From the Borderlands

About From the Borderlands

In her new podcast, Sarah Towle, author of Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands, pushes back against the media disinformation machine by offering a narrative that puts people at the center of the immigration discussion. Join Sarah as she provides commentary on current events and speaks to immigration advocates and experts as well as people caught under the system's cruel knee, all while sharing excerpts from Crossing the Line that spotlight the extraordinary efforts of ordinary people working to tear down the walls that divide us. Sarah implores us to join their "grassroots war of welcome." There is no time for despair, she declares. And all hands are needed urgently on deck. She calls us to collective action, now, to create a bulwark against the worst impulses of nativist governments pedaling in propaganda and lies that vilify, in the UN's terms, the world's most vulnerable people. Showcasing the folks still flying the tattered flag of values espoused in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Sarah's tales of humanity from the borderlands look to the front-line humanitarian first responders for answers to one of global society's most pressing challenges. "They show us, every day, that there is a better way: that we can welcome with dignity and we'd be a much better people for it," states Sarah. She reminds us that hope knows no borders. And state-sponsored cruelty as a strategy to deter migration is not okay. sarahtowle.substack.com (https://sarahtowle.substack.com/s/from-the-borderlands?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Sarah Towle

Category

education · news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

25 Mar 2021

Latest episode

28 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

53 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   28 Sept 2026

   HOW TO CLOSE A CAMP, or Keep Them From Opening, with Author-Activist John Washington

   Subscribers to this newsletter know that one of my main missions on behalf of the movement is to raise awareness as to how we reached this wretched place as a nation. Another is to invite people to join the resistance by providing strategies for turning your outrage into action in answer to the question, “What can I do?” We focus on how to divest from the Prison Industrial Complex, which is hiding out in most of our pension plans and retirement portfolios. We bear witness to how our deterrence-to-detention-to-deportation pipeline has cranked the cruelty way past 11 for decades through case studies such as this one on prison profiteer GEO Group’s New Jersey concentration camp, Delaney Hall… …and this one from CoreCivic’s brutal immigrant camp in Eloy, Arizona… The truth is that it’s always been bad. The horrors of the US immigration system are not Trump’s shame alone. That said, it is true that under the Trump regime, we are in a whole new world, and there’s nothing brave about it: the walls are higher, the weapons are bigger, the enforcers of our so-called laws have gone rogue and become completely unhinged. Which is why this conversation with John Washington (https://substack.com/profile/547983-john-washington) is so welcome. In this podcast episode of From the Borderlands, Dora Rodriguez and I speak with John about his latest book, How to Close a Camp (https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2880-how-to-close-a-camp), and why these terrible times may actually provide hope: Because so many people see the horrors now, because the blinders are off, because the impunity is so brutal and so exposed, we have an opportunity to grow the movement of resistance and push back against Trump & Co’s tide of hate in ever great numbers. And that includes flipping Congress Blue this fall. John reminds us, for instance, that Trump & Co’s mass deportation machine requires mass detention to succeed. We the people have the power, therefore, to prevent the spread of the machinery of misery at the local level, by refusing the necessary zoning permissions to access community infrastructure, like water, electricity, and sewage treatment. We can deny the prison profiteers the ability to suck the moral and economic life blood from our neighborhoods, what’s more, simply by showing up at local council meetings or by writing letters to the officials who are rubber stamping approvals without our input or knowledge. There are few people more articulate on these issues than John Washington. There are few books that meet the moment as cogently as How To Close A Camp. So give this conversation a listen, share it as widely as possible, and read and recommend John’s book. Stay strong, my friends. The only way through this is together. And Get Out The Vote! In Solidarity,✊🏼 Sarah Tales of Humanity is a reader-supported publication. If you like the work and perspective you encounter here, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Tales of Humanity at sarahtowle.substack.com/subscribe (https://sarahtowle.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

2. 

   7 Sept 2026

   My Labor Day Gift to You to Help to Keep the Resistance Fires Burning While At the Wheel or Barbecue

