Violent Borders

 Initial Post  at least 150 words

Your initial post for this discussion should focus on Chapter 2 of Violent Borders and respond to the following two prompts: 

Explain what you believe to be the most significant argument Jones makes in this chapter and identify what you what you believe to be the most compelling, interesting, or revealing piece of support Jones uses, whether they be facts, statistics, or examples (historical, personal, or others).

Research how border policies have changed since the publication of this book (early 2016). Introduce at least one new change to border policy and/or one new or updated fact that you found significant or compelling in your research. (Use the toolbar to link in the URL to your source; you can also use the toolbar to embed any images or videos that you referenced. See Helpful Canvas Guides below).

Reply to Two Posts  50words for each peer

Respond to two of you peers' posts by acknowledging the significance (and accuracy) of the information presented by your peers, and add on to their work by discussing how it connects to other arguments in the book and/or other additional support from the book or from your research; if you find any contradictory research or have a different understanding of Jones' argument, it is important to share this with your peers. (Use the toolbar to link in the URL to any source you use; you can also use the toolbar to embed any images or videos that you referenced. See Helpful Canvas Guides below).

First peer post

Wow, I am surprised by the information that was presented in this chapter. I didn't realize how uneducated I was on this issue. I thought that I knew a significant amount of the issues at our United States border, but I was wrong. One of the most compelling aspects of his article regards the heavy militarization of Border patrol. This has occurred in two ways. First, there has been an increase in the hiring of ex-military individuals to guard the border. After the 9/11 attack, there was a decrease in restrictions and change in hiring practices which has resulted in the ability for almost any person, with any set of racial views, to work at the border. This has resulted in numerous deaths and shootings. Another way that this group is militarized is the fact that they have access to Pentagons 1033 program. This means that they have access to military-grade weapons and technology, and use them on peaceful, non-harmful migrants and refugees.  

 

From 2016 onward, there has been even more militarization and increased security at the U.S-Mexico border. In 2018 (Links to an external site.), President Trump's wall was beginning to get built. He was able to build only 80 miles of wall, but this took out a large chunk of safe land that immigrants were using, forcing them to move into harsher and more dangerous environments. Also, the border security program during the Trump administration, along with I.C.E, have received millions upon millions (Links to an external site.) of dollars of new military tier equipment that they use on civilians... How is this the world we live in? I am amazed that this is the United States of America I live in. We are home to the free where everyone is supposed to be treated equally. It even states in our founding documents that "all men are created equally." People have rights, especially those who need our help. Our immigration system is broken, and it has been for a very long time.

Second peer post

The most significant argument that Jones makes in this chapter is about the militarization of police and the border patrol. Until the 1990s the US/Mexico border was not a militarized area. Border patrol would usually catch people and just send them back without any charges. In the 1990s, the US adopted aggressive deterrence policies in areas where border crossings are common. The militarization of police and border patrol increased again after 9/11 to the point that police departments and border patrols have assault weapons and body armor made for soldiers. Jones quotes another work that examines the police specifically and they noticed that along with the military weapons, another thing that points to the militarization of the police is the adopting of military tactics. This is shown in the increasing amount of cases where police use lethal force against African Americans. The other example is the anecdote at the beginning of the chapter where the border patrol officer shoots a Mexican teenager on the Mexican side of the border. It shows that even though the US is not in a war with Mexico, they use militaristic strategies against people who are usually not posing a threat. This shows the strict separation of wealthy and poor countries as well as the drive to preserve that separation by any means. This is similar to the internal political conflict between wealthy and poor citizens in the US and the drive to preserve that same unchanging relationship

As for research: I looked at a recent cnn article (Links to an external site.) about the new administration's plans for the US/Mexico border. From the article, it is easy to see that the inherent policy of deterrence is still continuing. Even though there is a change in leadership, nothing has changed for the state of the people trying to cross the border. The new administration is not trying to make it easier to immigrate to the US either. The CBP and the department of homeland security are saying that the border is closed. There has been criticism for the reluctance of the new administration to address the conflict but looking at overall changes to the way that immigrants are treated, nothing has changed. In terms of the larger militarization of the police, a general observation is that there have been more people killed by police since 2016, and the police are still using aggressive or lethal tactics when they confront someone which is a tactic more in line with a paramilitary force rather than a police department.