Pulitzer-winning journalist Caitlin Dickerson to give A&L Justice for All talk on deportation policies

Immigration is one of the defining issues of our time. But what are the immediate human and civic consequences of recent immigration enforcement policies in the United States?   

Pulitzer Prize winner Caitlin Dickerson joins Arts & Lectures’ 2026 Justice for All initiative to shed light on the impact of these policies in practice, how those practices are justified, and what they reveal about national priorities. Dickerson has spent more than a decade reporting on migration to and deportation from the U.S., documenting how immigration enforcement policies impact families and communities across the nation and beyond. 

On Thursday, March 5, at 7:30 p.m., Dickerson will be in Campbell Hall with “Deported: The Price of Our Prosperity,” a lecture and discussion examining the impact of a system that is affecting millions of lives. Her talk will explore how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carries out its mandate and how deportation — both in threat and in practice — plays out in different communities. 

Earlier that day, Dickerson will engage in two 60-minute lecture/Q&A sessions with UCSB students for a hands-on approach to this topic. The first session is for students of History 164IB: American Immigration, and will be moderated by Paul Spickard, a UCSB distinguished professor in the Department of History. The second is with students of Professor Yader Lanuza in Sociology 124: Sociology of Immigration. 

Dickerson received the Pulitzer Prize in 2023 for her reporting on the separation of children from their families at the U.S. southwest border. Her investigation revealed how the forcible policy was developed and implemented, and brought national attention to its consequences. Her work has also earned a Peabody Award, an Edward R. Murrow Award, and honors from the National Association of Black Journalists.  

Currently a staff writer at The Atlantic, Dickerson formerly served as a reporter for The New York Times and National Public Radio. She has earned widespread recognition for the thoroughness of her investigations and for focusing on the intersections of policy and everyday human experience. Her reporting tracks how deportation practices have evolved across multiple administrations, revealing the shifting legal frameworks and policies that have shaped and reshaped immigration enforcement.