The Border Chronicle

Why is it that when the word “security” is uttered, all thought and analysis go out the window? This is especially the case when people talk about “border security.” In this podcast, however, Border Chronicle founders Melissa del Bosque and Todd Miller put on their thinking caps, analyzing the first seven months of the Trump administration. They crack open the word “security” and examine its interior, hoping to better understand it and find a way out of our predicament.

The discussion was spurred by the passage of the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which designates $170 billion for border and immigration enforcement over the next four years (also see how Melissa put this bill into a deeper historic context last week). This enforcement will be funded, in part, by significant cuts to U.S. health care, including the possible cancellation of insurance coverage for 12 million people.

Does security mean more walls, more technology, more armed agents, and a border that resembles a military base? Or, as Melissa and Todd discuss in the podcast, could peacemaking play an important role in creating real security for everyone? Peacemaking is not just about ending conflict; it also means creating a world where people can be healthy and flourish.

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Happy July everyone! We’re back from summer break.

Thanks to everyone who joined us this morning for our live roundup discussion on our reporting this week, and on the latest news happening in the U.S.-Mexico border region.

The United States is definitely in one of those history-making eras. But not the good kind. Melissa’s first post after returning from summer break, is a reflection from a road trip to Denver where she learned about another dark chapter in American history — the Sand Creek Massacre. Caroline who grew up in Denver didn’t learn about this tragedy until she was in university. And most Americans have never heard of it. More than 160 years later, many White Americans still don’t accept that it happened. Melissa also speaks with activists from across the border about how they’re meeting this moment, and how they cultivate hope and healing to weather this new dystopian chapter in U.S. history.

In brighter news, Caroline interviewed Mexicali activist Denahi Valdez about citizen-led efforts to make one of the hottest cities in North America more bike friendly, and more resilient to climate change.

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More News from the Border:

Military to establish national defense area in Yuma AZ Family

DOI Announces Land Transfer to the Department of the Navy for National Defense in Southeastern Arizona U.S. Dept. of the Interior

Tejano singer Bobby Pulido forms exploratory committee for South Texas congressional bid The Texas Tribune

Valley woman faced traumatic hospital stay prior to murder charge for self-induced abortion My RGV.com

Claim: Federal agents in plain clothes aimed guns, handcuffed Tucson Samaritans Arizona Daily Star

Feds plan to build nation’s biggest migrant detention center at Fort Bliss The Texas Tribune

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Thank you to everyone who joined our live video talk last night with Alix Dick about her new memoir “The cost of being undocumented: one woman’s reckoning with America’s inhumane math.” Alix talked about what it’s like for people living without legal status in the United States as masked federal agents kidnap people off the streets in California. This week at The Border Chronicle, we also have an audio feature by Pablo de la Rosa in South Texas where immigrant communities say they are afraid to leave their homes for fear of being targeted by law enforcement and federal agents.

To learn more about Alix’s new memoir, listen to our May podcast with Alix and her co-author Antero Garcia. Also check out their excellent Substack “La Cuenta.”

Also, a big thanks to our readers and listeners for supporting our work by becoming a paid subscriber or donating to The Border Chronicle. We rely almost solely on our subscribers to fund this work. The Border Chronicle is the only border-wide publication in the country providing on-the-ground reporting, context and analysis from a border perspective. If you haven’t already, please consider becoming a paid subscriber today for just $6 a month or $60 a year. Everything goes directly to our reporting and research. Thank you!

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This Week in The Border Chronicle:

More News from the Border:

The Rio Grande Valley as Heart of LGBTQ+ Resistance and Joy The Texas Observer

Property owners express concern, confusion over Starbase zoning ordinance MyRGV.com

Mexico’s president threatens to sue over SpaceX debris from rocket explosions The Guardian

Pentagon to set up 2 more military buffer zones near border in Arizona and Texas ABC News

National Defense Area established in South Texas Air Force press release

ICE Is Arresting 1,100 Percent More Noncriminals on the Streets Than in 2017 Cato.org

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In this episode the executive director of Climate Refugees, Amali Tower, crosses the globe from Israel/Palestine to the U.S.-Mexico borderlands to look at the technology that connects the seemingly disparate realities of warfare, surveillance, and immigration raids, putting them in the context of climate change and increasing global displacement. When people arrive to the U.S.-Mexico border, Tower says, they get “the same digital fortress, the same technical fortress, the same virtual wall, and the same physical wall that has been battle tested in Palestine and on Palestinians.”

Stay to the end of the conversation, when we turn to alternatives and what people can do to make the world a better place. Amali talks about her visit to Arizona and Sonora last year, when we visited the binational fair trade coffee cooperative Café Justo in Agua Prieta. As you’ll hear, this is a thriving example of an alternative to border militarization and an assertion of the right to stay home.

