The Border Chronicle Weekly Roundup: March 27
A year of military buildup on the border, walling off the Rio Grande Valley, and Caroline Tracey's debut book launch in Tucson.
The Border Chronicle Weekly Roundup: March 27
A year of military buildup on the border, walling off the Rio Grande Valley, and Caroline Tracey's debut book launch in Tucson.
A War Zone, Minus the War: One Year Into the Military Buildup of the U.S.-Mexico Border
An investigation into how President Trump’s emergency declaration along the southern border expanded military power, blurred legal lines, and helped spread the use of military-grade technology.
Inside Trump’s Plan to Finish Walling Off the Rio Grande Valley
Even sites once protected by Congress, including a butterfly refuge and a historic church, are slated for fencing funded by the “one big beautiful bill”—while the river itself is transformed by a floating barrier.
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Independent news, culture and context from the U.S.-Mexico border.
Latest
The Border Chronicle Weekly Roundup: February 27
A protest against the buoy barrier in the RGV, a tense situation with military at the end of the wall in Arizona, and deported vets seek justice.
The Border Chronicle Weekly Roundup: February 20
This week's collaboration exposes growing surveillance at the Arizona border, a poet comes to terms with guns and masculinity in Tombstone, and the border comes to Tennessee.
The Border Chronicle Weekly Roundup: February 13
How exactly do we get out of this apocalypse? The artists might just know. And why we need to be concerned about how U.S. military tactics abroad find their way home.
The Border Chronicle Weekly Roundup: February 6
Just abolishing ICE misses the bigger point, and a deep look at the history of cotton in the borderlands.
The Border Chronicle Weekly Roundup: January 30
The Border Patrol's long legacy of abuse, and border walls and buoys are killing the Rio Grande. A moving reflection from a border resident on what that means for the US and Mexico.
More Than a River
Border Walls and Buoy Barriers Are Killing the Rio Grande. I Have a Front Row Seat.
How New Mexico Learned to Love Its Ephemeral Waters
Rollbacks to the Clean Water Act may have affected the borderlands more than any other region. States are stepping up—but there’s still more to do.
Environment
Inside Trump’s Plan to Finish Walling Off the Rio Grande Valley
Even sites once protected by Congress, including a butterfly refuge and a historic church, are slated for fencing funded by the “one big beautiful bill”—while the river itself is transformed by a floating barrier.
Trump Announces “First New U.S. Refinery in 50 Years” at Port of Brownsville, Reviving Local Resistance
Environmental advocates and residents say the long-proposed refinery threatens air quality and public health in a region already ringed by heavy industry.
At the End of the Wall: A Reporter’s Notebook
Walking from a blasted mountain top--a planned site for new border wall construction--to a makeshift military camp along the border in a remote part of southern Arizona led to a tense yet revelatory moment.
The Lives That Cotton Made
Cristina Rivera Garza's new book, Autobiography of Cotton, traces family history through the borderlands' cotton industry.
Arts & Culture
The Borderlands’ Lost Third Country
Mexican writer Álvaro Enrigue’s new novel, Now I Surrender, is an epic about the U.S. and Mexico’s joint erasure of Apachería.
How Do We Get Out of This?
At Monterrey, Mexico’s MARCO, artist Teresa Margolles seeks an exit from the apocalypse.
The Lives That Cotton Made
Cristina Rivera Garza's new book, Autobiography of Cotton, traces family history through the borderlands' cotton industry.
The Nature of Violence
Legado de Fieras, an exhibit by Sonoran artist Miriam Salado, reflects on the natural world and the artifacts of human violence.
The Border Chronicle Podcast
Gunfights Gunfights Gunfights: A Podcast with Poet Logan Phillips
Logan Phillips was born in Tombstone, Arizona—a town best known for Old West-themed gunfight tourism. In his new book, Reckon, Phillips explores his relationship to the unusual setting of his childhood through themes of masculinity, history, and land.
Abolishing Just ICE Misses the Point: A Podcast with Melissa and Todd
In the spirit of broadening the analysis beyond ICE, Border Chronicle cofounders Melissa del Bosque and Todd Miller discuss the
An Autopsy of the Biden Years at the Border: A podcast with Andrea Flores
For years, Flores has served as an immigration policy advisor to Democrats at the national level, including President Biden. She talks about what went wrong, and what Democrats should be doing now.
A discussion with former agent Jenn Budd on Border Patrol and ICE impunity
Budd has investigated Border Patrol fatalities for years and the agency's efforts to cover up its crimes. Her work is now highlighted in a new documentary "Critical Incident: Death at the Border."
Community
What’s Next?
An immigration judge fired by the Trump administration searches for meaning at the southern border.
“Whoever Saves a Life, Saves a World”: On the Death of Carlos Spector, El Paso Immigration Attorney
He saved numerous lives by winning Mexican asylum cases that many said would be impossible to win.
South Texas Fights Back
ICE raids and detentions, together with a high-profile killing, have led Rio Grand Valley residents to mobilize—including even some local Republicans.
