borderland beat:

Show Deck

STORY

In 2010, an American, school teacher, Rebecca James, moved with her daughter, Aurora, to Juarez, Mexico, as part of a teacher exchange program that allowed her to teach English at a high school in the city. Rebecca had an innate fascination with Mexico after a trip with her mother when she was in middle school. For the most part, Americans were immune to the vast violence going on inside the country as cartel leaders knew the killing of an American would only hinder business.

They simply didn't want the headache. As Rebecca settled in, she slowly realized that pockets of her neighborhood where the school was located was controlled by the Los Zetas Cartel.

Many times, throughout the school day, she would witness or hear from students about cartel operations that could put ordinary citizens in danger.

At first, Rebecca merely wanted to help the families of her students, but what happened next changed journalism.