‘Soccer field,’ once-busy border crossing, now quiet
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
Share
Beyond the Wall: an In-Depth Look at U.S. Immigration Policy
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.
Share
Students protest Border Patrol, Chick-fil-A
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
Share
CBP Must Value Life in Order to Improve Facilities
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
Share
Students protest Border Patrol’s possible campus visit
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
Share
Lost items on US-Mexico border become art
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
Share
ACLU: Tucson Traffic Stops for Immigration Checks Violating Rights
By Suzanne Gamboa
American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona said Monday its review of Tucson police records found the department is, with help from the Border Patrol, prolonging traffic stops beyond necessary to check the immigration status of people it stops.
Continue reading
Share
In this New Mexico town, you can see where Pancho Villa turned history on its head
By: Catherine Watson
COLUMBUS, N.M. — As you drive into this dusty little village just three miles north of the Mexican border, you wouldn’t guess that a bloody event here would have affected a world war and kept the town’s name in the history books for more than a hundred years.
Continue reading
Share
Border Patrol’s campus visit causes controversy
By Alex Birnel
“They mentioned gathering up illegals at UTSA and sending them off in a van,” says senior Anthropology major Viktoria Zerda. “They said it in a joking manner.”
Continue reading
Share
Mexican shoppers surge across the border for lower prices in US
By Molly Bilker
NOGALES, MEXICO — The pedestrian crossing line into the United States winds out of the port of entry building and into the city on an early weekday afternoon. As those waiting mingle in line, others return to Mexico coming the other way, arms heavy with shopping bags.
Continue reading
Share