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The Desperate Choices Behind Child Migration
As someone who just returned from living and working in El Salvador, I’m still having a hard time adjusting to our mainstream media’s never-ending wave of know-nothing commentary on the subject of immigration. A case in point is the column penned by New York Times columnist Ross Douthat on Sunday, June 22nd. Douthat expresses alarm […]
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Young Organizers, Unwitting Victims of the U.S.-Funded Fight Against Gangs in El Salvador
On December 12, 2012, 12 young people were arrested in the poor community of El Progreso 3, in the northeastern part of San Salvador. Dressed all in black with their faces covered, police from the much-feared Anti-Gang Unit stormed the community in the middle of night, going home to home, trampling down doors and pulling […]
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Legislative Elections in El Salvador: Under U.S. Pressure, the FMLN Loses Ground in Struggle With the Right
On March 11, hundreds of thousands of Salvadorans headed to the polls in the first major contest between parties of the right and left since the leader of the latter, Mauricio Funes, was elected president three years ago. Like mid-term congressional elections in the U.S., voting for municipal officials and national legislators in El Salvador […]
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Jose Naranjero’s Long Walk to Work
I first met Jose Naranjero* in a dusty little Mexican town called Naco, which lies just across the border wall from Bisbee, Arizona. I’d been working nearby as a volunteer for No More Deaths, a Tucson-based group that tries to help immigrants passing through the dangerous Sonoran desert. I was part of a team that […]
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Remembering Where Flowers Come from on Valentine’s Day
Every year on Valentine’s Day, millions of Americans head to their local florist shop or supermarket to buy flowers for a friend, spouse, or family member. Some place their orders through NPR, which rewards contributors to public radio with a dozen roses sent to the person of their choice. Especially if there’s a romantic relationship […]