Border
Immigration Judge Slams ‘Remain in Mexico’ Tent Courts
“It's more like what you might see, perhaps, in China or Russia,” says Ashley Tabaddor, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges.
As of mid-September, more than 45,000 migrants have been returned to Mexico to await their court proceedings under the sweeping Trump policy known as the Migran...Read More
A Joyful El Paso Art Exhibit Imagines a World Ruled by Latinx People
From a cosmic piñata to “Aztechnonauts,” sculptor Angel Cabrales envisions an alternate history defined by Latinx creativity.
Recently, visual art from the Texas-Mexico border has evoked the region’s troubling history. El Paso artist Angel Cabrales has made important contributions to...Read More
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