On August 3, 2019, Patrick Crusius killed 22 people and wounded scores more in the border city of El Paso, Texas. The 21-year-old confessed to police after he surrendered that he had been targeting Mexicans. He drove over 600 miles from his home to commit the terrorist act.

Mass shootings happen in the United States with such regularity that most don’t manage to break into national headlines. There were more than 400 mass shootings in the US in 2019 alone. El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico are more than just sister cities. They share a common culture, geography and a population that have called both places home for generations. The attack at an El Paso Walmart where Mexican nationals frequently shop cut deep on both sides of the border. Funerals, including one for schoolteacher Elsa Mendoza Marquez, a victim, took place in Mexico. The Flores family, originally from Ciudad Juarez, have lived in El Paso for a generation. They lost both of their parents.