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.
Newsletter
Inside Mexico’s Largest Detention Center: A Q&A with Belén Fernández
“There may not be human rights in Siglo XXI,” the name of the Tapachula immigration detention center where the author and journalist was imprisoned, “but there’s lots of humanity.”
7 min read
Read next
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.”
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.
