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2010, Administrative Theory & Praxis
AI
This paper explores the implications of the border fence construction in the lower Rio Grande Valley during the Obama administration. It discusses the historical context of the border fence legislations under the Bush administration, emphasizing the considerable political controversy surrounding its construction. The text highlights the ongoing struggles of local communities affected by the wall, the government assurances made during the 2008 presidential campaign, and the challenges posed by the Obama administration's immigration policy regarding the border fence.
Maryland Journal of International Law, 2018
Global Virtue Ethics Review, 2011
Imagine I am the defendant in a murder trial. I realize that in law, murder is an intentional crime. Why then should I not simply claim that I did not intend to kill? Of course I cannot usually do so. The law allows various ways in which subjective first person reports of intent can be defeated by other evidence. The criminal law is one of the best developed bodies of doctrine formalizing the use of such evidence and in this paper I propose to apply it to the available public justifications for the construction of the Texas component on the US-Mexico border wall. The stated intent of the policy embodied in the construction of the Texas segments of the US-Mexico border wall is to reduce unauthorized border crossings; but I show that this cannot be its actual intent. I then document the extent of the harmful effects of the wall policy, effects that impose a high burden of justification on the policy. However, since the intent of the policy is unknown, no justification for the wall has been given. This is a very disturbing state of affairs. It might still be possible to provide such a justification, even if public officials are reluctant to do so. But, by analyzing some plausible candidate intentions behind the wall policy, I show that such justifications are highly unlikely to succeed. The best justification would have been on the basis of the stated intention. Indeed it is not implausible to suppose that the reason why the actual intent is not stated openly is exactly because it is obvious to policy makers that it does not justify the policy. Lastly, I shall argue that there is an interpretation of the doctrine of the double effect that has explanatory value in this case. It suggests a refusal to acknowledge the moral relevance of those – usually poor, usually Mexican – unauthorized migrants whose lives are blighted as a result of the policy. In the course of the paper I also offer a novel argument showing by reductio that it cannot be generally impossible (as some suppose) to attribute intent to collective entities.
Noria , 2018
“Trump’s Wall” illustrates the US obsession with ever-greater militarization of the Mexican border, independently of the actual numbers of unauthorized crossings. Yet these debates began revolving around the slogan “Build The Wall” long before the rise of Trump. Between 2010 and 2013, the activities of a coalition of activists, politicians and Arizona security experts had already legitimized recourse to a “wall”. Border-security debates thus concern more than mere control of border crossings. More crucially, they structure local and national political life in accordance with the interests and agendas of the political players whom they bring together.
This research uses a 2013 survey of 2400 registered voters to examine the political impact of living behind the United States interior border checkpoints in the state of Texas. The research shows that, unlike their fellow Texans to the north, residents bounded inside the checkpoints are more likely to think that immigration or border security is the most important problem the United States faces. They are also more likely to favor comprehensive immigration reform and, controlling for demographic factors, religious affiliation, and partisan sentiments, to have a favorable opinion of anti-amnesty maverick United States Senator Ted Cruz. Evidence presented indicates that a good portion of this likability for Cruz comes from residents who consider immigration or border security the most important problem in the country. The Influence of Seclusion | 3
Contrary to what one often hears in the media, towns on the U.S. side of the U.S.–Mexico border are safe, peaceful, bicultural places. Why Walls Won't Work makes a needed contribution to the public discussion on the U.S.–Mexico border. At a time when so many fears and insecurities are projected onto the border, a book that talks about the realities of this area is a welcome addition. Berkeley geographer Michael Dear provides an accessible and informed overview of the border region. This excellent introduction to the borderlands should be obligatory reading for policymakers and new border scholars.
Journal on Migration and Human Security, 2013
ABSTRACT Link: http://jmhs.cmsny.org/index.php/jmhs/article/download/9/8 In July 2012, a diverse group of US residents living near the US-Mexico border met in El Paso, Texas for a conference entitled, We the Border: Envisioning a Narrative for Our Future. This paper describes their vision for the US-Mexico border that is at odds with the widespread view of the border as a threat to the United States. These border residents viewed their region as a set of human communities with rights, capacities, and valuable insights and knowledge. They embraced an alternative vision of border enforcement that would focus on “quality” (dangerous entrants and contraband) over “quantity” (mass migration enforcement). They called for investments in the functionality and security of ports of entry, rather than in between ports of entry. They noted the low crime rate in US border cities, and examined how policies of not mixing local law enforcement with federal immigration enforcement contributed to this achievement. They saw the border region as the key transportation and brokerage zone of the emerging, integrated North American economy. In their view, the bilingual, bicultural, and binational skills that characterize border residents form part of a wider border culture that embraces diversity and engenders creativity. Under this vision the border region is not an empty enforcement zone, but is part of the national community and its residents should enjoy the same constitutional and human rights as other US residents. The conference participants emphasized the necessity and value of accountability and oversight of central government enforcement operations, and the need for border communities to participate in federal decision-making that affects their lives.
