By Perla Trevizo SAHUARITA — Discussions about border issues often focus on the differences, but on Monday the goal was to find common ground. A group of Southern Arizona residents, city officials, ranchers, business owners and law enforcement officers gathered here for a congressional field hearing, “Life on the Border: Examining Border Security through the Eyes of Local Residents and Law Enforcement,” held by U.S. Rep. Martha McSally of Arizona and New Mexico Rep.Steve Pearce, both Republicans. Continue reading

  Enforcement Should Follow International, Human Rights Standards (San Francisco) – A United States Border Patrol Agent who shot an unarmed Mexican child in the back across the border should not escape justice if the shooting was unlawful, Human Rights Watch said in a friend-of-the-court brief. Continue reading

  By Tatiana Sanchez A social justice organization will track alleged instances of mistreatment by federal border and immigration agents. The American Friends Service Committee’s U.S.-Mexico Border Program announced its nine-month Human Rights Documentation Campaign last week. The group will hire part-time staff to focus on administrative complaints involving law enforcement agencies, with a focus on border and immigration agencies. Continue reading

  By John Wilkens This patch of American soil near Tijuana's Colonia Libertad was most famous illegal crossing spot on U.S.-Mexico border Jose Arias Martinez is 83 and has lived in Tijuana’s Colonia Libertad neighborhood for 40 years. He remembers when a patch of American soil a few hundred yards from his house was the busiest and most famous spot on the U.S.-Mexico border for illegal crossings. Every day, hundreds of migrants who were heading north for work gathered at dusk and waited for darkness before moving through the brush and up the canyons, into San Diego and points beyond. So many people used it as a staging ground that a marketplace emerged: Vendors in tarp-covered stalls sold food, clothes, shoes — even shots of tequila, said to be good for courage because the journey was risky. Bandits were in the nearby hills. Border Patrol agents were on the canyon rims.   Continue reading

  On Saturday, May 21st, Alliance San Diego invites you to a community conversation titled,"Black & Brown Families Unite: On the 6th Anniversary of Anastasio's Murder." This conversation sets the stage for Black and Brown Communities to address law enforcement abuse and over policing in our communities. Continue reading

  By Robert Gordon This past weekend thousands of activists across the United States took the streets for May Day in support of immigrants and workers’ rights. The 2016 Presidential election will have major implications for U.S. immigration policy for years to come, but moving past bombastic rhetoric about border walls and mass deportations, questions remain about what is politically possible and how much U.S. politicians are willing to alter their thinking on the issue. Read the full story here. 

  By Gary Warth OCEANSIDE — Dozens of MiraCosta College students protested the presence of U.S. Border Patrol recruiters and the fast food chain Chick-fil-A on campus Thursday afternoon. Continue reading

  By Luisa Sausedo The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CPB) did not participate in a campus job fair on Thursday, apparently after City College’s administration cancelled its invitation to do so after a Chicano group announced that it would protest the agency’s presence at school. Continue reading

  By ChaKiara Tucker Recently, I, along with various members of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from across the country and a handful of immigration attorneys were given tours of CBP’s Processing Center and Ursula, a short-term detention center where migrants are housed until they are sent to family members. Although I wasn’t expecting a 5-star facility with quality amenities, I, along with my colleagues,  were in no way prepared for what we saw. Disgusting, deplorable and dehumanizing seem to be the most fitting adjectives to describe the conditions of these facilities. Continue reading

  By Julia Hutton Two Oakland artists are taking an innovative look at the US-Mexico border conflict in Border Cantos, an exhibition now on display at The San Jose Museum of Art. Continue reading