Postcards from the Border" is a multimedia storytelling project created by Amelie Fawson and Abby Pender, students in MEJO 390: Crossing Borders/Human Rights Reporting, a media and journalism course at UNC-Chapel Hill. The class brought together a diverse group of students across a range of majors to explore the human impact of immigration policy through reported, narrative journalism.
In preparation for their reporting, students studied the United States’ long-standing ties to Latin America, the history of American foreign policy in the region and the evolving realities of immigration enforcement. Through readings, interviews with policy experts and traning, students examined the roots and repercussions of displacement.
Over spring break, the class traveled to Tijuana, Mexico, where we met directly with deported individuals, migrants in transit, legal advocates at Al Otro Lado, and shelter coordinators. Students crossed a port of entry, listened and documented personal accounts from people navigating life at the edge of two countries and the limits of U.S. immigration policy.
This website pairs audio stories told by migrants and deportees in their own voices with an enterprise article examining how mass deportation policies — like those enforced during the Trump administration — are failing to deliver on their intended outcomes. Each "postcard" offers a glimpse into a lived reality shaped by borders, bureaucracy and resilience.