Operation Gatekeeper: The Rise of the Illegal Alien and the Remaking of the U.S. - Mexico Boundary by Joseph Nevins

by Joseph Nevins

In 1994, the INS launched Operation Gatekeeper, the Clinton administration's drastic effort to regain control of the U.S.-Mexico border. However, even as miles of new fence and hundreds of trained agents were added, the border was enjoying unprecedented economic growth. As Joseph Nevins details in this book, the effort has failed to significantly reduce unauthorized immigration, but has undoubtedly contributed to the hardship, and sometimes death, for many unauthorized border crossers. With a journalist's eye for detail, Nevins provides an immensely readable account of what has become an increasingly central concern for developed keeping third world immigrants out.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cultural

Paperback

First published November 21, 2001

About the author

Joseph Nevins was born and raised in the Dorchester section of Boston and is Professor of Geography at Vassar College. His books include A Not-so-distant Horror: Mass Violence in East Timor; Dying to Live: A Story of U.S. Immigration in an Age of Global Apartheid; and Operation Gatekeeper and Beyond: The War on "Illegals" and the Remaking of the US-Mexico Boundary.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nevins has written an important text on the U.S./Mexico border/boundary but his writing is dry and he is sorely lacking an analysis of gender that is so essential in fully understanding the situation.

[Sylvester Francis Alonz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish for the text to dive deeper into understanding the model of migration that Nevins believes the US adopts throughout its history. From my observation, American migration found itself initially fueled by the "Global Systems" model that believes in the presence of core and periphery states. This ethnocentric view posits that "core" states like the U.S. exist and benefit from an exploitation of "periphery states" such as Mexico, taking raw material and labor to fuel their markets. However, in reading the text, we see American policy makers, fueled by racially motivated, nationalist frameworks define what makes one "American." Before the term "globalization" surfaced in the late twentieth century, American politicians from all spectrums of political ideology criminalized migration. In this model, capital and not labor moves, as companies outsource operations to lower costs for increased profits. In a sense, capital now goes to Mexico where low cost increase productivity but does little to curtail migration.

Migrants from Mexico still found themselves saturating a low-skill and exploited market of American society. Why San Diego and Operation Gatekeeper? First, San Diego remains a white city, a city full of Mexican food and Spanish named streets, but populated by white Americans who suspect their Mexican day laborer of harboring crime and drugs. The "War on Crime" and "Drug War" of the 1970s onward criminalized the vulnerable, including Black communities to migrants. Are migrants unfortunately swept under a war against the "undesirables?" Or are migrants the common enemy of the "American" ideal?

[Cyndi · Rating 2 out of 5]

At times a difficult read, Nevins gives almost too much background on Mexican immigrants before highlighting the intended and unintended consequences of America's Operation Gatekeeper. He details how the border has been transformed into a boundary and the construction of the illegal alien. The BRACERO program is explored indepth. Good, but more academic than most people will want to wade through.

[Ed C · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book. A big improvement over the first version--which was already very strong.