News from along the Rio Grande and the US/Mexico border. If you have news tips, stories and links, send them to the contact page. You can remain anonymous. We deeply appreciate our readers and contributors.
TOP SHELF: ‘Our Lost Border: Essays on Life amid the Narco-Violence’
The Monitor May 12 2013
UTB hosts immigration forum
The Monitor May 12 2013
Story Here
U.S. and Mexico media fearful of covering border violence: Beltway watchdog
National Examiner May 09 2013
In the long bi-national tradition of refugees of all sorts, from economic, to political, to civil war refugees that the U.S and Mexico have exchanged over their uneasy history, we have a new phenomen; narco-war refugees. Exactly how this will play out is uncertain. Like most everything it will most likely have good sides and bad sides. The last political and war refugee situation to compare with the one today was the Mexican Civil War in the the early 20th century that helped re-populate the Southwest with people of Mexican descent.
And the story goes on
UTB professor speaks about violence in Mexico
by Daisy Barrera
Posted: 10.26.2010 at 11:14 PM
Mexican journalists’ sons killed; seven bodies found near Mexico City
Reuters May 2013
“Everything is changing,” said Simon Rosenberg, president and founder of NDN, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank with expertise in economic, environmental, immigration and border issues. “Therefore, things that were the way they were before are not going to be the same in the future — by the nature of the way the world and the region are changing. Who could have anticipated that Mexico would have grown the way that it’s grown or that the cartels could become so violent?
Group drafts border strategy
Brownsville Herald May 04, 2013
Story Here
Locals worry more Mexican dams could make RGV water shortage worse
The Monitor May 04 2013
Central American Migrants Attacked in Mexico
Failed narco-terror state world’s biggest hypocrite on illegal immigrants
Why do those genocidal nazi Mexicans hate brown people?
Live Leak May 04, 2013
Farmers upset by Mexico ignoring treaty
The Brownsville Herald May 04, 2013
Cuellar: U.S. needs role in cartel fight
The Monitor May 04 2013
More centralized control of what’s actually going on in Mexico. The Mexican version of the White House will decide what the Americans need to know, or not need to know. PRI is spreading it’s web into every pie. Money from Washington, money from the cartels, from the crony capitolists, just keep it coming
Cross Border Railway Opening in Brownsville
Low-Tech and High-Tech Braceros - Baja Nomad / from FNS News
“Prior to World War Two, the U.S. agricultural workforce was nationally, racially and ethnically diverse. Depending on the season, crop and the region of the country, Mexicans, Chicanos, African-Americans and Dust Bowl whites all labored on the farms and ranches that kept the nation clothed and fed. But the guns of war altered the agricultural economy, setting in motion changes that endure in the 21st century. Read on
Medicaid Matters Musings From Alongside A Border
Michael Seifort May 1, 2013
I am too old for this, I told myself, as the alarm chimed brightly
New crossing opens on Texas-Mexico border
The Monitor May 1, 2013
BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK, Texas
New C.B.P. Machinery Processing Center
Laredo will soon be only one of five cities in the country to have a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Center of Excellency and Expertise.
Immigration bill envisions new farm worker program
Associated Press By ERICA WERNER | Associated Press – Wed, Apr 3, 2013
230 immigrants arrested found in stash houses
The Brownsville Herald May 1, 2013
Read Here
Mexico’s Violent Crime Numbers Don’t Add Up
Written by Alejandro Hope*
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Many had wondered about the rapid expansion of the Zetas Cartel. They have achieved a criminal empire of sorts in Mexico, hopefully their method that has worked so well there, won’t work so well here.
Why Mexico’s Zetas Expanded Faster than their Rivals
Written by Steven Dudley and Viridiana Rios*
Sunday, 21 April 2013 Insight Crime
Governor Signs Pact to Legalize Vigilantes in West Mexico
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Insight Crime
Executions: Zetas Decapitate Woman- Aliados Executes CJNG Member
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Warning! Extremely gruesome and graphic. Don’t look if you have seen enough of the reality of the drug war. Better yet, send these pictures to the politicians that support this kind of inhumanity with their policies on the drug war.
