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A Decade After Borders Shut Down, Here’s What’s in Its Former Locations

The defunct bookstore chain’s spaces are a tricky size to fill..

It’s been almost exactly ten years since the last Borders bookstore closed, following the company’s February 2011 bankruptcy. Vacating roughly five hundred locations throughout 2011, the erstwhile king of brick-and-mortar book retailing left behind a massive real-estate footprint, millions in unused gift cards, and a lot of memories. (And did you know “Borders” was the last name of two brothers who founded the chain, and not a reference to expanding the borders of your mind?)

It is hard to overstate, yet already difficult to remember, just how popular and big Borders was. More than Barnes & Noble, its similarly sized competitor, Borders was practically synonymous with bookstores during its height in the 1990s and early 2000s. In its heyday it was one of the finest and most successful examples of the category killer or “ medium-box ” store, a now-struggling retail concept that mixes discounting and large selection with curation and attention to quality.

Borders distinguished itself in a number of ways. Most of its stores boasted a café and comfortable interior, and later free wifi, which made them social, multi-use spaces: light breakfast spots, teen hangouts, places to read a story to the kids. The chain also included an unusual number of two-story locations, and many urban or downtown ones as well. Despite its large footprint and rapid expansion, many of its stores were architecturally unique. In a fascinating and detailed post on the chain’s style , architect Marc Lortie notes, “Some Borders stores featured circular turret towers that would jut out of the corner of the façade, physically embodying some of the idyllic romance and innocence of children’s books.”

Borders curated its selection with some attention to local interests , ameliorating some of the concern over the fate of local, idiosyncratic bookstores. And despite the heat it took as a corporate chain, Borders unquestionably increased the quantity and variety of books available to the average consumer at reasonable prices, combining the discounting of Walmart with the browsing ability of the local library. “The big-box store [for books] was a glorious thing while it lasted,” Wharton School professor Dan Raff told NPR in 2011. “To people in many parts of America, they were a kind of Aladdin’s cave.”

But Borders also did damage to itself. One widely noted misstep was the chain’s emphasis on media sales—CDs and DVDs—even as it was becoming increasingly clear that physical media was a dwindling market. (Although if Borders had eked it out, perhaps they’d be selling vinyl today!) Unlike Barnes & Noble, which rolled out its own e-reader in 2009, Borders showed little interest in e-books. And in an early and deeply symbolic misstep, the company outsourced its e-commerce operations in 2001 —to Amazon. It later took back its own web operations in 2008, too late and behind the e-commerce curve.

There were also concerns that the company had overexpanded, a mistake common to a number of defunct retailers. Many Borders locations, intentionally placed near Barnes & Noble stores, faced stiff competition. Many were oversized as well. In a Twitter thread I started about the chain, one former employee recalled being told by his general manager that Borders offered a “third space”—i.e., neither home nor work —“and how that justified huge square footage, multi-levels, and a café even at stores that (unlike ours) didn’t have high foot traffic.” The things that made Borders a pleasant space to lounge also cut into its profitability.

When it went bankrupt, Borders was so big that its failure stranded over $200 million in unused gift cards , triggering a multi-year legal saga that ended in the Supreme Court declining to involve itself in the issue . Who knew a bookstore would help set a precedent that gift-card holders are basically out of luck when a company goes bankrupt?

But along with the memories, the worthless plastic, and a throwback webpage on the Barnes & Noble website welcoming former Borders customers , Borders lives on in the form of its vacated real estate, the afterlife of which is still unfolding. Storefronts in the category-killer segment have proven difficult to fill in recent years—many of the category killers who would otherwise lease them are themselves struggling or defunct , and the spaces tend to be too small for discount department stores and too large for most others. They’re useless to a Walmart or Target, which have fewer competitors than they had even twenty years ago; and they’re too large for things like drugstores, specialty shops, and most small businesses.

For some insight, I asked on Twitter if anybody recalled a local Borders location, and what its status is today. To my surprise, I received nearly 100 responses regarding locations all over the country, representing a considerable share of the chain’s entire portfolio. In addition to those tips, I used Google Maps and its Street View function to look at a number of former Borders sites. The fate of these stores says something about where America’s overbuilt retail is going. Broken down roughly, this is what happened to them.

Of the sizable sample I looked at, only a few have been demolished. About 10 percent have been subdivided into two or more spaces. A small number have become other bookstores—the Books-A-Million chain, for example, took over several Borders locations. A few have become restaurants; the space seems to suit a certain kind of big-scaled eatery . Somewhat larger numbers have become furniture showrooms or medium-sized discount stores like Ross or Home Goods. About 10 percent have become larger clothing or fashion stores, such as H&M, Forever 21, or even Sephora. About 12 percent are currently vacant; some have been other stores in between, such as the now-defunct Pier 1, while a few have been vacant ever since Borders closed. Only about 16 percent are other category killers: everything from Total Wine to Hobby Lobby to Designer Shoe Warehouse.

