Border (political boundaries)

A border is the official boundary line between two geopolitical territories, such as counties, states, or nations, that marks where one territory ends and the other begins. Borders may be marked by natural geological landmarks such as rivers and mountain ranges, or they may be arbitrarily defined lines. The Rio Grande, which separates Texas from Mexico, is a prominent example of the former, while the Mason-Dixon line, separating Pennsylvania from Maryland, is a well-known example of the latter. Some borders may be heavily militarized and fortified barriers, as was the Berlin Wall that separated East Germany from West Germany during the Cold War.

US Borders

In the United States, the fortification and patrol of the country’s borders has become a prominent political issue in the years since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The thousands of miles of coastline and land borders that demarcate the United States have been the subject of increased scrutiny from lawmakers and immigration officials seeking to better protect the country from outside threats. Homeland security measures have been ramped up at traditionally unpatrolled areas along the vast US-Canada border. Some experts see the Canadian border as the greatest threat, in terms of terrorism, to the country’s safety. The US-Mexico border, however, has become a topic of great interest and controversy due to concern over the flow of drugs from Mexico into the United States, along with the crossing of undocumented immigrants, and an escalation of violence between Mexican drug cartels and the Mexican military in the border region.

Overview of the US-Mexico Border

The United States shares 5,525 miles of border with Canada, including the Alaska-Yukon Territory/British Columbia border. By contrast, the US-Mexico border is approximately 1,933 miles. This border begins at Imperial Beach, California, along the Pacific Ocean, and extends eastward to Brownsville, Texas at the Gulf of Mexico. Four US states (California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas) share their southern borders with Mexico. The Rio Grande serves as the boundary line between the United States and Mexico throughout the entire state of Texas. The geography of the US-Mexico border varies by region, but is a combination of deserts and mountains. The desert terrain, particularly along Arizona, can be extremely formidable, with temperatures sometimes rising to 120 degrees Fahrenheit or higher during the summer months. The US-Mexico border is considered the most frequently crossed international border in the world, with approximately three hundred million legal crossings every year, according to the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at UC San Diego. More than ninety million car and four million trucks cross the border annually due to the strong economic connection and trade relations between the two nations, as well as the high rate of international tourism between the United States and Mexico.

Despite being less than half the length of the Canadian border, the nation’s border with Mexico generates much more media and political attention. The US Border Patrol was established in 1924 to stem the flow of illegal drugs and alcohol (illegal at the time, due to Prohibition) and undocumented immigrants into the United States. These concerns have grown over time, with many Mexicans entering the United States as undocumented immigrants during the 1970s and 1980s to escape economic crisis and high unemployment. Furthermore, the escalation of the US War on Drugs during this same time period increased calls for stricter border enforcement and greater interdiction efforts.

Increased Border Surveillance

The Clinton Administration devoted significant attention and resources towards enhanced border enforcement, overseeing the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s (INS) launchings of Operation Hold the Line in 1993 and Operation Gatekeeper in 1994. At the time, the two busiest entry points for both undocumented migrants and illegal drugs flowing across the US-Mexico border were the El Paso, Texas, and San Diego, California, sectors. Operation Hold the Line, initiated in El Paso, amassed four hundred Border Patrol agents along the border to serve as a visible deterrent to migrants and drug smugglers— as opposed to the previous strategy of attempting to apprehend individuals after they had entered the United States. Operation Gatekeeper assigned an additional two hundred Border Patrol agents to the San Diego sector and installed new fencing, stadium-style lighting, and three lines of agent patrols to make entry more difficult. Both operations were considered successful deterrents; the El Paso sector experienced a 70 percent decrease in Border Patrol arrests between 1993 and 1994, while arrests in the San Diego sector also decreased significantly, according to the Department of Justice.

