Meet the Journalist: Jonathan Blitzer

Country:

Guatemala

Author:

Jonathan Blitzer
Grantee

In the highlands of western Guatemala, in an area affected by deforestation, a man cuts firewood for cooking. Image by Mauricio Lima. Guatemala, 2019.

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Jonathan Blitzer, a staff writer for The New Yorker, and documentary photographer Mauricio Lima...

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Outside the small village of Chicua, in the western highlands, in an area affected by extreme-weather events, Ilda Gonzales looks after her daughter. Image by Mauricio Lima. Guatemala, 2019.

What role does climate change play in prompting people to leave their homes in Guatemala and seek better circumstances in the United States? What are the roles of U.S.-based remittances and cycles of debt?

Jonathan Blitzer, a staff writer at The New Yorker, and Mauricio Lima, a documentary photographer, traveled to the western highlands of the Guatemala to explore some of the causes driving historic levels of migration from the region. In 2019, their reporting was submitted to the congressional record as evidence for the ways climate change fueled the U.S. border crisis in relation to Guatemala.