The Border Chronicle

Dear Readers, If you are in Tucson , please join us tonight for our 4th anniversary celebration! Also on September 30, I (Todd) will be in conversation with filmmaker Rick Goldsmith after a viewing of his new documentary Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink . If you are up for a vivacious conversation about the state of journalism today, please come to the Marroney Theater (directl...

Filmmaker Alex Rivera debuted Sleep Dealer , his groundbreaking border science fiction movie, at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008. The film won several awards but did not receive the wide commercial release it deserved. Over the years, Sleep Dealer has been rereleased on digital platforms and become a cult classic. The Border Chronicle is proud to announce that on October 15, viewers will have t...

Every Friday, The Border Chronicle hosts a discussion on Substack Live to keep you informed on our latest articles and podcasts, and other important news from across the U.S.-Mexico border region. This Week in The Border Chronicle: More News from the Border: Canada and Mexico agree to deepen ties amid Trump trade war BBC 60 violations in 50 days: Inside ICE’s giant tent facility at Ft. Bliss The W...

Support our reporting and independent journalism from the U.S.-Mexico border. Subscribe today for just $6 a month or $60 a year. Every Friday, The Border Chronicle hosts a discussion on Substack Live about our stories from the week and share more news about the border from around the web. This Week in The Border Chronicle: More News from the Border: “Operation Lone Star 2.0”: DPS arresting thousan...

Support independent journalism from the U.S.-Mexico border. Subscribe today for just $6 a month or $60 a year. Help us keep the lights on. More News from the Border: Mexico-US initiative seeks to standardize water quality data as contaminated river threatens both nations Tijuana Press Arizona’s Cochise County, known for election turmoil, may challenge state laws again ahead of 2026 The Tucson Sent...

This Week in The Border Chronicle: More News from the Border: ICE Is Using Taylor Swift’s Loophole To Hide Deportation Flights The Lever DHS rap video introduces new ICE vehicles featuring Trump's name in gold RawStory Breaking News – Border Wall Construction to Begin in September, County Officials Say Patagonia Regional Times Trump administration bans drones in Nogales area until February Nogales...

Who profits from immigrant detention , and how is the money made? Geographers Nancy Hiemstra and Deirdre Conlon have investigated these questions for 10 years, producing one of the most thorough examinations of the industry. In today’s podcast, we discuss their findings in the new book Immigration Detention Inc: The Big Business of Locking Up Migrants . This book comes at a crucial time as the Tru...

This Week in The Border Chronicle: More News from the Border: Military Preparing Attacks on Mexican Cartels Ken Klippenstein Mexico Between Drones and Extraditions: Strategic Cooperation or Hidden Submission? Pie de Nota A Venezuelan Was Detained as a “Documented” Gang Member by ICE, which Refused to Provide Proof Texas Observer ICE to purchase AI tech that scans eyes to increase deportations AZFa...

This Week in The Border Chronicle: More News from the Border: Federal judge appears ready to dismiss 2 of 14 charges in Henry Cuellar’s bribery case The Texas Tribune Quién Es Tu Gente: The Performance Artists of the RGV Trucha RGV Gannett buyouts claim Arizona Republic's top political & opinion writers Tucson Sentinel A new detention facility at Fort Bliss is set to open this week after probl...

Jesse Franzblau is the Associate Policy Director at the National Immigrant Justice Center , a Chicago-based nonprofit that provides legal services to immigrants and advocates for their rights. Franzblau spent years documenting rights abuses in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands for the organization’s Transparency and Human Rights Project. He now advocates for better immigration policies in Congress. In t...

Thank you joyce book , CathyP , Barbara Lemmon , Susan Lyman , wade mayer , and many others for tuning into the Weekly Roundup live video. Apologies for any technical guffaws at the beginning. We’re still learning, but hopefully getting better. We rely 100% on our readers and listeners to support our work at the U.S.-Mexico border. Become a paid subscriber today for just $6 a month or $60 a year....

Thank you for joining us in the dog days of summer! Sorry about the last minute reschedule on our live video this morning. We had a changing of the co-host. And Caroline very kindly joined us to talk about her really interesting Q&A this week with Baja California historian Marco Antonio Samaniego on the new binational Tijuana River agreement. What’s happening in your community that The Border...