8 die in Monterrey in Nuevo Leon
Sunday, April 28, 2013 | Borderland Beat
Story Here
Report details human dangers
Brownsville Herald April 24, 2013
Story Here
Local police becoming militarized through acquisition of surplus military equipment Learn more: Natural News April 24, 2013
Mexico’s Drug War: Balkanization Leads to Regional Challenges
Straffor Intelligence April 24.2013
Mexico’s Drug War: Balkanization Leads to Regional Challenges
6 die in Reynosa
Borderland Beat April 24, 2013
Story Here
Angry Tejanos demand British Museum return Freddy Fender’s wig
Humor from Pocho News April 24, 2013.
Narco Weapon Progression: Sicarios Use .50 Caliber to Execute Nuevo Leon State Police Chief
Tuesday, February 26, 2013 |
Full Story
El Paso to invest $2.1M to cut long waits at border bridges
By Evan Mohl \ El Paso Times
Story Here
Mexico Registers 4,249 Drug-Related Killings in 4 Months
Saturday, April 13, 2013 |
Borderland Beat
Arkansas Company Introduces Unique ‘invisible fence’ Solution at Border Security Expo
GSN News April 17. 2013
Full Story
Mexican Peso, Foreign Debt Soar – Grassroots Press – April 16, 2013
Regular visitors to Mexico might have noticed that their dollars buy less this year than in the preceding few years. On top of price increases for food and transportation, the dollar-peso rate of exchange is much more favorable for the latter, with purchasers of the Mexican currency even finding that April’s rates have dipped below 12 pesos for each dollar. Analysts say a brisk round of foreign buying of Mexican government debt in the form of bonds and treasury certificates has greatly pumped up the peso. Read on
Labor Outsourcing Rises in Ciudad Juarez – Grassroots Press – April 13, 2013
Greater labor outsourcing has emerged as one consequence of the Great Recession on labor-management relations in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez. Cited in the maquiladora industry trade journal Juarez-El Paso Now, official Mexican government figures from the National Institute of Geography, Statistics and Informatics report that the percentage of sub-contracted workers in the assembly-for-export sector rose from 9.1 percent of the workforce in 2007 to 15.3 percent by 2013. Read on
Immigration bill envisions new farm worker program
By ERICA WERNER | Associated Press April 11. 2013
Read Story
Mexican government seals cartel information for twelve years
Borderland Beat April 11. 2013
Story Here
Radar Shows U.S. Border Security Gaps
LA Times April 11.2013
Story Here
Aeromar Begins Flights to McAllen
Krgv News April 11.2013
Taking a Stand on the Rio Grande – Grassroots Press – April 10, 2013
The clock is rapidly ticking on the two towering smokestacks of the former American Smelting and Refinery Company (Asarco) plant on the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas. As workers ready the ground for the planned demolition on April 13, at about the break of dawn, local photographers are scurrying to get what may well be the last images of a historic symbol of the Paso del Norte borderland. On Paisano Drive and Executive Center Boulevard near the stacks, camera-snapping documentarians have been noticeably visible in the past few days. Read on
Migrant reform may be a reality
Bipartisan bills set for House, Senate.
San Antonio Express News April 4, 2013
By Gary Martin, Washington Bureau
Read more:
9th lawman to remain behind bars for now
The Monitor April 4,2013
Story Here
Local Police Becoming Militarized Natural News April 4, 2013
The Roots of Tejano and Conjunto Music
Arhoolie Music
Rep. Vela blasts U.S. response on water owed by Mexico
The Monitor April 4, 2013
Read Here
Special Report: Mexico’s Immigration Policies under Renewed Fire – Grassroots Press – March 30, 2013
Mexican immigrant advocates and their supporters are ramping up demands for changes in the country’s immigration policies. For starters, 50 civil society organizations are calling for the dismissal of National Migration Institute (INM) Commissioner Ardelio Vargas Fosado, the new head of the federal agency responsible for enforcing Mexican immigration law. Read on
Lockheed Martin delivers another upgraded P-3 Orion to CBP
Read Here
Update: Brooks County has agreed to try to make DNA identification on bodies found in it’s territory.
