The Border Chronicle Weekly Roundup: March 13

It's been nearly two months since we moved from Substack to our new independent site. We hope that you are enjoying the new look of The Border Chronicle. Todd and I launched this publication in September 2021, because after years of reporting on the U.S.-Mexico border we saw the huge gaps in coverage. No media outlet reported on the border as a region, and from the perspective of the people who live here. Instead we are bombarded with disinformation, and reporting that lacks context or history.

Prime example is the proposed border wall construction in the Big Bend in Texas. It's an absolutely breathtaking section of the border with wide open deserts and skies and the Rio Grande coursing through stunning canyons. To imagine a wall being built there is almost too much to comprehend. It physically pains me to imagine it. For the last several weeks there has been much confusion about what the Trump administration intends to do in Big Bend. So we went straight to Sam Karas, a reporter with the wonderful Big Bend Sentinel to get the lowdown on what's happening from the people who live there and know best. Todd's Q&A with Sam covers a lot of territory, and it's exactly the kind of reporting we like to do – it not only gives you the most current, reliable information, it also gives you the deeply personal, environmental and financial stakes of what it would mean if the Trump administration goes through with its plans.

This week, we also published two other important pieces from the Rio Grande Valley (see below) by Pablo de la Rosa way over on the other side of the Texas-Mexico border. I highlight this work because I'm hoping that you will support The Border Chronicle and our mission to serve and connect the communities of the U.S.–Mexico border through rigorous reporting, and arts and culture coverage rooted in border communities. We are a very small independent publication, based in Tucson, that relies on you —our readers— to continue. A reporter's salary is roughly 1,000 paid subscribers. We currently have 1,200 paid subscribers – think what we could do with 2,000 paid subscribers! Please consider supporting our work today as a paid subscriber for just $6 a month or $59 a year, or donate to The Border Chronicle. We can't do this without you!

— un abrazo from Tucson, Melissa

This Week in The Border Chronicle:

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.

The Border ChroniclePablo De La Rosa

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.”

The Border ChronicleTodd Miller

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.

The Border ChroniclePablo De La Rosa

More News from Across the Border:

Big Bend sheriffs speak out against the wall The Big Bend Sentinel

Shot by Border Patrol, Then Called a “Domestic Terrorist" The New Yorker

Federal order seeks major capacity increase at proposed Marana ICE detention center Arizona Luminaria

Border Report: Tijuana Women March for Gender Justice Voice of San Diego

Case over turning away asylum seekers heads to Supreme Court Daylight San Diego

Also check out this amazing piece by Mexico-based investigative reporter John Gibler in the debut of Now Voyager a new literary journalism publication:

The Search Now Voyager