The Washington Post: Jenna Johnson tapped to lead newly formed immigration and border security team

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An announcement from National Editor Phil Rucker and Deputy National Editor Amy Fiscus:

We are excited to announce that Jenna Johnson, one of our most adept and versatile editors, is leading a newly created standalone immigration and border security team in the National department.

Jenna, who has spent the past nearly three years as deputy democracy editor, will oversee a team of journalists responsible for covering what we expect to be a major storyline in the new Trump administration: changes in immigration policy and enforcement and their humanitarian, societal, political and economic impacts. This team will aggressively cover the story not only in Washington but also at the border and elsewhere. It will partner with colleagues around the room whose responsibilities intersect with immigration coverage to produce agenda-setting, dynamic and visually engaging journalism in all formats. We will have more soon on the makeup of the rest of the new team.

The urgency and complexity of the immigration story in 2025 necessitates a team with a dedicated mission and focus. Jenna will take the reins on immigration coverage after Debbi Wilgoren and Efrain Hernandez Jr. successfully directed it, along with our Justice coverage. Debbi and Efrain will continue to oversee the important work of our Justice team, which includes coverage of federal law enforcement and the Supreme Court. Like immigration, we anticipate these high-priority coverage areas will be persistent sources of major news and benefit from a dedicated team.

Jenna is a natural fit to lead the Immigration team given her deep expertise on policy, politics and culture. She covered aspects of Donald Trump’s political career since she was The Post’s lead reporter on his 2016 presidential campaign. She interviewed thousands of his supporters and found creative ways to cover his rallies after the campaign revoked media credentials for Post journalists. Jenna examined the types of communities where Trump held his events and documented how he made suspicion of Muslims, immigrants and other marginalized groups a centerpiece of his pitch to voters. As a White House reporter during his first administration, she traveled around the country to document deepening divisions.

Jenna moved to editing in 2021, doing stints driving coverage of immigration and several other topic areas before becoming a founding member of the Democracy team in 2022. She worked with reporters around the country who documented the administration of the 2022 midterm elections and 2024 presidential election, legal efforts to change the rules for how votes are cast and counted, ongoing attempts to undermine confidence in elections and the legacy of Trump’s attempt to overturn his 2020 loss, including an Arizona official who is being treated for PTSD. She also led our coverage of the Georgia criminal case against Trump and several of his allies. An empathetic manager, skilled communicator and enthusiastic collaborator, Jenna quickly won the admiration of her reporters and of other editors around the room.

Jenna joined the Post in 2007 as a summer intern on Local, covering D.C. crime, then moved to the now-shuttered Southern Maryland bureau. She has also covered higher education and Maryland politics. Jenna grew up in Nebraska and graduated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

Jenna started last week. Please join us in wishing her well.

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