Best Of The Border (11/18-11/22)
New Immigration Hope For Military Dependents, But Enlistment Hurdles Remain
The Obama Administration recently announced a major change to immigration policy with regard to the military. Now military spouses and children who are in the country illegally can be eligible to stay here without fear of deportation and eventually may earn permanent legal status.
But this new policy appears contradictory to an increasingly common practice in many branches of the military that explicitly bans enlistment by people who have unauthorized immigrant dependents.
JFK's Fateful Last Night And The Latino Vote
As the nation this week remembers the last tragic day of John F. Kennedy’s presidency, many Latino voters of that era reflect on what the 35th president meant to their emerging political bloc.
JFK had a special connection to the Mexican-American voter, and his campaign helped create the Latino Democratic political coalitions that still exist today.
Cold Storage: Migrants Refer To Border Cells As 'Freezers'
Temperatures in some detention cells from Texas to Arizona are so low that migrants say it’s a form of punishment to keep them from crossing again.
“To subject people to this type of treatment for any period of time is unacceptable,” said James Lyall, an ACLU attorney in Tucson who monitors conditions along the border. “But to do so, for sometimes days, is really egregious.”
Navajo Casinos Stimulate Economy — At A Cost
It’s been five years since the Navajo Nation opened its first casino. For two decades the tribe resisted the lure of the quick money maker. They feared the social ills that tend to come with gaming — compulsive gambling, alcoholism, crime and loss of culture.
Squatters Built Tijuana, But They Still Frustrate City Planners
Squatter settlements largely shaped Tijuana's explosive growth in recent decades. But how did these settlements evolve into fully-functioning neighborhoods?
“I was so excited to move to Tijuana because I thought it was this big, huge metropolis, kind of like the U.S.,” Rosario Gibbs recalls of her teen years.
But when she first got here with her family in 1990, most of this area was just miles and miles of scrubby, sandy hills. And few roads were paved.
“I was like, ‘Oh man, this is disgusting. I don’t like it,’” she said with a laugh.
Updated 11/25/2013 at 11:03 a.m.
