Stories - AZPM

Indigenous-led protesters walk along a construction line in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Sept. 2020.

Border wall scars: 'It feels like if someone got a knife and dragged it across my heart.'

Tribal leaders and Borderlands communities reflect on their fruitless struggle to stop the wall.

Border wall fencing with concertina wire attached in Douglas, Ariz. January 2021.

COVID’s economic crush fueling emigration from Central America

Apprehensions along the U.S. southwest border increased in December compared to 2019.

A woman and girl sit on the sidewalk with a group of migrants as they wait to enter the Kino Border Initiative's cafeteria. The nonprofit provides humanitarian aid to migrants and deportees in Nogales, Sonora. February 2020.

Migrants in Mexico under Trump-era protocols await changes from Biden

We get an update from the Kino Border Initiative in Nogales, Sonora.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich in Phoenix, January 2019.

In letter to DHS, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich opposes Biden's deportation moratorium

The letter follows a 14-day stay against the order issued in Texas this week

Language barriers, wariness make vaccinating immigrants hard

Poor communication, misinformation and lack of trust create fear and uncertainty

The Border Patrol erected this facility for asylum seekers last summer. Congress allocated $708 million for facilities like these and $112 million for "consumables" that was supposed to be spent caring for migrants.

New lawsuit challenges legality of 'Remain in Mexico' program's migrant child removals

U.S. law requires unaccompanied minors at the border get special protection, but lawyers say that hasn't been happening

Mixed immigration families could be eligible for the next COVID-19 relief benefits

U.S. citizens who live with an undocumented person have previously been barred from receiving any federal aid.

A group of men, women and children prepare their documents after approaching and surrendering to Border Patrol in the Yuma Sector, 2019.

Arizona migrant border deaths on track for record amid heat

Record heat in Arizona takes its toll

The search for lost loved ones is continuous in and around Brooks County, Texas. Omar Roman-Gonzalez and Michelle Chinos put up flyers in the search for Omar's brother Homero Roman, who had already been missing for two years when the film begins.

"Missing in Brooks County" captures perseverance and tragedy from the U.S. / Mexico border.

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Live Theater Worksop's outdoor drive-in stage experience "Having Our Say"; and some intricate acoustic swing from The Django Shredders.

Gail Kocourek, 69, stands inside an area where migrants are processed on the Mexican side of the port of entry in Sasabe. This fall, Kocourek and other volunteers started making bi-weekly trips to the area to hand out food and water to migrants after they've been expelled by Border Patrol agents.

'No right way': Rapid migrant expulsions transform remote border crossing

Aid groups say Trump administration's pandemic-era expulsions trap migrants in a borderland ill-equipped to care for them.

Mixed immigration status students gather in downtown Phoenix for a celebration of Joe Biden's presidential victory on Nov. 7, 2020.

Court lays out next steps after DACA ruling

The hearing follows a ruling last week saying the Trump administration's latest changes to DACA were unlawful.

Aliento founder Reyna Montoya addresses a circle of other DACA recipients and mixed immigration status families on Nov. 7, 2020.

New DACA ruling leaves recipients hopeful, but questions remain

A federal judge ruled Saturday the Trump administration's rollbacks to the program were unlawful.

Daniela Ofelia Nava Leyva speaks at an event in downtown Phoenix celebrating Joe Biden's presidential win on Nov. 7, 2020.

'We have peace': After Biden win, DACA recipients reflect on the last decade

Arizona "Dreamers" helped get out the vote for Biden. Now they want to make sure he follows though.

A backlog at USCIS means has meant many immigrants who planned to be first-time voters in this year's election won't get that chance.

USCIS backlog hampers voting for immigrants still awaiting citizenship

Some 300,000 immigrants won't become citizens in time for Nov. 3

Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf, Feb. 26, 2020.

DHS head touts immigration policy at Arizona sheriffs' roundtable

Chad Wolf promoted the Migrant Protection Protocols as safe, though critics say the policy fails obligations to asylum seekers.

Children who are waiting for asylum in the United States with their families in Nogales, Sonora, marched to the border wall Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, to ask the United States to open the border to them.

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