For years, the sister cities of Presidio and Ojinaga watched jealously as other border cities prospered. Now when they look east to the Rio Grande Valley and west to El Paso and Juárez, they see fear and bloodshed, and the envy fades to thankfulness. The poverty and isolation that have held them back keep the violence at bay. But for how long?
Immigration
In-depth reporting on border issues, policies, communities, and the impact of immigration across the state, from The Texas Tribune.
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Demographics
TribBlog: DHS Payday
DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano in Laredo today announced more money for border states and defended an administration under fire from folks on the Mexican border.
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Demographics
In the Shadow of the Valley of Death
Law enforcement and school officials discuss the changes that have happened in Fort Hancock as its sister city in Mexico, El Porvenir, has been overwhelmed with cartel violence.
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Demographics
Blood Lines: Valley of Death
For decades, residents of impoverished Mexican border towns have toiled in the cotton and alfalfa fields or in the giant factories of Juárez. Those seeking more than paupers’ wages worked for the cartels. Yet their communities remained peaceful until the horror of the drug war bled into the farmland. As the violence worsens, law enforcement has rushed to both sides of the Rio Grande — but greater security brings little comfort and little hope.
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Demographics
The Weekly TribCast: Episode 37
In this week’s TribCast, Ross, Elise, Ben and Brandi discuss the issues framing Texas politics this week — education, immigration and campaign finance numbers.
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Demographics
Floundering and Flourishing
Depending on whom you ask, anywhere between 100,000 to half a million Juarenses have left Mexico since drug violence exploded in 2008. In a tragic irony, neighboring El Paso is flourishing economically as Juárez descends further into terror.
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Demographics
Blood Lines: Prosperity Amid Peril
As the savage drug war rages on in Juárez, both the fun and the business have fled, bringing to El Paso, its sleepy sister city, a vibrant new culture and an economic boost. In a tragic irony, a measure of El Paso’s recent fortune results directly from the suffering of Juárez. But experts warn that El Paso leaders rely on Juárez’s decline at their own risk. Ultimately, as Juárez goes, so goes El Paso, they say.
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Demographics
TribBlog: Napolitano to Visit Border
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will visit Texas’ border with Mexico on Thursday when she meets with customs officials and local law enforcement in Laredo.
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Demographics
HuTube: Perry on FOX Business
Gov. Rick Perry chats with the FOX Business Network’s Neil Cavuto about his latest poll numbers, the moratorium on deep water drilling and the cancellation of a Border Governors’ Conference that was going to take place in Arizona, until Mexican governors boycotted the meeting.
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Demographics
Charles Bowden: The TT Interview
Charles Bowden, author of Murder City: Ciudad Juárez and the Global Economy’s New Killing Fields, on how he keeps his sanity, when the narco-wars will end and Mexican President Felipe Calderón’s Pandora’s box.