Port of Entry

Undocumented And Gay

For years, Beto Soto had two secrets.

And these weren’t small secrets. These were really big secrets. The kind that define who you are.

Soto is openly gay now, but he didn’t come out of the closet until a few years ago. He's also been living without citizenship papers in the United States since his family brought him here when ... Read more →

Pandemic As Pretext

The perception that the U.S.-Mexico border’s been effectively sealed shut because of the pandemic is wrong.

Lots of people are still crossing.

Actually, the biggest, most dramatic change in who can’t cross right now; you’re not going to find those folks at the ports of entry.

Instead, you have to look inside Tijuana’s migrant shelters, and at the ... Read more →

Moved By Music: Panca

Everyone has songs they treasure — songs that evoke vivid memories and color different periods of our lives.

Sometimes, music ends up shaping who we become.

For Paola Villaseñor, better known as the influential border artist Panca, music from both sides of the border has been a lifelong companion whenever she’s painting. Sometimes, lyrics from songs or traces of ... Read more →

From One Side To The Other

We caught up with Jenn Budd at Las Americas mall a few months before the pandemic hit.

Jenn has become well known in the border activism world. Her criticisms of U.S. immigration policies and Customs and Border Protection are harsh, and very personal. Because Jenn; she used to be a Border Patrol agent herself.

Today, a story about ... Read more →

Latin Music Goes Boom

Today we're tracing the story of how Latin music became as popular as American pop music, all through the eyes of Isabela Raygoza. Isabela is a music journalist from Tijuana and San Diego whose career very closely paralleled the boom in Latin music that's happened over the past decade.

Back in the day, when Latin stars wanted to cross over ... Read more →

Conversation: A Chef Returns To His Border Roots

Ruffo Ibarra Arellano is a pedigreed chef.

With his resume, he could be working at some of the fanciest Michelin-star restaurants in the world.

But he chose to be here, running a restaurant in Tijuana instead.

Because Ruffo loves his roots.

And he wants his food to be infused with them.

Obviously, the coronavirus pandemic is ... Read more →

Conversation: Undocumented On Center Stage

Dulce Garcia is undocumented, but her status has mostly fueled her ambition, not stifled it.

Dulce’s an immigration lawyer. And she’s recently become one of the most high profile immigrant advocates working on the border today.

Coronavirus And The Border

We know what’s on your mind right now: the coronavirus.

And we know you, our cross-border audience, you’ve probably got one big question completely dominating your brainwaves: will our border close? Or, when our border closes, what exactly will happen?

So, we’re gonna hit the pause button on our normal programming and bring you some news you can ... Read more →

Conversation: TJ Gastro Park Eyeing SD

Telefónica Gastro Park has grown into one of the most popular destinations for both locals and tourists in Tijuana.

We continue our conversation-style episodes with Antonio Gamboa, the founder of the foodie hot spot, which has always attracted a big cross-border crowd.

Antonio describes how his parking lot filled with food trucks sprouted organically and eventually grew into ... Read more →

Border Art: Deportation Stories

In a new episode of KPBS' border podcast "Only Here," we continue our series on border art with a mural that's broadcasting the voices of deportees and those commonly known as DREAMers, children brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

From heart-wrenching stories about parents being deported and separated from their kids to first-hand accounts of what it’s like ... Read more →