In the amazon, paraguays insurgency and the shifting politics of antarctica. He was based in caracas venezuela for the New York Times as bureau chief where he covered colombian warhe and politics in bolivia. Give a warm welcome to simon romero. [applause] mr. Romero thanks for the kind introduction. I will introduce this wonderful panel i have the pleasure of moderating. Is a journalist and cultural anthropologist and writer at texas monthly. Thework focuses on u. S. Mexico border in the history and culture of south texas. Her writing has appeared in harpers magazine and the New York Times. [applause] angela is a multimedia journalist who has covered the u. S. Mexico border in mexicos interior for television, newspapers and radio and was muska and was mexico border chief for a major broadcasting group. She is a reporter for the albuquerque journal, and a special contributor on public radio and television. [applause] alfredo is the mexico border correspondent for the dallas morning news, where he has covered u. S. Mexico issues since 1993. He has also reported for the El Paso Herald post and wall street journal and is the author of homelands and midnight in mexico. [applause] diving right in, i want to ask aboutquestion, cecilia, the place you come from and the connection it has for you. Because you and i share something. We are both descendents of people who arrived a long time texas. What is now your family used to control padre island in south texas. Tell us about that and how it influences your coverage of the u. S. Mexico border. We dont have any of that land. I dont even own a condominium on padre island. There is a long history of dispossession of lands held by mexicans who became mexicanamerican citizens after the mexican war. But on my mother and fathers our families came in the middle of the 18th century and were part of these initial settlements that emerged along the rio grande. The river was a source of sustenance and life and these communities eventually were on either side of the river. When the river became our border after the u. S. Mexico war, the families ended up on either side. So i only have one grandmother who is from mexico, the interior, but my other three grandparents are from this region. In the have family interior of mexico or the u. S. People dont know my last name in other country, so really i am from the border, it is a place that feels like home. It doesnt feel like the edge of anything, it feels like the center of this long story, this long history of us being there. We will be discussing how that has changed, but i grew up with a strong sense of rootedness in this place that is now under so much dispute. angela, you grew up on both sides of the border, so you had that ability to move between both worlds, and a way. Haddad that influenced you to moving into journalism and working on the border itself . To my im grateful mother. She did raise me on both sides of the border. I was born in mexico city, raised in guadalajara, at 10 years old moved back to the u. S. My mother is from the u. S. , the same place where cecilia grew up, rio grande valley. As a 10yearold, it was confusing on the border, where people look mexican to me but dont speak spanish, and i had to understand this unique language, spanglish, and try to understand that. Theover time, the border is only place i feel truly at home. I and manyce where people go back and forth, not talking about infrastructure, but the bilingual, bicultural, binational nature of the border and i feel im fortunate to have that experience. It has shaped who i am and helped inform all the reporting. I tried to serve as a bridge of understanding it is a place i like to say at as, we dont think of ourselves as either or, but more. I love the border. Simon alfredo, tell us about el paso history and its history of welcoming immigrants, and functioning in and functioning as a kind of ellis island for that part of the states. how did emerge that emerge . Alfredo i was born in mexico. My father talked about someday moving to the u. S. None of us, my brothers and my mother, none of us wanted to come north. We came because of the landmark immigration and nationality act signed by president johnson in 1965, so i remember coming to waiting forare as, men with evergreen cards, staring at the mountains and seeing the big stars. , soas the Christmas Season thats where we want to go and they are forcing us to go, and through ank, we came El Paso Neighborhood which i would say millions of immigrants, that was our ellis island in the southwest. We came through their on the way to the california Central Valley , but i remember my mother as a really bynever anything or towels or she would pull her money and look forward to moving back to the border. The border at that time to us land, the annual pilgrimage where we would go back to el paso and juarez. And it was always counting the days to someday when we would make the permanent move. By salazar, who later became a correspondent for where yougeles times, could bring both sides to the reader through journalism. Today i dont feel complete as a person or a journalist as reporting from both sides on the is the ultimate feeling, when you know you can and hopefully try to make mexicans and americans understand what it is to be binational, bilingual and bicultural. Room as all of us in this know, it has been a very eventful year on the u. S. Mexico border. We have all been covering issues like family separation, imprisonment of migrant shocking,and the shattering massacre in el paso in august, when a gunman went into the walmart and targeted people because of their ethnicity. Angela, how does that compare with the other coverage you have done of difficult events on the border . What