Texas to DC: Don’t Fence Me In

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You know things are getting interesting when Mike Vickers, rancher, ex-Minuteman, and poster boy for the South-Texas-has-had-it-with-immigration line says Congress’ fence not only won’t help, but will actually make life worse in his neck of the woods. All along the Rio Grande, it turns out, people who otherwise couldn’t be more hard-line about the border are appalled that Congress actually approved what for a while seemed like just one more election-year fantasy. Read the rest in a fine piece by the LA Times’ Miguel Bustillo; for an early report on the current round of border posturing, pull up Michael Scherer’s “Scrimmage on the Border.” And once you’re ready for the full-on, no-excuses tour de force on what is going on along La Linea and why no amount of liberal or conservative posturing will fix it, go see Charles Bowden’s three-decades-in-the-making “Exodus” in Mother Jones’ September/October issue.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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