Perhaps surprisingly, nearly a fifth of the sample I looked at have become small-format or medium-sized supermarkets, from Aldi to Whole Foods to Fresh Market. This may herald a trend towards downsizing in supermarket spaces , which could in turn leave a raft of oversized and vacant former supermarkets to fill.

But even more surprisingly, a little more than a fifth of the former Borders spaces I looked at are no longer retail at all; their uses include studios, gyms, medical clinics or facilities, a daycare, and a coworking space. It’s clear that on the one hand, there are in fact many possibilities for these kinds of retail spaces, but on the other hand, their traditional options are dwindling.

Decades ago, Borders pioneered the new idea of category-specific superstores in the book space, transforming how Americans searched for, bought, and read books. For those who miss the concept, Barnes & Noble remains a surprisingly solid company, likely to hold on for many years to come. But in its own way, Borders remains. First the driver and then the victim of retail innovation, now its old spaces are evolving and giving us a real-time preview of a new era in the American built environment.

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It’s the End for Borders, but How Are Independent Bookstores Faring?

This week, major international bookseller Borders announced it would liquidate its inventory and shutter its stores. More than 10,000 workers are expected to be laid off. Thursday on the PBS NewsHour, Jeffrey Brown talked to Annie Lowrey of Slate about the fall of that retail giant.

When Borders established itself as a major chain in the 1990s it became, along with Barnes & Noble, and later, online retailer Amazon, a main competitor of small, independent bookstores around the country. Today, if they were fortunate to outlive Borders, small stores are facing some old challenges (the recession) as well as some new challenges (e-books).

Art Beat called some notable independent booksellers across the nation to see how they are faring and adapting in the current climate, and they responded via email.

Here are excerpts from their responses:

It is ALWAYS sad to see a bookstore close. It has an effect on the book business from top to bottom – publishers to independent retailers. One fear is that people served by Borders live in places that aren’t/can’t be served by an independent bookstore. They will be forced to go online to a place like Amazon. Not good for us. However, there is now an impetus to open more independents in these areas. We don’t believe that people are necessarily buying fewer books, at least that is not our experience. We are doing well and can now sell ebooks online to our customers through Google e-books. We are a destination and a community gathering place and consider that to be one of the most important functions we serve. It is so important to nurture the human touch!

    Square Books (right), Oxford, Miss. Lyn Roberts, General Manager

This is not to say that Square Books has not felt the effects of recession. Sales have not seen any significant increases over the past two years, but seem to be holding steady. We have the support of the writers in our community and those whose books we have read and promoted, the readers and citizens that appreciate what we offer, and the publishers with whom we have worked with for many years. The world of books is unarguably changing, but we also will adapt so as to continue to remain a mainstay in the community.

City Lights Books, San Francisco Elaine Katzenberger, Executive Director and Publisher

Now more than ever, we believe that what we do is crucial. We believe that intelligent discourse and unfettered questioning are the foundations for any hope for an engaged citizenry, crucial for democracy and for the health of us all. We’ve been an independent bookseller and publisher for over 55 years, and the vision that still inspires us was born in a time similar to our own — a prevailing culture of paranoia and fear — and City Lights was founded as an attempt to further a robust, informed confrontation with the realities of the time. Providing a place for people to engage with ideas — and with each other — is what bookstores, and books themselves, do. We’re committed to that mission, and to those who share it.

Like all small businesses, our capacity to continue playing a meaningful role is being challenged in many ways: most obviously by the global downturn in the economy, and by the effects that developing technologies are having on every aspect of our lives, but most powerful is the challenge of a media culture that seems intent on devaluing intelligent discourse in order to increase profits. Our hope lies in the strength of enough people’s ability to resist that numbing force, and as long as those people remain committed to a future that’s not dictated purely by profit margins, City Lights will survive, and continue to do our part.

Politics and Prose Bookstore, Washington, D.C. Lissa Muscatine and Bradley Graham, owners

Politics and Prose continues to thrive as an independent bookstore because we are so deeply rooted in our community — a community that appreciates the difference between an independent, socially-conscious, neighborhood institution and a national brand. Our customers want and demand civic engagement and set a high intellectual bar. We offer them an experience they simply cannot get on-line or at big box stores and chains. Our booksellers are expert curators who understand the tastes and interests of our customers. We host 500 events in the store each year with leading (and emerging) authors. We offer courses and classes, organize and lead book clubs, and are a gathering place for readers, writers, thinkers, and citizens who want to be involved in serious discourse about the ideas and issues of the day. Moreover, we partner with local schools, universities, cultural institutions and other organizations in ways that build and strengthen our community. We contribute to our community by paying local taxes, unlike some of the on-line retailing giants. In short, we are genuinely part of our community, and that is a key to our success.

