U.S.-Mexico border

Makeshift tents and debris are seen at a migrant camp in Matamoros, Mexico, on Friday. About two dozen makeshift tents in the area were set ablaze and destroyed, across the border from Texas this week, witnesses said.

Mexico migrant camp tents have been torched across the border from Texas

2:44am April 22, 2023

by The Associated Press

The fires were set Wednesday and Thursday to about 25 makeshift tents at a camp of about 2,000 people, most of them from Venezuela, Haiti and Mexico, in Matamoros, Mexico, near Brownsville, Texas.

A member of the Texas National Guard looks across the Rio Grande to Mexico from the U.S. at Eagle Pass, Texas, on Aug. 26.

Border Patrol says 8 migrants were found dead in the Rio Grande

2:04pm September 03, 2022

by The Associated Press

U.S. and Mexican officials made the discovery Thursday while responding to a large group of people crossing the river following days of heavy rains that had resulted in particularly swift currents.

Blake Masters, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Arizona, speaks to supporters during a campaign event in Tucson.

Talk of 'invasion' moves from the fringe to the mainstream of GOP immigration message

10:32am August 03, 2022

by Joel Rose

With midterm elections looming, many Republican candidates have embraced increasingly extreme language about immigration. Immigrant advocates worry that such rhetoric stokes fear and hate.

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Commercial trucks wait to cross the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge in Pharr, Texas, last week, before Gov. Greg Abbott lifted his order requiring additional inspections of trucks arriving from Mexico.

A key Texas bridge lost $1 billion per week during governor's slowdown

12:10pm April 20, 2022

by Bill Chappell

Gov. Greg Abbott's rule imposing safety inspections at the border did "nothing to stop the flow of illegal immigration or illegal drugs," Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller told NPR.

Tanya AguiÃ±iga worked with indigenous communities in Chiapas and Oaxaca, Mexico and in Alaska, but always felt drawn back to the border.

Arts

Artists win awards for highlighting life on the border and reclaiming African art

6:08pm December 03, 2021

by Ashley Pointer

Tanya Aguiñiga's art explores what happens to people when they cross the U.S.-Mexico border. Sanford Biggers' works challenge the 'black-washing' of African history.

The Rio Grande is seen from the International Bridge near a section of the U.S.-Mexico border where a father and daughter drowned attempting to cross into the United States in 2019, in Matamoros, Tamaulipas. Oscar Alberto Martinez and his 23-month-old dau

Books
Arts

Poetry inspired by a viral photo of drowned migrants wins the National Book Award

4:41pm November 18, 2021

by Bill Chappell

Photos of a father and his young daughter, drowned in the Rio Grande, underlined the deadly risks of the immigration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. Martín Espada drew on them for his book Floaters.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is one of a few GOP governors who say migrants are the source of rising COVID-19 rates.

National

Some Republicans Blame Migrants For COVID-19 Surges. Doctors Say They're Scapegoating

3:00pm August 10, 2021

by Joel Rose

Some Republicans are blaming the latest surge in COVID-19 cases on migrants crossing the southern border. But many doctors disagree, saying the politicians are just looking to divert attention.

U.S. Border Patrol agents conduct a training exercise in the Anapra area, in front of the wall that divides Sunland Park, N.M., from the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

National

Amid Coronavirus Concerns Pentagon To Send Troops To U.S. Borders With Mexico, Canada

5:16pm March 26, 2020

Troops will be sent to the northern and southern U.S. borders as the spread of the coronavirus grows. Last week, the Trump administration ordered partial closures of those borders.

A security guard stands at the El Chaparral port of entry on the border in Tijuana, Mexico, last month. The U.S. and Mexico are said to be working out a deal to close their border to nonessential crossings.

U.S., Mexico Planning To Restrict Border Crossings To Stem Pandemic

11:33am March 20, 2020

by Scott Neuman

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a tweet that he is working with his Mexican counterpart "on travel restrictions that balance protecting our citizens from further transmission of #COVID19."

Principal T.J. Funderburg welcomes his mostly immigrant students during morning assembly at Cactus Elementary School.

National

Unskilled Jobs Draw Migrants, Changing Face Of Small Towns Across America

8:44pm November 04, 2019

by John Burnett

A meatpacking town in the Texas Panhandle is a magnet for immigrants who will do unpopular jobs. The once majority-white county has adjusted to its more diverse population.

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