Amali says that in the 10 years that she’s been looking at the intersection of climate and displacement, she sees “blatant hypocrisy from countries seemingly supposedly caring about saving the planet for future generations to come” while they are simultaneously undermining “all those goals and plans and adaptations and all these wonderful things we are supposed to be doing for the so-called existential threat.”

Instead, she continues, “When it comes to war and militarism, when it comes to borders, when it comes to keeping people out, it’s incredible how we only have language and infrastructure and architecture to do that.”

Here are links to sources mentioned in the conversation: a look at climate change in Israel/Palestine, and the IPCC report and one by Amali on the Mediterranean basin as a climate hot spot. And here is Amali’s piece written in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder in 2020, “If Black Americans Were to Seek Asylum, They Could Qualify.”

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Since January 2025, the Trump administration has dramatically ramped up migrant workplace raids — mobilizing ICE and Homeland Security Investigations to detain thousands of undocumented people nationwide as part of a push to deport millions before Trump’s term ends.

In Texas, home to some 1.7 million undocumented workers, mixed-status families in the Rio Grande Valley are caught between the Mexican border and interior checkpoints—an inescapable trap that has compounded their fear and anxiety amid daily raids.

In this audio feature, Pablo De La Rosa speaks with border residents to explore what life looks like under the constant threat of arrest and deportation.

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Dora Rodriguez fled the death squads in El Salvador during the civil war. Seeking asylum in the United States in 1980, she nearly died crossing the Sonoran Desert but miraculously survived. She remained in Tucson, Arizona, becoming a social worker and a formidable organizer and advocate for immigrants and for human rights.

Her story embodies multitudes, from social justice activist to social worker to mother, grandmother, and founder of Salvavision, an immigrant advocacy organization in Tucson, and cofounder of Casa de la Esperanza, a migrant resource center in Sasabe, Sonora.

To this impressive list of accomplishments, Rodriguez can now add author. On Saturday, July 5, at 10:00 a.m., her new memoir Dora: A Daughter of Unforgiving Terrain, cowritten with Abbey Carpenter, will be released during a celebration at Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, where the Sanctuary Movement started, spurred by the deaths of 13 of Rodriguez’s traveling partners, who perished in the desert south of Tucson.

In this podcast, Rodriguez talks about fleeing El Salvador, her rescue in the desert, and her role as an advocate and campaigner for human rights at the border. She also talks about what keeps her fighting and how she remains inspired by everyone who works alongside her in the struggle for social justice. “There might be a big ugly, tall wall, but in our hearts, we know we are a community, and we will continue to build bridges,” she says.

Dora: A Daughter of Unforgiving Terrain (Resilencia Publishing, 2025) is an inspiring book and a must-read at this critical moment in history, as an increasingly repressive U.S. political administration targets immigrant communities across the country.

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Thank’s to everyone who joined our live roundup this morning. As promised here’s the link to Pablo’s article from March on how Texas’ Operation Lone Star is serving as a blueprint for Trump’s rollout of his authoritarian mass deportation campaign in California and other states.

Also, a big thanks to all of you who have answered our call in recent weeks for paid subscribers to support our reporting at The Border Chronicle. Without you, our subscribers, we wouldn’t exist!

We’re proud of our work and believe that the U.S.-Mexico border needs a publication that connects communities across the region and highlights the perspectives and experiences of the people who live here and migrate through here.

Thanks to you, we are now closer to our goal of 2,000 paid subscribers but still have about 650 more subscribers to go! If you’re able to, and want to support independent reporting from the U.S.-Mexico border, please sign up to support The Border Chronicle as a paid subscriber today for just $6 a month or $60 a year. Help us keep the lights on. Mil gracias!

Yes, I want to support independent journalism from the U.S.-Mexico border!

This Week in The Border Chronicle:

More News from the Border:

As legal fight over Guard deployment plays out, Noem vows to continue Trump’s immigration crackdown San Diego Union-Tribune

Villalobos: I’m gonna start ruffling feathers over the ICE raids in the RGV Rio Grande Guardian

DHS memo details how National Guard troops will be used for immigration enforcement NPR

DHS, Military hold press conference in El Paso on strategy to arrest border crossers in National Defense Areas. Watch full video of the press conference KVIA.com

CBP is flying surveillance aircraft over ICE operations Tucson Sentinel

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Thank you Peter Murrieta, Jenn Budd, Rebecca Serratos, Cindy Spiker, Colin, and many others for tuning into today’s live video of The Border Chronicle weekly roundup!

As mentioned in the video, here’s a link to sign up for next year’s Migrant Trail Walk from Sasabe, Arizona to Tucson.

Also, as promised some fabulous photos by Kathleen Dreier from the binational protest on May 31 in southern Arizona against the Trump Administration building a 30-foot wall through the San Rafael Valley, a vital wildlife corridor for endangered species like the jaguar. Left to right, participants on both sides imagine a migratory pathway without barriers, a cross-border volleyball game, and Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway speaks on the importance of a binational border culture.

