US Mexico Border Essay, Research Paper

June

22, 2000 ??Corranle, all? viene la migra!?, translated into English, this

means ?Run, there comes immigration!? This is what illegal immigrants shout

everyday when they are about to cross the Rio Grande in search for better lives.

Unfortunately, not many get through alive because of the militarization that has

developed on the U.S. border with Mexico. Operation Rio Grande continues a

process put in motion over a century ago by the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. It

tries to erase the reality of a social geographical order that defies neat

national divisions and impose a narrow notion of citizenship on people on both

sides of the international boundary. In the process, the U.S., like all

countries to varying degrees, elevates national citizenship to a position of

primacy and lessens the inherent humanity of those on the wrong side of the

social and territorial boundaries. Operation Rio Grande, launched in August

1997, in Brownsville, Texas, was a special multi-year operation designed to gain

and maintain control of specific border areas through a combination of new

technology and additional staffing. At the start of the operation, 69 Border

Patrol agents were detailed to Brownsville to intensify existing enforcement

effort. In September of that same year, the Border Patrol deployed special

response teams to those ports-of-entry where increased numbers of fraudulent

entry was expected. In the Fiscal Year of 1998, 260 new Border Patrol agents

were added to the McAllen Sector and 205 to the Laredo Sector. An important

feature of Operation Rio Grande has been the integration of a broad range of INS

enforcement operations. Studies show that the crime rate in Brownsville alone

dropped by more than 20% in 1998. (U.S. INS) The origins of the U.S. Mexico

boundary are to be found in the imperial competition between Spain, France, and

Britain for possessions in North America. Lack of agreement between the three

imperial powers over the location of the boundaries separating their territories

in North America led to disagreement between Mexico and an expansionist U.S.

After Mexico gained its independence in 1821, many U.S. leaders argued for

taking part or all of Mexico?s territory. Numerous prominent U.S. politicians,

driven by the ideology of Manifest Destiny, considered taking Mexico ?a divine

right.? (Acuna, 1988) As tensions mounted between the U.S. and Mexico over

Texas, the U.S. deliberately provoked Mexico by sending troops into territory

claimed by Mexico in early 1846. Battles between U.S. and Mexican troops ensued,

quickly resulting in full-scale war. The war raged on for two years, largely in

favor of the U.S., and ended with the U.S. taking over Mexico City. On February

2, 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo was signed, and Mexico was forced to

cede half of its territory to the U.S. Under the treaty?s terms, the U.S.

annexed a territory equivalent in size to that of Western Europe, and absorbed

100,000 Mexican citizens and 200,000 Native Americans living in the territory.

(Herzog, 1990) The decades following the imposition of the new U.S. ? Mexico

boundary saw widespread violence as U.S. authorities and non-State actors

established their dominance. The Mexican Revolution and the accompanying

socio-political turmoil between 1910, and 1920, caused great concern for U.S.

authorities. Tension along the boundary with Mexico quickly subsided thereafter.

(Griswold, 1990) Pacification did not mean control by the U.S. Migration between

the U.S. and Mexico long preceded the imposition of the modern day boundary.

Mexican migration to the U.S. was not really significant in scale or in

geographical extent until the 20th Century. In 1942, the Bracero (Bra-zeh-roh)

Program was implemented. It was a contract labor program in response to labor

shortages brought about by the U.S. entry into World War II. (The Bracero

Program, 1996) Furthermore, the INS practice of legalizing unauthorized migrants

and turning them into braceros, or ?drying out the wetbacks,? increased

unauthorized immigration from Mexico as the news spread that the easiest manner

to obtain a bracero contract was to enter the U.S. illegally. When the U.S.

Congress officially ended the program in 1964, the previously legal migratory

flow simply went underground. As the 1970?s approached, calls to enhance

enforcement along the U.S. and Mexico boundary increased significantly. (The

Bracero Program, 1996) From U.S. perspective, the modern U.S. ? Mexico border

has always represented a line of control; one that contains the national body

politic and that regulates the flow of goods and people from without. Needless

to say, there has long been a huge gap between this territorial-state-centric

ideal and the reality of a transnational world. That said, the U.S. has long

made efforts, albeit inconsistent ones, to achieve this ideal as part of its

efforts to realize national sovereignty. In 1921, the U.S. government passed the

first quantitative immigration restrictions in U.S. history. As a result, the

U.S. congress established the Border Patrol in 1924. (Martinez, 1995) The U.S.

Border Patrol is the organization that polices the entry of illegal immigrants

into our country. The official mission of the United States Border Patrol is to

protect the boundaries of the United States by preventing illegal entry, and by

detecting, interdicting, and apprehending illegal aliens, smugglers, and

contraband. Today, the United States Border Patrol consists of 21 sectors. A

Chief Patrol Agent heads each Border Patrol Sector. There are 145 stations

located throughout the continental United States, and in Puerto Rico. The Border

Patrol controls the border by land, sea, and air. It has jurisdiction across all

United States borders and at least 25 miles off the border. The agents are

responsible to check factories and homes for illegal workers. (U.S. INS)

?Border control? particularly from Mexico, emerged as important topics in

U.S. politics. This was due to the mid-1970?s economic recession, rising

numbers of Border Patrol apprehensions, and aggressive INS media campaigns

highlighting the scale of the illegal alien problem. The trend continued through

the 1980?s reaching its apex in the early 1990?s. U.S. public opinion now

consistently shows that there is strong opposition to illegal immigration.

