Border City

Border City

Border City is the story of a journalist who in 1994 impulsively leaves her job and family in Washington, D.C., to report on Tijuana, Mexico, a city commonly known for drug violence and illegal immigration into the U.S. She expects to stay on the border a year, maybe two. But her plans change as she is drawn deeper and deeper into the different worlds that converge at the biggest crossing point on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Episodes

March 24, 2022 2 mins

Border City is a different kind of story about the U.S.-Mexico border, told by a reporter who has spent more than 25 years trying to understand the dynamics of Tijuana, Mexico, and its relationship to the United States.

In 1994 Sandra Dibble left a prestigious job in Washington D.C. for Tijuana, Mexico’s largest border city. A few days before she arrived, a major presidential candidate was assassinated there. She was still settling ...

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Sandra Dibble expected to stay in Tijuana a year. Instead she found herself drawn into the worlds that intersect at this crossroads of the Americas. Journalists. Migrants. Artists. Drug gangs. Tijuana is a place where paths converge, often in unexpected ways.
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April 12, 2022 31 mins
The kidnapping of a prominent maquiladora executive — and the threatening presence of the Arellano drug cartel — overshadow the city’s ambitious effort to boost its image. But like many Tijuana residents, Sandra feels little personal danger as she settles into her new life and explores the city.
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April 19, 2022 26 mins
Sandra ponders the fine line that separates danger from safety in this city of contrasts. A prominent Tijuana journalist is ambushed and a family falls victim to the Arellano cartel. But she also sees another side of the city, as her friend Angela throws her a surprise birthday party.
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April 26, 2022 27 mins
Sandra covers the assassination of another police chief and the arrest of a powerful drug suspect. She also sings with the Tijuana opera and invites friends from both sides of the border to a concert on a hillside looking out toward San Diego.
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May 3, 2022 32 mins
The Arellano cartel grows weaker as its top leaders fall, but the violence continues. Threats strike new fears in the highest echelons of law enforcement. The Tijuana opera hosts an inaugural performance. Sandra’s mother flies in from Washington, D.C. and meets Sandra’s friend Angela.
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May 10, 2022 29 mins
Doctors in their white coats protest the violence, while some young musicians refuse to stay home, and an arts promoter opens a new gallery. Sandra feels caught between two worlds as she flies back and forth to Washington to care for her ailing mother.
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May 17, 2022 28 mins
Artists, chefs and ordinary citizens point the way to a revitalized Tijuana, even as the city faces new challenges. Sandra faces challenges too. Two deaths in her own family.
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May 24, 2022 34 mins
A random accident forces Sandra to slow down and embrace her life on the border. New waves of migrants arrive in Tijuana, pushed by violence, poverty, and political upheaval and fueled by dreams of reaching the United States.
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June 11, 2025 35 mins

Please enjoy the first episode of the latest from L.A. Times Studios, Rebuilding L.A.

L.A. Times reporter Liam Dillon joins us to talk about where we are in the moment as residents assess the path forward. How are people grappling with the decision to rebuild and, ultimately, what factors are playing into those plans? Also, Altadena resident and lawyer Kelsey Szamet shares her very personal story about her efforts to get back home t...

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