For Lydia Otero, researching the history of the Southwest is personal and political. Growing up in Tucson, Arizona, their family frequented a place they called La Calle that was bustling with shops and pedestrians. The family did not own a car, so they walked there.

Soon, the construction of I-10 through the city divided them from La Calle. Then, while Otero was living in Los Angeles working as an electrician and becoming active in LGBT+ organizing, La Calle was torn down as part of Tucson’s urban renewal initiative.

Otero decided to become the person to tell these stories. They returned to Tucson to pursue a PhD in history at the University of Arizona, where they later worked as a professor of Mexican American studies. They are the author of four books, including: "La Calle, a history of urban renewal in Tucson"; "In the Shadow of the Freeway and L.A. Interchanges", both memoirs; and the new "Storied Property: María Cordova’s Casa", which tells the story of one woman’s resistance to urban renewal and her efforts to save what Otero calls “the most important house in Tucson.”

For this episode of the Border Chronicle Podcast, reporter and editor Caroline Tracey is joined by Otero to discuss their life and work.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone familiar with Tucson, Arizona and anyone interested in doing their own place-based historical research and memoir writing.

Tombstone, Arizona calls itself “The Town too Tough to Die.” It has an Old West-themed Main Street and daily re-enactments of gunfights. For most people, it’s a place to briefly drop into in order to experience a Disneyland-style version of Arizona history.

For Logan Phillips, however, Tombstone was once home. The Tucson, Arizona-based poet was born in the town and grew up nearby. His father worked at the town’s Historic Courthouse Museum; his uncle was an actor in Westerns. Phillips’s new book, "Reckon," out now from University of Arizona Press, examines what it means to be from a place that glorifies violent, colonial masculinity—and seeks to find a way forward though family, relationships to land, and reckoning with history.

In this episode of the Border Chronicle podcast, Caroline Tracey is joined by Phillips to discuss his new book and what it means to be born in the contemporary “Old West."

In the spirit of broadening the analysis beyond ICE, Border Chronicle cofounders Melissa del Bosque and Todd Miller discuss the leading role the U.S. Border Patrol has played in violent operations across the country.

We analyze how these shocking immigration sweeps—such as the one in Minneapolis that killed Renée Good and Alex Pretti—extend the U.S. border into the interior. To understand these operations, it is essential to examine the extraconstitutional powers that the Border Patrol has long exercised in the borderlands, where the agency has enjoyed impunity for its abuses. The people of the borderlands and border crossers have faced this ironfisted authoritarianism for decades.

Today, the United States appears to be entering a new phase of expanded border policing—similar to the Operation Gatekeeper deterrence of the 1990s or the sweeping powers and massive budgets that followed 9/11. Now the border can be anywhere, and the guns pointed at anyone—all with the enthusiastic support of the defense contractors who stand to profit.

But the good news is, people have had enough.

I’ve been speaking with Jenn Budd for years about Border Patrol crimes, impunity and how the agency could be (and should be reformed.) But both Democrats and Republicans have refused to demand oversight and accountability for the highly politicized agency.

Border Patrol and its paramilitary culture are now very much in control of the ICE & Border Patrol occupations in various cities in America. We talk about what this means for the investigation of Renee Good’s murder in Minneapolis by an ICE agent, and what that means for Americans as these occupations continue. We also talk about the many years of fatal shootings at the southern border, and the fact that not a single agent has been successfully prosecuted for lethal force.

We also discuss previous efforts at reform and what can be done to hold the agents accountable for their crimes.

You can learn more about Jenn’s work in this important documentary “Critical Incident: Death at the Border” which is out now on HBO Max. You can also listen to our 2022 podcast with Jenn about her memoir “Against the Wall: My Journey from Border Patrol Agent to Immigrant Rights Activist” about her time as an agent in the Border Patrol and her transformation into an activist and one of the fiercest critics against the agency.

Additional context mentioned in our discussion:

How Many People Have Been Shot in ICE Raids? The Trace

We Found That More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days. ProPublica

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This Week in The Border Chronicle:

More News from the Border:

River wall: Feds deploying 500-miles of water barriers near Brownsville MyRGV.com

San Diego sues federal government over concertina wire fence at border KPBS

Trump’s deportation drive is straining the US public coffers and labor market El Pais

The Rio Grande Valley among Texas regions most impacted by expiring health insurance subsidies The Texas Tribune

‘Renee Nicole Good, presente’: Tucsonans hold El Tiradito vigil after ICE shooting death The Tucson Sentinel

El secuestro de Venezuela La Verdad de Juarez

Support independent journalism from the U.S.-Mexico border. Become a paid subscriber today for just $6 a month or $60 a year.

Support local independent journalism from the U.S.-Mexico border today. Become a paid subscriber for just $6 a month or $60 a year at https://www.theborderchronicle.com/

This Week in The Border Chronicle:

More News from the Border:

The Trump administration announced this week that it will further militarize the California-Mexico border by creating another national defense area, which will be under the control of the U.S. Navy.

Interior Transfers Public Land to Navy to Support Border Security and National Defense U.S. Dept. of the Interior press release.

Ft. Bliss in El Paso, Texas, is now holding nearly 3,000 people in detention under deplorable conditions. The ACLU and other civil and human rights organizations are raising the alarm and warn that the administration will likely open other military detention camps soon.

ICE Letter Regarding Ft. Bliss the ACLU & read local border coverage in El Paso Matters

After Trump pardon, Rep. Henry Cuellar restored to homeland security funding post The Texas Tribune

The Department of War is celebrating the fact that it has deployed 43,000 rolls of concertina wire to be installed across the entire southern border.

Historic Border Security Milestone: Largest C-wire Delivery, Emplacement in U.S. Territorial History in Partnership with CBP The Dept. of War

DPS investigating fatal shooting involving Border Patrol in Starr County MyRGV.com

California’s Attorney General is asking people to report ICE, CBP and other federal agent misconduct.

Report Misconduct by Federal Agents to the California Attorney General

‘I made my American dream in my country’: How Rancho Feliz is confronting the immigration crisis at the source Cronkite Borderlands Project/The Tucson Sentinel

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