'14 Miles': A Look At The U.S.-Mexico Border, And The Lives Defined By It

Published July 8, 2020 at 11:00 AM EDT

Members of the Kumeyaay band of Indians and demonstrators rally at the United States-Mexico border to protest construction of new wall being constructed on their ancestral grounds on July 1, 2020 in Boulevard, California.(SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP via Getty Images)

We look at a 14-mile stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border. What does a border mean in an interconnected world?

Guests

DW Gibson, author of “14 Miles: Building the Border Wall.” His previous books include “The Edge Becomes the Center” and “Not Working.” (@DW_Gibson)

Nicole Ramos, director of the Border Rights Project of Al Otro Lado, which works with asylum seekers preparing to present themselves to U.S. authorities. (@luzenlafrontera)

Serge Dedina, mayor of Imperial Beach, California. (@Serge4IBMayor)

Stan Rodriguez, director of Kumeyaay Community College.

From The Reading List

Los Angeles Times: “Kumeyaay tribe blocks border wall construction on native burial grounds” — “Members and allies of the Kumeyaay Nation in Campo blocked construction of the border wall on Monday by standing in front of an area where pre-construction blasting was scheduled to take place, according to a member of the group and the U.S. Border Patrol.”

San Diego Union-Tribune: “Author DW Gibson explores San Diego’s relationship with the border” — “David-William Gibson, who goes by DW Gibson, only had a peripheral sense of the United States border with Mexico.”

New York Times: “What Is the Status of Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Wall’?” — “It’s hard to imagine a more apt setting for an American dystopia: an exposition far out in the desert, right on the United States-Mexico border, where contractors display 30-foot-tall prototypes of President Donald Trump’s ‘big beautiful wall.'”

Washington Post: “Trump administration hires tech firm to build a virtual border wall, an idea Democrats have praised” — “The Trump administration has awarded a major border security contract to a California technology start-up that will use artificial intelligence on an unprecedented scale, pairing the president’s giant steel barrier with the kind of ‘virtual wall’ long favored by Democrats to prevent illegal crossings from Mexico.”

Albuquerque Journal: “Will we be better for it? Author takes a deep look at the impact of the US-Mexico wall” — “DW Gibson’s book ’14 Miles: Building the Border Wall’ serves up a cross-section of people who share their informative perspectives and experiences about changing border life.”

KPBS: “On Anniversary Of ‘Remain in Mexico,’ Immigrant Advocates Call For Its End” — “Immigrant advocates and lawyers gathered in downtown San Diego on Wednesday to mark the first anniversary of the ‘Remain in Mexico’ program. The program sends asylum seekers back to Mexico to wait while their asylum claims wind through immigration courts.”

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.