Vision of a Lawless US-Mexico Border Is Being Disputed by the People Who Live There Ana Campoy - Quartz
go to original February 7, 2017

Residents on both sides of the Mexico-United States border are tired of their region being painted as a lawless, dangerous place by US president Donald Trump.

In response, they’re countering his vision with their own depictions of the border, sharing images of stunning sunsets, smiling children, and the urban sprawl that stretches from El Paso, Texas to Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

The pictures are being shared with the hashtag “WeAreTheBorder” through the social media accounts of US House representative Beto O’Rourke, whose given name is Robert, but who goes by the Spanish nickname for Roberto. After Trump issued an executive order to start construction of a wall to block Mexico from the US shortly after his inauguration, the El Paso Democrat asked his followers to send pictures depicting “our beautiful binational community.”

“Donald Trump doesn’t understand the border. Let’s show him what it looks like,” O’Rourke posted on Facebook. “Don’t be shy El Paso, this is our time to shine!

The president’s singular focus on the border has provided its residents with a rare opportunity to take centerstage. Trump’s complaints about the border may be offensive to locals - he infamously referred to immigrants who cross it as rapists, criminals and drug traffickers - but they are raising the profile of a region that has traditionally been on the outskirts of policy making both in the US and Mexico.

Read the rest at Quartz

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