   Hello everyone, This US Labor Day, as you take the day to trim your trees or cook for dozens or confront that long road trip home following your long holiday weekend away, I’d like to pass on this gift to you: I hope that it will help turn your outrage at what US democracy has become into action. It is one great big Call to Action, and something anyone can do from anywhere. It’s a way of bringing the resistance from the streets to the boardroom. Enjoy! And stay strong, my friends. The only way through this is…Together, In solidarity,✊🏼 Sarah WHAT: The Problem For-profit prison companies, like publicly traded GEO Group and CoreCivic, are undeniably committing crimes against humanity. That makes them BAD BUSINESS. And they operate 90% of the ICE Gulag. WHY: The Scourge * Private for-profit prisons are metastasizing like a cancer in our society and body politic, compromising all our values. * Most of us don’t know to what extent we may be contributing to and benefiting from their crimes against humanity, but they are in the pension plans and retirement portfolios that are chosen for us by our labor unions, human resources departments, board trustees, and financial advisors. * Many mutual, exchange-traded, and index funds invest heavily in prison profiteers like GEO Group and CoreCivic. * These companies are helping to drive the expansion of the US prison-industrial complex and ICE’s gulag of concentration camps. * What’s more, they are making BANK by putting their profits over people. WHO: US! A growing group of civic, professional, faith, and community-based organizations called the Coalition for Values-Based Investment (https://sarahtowle.substack.com/p/divest-from-for-profit-prisons-a?r=464pd&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web) is asking YOU — individuals and institutions nationwide — to commit to making crimes against humanity BAD BUSINESS by finding and divesting from the bad actors hiding in all our financial portfolios. Stand against the craven injustice. But don’t stop there… HOW: What You Can Do About It Our workshop and resources aim to help you, your communities, and constituencies answer discover: * The bad actors are hiding in your financial portfolio; so that you can * Make informed decisions about your investment, by divesting from crimes against humanity and rebuilding a retirement portfolio that reflects your values. Remember, investing your values does not mean devaluing your worth. It can be quite the opposite! WHEN: Now! There’s no time like the present to register your disgust at how our tax dollars — and our financial investments — are being used by a madman and his evil coterie to exact tremendous misery and traumatic harm on the many for the enrichment of the few. This back-to-school (and work) season, we can create meaningful change, together. Conscious collective investing is one way among many. Take a listen to the podcast above, or jump straight to our webinar here: Don’t forget to Heart, Restack, and Share => My gratitude knows no bounds! Sarah Tales of Humanity is a reader-supported publication. If you like the information and perspective you find here, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Get full access to Tales of Humanity at sarahtowle.substack.com/subscribe (https://sarahtowle.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

3. 

   16 Jul 2026

   Make Crimes Against Humanity a BAD Investment: ICE's Deadly For-Profit Prison Gulag Is a Bipartisan Shame That Must Be Slain

