The Border Chronicle

Alix Dick arrived in the U.S. more than a decade ago, fleeing violence in Sinaloa, Mexico, that tore her family apart. But the impact of living without legal status in the United States has been almost as brutal as the violence she fled.

In her new memoir, The Cost of Being Undocumented: One Woman’s Reckoning with America’s Inhumane Math, cowritten with Stanford University sociology professor Antero Garcia, Alix Dick tallies the costs—spiritual, mental, physical, and economic—of being undocumented in the United States, especially as the Trump administration escalates its cruelty and persecution of people living without legal status.

Alix and Antero discuss how they decided to cowrite her memoir, why they chose to publish it now, and how Alix worries that she might be unable to promote it publicly because of Trump’s harsh crackdown. She also explains why many immigrants supported Trump in the election. “I believe when a society is so desperate for answers and leadership, and they lack identity, they will follow whoever seems the strongest,” she said.

The two also run a Substack called La Cuenta, which is one of our recommended Substacks at The Border Chronicle. La Cuenta, launched in 2022, highlights the experiences and perspectives of people living without documents in the United States. It’s crucial reading for Americans, especially in this era. The Cost of Being Undocumented will be released June 17.

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Ask and Expert: Timothy Dunn

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:

Judge Dismisses ‘Trespassing’ Charges Promoted by Trump in Border ‘Defense Area’: The New York Times

The Big Takeover: inside secret plans to create a nation-wide militarized law enforcement system under Trump's command: Cochise Regional News

Migrant Drug Seizures by Border Patrol Incredibly Rare, Data Shows: Project on Government Oversight

Military Presence Arrives to SCC: Nogales International

Also, mentioned in today’s video roundup discussion:

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Ask an Expert: Timothy Dunn

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:

‘No meaningful treatment’: Doctor says San Diego County jails are the worst he’s ever seen: The San Diego Union Tribune

SpaceX workers in South Texas vote yes to create City of Starbase: The Texas Tribune

As Starbase, Texas voted into reality, opponents gather on Boca Chica Beach: MyRGV.com

Outbound inspections back up border traffic at northern border: The Northern Light

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

Ask an Expert: Timothy Dunn

Over the last month, as reported here at The Border Chronicle, we’ve seen an amping up and expansion of the militarization of the border. Needless to say, questions about this abound. What is happening exactly? Are we onto a new phase of border militarization? How is it different from the past? And what should we be concerned about moving forward?

Sociologist Timothy Dunn is one of the top experts on border militarization in the United States. His two books are 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. Dunn’s work has been crucial in its investigations of the whys and hows of border militarization over many decades, and he can provide in depth and contextual analysis to everything happening right now.

Email us your questions about border militarization for Timothy Dunn. He’ll answer your questions via video in our weekly roundup on May 30. Don’t forget to put “ask an expert” in the subject line of your email. Send your questions to [email protected]

This Week in The Border Chronicle:

More News from the Border:

Jews and Border Communities Unite for Passover Seder Against Militarization Frontera Federation

First migrants charged with entering restricted military zone at border The Washington Post

Second National Defense Area established in Texas U.S. Northern Command Public Affairs

International Tribunal Condemns U.S. Border Officials for Torturing, Killing Immigrant Capital & Main

Jury finds BP agent guilty of corruption for helping smuggle drugs through I-19 checkpoint Tucson Sentinel

Photos from May Day March in Tucson

On May 1, thousands gathered in Tucson as part of a National Day of Action to protest the Donald Trump administration. This action corresponded with May Day marches for workers and workers rights around the world. Here, in the borderlands, there was a clear and loud focus on border rights issues. Some chants included “Donald Trump, let’s be clear, immigrants are welcome here” and “From Palestine to Mexico, all the walls have got to go.” And elder border and rights activist Isabel Garcia said from the stage that “We need to invest in human needs at the border, not more surveillance and militarization.” The Border Chronicle was able to capture some of this spirit in the following photos from the march and rally.

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In an in-depth interview for The Border Chronicle, Maria-Elena Giner reflects on her tenure since being ousted last week by the Trump administration as commissioner for one of the most critical federal agencies on the U.S.-Mexico border. The full conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

The International Boundary and Water Commission is a binational agency responsible for managing and enforcing treaties between the U.S. and Mexico that manage water sharing, infrastructure, pollution and other transboundary issues.

