Caitlin Dickerson, New Arizona Fellow, is an award-winning investigative reporter and feature writer for the Atlantic. Writing from three continents and dozens of American cities, Dickerson has extensively covered American immigration policy and its human impacts. Her work often explores the subject’s intersection with politics, history, and race.
In 2023, Dickerson was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting for her 18-month investigation into the Trump administration’s family separation policy, which shed light on how the U.S. government took thousands of migrant children away from their parents and who was responsible. She is also a Peabody, Livingston, and Edward R. Murrow award recipient. She won the Silvers-Dudley Prize in 2023, and is a two-time winner of National Association of Black Journalist’s Salute to Excellence Awards.
Prior to joining the Atlantic, Dickerson spent nearly five years as a New York Times reporter and five years as a producer and reporter at NPR, where she covered subjects including immigration, criminal justice, veterans, race relations, politics, and the coronavirus pandemic. As a New America fellow, she will write her first book, which explores the systemic impact of deportation on American society. Previously, she has served as a Shorenstein Center Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and a Poynter Fellow at Yale.
Raised in the agricultural community of Merced, California, Dickerson travels often for work but calls Brooklyn, New York, her home.
Selected Work
- The Secret History of the U.S. Government’s Family-Separation Policy: An article for the Atlantic covering an 18-month investigation into the Trump administration’s family separation policy.
- The Family-Separation Files: An article for the Atlantic containing a collection of key internal government documents related to the Trump administrationʼs Zero Tolerance policy.
- America Never Wanted the Tired, Poor, Huddled Masses: An article for the Atlantic exploring the race-based history of American immigration policy, and its modern legacy.
