Tag Archives: border
To Understand the El Paso Massacre, Look to the Long Legacy of Anti-Mexican Violence at the Border
The El Paso shooter wasn’t a “lone wolf.” His act of white supremacist terror is part of a century of racial violence targeting fronterizo communities.
In the immediate aftermath of the El Paso shooting—the largest massacre of Latinx people in the history of the United States—politicians of all stripes stoo...Read More
Dan Patrick’s Long History of Toxic Immigrant-Bashing
You know, the kind that might encourage violence in a place like El Paso.
On Saturday morning, a 21-year-old white man allegedly opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle in a Walmart just a few miles from the Bridge of the Americas con...Read More
A Poor Defense
A countywide public defender's office would've saved Victoria County $1.3 million in its first two years alone. So why did the new DA kill the proposal?
Earlier this year, it seemed as if poor people charged with crimes in a handful of Gulf Coast communities would finally have a fighting chance in court. In Apri...Read More
Octavio Solis’ ‘Retablos’ Recounts a ‘Beautiful, Messy’ Youth on the Border
Though its title evokes Mexican folk art, Retablos is closer in effect to that of French pointillism. Its small dabs of vivid color produce a brilliant cumulative effect.
Describing his memories of childhood, 60-year-old Octavio Solis says that they come to him like “a set of retablos, votive images painted on old beaten tin, m...Read More
Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia Make History as First Texas Latinas Elected to Congress
Escobar said she hopes to be a check on Trump’s worst tendencies and “push back against the politics of hatred” in Congress.
In the nearly 175 years since Texas joined the union, the state has sent more 300 representatives to Congress, but none have been Latina — until now. As of 8:...Read More
In El Paso, Beto O’Rourke Volunteers Launch Last-Minute GOTV Efforts
The hope is that O’Rourke’s hometown will push him over the edge — if only they can get people to vote.
It’s difficult to appreciate just how far away El Paso is from the rest of Texas until you make the drive. It’s 600 miles and one time zone away from Austin...Read More
AUDIO: Melissa del Bosque and Rachel Poser on Border Patrol’s Unchecked Mission Creep
Listen to reporter Melissa del Bosque and Harper's editor Rachel Poser discuss del Bosque's groundbreaking feature, “Checkpoint Nation.”
On October 8, the Texas Observer published a powerful look at what’s come to be known as the border zone — a buffer of about 100 miles that runs along a...Read More
Editor’s Note: The Long and the Short of It
Observer Editor Forrest Wilder on the importance of good longform storytelling.
This editor’s note originally appeared in the October issue of the Observer. I’ll admit it: for the last couple of years, I’ve paid little attention t...Read More
A San Antonio Art Show Quietly Foregrounds Migrants’ Stories
More people are displaced than ever before — nearly 69 million. The scale of that crisis is hard to grasp, but visitors to One to Another will see it in a new light.
Ours is an era of mass displacement. At no other point in history have so many people around the world been forced to leave home. The United Nations High Commis...Read More
