News and Resources

The Coronavirus Pipeline

The Coronavirus Pipeline U.S. deportations of migrants have exported COVID-19 to Guatemala and prompted fear, chaos, and a collapse of already fragile health services. By Anna-Catherine Brigida and Morena Pérez... Read more

Published on: 2020-08-12

Source: Texas Observer

ICYMI: Snake Take, Blame Jupiter, Yo Semite! and More

Five thousand invasive Burmese pythons have been removed from the Everglades. July 2020 establishes a new record low extent of Arctic sea ice. The amount of freshwater in the Arctic Ocean has increased by... Read more

Published on: 2020-08-07

Source: Sierra Magazine

Houston’s Hot-Stepping Zydeco Dance Fuses Creole and Black Cowboy Cultures

This post originally published on KQED, San Francisco’s NPR and PBS affiliate. See more of KQED Arts’ award-winning video series If Cities Could Dance here. KQED filmed this episode in February,... Read more

Published on: 2020-08-05

Source: Texas Observer

Supreme Court won’t intervene in last stages of border wall construction projects

A lower court had said the use of military funds was unlawful, and environmentalists had asked for construction to stop.... Read more

Published on: 2020-07-31

Source: Washington Post

GOP coronavirus bill replaces money for Pentagon projects Trump raided for border wall

The legislation includes hundreds of millions for military projects whose funding the administration had canceled.... Read more

Published on: 2020-07-28

Source: Washington Post

From Boom to Bloodbath

From Boom to Bloodbath The Permian Basin’s shale revolution is over and renewable energy is surging. What does that mean for Texas’ future? By Justin Miller July 27, 2020 For... Read more

Published on: 2020-07-27

Source: Texas Observer

Border Patrol Violently Assaults Civil Rights and Liberties

In the past week, unidentified federal officers in camouflage fatigues, labeled only “police,” abducted people off the streets of Portland in unmarked vehicles and threatened the “Wall of Moms” standing... Read more

Published on: 2020-07-24

Source: ACLU

Muslim Activists Say It’s Time to Join Black Lives Matter Calls to Reform Law Enforcement

Muslim Activists Say It’s Time to Join Black Lives Matter Calls to Reform Law Enforcement A Dallas mosque’s decision to partner with law enforcement during a nationwide reckoning on the... Read more

Published on: 2020-07-24

Source: Texas Observer

Andrea Roberts Is Working to Define What Free Black Space Is

In 1865, it was announced that more than 4 million Black people were freed, ushering in the Reconstruction Era. And although formerly enslaved people were told they were free, laws... Read more

Published on: 2020-07-23

Source: Texas Observer

Environmentalists ask Supreme Court to stop funding of border wall construction

Sierra Club wants justices to step in after a lower court finds fund transfers unlawful.... Read more

Published on: 2020-07-22

Source: Washington Post

How Long Can You Hide a Dead Body in a Prison Cell?

This article was published in partnership with The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Sign up for The Marshall Project’s newsletter, or follow them... Read more

Published on: 2020-07-22

Source: Texas Observer

In ‘Crooked Hallelujah,’ Kelli Jo Ford Explores How Pain is Passed Down Through Families

What makes a place home? For the women in Kelli Jo Ford’s debut novel, Crooked Hallelujah, home is a complex, contentious thing. Their homes are comforting or harmful, safe or... Read more

Published on: 2020-07-21

Source: Texas Observer

Back to the Wall

Back to the Wall A border wall is headed for Laredo—and the only thing likely to stop it is time. By Gus Bova July 20, 2020 It starts at... Read more

Published on: 2020-07-20

Source: Texas Observer

After Years of Advocacy, the House of Representatives Finally Cuts Funding to Trump’s Deportation Force

The Trump administration is infamous for its attacks on immigrants and their loved ones. The administration’s cruelty has no bounds, as we’ve seen from its separation of families, obliteration of... Read more

Published on: 2020-07-14

Source: ACLU

ICYMI: Bad to Worse in China, Pipelines No Longer in Pipeline, Grudging Crows

In China, air pollution is now worse than it was pre-pandemic. There is also an outbreak of bubonic plague. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the US passes 3 million, with more... Read more

Published on: 2020-07-10

Source: Sierra Magazine

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RESOURCES

EXPERIENCING THE BORDERLANDS

Navigating the Borderlands
Borderline: Navigating the invisible boundary and physical barriers that define the U.S.-Mexico border
America’s Wall
Embattled Borderlands
Up Against the Wall
USA Today’s In-Depth Examination of the Border Wall
Faces of the Borderlands
Along the border, 500 miles of desert species

BACKGROUND

Maps, science and photographs documenting border impacts
Border Security and Accountability Act of 2015 – Fact Sheet
Wall Street’s Border Wall: How 5 Firms Benefit Financially from Anti-Immigrant Policy
Past, Present, and Future Impacts of Walls on the U.S.-Mexico Border

CASE AGAINST THE WALL

The Environmental Cost of Trump’s Border Wall – Center for Western Priorities
Why we don’t need Trump’s ‘great, great wall’ – Arizona Daily Star
New Border Walls Designed to Flood Texas Towns – Texas Observer
Border Lawmakers Balk at Donald Trump’s Wall Request – Wall Street Journal
Scientists say Trump’s border wall would devastate wildlife habitat – The Texas Tribune
Surprising Lives of Those Living Along U.S.-Mexico Border – National Geographic
There’s a better alternative to building a border wall: restoring the Rio Grande – Quartz
The environmental impact of the US-Mexico Border Wall – Newsweek
Why Trump’s wall won’t stretch ‘from sea to shining sea’ – Washington Post
The Founders would have opposed seizing land for Trump’s border wall – Washington Post

Photo: Krista Schlyer