FREE ESSAY ON MILITARIZATION OF THE U.S. MEXICO BRODER

MILITARIZATION OF THE U.S. MEXICO BRODER

Militarization of the U.S. - Mexico Border
By
Joan J. Jaimes
June 22, 2000
"?Corranle, alli 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. 
Bibliography
Bibliography
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