El Paso’s national moment in 2026 just keeps getting bigger.

From major festivals and sold-out concerts to national headlines celebrating our arts scene, the Sun City is firmly in the spotlight. USA Today recently ranked El Paso’s arts district No. 4 in the country. Institutions like La Nube and Plaza Theatre continue to draw national praise. Artists like Julian Kalel are carrying our name onto primetime television. The world is paying attention to El Paso’s culture, history, and talent.

READ MORE: EL PASO ARTS DISTRICT RANKS TOP 4 IN THE COUNTRY

Now, another proud El Pasoan is helping shape the national narrative.

Jazmine Ulloa, a Burges High School graduate and national reporter for The New York Times, has released a new book titled El Paso: Five Families and One Hundred Years of Blood, Migration, Race, and Memory. Published by Penguin Random House under its Dutton imprint, the book places El Paso at the center of the American story.

Grizz, Canva, Courtesy of Penguin Randomhouse

Grizz, Canva, Courtesy of Penguin Randomhouse

Ulloa’s reporting career has taken her across the country, but her roots remain here. After returning home to cover the Aug. 3, 2019 tragedy at Cielo Vista Walmart, she began reflecting more deeply on how El Paso has long been framed in national conversations about immigration. Her book expands that lens, tracing a century of migration, labor, race, and resilience through the stories of five fronterizo families.

Rather than treating the border as a backdrop, Ulloa centers it. She explores how Indigenous, Mexican, Chinese, and working-class communities helped build this region and, in doing so, shaped the country itself. It is a reframing of El Paso not as a footnote, but as a foundation.

At a time when the nation debates immigration in headlines and soundbites, an El Paso native is offering depth, history, and humanity from one of the most influential newsrooms in the world.

READ MORE: EL PASOAN MAKES IT TO HOLLYWOOD ON AMERICAN IDOL 

The Sun City has hosted big names for years, now it is producing them.

READ MORE: FAMOUS PEOPLE YOU DIDN’T KNOW WERE FROM EL PASO

From El Paso to Hollywood: Julian Kalel’s American Idol Journey

Julian Kalel secures a golden ticket on American Idol and delivers a message bigger than music.

Gallery Credit: Courtesy: American Idol

Krystall Poppin For A Purpose Fest 2026

Krystall Poppin for a Purpose Fest invites El Paso locals to a parade, bazaar, car show, and abuelita contest benefiting Our Lady of Assumption Church.

Gallery Credit: Courtesy: Krystall Poppin

The Most Famous People You Didn’t Know Were El Pasoans

These are just a few of the most famous El Pasoans to grace the earth. Some of them, like Alan Tudyk, have played so many famous characters, its crazy that we could ever forget they were El Paso born!

Gallery Credit: Grizz