Transcripts For CSPAN U.S.Mexico Border Discussion At Zocalo

CSPAN U.S.Mexico Border Discussion At Zocalo Public Square July 13, 2024

And later, the House Homeland Security committee looks at the use of facial Recognition Technology by government agencies. It is my great pleasure to introduce simone romedo, scompontfosh the New York Times based in albuquerque, new mexico. He was previously the Brazil Bureau chief for the times covering brazil and other parts of south america. He has written extensively on a broad range of issues including brahms political upheaval, river pirates on the amazon rainforest, fargways guerrilla insurgency and shifting politics of antarctica. He was also the New York Times and Denver Bureau chief until 2011 based in caracas, venezuela whereby he covered issues including president hugo chavezs political movement, colombias long internal war and indidgeius politics in bolivia. Please give a warm welcome to mr. Simone romedo. [applause] sara, thank you so much for the very kind introduction. And im just going to move on right now and introduce this wonderful panel that i have the pleasure of moderating. We have cecilia bade a. Journalist and cultural anthropologist and a writer at large at texas monthly. Her work focuses on the u. S. Mexico border and the history and culture of south texas. And her writing is also appeared in harpers magazine and the New York Times. [applause] angela korgega multimedia journalist who has covered the u. S. Mexico border and the and mexicos interior for television, newspapers and radio. And was mexico border chief for a major broadcasting group. She is currently the Southern New Mexico border reporter for the Albuquerque Journal and a special contributor for public radio and television. [applause] and alfredo corcalo mexico border correspondent for the dallas morning news. Where he has covered u. S. Mexico issues since 1993. He is also reported for the el paso harold post and the wall street journal and is the author of homelands and midnight in mexico. [applause] so just diving right in, i want to ask you a question, cecilia, about the place that you come from and the connection that it has for you. Because i think that we you and i share something in that were both descendants of people who arrived a long time ago in now what is now texas and the u. S. Southwest. And in fact, your family used to control what is now known as padre island in south texas. Tell us a little bit about that and how that influences your writing and your coverage of the u. S. Mexico border. Sure. We dont have any of that land. I dont even own a condominium on padre island unfortunately. Theres a long history of this land held by mexicans who became Mexican American citizens after the mexican war. But on my mother and fathers side, our families came to the area in the 1700s in the middle of the 18th century and were a part of these initial settlements that emerged along the rio grande. The river was a source of water. Of sustenance and life and these communities emerged that were on either side of the river. Eventually when the river became our border, after the u. S. Mexican war the families ended up on either side. And so one grandmother who is from mexico, from the interior. But my other three grand parents are all from this region. I dont have a lot of family in the interior of mexico or the u. S. People dont know my last name in either country so im really im from the border and a place that feels like home. And it doesnt feel like the edge of anything. It feels like the center of this long story, this long history of us being there. And well be discussing today how thats changed. But for me, i grew up just with a strong sense of this place thats under so much dispute. And angela, you grew up on both sides of the border. And you have that ability to move between both worlds in a way. How did that influence you into moving into journalism and eventually working on the border itself . Well, im grateful to my mother because she did raise me on both sides of the border. I was born in mexico city, raised in guadalajara and then the 10 years old moved back to the u. S. My mother is from the United States and actually moved to the same place where cecilia grew up, the rio grande valley. And as a 10yearold a confusing place and on the border where a lot of people look mexican to me but dont speak spanish and i had to understand this very unique language of spanning publish of spanglish and try to understand that. Over time really the border is the only place i feel truly at home. Its a place where i and any people move back and forth seamlessly and talking about the bilingual, bicultural, binational of the border and im very fortunate to have that experience and its shaped who i am and also really helped inform all of my reporting. Ive tried to serve as a bridge of understanding and its a place that i like to say is we dont have to think of ourselves as either or. But more. And so love the border. Alfredo, tell us a little it about el pasos history and especially its history of welcoming immigrants from all over the place. And really kind of functioning as an ellis island for that part of the United States. How did that come about . How did that emerge . I was actually born in mexico in durango, mexico, and a kid, was as thats all my father talked about was someday moving us to the United States, which was in many ways the saddest conversation we would have. Because none of us, my brothers, my mother, none utches wanted to come north. We became because of the landmark immigration, signed by linden b. Johnson, president johnson in 1965. So i remember coming to juarez waiting for legal permanent green cards. And just staring at the mountains, the Franklin Mountains and seeing the big star. And we came it was the christmas season. And so it was this thing of thats where we want to go. Thats where theyre forcing us to go. And it felt like much like in retrospect not looking back, we came through el paso and we came through a eighborhood known as chihuahua ita and millions of that was our ellis island in the southwest. And we came through there on the way to california, central