Ghost Pueblos
Borderland Beat March 29, 2013
Read Here
Mexican Vigilantes Seize Town, Arrest Police
Borderland Beat March 29, 2013
ACAPULCO, Mexico
Garcia: Valley economy looks great
Rio Grande Guardian March 29, 2013
Story Here
Lydia Cacho:Most Killings of Journalists are Ordered by:Government, Military, Political Parties
Borderland Beat March 26, 2013
Bill Seeks to Protect Those Who Film Peace Officers
The Texas Tribune March 26, 2013 Read Here
Border Workers Rally on Both Sides of Rio – Grassroots Press – March 23, 2013
Workers in the sister cities of Ciudad Juarez and El Paso staged demonstrations this past week on both sides of the Rio Grande. While the specific issues drawing protestors into the streets differed from country to country, the actions had one thing in common: both were directed against controversial national policies pursued by elected leaders and approved by the respective federal legislatures. Read on
Nevada pot legalization: 6th state to legalize pot?
The Examiner march 18. 2013
Homeland Security Approves Seizure of Cell Phones and Laptops within 100 Miles of Border; Report Remains Secret
AllGov.com March 18. 2013
Laredo Pro 8 News March 18. 2013
Water Conservation Spreads aong with drought, all up and down the Rio Grande.
It may only be March, but water conservation will soon be mandatory for Laredo residents.
The water utilities department is requesting city council to make
this effective immediately because water levels in our reservoirs are
low; this is three months early compared to the last few years.
A St. Patrick’s Day Immigration Message – Grassroots Press – 3/18/2013
On the eve of St. Patrick’s Day, an Irish-American organization strongly urged the passage of comprehensive immigration reform. The Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) joined hundreds of Latino, Asian, labor, business, religious, human rights, and other organizations that keep pushing for a reform in 2013.
“There is a great history of migration between our countries,” noted Bart Murphy, ILIR chairman. “The continuation of that success story is dependent upon fixing a broken immigration system for those in the US and ensuring a long term and sustainable future flow of migration.” Read on
Tamaulipas closes prison in Miguel Aleman
Rantburg.com March13 2013
Lobbying for Border Military Base – 3/12/2013 – Salem News
(LAS CRUCES, NM) – As budget cuts stare down from the so-called sequester agreement in Congress, El Paso officials are lobbying Washington for continued support of Fort Bliss. The campaign unfolded as a new University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) study analyzing the local economic impact of Ft. Bliss and William Beaumont Army Medical Center (WBAMC) was released to the media. Read on
Saltillo: “Mummy” Bodies Discovered Hanging off Bridge
Bizarre and grotesque and gruesome
Yet in a way humorous in a dark sick way
That’s Mexico 2013 Year number 7 of the Calderon Cartel War
Now brought to you by Pena Nieto
‘Four trucks filled with bodies’ after Reynosa firefight
Story Here
If Push Comes To Shove
All About “Push Water” and the short end of the irrigation stick in South Texas
The Monitor March 12 2013 Read Here
12 Hour Nuevo Laredo Terror Leaves 11 Dead, 4 are Innocents
BorderLand Beat March 12 2013
Story Here
Chupacabra found? You be the Judge
Authorities and advocates ask spring breakers to be smart
The Monitor March 12.12 .2012
DHS Target Supplier Includes Pregnant Women & Old Men For Target Practice
Published on Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Ammo Land
Dwindling water reserves could stress border
The Monitor March 04. 2013
Book release reception for ‘Artisans of Michoacán By Their Hands’ at Consulate of Mexico Tuesday
The Monitor March 04, 2013
Read Here
BikeFest Moving to Corpus Christi
The Fall of La Maestra – Salem News
(LAS CRUCES, NM) – Was last week’s historic detention of long-time Mexican union leader and political broker Elba Esther “La Maestra” Gordillo a long overdue act of justice and a renewed commitment to the rule of law? Was it the climax of lingering conflicts between Gordillo and leaders of her former PRI party, including members of the new administration of President Enrique Pena Nieto? Read on
