Borders

Re "Congress, rethink that wall," Opinion, April 29 Former Mexican President Vicente Fox has spent much of his political career trying to convince us that shipping the poor from Mexico to the United States is a good thing. I wonder what would have happened if he had spent his six-year presidency improving the Mexican economy so that his citizens did not feel the need to flee their country. Additionally, it is hypocritical to condemn our security measures while Mexico stations law enforcement and military personnel on its southern border to prevent illegal immigration from Central and South America.

ARSAL, Lebanon - When Mustafa Ezzedine, a Sunni Muslim from this Sunni border town, wanted to buy some furniture, he undertook a clandestine trip into war-torn Syria rather than face harassment, or worse, from Shiite Muslim security officers or townsmen in nearby Lebanese communities. "Although geographically we are in Lebanon, spiritually we are with Syria," said Ezzedine, 66, who was recently freed after being held hostage along with 10 other Sunnis in reprisal for the kidnapping of a Shiite in Arsal.

SAN DIEGO - Kathy Gomez estimates that U.S. Border Patrol agents catch 75% of the migrants who try to run through the strawberry fields at her farm near the border with Tijuana. Farther east, Miguel Diaz thinks the number hits 90% at his junkyard near the base of Otay Mountain. But in the San Diego backcountry, rancher Bob Maupin says that, of the migrants who skirt his 250 acres, only 10% get arrested. Across the Southwest, the rate at which the Border Patrol stops illegal crossings has long been the stuff of coffee shop speculation.

LAREDO, Texas - This border city is trying to clear its name. It is so conjoined with its Mexican sister city across the Rio Grande, Nuevo Laredo, that the two are often referred to as "Los Dos Laredos," or simply Laredo. That was great for tourism in happier days. But as drug cartel violence exploded in Nuevo Laredo in recent years, pictures broadcast around the world of gunfights, decapitated bodies piled in abandoned minivans, and severed heads dumped in coolers often bore the same headline: "Laredo.

BOSTON -- Around the world, people observed a moment of silence at 2:50 p.m. EDT on Monday, exactly one week after the first of two explosions tore through the Boston Marathon, killing three people and wounding more than 170 near the finish line. Boston fell silent for several minutes, with large crowds gathering at the makeshift memorial that has sprung up near the finish line. U.S. flags fluttered in the breeze, and some people appeared to be praying. President Obama and congressional leaders paused in Washington, and trading stopped on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

TUCSON -- At least five people were killed and 17 injured when a van crashed during a border patrol pursuit, Pima County Rural/Metro Fire Chief Willie Treatch said Sunday. The incident happened late Saturday between 10 and 10:30 p.m., he said, when a van carrying 22 people rolled over near the intersection of Interstate 10 and State Highway 83 in Vail, Ariz. Five people died at the scene and 17 were hospitalized. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in the Tucson sector could not be immediately reached for comment.  cindy.carcamo@latimes.com @thecindycarcamo ALSO: Cardinal O'Malley warns of 'culture of death' Video said to show suspect setting backpack down Boston plays, prays and remembers on Sunday of renewal  

TUCSON, Ariz. -- At least five people were killed and more than a dozen hurt when an SUV crashed while it was being chased by the Border Patrol, authorities said Sunday. Pima County Rural/Metro Fire Chief Willie Treatch said the midsize SUV was carrying 22 passengers, but U.S. Customs and Border Protection said 18 were aboard. Treatch said five people died at the scene and 17 were rushed to the hospital, some by helicopter. The incident happened about 11 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of Interstate 10 and State Highway 83 in Vail, Ariz., officials said.

SAN DIEGO - After deliberating for several hours, a federal jury Friday acquitted a Border Patrol agent of choking an illegal immigrant during an arrest interview at the Imperial Beach station. The case against Agent Luis Fonseca, a six-year veteran, rested largely on a grainy video without audio.  Video of the July 2011 incident appears to show Adolfo Ceja Escobar falling to the floor, his body convulsing. Prosecutors alleged that Fonseca had placed his hands around Escobar's neck and choked him. But the defense attorney told jurors that Escobar was faking.

A massive Russian crackdown on Chechnya's bid for independence in the 1990s and the installation of loyal leaders there pushed the Caucasus Muslim enclave from the headlines years ago. But resentment has festered and at times bled into the global holy war being waged by Islamic militants. It appears unlikely that oppression of Chechnya's Muslim majority instigated the attack on the Boston Marathon, in which two Chechen emigre brothers are suspects. The two were young when they arrived in the United States and weren't known to associate with militants.

Under the immigration bill proposed by a bipartisan group of senators, Maria Galvan could achieve her dream of opening a hair salon in Southern California. She has spent more than a decade doing odd jobs, barred from getting the required business license because she is in the country illegally. "It makes me happy to know we're being heard," said Galvan, 43, who is originally from Mexico City. "If this happens, it will be such a relief. " The path to citizenship as laid out in the bill is a lengthy one. Jose Cruz, a day laborer from Guatemala looking for work outside a Los Angeles Home Depot, said he was willing to wait.