The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Mexican Americans" ...
-
Truthout on the Border
The true intent of United States Foreign Policy in regards to the war on drugs in Mexico and Latin America is hidden behind many pantallas (screens in Spanish). In ten installments, posted in the first half of 2012, the Truthout on the Mexican Border series exposed the unofficial intentions of the US war on drugs in Latin America and its deadly impact. By connecting the dots in ten successively posted articles, the war on drugs appears to be a screen behind which goals of US military and economic hegemony can more easily be achieved in Latin American nations. Many Mexicans know that when it comes to corruption, drugs and crime in their nation, las pantallas usually prevent them from knowing the truth. The same is true of the US war on drugs, which has resulted in deaths and disappearances that are estimated to reach between 60,000 – 120,000 in the six year rule of Mexican President Felipe Calderón (ending on November 30, 2012). Truthout regularly covers US foreign policy and its impact in Latin America. The Truthout on the Mexican Border series was written to create a comprehensive understanding of what is behind the diplomatic and political screens – weaving in such seemingly diverse topics as US immigration and gun policies to understand the dark underside of US hemispheric intentions in Mexico and Latin America.
Tags: U.S.; foreign policy; Mexico; Latin America; drug war; corruption; crime
-
Need to Know: Crossing the Line at the Border Parts 1 & 2
Few, if any, pieces published or broadcast in 2012 had as much impact as “Crossing the Line at the Border,” a joint project of the weekly PBS newsmagazine, “Need to Know,” and the Nation Institute that was in the best tradition of American investigative journalism. Within days of its broadcast, 16 members of Congress demanded that the U.S. Justice Department investigate the killing of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, a 42-year-old Mexican whose death at the hands of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents was detailed in our report. A few months later, a U.S. attorney in convened a federal grand jury. It is currently considering criminal charges in the case. And months after that, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the incident had prompted it to launch a full-scale review of its use of force. Hernandez Rojas had a fatal heart attack shortly after being subdued by agents, beaten, and shot with a Taser gun at the San Ysidro border crossing on May 28th, 2010. His death was largely ignored until the "Need to Know” team, in partnership with the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute, unearthed never-before-seen eyewitness video of the incident.
Tags: U.S. Justice Department; border; killing; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Taser
-
Blood Trade: Memphis and the Mexican Drug War
A man in Memphis plays a crucial role in funding a violent Mexican drug cartel that ships cocaine and marijuana around the U.S. In an unprecedented investigation, the reporter travels with Mexican sources involved in the drug cartel, giving American readers the chance to see the Mexican side of the story.
Tags: Mexico; drug cartel; drug trade; drug war; Memphis
-
Asylum Seekers
Mexican citizens are surrounded by violence and drugs in their native country. Many are seeking to become US citizens and find the only way is to gain political asylum or going through business channels. The US government is denying many asylum requests because they believe the law doesn’t fully apply to victims of Mexican organized crime. Further, many of these Mexican citizens have been sent back to Mexico, where a number of them face torture and even death.
Tags: cartel; victims; cases; American law; Gutierrez; safety; family; immigrants; danger; refugees
-
New Orleans Now: Immigrants, Labor Rights and the Human Cost of Rebuilding and American City- Part 1
"An in-depth report on the variety of human rights, labor rights, health care and advocacy issues surrounding the treatment of immigrant and migrant workers in Post-Katrina New Orleans."
Tags: Hurricane Katrina; Mexican; spanish; African-American; General Robert E. Lee Circle; New Worker Center for Racial Justice; Common Ground Health Clinic; health care
-
Breaching America
"This series examined the veracity of one of the most unsubstantiated, tenacious and politically consequential claims of 2007 used to justify hard-line immigration reform legislation: that Islamic terrorists were routinely crossing American borders alongside benevolent Mexican illegal laborers."
Tags: immigration reform; Islamic terrorists; border crossing; illegal immigrants;
-
Dying to work
This story looks at the high number of Mexican-born workers that get killed working in heavy industries. The story focuses on Mexican workers that have fatal accidents almost four times more as compared to American workers. As the reporters found out many of these deaths was mainly due to the fact the Mexicans did not speak English or did not go into treatment since they were illegally in the country.
Tags: Mexican immigrants; illegal immigrants; cheap labor; Mexican workers; OSHA; U.S. Department of Labor; worker death rates
-
Magic Mountain
Six Flags is one of the largest regional park company and this investigation looks at how some of the guards at these amusement parks are trained to target African-Americans and Latino customers. It also reveals that a person visiting the amusement park in Southern California was an Olympic gold winner who was humiliated at the theme park.
Tags: racial profiling; discrimination; African- American; Mexicans; Latino; Olympics; Southern California; six flags; amusement parks; racial profiling by security
-
The Town NAFTA Forgot
This article tells the story of a town, Nogales, split between Arizona and Mexico. The Mexican portion is flourishing while the Arizona town suffers. Both towns are defined by their location and their foreign half.
Tags: maquiladora; North American Free Trade Agreement; border
-
Are you experienced?
This story deals with police brutality. It narrates the death of Mexican legal immigrant Luis Alfonso Torres after he was detained by three members of the Police Dept. of the city of Baytown, west of Houston (Texas). The detention was filmed by a camera mounted on one of the squad's car. When he was detained, Bernstein says, Torres was "suffering from hypertension" and unarmed. "It's bigger than the Rodney King video. After all, in this incident someone died", says a Houston-based Hispanic activist quoted in the story. "Cops killing Mexicans is not new to Harris County", Bernstein says and adds in 1999 the Mexican consulate "proposed a travel warning to advise fellow citizens against visiting Houston because of all the police shootings in the area."
Tags: Baytown Police; Harris County; Harris County District Attorney's Office; Texas ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union); Emergency Medical Service (EMS); Baytown Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)