made this year stand out for you . Been darkere have days on the border, especially el paso, for all the reasons you said. The shooting stunned people. Once the alleged gunman was taken into custody, el paso was chosen for the attack because of who we are and where we live. Horrible, shooting is but that one in particular hit so close to home. I covered so much violence in juarez, drug violence, which is spiking again, and that has been heartbreaking. But what was stunning to some people was that it happened in this every day place where people from both sides of the border were doing normal shopping. So that, combined with other heartbreaking stories, it has been topped, but i have been inspired by the resilience of border residents on both sides, especially el paso, setting a real example. And also this idea of tolerance of people, that is a place of tolerance, so there are things we can learn from the el paso experience. Cecilia, the border occupies a big place in public imagination and especially in policymaking right now. There is antiimmigration rhetoric, the border is portrayed as this incredibly , and there have been calls to build more of a wall on the border. What does that feel like in south texas these days . The reaction to the wall and possibly a portion of private wall . We have a good bit of border fencing built in 2008 and 2010 and back then communities in south texas were highly opposed to the wall. We are openly admitting that the function of it is horrible. There is a researcher in texas who did data crunching that shows there is a perfect relationship between how close you are to the border rack border and whether you support the wall. We know the wall is symbolic. The further they are from the border, the more they want it. That is not to say border residents dont want different kinds of enforcement, but the wall itself is the climax of the political theater. And i think people in south texas are tired of that. They know it is a place where politicians come for photo ops and then they leave and folks are not investing in the region, and the communities have to step providing difficult moments for migrant families. Been a say there has buildup of this in the past 30 years, and throughout history. Of trends explosion we have been living through on , and the buildup of border enforcement began a long 1990s webut in the started having this deterrence strategy that focused on Border Agents and particular cities, and under president george w. Bush the wall was approved, but then built under president obama. I dont live there anymore but i spend a lot of time there, and we seem to be subjected to more stops for searches on the u. S. Side. 9 11, the stakes were raised, and people started talking about the border differently and using the term Border Security, which correlated with National Security so the implication was that the threat to the country was at the border. So i saw a lot of change, even during that time. We have to be very attentive to the language we use, because it was changing into that language of Border Security and now we have both Political Parties take for granted that there is some type of persistent threat on the border. A question, alfredo, about el paso and warez and a el and j paso and juarez. And when i was there there was a band playing Creedence Clearwater revival songs, and english. In english. Tell us about the cultural life between these two cities. Where is the center of vibrancy, or el paso, and is there crosspollination going on between artists and singers and people on both sides . Alfredo there is a history. Here juan gabriel plays a huge role. Last hit was ais Creedence Clearwater song in spanish. The rain song. Alfredo it will come back to me. But the song explains the bicultural part of it. Texas is an area in south where accordion music, mariachis, it is being taught in high schools and colleges. And it makes people feel a sense of confidence. You are confident about belonging on both sides of the border. That helps that side of you. When we lived in california, my mother would say we want to go to el paso. We grew up in the San Joaquin Valley and there were usually people working in fields, but years later i understood that to be that people can be themselves and can claim both sides of the border. And as angela said, you dont feel like you have to choose one side or the other. And that goes with music and food and drinks. Mentionedela, you that when you were growing up you had to decipher this new whichge called spanglish, has experienced growth and evolution. You walk around los angeles and it is fantastic, the spanglish you we are all the time. What does that mean to you on a daytoday basis . Do you do interviews in english, spanish, spanglish . Do you know when to mix and when not to . Angela really, both. And it is frowned on in mexico city, people really dont want to hear spanglish. But on the border we are seeing this real blending of cultures and languages, and i look at the border is a peek into the future. , majority latino, mexicanamerican or american , so these are communities that reflect the future. I know that can be confusing and even create fear for people away from the border, but we have learned something in this blending of cultures. The economy, we depend on each other, on the u. S. Side we depend heavily on mexico. We are family ties, we have all sorts of ties that bind. And we dont always get along or even like each other, but we learned a long time ago that we need each other. So that is something that on the border we need to learn beyond the border and except that fact and think about it and figure out a way to make this new reality work. Because it is here, you cant turn back time. It is like what