The Definitive SourceAnnouncements

AP wins RFK Award for immigration coverage

The Associated Press won a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in the domestic print category Friday for its coverage of U.S. immigration policies under President Donald Trump.

In a yearlong series of stories, a team of AP journalists illuminated the Trump administration’s approach to child separation, from documenting a migrant caravan that stretched from Central America to the U.S.-Mexico border to uncovering how deported parents could lose their children to adoption

Notably, AP was first to report that infants were among children being forcibly separated from their families at the border and catalog the detainment facilities where kids where held and sometimes physically abused. The AP’s immigration coverage was also a 2019 Pulitzer Prize finalist in the national reporting category.

“The strength of AP’s immigration coverage has been in teamwork,” said AP Managing Editor Brian Carovillano. “Nearly three dozen journalists spanning multiple departments, beats and borders came together to break news and provide unparalleled insight and understanding on one of the key issues of our time.”

Honduran migrant Leticia Nunes holds her daughter Mailyn as she stands with a small group of other migrants in front of a line of Mexican police in riot gear when they tried to cross the Chaparral border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, Nov. 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Here is a selection of stories:

Dozens of AP reporters, photographers, video journalists and editors in the U.S. and Latin America contributed to the reporting, including the 11 journalists whose work was spotlighted in the award entry: photographer Rodrigo Abd, investigative reporter Michael Biesecker, photographer Rebecca Blackwell, video journalist Allen Breed, investigative reporter Garance Burke, reporter Astrid Galvan, National Writer Martha Mendoza, reporter Nomaan Merchant, National Writer Matt Sedensky, reporter Julie Watson and former AP reporter Jake Pearson.

A full list of RFK Journalism Award winners can be found here.

Contact us
FOLLOW AP