Wendy Fry is an Emmy-winning multimedia investigative journalist who reports on border and immigration issues. Previously she reported on inequality for the CalMatters California Divide team. Based in San Diego and Mexico, Wendy has been covering the California border region for more than 15 years and covers immigration, reparations and issues affecting San Diego-area families.
She’s a board member of the San Diego chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and has reported for the Watchdog team at the San Diego Union-Tribune from 2009 to 2012.
For television, she worked as an on-air reporter, investigative producer and assignment editor at NBC San Diego from 2013 to 2018 — where she helped launch an investigative team and Telemundo20, the Spanish language news station — before returning to print journalism, covering Mexico and Baja California for the Union-Tribune and the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2022.
Wendy won SPJ’s Sol Price Award for Responsible Journalism in 2012 for uncovering corruption among construction contractors and elected officials at the Sweetwater Union High School District, resulting in indictments of about a dozen public officials.
She also won the Grand Golden Watchdog Award from the San Diego County Taxpayers Association in 2017, for her coverage of dangerous levels of lead in water in the San Diego Unified and San Ysidro school districts. Her short documentary “Missing in Mexico,” about family members searching for the remains of missing loved ones, won a regional Emmy.
A graduate of San Diego State, Wendy speaks English and Spanish.
Lea este artículo en español. As one volunteer said, it feels back to “zero” in San Diego after a migrant reception center ran out of money, leading federal Border Patrol officers to begin dropping off hundreds of people at a trolley station over the weekend. The so-called “street releases” in San Diego have touched […]
Read this story in English. Mientras California lidia con la cantidad de fondos estatales que debería gastar en ayuda humanitaria a los migrantes en su frontera sur, el gobierno federal de Estados Unidos está invirtiendo dinero en ampliar sus ya amplias capacidades de vigilancia. La Oficina de Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza de EE.UU. planea gastar […]
The federal government is investing millions on border surveillance towers, while migrants in California face harsh conditions and delays in processing.
Read this story in English. Los vapores que entraban al centro preescolar de Martha Beatriz León en las afueras de Tecate, México, olían mucho peor de lo habitual, como a basura podrida. O tal vez era amoníaco. Una mujer lo comparó con el olor de la pólvora gastada. Fuera lo que fuese, León dijo que […]
An ongoing CalMatters investigation has shown how California companies and governments avoid the Golden State's strict environmental regulations by shipping toxic waste across state borders. New reporting shows how California exports the risk to Mexico.
Read this story in English. Una noche de finales de septiembre, el reverendo Brad Mills se sorprendió al escuchar un golpe en las puertas de su parroquia. Su pequeña iglesia de San Diego no solía recibir visitantes después de las horas de misa. Dos hombres venezolanos en la puerta dijeron que necesitaban ayuda y buscaban […]
San Diego-area nonprofits and faith organizations struggle to provide for tens of thousands of migrants border agents have released on San Diego streets.
A recent state survey reveals 2 in 3 Black women are breadwinners; 8 in 10 worry about discrimination or mistreatment and more like Gov. Gavin Newsom than Vice President Kamala Harris.
TIJUANA – María Guadalupe Cruz intenta todos los días desde enero ingresar a la lista de espera electrónica del gobierno de Biden, para poder solicitar asilo en Estados Unidos para ella y su familia. La madre de 32 años salió de Honduras en 2021 con su esposo y sus dos hijos después de que las […]
Wendy Fry is an Emmy-winning multimedia investigative journalist who reports on border and immigration issues.
CalMatters
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Wendy Fry
Wendy Fry is an Emmy-winning multimedia investigative journalist who reports on border and immigration issues. Previously she reported on inequality for the CalMatters California Divide team. Based in San Diego and Mexico, Wendy has been covering the California border region for more than 15 years and covers immigration, reparations and issues affecting San Diego-area families. She's a board member of the San Diego chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and has reported for the Watchdog team at the San Diego Union-Tribune from 2009 to 2012. For television, she worked as an on-air reporter, investigative producer and assignment editor at NBC San Diego from 2013 to 2018 — where she helped launch an investigative team and Telemundo20, the Spanish language news station — before returning to print journalism, covering Mexico and Baja California for the Union-Tribune and the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2022. A graduate of San Diego State, Wendy speaks English and Spanish.