san diego and tijuana went through at the height of the violence. San diego was going to turn its back on tijuana, and later we realized that economically, the all along the u. S. Mexico border. Mexico citys are larger, economically more vibrant, so and sanhave tijuana diego and it is a symbol that we need each other, we need to work this out together. But what happened in tijuana was interesting, because tijuana said, we have to invent ourselves reinvent ourselves. We cant just depend on gringos coming down. So they got into culture, got into the Wine Industry the food industry, and it has become a much more vibrant region. I think a lot of border communities have a lot to learn from that, and see the pride of el paso. If you think of a border as one Big Community where a borderline was imposed, but at the end of the day you talk about walls and fences, we are really the same one when Community Community and people go back and forth all the time. Dont talk about, we want to go to mexico, we want to go to the United States. [speaking spanish] simon one fact of life for people in the border, or as much as 100 miles from the border, our checkpoints. Youlmost becomes natural, have to stop and declare your citizenship and you are gazed at by a Border Patrol officer and they determine whether you are a risk. Do you think the rest of the country, cecilia, has a grasp on what that means on a day to day to be viewed by your own government as someone who is not entirely trustworthy perhaps . I dont think the rest of the country can imagine what that is like, and i dont think the rest of the country would be ok with that happening in new york or any other part of the country. We do have interior checkpoints that have been there since the 1970s, maybe. If you grew up crossing the border, like i did to visit my grandmother, every time you come back in, you are questions by you are questioned by the customs officer. We were kids and they would check to see if we were lying, and we didnt have passports say,then but they would are you a citizen, where you live, what school do you go to . I have been doing a Research Study on latino voters and voters throughout texas, and when you are subjected to that constant questioning of who you it and whether you belong leads to people not participating in the political system, having all kinds of. Ears and this doubt or fear any time you are around any kind of law enforcement. Theother thing we had at same time was a real deep sense of who we were because of the deep cultural immersion and. Raditions we had that problem continues and we have to think about whether we would allow this to happen to all americans, to be constantly questioned. Innocent untilt proven guilty, almost. Is hard toah, and it know at those checkpoints, you dont have as many rights as you do in the interior, and you never know exactly what rights you have. So they take advantage of that, and it is a life of questioning. Especially when you talk about technology nowadays, they pretty much know who is going in and going out, but they still system they still subject you. Simon and Border Patrol agents can get your phone and look at your contacts and websites you have been visiting. Who you have been texting. What sources you have been communicating with. Simon alfredo that is more prevalent in the last two and a half years with this administration. It is almost like the federal agents feel much more empowered to sort of invade your privacy. Related to that point, this is for anyone on the panel, one thing that strikes me about Security Forces and border it is largely a Latino Organization made up of, i think it is easily half of the workforce now. That creates difficult and perhaps conflicted loyalties. People who maybe arresting relatives of their neighbors, or Something Like that, and a lot of small towns. Is what is it like dealing with Border Patrol and trying to get information out of them . Are two things, the Border Patrol agents in the field, and they do a very good, federal job of people who would like to stay in their own community. Wellpaying at a lot of people get to stay at home and in a lot of these communities there arent a lot of great jobs and there is a brain drain. So it is a great opportunity and does create some issues, but it is very common for people to have customs and Border Protection members and their families are in the community. Getting information has become increasingly difficult from actual official agencies. Just little bits and pieces, and we cant find out certain things like how much detention space, why are people forced to wait in mexico if numbers have gone down, they have camped out in border cities when we are told there arent as many migrants coming, so this should be some space if you want to go through the asylum process. I will harken back to a story i did earlier this year. The Border Patrol agents were first to sound the alarm about horrible conditions inside these holding cells. We are of the, community, this is not what we signed up for and we dont want to see these families in these conditions. So it has been a tough year for them and has had an impact. But yes, it is very common for Border Patrol agents to be living in the community and going to school, parents, family, friends. Like anything on the border, nothing is really blackandwhite. I remember a few years ago i was working with an editor in mexico for, we were doing a piece the new yorker, a series of stories on conflicted loyalties of agents. I remember the orders from mexico city was, they must be conflicted, they are mexicanamericans, they must feel for their compatriots, etc. Maybe not. That was the point of the story. There was more of a sense like you have to prove that you are