"Sarah Towle joins The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about her book "Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands" where she writes about how unwelcoming our government is to...
Valerie Lacarte, Ph.D., Aug. 2024 "The charge that immigrants are taking jobs from U.S.-born Black workers has made its way from conspiracy circles to the broader public conversation this election...
I have some thoughts for the Harris/Walz team, the Supreme Court, Congress, DHS, DOL, and DOJ regarding the border. Please consider subscribing to my free Substack . Comments welcome via Substack,...
Eric Asimov, New York Times, Aug. 27, 2024 (gift article) "Arjav Ezekiel rose through the restaurant ranks becoming a sommelier and opening Birdie’s in Austin, Texas. Few knew of his past...
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the ACLU, the ACLU of Louisiana, Immigration Services & Legal Advocacy, National Immigration Project, Aug. 26. 2024 "A coalition of immigrants’ rights groups...
Melissa del Bosque, The Border Chronicle, Nov. 9, 2021
"For more than 30 years, Carlos Spector has worked as a human rights defender and immigration attorney in El Paso, Texas, where he specializes in Mexican asylum cases. For years, Mexicans fleeing persecution and political violence have viewed Spector’s law office, which he runs with his wife, Sandra, also a longtime human rights activist, as a place of refuge and hope. In 2010 the couple cofounded a nonprofit, Mexicanos en Exilio, to help bring resources and attention to the plight of Mexican human rights defenders, journalists, and other activists seeking asylum. While U.S. media coverage of the violence in Mexico has largely disappeared from the headlines, the murder rate continues to climb in Mexico, which is considered as dangerous for journalists as Syria and Afghanistan. Extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances are also on the rise with human rights leaders increasingly being targeted. In Mexico, according to Human Rights Watch, only 1.3 percent of crimes committed are ever solved, because of official corruption and a lack of resources. This makes Spector’s job not only crucial but also extremely difficult. Typically, only a small fraction—around 5 percent—of Mexican asylum seekers win their cases. During the four years of the Trump administration, the U.S. asylum system was essentially dismantled by Stephen Miller and other anti-immigrant hardliners. These were some of the toughest times of Spector’s career. These days, Spector said, he sees a few hopeful changes on the horizon, and he is gearing up to represent more human rights defenders from Mexico as the border reopens this month. ..."