Since we launched The Border Chronicle in September 2021, it has been our goal to reach 2,000 paid subscribers. Why 2,000 subscribers, you might ask? Because that would be nearly enough funding to provide us (cofounders Todd and Melissa) with a sustainable salary to run The Border Chronicle full time. Imagine what we could do focused on our media outlet 100 percent?! It would be amazing.

But … we’re not going to lie. It’s been a tough climb to reach our goal. We are still 700 subscribers short. Yesterday, we posted a heartfelt request for more paid subscribers to reach our magic number — 2000. Thank you to everyone who has pledged your support so far! And thank you for your encouraging messages. Here are just a few of them.

"The Border Chronicle is essential reading for its in-depth analysis combined with a deep love for the diverse social and natural worlds of the borderlands.”

— Liz O

"On the ground, grassroots reporting is what you do so well. There is so much misinformation about the border and immigration in these current political times. I value and trust the reporting Border Chronicle does. Thank you.

— James M

"Hi, I had been following your work for years and I believe it's beyond important. Thank you so much for your labor!"

— Ramon R

We hope these good people and their kind remarks — and our in depth and on-the-ground reporting — will convince you to support our work. It’s just $6 a month or a discounted $60 a year. Or even better, become a founding member for $150 and you’ll receive two additional paid annual subscriptions. A deal! Just click on the button below.

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This Week in The Border Chronicle:

More News from the Border:

Decision to undo Texas’ policy allowing Dreamers to pay in-state tuition is not just a bad legal move; it goes against the values we cherish as Americans Rio Grande Guardian

U.S. gunmakers get Supreme Court shield from Mexico’s cartel violence suit The Tucson Sentinel

Army surveillance balloons spotted over Tucson raise privacy concerns from advocates The Arizona Mirror

Border Report: Questions Swirl Over Baja Governor’s Cancelled Visa Voice of San Diego

Votar o no votar: México ensaya la primera elección judicial de su historia La Verdad

Federal judge in El Paso acquits Peruvian migrant in Texas military zone trespassing case El Paso Matters

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Watch Todd’s video Q&A (above) with sociologist Timothy Dunn, one of the top experts on border militarization in the United States. Dunn talks about the new phase of militarization happening right now at the border, and how it fits into a larger history of military involvement with border policing. Dunn’s books include The Militarization of the U.S. Mexico Border 1978-1992: Low Intensity Doctrine Comes Home, Blockading the Border and Human Rights: The El Paso Operation that Remade Immigration Enforcement, and The Handbook on Human Security, Borders and Migration. Thanks to everyone who sent in questions, Dunn answered them all.

This Week in The Border Chronicle:

More News from the Border:

Trump's military zones could complicate search for missing migrants near US-Mexico border El Paso Times

Danger by Design: How Climate Injustice Harms Displaced People at the U.S.-Mexico Border IRAP, Las Americas

ICE detains people after immigration court hearings in San Diego: ‘Bait and switch’ Capital & Main

Border Patrol arrested a Detroit student on a field trip. He now faces deportation. Detroit Free Press

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Last chance to submit your questions for our invited expert!

In the last month, as reported here at The Border Chronicle, we’ve seen active-duty military deployments and the creation of new militarized “national defense areas” at the southern border. The Trump administration is moving quickly, pushing the military into domestic law enforcement duties, violating federal laws, and acting without the approval of Congress. What should we be concerned about moving forward? And is this unprecedented?

Sociologist Timothy Dunn is one of the top experts on border militarization in the United States. And he will answer those questions, and any others you might have about this rapid militarization happening right now at the border. Dunn’s books include The Militarization of the U.S. Mexico Border 1978-1992: Low Intensity Doctrine Comes Home and Blockading the Border and Human Rights: The El Paso Operation that Remade Immigration Enforcement.

Email questions for Timothy Dunn to [email protected] And he will answer them via video in our weekly roundup on May 30. Don’t forget to put “ask an expert” in the subject line of your email.

This Week in The Border Chronicle:

More News from the Border:

$160 Billion to Detain and Deport: Congress’s “Reconciliation” Bill is a Betrayal of Priorities and Will Harm the Most Vulnerable WOLA

Trump's DOD ends hunting, hiking at the border. Hunters wonder 'Am I going to get shot?' USA Today

Pentagon approves 1,100 more troops for southern border mission Military Times

Pide Artículo 19 protección para Semanario Zeta ante nuevas amenazas TijuanaPress.com

Agency tasked with protecting immigrant children is becoming an enforcement arm Tucson Sentinel

We need your help, now more than ever. Support independent news and perspectives from the U.S.-Mexico border. Become a paid subscriber today for just $6 a month or $60 a year.