Unabridged Books, Chicago Stefan Moorehead, Buyer

The definition of thriving hasn’t changed for physical independent bookstores over the years. We aren’t trying to appease stock holders or increase our market share every quarter, we’re trying to be the best bookstore we can be for our community and the people that support us by reading and loving books. We love to tell the story that the same week that Border’s was closing down the street, we were putting in new carpet. We love books, are committed to their future, and committed to our future in our city.

Surviving has always been a tightrope walk. Our store has survived a dozen competitors over our 30 years within a half mile of the store, so we offer value to our customers. Value in price: we carry a large remainder section of not quite brand new hardcovers all under $10; value in our stock: tens of thousands of books are published every year. We only have space for a small percentage of that. We carry what we’ve found to be the best of the best. And our recommendations aren’t based on an Internet algorithm. We’ve actually read our recommended books. And any two people want two different things. Why should they be pigeon-holed into buying whatever the steepest discount is? Sure, people want to read “The Help,” but where do you go after that? We know the answer by listening to our customers and the community, and that will never change.

Prairie Lights, Iowa City, Ia. Jan Weissmiller, Co-Owner

Prairie Lights is lucky to be located in Iowa City, Iowa — home of the famed Iowa Writers’ Workshop and one of the four cities worldwide to be designated a City of Literature by UNESCO . Our connections with writing and publishing have meant that we have a flourishing reading series which, in turn, has given us a strong public presence and much community support. Our large and knowledgeable staff — which includes writers, visual artists and actors — are able to recommend books on a daily basis to readers of all ages. Nevertheless, online buying, the floundering economy and the loss of market share to e-books have been very challenging. We are constantly in the process of innovating the business to the current climate. We partnered with Google Editions through IndieBound in order to make e-books available on our website. We have a gifted videographer on staff who films our buyer — the venerable Paul Ingram — discussing current books. Those can be seen both on our website and our YouTube Channel.

The Strand Book Store, New York Nancy Bass Wyden, co-owner

The Strand Book Store has been around for 84 years, surviving Book Row, the Great Depression, big box stores and online retailers, because Strand founder Benjamin Bass, his son Fred and granddaughter Nancy Bass Wyden have been willing to change with the times and keep pace with their customers’ needs.

As a family-owned business, the Strand has the ability to adapt to changing circumstances quickly. When our customers began requesting new books, we started buying books directly from the publishers; when we witnessed a steady increase in our online sales, we redesigned the site to make shopping at strandbooks.com even easier; when customers asked for gift wrap and greeting cards, we added a stationery department….

[W]e host weekly events with authors and artists; we have fun writing and art contests; we sell gift items for book-lovers and nostalgic candy and, to carry it all home, we offer a wide selection of fun and unique tote bags. With 18 miles of new, used and rare books, and the largest art book department in the world, the Strand has something for everyone and for every budget — books range in price from $.48 to $45,000.

Tattered Cover Book Store, Denver, Co. Neil Strandberg, Manager of Operations

Maintaining a viable independent bookstore has been hard work for a long period of time, in Denver starting in the early 1990’s with the expansion of brick-and-mortar Barnes & Noble and Borders in the metro area, followed closely by the success of Amazon.com.

A crude stability was reached by about 2000, but I’d say that the recession of 2001 again destabilized us and now, when we are not having to accept that an even deeper recessionary cycle is hobbling consumer spending, we are adapting to the fact that whatever “reading dollars” there are, are increasingly being used to obtain e-readers and e-books.

The work at Tattered Cover has been, then, to re-shape the business out of acknowledgment printed book sales will continue to decline for the foreseeable future. We are smaller, retail space-wise, than we were a few years ago and we will be smaller again, I wager, a few years hence.

Meanwhile we experiment with new product, inclusive of e-books via our partnership with Google, food, gifts and services to local authors.

I have every reason to believe that in ten years’ time there will be a retail setting that everyone recognizes as the logical descendent of today’s retail bookstores. The trick for all of us is to juggle declining printed book sales with new products and new services and the appropriate amount of real estate in the right location. Hardly an easy task but if the indie community has anything going for it, it is the fact that we are a feisty, determined, creative bunch that love what we do. Taking a cue from some of the technologies that been so disruptive, collectively the indie community is crowd-sourcing the sustainable bookstore-like thing of tomorrow. One of us is going to figure this out.

