An article in the New York Times (9/4/15, “Iowans Question GOP Talk on Illegal Immigration“) quotes Chuck Coghill, who runs a sign company in the rural town of Blue Grass with his wife, Michelle: “It’s a bad thing that all these illegal Mexicans are here.” He paused. “But they’re hard workers. They’re doing jobs that lazy […]
Continue Reading →Willie Nelson & Me
While interviewing Willie Nelson for a FarmAid project I’m working on with Brooke Shuman (pictured) and Chris Fowler (who took this photo on left), I was able to give him a copy of Border Odyssey (see table). Then we began talking about how horrible it is that Latino immigrants have been vilified so much, including […]
Continue Reading →Mr. Trump, Were Your Ancestors Ever the Tired, the Poor, the Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe Free?
I search the photo of these desperately poor people I photographed in the summer of 2015 at the Suchiate River at the border between Guatemala and Mexico. None of them, from any outward appearance at least, seemed to be rapists or murderers. None of them seemed to be trying to steal jobs or anything […]
Continue Reading →Most Diverse Battle Site Ever on U.S. Soil
Prof. Antonio Zavaleta sent this photograph of himself with his grandson. They dressed as Union soldiers reenacting the Battle of Palmito Hill Ranch near Boca Chica in Texas. This was the 150th anniversary of the Last Battle of the Civil War fought there on May 12th, 1865. Professor Zavaleta and his historic ranch feature in […]
Continue Reading →WUNC: Border Odyssey
The border that separates the United States from Mexico stretches across four states and spans almost 2,000 miles, but the issues that arise from this separation travel an even greater distance. Immigration touches on the economic, social and political fabric of all 50 states. Host Frank Stasio talks with Duke professor of the practice of […]
Continue Reading →