekers faced with additional challenges and risks — brought on, according to critics, by the immigration policies of the current and previous federal administration. Among those policies cited are those that close borders and courts, exclude undocumented immigrants from the stimulus package, deny parole to immigrants in detention, and continue deportation flights.

In her Pulitzer Center-supported work, Brigida investigates what these policies mean for migrants and their families. Among those considered in her work are migrants living under the Migrant Protection Protocols, who are said to be confronted with increased exposure to crime and depleted aid in Mexican border cities; asylum seekers in El Paso, dealing with extended wait times for judges’ decisions; an Indigenous community in Guatemala who lacks access to health care; and, in Houston and other immigrant enclaves, families struggling to put food on the table and pay for aging parents’ medication in their home countries.

This event was moderated by Sissel McCarthy, director of the Hunter College Journalism Program.