Borderless Wins National Journalistic Impact Award

Borderless Magazine’s investigations into Chicago’s troubled migrant shelters were recognized at the national 2024 LION Sustainability Awards. The nonprofit news outlet won the “Journalistic Impact Award” in the small news outlet tier for its series of months-long, bilingual investigations.

“Borderless truly centers the community in its approach and ensures that the people most impacted are involved at every step of the reporting process,” award judges wrote. “The team did an exemplary job of articulating evidence of change, creating multiple touchpoints of engagement, and taking thoughtful steps to ensure the stories reach the intended audiences, including the people most impacted by the issues covered. The use of field canvassers to distribute printed stories to these communities was especially unique.”

“We are honored by the recognition,” said Mauricio Peña, editorial director at Borderless Magazine and lead reporter on the investigations. “This award is a testament to the courage of the dozens of migrants who spoke to us during the investigation and continue to share their stories with the Borderless Magazine team.”

Sanctuary cities like Chicago have buckled under the pressure to house thousands of migrants sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other states on the Southern border in the last two years. As Chicago’s only pan-immigrant news outlet, Borderless began reporting on the migrants the day the first buses arrived and continues to play an important role as a source of information for the new migrants and investigative journalism that holds government and corporate players accountable.  

After receiving a tip in late 2023 about dangerous conditions in Chicago’s largest migrant shelter, Borderless embarked on a series of monthslong, bilingual investigations into the shelters, spending time cultivating trust among migrants, combing through city documents and public records, and reviewing videos and photos migrants shared with us. The result was international attention on this local issue, a city investigation into a child’s death at a shelter and the rallying of millions of dollars to support new arrivals.

“Multilingual Chicagoans have come to rely on Borderless’ nonpartisan reporting to hold governments and corporations accountable for their actions,” said Nissa Rhee, cofounder and executive director of Borderless Magazine. “As we prepare to celebrate our fifth anniversary of publishing, this national recognition shows the power of community-centered media.”

Finalists for the LION Award include The Boulder Reporting Lab, Canadian news outlet La Converse, and The Haitian Times. Borderless Magazine’s reporting on migrants previously won the Chicago Review of Books’ 2024 “Story of the Year Award” with Block Club Chicago. 

Founded in the wake of the Muslim Travel Ban in February 2017 and relaunched in October 2020 as a nonprofit organization, Borderless Magazine is a non-partisan news outlet reimagining immigration journalism for a more just and equitable future. Taking an ecosystem approach, Borderless 

• Reports and publishes stories on immigration and immigrant communities in English, Spanish and Dari Mentor 
• Trains emerging BIPOC and immigrant journalists in investigations, community reporting and photojournalism in its Pathways program and
• Gives professional journalists the tools they need to report on immigration issues fairly and accurately through our Immigration Reporting Lab

Earlier this year, Borderless won Public Narratives’s Ripple Effect Award and the Next Challenge’s 2024 “Future of Local Journalism” award for its community-centered reporting.