Latino Studies, 2003
Norteamérica
This article aims to analyze the results of the border security policy agendas of the federal governments of the United States and Mexico, as well as the consequences of migration management, in terms of integrating various aspects such as everyday coexistence in the northern and southern borders of Mexico reflected, among other things, by documented transit; as well as the historical sequence of migrant detentions at different borders in Mexico and in the southern United States. The 2022 US electoral process heightened a nationalist vision that fostered a policy of greater migration control, reflected in a higher number of undocumented migrant detentions.
Politeja
While announcing his participation in 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump promised, if elected, to build a wall along the US‑Mexican border to limit the flow of illegal immigrants from Latin America to the United States. During the campaign, he repeatedly stressed the necessity to control the situation at the border, which he indicated as one of the biggest threats for US national security, claiming that Mexico should pay for the construction of the wall. After winning the election, President Trump decided to fulfill his promise and signed an executive order enabling the wall to be erected. During four years of his tenure, the wall was built in almost half of the planned length It had impact not only on the flow of immigrants from Latin America, but also on the debate about U.S. immigration policy, as well as on the bilateral relations with Mexico. The purpose of the article is to analyze political consequences of putting up the wall, both in the US and Mexico, and to assess th...
Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 2020
Recently, there has been a surge of national attention toward the U.S.-Mexican border in South Texas, known as the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). Despite the attention and potential impact, which the wall would directly have on the RGV community, there has been no systemic attention paid to the opinions of the RGV residents regarding the proposed wall and other related immigration policies. This article, therefore, aims to fill this gap by comparing immigration policy attitudes in the borderland communities to both the national Hispanic and the general national populations. By utilizing original data from an RGV public opinion survey we conducted in 2018, our analysis shows that RGV residents hold more lenient immigration attitudes than do both the national Hispanic and the general populations. We utilize logistic regression analysis to further our understanding of the correlates of these attitudes across different samples. Our findings provide important policy and political implications.
Annales. Etyka w Życiu Gospodarczym
The Custom and Border Protection (CBP) border security policy was explicitly presented by former Acting Commissioner of CBP, David Aguilar, in testimony before the United States Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) on April 4, 2017 in testimony on the subject of “Fencing Along the Southwest Border.” Important for discussion here are the key components of the DHS/CBP/Border Patrol’s strategy, or sets of policies, laying forth elements of the border walls (including barriers, fences), personnel, and technology in order to hinder, or intercept, undocumented migrants (homo sacer) from entering the United States illegally—all socially constructed. Aguilar notes in his opening remarks “Maintaining a safe and secure environment along the U.S.—Mexico border is critical. A safe and orderly border that is predicated on the strong rule of law deprives criminal organizations, drug cartels, and criminal individuals the opportunity to thrive.” In Aguilar’s testimony...
Journal of the Southwest, 2008
Dead End, by Nicola Moscelli (photographer). Penisola Edizioni Publishing House. pp.154-159., 2024
Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, a shift has occurred in the discursive framing of undocumented Mexican immigrants who have entered the United States. The federal State has publicly proclaimed a “War on Terror” solidly coupling immigration and terrorism concerns rearticulating “illegal aliens” as would-be “terrorists” through the establishment the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) (Chacón and Davis 2006; Newman 2006; Fernandes 2007; Doty 2009; Massey 2009). This shift in the discourse has impacted the U.S.-Mexico border by re-framing this geo-socio-political boundary and its inhabitants as a potential terrorism threat to American National Security. The findings demonstrate that the U.S.-Mexico border does not intrinsically hold definitions of constant “crisis,” “chaos,” and “lawlessness.” The social construction of people of Mexican-origin and the U.S.-Mexico border region as dangerous by the federal State serves two fundamental purposes: (1) To control and manage a targeted population and; (2) To spread fear among the general population while simultaneously fashioning itself as the knowledgeable expert. This control and management of a targeted population was done through the Secure Fence Act of 2006 – a 670-mile concrete barrier between the U.S. and Mexico. The narratives of border residents are used to illustrate how the State’s barrier impacts their daily lives, subjectivities, and rights.
Analysis of political debates and facts about the U.S.-Mexico border.
Working group briefing …, 2008
1The Working Group on Human Rights and the Border Wall; The Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice; University of Texas School of Law; Austin, Texas. 2Department of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences; University of Texas at Brownsville; Brownsville, Texas. ...
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