(Cornelius, 1994) Over the last several years, the U.S. has seen increasing

calls and efforts to fight unauthorized immigration and boundary related crime,

specifically drug trafficking. There has been an unprecedented growth in federal

resources dedicated to boundary policing. Unauthorized immigration and an out of

control border region fueled the political sentiment for immigration

enforcement, which climaxed with the passage of the Immigration and Control Act

of 1986. (UTA, 1992) Former President Ronald Reagan starkly framed unauthorized

immigration as a national security issue, warning, ?The simple truth is that

we?ve lost control of our borders and no nation can do that and survive.?

(Cornelius, 1994) The U.S. ? Mexico border region is the fastest growing

border zone in the Americas, perhaps in the world. With a population of 11

million people and an economic output of $150 billion, the region now has an

economy larger than that of Poland. Approximately 230 million people and 82

million cars enter the U.S. from Mexico each year. In 1994, the implementation

of the North American Free Trade Agreement intensified this trend. About 2.8

million trucks crossed the border that year. The ?NAFTAization? and growing

militarization of the U.S. ? Mexico boundary, are taking place simultaneously.

(Divine, 1999)(UTA, 1992) In an abstract from a book to be published by Harcourt

Brace & Company is a very interesting account of the typical journey of most

of the illegal immigrants that cross through the border of Matamoros/Brownsville.

Most of the immigrants cross the river with assistance from a patero. His job is

to recruit people who want to go to the U.S. in search of better fortune. The

immigrants don?t have to pay anything in advance. Instead, they pay when they

arrive in Houston. They cross the river naked, then take a car to Sarita, Texas.

In Sarita, they get off the car before the immigration checkpoint and walk for 4

or 5 hours until they have well passed the checkpoint. From there the pateros

pick them up and take them to Houston to deliver to their families or friends. A

trip normally costs around $800. (Harper?s, 1998) The militarization of the

border is keeping many illegal aliens from entering the U.S., but many of them

get killed in the process. CNN News reports that authorities recovered the

bodies of two people who drowned in the Rio Grande just yards from U.S. border

agents in a dramatic scene captured on Mexican television. Rescue crews found

the bodies of 26-year-old Walter Maria Sandoval, of San Lucas, Michoacan, and

another victim who has not been identified yet. A Mexican TV (Televisa) crew was

filming in Matamoros on Thursday, June 8, when three men plunged into the Rio

Grande and tried to swim back to Mexico after a Border Patrol squad apparently

blocked their entry into the United States. Two of the men quickly began

flailing and sinking, as the river’s current swept them away. The third man made

it ashore on the Mexican side and ran off, Televisa reported. U.S. border patrol

agents and Mexican authorities both saw the men drown, but none knew how to

swim, the Mexico City newspaper Reforma reported. Scores of Mexicans have

drowned in recent years in the Rio Grande, a point of entry for thousands of

illegal immigrants to the United States. (CNN News, 2000) Perhaps the illegal

immigrants face fines and penalties for crossing that way, but in their mind

working for food is most important. Hard labor, usually in agriculture, is all

they can get. Jobs that not many citizens want to perform because of the

physical demands, and prefer to live off of welfare and working people?s

taxes, but then complain about the problem with the Border Patrol. If they are

bringing most foods to their tables, why complain? It?s obvious that some sort

of control, which now exists, is necessary. Many people do enter the country

legally, and in many cases, are given political asylum because of the situations

in their countries. Mexico is not one of those countries, but is yet another

boulder for fleeing refugees to cross before getting to the home of the free.

7e8

Acuna, R. (1988). Occupied America – A History of Chicanos. New York: Harper

Collins Publishers Authorities recover bodies of two people who drowned in Rio

Grande. (2000, June 10). CNN News [Online]. P10. Available www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/americas/06/10mexico.borderdeaths.ap/

Cornelius, W., Philip, M., James, H., (1994). Controlling Immigration: A Global

Perspective. Stanford University Press Divine R. et al, (1999). America Past and

Present. Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. Griswold del Castillo, R. (1990). The

Treaty of Guadalupe – Hidalgo. University of Oklahoma Press Ferrying dreamers to

the other side. (1998) Harper?s, 1781 (297) p.22-26 Herzog, L. (1990). Where

North Meets South. Austin Center for Mexican American Studies. University of

Texas at Austin Low Intensity Conflict Doctrine Comes Home. (1992). University

of Texas at Austin Press Martinez, O. (1995). Troublesome Border. Tucson.

University of Arizona Press The Bracero Program, Immigration, and the INS.

(1996). New York and London. Routledge U.S. Border Patrol [Online] U.S.

Immigration and Naturalization Service. Available http://www.usbp.com