“For a long time, a big proportion of the American public said that border security was their most important issue. People are starting to realize what that means in terms of the violence entailed.”
Border barriers on the river could be fatal during floods, say Laredo landowners, a reflection on desert narratives and the U.S.-Mexico border, and become a sustaining member of The Border Chronicle today, get some cool, new merch, and help us hold those in power accountable.
As federal officials fast-track billions in border wall construction and floating buoy barriers, local leaders and residents say they’re in the dark, and fear the worst.
The U.S. government is doubling down on surveillance, but residents have little input or idea of how it impacts their privacy. Maass talks about EFF's new project to map the "virtual wall."
The U.S. government is doubling down and expanding its surveillance technology in border communities. But many residents don’t know the extent to which they’re being watched, given that the government rarely seeks their input.
This month, the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation released new data and an interactive map of surveillance towers, which are part of the “virtual wall.” Melissa speaks with Dave Maass, EFF’s director of investigations, about his organization’s mapping and data project, which tracks the proliferation of surveillance tech at the southern border.
Contrary to public perception, the majority of these surveillance towers aren’t in the middle of nowhere, says Maass. “We hope to provide the evidence that really undermines that myth,” he says of the new project. “Many of [these towers] are in urban areas, residential communities and in the middle of public parks.”
When Alex González Ormerod, editor of the Mexico Political Economist, started researching his book about the Mexican right wing, he
Each year since 1995, the Tohono O’odham Nation has held the Unity Run. “These runs,” Amy Juan says,“not only have their purpose as prayer for the people and the land but also put us on the ground to actually see what is happening” on the 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.
From hidden license plate readers to AI-powered cameras, federal agents have built a vast monitoring network that stretches deep into Arizona.
Independent news, culture and context from the U.S.-Mexico border.
