UCLA

Since the rise of the border trope in the late 1980's, postmodern, feminist, postcolonial, Chicana/o and Latina/o academic circles have invested in the hybrid subject as an alternative way of theorizing border identity and experience. Yet, the kinds of border subjectivities that have become the norm in Chicana/o and non-Chicana/o border epistemology mainly focus on U.S.-centered experiences. The lack of consideration of non-U.S. based border subjects drives this research project and asks; how does mainstream mediated news sources construct a non-native transborder experience (what I call the "otro lado" baby experience)? By looking at published news articles, network television news reports, and online debates that inform a wide audience on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, I critically analyze and challenge the various news reports that propel a sometimes problematic and/or controversial construction of the otro lado babies' experience.