Why is it that when the word “security” is uttered , all thought and analysis go out the window? This is especially the case when people talk about “border security.” In this podcast, however, Border Chronicle founders Melissa del Bosque and Todd Miller put on their thinking caps, analyzing the first seven months of the Trump administration. They crack open the word “security” and examine its inte...

Happy July everyone! We’re back from summer break. Thanks to everyone who joined us this morning for our live roundup discussion on our reporting this week, and on the latest news happening in the U.S.-Mexico border region. The United States is definitely in one of those history-making eras. But not the good kind. Melissa’s first post after returning from summer break, is a reflection from a road...

Thank you to everyone who joined our live video talk last night with Alix Dick about her new memoir “The cost of being undocumented: one woman’s reckoning with America’s inhumane math.” Alix talked about what it’s like for people living without legal status in the United States as masked federal agents kidnap people off the streets in California. This week at The Border Chronicle , we also have an...

In this episode the executive director of Climate Refugees , Amali Tower , crosses the globe from Israel/Palestine to the U.S.-Mexico borderlands to look at the technology that connects the seemingly disparate realities of warfare, surveillance, and immigration raids, putting them in the context of climate change and increasing global displacement. When people arrive to the U.S.-Mexico border, Tow...

Since January 2025, the Trump administration has dramatically ramped up migrant workplace raids — mobilizing ICE and Homeland Security Investigations to detain thousands of undocumented people nationwide as part of a push to deport millions before Trump’s term ends. In Texas, home to some 1.7 million undocumented workers, mixed-status families in the Rio Grande Valley are caught between the Mexica...

Dora Rodriguez fled the death squads in El Salvador during the civil war. Seeking asylum in the United States in 1980, she nearly died crossing the Sonoran Desert but miraculously survived. She remained in Tucson, Arizona, becoming a social worker and a formidable organizer and advocate for immigrants and for human rights. Her story embodies multitudes, from social justice activist to social worke...

Thank’s to everyone who joined our live roundup this morning . As promised here’s the link to Pablo’s article from March on how Texas’ Operation Lone Star is serving as a blueprint for Trump’s rollout of his authoritarian mass deportation campaign in California and other states. Also, a big thanks to all of you who have answered our call in recent weeks for paid subscribers to support our reportin...

Thank you Peter Murrieta , Jenn Budd , Rebecca Serratos , Cindy Spiker , Colin , and many others for tuning into today’s live video of The Border Chronicle weekly roundup! As mentioned in the video, here’s a link to sign up for next year’s Migrant Trail Walk from Sasabe, Arizona to Tucson. Also, as promised some fabulous photos by Kathleen Dreier from the binational protest on May 31 in southern A...

Watch Todd’s video Q&A (above) with sociologist Timothy Dunn , one of the top experts on border militarization in the United States. Dunn talks about the new phase of militarization happening right now at the border, and how it fits into a larger history of military involvement with border policing. Dunn’s books include The Militarization of the U.S. Mexico Border 1978-1992: Low Intensity Doct...

Last chance to submit your questions for our invited expert! In the last month, as reported here at The Border Chronicle , we’ve seen active-duty military deployments and the creation of new militarized “national defense areas” at the southern border. The Trump administration is moving quickly, pushing the military into domestic law enforcement duties, violating federal laws, and acting without th...

Alix Dick arrived in the U.S. more than a decade ago, fleeing violence in Sinaloa, Mexico, that tore her family apart. But the impact of living without legal status in the United States has been almost as brutal as the violence she fled. In her new memoir, The Cost of Being Undocumented: One Woman’s Reckoning with America’s Inhumane Math , cowritten with Stanford University sociology professor Ant...

Ask and Expert: Timothy Dunn In the last month, as reported here at The Border Chronicle , we’ve seen active-duty military deployments and the creation of new militarized “national defense areas” at the southern border. The Trump administration is moving quickly, pushing the military into domestic law enforcement duties, violating federal laws, and acting without the approval of Congress. What sho...

Ask an Expert: Timothy Dunn In the last month, as reported here at The Border Chronicle , we’ve seen active-duty military deployments and the creation of new militarized “national defense areas” at the southern border. The Trump administration is moving quickly, pushing the military into domestic law enforcement duties, violating federal laws, and acting without the approval of Congress. What shou...