Investigative Reporter
New York, NY
Seth Freed Wessler is a reporter in New York who currently writes for Colorlines.com. Seth has reported from across the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean on immigration, the safety net, criminal justice, national security and the human fallout of the financial collapse.
Seth led a groundbreaking investigation that revealed the thousands of U.S. citizen children stuck in foster care whose parents have been detained or deported by federal immigration authorities. The investigation, for which Seth won a Hillman Prize and other honors, Along with Seth's series of follow-up stories, led to a direct response from the federal government, as well as the passage of state-level legislation. Seth worked until 2012 as a researcher for the Applied Research Center, where he authored research reports on racial inequality and the financial collapse, segregation in the restaurant industry and the corrosive effects of immigration policies on child welfare systems. Seth often discusses his reporting in national broadcast, and his stories and investigations for Colorlines have been cited by outlets including the Associated Press, the New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and NPR. He has produced stories for GOOD Magazine, the Texas Observer, NPR’s LatinoUSA, The Huffington Post, The Root and other outlets. In addition to the Hillman Prize, Seth was a finalist for a Casey Medal and has won several Ippies Awards. He was the recipient of a reporting fellowship from USC Annenberg's Institute for Justice and Journalism.
Check out Seth's media appearances here.
Seth tweets at @sethfw.
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VideoReid Plays Political Football with Latinos, Makes U-Turn on Immigration Reform Promise
by Seth Freed Wessler on April 13 2010, 5:55PM
Just three days after promising immediate action on an immigration bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters today that it will have to wait. The about-face exposes what was already pretty clear: Reid’s promise last weekend in front of…
Topics: Immigration
Senate Okays Unemployment Benefit Extension, and Gets Ready to Bungle it All Over Again Next Month
by Seth Freed Wessler on April 13 2010, 9:30AM
After an afternoon of long-winded speeches from both sides of the aisle, the Senate voted to move forward with the extension of unemployment benefits. The vote comes after the Senate failed to pass an extension before going on break more…
Topics: Economy, Race and Recession
Republicans Blame the Unemployed for Unemployment, and Block Needed Benefits
by Seth Freed Wessler on April 12 2010, 1:10PM
It’s been a week since more than 200,000 people were booted off unemployment insurance, because the Senate failed to extend the program before taking a vacation. Senate leadership has promised to take up the issue today but Republicans are showing…
Topics: Economy
Senate Majority Leader Promises Immigration Reform Now
by Seth Freed Wessler on April 12 2010, 10:00AM
At a rally for immigration reform in Las Vegas, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised that Congress would start work on an overhaul when it returns from break today. The announcement came as a surprise, especially after other Democratic leaders…
Topics: Immigration
287g Local Immigration Enforcement Under Fire
by Seth Freed Wessler on April 9 2010, 11:02AM
In Obama’s first 15 months in Office, the US continued to deport record numbers of people. The trends result from the Administration’s continued investment in immigration enforcement programs and quotas that advocates, law enforcement officials and others have long protested….
Topics: Immigration
The Morning Browse: Protecting Workers, Unemployment Benefit Barbs, Deporting Veterans
by Seth Freed Wessler on April 6 2010, 9:15AM
As hundreds of thousands of Americans lost unemployment benefits yesterday Senate Republicans and Democrats traded barbs about who is to blame for cutoffs. Senators have said they’ll extend benefits when they come back from break but the blame game threatens…
Topics: News Items
New Job Numbers: More of the Same and Then Some
by Seth Freed Wessler on April 5 2010, 11:18AM
New unemployment numbers were released Friday and by some measures, the unemployment crisis appears to be waning. But for Blacks and Latinos, there is no relief at all. The new figures expose that the country’s jobless recovery is fueled by…
Topics: Economy, Race and Recession
The Morning Browse: Unemployment Benefits, Unemployment Rates, Republican Census Angst
by Seth Freed Wessler on April 5 2010, 10:00AM
As many as 400,000 will see their unemployment insurance benefits cut off today after Congress failed to extend the program before going on break last week. Meanwhile, a new industry dedicated entirely to helping employers fight unemployment benefit payments is…
Topics:
Haiti Promised $10 Billion in Aid. Who’ll Spend It?
