The Border Chronicle

The legal director of the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project provides an on-the-ground analysis of and reckoning with year 1 of the Trump administration’s detention and deportation regime.

What happens after an arrest? How many people have been detained? And what happens to asylum seekers?

And what exactly is Kafka’s merry-go-round of hell?

Laura St. John answers these questions and more.

But, perhaps most importantly, St. John provides practical answers for what concerned people might do about it. She offers an antidote to the “sense of hopeless inevitability” that the Trump administration is purposefully creating for undocumented people.

For 15 years, St. John has been working for the Florence Project—an organization that provides legal assistance and advocacy for undocumented people in detention.

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This Week in The Border Chronicle:

More News from the Border:

A Theology of Smuggling Places Journal

In the early 1980s, in Tucson, activists and religious leaders joined forces to protect refugees at the U.S.-Mexico border. Their collaboration galvanized the Sanctuary Movement.

A drying-up Rio Grande basin threatens water security on both sides of the border Associated Press

RGISC warns border wall plan could disrupt Laredo’s river culture Laredo Morning Times

US and Mexican residents rally against border wall construction in Arizona Caló News

Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with ‘suspicious’ travel patterns Associated Press

The FBI spied on a Signal group chat of immigration activists, records reveal The Guardian

Nogales, Sonora, dismantles migrant camps at sports complex Tucson Sentinel

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Jonathan Blitzer is a staff writer at The New Yorker who covers immigration, politics, and foreign affairs for the magazine. His recent piece for the magazine, “The Real Target of Trump’s War on Drug Boats,” highlights Stephen Miller, homeland security adviser to President Trump, as a driving force, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, behind the illegal and deadly strikes on boats in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean.

As of the publish date of this piece on Tuesday, November 18, the Trump administration has killed an estimated 82 people in 21 strikes—a rapidly growing number since the first strike took place September 2, killing 11 people. The administration claims, without evidence, that the boats it is targeting are carrying drugs.

So how does this relate to the U.S.-Mexico border? For Miller, the boat strikes bolster Trump’s unilateral authority and expand the definition of the use of force, a project that began at the U.S.-Mexico border, where Miller and other Trump allies portrayed asylum seekers as “invaders” and “alien enemies” and advocated for a military response. The same model has now been deployed in the interior, where domestic policy is being “militarized” by the administration.

Do military deployments and occupations of U.S. cities mean the end of posse comitatus and that the military will now take a bigger role in domestic affairs? Now that the interior of the country is experiencing the Border Patrol’s violence and impunity, could this finally lead to the rogue agency being reined in? (Though obviously not during this administration.) These are just a few of the topics that we explore in addition to discussing Blitzer’s book Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America and the Making of a Crisis, along with how each U.S. administration has failed to acknowledge that U.S. policy and intervention are spurring much of the migration from Central America.

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As we’ve mentioned recently, we’re going to be improving The Border Chronicle and expanding. We’ll have more details in the coming weeks. This week we brought on Brenda Machado, our very first digital strategist and audience engagement hire, which is huge for us. We now have a greater presence on social media platforms, and we’re already seeing the difference. When Brenda is not working her magic on social media for us she is studying for her Master’s in Bilingual Journalism and Latin American Studies at the University of Arizona. Welcome Brenda!

After four years, we are excited about the notion of growing, but to be honest we’re also a little freaked out because we’re continuing to see a significant drop in paid subscribers. The drop was particularly steep in September when many of our annual subscription renewals came up, and it’s continuing to drop. Every dollar that we make from subscriptions goes back into our reporting at the border. And it allows us to hire more reporters, which we’d really like to do. We’ve recently received some foundation support but it’s our readers and listeners who we rely on to keep The Border Chronicle afloat. So if you haven’t renewed or are considering becoming a paid subscriber, please do so today! It’s just $6 a month or a discounted $60 a year. Or better yet, become a founding member for $150, which comes with two additional paid subscriptions for friends and family. Or if you’d prefer, you can send us a one-time donation. We are independent, and worker-owned, and can’t do this without you!

Also, a big thank you to everyone who filled out our survey. We appreciate you taking the time, and apologies for any technical issues you might have had with submitting it. We heard from a handful of readers that had trouble submitting the form. These surveys really help us at The Border Chronicle get a better idea of what is working for our podcast listeners and readers and what you all would like to see more of. For instance, we launched these Friday news roundups after the last survey results told us that readers wanted a summary of border news for the week and presto-change-o we made it happen.

