Border & Immigration

There's a network of freight trains that runs the length of Mexico, from its southernmost border with Guatemala north to the United States. In addition to grain, corn or scrap metal, these trains are carrying an increasing number of undocumented immigrants whose aim is to cross into the U.S.

And despite the many deadly challenges it poses, more and more children — both with adults and alone — have been making the risky journey. That prompted President Obama this week to warn of "an urgent humanitarian situation."

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And I'm David Greene. Good morning. The number of children crossing the U.S. border on their own is soaring. Just since October, the U.S. found some 80,000 unaccompanied minors crossing over from Mexico. Those are just the kids who were caught.

Fronteras: The Democrat facing newly-nominated Republican Dan Patrick in the Texas lieutenant governor race says Sen. Patrick’s pledge to campaign in the minority community is “insulting.” New EPA rules to cut carbon emissions are expected to be unveiled soon. The new rules are expected to spur the use of a so-called clean coal technology. There are fewer than 100 fluent speakers of Kumeyaay left in Southern California and northern Baja California, where they once dominated. Efforts are now underway to preserve the endangered language.

Overcrowding and disease at a temporary immigration detention center in McAllen has the U.S. Border Patrol themselves calling on congress for humanitarian aid. 

Because of the McAllen facility's temporary status, capacity is about 300. But this past week Border Patrol agents brought in 1,000 immigrants and the situation has Chris Cabrera with the local Border Patrol agent's union calling on Congress for help.

"It’s a humanitarian-type deal as far as seeing these people going through what they’re going through just because we don’t have any bed space,” Cabrera said.

Fronteras: San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro is President Obama’s pick to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development. One political expert says such a high profile position can make or break a candidate’s political future. Development and drought are creating a duck dilemma in Texas. Also, San Antonio singer Rita Vidaurri  marks her 90th birthday this weekend.

POLITICO: White House Cabinet Positions Can Make or Break a Candidate

Fronteras: Fewer Hispanics in the U.S. are identifying themselves as Catholic. At the same time more U.S. Catholics are Hispanic. How so? We unravel and explore these trends on this week's show. Also, there’s a common misperception about the fastest-growing minority group in Texas’ capital city. Most people would think that title belongs to Hispanics. While Hispanics are the largest minority group, they are not the fastest-growing there. We look at the diverse and growing Asian-Americans population in Austin.

Picnickers in a riverside park in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, react in horror as a man in a yellow baseball cap named Guillermo Arevalo lies on the bank of the Rio Grande, bleeding to death.

It's a warm Monday evening in September 2012. He has just been shot by an agent on a U.S. Border Patrol airboat on the river. The Border Patrol says the agent shot at rock throwers and that the incident is under investigation.

Fronteras: More high schools in Texas may start offering Mexican-American studies. Can you guess the political affiliation of a legislator just by looking at them? In Texas, it’s pretty simple. Experts say a new bi-national agreement just signed in San Antonio has the potential to solve a variety of issues. Boxing competes only with soccer as Tijuana’s most popular sport: We’ll hear about two sisters who are slugging their way into the spotlight.

Fronteras: About two months ago the world’s most wanted drug trafficker, Sinaloa Cartel leader "El Chapo" Guzmán, was captured in a joint operation and Mexico won’t even consider sending Guzmán to face charges in the U.S. It's been about a year since a formal border crossing linking Big Bend National Park and the tiny Mexican village of Boquillas del Carmen was re-opened. The economy there had been suffering but now that tourist dollars have started flowing south again hopes are high in the tourist town. Also, this is College Week in San Antonio.

Fronteras: The number of U.S. Border Patrol agents has been growing rapidly — and not just along the southern border with Mexico. We speak to Todd Miller author of the new book, “Border Patrol Nation,” about the agency's expanding reach and the implications for privacy rights, civil liberties and more. On a lighter note, taking pictures in a field of Bluebonnets is a favorite springtime tradition in Texas. But we take you to one town that is especially serious about its bluebonnets.