by Seth Freed Wessler on April 1 2010, 10:46AM
Yesterday’s UN meeting of governments and international organizations on aid to Haiti ended with a $10 billion pledge. The funds will be committed to development that may dramatically restructure the country’s human geography and physical infrastructure by focusing on urban…
Topics: Global Affairs
by Seth Freed Wessler on April 1 2010, 8:19AM
The New York Times reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has jailed at lease 30 Haitian earthquake survivors brought to the US by the US Marines. The men and women “were pulled from the rubble,” boarded on US planes and…
Topics: News Items
Supreme Court Gives Immigrants New Rights
by Seth Freed Wessler on March 31 2010, 4:00PM
The Supreme Court today granted immigrants facing detention new rights and protections. The ruling in Padilla v. Kentucky requires defense attorneys to accurately advise their non-citizen clients of the potential immigration consequences of pleading guilty to a crime. Under…
Topics: Immigration
Quotas or Not, Deportation is a Wrecking Ball
by Seth Freed Wessler on March 30 2010, 1:59PM
The NYTimes published another searing piece by Nina Bernstein yesterday about immigrant detention and deportation. The US is deporting mentally disabled people, some coming directly out of mental hospitals who, Bernstein writes, “are too mentally ill or mentally disabled to…
Topics: Immigration
Militias, Tea Partiers and the GOP.
by Seth Freed Wessler on March 29 2010, 5:27PM
Nine members of a Christian militia in Michigan were indicted this morning on allegations that they planned to murder a crowd of cops at a police funeral. The group, called Hutaree, state on their website that they are “preparing for…
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Republican Tantrum Brings Unemployment Benefit Cut
by Seth Freed Wessler on March 26 2010, 1:10PM
Hundreds of thousands of people who have received unemployment insurance for more than six months could lose their benefits in early April because a Senate Republican threw an ideological tantrum and left for Easter break before getting over it. The…
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by Seth Freed Wessler on March 26 2010, 9:38AM
Almost 15 months after Oscar Grant was brutally murdered by BART police in Oakland, California, the department finally fired the cop who helped detain the 22 before he was killed. A US owned cell phone company is trying to convince…
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The Daily Browse: Death Threats to Democrats, Predatory Loan Relief
by Seth Freed Wessler on March 25 2010, 9:01AM
At least 10 Democrats who supported health insurance reform are now finding themselves targeted by death threats and vandalism. Sarah Palin may be contributing to the vitriol. New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved deep cuts to it’s buses and…
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by Seth Freed Wessler on March 24 2010, 5:15PM
Three days after at least 200,000 marchers filled Washington, DC streets to demand immigration reform, a lot of people are wondering what’s going to happen now. Here’s a rundown of where things stand. Just before the immigration march, Senators Schumer…
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US and Israel: On the Rocks or Just Rhetoric?
by Seth Freed Wessler on March 24 2010, 11:02AM
Israel’s declaration that it will continue to build 1600 new homes for Jews in East Jerusalem despite U.S. dissent threatens to derail any peace process and “exposes the light between Israel and the United State,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton…
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The Morning Browse: Health Care Passes; Immigration March; Military Prisons
by Seth Freed Wessler on March 22 2010, 10:15AM
The House passed an historic health care reform bill and sent it to President Obama last night. The bill comes after months of protracted partisan struggle and passed only after Obama promised an executive order firming up restrictions on the…
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Immigration Bill Arrives, Here’s What We Know Right Now
by Seth Freed Wessler on March 19 2010, 3:30PM
This morning, Senators Schumer and Graham outlined their immigration proposal in a Washington Post op-ed titled “The Right Way to Mend Immigration”. It’s the plan Obama said “should be the basis for moving forward.” So what’s in this proposal?…
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