Melissa del Bosque
@mdelbosque.bsky.social
US-Mexico Border Journalist and Author. CoFounder, @theborderchronicle.bsky.social & U.S.-Mex Investigations Editor for @lhreports.bsky.social.
Reposted by Melissa del Bosque
Our Weekly Roundup is here! 🗞️
Stay up to date with this week’s stories, and how you can continue to support the Border Chronicle🦂.
For Full Roundup🔗:
Stay up to date with this week’s stories, and how you can continue to support the Border Chronicle🦂.
For Full Roundup🔗:
The Border Chronicle Weekly Roundup: February 6
Just abolishing ICE misses the bigger point, and a deep look at the history of cotton in the borderlands.
www.theborderchronicle.com
February 6, 2026 at 5:36 PM
Our Weekly Roundup is here! 🗞️
Stay up to date with this week’s stories, and how you can continue to support the Border Chronicle🦂.
For Full Roundup🔗:
Stay up to date with this week’s stories, and how you can continue to support the Border Chronicle🦂.
For Full Roundup🔗:
Reposted by Melissa del Bosque
DEVELOPING: Federal judge will let Marimar Martinez release text messages sent by Border Patrol agent who shot her
From @chicago.suntimes.com: chicago.suntimes.com/2026/02/06/f...
From @chicago.suntimes.com: chicago.suntimes.com/2026/02/06/f...
Federal judge will let Marimar Martinez release text messages sent by Border Patrol agent who shot her
U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis pointed out that Martinez is "presumed innocent of any offense of which she has not been convicted." Martinez's attorney said the text messages and other evidence ...
chicago.suntimes.com
February 6, 2026 at 5:18 PM
DEVELOPING: Federal judge will let Marimar Martinez release text messages sent by Border Patrol agent who shot her
From @chicago.suntimes.com: chicago.suntimes.com/2026/02/06/f...
From @chicago.suntimes.com: chicago.suntimes.com/2026/02/06/f...
Reposted by Melissa del Bosque
Todd Miller and Melissa Del Bosque on why just abolishing ICE missing the point @mdelbosque.bsky.social www.theborderchronicle.com/abolishing-j...
Abolishing Just ICE Misses the Point: A Podcast with Melissa and Todd
In the spirit of broadening the analysis beyond ICE, Border Chronicle cofounders Melissa del Bosque and Todd Miller discuss the leading role the U.S. Border Patrol has played in violent operations acr...
www.theborderchronicle.com
February 5, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Todd Miller and Melissa Del Bosque on why just abolishing ICE missing the point @mdelbosque.bsky.social www.theborderchronicle.com/abolishing-j...
Reposted by Melissa del Bosque
Reposted by Melissa del Bosque
New Podcast Episode🎙️: Melissa del Bosque & Todd Miller on why abolishing just ICE misses the point. Border Patrol's extraconstitutional powers are expanding nationwide, the border can be anywhere, guns pointed at anyone. But people have had enough.
Full Podcast Episode🦂🔗:
Full Podcast Episode🦂🔗:
Abolishing Just ICE Misses the Point: A Podcast with Melissa and Todd
In the spirit of broadening the analysis beyond ICE, Border Chronicle cofounders Melissa del Bosque and Todd Miller discuss the leading role the U.S. Border Patrol has played in violent operations acr...
www.theborderchronicle.com
February 5, 2026 at 6:35 PM
New Podcast Episode🎙️: Melissa del Bosque & Todd Miller on why abolishing just ICE misses the point. Border Patrol's extraconstitutional powers are expanding nationwide, the border can be anywhere, guns pointed at anyone. But people have had enough.
Full Podcast Episode🦂🔗:
Full Podcast Episode🦂🔗:
Reposted by Melissa del Bosque
JUST IN: In a new court filing, attorneys for Marimar Martinez call Chicago's U.S. attorney's office "active enablers of an out-of-control client."
They cite reports from @chicago.suntimes.com and @npr.org in which DHS refuses to back down on claims that Martinez is a "domestic terrorist."
They cite reports from @chicago.suntimes.com and @npr.org in which DHS refuses to back down on claims that Martinez is a "domestic terrorist."
February 5, 2026 at 6:41 PM
JUST IN: In a new court filing, attorneys for Marimar Martinez call Chicago's U.S. attorney's office "active enablers of an out-of-control client."