valley. But i remember my mother as a kid, would never really buy like sheets for beds or towels and put all her money and sort of look forward to moving back to the border. I mean, to us, the border at that time was like a holy land in a way. It was like annual pilgrimage and we go back to el paso and juarez and, you know, it was always counting the days that someday we would make the permanent move. But i think as a journalist, and i was very much influenced luis salazar d by who became a correspondent at the l. A. Times by this notion that you can actually understand both sides and somehow bring both sides to the reader, through journalism. And i mean, even today, i dont think i feel complete as a person or as a journalist if im not reporting from both sides of the border. Thats the ultimate i think feeling when you know that you can crisscross and hopefully try to try to make americans understand and mexicans understand what it is to be inational, bilingual, bi cultural. As all of us in this room know its been a very eventful year on the u. S. Mexico border. Weve all been covering issues like family separation, the imprisonment of Migrant Children on their own in certain facilities and of course the rather shocking shattering massacre in el paso in a took place in august when a gunman went into the walmart there and targeted people because of their ethnicity. How did that reflect, angela, when it compares with the other coverage youve done of difficult events on the border . What made whats made this year stand out in a different way for you . There have been some dark days on the border, especially in el paso for all of the reasons you said. The shooting really stunned people. And it was very clear very quickly once the alleged gunman was taken into custody that el paso, we were chosen for the attack because of who we are and where we live. And so that every mass shooting is horrible in its own way. But that one in particular hit so close to home. I cover so much violence in juarez, drug violence, which unfortunately is spiking again. And thats been hard breaking. But i think the thing that was stunning to so many people is that it did happen in this everyday place where so many people from both sides of the border were doing normal back to school shopping. And so i think that that combined with all the other heart breaking stories, its been tough. But ive also been inspired by the resilience of border residents on both sides. Especially el paso. Setting a real example and also this idea that of tolerance, of people really thats a place of tolerance. And so there are things we can learn from the el paso experience. Cecilia, the border plays such a huge kind of it occupies such a big place in the public imagination. And especially in policy making right now. Theres so much antiimmigration rhetoric, the border is portrayed as this as this incredibly dangerous place and of course there have been calls to build more of a wall and barriers along the border. What does that feel like in south texas these days . Is whats the reaction to the wall and possibly a portion of private wall coming to south texas . Well, we already have a good bit of border fencing that was built in 2008 to 2010. And back then, the communities along south texas were highly opposed to the wall. We were calling it a fence back then. Now were just openly admitting that the function of it is more of a wall. And theres a researcher in texas who said he has done data crunching that shows that theres a perfect relationship between how close you are to the border and whether you support the wall. So we know that the wall is symbolic, that people want the further they are away from the border, the more they want it. Thats not to say the border residents dont want different kinds of enforcement. But the wall itself is sort of the epitome, the climax of you a the political theater. And of all the political theater. And i think people in south texas are tired of that and politicians come for photo ops. Then they leave and folks are not investing in the region. And the communities are having to step in and provide in these difficult moments provide for migrant famentse because the governments are not doing that. But i would say that theres been a buildup of this. In the past 20, 30 years and really throughout history, like this is this explosion of above trends that weve been living through on the trend. And the border the thickening of the border as i call it, the buildup of border enforcement, began a long time ago. In the 1990s we started having this deterrent strategy that focused Border Agents in particular cities and on under president bush, george w. Bush, the wall was approved. But then it was built under president obama. I dont live there anymore. But i spend a lot of time there. We have been used to just being subjected to more and more stops and searches on the u. S. Side. Even if you never cross to the mexican side. The last thing ill say about that is since after 911, the stakes were raised when people started talking about the border differently. And using the term Border Security which correlated with National Security and so the implication was that the threat to the country was at the border. And so i see a lot of change even during that time. And i think we have to be very attentive to the language that we use. Because it was changing into that language of Border Security that now both Political Parties kind of take for granted that there is some kind of persistent threat that needs to be addressed on the border. I want to ask a question alfredo about juarez and el paso. And i was recently in juarez and downtown in the downtown part of the city. And there was a band there that was playing of all things credence clearwater revival cover song in english. And doing it fantastically well. And i was like wo. Where else but in a border city are you going to find that . In mexico city. In mexico city, ok. Big credence fans . Yeah, they are. So tell us a little bit about sort of the cultural life between these two cities . Where is sort of like the center of vibrancy . Is it st more in juarez, more in el paso . Is there some type of