Jonathan Blitzer
Jonathan Blitzer is a staff writer at The New Yorker. He won a 2017 National Award for Education Reporting for “American Studies,” a story about an underground school for undocumented immigrants. He has been a finalist three times for a Livingston Award, and is the recipient of an Edward R. Murrow Award and the 2018 Immigration Journalism Prize from the French-American Foundation. His writing and reporting have also appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Atavist, Oxford American, and The Nation. He was a 2021 Emerson Fellow at New America. His first book, “Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis,” was published in January, 2024.
Can Kamala Harris Keep Up the Excitement Through Election Day?
At the Democratic National Convention, the sense of relief was as overwhelming as the general euphoria—but the campaign against Donald Trump has only just begun.
The Real Story of Kamala Harris’s Record on Immigration
Republicans have attacked the Vice-President as the Biden Administration’s “border czar,” but her remit was always to address the root causes farther south.
Inside the Trump Plan for 2025
A network of well-funded far-right activists is preparing for the former President’s return to the White House.
Finally, a Leap Forward on Immigration Policy
President Biden has offered help to undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens, in the most consequential act of immigration relief in more than a decade.
What’s Behind Joe Biden’s Harsh New Executive Order on Immigration?
Neither the declining number of border arrivals nor the intransigence of congressional Republicans has improved the President’s standing on the issue.
The Two-Pronged Attack on a Muslim Judicial Nominee
How the smearing of Adeel Mangi became a bipartisan exercise.
Joe Biden’s Texas Showdown
In some ways, Greg Abbott, as the governor of a border state, poses a more acute political problem for the President than Donald Trump does.
The Trials of Alejandro Mayorkas
The Secretary of Homeland Security has been forced to respond to an unprecedented flow of migrants to the U.S.-Mexico border. Why are Republicans in Congress impeaching him for it?
“Do I Have to Come Here Injured or Dead?”
Keldy Mabel Gonzáles Brebe de Zúniga was one of the first mothers separated from her children at the border by the Trump Administration. The cruelty she suffered in the United States was matched only by what she was forced to flee in Honduras.
The Senate Battle Over Immigration and Aid to Ukraine
Republicans are making one dependent on the other. Are vulnerable Democrats willing to make concessions?
How Mike Johnson Went from Relative Obscurity to Speaker of the House
The Louisiana Republican is best known for leading an effort to vote against certifying the results of the 2020 election—not because of fraud but on arcane legal grounds.
Jim Jordan’s Conspiratorial Quest for Power
How the Ohio Republican built an insurgent bid for Speaker on the lies of Donald Trump.
How Kevin McCarthy Defied the Freedom Caucus and Averted a Shutdown
The irony of the Speaker’s surprise last-minute move was that it was his only play all along.
“La Isla” Shows the Absences Left by El Salvador’s Mass Arrests
On a quiet fishing island, families whose fathers and sons were swept up in anti-gang arrests have become the collateral damage of a crackdown.
Is Guatemala About to See an Upset Win for Democracy?
The government’s attempts to influence the election have brought an unexpected opportunity for a candidate with a particular connection to the country’s history.
The Sound and Fury of the House Freedom Caucus
To raise the debt ceiling, Kevin McCarthy had to defy the Republican Party’s most conservative members. Will he pay a price?
Title 42 Is Gone, but What Are Asylum Seekers Supposed to Do Now?
It’s hard to imagine an area of federal policymaking more vexed than immigration, generally, and asylum, specifically.
The Risky Gamble of Kevin McCarthy’s Debt-Ceiling Strategy
In the face of a catastrophic default, the House Speaker has pitted his most extreme members against the President.
Jim Jordan’s Singular Pursuit of Justice
Republicans in Congress are united on at least one thing: the defense of Donald Trump.
What Kevin McCarthy Will Do to Gain Power
The Republican leader’s ambition has always been his defining characteristic. Attempting to placate both Trumpists and moderates may lead to his downfall.
Can Kamala Harris Keep Up the Excitement Through Election Day?
At the Democratic National Convention, the sense of relief was as overwhelming as the general euphoria—but the campaign against Donald Trump has only just begun.
The Real Story of Kamala Harris’s Record on Immigration
Republicans have attacked the Vice-President as the Biden Administration’s “border czar,” but her remit was always to address the root causes farther south.
Inside the Trump Plan for 2025
A network of well-funded far-right activists is preparing for the former President’s return to the White House.
Finally, a Leap Forward on Immigration Policy
President Biden has offered help to undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens, in the most consequential act of immigration relief in more than a decade.
What’s Behind Joe Biden’s Harsh New Executive Order on Immigration?
Neither the declining number of border arrivals nor the intransigence of congressional Republicans has improved the President’s standing on the issue.
The Two-Pronged Attack on a Muslim Judicial Nominee
How the smearing of Adeel Mangi became a bipartisan exercise.
Joe Biden’s Texas Showdown
In some ways, Greg Abbott, as the governor of a border state, poses a more acute political problem for the President than Donald Trump does.
The Trials of Alejandro Mayorkas
The Secretary of Homeland Security has been forced to respond to an unprecedented flow of migrants to the U.S.-Mexico border. Why are Republicans in Congress impeaching him for it?
“Do I Have to Come Here Injured or Dead?”
Keldy Mabel Gonzáles Brebe de Zúniga was one of the first mothers separated from her children at the border by the Trump Administration. The cruelty she suffered in the United States was matched only by what she was forced to flee in Honduras.
The Senate Battle Over Immigration and Aid to Ukraine
Republicans are making one dependent on the other. Are vulnerable Democrats willing to make concessions?
How Mike Johnson Went from Relative Obscurity to Speaker of the House
The Louisiana Republican is best known for leading an effort to vote against certifying the results of the 2020 election—not because of fraud but on arcane legal grounds.
Jim Jordan’s Conspiratorial Quest for Power
How the Ohio Republican built an insurgent bid for Speaker on the lies of Donald Trump.
How Kevin McCarthy Defied the Freedom Caucus and Averted a Shutdown
The irony of the Speaker’s surprise last-minute move was that it was his only play all along.
“La Isla” Shows the Absences Left by El Salvador’s Mass Arrests
On a quiet fishing island, families whose fathers and sons were swept up in anti-gang arrests have become the collateral damage of a crackdown.
Is Guatemala About to See an Upset Win for Democracy?
The government’s attempts to influence the election have brought an unexpected opportunity for a candidate with a particular connection to the country’s history.
The Sound and Fury of the House Freedom Caucus
To raise the debt ceiling, Kevin McCarthy had to defy the Republican Party’s most conservative members. Will he pay a price?
Title 42 Is Gone, but What Are Asylum Seekers Supposed to Do Now?
It’s hard to imagine an area of federal policymaking more vexed than immigration, generally, and asylum, specifically.
The Risky Gamble of Kevin McCarthy’s Debt-Ceiling Strategy
In the face of a catastrophic default, the House Speaker has pitted his most extreme members against the President.
Jim Jordan’s Singular Pursuit of Justice
Republicans in Congress are united on at least one thing: the defense of Donald Trump.
What Kevin McCarthy Will Do to Gain Power
The Republican leader’s ambition has always been his defining characteristic. Attempting to placate both Trumpists and moderates may lead to his downfall.