Border
‘Life is a Fight’: Scenes from a Migrant Tent Camp in Juárez
Migrants at Laredo Tent Court Tell Stories of Kidnappings and Violence While Pleading Not to Be Returned to Mexico
Under Trump’s Migrant Protection Protocols, asylum-seekers have been waiting for their hearings in Mexico. Many aren’t making it back to court.
On Monday morning, 52 asylum-seekers were scheduled to appear in court at a complex of tent structures hastily constructed next to one of Laredo’s internation...Read More
The Trump Administration Blows Its Border Wall Budget in South Texas
A Texas Observer review of federal documents found that Congress gave CBP $445 million to build 25 miles of border wall in Hidalgo County. The money only paid for 13 miles.
The border wall contains multitudes. It’s a monument to racism, a minor inconvenience for would-be border crossers, and a hydrological threat to floodplain co...Read More
Journalists Blocked from Attending Secretive Immigration Tent Courts
Normally, the press can observe immigration court proceedings. But journalists are being turned away from the first asylum hearings in Laredo under the Migrant Protection Protocols.
The Trump administration is conducting asylum hearings in makeshift tent facilities by the ports of entry in Laredo and Brownsville for migrants who have been f...Read More
‘El Paso Firme’ Music Festival Calls on Texans to Peacefully Resist White Supremacy
A month after the largest massacre of Latinx people in U.S. history, 1,200 El Pasoans and numerous world-class musicians gathered for a hopeful, healing night.
About 1,200 people attended the El Paso Firme Music Fest on Saturday, a call to action against white supremacy through “the healing power of music.” The all...Read More
Thousands Have Disappeared Crossing the U.S.-Mexico Border. They Deserve to be Remembered.
Opinion: We must honor those who have gone missing to remind people that real lives are lost due to the decades-long militarization of the southern border.
Right now in Eagle Pass, Texas, U.S. border agents are searching for a 3-year-old boy who went missing when he and his mother attempted to cross the Rio Grande....Read More
Starr County Proposes Alternative Border Wall Plan
New maps obtained by the Observer represent a local plan developed as part of a Congressionally mandated consultation process.
In a set of maps submitted as a public comment to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Tuesday, local officials in Starr County outline an alternative border ...Read More
Binational Community Struggles to Help Migrants Under ‘Remain in Mexico’
In the sister cities of Matamoros and Brownsville, Trump’s new policies are straining good Samaritans.
On a mid-August evening in Matamoros, Pastor Abraham Barberi can’t wipe the sweat from his forehead fast enough. As the Tamaulipan sun beats down, Barberi arr...Read More
Customs and Border Protection Wants To Know What You Think About The Wall
A new "request for input" reveals the agency already knows its proposed path lies directly in the floodplain of the Rio Grande.
In late June, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revealed the location of 95 miles of Trump’s new border wall in the Rio Grande Valley. Some stretches of the...Read More
‘Even the Police Officers Were Laughing at Me’: Transgender Immigrants Share Their Experiences of Abuse and Neglect in Detention
Transgender migrants endure violence and abuse in their home countries. For some, life in detention is even tougher.
In her country of El Salvador, where she worked as a health promoter, Victoria Castro faced regular harassment, verbal abuse, and threats of rape and murder. &#...Read More