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• Fact Sheets

Fact Sheet: Presidential Proclamation to Suspend and Limit Entry and Joint DHS-DOJ Interim Final Rule to Restrict Asylum During High Encounters at the Southern Border

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration took decisive new action to strengthen border security, announcing a series of measures that restrict asylum eligibility, and significantly increase the consequences for those who enter without authorization across the southern border. These extraordinary steps, which will be in effect during times when high levels of encounters exceed our ability to deliver timely consequences, will make noncitizens who enter across the southern border ineligible for asylum with certain exceptions, raise the standard that is used to screen for certain protection claims, and speed up our ability to quickly remove those who do not qualify for protection.

These actions follow a series of steps that the Administration has taken over the past three years as it prepared for the end of the Title 42 public health Order, and since it was lifted last year, including surging personnel, infrastructure, and technology to the border, issuing the Circumvention of Lawful Pathways Rule, and referring record numbers of noncitizens into expedited removal. Over the past year, we have removed or returned more than three quarters of a million people, more than in any fiscal year since 2010. Despite these efforts, our outdated and broken immigration and asylum system, coupled with a lack of sufficient funding, make it impossible to quickly impose consequences on all noncitizens who cross irregularly and without a legal basis to remain in the United States.

The Administration has repeatedly called on Congress to provide the resources and legal authorities needed to secure our border. The measures announced today will better enable the Department to quickly remove individuals without a legal basis to remain in the United States, strengthening enforcement and change the calculus for those considering crossing our border irregularly. However, they are no substitute for Congressional action. We continue to call on Congress to provide the new tools and resources we have asked for to support the men and women on the frontlines.

President Biden issued a Presidential Proclamation to temporarily suspend the entry of noncitizens across the southern border. The Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General also jointly issued an interim final rule that, consistent with the Proclamation, generally restricts asylum eligibility for those who irregularly enter across the southern border – including the Southwest land and the southern coastal borders. The rule also limits fear screenings to those who manifest a fear or express a desire to file for protection and heightens the screening standard for statutory withholding and claims under the Convention Against Torture. Taken together, these measures will significantly increase the speed and scope of consequences for those who cross our borders irregularly or who attempt to present themselves at Ports of Entry without authorization, allowing the Departments to more quickly remove individuals who do not establish a legal basis to remain in the United States. The restriction on asylum eligibility will be discontinued when encounters fall below certain levels but will come back into effect if encounters rise again.

The rule makes three key changes to current processing under Title 8 immigration authorities during periods of high border encounters:

• First, noncitizens who cross the southern border unlawfully or without authorization will generally be ineligible for asylum, absent exceptionally compelling circumstances and unless they are excepted by the Proclamation.
• Second, noncitizens who cross the southern border and are processed for expedited removal while the limitation is in effect will only be referred for a credible fear screening with an Asylum Officer if they manifest or express a fear of return to their country or country of removal, a fear of persecution or torture, or an intention to apply for asylum.  
• Third, the U.S. will continue to adhere to its international obligations and commitments by screening individuals who manifest a fear as noted above and do not qualify for an exception to the Rule for withholding of removal and Convention Against Torture protections at a reasonable probability of persecution or torture standard – a new, substantially higher standard than is currently applied under the Circumvention of Lawful Pathways rule.  

Like the Proclamation, the rule provides for an end to these enhanced measures following a sustained reduction in southern border encounters. Specifically, these measures are in effect until 14 calendar days after there has been a 7-consecutive-calendar-day average of less than 1,500 encounters between the ports of entry. The measures would again go into effect, or continue, as appropriate, when there has been a 7-consecutive-calendar-day average of 2,500 encounters or more.

During periods of high encounters, the Proclamation will apply across the southern border. Lawful permanent residents, unaccompanied children, victims of a severe form of trafficking, and other noncitizens with a valid visa or other lawful permission to enter the United States are excepted from the Proclamation.

In addition, the suspension and limitation on entry and rule will not apply to noncitizens who use a Secretary-approved process—such as the CBP One mobile app—to enter the United States at a port of entry in a safe and orderly manner or pursue another lawful pathway.

Noncitizens who cross the southern border and who are not excepted from the Proclamation will be ineligible for asylum unless exceptionally compelling circumstances exist, including if the noncitizen demonstrates that they or a member of their family with whom they are traveling:

• faced an acute medical emergency;
• faced an imminent and extreme threat to life or safety, such as an imminent threat of rape, kidnapping, torture, or murder; or
• satisfied the definition of “victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons” currently provided in 8 CFR 214.11.

Consequences

Noncitizens who are subject to the rule’s limitation on asylum eligibility and who manifest or express a fear of return to their country or country of removal, express a fear of persecution or torture or an intention to apply for asylum, but do not establish a reasonable probability of persecution or torture in the country of removal will be promptly removed.

Those ordered removed will be subject to at least a five-year bar to reentry and potential criminal prosecution.