They cite reports from @chicago.suntimes.com and @npr.org in which DHS refuses to back down on claims that Martinez is a "domestic terrorist."
They cite reports from @chicago.suntimes.com and @npr.org in which DHS refuses to back down on claims that Martinez is a "domestic terrorist."
Reposted by Melissa del Bosque
“Today, the United States appears to be entering a new phase of expanded border policing—similar to the Operation Gatekeeper deterrence of the 1990s or the sweeping powers and massive budgets that followed 9/11.”
New Podcast Episode🎙️: Melissa del Bosque & Todd Miller on why abolishing just ICE misses the point. Border Patrol's extraconstitutional powers are expanding nationwide, the border can be anywhere, guns pointed at anyone. But people have had enough.
Full Podcast Episode🦂🔗:
Full Podcast Episode🦂🔗:
Abolishing Just ICE Misses the Point: A Podcast with Melissa and Todd
In the spirit of broadening the analysis beyond ICE, Border Chronicle cofounders Melissa del Bosque and Todd Miller discuss the leading role the U.S. Border Patrol has played in violent operations acr...
www.theborderchronicle.com
February 5, 2026 at 6:42 PM
“Today, the United States appears to be entering a new phase of expanded border policing—similar to the Operation Gatekeeper deterrence of the 1990s or the sweeping powers and massive budgets that followed 9/11.”
Reposted by Melissa del Bosque
The banality of evil is shocking. An ex-Big Lots warehouse for cheap consumer junk is bought by ICE to ship as many as 7,500 handcuffed human beings, as the Trump regime builds a U.S. gulag archipelago
The unthinkable comes to Pa. coal country. My special report www.inquirer.com/opinion/ice-...
The unthinkable comes to Pa. coal country. My special report www.inquirer.com/opinion/ice-...
From Big Lots to warehousing humans: ICE plan sparks fear in Schuylkill County | Will Bunch
A massive warehouse in Tremont. Pa. that once moved cheap goods will now detain migrants in an $119 million ICE deal.
www.inquirer.com
February 5, 2026 at 5:54 PM
The banality of evil is shocking. An ex-Big Lots warehouse for cheap consumer junk is bought by ICE to ship as many as 7,500 handcuffed human beings, as the Trump regime builds a U.S. gulag archipelago
The unthinkable comes to Pa. coal country. My special report www.inquirer.com/opinion/ice-...
The unthinkable comes to Pa. coal country. My special report www.inquirer.com/opinion/ice-...
Reposted by Melissa del Bosque
We explored the decades-long rise of the anti-immigrant movement; how MAGA uses intimidation & fear to consolidate authoritarianism; why solidarity is the antidote; what we expect moving forward, & more
https://politicalresearch.org/2026/02/03/all-eyes-minneapolis-lessons-resisting-authoritarianism
https://politicalresearch.org/2026/02/03/all-eyes-minneapolis-lessons-resisting-authoritarianism
All Eyes on Minneapolis: Lessons on Resisting Authoritarianism
In this bonus episode, PRA researchers discuss the deadly ICE crackdown in Minneapolis and the powerful resistance we’ve seen on the streets. ICE continues to kidnap thousands with impunity, and the b...
politicalresearch.org
February 3, 2026 at 6:56 PM
We explored the decades-long rise of the anti-immigrant movement; how MAGA uses intimidation & fear to consolidate authoritarianism; why solidarity is the antidote; what we expect moving forward, & more
https://politicalresearch.org/2026/02/03/all-eyes-minneapolis-lessons-resisting-authoritarianism
https://politicalresearch.org/2026/02/03/all-eyes-minneapolis-lessons-resisting-authoritarianism
Reposted by Melissa del Bosque
Remember the incident where DHS claimed officers shot a guy because he attacked them with a snow shovel?
Yeah. It didn't happen. They shot him through the door of his own home. And then arrested him. And then lied about it. Again.
And they almost shot some kids in the process.
Yeah. It didn't happen. They shot him through the door of his own home. And then arrested him. And then lied about it. Again.
And they almost shot some kids in the process.
They just blindly shot through the fucking door.
"Additional photographs show damage consistent with a bullet fragment lodged in a bedroom wall down the hallway — suggesting it traveled between a mattress and a portable crib in a room where several small children sleep."