Nevertheless, border security and enforcement continued to escalate as a topic of political concern and controversy throughout the 1990s and 2000s. In November 1994, California voters approved Proposition 187, an anti-illegal immigration ballot referendum, by a 59–41 percent margin. Also known as the Save Our State initiative, Proposition 187 called for public schools and hospitals to verify the citizenship or immigration status of students and patients and to report those who could not provide proof of legal residency to the INS. Proposition 187 also encouraged US citizens to report persons they suspected of living in the country illegally to authorities. Despite its large margin of victory, a federal judge declared Proposition 187 unconstitutional, and the measure never went into effect. Critics also noted that Operations Gatekeeper and Hold the Line did not necessarily reduce illegal immigration; their success merely shifted migrant crossing routes to the interior of the border, particularly through Arizona. In April 2005 groups of armed volunteer citizens calling themselves “Minutemen” began patrolling the US-Mexico border to assist the Border Patrol in capturing undocumented migrants. The Minutemen sparked controversy, however, and even President George W. Bush referred to their tactics as “vigilante.” By 2007 an estimated 12.2 million undocumented immigrants lived in the United States (approximately 7 million of whom were estimated to be from Mexico), according to a 2013 report from the Pew Research Center’s Hispanic Trends Project.

The 2000s

In 2006, the Republican-controlled Congress approved, and President George W. Bush signed, a measure authorizing the construction of a 700-mile, two-tier fence along the nation’s southern border. But political wrangling resulted in further legislation allowing Homeland Security officials to determine what type of fencing should be used where, and as of early 2013, only thirty-six miles of the two-tier fencing had been installed. The Border Patrol today consists of more than twenty thousand agents. Since 2007, the estimated number of undocumented migrants—particularly those from Mexico—living in the United States has declined as a result of several factors, including increased border surveillance and enforcement, increased deportations under the Obama Administration, a relatively weak US economy experiencing recession, and declining unemployment in Mexico. By 2012, nearly one million fewer undocumented Mexicans were living in the United States than in 2007. However, illegal immigration from countries other than Mexico increased over this same time period. While an exact number is, by nature, difficult to ascertain, various studies have estimated that about 40 percent of all undocumented migrants did not cross the border illegally, but rather entered the United States legally as students or tourists and remained after their visas expired.

The 2010s and 2020s

In June 2015, future President Donald Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States. In his announcement, Trump characterized Mexican immigrants as murderers, rapists, and a threat to other citizens of the United States. During Trump’s presidency, and continuing afterwards, he promoted the construction of a border wall separating the United States from Mexico. This symbolized protective measures Trump deemed the United States needed to undertake from the Latino threat. This political environment served to stigmatize Latinos even though Latino immigrant workers were vital to several key economic sectors including agricultural production, construction, and elderly care.

The topic of immigration, and by extension the building of a border wall with Mexico, figured prominently in the next three presidential elections (2016, 2020, 2024). In the 2024 presidential election, the topic of immigration ascended to the very top of the American political narrative. The Republican Party had made immigration a primary opposition strategy during the presidency of Joe Biden (2021–25). Republican governors had taken up the immigration mantle during the interim period between the 2020 and 2024 campaigns with actions that kept the immigration issue a constantly reported topic. These included actions such as Texas governor Greg Abbot's deployment of the Texas National Guard to its border with Mexico and Florida governor (an early presidential candidate) Ron DeSantis’s campaign to bus immigrants to northern states. By 2024, these efforts succeeded as Americans now viewed immigration controls as a national priority and favored more entry restrictions. Democratic Party candidates at the national and state levels shifted their messaging to be aligned with this trend. In his 2024 campaign, Trump again called for renewed efforts at expanding the existing border wall.

Bibliography

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Butcher, Kristin F., et al. “The Role of Immigrants in the Market for Elder Care.” Brookings, 4 Nov. 2022, www.brookings.edu/articles/the-role-of-immigrants-in-the-market-for-elder-care. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.

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St. John, Rachel. Life in the Sand: A History of the Western U.S.-Mexico Border. Princeton University Press, 2011.