The Proclamation and rule will significantly enhance the security of our border by increasing the Departments’ ability to impose swift consequences for individuals who cross the southern border irregularly and do not establish a legal basis to remain in the United States.  Together, the Proclamation and rule make critical changes to how the Departments operate during times when encounters are at historically high levels—levels that, in the absence of these changes, undermine the government’s ability to process individuals through the expedited removal process. These changes will enable the Departments to quickly return those without a lawful basis to stay in the United States and thereby free up the asylum system for those with legitimate claims.

These extraordinary measures are a stop gap. Even with these measures in place, the Departments continue to lack the authorities and resources needed to adequately support the men and women on the frontlines. The Administration again calls on Congress to take up and pass the bipartisan reforms proposed in the Senate, which provide the new authorities, personnel, and resources that are needed to address the historic global migration that is impacting countries throughout the world, including our own. Until Congress does its part, we will continue to take any actions needed under current law and within existing resources to secure the border.

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“The Case for Open Borders”: Journalist John Washington on New Book & Biden Asylum Ban

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• John Washington reporter for the Arizona Luminaria .

Arizona-based journalist John Washington talks about his new book, The Case for Open Borders , as President Biden signs a new executive order temporarily closing the U.S.-Mexico border.

More from this Interview

• Part 1: Biden Limits Asylum & Shuts Down Border for Migrants Ahead of Debate with Trump
• Part 2: “The Case for Open Borders”: Journalist John Washington on New Book & Biden Asylum Ban

AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now! , democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report . I’m Amy Goodman.

On Tuesday, President Biden signed an executive order that went into effect at midnight and will continue to codify the far right’s anti-immigration agenda by temporarily shutting down the U.S.-Mexico border and severely restricting protections for migrants seeking asylum.

Republicans mostly condemned Biden’s executive order. Donald Trump’s presidential campaign issued a statement, calling it, quote, “for amnesty, not border security,” unquote.

A number of Democratic lawmakers have also blasted the border order. This is Congressmember Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, at a news conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

REP . PRAMILA JAYAPAL : We are making the same mistake again that Democrats continually make when we try to out-Republican the Republicans. It does not work. It does not work. It does not solve the situation at the border. It dramatically curtails the ability for people to seek asylum at the border, which is what our domestic laws and our international treaty obligations require.

AMY GOODMAN : The podium that Congressmember Jayapal was speaking at said “#AsylumIsARight.”

We now continue our conversation with John Washington. He’s in Tucson, Arizona, right near the border. He’s a reporter for the independent news outlet Arizona Luminaria and an author of the new book The Case for Open Borders .

John, I wanted to continue the conversation. In Part 1 , you responded to President Biden’s executive order, that has shocked many. I mean, the ACLU says it’s now suing, because they say it’s illegal when Trump does it, it’s also illegal when Biden does it. But it’s not only Republicans, although it seems to be a Republican agenda, that have criticized President Biden. His Democratic allies have, as well, like Pramila Jayapal. Yet you go further than the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Your book makes a case for open borders. Can you talk about what Biden is doing, what progressive Democrats in Congress are asking for, and what you are laying out?

JOHN WASHINGTON : Sure, yeah. So, it is hard to understand exactly what the political calculus is here for Biden. I don’t see this as a very winning strategy. And, you know, he’s being condemned by both sides right now. And Jayapal is exactly right. Both Biden and Obama before him and other Democrats have tried this. They’ve tried to lean right, concede their principles, and expect that they’re going to gain some political capital. But it doesn’t work.

And I think one of the main points that I want to make is that the administration, and various administrations, actually, actually are not standing on principles. What they’re doing is playing political football. But those have actual real effects on people’s lives, on migrants who are crossing the border. So, when you understand it, that it is just a political game, and you see that he’s being criticized from all sides, and, of course, Trump and his politics and policies around the border were criticized, but there’s one part of this that’s missing, especially on the left, is, when you are seeing this constant lamentation of the current status quo, you also have to ask, “Well, then what’s a better solution?” I think that the right, historically, has been very clear on this. They want less immigration, or, in fact, some of them want zero immigration. But the left hasn’t really been able to articulate what their vision for a just and humane border and immigration policy would look like.

And when I started to look at this, there’s been this idea that’s floated by some people of open borders. And actually, this makes a lot of sense, both historically and ethically. So, you know, there is a line from the proclamation of the executive order yesterday that says that these types of immigration — this type of immigration is detrimental to the interests of the United States. And actually, there’s not evidence for that. And when you look for evidence of that, you find that there is actually counterevidence, that immigration is overwhelmingly good, both in the economic sense, in the cultural sense. And, you know, it doesn’t deplete wages. It doesn’t take jobs. And then, like, once you start actually looking at all this, you start to wonder, then, “Well, actually, what’s this all about, if we know that immigration is actually incredibly necessary, especially right now, for our economy?”