   Dear Subscribers, Apologies for the radio silence. It has not been without reason… As soon as I started working on the above ☝🏼 Divestment Case Study and Call to Action, based on interviews I conducted while volunteering at New Jersey’s Delaney Hall in November 2025, nearly 300 of our neighbors, family members, colleagues, and friends went on hunger and labor strikes to protest the horrific conditions of their illegal and inhumane incarceration at the infamous ICE blacksite. That was May 22, 2026. Then, literal hell broke loose. It’s been nothing but ICE violence and Trump & Co corruption ever since.* June brought day after day of atrocious news and dreadful SCOTUS decisions, rendering each successive podcast edit obsolete within hours. Sadly, this final draft ☝🏼 is no different: As soon as I declared the episode “done,” ICE murdered again. I therefore dedicate this podcast to Jesús Manuel Arenas Silva. Jesús is the 22nd person to die, tragically and unnecessarily, while in ICE custody just this year, and the 53rd person since inauguration day 2025. Jesús died in shackles on an ICE transport, while being shuffled from one notoriously cruel ICE blacksite to another. ICE kidnappers and for-profit prison profiteers, GEO Group and LaSalle Corrections, killed Jesús with dehumanizing indifference and criminal neglect. They denied him access to his life-saving prescription medications. “We implored ICE not to take him due to his medical needs, but they didn’t listen to our pleas. They also ignored our request to at least allow him to take the medication with him . . . Jesús Manuel Arenas-Silva was a loving son and brother, a hard-working man who came to this country to seek better opportunities. His tragic death has left our family with an immense void and deep sorrow.” — Sonimar, Jesús’s sister Following the Hope Knows No Borders Network (https://sarahtowle.com/network) May 24th divestment webinar and workshop… …and in the face of escalating ICE impunity, interest in how to find and divest from the US for-profit immigrant gulag has mushroomed. The webinar panelists and I have since coalesced around growing a coalition of for-profit prison abolitionists to campaign around both gulag divestment and values-based re-investment. I’ll have more news about that for you soon. Until then… Brew a pot of iced tea or coffee and find a comfortable spot in the shade (it’s too hot for anything else). Then kick back for what my editor tells me is “an important listen.” We hope you’ll agree, if you don’t already: Crimes Against Humanity are a BAD business model and a worse investment. ICE’s deadly for-profit prison gulag is a bipartisan shame that must be slain. Don’t forget to heart, restack, and… And if you find this podcast worthy,please share it with your neighbors, family members, colleagues, and friends: Stay strong, everyone. Know your allies and keep them close. The only way through this…Together. ✊🏼 Sarah Please sign the Petition toFree Martin Soto! (https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/free-martin-soto?source=direct_link&) Critical Resources Mentioned in the Podcast: The administration has detained 400,000 immigrants: What do we know about their children? (https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-administration-has-detained-400000-immigrants-what-do-we-know-about-their-children/) Maria Cancian, Nissi Cantu, Lanikque Howard, and Tara Watson, May 18, 2026, Brookings. Banished by Bargain - (https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/?ref=theredoubt.net)Third Country Deportation Watch (https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/?ref=theredoubt.net): Monitoring the human cost of the U.S. government’s forced third-country transfer agreements. Refugees International & Human Rights First. Biden Administration Sides With Private Prison Company CoreCivic to Keep Immigrant Detention in New Jersey (https://www.njaij.org/core_civic_071723). Michelle Ancil, June 29, 2023, New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. Central African Republic Latest ‘Third Country’ for US Deportees (https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/06/29/central-african-republic-latest-third-country-for-us-deportees): Don’t Forcibly Repatriate People to Iran, Afghanistan, and Other High-Risk Countries. Lauren Seibert, June 29, 2026, Human Rights Watch. Data on “Mega Masters” Show EOIR is Targeting Individual Judges and Courts with a Flood of Hearings (https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=80027&post_id=206296284&utm_source=post-email-title&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=464pd&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo3MDA0NDk3LCJwb3N0X2lkIjoyMDYyOTYyODQsImlhdCI6MTc4MzYzNjQ4NSwiZXhwIjoxNzg2MjI4NDg1LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItODAwMjciLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.1LPAqkdcY_azUz8ajW4dNKi2A0K3VmWClF1y05M4drY). Austin Kocher (https://substack.com/profile/20912231-austin-kocher), July 9, 2026. The Deportation Machine Kills Again: Justice for Lorenzo (https://eyesonice.substack.com/p/the-deportation-machine-kills-again). July 8, 2026, Eyes On Ice (https://substack.com/profile/119572002-eyes-on-ice) Due Process Vindicated: The Fifth Circuit Rejects Categorical Detention for Longtime Undocumented Residents. (https://themigration.substack.com/p/due-process-vindicated-the-fifth?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=5662848&post_id=204992559&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=464pd&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email) In a 2-1 decision, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals establishes a 90-day bond hearing requirement, striking a blow against the administration’s mandatory immigration detention policy. Pedro Chavez (https://substack.com/profile/365938458-pedro-chavez), July 4, 2026, The Migra(N)ation. HOLY SH*T! ICE Arrests 10,000 in FIVE DAYS (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfBzxhm-XCg). JT Cestkowski, July 2, 2026, Status Coup News and MeidasTouch. “I was shot six times” (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sDr39-pJX6U): A military veteran protesting outside Delaney Hall says police and private security fired rubber bullets and paintball rounds at demonstrators, hitting him multiple times. June 5, 2026, MiddleEastEye. ICE eyes 1,000-bed detention facilities in foreign countries (https://www.theredoubt.net/ice-detention-facilities-in-foreign-countries/): The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is looking for private contractors that could help set up “international staging areas” abroad. Charles R. Davis, 13 July 2026, The Redoubt. ICE Flight Monitor (https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/ice-flight-monitor): A data-driven