Things here in Phoenix have been heating up lately, and not just because it’s May and the temperatures are steadily, inevitably climbing towards the 100’s. There’s this little thing called SB-1070 that has been in the news recently, and now this is the hotspot for politics as well as border crossing traffic. It’s the perfect summer to be in the newsroom looking at border issues – and having a bit of a travel budget is the icing on the cake.
Let’s take a quick rundown of last week, for example. On Monday, we rose early to be downtown in Phoenix by 4am to see Telemundo broadcast a live immigration special and the audience’s reaction. (they covered the issue in-depth again two days later)
Next, my teammates and I made a run to Tucson, Arizona to interview several contacts there and sit in on Operation Streamline hearings. Operation Streamline started in Del Rio, Texas, but is now operational all along the border and making news and encouraging debate again along with SB-1070.
Finally, while my team headed back to cover Saturday’s protest events, I spent one more day in Tucson to ride along on a Samaritan patrol. My classmates and I have been in talks to do a Border Patrol ride along too, as both are great ways to get out and see the landscape and understand what people are literally going through.