Contributor

John Carlos Frey

Filmmaker and Freelance Investigative Journalist

John Carlos Frey reveals a seldom seen world of migrant life and marginalized communities through his vast work along the U.S. Mexico border. His first hand approach to documenting and reporting about immigrant struggles has gained him national and international notoriety. In his 2007 documentary film, The Invisible Mexicans of Deer Canyon, John Carlos Frey spent over a year documenting and living amongst the Mexican migrants of McGonigle Canyon that live outdoors in third world conditions amongst some of the most expensive real estate in America. In 2009 he traveled along the U.S. Mexico border from Brownsville, TX to San Diego, CA to document the construction of the new border walls for his eye opening film, The 800 Mile Wall. In 2011 Mr. Frey infiltrated, followed and documented the journey of a migrant group from the Altar, MX, across the U.S. Mexico border and walked through the desert of Arizona for days, putting his own life at risk for the documentary Life and Death on the Border seen on Current TV.
Recently Mr. Frey’s investigative work has been featured on the 60 Minutes episode entitled, The All American Canal, which garnered the CBS News program a recent Emmy Award nomination. He has also recently completed a segment for Dan Rather Reports entitled, Angel of the Desert and is currently working with PBS’ news program, Need to Know on a segment about border violence. John Carlos Frey has worked on stories for The Nation Institute and is also a regular contributor to the Huffington Post. Articles about his work have been published in The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, among others.

Mr. Frey’s work has been recognized by Amnesty International, THE ACLU, The Anti Defamation League, Human Rights Watch, National Immigration Forum, National Center for Farmworker Health, The League of United Latin American Citizens, The Joan B. Kroc Institute of Peace and Justice as well as the Hispanic Congressional Caucus in Washington, D.C. for his realistic depiction of migrant life in the United States. His other film credits include The Gatkeeper (2003), The Invisible Chapel (2007), One Border One Body (2008) and Missionaries for Migrants (2011).