Then, people just keep on reacting to people who are uprooted, people who are on the move, by trying to crack down. And another huge point here is that these crackdowns don’t work. This is something that we talked about earlier. But we have evidence going back centuries, is that trying to seal off borders actually doesn’t do a very good job of that. And there is inevitability of human movement. People have moved since people have been. And to try to stop it, it doesn’t work. But it makes people more miserable, it makes them suffer more, and it kills them. So, trying to understand, like, both the historical context around how borders were drawn in the first place, how they are continually drawn — and it is through incredibly violent means — you start to wonder, actually, “Maybe we can do things a little bit differently. Maybe we can celebrate the freedom of movement. Maybe we can guarantee basic rights for people who are forced out of unlivable places, and open the borders.”

AMY GOODMAN : So, I just want to underscore what you’re saying with your own book. You write, “The most convincing case” for open borders is that “borders kill.” Last year, there were 179 deaths along the Arizona-Mexico border desert, according to the aid group Humane Borders, and 2023 was the deadliest year on record across the globe for migrants, according to the IOM , including people crossing the Rio Grande. So, if you can talk more about that? And then this point that you’re making — it is not just altruistic, because this incredibly important moral case against border deaths is so important, but that it is good for the country — that’s something that is lost in the corporate media. And I’m not just talking about Fox.

JOHN WASHINGTON : Right, yeah, I mean, absolutely. You know, it is both in a nation’s self-interest, and it is obviously in the interest of the migrants, to let them migrate in a lawful, safe and orderly way. And border restrictions do the exact opposite of that. They don’t stop people from migrating. They just make it more disorderly. We don’t know who is crossing, because they’re forced to cross outsides of ports of entry. And, you know, these crackdowns just don’t work.

So, you know, I can talk at length about what borders do not do, but I think it’s really important to understand what they do do. And they do the opposite of a lot of the proclaimed things that, you know, border restrictionists are trying to protect. They exacerbate wage differentials. They actually hurt economies, both the economies of receiving countries, like the United States in this case, and, obviously, they economically hurt the migrants themselves. So, this really isn’t a —

AMY GOODMAN : Wait. When you say — 

JOHN WASHINGTON : Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN : — “They exacerbate wage differentials,” put that in lay terms.

JOHN WASHINGTON : Sure. So, you know, if you look at the U.S.-Mexico border — so, I’m about 60 miles from the border right now — what you see is that there’s been — over the past 30, 40 years, there’s been an increase of maquiladoras . They’re basically like modern-day sweatshops. And the reason that these factories exist, to make things from car parts to televisions to toasters, is because, well, especially after the implementation of NAFTA in the early 1990s, a lot of the companies who were working in the United States started offshoring or nearshoring to different parts of Mexico and elsewhere.

And so, what we see is that the people who were working in the factories in the United States were making certain wages, and now the people who are forced or who have access to these jobs in northern Mexico are paid a lot less. They have less worker protections. They are unionized at lesser rates. So, we see — when you don’t look just internally into the country, you see that, actually, the differences in both basic worker rights are enormously exacerbated by the border. So, the difference between a worker in El Paso and Juárez, or Nogales and Nogales, where I am, isn’t this like inherent difference in how wages are given or how — what sort of rights people should have, but they’re actually enforced and created by this border. This is why people can be paid so little, because they can’t access the jobs in the United States. They have to — they’re stuck in northern Mexico.

AMY GOODMAN : Now, this isn’t necessarily in the United States a right-left issue. Talk about what businesses want and need, and those that are fighting for people to be able to come into the country so that they can have a labor force.

JOHN WASHINGTON : Right. There are enormous shortages in various sectors of the economy right now: construction, nursing, teachers. You know, we need more workers in the United States. And there’s a lot of Western countries, so-called Western countries, that have major worker shortages. And, you know, it seems like, if you’re just following the logic of the market, that you would let people in, and you would let them, you know, try to hire themselves out to these companies that need workers.

But, of course, the reason that these these border enforcement measures are in place is that — so, either they are able to exploit the workers who are stuck on the other side of the border, or, once they make it through, they have provisional status, they’re a guest worker, or they’re undocumented, and they’re able to be further exploited in those ways.

AMY GOODMAN : And can you talk about what you write about in your book, The Case for Open Borders ? You say the issue is not immigrants, but the rich. And you go on to say that nations across the globe are trading the welfare state for a police and border state, John Washington.

JOHN WASHINGTON : Right. So, there are real issues in the world. And I think that a lot of people are right to be nervous and to be scared of the trajectory of the country, the trajectory of the economy. But the border is not the solution there, in fact. Cracking down further on the border is not going to help people who don’t have jobs or who are underpaid in the United States.