"Additional photographs show damage consistent with a bullet fragment lodged in a bedroom wall down the hallway — suggesting it traveled between a mattress and a portable crib in a room where several small children sleep."
"Photographic evidence from the shooting scene of a Venezuelan man by federal agents last month in Minneapolis supports the account of witnesses there – and appears to undercut the narrative provided by federal officials." www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...
February 3, 2026 at 11:33 PM
Remember the incident where DHS claimed officers shot a guy because he attacked them with a snow shovel?
Yeah. It didn't happen. They shot him through the door of his own home. And then arrested him. And then lied about it. Again.
And they almost shot some kids in the process.
Yeah. It didn't happen. They shot him through the door of his own home. And then arrested him. And then lied about it. Again.
And they almost shot some kids in the process.
Two Border Patrol agents have been identified in the Alex Pretti shooting. Both are from South Texas. At least one of them from the Rio Grande Valley. The most heavily surveilled and militarized section of the Texas-Mexico border for years.
Two CBP Agents Identified in Alex Pretti Shooting
The two federal immigration agents who fired on Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti are identified in government records as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raym...
www.propublica.org
February 2, 2026 at 5:31 PM
Two Border Patrol agents have been identified in the Alex Pretti shooting. Both are from South Texas. At least one of them from the Rio Grande Valley. The most heavily surveilled and militarized section of the Texas-Mexico border for years.
Reposted by Melissa del Bosque
They’re hell bent on destruction
Environmentalists raise concerns over border buoy installation impact on Rio Grande ecosystems
Bouys affecting everything that’s swimming in the river & ecosystems along Rio Grande
www.ksat.com/news/local/2...
Environmentalists raise concerns over border buoy installation impact on Rio Grande ecosystems
Bouys affecting everything that’s swimming in the river & ecosystems along Rio Grande
www.ksat.com/news/local/2...
January 31, 2026 at 10:17 PM
They’re hell bent on destruction
Environmentalists raise concerns over border buoy installation impact on Rio Grande ecosystems
Bouys affecting everything that’s swimming in the river & ecosystems along Rio Grande
www.ksat.com/news/local/2...
Environmentalists raise concerns over border buoy installation impact on Rio Grande ecosystems
Bouys affecting everything that’s swimming in the river & ecosystems along Rio Grande
www.ksat.com/news/local/2...
Reposted by Melissa del Bosque
It's been a helluva a 36 hours for keeping track of what the Trump administration is doing in Minnesota.
Here's my Law Dork report: www.lawdork.com/p/minnesota-...
Here's my Law Dork report: www.lawdork.com/p/minnesota-...
Minnesota's effort to end the surge is rejected as journalists are arrested, but pushback continues
A judge denied Minnesota's ambitious request — a day after Don Lemon and Georgia Fort were arrested. But, in Texas, a judge orders 5-year-old Liam Ramos and his dad released.
www.lawdork.com
January 31, 2026 at 9:44 PM
It's been a helluva a 36 hours for keeping track of what the Trump administration is doing in Minnesota.
Here's my Law Dork report: www.lawdork.com/p/minnesota-...
Here's my Law Dork report: www.lawdork.com/p/minnesota-...
Breaking News: (Video) Department of Homeland Security installs first segment of floating border barrier on the Rio Grande. Administration says it will install more than 500 miles on the river, despite binational treaty.
Breaking News: (Video) Department of Homeland Security installs first segment of floating border barrier on the Rio Grande
DHS has begun installing its massive floating buoy barrier which could include more than 500 miles.
www.theborderchronicle.com
January 31, 2026 at 9:38 PM
Breaking News: (Video) Department of Homeland Security installs first segment of floating border barrier on the Rio Grande. Administration says it will install more than 500 miles on the river, despite binational treaty.
Anyone thinking that "Border Czar" Tom Homan is going to tone down the rhetoric in Minnesota doesn't know Homan. He spent all of the Biden years turning up the invasion and great replacement rhetoric and traveling from city to city spreading 2020 election conspiracies.
Border911: The Misinformation Network Profiting Off the False ‘Invasion’ Narrative
Meet the former intelligence officers and ex-feds spreading propaganda and laying the groundwork for an election challenge on behalf of Trump.
www.theborderchronicle.com
January 29, 2026 at 9:08 PM
Anyone thinking that "Border Czar" Tom Homan is going to tone down the rhetoric in Minnesota doesn't know Homan. He spent all of the Biden years turning up the invasion and great replacement rhetoric and traveling from city to city spreading 2020 election conspiracies.
