Seth Freed Wessler

Seth Freed Wessler is a senior research associate at the Applied Research Center and an investigative reporter for Colorlines.com covering immigration, criminal justice, economic and workplace inequality and the safety net.

Seth is author of numerous reports and investigations including “Shattered Families: The Perilous Intersection of Immigration Enforcement and the Child Welfare System,” a groundbreaking study that provides the first national estimates on the number of children in foster care whose parents were detained or deported. He also authored “Race and Recession: How Inequality Rigged the Economy and How to Change the Rules,” as well as reports on organizing strategies, transportation equity and workplace discrimination.

Seth’s reporting and research has taken him across North America, and he was one of the first to report on the Obama administration’s unprecedented build-up of immigration enforcement. His Nation Institute Investigative Fund-supported reporting on the effects of welfare reform gained national attention, and he appears regularly on national broadcast media outlets and at conferences around the country.

Previously, Seth worked on racial justice and immigrant rights issues in New England and taught photography to young adults. Seth grew up skating on frozen lakes in Maine and when he’s not on a reporting trip, he can be found biking in Brooklyn and striking up conversations with strangers.

Seth tweets at @sethfw.