On Fronteras: We continue our reporting on the tens of thousands of Central American children and teens who are now in the United States. A UTSA demographer, who researches immigration, tells us more about what's driving this surge to the north. Texas is known as an energy superpower, but solar is sluggish here. We also look at solar economics in Texas and lessons that can be learned from other southwest states. And, the Kitchen Sisters take us to the Mexican town of Tequila, it's in the heart of a region that produces the legendary spirit.
UTSA Demographer Says Violence, Family & Hope are Driving Central American Minors North
Staggering numbers of Central American immigrant children without their parents continue to arrive at our southern border every day. More than 52-thousand have been apprehended in Texas since the fall.
Gabriela Sanchez-Soto is a sociologist and demographer at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Her research focuses on immigration to the U.S. from Mexico and Central America. She joins the program to shed more light on what’s compelling so many children and teens to take the dangerous risk of traveling through Mexico to get here, despite pleas from our government for them to stop.
Solar Power & What Texas Could Learn From Arizona & California
Texas has been called an “energy superpower”--- and not only for its oil. The state pumps more natural gas that any other and it leads the country in wind energy. But Texas ranks eighth in solar power. Three attempts by the state legislature to give incentives to solar have failed. Marfa Public Radio's Lorne Matalon looks at the economics of solar in Texas, and how what’s not happening here stands in contrast to the rest of the southwest.
Tequila Nation: Mexico Reckons With Its Complicated Spirit
The Mexican town of Tequila in the western state of Jalisco is the heart of a region that produces the legendary spirit. Any bottle of tequila must be made from the Weber Blue species of agave, grown and distilled in that region. Field after field of agave gives this land a blue hue, defining an economy and its traditions. The Kitchen Sisters, producers Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva, traveled to Mexico and share this story which they call Tequila Chamber of Commerce.
This story originally aired on NPR’s Morning Edition on June 25, 2014.