Reposted by Melissa del Bosque
In 2009, I toured a Border Patrol station in Arizona. It was just astonishing to see how many resources had been poured into it in the previous years. All new building. A vast parking lot full of brand new SUVs. And yet the detention cells were basically concrete boxes.
When it comes to the Border Patrol, Border Chronicle cofounder, Todd Miller, literally wrote the book. "Border Patrol Nation" back in 2014. He predicted much of this. And his piece today highlights what the media and others are missing now. It's a must read🦂
Border Patrol Nation?
For decades, the Border Patrol has operated with extraconstitutional powers along the U.S.-Mexico divide. Now it’s leading the charge in U.S. cities across the country.
www.theborderchronicle.com
January 29, 2026 at 8:28 PM
In 2009, I toured a Border Patrol station in Arizona. It was just astonishing to see how many resources had been poured into it in the previous years. All new building. A vast parking lot full of brand new SUVs. And yet the detention cells were basically concrete boxes.
Reposted by Melissa del Bosque
As Todd and others who know the border and its violence have warned for decades: "These zones of exclusion have served as proving grounds for tactics and technology that can be extended to the rest of the country."
See also: maxgranger.substack.com/p/fearing-fo...
See also: maxgranger.substack.com/p/fearing-fo...
January 29, 2026 at 8:13 PM
As Todd and others who know the border and its violence have warned for decades: "These zones of exclusion have served as proving grounds for tactics and technology that can be extended to the rest of the country."
See also: maxgranger.substack.com/p/fearing-fo...
See also: maxgranger.substack.com/p/fearing-fo...
When it comes to the Border Patrol, Border Chronicle cofounder, Todd Miller, literally wrote the book. "Border Patrol Nation" back in 2014. He predicted much of this. And his piece today highlights what the media and others are missing now. It's a must read🦂
Border Patrol Nation?
For decades, the Border Patrol has operated with extraconstitutional powers along the U.S.-Mexico divide. Now it’s leading the charge in U.S. cities across the country.
www.theborderchronicle.com
January 29, 2026 at 7:31 PM
When it comes to the Border Patrol, Border Chronicle cofounder, Todd Miller, literally wrote the book. "Border Patrol Nation" back in 2014. He predicted much of this. And his piece today highlights what the media and others are missing now. It's a must read🦂
Not only does roving BP commander Gregory Bovino now get sent back to border communities, residents also have to contend w/hundreds of miles of construction of walls and "buoy barriers" on the Rio Grande. Elsa Hull who lives alongside the Rio Grande says it is killing her beloved river.
More Than a River
Border Walls and Buoy Barriers Are Killing the Rio Grande. I Have a Front Row Seat.
www.theborderchronicle.com
January 27, 2026 at 3:45 PM
Not only does roving BP commander Gregory Bovino now get sent back to border communities, residents also have to contend w/hundreds of miles of construction of walls and "buoy barriers" on the Rio Grande. Elsa Hull who lives alongside the Rio Grande says it is killing her beloved river.
Reposted by Melissa del Bosque
The Trump admin has pushed Bovino out of the Minneapolis operation, given how much he's made things worse. The person who killed Alex Pretti was a Border Patrol agent.
Notably, the admin has NOT backed down from the operation in general. Large-scale arrests reportedly continue.
Notably, the admin has NOT backed down from the operation in general. Large-scale arrests reportedly continue.
![01/26/2026 15:27:26[TWT]
Priscilla Alvarez
@priscialva
BREAKING: Top Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino and some of his
agents are expected to leave Minneapolis and return to their respective
sectors, sources tell me, @KristenhCNN + @kaitlancollins.
Sent via Twitter Web App. View original tweet.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:pnx2fjuannbdpy3337ggthpp/bafkreiglia3lsgoularsdrttknes76e3otad6xpnyp2eia2nmg5ckrc7cq@jpeg)
January 26, 2026 at 8:56 PM
The Trump admin has pushed Bovino out of the Minneapolis operation, given how much he's made things worse. The person who killed Alex Pretti was a Border Patrol agent.
Notably, the admin has NOT backed down from the operation in general. Large-scale arrests reportedly continue.
Notably, the admin has NOT backed down from the operation in general. Large-scale arrests reportedly continue.
