Border Games

The border between the US and Mexico is the busiest in the world and the site of intense confrontation between law enforcement and law evasion. Peter Andreas argues that the sharp escalation in enforcement provides a political mechanism for coping with the consequences of past policy choices.

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The border between the US and Mexico is the busiest in the world, the longest and most dramatic meeting point between a rich and poor country, and the site of intense confrontation between law enforcement and law evasion. Border control has evolved from a low-maintenance and politically marginal activity to a high-intensity campaign with a focus on drugs and migrant labour. The unprecedented build-up of border policing has taken place in an era otherwise defined by the opening up of the border, most notably through NAFTA. This contrast creates a borderless economy with a barricaded border. Peter Andreas argues that the sharp escalation in law enforcement provides a political mechanism for coping with the unintended consequences of past policy choices. Law enforcement is enthusiastically embraced as a remedy for the very problems state practices have helped to create. The high-profile display of force, Andreas emphasizes, has ultimately been less about deterring illegal crossings and more about recrafting the image of the border and symbolically reaffirming the States' territorial authority.
Extending his analysis to the borders of the European Union, Andreas identifies the different forms of law enforcement escalation that reflect distinct historical legacies and regional contexts. Andreas challenges the notion that borders are irrelevant in an age of globalization and stresses that, rather than eroding, some critical borders are being reinforced and remade.