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Border and Immigration

Stay on top of the latest developments along the U.S. - Mexico border. Follow AZPM for current coverage about border policy, immigration issues, migrant journeys, and life in the border region of Southern Arizona. Video News Support local journalism
NEWS

Officials warn of dangers of crossing the border in anticipation of summer heat

Officials from both sides of the border warn migrants of the dangers of crossing the border in potentially deadly heat.
March 28, 2024

Number of families and children in Border Patrol's Tucson Sector grows

New federal data shows that the number of migrants apprehended by Border Patrol last month grew, including the number of families and children.
March 27, 2024

Pima County to continue migrant services

County will avoid street releases at the end of the week, anticipating federal funding from the $650 million, in the border security funding bill, for shelter and services to asylum seekers.
March 26, 2024

Judge allows Mexico’s case against Arizona gun dealers to proceed

A federal judge in Tucson ruled Monday that Mexico’s case against five Arizona gun dealers is allowed to proceed. The gun dealers sought to have the entire case thrown out.
March 25, 2024

Attorneys make opening statements in case of rancher accused of killing migrant

Friday was opening arguments in the trial of George Alan Kelly, the 75-year-old rancher being charged in the shooting death of a Mexican citizen, who prosecutors say was on Kelly’s property while crossing the U.S.-Mexico border undocumented.
March 22, 2024

Tucson officially honors 23 new citizens at a TUSD middle school

The naturalization of an all female group of immigrants was in celebration of Women’s History Month.
March 22, 2024

"Víctimas del Pecado" makes a powerful return to the silver screen.

Also on Arizona Spotlight: How Stories Change Lives - Social Venture Partners "Fast Pitch" offers opportunities for local non-profits; and Mel Blumenthal shares a story about being sneaky on a German train.
March 21, 2024

Federal dollars for asylum seekers in Tucson on verge of running out as Congress releases spending deal

Congressional leaders unveiled a spending package with $650 million for short-term asylum services like Casa Alitas in Tucson. However, approval and allocation may come too late to avoid street releases.
March 21, 2024

Archive seeks to reclaim border narrative

The Reclaiming the Border Narrative digital archive is a collaboration meant to tell the story of the border through the eyes of people who live there.
March 18, 2024

County discontinues contracts to migrant services

Pima County is discontinuing contracts for services to the more than 2,500 asylum seekers a day, who have been released by Border Patrol. Federal dollars are running out as Congress has yet to agree on more funding for border communities.
March 6, 2024

Hobbs vetoes immigration bill

The bill is similar to a Texas law put on hold by the U.S. Supreme Court.
March 4, 2024

More than $2 billion paid to bond people out of immigration detention; highest amount in Eloy

People seeking the release of migrants detained for crossing the border have paid more than 2 billion dollars in bonds since 2017. A recent report shows that collectively the highest amount paid was in Eloy, Arizona.
March 4, 2024

Diocese of Tucson seeks donations to continue migrant services in wake of funding cliff

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson and Casa Alitas are asking community members to consider donating to help asylum seekers in Tucson as federal dollars run out and street releases are set to begin on April 1.
March 1, 2024

The Buzz: What can states do at the US-Mexico border?

Federal law rules the land when it comes to border enforcement, but local governments can help.
March 1, 2024

Arizona lawmakers pass bill some compare to controversial SB 1070

On Wednesday, the Arizona legislature passed a bill that would make it a state crime to enter the country unauthorized.
February 28, 2024

Officials and nonprofit partner to offer free immigration advice

The Consulate of Mexico in Nogales is partnering with Chicanos Por la Causa to offer free immigration advice and advice on pathways to US citizenship for community members.
February 26, 2024

Judge to decide whether to hear case against Arizona gun dealers for alleged part in gun trafficking to Mexico

A lawsuit by the Mexican government against five Arizona gun dealers has its first hearing Thursday in federal court in Tucson. The suit alleges the dealers caused Mexico harm by trafficking guns across the border from the U.S.
February 21, 2024

Diverse community comes together to clean up rural highway

Every year people of different ideologies come together in Southern Arizona for the highway cleanup from Three Points, through the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge and to Sasabe and the always changing border.
February 20, 2024

Hobbs on Senate's failure to pass Bipartisan Border Security Package: "It is incredibly unfortunate and frustrating."

The Q & A was hosted by the Sky Islands Regional Partnership — formerly known as the Sierra Vista Area Chamber of Commerce
February 15, 2024

Migrants in Sasabe stuck in freezing temps overnight, including families

Hundreds of migrants waited through the night near Sasabe over the weekend through snow and freezing temperatures.
February 13, 2024

Mexican families fleeing violence grows exponentially in Tucson Sector

The number of Mexican families crossing the U.S.-Mexico border grew nationwide in 2023, but nowhere is that more true than in Arizona’s Tucson Sector where the number of Mexican people in a family grew from 8,500 in 2022 to more than 120-thousand.
February 12, 2024

Families coming to US border greatly increases in 2023

In 2023 the number of families coming to the U.S.-Mexico border greatly increased. Nowhere on the southern border is that truer than in Arizona’s Tucson Sector where the number of family members increased from about 24,000 people to more than 220,000.
January 29, 2024

December breaks record for migrant apprehensions

New data shows that December was a record for the number of times Border Patrol apprehended migrants entering the US unauthorized, with the highest number being in the Tucson Sector at more than 80,000 apprehensions.
January 27, 2024
VIDEO

Gabriel Dozal: No Pares, Sigue, Sigue

A visual poem from his poetry collection, titled "The Border Simulator."
September 30, 2023

“To Erasures, Erasures" by Susan Briante

Poet Susan Briante shares an original poem that addresses immigration and the US-Mexico border.
July 25, 2023

Don't Bring Guns to Mexico

As gun violence and smuggling in Mexico increases so does the number of Americans arrested for trafficking.
April 21, 2023

We Are the Water Missing Home

Indigenous communities fight against border wall construction near a sacred Sonoran Desert spring. (10:06)
April 25, 2021

What Remains

Working to identify migrants who have perished in the Arizona desert.
April 15, 2019

Where Dreams Die

Honoring the lives of the migrants who have died in the Sonoran Desert
November 5, 2018
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