an american, that you are defending the country. They are patriots. Mexicanamericans are very patriotic too. They are very patriotic. Belief inof shook the mexico city as well. We were so wrong about that. I love texas. I am fascinated by texas. It is so different from new mexico, where i am from. The way the border has been inected in depicted schoolbooks and history books that wahas evolved over time. With that been like a background in journalism and a phd from academia how is it to watch the way the border is portrayed in texas itself . Growing up, we were not told these stories about families like mine. What happened in texas was the Texas Revolution the narrative about the war was rewritten so that it was made into a racial war when it was not a racial war. It was about what system of Government People wanted to live under. When he was told about the it was told about the Texas Revolution, it was something dangerous, to be contained. Texas was anglo. We grew up not knowing this story. I actually was in college student, a college trying to study my first year. It was rough coming from a Public School in brownsville. There was a section of history books about brownsville. That is when i started learning my history, in california. Then i dedicated my undergrad studies and phd to unraveling and rewriting the story my families were part of, and trying to understand how latinos and mexicanamericans got washed out completely of the story of texas. I feel like i have not moved on to other subjects because it is an unfinished project. Debate has there been a change . Cecilia there is a fight for curriculum to be accepted by the texas state board of education. They are starting to incorporate this in the classroom. I think it is a wonderful thing. I think there is this fear in this country that, if you have a strong identity, if you hang onto your culture, it is a threat to assimilation and the body politic of this country. Moreperience has been, the you know who you are, the more empowered you are as an american citizen and the more you can move between different spaces. But it changing finally, has been a long fight to get there. Simon in one of your recent articles, you returned to the site of the shooting in el paso, to that walmart. Tell us about that. What does it look like now, and what is the feeling at the store and surrounding area . Alfredo walmart just reopened about a week ago. They after the shooting, made sort of a makeshift memorial to the victims. There were tons of rosaries, flowers, pictures of their loved ones. Within 48 hours, it was all gone. Back to theent relatives of the victims. Some of it moved to a nearby park, near the walmart. Did,f the things el paso like many other cities you go through a mass shooting el paso strong, etc. But, in talking to people at the walmart, i dont think we have been able to really process things. I dont think we will ever be the same again. Pasoan. Der and el we areus so hard that still trying to especially as journalist, we just go on to the next story. I dont think we have done this story justice. There is a lot more we have to do to educate both sides. Mexico yesterday, the government, on behalf of 10 mexican victims 49 people were injured. Almost half of them were mexicans. It tells you about both sides. The shooting happened on my fathers 85th birthday. When i think about that shooting, there are all these raw emotions. If someone really believes in the american dream, it is my father. He brought us to mexico. He gave us a new life. You have someone from north texas come to el paso to target mexicans that is a slap in the face to the city, but just about any mexicanamerican who believes in keeping that dream alive, especially in these very divisive, polarized times in this country. I was in el paso last month, trying to get a sense of what the massacre meant to people. It was hard to get one predominant sense. You are exactly right, people are making meaning of it. It is a very wounded city. There is a lot of sadness. For me, we have missed the opportunity as a country and in texas to have a deeper reflection of what it means to have the worst crime against latinos in modern times, or to have a racist hate crime that is targeting a different community. N roof whoe had dylan killed africanamericans in south carolina. He was a white supremacist. We took more time to reflect where we were as a country. We didnt do the same with the el paso shooting, i feel, or not enough. One of the issues is that we have, historically, in texas and throughout the country, thought of mexicans as outsiders. We were completely erased from our own history. That happened in other parts of the southwest as well. We are a community seen perpetually as outsiders, and we dont have a way of understanding as a country our race problems around mexicanamericans and latinos. We understand it at xenophobia and antiimmigrant sentiment, but i feel the conversation needs to go beyond that. Alfredo needs to go deeper. Simon how is it playing out on the border these days . One of the candidates who dropped out of the race is beto orourke. He spoke about these issues. You have Julian Castro talking a lot about these issues. Is there a sense that the border is included in the national debate, or is there a sense it is neglected . Angela it is included as this flashpoint of crisis, whether humanitarian crisis or security crisis. It is portrayed in some campaigns as a dangerous no mans land overrun by criminals, which couldnt be further from the truth. Some u. S. Border cities are among the safest in the country. Being ae about borders safe place, everybody does, but they also care about health care, job creation. People are tired of only being i talked about the