Award-winning broadcast reporter John Carlos Frey is joining The Marshall Project. He represents part of the organization’s expansion in reporting on immigration and criminal justice; Julia Preston, who previously covered immigration for the New York Times, also recently joined as contributing writer.
Frey is a three-time Emmy Award–winning investigative reporter and a special correspondent for PBS’s NewsHour. Much of his reporting has been done as a Reporting Fellow with the Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute. His work reveals a seldom seen world of marginalized communities through his reporting along the US-Mexico border and Latino community. In 2010, his investigation into migrant deaths by drowning in the All-American Canal prompted the installation of new safety features to the 80-mile long canal. His report on PBS about excessive use of force by US Border Patrol agents prompted the Department of Homeland Security to revise its use of force protocols. In 2015, he received a George Polk Award and an Emmy for The Real Death Valley, a documentary about slow 911 response times by US Border Patrol agents.
"I'm honored to join such a prestigious group of journalists and editors,” said Frey. “The recent election has made reporting around the intersection of criminal justice and immigration ever more urgent. I look forward to continuing my investigations into US border security, immigration and expanding my work to cover issues of organized crime along the border and US/Latin American relations.”
“Frey is, first and foremost, a stellar journalist, with deep experience covering the human dimension of immigration policy, and awards to show for it,” said Bill Keller, editor-in-chief of The Marshall Project. “He is a versatile journalistic entrepreneur who is respected in the industry because he delivers. He will add a new dimension to our ongoing immigration coverage, and will also help to frame more of our non-immigration pieces for television's vast audience.”
Frey was born in Tijuana, and is currently based in Los Angeles. His reports have been seen on ABC News, 60 Minutes, The Weather Channel, USA Network, Telemundo, Univision and NPR to name a few. He has written for the Los Angeles Times, Washington Monthly and Texas Observer, among others.
