Seth Freed wessler
Recent Work
Fear, Illness and Death in ICE Detention: How a Protest Grew on the Inside
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’
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
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.”
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
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
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
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
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
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
The Coast Guard’s ‘Floating Guantánamos’
U.S. Coast Guard is shackling low-level smugglers on ships for weeks in international waters.