Hard Line: Life and Death on the U.S.-Mexico Border

by Ken Ellingwood

In May 2001, two dozen Mexican workers struck out across the U.S. border, plunging into the forbidding desert of southern
Arizona with little water. Three days later, following a frenzied search by U.S. Border Patrol agents, fourteen were found dead. The Yuma tragedy seized national headlines, but it was just one more example of the high-stakes game that crossing and guarding America's southern border has become.

Since the mid-nineteenth century, the U.S.-Mexico border has been rife with intrigue, lore, and tragedy. In Hard Line, Ken Ellingwood brings this region to life with an intimacy that eludes the daily news. A former border correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, Ellingwood tells the stories of undocumented immigrants, American ranchers, and townspeople overwhelmed by an influx of border crossers; of the Native Americans whose land is cut in two by this modern boundary; and of border agents and human-rights workers struggling to prevent more tragedies. He captures the symbiotic relationships between towns on opposite sides of the border, where residents have long crossed between countries as easily as crossing a street.

As immigration reshapes the face of America, what happens at our borders is increasingly relevant to the rest of our nation. Hard Line offers a vivid and informative portrait of the people and the difficult issues that lie at the heart of the region.

Please On page 229 of Hard Line by Ken Ellingwood, there is an inaccurate description of the role played by Humane Borders in a federal lawsuit against the government. Humane Borders did not file a legal claim as the book states; it was filed by Yuma attorneys. This has been corrected for future printings. We regret the error.

Genres: Nonfiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a thoughtful look at the struggles facing the border between the United States and Mexico. The truth is there is no solution to the immigration crisis that will make everyone happy. Either we allow illegal immigration and anger those who believe in enforcing the laws as well as those who come here legally or we continue the heart wrenching path we are on now and deport those who cross illegally, generally for understandable reasons, back to their home country. The people that are suffering the most are the immigrants. They are too desperate to start the lengthy process to come here legally and are resented by everyone else even though they do the work that most of us refuse to do. Penalizing each company that violates the laws is just about impossible since so many do it and even if it was possible to do so, people would complain when prices go up. Both liberals and conservatives have points when it comes to the immigration issue which is why a deal will never be struck. So these immigrants are stuck between a rock and a hard place and they end up paying a huge price when they try to come here.


This is an important read and you get to see the points of views from all sides. However, there really is not a good solution to this issue. So it is likely we will continue the path we are currently on and those who are not born in this country will pay the price. And under the Trump administration, that includes legal immigrants because he seems to resent folks that are not native born Americans.

[Michael DeCaprio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devoured it. The book is almost 20 years old and I don’t think anything has changed.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

My dislike for books by Jon Krakauer has unfairly prejudiced me against books written by journalists, and this book proved why I should cut journalists-turned-bookwriters a break.

This is an exhaustive discussion of the measures taken along the U.S.-Mexico border to keep immigrants out, to assuage the fears of people along the border and far from it, and of the myriad problems with all of the attempts at a solution. Although this book reveals the border as a human rights tragedy, it manages to portray everyone involved -- gun-toting Anglo ranchers, immigrants, church groups involved in humanitarian work, the Tohono O'odham whose misfortune it is to have their lands bisected by the border -- in depth and with empathy. Not a small feat.

A little bit out of date now, but great coverage of the issue up until it was published (2004?), and it reads quickly.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The question of illegal immigration on the U.S. Mexico border is very complex, and there are no easy answers to these problems. This is a journalistic overview of the history and situation from the viewpoint of immigrants, ranchers, border agents, people of faith, and many others who are involved in what has become a very dangerous situation. As portions of the border have been walled off, other more dangerous areas have become avenues for entry into the country. One sad fact is that the U.S. actually depends on illegal labor in many businesses, and the workers’ desperate need for work fuels their willingness to risk death to take a less than minimum-wage job. For example, one in four people working in private households in this country is here illegally. For a balanced perspective on immigration, read this eye-opening book.

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

SUMC Ladies Book Club (UMW Reading Program List) selection for February 2010. We met to discuss this and I've decided not to continue reading it. The book is not too bad and actually somewhat interesting in parts. However, it's just not my kind of book. I would recommend this book to anybody interested in history, law enforcement, military and/or immigration.

[Nicolas Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although they are poor in property and money, they are rich in spirit and will to survive regardless of desert and law. Nothing can dominate the spirit when it has a cause. even if that cause is just survival.

[Jonah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting book and good quick read. Unfortunately, very dated.