Erika Konig is an immigration and human rights reporter at the Institute for Public Service Reporting at the University of Memphis. Before joining Report for America, Konig worked as a reporting intern at the Institute while earning her bachelor’s degree on campus. Her coverage of public transportation cutbacks affecting the poor and disabled, food insecurity in Memphis, and abuses of President Trump’s immigration crackdown has been republished in news sites across Tennessee. Konig also interned at WMC-TV, writing news scripts and editing videos for the evening news broadcast. A first-generation college graduate who immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico as a child and became a naturalized U.S. citizen last year, Konig is enrolled in the University of Memphis’ open-source investigative reporting program.
Beat: Immigration and Human Rights Beat
The immigration crackdown has a heightened focus in Memphis, where the White House has deployed hundreds of federal law enforcement agents to assist in public safety and immigration enforcement efforts. The surge has triggered scores of alleged civil and human rights abuses, triggering widespread fear within the city’s large and thriving Hispanic community. The immigration and human rights reporter investigates these abuses and explains how shifting U.S. immigration policy interacts with immigrant and minority communities.