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media-journalism

Uncovering Truths About Family-Separation Policy

December 09, 2022

Since 2021, investigative reporter Caitlin Dickerson has reported on migration for The Atlantic from three continents and dozens of American cities. In September 2022, she published a piece in The Atlantic titled “We Need to Take Away Children: The Secret History of the U.S. Government’s Family-Separation Policy.” The breakthrough story dug deep into the behind-the-scenes workings of the Trump-era family-separation policy, uncovering how the government came to the point of tearing children away from their families as a way to deter immigration—and who was responsible for it. It took 18 months to investigate and report the story—during which Dickerson conducted more than 150 interviews and reviewed thousands of legal documents—and it eventually became one of the longest stories published by the magazine.

Dickerson previously spent nearly five years as a reporter at The New York Times and five years as a producer and reporter for NPR. She is a Peabody and Edward R. Murrow Award recipient, and a three-time finalist for the Livingston Award. She is currently writing a book for Random House about the systemic impact of deportation on American society.

From Emerson Collective’s Demo Day 2022

Caitlin Dickerson

The Atlantic

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