initiative that systematically tracks and documents U.S. immigration enforcement flights, providing detailed insights into government operations often hidden from public view. Human Rights First. Letters from Inside an ICE Gulag Jail: Delaney Hall (https://www.lahuelga.com/#landing). Movimiento Cosecha. El Grito de Nosotros: Our Cry (https://www.lahuelga.com/elgrito). “We feel vulnerable, in a way, kidnapped or detained without justification.” A Second Letter From Delaney Hall (https://www.lahuelga.com/sos). Signed by nearly 300 people, including over 50 women Don’t Give Up: A Demand for Freedom (https://www.lahuelga.com/comunicado). Written during the hunger and labor strike, the authors describe the horrific conditions inside the facility, but the strike is not only about the conditions. It is a demand for freedom. A Cry for Freedom, Justice, Human, and Constitutional Rights (https://www.lahuelga.com/freedom). “We demand freedom, a fair trial, and for our rights to be respected.” “We Demand Justice”: A letter from the women detained at Delaney Hall (https://www.lahuelga.com/justice). “We are from different cultures, nationalities, and religions, but at the end of the day, we all pray to the same God [for] help with our process, for our families, for other detainees that we don’t know their names but are here, women that are vulnerable without attorneys, without families, completely alone.” MASS DEPORTATION OF NON-AFRICAN MIGRANTS FROM THE U.S. (http://file:///Users/sarahtowle/Downloads/Press%20Rease%20N%C2%B0%20142%20-%20STATE%20VIOLENCE%20-%20MASS%20DEPORTATION%20OF%20NON-AFRICAN%20MIGRANTS%20FROM%20THE%20US%20TO%20CAR.pdf): THE CENTRAL AFRICAN GOVERNMENT MUST IMMEDIATELY STOP “HUMAN TRAFFICKING”! Press Release: July 11, 2026, Mandela Center International, an international NGO with Special Consultative Status with the United Nations. Mass De-Legalization: Supreme Court lets Trump take aim at humanitarian immigration law (https://ccgh.substack.com/p/mass-de-legalization). César García Hernández (https://substack.com/profile/4368942-cesar-garcia-hernandez), June 25, 2026, Immigration Law Unhinged. Mega Masters: The Data Behind the Latest Scheme to Manufacture Removal Orders, (Part I) (https://austinkocher.substack.com/p/mega-masters-the-data-behind-the?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email). Austin Kocher (https://substack.com/profile/20912231-austin-kocher), June 25, 2026. Mega Masters: Docket Politics and the Immigration Courts, Why Mega Masters Are Only New-ish (Part 2) (https://austinkocher.substack.com/p/docket-politics-and-the-immigration): The Trump administration is forcing over a hundred people to show up in immigration court at once—but manipulating judges’ dockets is nothing new. Austin Kocher (https://substack.com/profile/20912231-austin-kocher), June 25, 2026. Mullin v. Doe: Blessing a Race-Neutral Cover for Racial Animus (https://blog.cyrusmehta.com/2026/06/mullin-v-doe-blessing-a-race-neutral-cover-for-racial-animus.html?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email). Cyrus D Mehta and Damira Zhanatova, June 25, 2026, The Insightful Immigration Blog: Commentaries on Immigration Policy, Cases, and Trends. A new ICE facility could speed up deportations for families and kids (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/a-new-ice-facility-could-speed-up-deportations-for-families-and-kids). Jack Brook, July 6, 2026, Associated Press. Private Prison Company Sells Two CA Immigrant Detention Centers to Feds (https://www.sanjoseinside.com/news/private-prison-company-sells-two-ca-immigrant-detention-centers-to-feds/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email). Wendy Fry and Nigel Duara, July 6, 2026, San Jose Inside. SCOTUS Guts Asylum and TPS in Sweeping 6–3 Rulings (https://migrantinsider.com/p/scotus-guts-asylum-and-tps-in-sweeping?utm_source=podcast-email&publication_id=2496898&post_id=203620846&utm_campaign=email-play-on-substack&r=464pd&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email): On the same day it blocked 356,000 people from legal status, the Supreme Court ruled that standing in Mexico means you don’t exist. Pablo Manríquez (https://substack.com/profile/21387176-pablo-manriquez), June 25, 2026, Migrant Insider. “Subversion of Law and Order” (https://www.democracynow.org/2026/5/29/li_adorno_movimiento_cosecha_delaney_hall): ICE Violence Escalates at Newark’s GEO-Run Jail, Delaney Hall. May 29, 2026, Democracy (http://democracynow.org)Now! (http://democracynow.org) Supreme Court Allows Trump to Block Asylum Seekers at Border (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/25/us/politics/supreme-court-asylum-border.html?smid=nytcore-android-share): A policy of turning back asylum seekers at the border was rescinded in 2021, but the Trump administration wants the flexibility to reinstate it as a tool for border control. Ann E. Marimow, June 25, 2026, New York Times. This Week by the {Immigration} Numbers (July 11, 2026) (https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=80027&post_id=204873055&utm_source=post-email-title&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=464pd&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo3MDA0NDk3LCJwb3N0X2lkIjoyMDQ4NzMwNTUsImlhdCI6MTc4MzgxMDY3NywiZXhwIjoxNzg2NDAyNjc3LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItODAwMjciLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.Xngyk9gPyI14No_kK76mlgAgd8VIQGQB42QZj9SDCwo). Austin Kocher (https://substack.com/profile/20912231-austin-kocher), July 11, 2026. Welcome With Dignity Denounces SCOTUS Decisions Greenlighting Asylum Turnback Policy, Gutting TPS (https://welcomewithdignity.org/welcome-with-dignity-denounces-scotus-decisions-greenlighting-asylum-turnback-policy-gutting-tps/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email). Press Release: June 25, 2026, Welcome with Dignity Coalition. Which air carriers are positioned to benefit from increased deportations? (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2025/05/which-air-carriers-are-positioned-to-benefit-from-increased-deportations/) Indy Scholtens, May 12, 2025, Open Secrets. Tales of Humanity is a reader-supported publication. If you value the work you find here, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Get full access to Tales of Humanity at sarahtowle.substack.com/subscribe (https://sarahtowle.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

Who has been a guest on From the Borderlands

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Dora Rodriguez
• Dr José Alamillo
• Gabriella Navarro-Busch Esq
• Arcenio Lopez
• Laura

Podcast Authority Score: 27 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

55

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0

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