What we learned from this survey is that you all are happy with the frequency of our postings, which are three times a week. This is good to know! A few readers said they’d like more explainer pieces about border policy, which is a great idea, and we’re also exploring how we could list community and cultural events, which many of you voted for. As a region-wide publication, we’re not yet sure what this would look like, or whether it would be too sprawling. But rest assured we are working on it. If you’ve got thoughts, input about how you think we’re doing or what we could do better. Please let us know, thanks!

This Week in The Border Chronicle:

More News on the Border:

Ken Paxton’s attack on Texas immigration nonprofits The Hill

San Diegans Living in RVs and City Go Head-to-Head Over Safe Parking Lot Voice of San Diego

How El Paso’s Mental Health Court integrates recovery in criminal justice system El Paso Matters

Trump administration plans to build border wall in Laredo, mayor says The Texas Tribune

Judge rules border wall lawsuit can move forward during gov’t shutdown Tucson Sentinel

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We want to thank everyone who has filled out our survey. And for those who haven’t yet, never fear, we are continuing to seek your input! Please click below.

This Week at The Border Chronicle:

More News from the Border:

ICE officials replaced with Border Patrol, cementing hard tactics that originated in California Los Angeles Times

Santa Barbara’s Día de los Muertos Parade Canceled Amid Immigration Enforcement Fears Santa Barbara Independent

Monarch butterfly begins ‘magical’ journey from Chicago to Mexico in time for Dia de Los Muertos ABC7 Chicago

Tohono O’odham Nation: DHS’ new fee for noncitizens could impact tribal members in Mexico KJZZ

Advocates warn immigrants could lose jobs as DHS stops automatically extending work permits Tucson Sentinel

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Longtime organizer and former Pima County Legal Defender Isabel Garcia starts the conversation off with an assessment of U.S. public knowledge of important historic issues such as the genocide of Indigenous people, slavery, labor, and immigration.

“What do people,” she asks, “know about immigration in this country?” This is the question that guides our conversation that spans decades, even centuries, but ultimately ends up assessing the current state of things under Donald Trump.

“What we allow them to do on the border,” she warns, ”is what they will do to you.”

Isabel is the co-chair of the organization Coalición de Derechos Humanos, and has been on the frontlines of border and immigrant rights since the 1970s. In this conversation, filled with story-telling and biting analysis, Isabel tells listeners how she debated John McCain in the 1990s and schooled Bernie Sanders at the border during his first presidential run.

She also challenges us to “imagine what we can be,” and talks about the coalition they are forming called Defensa y Resistencia, which has a Stop the Kidnapping Campaign that directly confronts current ICE tactics. “We are openly going to protect our neighbors.” Isabel challenges listeners to do just that, by speaking up and plugging in.

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More News from the Border:

We Found That More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days. ProPublica

Opinion: Drone attack in Tijuana a glimpse of a new kind of narco war San Diego Union-Tribune

La embajadora de Palestina inicia gira nacional en Tijuana denunciando genocidio en Gaza Tijuana Press

Coast Guard launches Operation River Wall to control the border along the Rio Grande US Coast Guard News

Trump’s ICE Arrested a Whistleblower Who Exposed Sexual Assault in Detention. Now, He’s Left the Country. The Texas Observer

Judge permits questioning of top Border Patrol boss in lawsuit over treatment of protesters in Chicago. Chicago Sun Times

Border barriers making it harder for health care workers to reach people who use drugs El Paso Times/Puente News Collaborative/Texas Observer

Asylum-seekers now held for days – in a downtown San Diego basement Times of San Diego

Support independent news and reporting from the U.S.-Mexico border. Become a paid subscriber today for just $6 a month or a discounted $60 a year.

Every Friday, The Border Chronicle hosts a discussion on Substack Live to keep you informed on our latest articles and podcasts, and other important news from across the U.S.-Mexico border region.

This Week in The Border Chronicle:

Thank you to everyone who attended The Border Chronicle’s Fourth anniversary party Thursday night. We had a blast! And thank you to all of our readers and listeners who have made our existence possible! We rely 100 percent on our subscribers to power our reporting and analysis. If you’ve been reading us for a long time and have thought about becoming a paid subscriber, but haven’t, we can really use your help now! Independent fact-based media is under attack.

More News from the Border:

Starbase will take partial control of beach near Elon Musk’s SpaceX launch site. The Texas Tribune

Texas border providers brace for rate of uninsured patients to balloon as federal policy changes loom. The Texas Tribune

DHS blocked from conditioning state disaster aid on ICE cooperation The Tucson Sentinel

Enviros: Most public comments oppose Trump rollback of ‘Roadless Rule’ in wilderness The Tucson Sentinel

Chula Vista Becomes First in County to Embrace AI in Policing Voice of San Diego

Tech giants Open AI, Oracle behind $165 billion data center campus near El Paso El Paso Matters

We rely on you to power our independent, fact-based reporting. Become a paid subscriber today for just $6 a month or $60 a year.

