Cover Photo: Photograph by Romel Jacinto / Flickr
Photograph by Romel Jacinto / Flickr

Why We Cross the Border in El Paso

I felt my mom’s grip tighten around my hand as dozens surged across the Rio Grande, the water waist-high. Adults held children in their arms or carried them in rebozos across their backs.

On the river

Under the bridge

In the river

Across the border

By the fence

Between 2010-2014, Victoria Blanco collected the oral histories of Rarámuri families living in Chihuahua City, Mexico. She is completing a nonfiction book based on the oral histories and her field research. Her research and writing have been supported by Fulbright, fellowships from the University of Minnesota, Coffee House Press In-the-Stacks, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and the Loft Mentor Series. She received her MFA from the University of Minnesota. She is a Mexican-American writer from El Paso, Texas. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two sons.