A conversation with maquila workers when a company closes

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In the summer of 2019, UTEP and UACJ collaborated to record personal stories from both sides of the border. In this conversation we hear the experience of two workers. Ana Belen Sanchez and Claudia Rivas worked in a maquila operated by North American Communications, known as NAMS in Juarez. In March 2019, the plant closed abruptly, leaving more than 600 people unemployed. Transcript
Ana Belen: My name is Ana Belen Sanchez, I’m 29 years old.

Cross-border romance led to marriage on international bridge

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La historia de una pareja separada por su situación migratoria. Sandra Lopez se regreso a Juárez después de descubrir que estaba viviendo indocumentada en Estados Unidos. Ella conoció a su esposo, Rodolfo, un ciudadano Americano, por internet. Ambos recuerdan cómo fue desarrollando su relación. Translation: This is the story of a couple separated by their immigration status.

Spiralmind Comic Delivers in English and Spanish

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EL PASO — On a recent Friday afternoon, three engineers in baseball caps and sneakers sit in a downtown cafe plotting a narrative that involves werewolves, fallen angels and a rabbi who performs exorcisms.

Ben Perez (39) and Matt Rothblatt (37), test engineers at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, grew up watching horror films. As kids, they created make-believe radio shows and stuffed animal theatre for their sisters. Now adults, the two cousins maintain an active imagination. They’re self-publishing a comic book series called Spiralmind; and they’re releasing it in both English and Spanish. The idea for the main character has been living in Perez’s mind since childhood. Related: Few realize Syfy comic book character’s links to El Paso

“When I was a little boy my mom would take us to go see the movies,” he said.