At the End of the Wall: A Reporter’s Notebook
Walking from a blasted mountain top--a planned site for new border wall construction--to a makeshift military camp along the border in a remote part of southern Arizona led to a tense yet revelatory moment.
Immigration
What’s Next?
An immigration judge fired by the Trump administration searches for meaning at the southern border.
“Whoever Saves a Life, Saves a World”: On the Death of Carlos Spector, El Paso Immigration Attorney
He saved numerous lives by winning Mexican asylum cases that many said would be impossible to win.
South Texas Fights Back
ICE raids and detentions, together with a high-profile killing, have led Rio Grand Valley residents to mobilize—including even some local Republicans.
On Deported Veterans and Life after Deportation: A Q&A with Robert Vivar
"I understand what people are going through because I lived it myself."
Border Militarization
A War Zone, Minus the War: One Year Into the Military Buildup of the U.S.-Mexico Border
An investigation into how President Trump’s emergency declaration along the southern border expanded military power, blurred legal lines, and helped spread the use of military-grade technology.
Inside Trump’s Plan to Finish Walling Off the Rio Grande Valley
Even sites once protected by Congress, including a butterfly refuge and a historic church, are slated for fencing funded by the “one big beautiful bill”—while the river itself is transformed by a floating barrier.
Big Bend Border Wall Blues: A Q&A with Journalist Sam Karas
“We love Big Bend the way it is. It does not need to change. We do not feel any danger, and we don’t want it to look like other places. And nothing makes a person who lives out here more mad than the idea of looking at a damn fence.”
At the End of the Wall: A Reporter’s Notebook
Walking from a blasted mountain top--a planned site for new border wall construction--to a makeshift military camp along the border in a remote part of southern Arizona led to a tense yet revelatory moment.
Surveillance
A War Zone, Minus the War: One Year Into the Military Buildup of the U.S.-Mexico Border
An investigation into how President Trump’s emergency declaration along the southern border expanded military power, blurred legal lines, and helped spread the use of military-grade technology.
Hidden in Plain Sight: Surveillance at the Arizona Border
From hidden license plate readers to AI-powered cameras, federal agents have built a vast monitoring network that stretches deep into Arizona.
The Tower and the Tarantula: Searching for a New Way Forward 24 Years after 9/11
A reflection on the development of a border war machine, its imposition, its fragility, and the necessity of finding another way.
Upside-Down World: Climate Change and the Border-Industrial Complex in the Trump Era
Climate displacement and border enforcement--two dynamics trending distinctly upward--are on a collision course.
Politics
A War Zone, Minus the War: One Year Into the Military Buildup of the U.S.-Mexico Border
An investigation into how President Trump’s emergency declaration along the southern border expanded military power, blurred legal lines, and helped spread the use of military-grade technology.
Inside Trump’s Plan to Finish Walling Off the Rio Grande Valley
Even sites once protected by Congress, including a butterfly refuge and a historic church, are slated for fencing funded by the “one big beautiful bill”—while the river itself is transformed by a floating barrier.
Trump Announces “First New U.S. Refinery in 50 Years” at Port of Brownsville, Reviving Local Resistance
Environmental advocates and residents say the long-proposed refinery threatens air quality and public health in a region already ringed by heavy industry.
South Texas Fights Back
ICE raids and detentions, together with a high-profile killing, have led Rio Grand Valley residents to mobilize—including even some local Republicans.
Economy
Profitable Violence: A New Era of the Border Industrial Complex
In 2025, a dramatic increase in contracts to private industry correlates with increasing violence committed by border and immigration police forces.
They Grow the Food. So Why Are So Many Going Hungry?
In the Rio Grande Valley, a coalition of farmers, educators, and advocates is reimagining a food system built on justice, not scarcity.
As AI Data Centers Target the Water-Scarce Borderlands, New Mexico Invests in Desalination
Meanwhile, community members worry about stealth approval processes and a lack of transparency.
Weekly Roundup
The Border Chronicle Weekly Roundup: March 27
A year of military buildup on the border, walling off the Rio Grande Valley, and Caroline Tracey's debut book launch in Tucson.
The Border Chronicle Weekly Roundup: March 20
A pioneering asylum lawyer in El Paso leaves a legacy of lives saved, an immigration judge fired by the Trump administration asks, 'What's next?' at the border, and The Border Chronicle's, Caroline Tracey, has a new book out!
The Border Chronicle Weekly Roundup: March 13
The personal, financial, and environmental costs of a border wall in Big Bend, locals revive opposition after Trump's announcement of a refinery in Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley fights back after ICE shooting and raids, plus The Border Chronicle is seeking new paid subscribers!
The Border Chronicle Weekly Roundup: March 6
Buh Bye Kristi Noem, and who the heck is Markwayne Mullin? Trump's new pick for DHS secretary. Plus, an epic novel about the U.S. and Mexico's joint erasure of Apachería, and historian and author Lydia Otero on Tucson's racial and urban history, and more.