Note: This article is one of several feature stories in a special issue about community media in the West. DOUGLAS, Arizona — Keoki Skinner sits on a park bench under moonlight, talking quietly into his cell phone. There’s a rumor going around that a federal agent is involved with a drug trafficker, and Skinner wants […]
Immigration
Posted inJuly 24, 2006: Taking Liberties
Raul Grijalva relishes a good fight
NAME Raúl M. Grijalva HOMETOWN Tucson, Arizona AGE 58 VOCATION Serving the U.S. House of Representatives for Arizona’s 7th District HE SAYS “The environment is connected entirely to time: The more time you lose or waste, the less protection you have.” Congressman Raúl Grijalva is a different kind of politician. Plain-spoken and refreshingly unguarded, he […]
Posted inMay 15, 2006: The Immigrant's Trail
The Immigrant’s Trail
Note: this essay introduces several feature articles in a special issue about the West’s immigration landscape. Last month, as immigrants and their supporters geared up for the May 1 “Day Without Immigrants,” and the Senate considered another comprehensive immigration bill, an 18-year-old Mexican woman gave birth amid the cactus and mesquite trees of the Arizona […]
Posted inMay 15, 2006: The Immigrant's Trail
Perseverance
An immigrant’s journey: Dust, flies, and the long walk
Posted inWotr
What I learned as a self-appointed immigration agent
Like millions of others, he was going to overstay his visa and remain in the country illegally. Months earlier, my sister had returned to Arizona from her studies in Colombia with a boyfriend in tow. Though our parents were very conservative, she was their only daughter, and they agreed to sponsor his entry into the […]