Experience the Border

Learn About the Borderlands

Visit the Region

The following are recommended cultural sites for visiting while you are in southern Arizona/Sonora, Mexico:

Historic Canoa Ranch, a Pima County historic site near Green Valley, Arizona where Congressman Raul Grijalva was born and portions of the movie “Oklahoma” were filmed.

Tumacacori Mission, a National Historical Park south of Tubac, Arizona connects you with the history of Spanish colonization dating back to 17th century.

Tubac Center of the Arts in Tubac, Arizona offers a wide variety of performance and visual arts.

Tubac Presidio in Tubac, Arizona gives you an excellent feeling for the 18th century challenges of the area.

Imfoculta Art Center in Nogales, Sonora Mexico is an active center for the arts of all kinds.

Suggested Reading List

1.) The Country Just Over the Fence, Paul Theroux, article NYT 2/26/2012

2.) A Culture of Cruelty: Abuse and Impunity in Short-Term U.S. Border Patrol Custody, No More Deaths, 2011

3.) The Devil’s Highway: A True Story, Luis Alberto Urrea, Bay Back Books 2005

4.) Documented Failures: The Consequences of Immigration Policy on the U.S.-Mexico Border, Michael S. Danielson, American University, Report prepared for the Kino Border Initiative Nogales, Arizona, U.S.A. and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico with funding from Catholic Relief Services of Mexico.

5.) “La Frontera: The Border,” blog by BCA advisor, Peg Bowden.

6.) Manifest Destiny | Luis Alberto Urrea | Orion Magazine

7.) Mexico: What Everyone Needs to Know, Roderic AI Camp, Oxford University Press 2011

8.) Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070: A Case Study for State-Sponsored Immigration Policy, an honors thesis by USF graduate student and BCA/FESAC Summer 2012 intern Ryan Murphy is available by contacting mail@bordercommunityalliance.org.

9.) Why Walls Won’t Work – repairing the US-Mexico divide, Michael Dear, Oxford University Press, 2013

10.) Two Nations Indivisible: Mexico, The United States, And The Road Ahead By Shannon K. O’Neil, Oxford University Press, Inc. 2013

Videos

Why Walls Won’t Work

Nancy Montoya of Arizona Public Mediainterviews author, Michael Dear, on “Why Walls Won’t Work.”  Dear suggests that people must experience the border to have a true understanding of the situation.

Arizona Public Media

In the spring of 2016 Arizona Public Media dedicated two of its weekly half-hour television programs on issues related to the border and everyday life and trade.