Previously: “People are scared to go out because they go out with their kids, and they don’t want to go to a place where (people are) going to show up with guns to check whether they’re a U.S. citizen or not. That was very upsetting for a lot of people.” https://www.texasobserver.org/ice-raids-abbys-bakery-valley-los-fresnos/

I'm not kidding when I say now is the time to switch to a flip phone. Your privacy matters.

https://www.theverge.com/policy/634264/customs-border-protection-search-phone-airport-rights

In #film: What does the #border represent? Danger, drama? A new slate of stories aims to depict prosaic, everyday life on the edge of the United States.
https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-border-new-frontier-film/

I have an interesting question, if I was to have to travel to America and choose not to take a digital device, phone, laptop etc.. would I be flagged or taken aside?

As it is my company now are now talking about providing blank machines with extremely locked down access and no local storage, the same system used when visiting China. Along with a blank phone only containing helpdesk and traveldesk contact information.. #america #border

Earlier: Yael Schacher. a director at Refugees International and a historian of U.S. #immigration policy. spoke with The Texas Observer about asylum, #border policing, and the parallels between the country’s past and present.
https://www.texasobserver.org/asylum-history-america-trump/

This happened to an attractive young white woman traveling on a valid Canadian passport. Imagine what they do to impoverished and terrified brown people arriving with their families at the #border with only their stories of #torture, persecution, and loss.

#immigration #asylum #refugees #ICE #racism #fascism
#America #impeach47 #deportElon
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/canadian-detained-us-immigration-jasmine-mooney

In stark contrast to dramatic border thrillers like Sicario, where a cartel shootout breaks out on the El Paso international bridge in broad daylight, boredom is often the worst-case scenario for people who actually live along the #border at least on the U.S. side. https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-border-new-frontier-film/

"Thirty of us shared one room. We were given one Styrofoam cup for water and one plastic spoon that we had to reuse for every meal.
The towels they gave us to shower were hand towels.
They wouldn’t give us more blankets. The fluorescent lights shined on us 24/7.

Everything felt like it was meant to break you.
We were locked in a room, no daylight, with no idea when we would get out.."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/canadian-detained-us-immigration-jasmine-mooney

The Anthony (NM) Water and Sanitation District marked a new stage in ongoing work to replace aging and outdated water lines serving the rural city close to El Paso, Texas, and the U.S.-Mexico border.

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_459572f2-0424-11f0-93b6-cba2bc779816.html

“People are scared to go out because they go out with their kids, and they don’t want to go to a place where (people are) going to show up with guns to check whether they’re a U.S. citizen or not. That was very upsetting for a lot of people.” https://www.texasobserver.org/ice-raids-abbys-bakery-valley-los-fresnos/

From our magazine: What does the "border" represent in movies? Crime, drama, danger? A new crop of stories are showing prosaic, beautiful everyday life in the region instead ...
https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-border-new-frontier-film/

#movies #film #border #culture #Texas @film

#Trump's language about #Canada (he's now describing their #border as an "artificial line of separation") sounds to me more and like #Putin's language about #Ukraine's relationship to #Russia. Both say that their neighbours aren't real countries, but ought to belong to them- regardless of the wishes of their populations. And #America's people didn't vote to annex Canada

Our top story: The governor's state of disaster has been continuously renewed for four years. In this time, the #Texas Legislature has allocated more than $11 billion to fund the sprawling tentacles of Operation Lone Star.
https://www.texasobserver.org/abbott-operation-lone-star-contractors-bonanza/

Fifty horses and a mule strode through the border of village of Columbus Saturday in a parade led by the flags of the United States, Mexico and New Mexico — and one rider in the guise of the Mexican revolutionary hero, Francisco “Pancho” Villa.

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_fcdf3166-fcf7-11ef-8aa8-fbd332cb7fef.html

“Rank favoritism, such as a sole-source award to a contractor who is a major donor to the governor, leads past waste to outright #corruption, for the motivation of the award is not the bid’s economy but the governor’s campaign treasury.”

Our top story: Abbott's Operation Lone Star boondoggle has been lining donors pockets for four years now, with no sign of stopping. https://www.texasobserver.org/abbott-operation-lone-star-contractors-bonanza/

Our top story: The list of purchased matériel seems fit for a nation at war. Drones, helicopters, and airplanes. All-terrain vehicles, tactical marine vessels, and bulldozers. AI surveillance software and mobile surveillance units. Fuel and generators, food and water, zip-ties and razor wire. https://www.texasobserver.org/abbott-operation-lone-star-contractors-bonanza/

Imma just gonna leave this here cuz the dude ain’t wrong.