Ethical Dilemmas I Faced from Reporting on my Hometown

Understanding transborder relations is becoming more important than ever to understand as the possibility of legislation of a border wall is causing an international debate. The communities along the more than 1,900 mile-long U.S.-Mexico border are complex and unique in their cultures, governance and economies. Many of the border's micro issues are directly related to their geographic location that are often unheard of in the rest of the country. Border cities face certain public education issues not faced elsewhere. Overcrowded schools is not unheard of along the border, but in the city of San Luis, Arizona, the debate is hotter than before. Thousands of students, many of which are U.S. citizens, are living in Mexico and going to school in the border city of San Luis. In my in-depth story "Children cross the border daily for school - and how that's changing," I focus on one student, Eduardo, 14. I present his motives, efforts and obstacles of going to school in Southwest Junior High School in San Luis, Arizona while living in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora in Mexico. As he prepares to transition into secondary school, he is trying to decide with his mother what is his best high school option as attending a school in the U.S. is becoming more and more difficult for students like him. Crossing the Port of Entry as a pedestrian is becoming more dangerous, the only high school in the city is overcrowded, and the new superintendent seeks to have students residing in Mexico pay tuition, which Emiliano's single mother cannot afford. In the following subsections of this essay I will describe my thought process behind narrowing my topic, the process of executing my research and narrative, and the obstacles and ethical dilemmas of reporting in San Luis, my hometown.