Reposted by Melissa del Bosque
Here's how to identify some crowd control munitions, canisters of which federal agents have left on the ground after deploying them against people in Minnesota. bit.ly/3YWp1jE
Graphic by Mark Boswell/The Minnesota Star Tribune
Graphic by Mark Boswell/The Minnesota Star Tribune
January 26, 2026 at 8:09 PM
Here's how to identify some crowd control munitions, canisters of which federal agents have left on the ground after deploying them against people in Minnesota. bit.ly/3YWp1jE
Graphic by Mark Boswell/The Minnesota Star Tribune
Graphic by Mark Boswell/The Minnesota Star Tribune
Reposted by Melissa del Bosque
Over the last 48 hours, the talking point on the right has solidified; the only reason that we are seeing violent clashes against ICE is because of sanctuary policies and failure to cooperate from city officials who are fanning the flames.
Take a look; it's wild how quickly they're all adopting it.
Take a look; it's wild how quickly they're all adopting it.
![Kevin Bass
@kevinnbass
I am horrified. I cannot believe it.
I analyzed public databases and media reporting on violent confrontations with ICE over the past year.
Just 9 counties accounted for TWO-THIRDS of violent confrontations with ICE in America.
This is twice all violent confrontations in the remaining 3,134 counties COMBINED.
A violent confrontation in these 9 counties was 590 TIMES more likely than any of these other 3,134 counties.
590 times.
I plotted these 9 counties, and I found that all 9 counties are sanctuary jurisdictions run by Democrat politicians that resist immigration law enforcement.
These violent confrontations are RARE in states and cities where local officials cooperate with law enforcement.
[Underneath is a chart claiming to prove his point]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2vtbmhmrwzbqcfv4we4uxzzt/bafkreih447kj7ureou7fzaooxxes6o4hrxdepmijsxoz5tadyvefalf5e4@jpeg)
January 26, 2026 at 3:19 PM
Over the last 48 hours, the talking point on the right has solidified; the only reason that we are seeing violent clashes against ICE is because of sanctuary policies and failure to cooperate from city officials who are fanning the flames.
Take a look; it's wild how quickly they're all adopting it.
Take a look; it's wild how quickly they're all adopting it.
Reposted by Melissa del Bosque
www.dropsitenews.com/p/leaked-boa...
"The so-called Board of Peace that President Donald Trump officially launched in Davos, Switzerland last week is developing sweeping plans for a U.S.-backed administration to rule Gaza, according to a draft of the Board’s resolution"
"The so-called Board of Peace that President Donald Trump officially launched in Davos, Switzerland last week is developing sweeping plans for a U.S.-backed administration to rule Gaza, according to a draft of the Board’s resolution"
January 26, 2026 at 5:53 PM
www.dropsitenews.com/p/leaked-boa...
"The so-called Board of Peace that President Donald Trump officially launched in Davos, Switzerland last week is developing sweeping plans for a U.S.-backed administration to rule Gaza, according to a draft of the Board’s resolution"
"The so-called Board of Peace that President Donald Trump officially launched in Davos, Switzerland last week is developing sweeping plans for a U.S.-backed administration to rule Gaza, according to a draft of the Board’s resolution"
America's "let them eat cake" moment.
Black cakes and branded buckets: welcome to the White House premiere for Brett Ratner’s Melania movie
Monochrome catering was all the rage at the VIP screening on Saturday for Ratner’s officially sanctioned $75m feature-length documentary about the First Lady. Have the photos whetted your appetite?
www.theguardian.com
January 26, 2026 at 4:35 PM
America's "let them eat cake" moment.
For anyone wondering about what Border Patrol agents are doing in Minneapolis right now killing people with impunity and how they can get away with it, I strongly suggest you watch or listen to this podcast with former agent @jennbudd.bsky.social
A discussion with former agent Jenn Budd on Border Patrol and ICE impunity
Budd has investigated Border Patrol fatalities for years and the agency's efforts to cover up its crimes. Her work is now highlighted in a new documentary "Critical Incident: Death at the Border."
www.theborderchronicle.com
January 26, 2026 at 4:13 PM
For anyone wondering about what Border Patrol agents are doing in Minneapolis right now killing people with impunity and how they can get away with it, I strongly suggest you watch or listen to this podcast with former agent @jennbudd.bsky.social