Last week, Maria-Elena Giner, the U.S. Commissioner for the IBWC abruptly posted a letter of resignation addressed to President Donald Trump. Giner told The Washington Post that the Trump administration had demanded her resignation that same day without reason.

Giner's sudden departure came as a shock for many. In 2021, Giner was appointed to a severely underfunded agency with no long-term plan for investing in and maintaining vital infrastructure. In a few short years, Giner gained impressive momentum forging agreements with Mexico for water releases in Texas, and working on the creation of a binational wastewater treatment plant in California.

The first Latina to be appointed as U.S. commissioner, and a fronteriza from Ciudad Juárez/El Paso, Giner relied on deep cross-border community building to broker these binational agreements. Many of her major projects were coming to fruition when she was ousted by the current administration.

In this interview, Giner discusses the numerous infrastructure needs on the border. She also touches on binational water politics, and how the lower Rio Grande river basin, which was just designated as endangered, might be saved.

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The Trump administration has begun issuing contracts for border wall construction. During the first Trump administration, contractors dynamited mountains and depleted groundwater, including the Quitobaquito, a sacred spring for the Tohono O’odham tribal nation, to produce concrete for the wall. Under the Real ID Act, dozens of laws protecting the environment, endangered species, and clean air and water can be waived for the wall’s construction. Trump’s Department of Homeland Security has already begun filing waivers.

Earlier this month, Erick Meza, borderlands coordinator for the Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter, discovered that one of the sections slated for the upcoming border wall is southern Arizona’s San Rafael Valley, a critical wildlife corridor for endangered species, including jaguars. “It’s an ecological catastrophe,” he said of the proposed construction in the grassland valley. Meza spends much of his time traveling the borderlands documenting wildlife and the impacts of the border wall on an ecosystem under extreme stress from climate change and militarization.

In this podcast, Meza discusses the proposed wall construction and its impact on the San Rafael Valley, as well as other areas where the wall is slated to be built. He also shares what biologists and conservationists are learning about the effects on wildlife and the environment from previous wall construction, and how this knowledge will inform their work in the future.

What You Can Do

Sign a Sierra Club petition against the building of border wall in Arizona’s San Rafael Valley. Sign here.

Contact your congressional leaders and express your opposition to further border wall construction. Contact them here.

Support independent journalism at the U.S.-Mexico border. Become a paid subscriber today for just $6 a month or $60 a year. Help us keep the lights on.

What is happening on the border three months into the Trump administration? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Here, Border Chronicle founders Melissa and Todd spend the hour discussing just that.

Among the topics covered are Stryker armored vehicles deployed in El Paso, including one conducting surveillance from a garbage dump; DHS secretary Kristi Noem recounting an epiphany about a Target store by Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele (this epiphany helps Bukele justify the 40,000-person capacity “terrorist” prison accepting U.S. deportees); the chilling surveillance tower known as the Torre Centinela looming over Ciudad Juárez; a DOD spokesperson telling Melissa that “you know more than we know”; and Todd sharing the story of how he got kicked out of the Border Security Expo 10 years ago (yes, there is some good old-fashioned humor as well).

Militarization, surveillance, privatization, water, and climate change are all addressed as The Border Chronicle attempts to grapple with what has happened, what is happening, and what’s to come.

And since there is so much to discuss, we’d love to hear your perspectives about the last 100 days. Please feel free to comment below. What are your thoughts and opinions? Border residents, what have you seen? Anything of note? Please don’t be shy about adding to our conversation.

Also, here’s a few of Melissa’s favorite signs from the “Hands Off” protest in Tucson last week as mentioned in the podcast.

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Intrepid Border Chronicler, Todd Miller, is attending the two-day Border Security Expo in Phoenix, Arizona.

Last year, media were banned from the event but Miller attended anyway. This year, the expo granted access to media only a few days before the event. On Thursday, Miller will have a full write up on the conference, which included Trump’s Border Czar, Tom Homan, and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem as invited speakers.

Stay tuned for more…

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