So, you know, I think that a lot of people — and even, like, if you look at another issue, fentanyl, the opioid epidemic, I mean, it is absolutely a crisis. But the border actually is not a solution to that crisis. You’re not going to effectively stop fentanyl pills from entering into the United States. It’s incredibly difficult to do. But there is a major issue. And we could think about why people are — don’t have proper access to medical or mental healthcare, why people are out of jobs or are dealing with addiction disorders, rather than just trying to police our way out of it. Because we know that that just doesn’t work. We have over a century of evidence showing that prohibitions to drugs or trying to prohibit people from crossing the border doesn’t work.

And so, if you think about it just in more humane terms, we can address the root causes. We can understand that climate change, growing levels of inequality across the world are forcing people to move, and walling them off isn’t going to stop it. We have to address those underlying issues.

AMY GOODMAN : Can you also address the issue of crime? So often it is repeated, and, of course, it’s one of Donald Trump’s talking points, to talk about immigrants and crime. And if you can talk about the real facts around crime, that the immigrant population has a far lower, I guess you could say, crime wave than nonimmigrants in this country?

JOHN WASHINGTON : Right. Right. This holds for the United States, this holds for many countries throughout the world, that immigrant communities in countries have far lower rates, as you’ve said, than native-born people. You know, you can isolate different states. Look at Texas. There’s a recent comprehensive study that was done in Texas showing that immigrants and immigrant communities had just, like, incredibly lower rates of crime and violent crime than the native Texans. And this holds for Germany. This holds for different other jurisdictions in the United States, as well.

It also holds for terrorism. So, there is actually not a single case of a person who has crossed the U.S.-Mexico border committing a terrorist act that killed anyone in the United States. And yet, we use this false flag to try to seal the border, when we’re not addressing the real issues that are causing crime or that are, you know, potentially a terrorist threat. We’re scapegoating migrants, who are the people who aren’t committing these problems and these acts. And so, it is really just like the wrong approach to trying to keep people safe.

AMY GOODMAN : And can you respond to the picture of President Biden signing this executive border order surrounded by border city mayors?

JOHN WASHINGTON : You know, I think this goes back to one of the things I said at the beginning, is that, you know, President Biden came into office and was campaigning four years ago, promising to restore asylum. He has completely backtracked on that. He has, you know, turned his back on so many of the campaign promises. I mean, he must be getting dizzy at this point.

And to think that this is going to work is to just blind ourselves to recent evidence. This is going to do only one thing, and that is going to make people’s lives more precarious, more miserable, and potentially kill people.

So, you know, I think it’s a shame that we’ve gotten to this point. But again, this is the pattern that we’ve been in for decades, both Republicans and Democrats trying to prove their bona fides and cracking down and gaining from it nothing, really, because immigration has just gone up and up and up.

AMY GOODMAN : John Washington, I want to thank you so much for being with us, staff reporter for the independent outlet Arizona Luminaria , author of the new book, The Case for Open Borders .

And I’m going to end with this tweet of President Biden himself from July 26, 2019: “Trump is fighting tooth & nail to deny those fleeing dangerous situations their right to seek asylum in our nation. We should uphold our moral responsibility & enforce our immigration laws with dignity — not turn away those fleeing violence, war, & poverty,” President Biden tweeted four years ago.

To see our first part of our interview that Juan González and I did with John Washington, go to democracynow.org. And to see our interview in Spanish, you can go to our Spanish website . I’m Amy Goodman. Thanks so much for joining us.

Biden Limits Asylum & Shuts Down Border for Migrants Ahead of Debate with Trump

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Words by the Water book festival returns to Keswick for the first time since Covid

• Thursday 6 June 2024 at 2:00pm

ITV Border's Katie Templeton-Knight went to meet some of the people organising and attending the festival

A literary festival has returned to the Lake District for the first time since Covid.

Words by the Water is hosted by Theatre on the Lake and first started 23 years ago.

After being cancelled due to the pandemic and the cost of living crisis, the festival will return to Keswick for the first time since 2019.

The festival will run from Wednesday 5 June to Sunday 9th June 2024 and will include a range of events including workshops and theatre performances.

Author, Marie-Elsa Bragg, who is co-president of the festival with her father Lord Bragg, said that she was glad to see the festival return to Keswick.

She said: "We don't really write in isolation, so it's really important for us to be able to come and talk to the people we write for and listen to other authors."

Festival director Leah Varnell welcomed the partnership with local bookshop Bookends.

She said: "We've really missed putting on events like this with the pandemic and then the cost of living crisis.

"Everything in the arts generally has just been so squeezed.

"We’re really delighted to be working with Bookends in partnership at the local bookshop to bring back such an enormous event."

The event attracts visitors from near and far.

Janet Denny, travelled from Sussex and said: "My friend and I are both published authors but we're here now to listen to other authors, gain ideas and enjoy the fellowship that we find at this event every year.

"We're so pleased it's back."

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To know...

