Seth Freed wessler

Seth Freed Wessler is an independent investigative reporter and a Puffin Foundation writing fellow at Type Investigations. He has reported for The New York Times Magazine, Reveal, This American Life, The Nation, ProPublica and the Smithsonian magazine, among others. Seth has been a staff reporter for NBC News and Colorlines, as well as a Visiting Scholar at NYU’s Arthur Carter Journalism Institute, a Soros Media Fellow, a Logan Nonfiction Fellow at the Carey Institute for Global Good, and a Senior Fellow at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism. He is an adjunct lecturer at Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.

Seth’s work on immigration enforcement, federal prisons, racial inequity, and social services has spurred legislative reforms, inspired advocacy campaigns, and led to shifts in federal and state policy. He is the winner of a Peabody Award, a Hillman Prize, a Salute to Excellence Award from the NABJ, the John Bartlow Martin Award, the Izzy Award, the Investigative Prize business reporting from SABEW, the Al Neuharth Award for Investigative Journalism from NAHJ, the Immigration Journalism Prize from the French-American Foundation and the John Jay / Guggenheim Award for Criminal Justice Reporting.

Recent Work

Cold as ICE

Aug 10, 2020

How local sheriffs are driving Trump’s deportation agenda.
By Seth Freed Wessler in Mother Jones.

Fear, Illness and Death in ICE Detention: How a Protest Grew on the Inside

Jun 4, 2020

Detained men and women held at a facility in Georgia are trying desperately to raise the alarm.
By Seth Freed Wessler in The New York Times Magazine.

Immigrant Detainees Stage Protest For More COVID-19 Protections: ‘WE ARE NOT SAFE’

Apr 14, 2020

People being held at a center in Georgia want vulnerable individuals released and better safeguards against infection.
By Seth Freed Wessler in HuffPost.

‘I Can’t Do Anything’: Doctor Detained By ICE Waits For Coronavirus Outbreak To Hit

Apr 9, 2020

Neysi Salvador-Aguiar, a physician from Cuba, says that the Irwin County detention center wasn’t taking enough measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
By Seth Freed Wessler in HuffPost.

“My Father Was the First Federal Prisoner to Die of COVID-19. He’d Been Trying to Get Out for Years.”

Apr 7, 2020

Christopher Walker’s father, Patrick Jones, died on March 28—the first federal prisoner to die from the coronavirus.
By Seth Freed Wessler in Mother Jones.

The Coronavirus Has Spread to the US Marshals’ Detention Empire

Apr 1, 2020

Exclusive reporting reveals five people in federal detention have tested positive for COVID-19.
By Seth Freed Wessler in Mother Jones.

Last Chance at Justice

Mar 19, 2020

History tells us that, in a time of crisis, we have to be careful about how we respond.
By Seth Freed Wessler in WNYC’s United States of Anxiety.

Fragility in Liberty

Feb 20, 2020

We travel from Liberty Island to the U.S.-Mexico border to discover how the end of Reconstruction and America’s present-day immigration crisis are inextricably bound.
By Seth Freed Wessler in Type Investigations and WNYC.

Inside the US Marshals’ Secretive, Deadly Detention Empire

Oct 23, 2019

They’re supposed to safeguard pretrial detainees. But America’s oldest law enforcement agency is suffering from a massive dereliction of duty.
By Seth Freed Wessler in Mother Jones.

The Costs of the Confederacy

Nov 27, 2018

Taxpayers have spent at least $40 million on Confederate monuments and groups that perpetuate racist ideology — in the last decade alone.

By Brian Palmer and Seth Freed Wessler in Smithsonian Magazine

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