Fronteras: In the New Year, Mexico will begin to implement a sweeping tax reform, but northern border communities are protesting the change. U.S. border inspectors have the right to look through your computer when you come into the U.S., but just how closely can they look into your files? Cookie-cutter housing developments for low-income workers are now a feature of many cities in Mexico, but the model isn’t working out. American tax dollars are helping change lives in Mexican border cities by putting people to work in the formal economy.
Higher Sales Tax in Store for Mexican Border Towns
Mexican border cities will be hit with a higher sales tax in the New Year. As a result, Mexican retailers, who already face stiff competition from American stores, fear they will lose even more business. The change is part of a major tax reform passed this year by Mexico's congress. Mónica Ortiz Uribe reports.
Border Search Rules May Go to the Supreme Court
A Tucson lawyer has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a case that may help determine just how thoroughly border officials can search electronics from U.S. citizens without reasonable suspicion. As Michel Marizco reports, this is one of a number of cases making its way through the courts that seeks to limit the government’s right to dig into personal electronic files at international borders.
Valley Fever Season Hits As Drug Price Rises
This time of year isn’t just the season for colds and the flu, it's also a common time for people in the Southwest to come down with Valley Fever symptoms. But as Jude Joffe-Block reports from Phoenix, the cost of treatment has spiked in recent months.
Mexico's Cookie-Cutter Suburban Housing Model Not Working
In the past few decades, millions of Mexicans became homeowners thanks to higher salaries and government aid. The increased demand fueled a boom of low-cost suburbs in cities such as Tijuana.
But now, many of those suburbs are falling into disarray, and residents have fled. There are an estimated 50,000 abandoned homes in Tijuana and some 600,000 across Mexico. As part of a series exploring Tijuana's history and neighborhoods, Jill Replogle from our Fronteras Desk explores why.
American Tax Dollars Change Lives In Mexican Border Cities
A little-known infusion of American tax dollars has played a part in the fight against organized crime in two Mexican border cities: Ciudad Juárez and Tijuana. The money comes from the Merida Initiative, a multinational pact signed six years ago. Fronteras reporter Mónica Ortiz Uribe explored a few examples of what that money has accomplished.
