The Border Chronicle Weekly Roundup: April 3

A critical DNA database to identify missing migrants vanishes, the US military is closing off the border to Americans, and lots of border wall news.

This Week in The Border Chronicle:

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More News from Across the Border:

Lots of border wall news:

Sign a petition to stop construction of the border wall in Big Bend.

Rally at the Texas Capitol in Austin on April 4th against wall construction in Big Bend.

The City of Laredo will hold a public meeting on April 7 to decide whether to give CBP public access for wall building. Sign up to speak and find out more here.

Along the Rio Grande in Big Bend, Texans unite against Trump wall USA Today

Blasting Begins For Border Wall On Cherished New Mexico Mountain Inside Climate News

DHS made a ton of unenforceable promises about Surprise ICE facility Phoenix New Times

El ADN confirma que los restos hallados por las Madres Buscadoras de Sonora son los de uno de los hijos de Ceci Flores El Pais

Trump’s MAGA allies have a new plan for mass deportations. It could splinter the coalition Politico

South Texas woman loses wrongful arrest lawsuit in controversial abortion case Texas Tribune

Border Patrol chief Michael Banks hit with prostitution allegations by agents The Washington Examiner

Trump administration locks out Greg Bovino from all social media accounts The Washington Examiner

Author

Melissa del Bosque is Co-founder and Executive Director of The Border Chronicle. Melissa has written about the U.S.-Mexico border since 1998 for various media outlets, including ProPublica, The New Yorker, The Guardian, The Texas Observer, and The Intercept.

Her work has been recognized with numerous U.S. and international journalism awards, including a Gabo Award and the Internacional Rey de España de Periodismo award, as the U.S.-Mexico investigations editor for Lighthouse Reports. In 2020, del Bosque received the RFK Human Rights Journalism Award as part of a ProPublica group reporting project “Inside the Border Patrol.” In 2016, she received the Hillman Prize for her investigative feature “Death on Sevenmile Road” about the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border. In 2015, del Bosque’s four-part series with The Guardian on migrant deaths in South Texas won an Emmy and a National Magazine Award. 

Del Bosque is also the author of Bloodlines: The True Story of a Drug Cartel, the FBI and the Battle for a Horse-Racing Dynasty. She has a Master’s in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin, a Master’s in Public Health from the Texas A&M School of Rural Public Health, and a Bachelor’s in poetry and Creative Writing from San Francisco State University.

In her spare time, Melissa loves to travel, spend time with her family, and explore the Sonoran Desert.