cross pollination going on between artists and between singers and between people on both sides . Well, i think its really a along the u. S. Mexico border but specifically juarez, el paso, obviously theres a history there. That the binationality, juan gabriel plays a huge role. The last hit he had was a credence clearwater song. Spanish remake. Spanish. And i forget the name. Like uvia. It will come back to me. But thats that kind of of ins the biculture part it. And its an area, for example, in south texas where accordion music, mariachis, its being taught at high schools and colleges. And it just kind of makes people feel a sense of you know, confidence. Youre confident about belonging on both sides of the border. That helps that side of view. When we lived in california, my mother would say, we want to go to el paso because it was a place where people wore ties. And we grew up in the San Joaquin Valley and it was usually people working in the fields. But i think years later, i really understood that to be people can be themselves and they can really 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 or and food and drinks. Angela, you mentioned when you were growing up that you had to decipher this new language called spanglish. Its experienced a huge amount of growth and revolution. Walk around the streets of l. A. , and its fantastic the spanglish that you hear, all the time. What does that mean on a daytoday basis for you workwise . Do you do interviews in english, in spanish, spanglish . Do you know when to mix and when when not to . Yeah. Really both. And of course its if youre in mexico people dont want to in mexico city people dont want to hear spanglish. Were seeing this blending of cultures and languages across the u. S. And i look to look at the border as a peek into the future. Its young. The majority latino, Mexican American. American mexican. And so these are communities that reflect the future. And i know they can be confusing. And even create fear for a lot of people away from the border. But i think weve learned something in this blending of cultures and the economy the economy we depend on each other, especially on the u. S. Side we depend heavily on mexico. We family ties. We have all sorts of ties that bind. And we dont we dont always get along or even like each other. But we learned something a long time ago that as critical. We need each other. And so that thats something that on the border, i think we need to learn beyond the border. And just accept that fact. And stop fighting about it and figure out a way to make this this new reality work. Because its here. Its not you cant turn back time. And if i can jump in, its like what san diego and tijuana went through at the height of violence, san diego was going to turn its back on tijuana. And later realized that economically, i mean, the dependency is much all along the u. S. Mexico border, the mexican cities are larger, economically more vibrant. So you now have tijuana, san diego, that region, a symbol of we need each other. We need to work this out together. And so by what happened in tijuana was interesting because tijuana said we have to reinvent ourselves and cant depend on the gringos coming down. So they got into culture. They got into the wine industry, the food industry. And its become a much, much more vibrant region. I think a lot of other border communities have much to learn from that. Juarez, el paso. You think of the border as really one Big Community where a borderline was imposed. But at the end of the day you talk about walls, you talk about fences. But really were the same people. Were one community. You go back and forth, you know, all the time. I mean, you dont talk about you want to go to mexico. We want to go to the united tates. One fact of life related to that for people who live opt border or even on the border or as much as 100 miles from the border are checkpoints. And it almost becomes something natural. You have to stop and, you know, declare your citizenship and your youre gazed at by a Border Patrol officer and determine whether youre a risk or not. What does that do you think that the rest of the country, cecilia, has a grasp on what that on, you know, just what that means on a daytoday basis to be viewed by really your own government as, you know, someone who is not enmaterial trustworthy perhaps . Yeah. No, i dont think the rest of the country can imagine whats that like on a daytoday basis and i dont think the rest of the country would be ok with that happening in new york or really almost any other part of the country. We do have these checkpoints and been there since the 1970s maybe. And if you grew up crossing the the border, the border itself, like i did to visit my grandmother on the mexican side, every time you come back in, youre questioned by the customs officer. We were kids, and they would try to check to see if you were lying and so you would say, we didnt have to share passports back then and pull up u. S. Citizen before they even asked. And then they would say where do you live . And you had to tell them what street. And what school do you go to . And ive been doing a Research Study recently on latino voters and voters throughout texas. And i think that when youre subjected to that kind of constant questioning of whether of who you are and whether to people it leads not participating in the political system and having all kinds of fears about it. And yeah, this interior kind of doubt or fear any time youre around any law enforcement, you know . But thats where we were talking about culture. And the other thing we did have samente was a real deep sense of who we were because of the deep cultural immersion and tradition that is we had. So yeah, that problem continues. And i think we have to think about whether we would allow this to happen to all americans to be constantly questioned about their status. And not innocent until proven guilty, right, almost . Yes. And hard to know on those checkpoints. You dont have asen rights as you do as many rights rights as you do in the interior of the u. S. And you never know exactly what right

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