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In This Experimental Grief Novel, You Choose Your Own Adventure

Gabriel Smith’s shape-shifting debut, “Brat,” cycles through a multiverse of strange possibilities.

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By Matt Bell

Matt Bell is the author, most recently, of “Appleseed” and “Refuse to Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts.”

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BRAT, by Gabriel Smith

In the wake of his father’s death and his mother’s move to a nursing facility, a 20-something British novelist named Gabriel (not to be confused with the 20-something British novelist Gabriel Smith, whose debut, “Brat,” he inhabits) returns home. Ostensibly, he’s there to prepare his parents’ estate for sale, but he’s also hiding out from a multitude of problems. For starters, despite receiving a sizable advance for his second book, Gabriel hasn’t written a word yet.

Then, during his inebriated explorations of the house, he discovers that its structure is collapsing in some places, molding in others. His girlfriend leaves him. He meets a pair of odd teenagers at a nearby shop, and invites them over for an evening of underage drinking, plus marijuana and Xanax. Mild shenanigans ensue. Meanwhile, there may be someone watching Gabriel; if there is, that person is wearing a deer costume.

If all that wasn’t enough, Gabriel’s skin has also begun coming off, flapping free in vividly rendered body-horror scenes. (This unexplained molting is, according to a running joke, definitely not eczema.) Soon Gabriel begins to nonchalantly pick at the edges of himself: “I just kept pulling, until it had come away from all my fingers and shifting hand veins. The skin came away in a single piece. It didn’t hurt. I looked at it. It looked like a glove of myself.”

Much of the actual text of “Brat” consists of stories-within-the-story, some presented in part, others in full. In his mother’s study, Gabriel finds a novel where a woman with her same name dies in a car accident; in his father’s, there’s a script about friends who gather weekly to watch an old recorded sitcom episode, documenting the changes that appear with each new viewing. Then there are the two stories by Gabriel’s ex-girlfriend, Kei, one of which follows a Russian oligarch whose kink is masturbating on the faces of famous paintings. The other story is about love.

Often these manuscripts mimic or rhyme or foreshadow or recall events from Gabriel’s lived experience. But what do these coincidences mean? No one in “Brat” seems to care that much, and maybe that’s not the story these characters want to tell. Instead of resolving his novel’s many mysteries, Smith explores how this family navigates the disputed borders of its shared memories, pondering what it means to choose one story over another — as well as the consequences of refusing to choose, especially in the wake of grief.

“When someone dies,” says Gabriel’s grandmother, “it becomes a competition to be in charge of the history of that person. People want their memory to be the real one. … But history is the opposite of memory. Each time you remember you rewrite.”

In “Brat , ” to tell a story is to shape existence. In Gabriel’s father’s script, two characters conclude that every narrative choice creates a branching reality. One says, “There’s a universe where I kiss you right now. I could choose to live in that universe.” And then he does. Elsewhere, Gabriel’s brother, impatient with his sibling’s flailing grief, tells him, “Don’t make me choose. … Because I will look after my family.” That’s his reality. But isn’t there another reality where the brother chooses Gabriel instead, and in doing so destroys his marriage? Isn’t there a third one where some other choice saves everyone?

The hopeful finale Smith chooses for “Brat” is probably as revealing of his own worldview as it is of his namesake character. Not every narrative thread is resolved as cleanly as Gabriel’s is, or even tied up at all, but that’s OK too. Perhaps those endings can only be found in another novel, or another world.

BRAT | By Gabriel Smith | Penguin Press | 320 pp. | $28

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New Orleans is a thriving hub for festivals, music and Creole cuisine. The novelist Maurice Carlos Ruffin shared books that capture the city’s many cultural influences .

Joseph O’Neill’s fiction incorporates his real-world interests in ways that can surprise even him. His latest novel, “Godwin,” is about an adrift hero searching for a soccer superstar .

Keila Shaheen’s self-published best seller book, “The Shadow Work Journal,” shows how radically book sales and marketing have been changed by TikTok .

John S. Jacobs was a fugitive, an abolitionist — and the brother of the canonical author Harriet Jacobs. Now, his own fierce autobiography has re-emerged .

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .

Banned book given to school superintendent during graduation ceremony

MERIDIAN, Idaho (Gray News) - A high school graduate in Idaho gave a banned book to a school superintendent during her graduation ceremony.

During the commencement ceremony for the Idaho Fine Arts Academy, Anabelle Jenkins handed the district’s superintendent a copy of Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.” The book had been removed from the school district’s libraries in December, one of 10 books removed in the school district.

The administration concluded that the “graphic imagery contained within [the graphic novel adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale ] was not suitable for the West Ada School District student population,” according to The Idaho Statesman .

The video posted to TikTok by Jenkins has more than 20 million views.

The superintendent did not accept the book.

Copyright 2024 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

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