‘A much-needed outlet’: More demonstrations planned in the Rio Grande Valley amid civil liberties crisis
People in the Rio Grande Valley continue to speak out as fear over civil liberties and deportations hits home.
On Saturday, April 5, political demonstrations in the Rio Grande Valley broke out across the region. Hundreds of people showed up to each of the "Hands off!" protests in McAllen, Harlingen, Brownsville and South Padre Island, sparked by concerns of drastic cuts to Social Security benefits and other "working-class" federal services.
Those community gatherings were especially significant because they were, as one participant put it, "grassroots in the truest sense" — put together in the spur of the moment, as cities joined one by one to a national call for action just days before with little planning and no budget. Many of those who attended that day were joining a public demonstration for the first time or hadn't attended one in years.
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Hola, amigos! My name is Pablo De La Rosa. I'm an independent journalist based in the Rio Grande Valley, and Across The Americas is my newsletter — for and about the Texas-Mexico borderlands and the people who make their lives here.
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About Across The Americas
Across The Americas is the newsletter of independent journalism from the Rio Grande Valley, covering the Texas-Mexico region and the deep roots its people share across the continent.
Join four-time award-winning journalist Pablo De La Rosa as he reports on the global forces shaping these regional communities today.
Pablo's voice has appeared on NPR, MSNBC, Texas Public Radio, The Border Chronicle, The Texas Standard and Lighthouse Reports documentaries. In 2022, Pablo helped launch and host the first daily Spanish-language newscast in public media for Texas, broadcasting from the Rio Grande Valley for San Antonio’s NPR member station.
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