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 he was 6. He kept his undocumented status quiet until recently, too. In this episode from our archive, we talk to Soto about being gay and undocumented, and the photographic series he made about the experience. This episode first aired on March 20, 2019.

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 refugees who can’t seek asylum in the U.S. right now and are instead stuck in border towns. So that's what we do today. We talk to a migrant stuck at the border, and a doctor trying to help. About the Show: “Only Here” is about the unexplored subcultures, creativity and struggles at the U.S.-Mexico border. The KPBS podcast tells personal stories from people whose lives are shaped by the tension reverberating around the wall. This is a show for border babies, urban explorers or those who wonder what happens when two cultures are both separated and intertwined. Who's behind the show: Host Alan Lilienthal, producer Kinsee Morlan and sound designer Emily Jankowski Follow Us: https://www.facebook.com/onlyherepodcast/ https://www.instagram.com/onlyherepodcast/ Support Us: https://www.kpbs.org/donate Give us Feedback: 619-452-0228‬ podcasts@kpbs.org Just a few of the nonprofits working with migrants in Tijuana: https://www.refugeehealthalliance.org/ https://alotrolado.org/ https://haitianbridge.org/ https://www.instagram.com/temploembajadoresdejesus/ https://www.facebook.com/EspacioMigranteOrg/

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 the flow and melody of music can be found in her final works. Today, we’ve got a story about one of our border region’s most well-known artists, told through the lens of music. About the Show: “Only Here” is about the unexplored subcultures, creativity and struggles at the U.S.-Mexico border. The KPBS podcast tells personal stories from people whose lives are shaped by the tension reverberating around the wall. This is a show for border babies, urban explorers or those who wonder what happens when two cultures are both separated and intertwined. Follow Us: https://www.facebook.com/onlyherepodcast/ https://www.instagram.com/onlyherepodcast/ Support Us: https://www.kpbs.org/donate Give us Feedback: 619-452-0228‬ podcasts@kpbs.org

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 a big perspective shift at the border. It’s also a story about how some people have to hit rock bottom before they change. About the Show: “Only Here” is about the unexplored subcultures, creativity and struggles at the U.S.-Mexico border. The KPBS podcast tells personal stories from people whose lives are shaped by the tension reverberating around the wall. This is a show for border babies, urban explorers or those who wonder what happens when two cultures are both separated and intertwined. Follow Us: https://www.facebook.com/onlyherepodcast/ https://www.instagram.com/onlyherepodcast/ Support Us: https://www.kpbs.org/donate Give us Feedback: 619-452-0228‬ podcasts@kpbs.org

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 into pop music, they would have to start singing in English. Nowadays, you have music icons crossing over the other way: singing in Spanish. About the Show: “Only Here” is about the unexplored subcultures, creativity and struggles at the U.S.-Mexico border. The KPBS podcast tells personal stories from people whose lives are shaped by the tension reverberating around the wall. This is a show for border babies, urban explorers or those who wonder what happens when two cultures are both separated and intertwined. Follow Us: https://www.facebook.com/onlyherepodcast/ https://www.instagram.com/onlyherepodcast/ Support Us: https://www.kpbs.org/donate Give us Feedback: 619-452-0228‬ podcasts@kpbs.org

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 deeply impacting Ruffo’s work and his restaurant. It’s impacting all of us. But restaurants are being hit particularly hard. Ruffo’s team had just finished remodeling the restaurant a couple of weeks before the quarantine became the new normal. Even as many restaurants layoff a lot of their staff, though, Ruffo and his partners have assured their team that they have their backs. They’re committed to their safety and well being, even if that means taking a big financial hit. Who we are: Hosted by Alan Lilienthal Produced by Kinsee Morlan Sound design by Emily Jankowski Follow Us: https://www.facebook.com/onlyherepodcast/ https://www.instagram.com/onlyherepodcast/ Support Us: https://www.kpbs.org/donate Give us Feedback: 619-452-0228‬ podcasts@kpbs.org Photo: A picture of Ruffo Ibarra Arellano

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.

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 use right now. Max Rivlin-Nadler covers the border for KPBS. Max gives us the most up-to-date information he has as of recording time: 1:30 p.m. Thursday, March 12.

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 the sophisticated collection of food trucks, beer, wine, art and coffee that it is now. He also breaks a bit of food news: he's currently working on opening Telefónica Norte in San Diego. Telefónica Gastro Park info: http://telefonicagastropark.com/en/ About the Show: “Only Here” is about the unexplored subcultures, creativity and struggles at the U.S.-Mexico border. The KPBS podcast tells personal stories from people whose lives are shaped by the tension reverberating around the wall. This is a show for border babies, urban explorers or those who wonder what happens when two cultures are both separated and intertwined. Who we are: Hosted by Alan Lilienthal Produced by Kinsee Morlan Sound design by Emily Jankowski Follow Us: https://www.facebook.com/onlyherepodcast/ https://www.instagram.com/onlyherepodcast/ Support Us: https://www.kpbs.org/donate Give us Feedback: 619-452-0228‬ podcasts@kpbs.org Photo: A picture of food from Telefónica Gastro Park.

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 to start a new life in a new country, the mural painted on the actual border fence uses technology to share stories of deportation and struggle. You can hear the stories when you walk up to the mural in Playas de Tijuana. It's painted on the actual border fence, and you can use your phone to scan black-and-white QR codes printed on little stickers stuck to the mural. Scanning the stickers takes you to YouTube videos. The stories you'll hear in the videos are from two digital storytelling archives: Humanizing Deportation: http://humanizandoladeportacion.ucdavis.edu/en/ Dacamented: https://dacamentedarchive.com/ The Playas de Tijuana Mural Project is by artist, scholar and activist Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana. More about the project here: https://lizbethdelacruzsantana.com/mural-project About the Show: “Only Here” is about the unexplored subcultures, creativity and struggles at the U.S.-Mexico border. The KPBS podcast tells personal stories from people whose lives are shaped by the tension reverberating around the wall. This is a show for border babies, urban explorers or those who wonder what happens when two cultures are both separated and intertwined. Who we are: Hosted by Alan Lilienthal Produced by Kinsee Morlan Sound design by Emily Jankowski Follow Us: https://www.facebook.com/onlyherepodcast/ https://www.instagram.com/onlyherepodcast/ Support Us: https://www.kpbs.org/donate Give us Feedback: 619-452-0228‬ podcasts@kpbs.org Photo: A picture of the mural by Alan Lilienthal.