Lauren Villagran, who for nearly two decades has reported about immigration along the southern U.S. border and in Mexico, will join The Marshall Project to anchor its coverage of the nation’s immigration enforcement and detention system and those it affects most deeply.
Villagran’s hiring represents The Marshall Project’s latest and most significant investment in coverage of the immigration system. The way immigration enforcement operates — and how it impacts civil liberties — increasingly intersects and overlaps with the criminal justice system, which has been at the heart of the news organization’s mission since its founding nearly 12 years ago.
Villagran comes from USA Today, where she has led its national immigration coverage, producing exceptional enterprise and accountability work, along with insightful beat reporting. Previously, she reported along the border and in the Western U.S. for the El Paso Times, Searchlight New Mexico and the Albuquerque Journal.
She also lived and worked in Mexico as a freelancer for five years, chronicling how extreme drug violence ignited a surge of migration to the U.S. She has edited two books about the border and Mexico.
“We believe Lauren’s superlative track record and experience working at the border, combined with The Marshall Project’s rich history of producing human-centric and high-impact investigative journalism focused on government overreach, will add a needed voice to the national debate,” said Jennifer Peter, The Marshall Project’s editor-in-chief. “We can’t wait for her to join our team, which has already ramped up its coverage of the excesses of the immigration crackdown and its impact, particularly on children.”
Villagran brings to The Marshall Project an encyclopedic knowledge of the immigration system — its history, legal workings and politics. She has investigated the deaths of people crossing the border, reported on the expansion of the detention apparatus, and detailed policies that are further criminalizing immigrants. Her work reflects the varied perspectives on this issue, from immigrants and the attorneys and volunteers advocating on their behalf, to a father and his three adult children, who all work as ICE agents.
“I’m thrilled to join TMP’s team of award-winning journalists at this time of rapid change in the nation’s immigration enforcement and detention system,” Villagran said.
Villagran, who will be based in El Paso, Texas, will begin her work with The Marshall Project on May 26.