wall. We have a wall along big stretches of border. People have various views about it. Most people on the border polled are against the wall because it is an ineffective tool. They would like to see a more sophisticated look, both at Border Security issues, but more than that, issues that matter to border residents. There are issues with poverty that need to be addressed. Will we see voter turnout in these largely latino regions of the border . Will people turn out . What will it take for people to turn out . He didto orourke ran not win the election against ted cruz he motivated voters and young people to go to the polls. We will see how people will be motivated if they think these candidates are speaking to them. Simon i know the topic tonight is what the rest of the country can learn from the border, but i think the border can learn a lot from california and 187. Ig lived in california have a big family here that is what played in my mind after the shooting. Will this finally motivate people to participate, to come out and vote, whether democrat or republican, but really make themselves counted . The ultimate test is show up at the polls. Yes, beto did motivate a lot of people to vote, but i hope this trend continues, that el pasoans and all people along the border can turn out. We really matter. We dont want washington or some other city to write our narrative. We want to define who we are. It does work. That is why they keep doing it. Simon one of the things i have been most impressed by my reporting trips to the border is a place like annunciation house, which is an Incredible Organization in el paso which assists refugees and asylumseekers in many ways. There has been an organic growth of real activism among border residents to solve these issues on their own, because they know the federal or state or city governments will not solve these things for them. They stepped into that role. The restomething that of the country can look at, that there is a real sense of solidarity and cohesion on the border that is overlooked . How do you see that happening . You are coming from houston, which has a different dynamic. Cecilia what you say about social cohesion i really like that. What the border has going for it is a strong sense of family, community. I apologize angela a lot of groups were intervening. Simon groups working together, which is different. Cecilia i have been doing one on one indepth interviews with voters and nonvoters. People are not participating in the political process, but they are deeply engaged in their communities. It is not a lack of agency. They are doing it in these ways. Historically, the border has had to do that for itself. I think that is something we can learn from. Alfredo one of the stories we missed as journalists is the impact it had on the rest of the country. When you have volunteers coming in from wyoming, from montana, from different parts of the country saying i want to spend a week at annunciation house and help out that is a pretty helpful story for the country. Just gloom and doom. There are pockets of people that actually care. They really give a damn. We are not alone. Attention has brought people to go to the border and experience it. Annunciation house as americans, crossing borders is in our dna. On the border, we see it every day. We dont have to be reminded that this is a nation of immigrants. When people see some of the poorest communities reaching out and doing what they can on both sides of the border. I was at these tent cities where mexican asylumseekers were stuck, and they were getting help from people who do remember, because they were at the border looking for new opportunity. Cecilia an organization in houston did a study of schools in the rio grande valley. They found schools with high levels of poverty were outperforming other Public Schools in the state. They did not know how to explain that. They did Qualitative Research and found these intangibles that led to higher performance than you would expect. Like the investment of the whole community in the school, the parents know each other. There are other gains that are hard to quantify when we are just focusing on the politics. Simon i we already for questions. We are ready for questions. Can we please have a round of applause for our guests . [applause] we have time now for a few questions, so please raise your hand and one of our two people on the side with microphones will call on you. Please say your name before your question and keep it concise. First question on the left. A lawyer andm screenwriter. Thank you for this. This was wonderful. Is there a Cultural Practice that you have seen present on the mexican side of the border that you wish were present in the United States and vice versa . I think more humility on the west side of the border would go a long way. [applause] lawink respect for rule of on the mexican side. I think that would empower both communities even more. Do we have another question . Here. Thank you for creating this sacred space. You mentioned about settlements. You mentioned about checkpoints, kids being in detention. I cannot stop and think about palestinian children locked up in israeli jails. Should palestinian children be locked up and our children be locked in cages at checkpoints . Palestinians have to go through checkpoints, security, so there is a lot of connections. Has there been any studies or correlation that you guys have been able to do investigative reporting to make that connection between palestinian and mexican children . Isen times the saddest part we dont make those connections. I have this palestinian bracelet on, because we cannot talk about being in solidarity with our ignores and sisters and n their struggle. There have