Texas butterfly center targeted by far-right conspiracy theorists to reopen

Misinformation about the center being a site for illegal immigration circulated after it opposed Trump's border wall

There's a legend in south Texas involving the Monarch butterfly, the magnificent insect with the tiger markings. The Monarch typically arrives in the Rio Grande valley on its annual migratory trek in early November. That's when people on both sides of the border celebrate Day of the Dead, a sacrosanct holiday in which residents honor dead relatives by visiting their gravesites and building elaborate altars in their memory.

Legend has it that the butterflies carry the souls of the dead relatives as they make their way to the warmer climes of Mexico.

Carlos Sanchez is director of public affairs for Hidalgo county, Texas. He was a journalist for 37 years and has worked at the Washington Post and Texas Monthly magazine, as well as eight other newsrooms. He can be reached at borderscribe@gmail.com