Dear Readers, If you are in Tucson, please join us tonight for our 4th anniversary celebration!

Also on September 30, I (Todd) will be in conversation with filmmaker Rick Goldsmith after a viewing of his new documentary Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink. If you are up for a vivacious conversation about the state of journalism today, please come to the Marroney Theater (directly across from the Center for Creative Photography) on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson at 7 pm.

And on October 15, you will have the opportunity to see the prophetic movie Sleep Dealer (check out Tuesday’s podcast with filmmaker Alex Rivera!) on the big screen at the Fox Theater in Tucson as part of the Cinematic Borderlands Film and Conversation Series, presented by the Fox Theater, Cinema Tucsón, Cinema Tropical, Borderlands Cinematic Arts, The Border Chronicle, and other community partners. There will be a Q&A panel after the viewing.

Humanitarian Aid Is Never a Crime: A Podcast with Scott Warren

How did the first Trump administration crack down on providing water and aid for migrants? And what insights we can gain from that now?

In 2019 geographer and humanitarian aid volunteer Scott Warren faced 20 years in prison for doing humanitarian work on the border. After two long trials, a jury acquitted him in November of two felony charges of harboring and one count of conspiracy to harbor. Here, Warren reflects on what happened, giving a detailed account of how he became a humanitarian aid volunteer, what led to his arrest by the Border Patrol, the trial itself, and what he is doing now.

The trial took place during the first Trump administration. Now Warren offers a grounded and insightful perspective on the current situation at the border. We grapple with the question of how to effect real change when, as Warren puts it, “the popular-level consensus in the U.S. seems to be militarize and militarize and militarize no matter what.”

At the same time, he says, the border “is a place that does need peace and healing from the layers and layers of trauma stacked on top of the place, wove into it, and the dispossession of people.”

What can we do?

For the next year Warren will be pondering just that during a collaborative speaking and discussion series. If you are interested in having him come to your university, organization, or community group, contact him at [email protected].

Support independent journalism from the U.S.-Mexico border. Become a paid subscriber today for just $6 a month or $60 a year.

Filmmaker Alex Rivera debuted Sleep Dealer, his groundbreaking border science fiction movie, at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008. The film won several awards but did not receive the wide commercial release it deserved. Over the years, Sleep Dealer has been rereleased on digital platforms and become a cult classic.

The Border Chronicle is proud to announce that on October 15, viewers will have the opportunity to see Sleep Dealer on the big screen at the Fox Theater in Tucson as part of the Cinematic Borderlands Film and Conversation Series, presented by the Fox Theater, Cinema Tucsón, Cinema Tropical, Borderlands Cinematic Arts, The Border Chronicle, and other community partners.

In this podcast, Melissa del Bosque speaks with Rivera about what inspired him to make Sleep Dealer and about collaborating with his life and creative partner, Cristina Ibarra. Both were awarded MacArthur Foundation grants, often referred to as “genius grants,” in 2021. The two filmmakers created the innovative half-documentary/half-scripted film The Infiltrators in 2019 and founded Borderlands Cinematic Arts, a filmmaking lab based in Los Angeles that is part of Arizona State University’s Sidney Poitier New American Film School, where Rivera is also an associate professor. The lab focuses on creating authentic and nuanced cinematic works about the borderlands.

Sleep Dealer touches on many social and political issues, including the border security industrial complex, migration, and social and economic inequality. Check it out on the big screen on October 15 at 7 p.m.. The screening will be followed by a panel featuring Alex Rivera, Melissa del Bosque, and David Taylor, moderated by Vicky Westover, along with an audience Q&A with the filmmaker.

Also, don’t miss Ibarra’s wonderful documentary Las Marthas, about Laredo’s Society of Martha Washington Colonial Pageant and Ball celebration, screening on October 8 at 7 p.m. as part of the Cinematic Borderlands Film and Conversation Series. Last, don’t miss Take It Away, a documentary about the legendary Tejano music host Johnny Canales, screening on October 22 at 7 p.m.

You can buy tickets and learn more about the films here.

Watch a short film on the making of Sleep Dealer here

Support independent journalism from the U.S.-Mexico border. Become a paid subscriber today for just $6 a month or $60 a year.