been studies that connect that. I dont know of any. I think we should be having that exchange and should take what are journalists there border journalists there. Thed a graduate student at university of texas at austin who was looking at those correlations. One thing about the border here that is complex is that we have tried to open and close it at the same time. The previous president s were always talking about how to minimize the amount of time waiting on the border, how to get more tractortrailers to come through, and at the same time, to stop the goods that are illicit. It is a specific border here. As enforcement increased, we are seeing some of the same companies are behind the technology being used. It is a good conversation that we are not having that we should have. I grew up here in los angeles, but for the past two decades, i have been living in arizona, approximately 20 minutes from the border. Correct in saying a lot of the residents there have been involved in interfaith groups to try to stem the deaths, the humanitarian crisis of people crossing the border on prepared. Unprepared. A lot of people crossing the border trying to make lives in the United States are like people from los angeles, they are city folks. They are going into the desert with open toed shoes and being lied to, those lights over there, that is phoenix. Every year, there are people dying in the desert out of ignorance. With no what we do, more deaths, is to place food, caches of water. We also go to the other side. I wanted to know how many people were aware of the continuing deaths, because it is no longer being covered. Days ago, was vindicated for doing this kind of work while our administration is trying to prosecute. That is a great question. I dont think many people are aware of the civil society, the ngos that do that kind of work along the border. Scott warrens acquittal was Pretty Amazing this week. One of the most fascinating stories i have done is in group basedbout a largely out of san diego. They are comprised entirely of immigrants themselves. They go out into the desert each weekend. They make it their mission to find the remains of people who perished during the crossing, to give family members some kind of closure, just to know that is their relative, to identify those bones. It is difficult work to do. They go out on their free time and do this. It is an Incredible Organization. An example of immigrants no areis doing it, and they doing it. They are similar groups up and down the border. In new mexico after they crossed the border. This is an ongoing concern. We rely on these humanitarian organizations to provide help. Another question on the right. Thank you so much. We appreciate you coming out. Earlier, one of the journalists brought up proposition 87 in california in 1994 as the context of a political awakening. I was wondering if the panel could elaborate what was it about that that rejuvenated or galvanized latinos here in california to vote, but hasnt manifested on the border . What is the difference, from your perspective . It the difference is hasnt inspired enough people to go out and actually vote. It was seen as an antiimmigrant measure. What happened in el paso was an act of hatred directed at immigrants. Im hopeful that they will really give people across the border, but in the general latino population, to register, to vote, to participate. We will see. 2020 is just around the corner. I cover arizona a lot. Arizona went through its own proposition 87 moment with sb 1070. The reactions were somewhat different in that there was pressure to weaken the legislation from the business community. There was also a huge outburst of activism and organizing. Fromna is very different california demographically in that they have had so much migration from other parts of the United States, especially the midwest, the rust belt, people often bringing conservative politics with them. Although i think it is in the cards that arizona is going to shift as well. It is looking very purple, the way its congressional delegation is made up. You see changes taking place differently than california. When i was teaching there for a couple years, it was the children of migrants playing a key role in registering and organizing. [indiscernible] we created the largest mass demonstration in los angeles. As far as organization and people taking direct action, we took direct action. Do we have any other questions . Hi, thank you very much. On the border sound amazing. For those like myself who are geographically challenged, how many miles and cities are recovering with life on the border . Just a geographical size, approximation. About 2000 miles. Four states on the u. S. Side and six states on the mexican side. Sonora, baja, california. That is on the mexican side. Texas takes about 1000 miles of that 2000 mile border. If you go down to south texas within a 2 hour drive you will pass 14 different crossing points into the United States. There are a lot of towns hugging the Rio Grande River on either side. Those towns go way back to the 1700s. That area has been a continuously inhabited place. The big cities and rural little towns, there is a variety of different communities. And the historic trails it cuts through el paso. We will close our program there. Thank you for joining us. Please do join us for the reception right now. Before we close, on behalf of zocalo public square, thank you for coming. Please give a huge round of applause to our guests. [applause] saturday at 4 00 p. M. Eastern tulsiawaii congress maam gabbert in hudson, new hampshire. Unday at 2 00 p. M. Eastern, former Vice President joe biden in peterborough, new hampshire. 2 00 p. M. Eastern entrepreneur yang in new tuesday atnd