If you’re interested in a factual presentation about the U.S.-Mexico border and migration, plan to attend the Open Circle event in Ajijic Sunday, August 11, featuring award-winning journalist and author Alfredo Corchado.
After the presentation, scheduled 10:30 a.m. in the rear garden patio of the Lake Chapala Society, he will sign copies of his books on the patio at La Nueva Posada.
Corchado, the Mexico border correspondent for The Dallas Morning News, will provide perspectives based on his reporting and his 2018 book “Homelands: Four Friends, Two Countries, and the Fate of the Great Mexican-American Migration.” His presentation will be in dialogue with Angela Kocherga, also an award-winning journalist and specialist on border issues. It will include a question-and-answer period.
Corchado’s balanced approach to journalism is evident in his reporting about the July 2019 visit by a Congressional delegation to a U.S. Border Patrol holding facility in Clint, Texas, for migrant adults and children. Some members of the Congressional delegation condemned its conditions as inhumane during an onsite news conference after the visit, which led to a confrontation with hecklers supporting President Donald Trump.
Factual insights about the border and migration are the focus of Corchado’s frequent presentations, such as a June 2019 speech at the Economic Club of Traverse City, Michigan, where he discussed how the face of migration is changing along the southern U.S. border.
“Last year, there were more Mexicans who went back to Mexico than Mexicans who came to the United States,” the local newspaper said in quoting Corchado. “And there were more Americans – whether they were children of Mexican immigrants, or Americans themselves who were looking to live or retire in Mexico – who went down to Mexico than came back. That’s the reality today.”
His two books, both of which have been translated into Spanish, have received critical praise from the news media and book reviewers.
“In ‘Homelands’ [Corchado] recounts his experiences and those of three friends – altogether, three Mexicans and an American of Mexican descent – as they grapple with having two countries to call home,” wrote The Economist. “It eloquently chronicles the effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement between Mexico, America and Canada, the militarization of the border after the attacks of September 11, 2001, and Mr. Trump’s victory.”
His 2014 book, “Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter’s Journey Through a Country’s Descent into Darkness,” also drew praise, and grew out of his personal experiences while stationed in Mexico City as bureau chief for the Dallas newspaper. His reporting there from 2003 to 2007 on government corruption and cartel violence earned respect on both sides of the border, but he moved back to the United States after receiving a tip that he was the next target of a violent paramilitary group.
Corchado was born in Durango, Mexico, migrated legally to the United States with his Mexican parents when he was six years old, and later became a U.S. citizen. His journalism career includes positions with local and national news media in Texas, Utah, Pennsylvania, and Mexico City. For most of his career, he has reported on issues that connect Mexico and the United States, and now he lives in El Paso, Texas.
He has received many awards including both the Maria Moors Cabot and Elijah Parish Lovejoy Awards for Courage in Journalism. He has also earned fellowships including the Nieman, Woodrow Wilson, and Rockefeller. He often appears on U.S. cable TV programs and on National Public Radio and speaks frequently to audiences across the country.